Page 23 of In Bed with her Highland Foe

These words made both men snatch their heads toward Kyven in the doorway. Quickly, she took in their injuries, her eyes shooting to Gilchrist first. His arm must have been bleeding heavily at some point judging by the bloodstains upon his shirt and the way Harper had torn his sleeve. A cloth was now held tight to his muscled skin and nearby, Harper prepared sutures. Across the room, Laird Shay was holding an herb-filled cloth to a bloodied nose. It was at a crooked angle, and his hand bled in a similar way from another cut.

“What happened?” Kyven walked into the room and moved to Gilchrist. Without thinking through what she was doing or why, she shifted the cloth on his arm and examined his injury. A blade had cut deep into his skin.

He didn’t answer, his sharp features turned up toward her into something she could have easily mistaken for alarm.

“Ahem,” Laird Shay cleared his throat across the room.

The guilt and the shame suddenly filled Kyven’s stomach as Harper fell still in the middle of the chamber, needle and thread in her hand as she looked between both men, her eyes wide.

I went tae Captain Gilchrist first… how will that look?

“A scuffle, me lady,” Harper said hurriedly, trying to cover up the awkwardness in the air. “I believe it was a training session that somewhat got out of hand.”

“Aye, ye could say that,” Laird Shay muttered darkly. “Me nose is shattered.”

“Nae yet, is isnae,” Gilchrist whispered so only Kyven could hear.

The implicit threat that Gilchrist could yet do worse made her fury worsen. The concern she had felt before was starting to bleed away now.

Something must be done.

“Which of them can move more easily?” Kyven asked Harper. “I need tae talk tae the captain alone about this. There must be a recompense.”

The flicker of a delighted smile appeared on Laird Shay’s face as he adjusted the cloth he held to his nose. Kyven did her best to ignore it.

“The laird can move easier at this time.” Harper went to help Laird Shay to his feet, but he moved without her. “Come, me laird. Let us take a closer look at that nose.”

Kyven waited in the middle of the chamber, her breathing labored as the two of them abled out of the room and into the adjoining chamber. Once the door shut behind them, she rounded on Gilchrist, her eyes flashing with anger. To her surprise, Gilchrist actually sat straight in his chair, as if her anger was something to be feared.

“What have ye done!?” she hissed at him. “Ye attack Laird Shay? I ken ye dinnae like him, though God only kens why, fer ye willnae tell me yerself. But the first opportunity ye have tae fight him, tae try and diminish his ego, ye take it in battle? Captain, this isnae ye.”

“Isnae it?” Gilchrist asked as he looked down at the wound on his arm. “Ye’re quick tae judge today, Kyven. Ye havenae even given me a chance tae explain what happened.”

“Why should I?” She walked toward him, standing over him. “Ye of all people ken how important this is. How wary I am of all of this. I have a chance here tae make a true connection with… me betrothed,” she struggled to say the words, not pausing when she saw Gilchrist cocking an eyebrow in interest, “and yet ye are making trouble every step of the way. Ye argue with him openly at dinner, and now ye attack him? Brawl with him?”

“Ye’re keen tae think the first blow is from me.”

“Ye are the soldier!” She waved her hand madly at him. Abruptly, he stood up. It was so sudden that she backed up in surprise. His greater figure, the imposing and strong muscle did something to her stomach that should not have happened. Should she be afraid to be alone with such a strong soldier now standing so tall? No, she wasn’t afraid. Her stomach curled in a kind of delight that only made her fury worse.

How dare he make me like him so when he has nay idea about what he is doing?

“Dae ye want tae hear what happened or nae?”

“I dinnae need tae hear it. Look at the pair of ye. It’s plain ye both engaged in the battle.” At her words, he did not argue, but just continued to stare at her, that unrelenting gaze making the excited quiver in her stomach all the stronger. “If I cannae marry soon, then Clan Gregor may sense our weakness and attack again. That is what is at stake here, nae just me hand in marriage, but the future of the entire clan.”

“Clan Gregor willnae attack now.” He shook his head.

She flinched at the words. She should have stepped back by now, for she felt a tension in the air standing so close to him. Yet she could not move her feet beneath her. She stood very near to Gilchrist indeed, staring up at him.

“How would ye ken that?”

“Call it a soldier’s hunch.” He leveled his glare at her, and she started to feel very small indeed. She longed for him to look at her as he used to do in that library, with interest, hanging onto her words as he had so often done. This expression wasn’t one she could decipher at all. “Are ye done shouting at me? Or do ye wish tae dae it for longer? If so, I’d like tae get sutures before I bleed out.” He sat down once again and she moved to stand beside him, pulling back what remained of his sleeve sharply to look at the wound.

Her gut twisted once again, with fear this time. Laird Shay had cut him deeply indeed. She longed to lay a hand protectively on Captain Gilchrist’s shoulder, but what good would it have done? It would be a confession she could never make.

“Anything more ye wish tae shout at me?” he asked, avoiding her gaze and looking down at the floor.

Kyven turned and left the room sharply. She couldn’t bear to look at him for any longer in that moment. The tension, the anger, the worry all mixed into something that was overwhelming. When she left the room, but found Laird Shay was no longer in the large chamber. He’d moved to yet another smaller chamber where Kyven could glimpse him through a doorway as he continued to fuss with his nose.