Every Heart Has Its Day (17 page)

“Unhand me, woman. Ye ken I could throw ye out the window with but a flick of my wrist.”

“Ye could, but ye willna.” She chuckled. “Dinna think ye be too old or too big to turn ye over my knee, milord.”

She dragged him to the doorway. “Yer first duty be protecting yer lady, and Euan seeks yer counsel on that verra matter.” She shoved him into the corridor and slammed the door in his face.

Connor rubbed his lobe. Maggie’s back might be more hunched and her hair might be grayer, but she pinched as hard as she did when he was a lad. She had been his salvation after his mother’s death. Lord knew, he had tried her patience on countless occasions, but she had never failed to correct his misdeeds with her loving words—and an occasional pinch.

Confident she could tend Kasey better than he, Connor strode to the great hall. He gagged and tears came to his eyes. “The Mackintoshes slaughter their fare outdoors.”

“As do the MacPhersons.” Euan beckoned him to the head table. “Yer potion’s stench better not linger forever.”

“The odor decreases as the cure simmers,” Gavin said.

Connor bowed to the king, then sat at the table. “Be Broderick nursing his wounded pride?”

“I advise ye, Connor, to respect my cousin. I intended to deny yer petition.” The king held up his hand when Connor opened his mouth. “My father bore the guilt of arranging a violent union and warned me well to remove myself from such matters. Without Broderick’s vexations, I would have heeded my father’s counsel.”

“I shall have to thank him.”

“Aye.”

Connor turned to Gavin. “I told Annie all I remembered about Dragon’s Breath, but I canna be sure I remember all.”

“We have already spoken on the matter, brother.”

“Thank ye.” Connor looked at Euan. “Ye summoned me?”

The men spent the rest of the day huddled at the table. Discussions included the MacPherson holding’s protection and the punishment Douglas Cameron would face.

Connor contributed little. His mind drifted to the woman abovestairs. By the time Euan set candles on the table, he could no longer abide the distance between them.

He had reached the foot of the stairs when Maggie called from the top.

“Milord, do ye ken where milady be?”

The cleft between Maggie’s brows and the way she worried her hands tightened Connor’s chest. “Annie be in the kitchens making salve. Be aught amiss?”

“Yer lady’s brow feels hotter than when ye first arrived.”

He bounded up the stairs as Maggie ran down. He found Ciara holding a goblet to Kasey’s lips. On the chest next to the bed lay an open pouch of vervain.

He flew across the room and knocked the goblet from Ciara’s hand. It clanked across the floor. Its contents soaked the rushes.

He knelt by Kasey’s side and, with his thumb, wiped moisture from her cracked lips. He inhaled the wetness and smelled naught. He turned narrowed eyes back to Ciara.

“What in blazes be wrong with ye?”

He snatched the pouch and held it out.

“Good God, Connor. The vervain be for me.” Ciara rubbed her forehead. “I be relieved our future holds no union. Yer ignorance far exceeds mine.”

She walked around him and dipped a cloth in the basin. After she wrung it out, she lifted it toward her own brow.

He cleared his throat.

With a sigh she laid the linen on Kasey’s brow.

He placed the vervain in her hand. “I shall see to her until Annie arrives. Go lie down.”

“Kasey will get through this, milord.” She curtsied and slipped out just before Annie lumbered in.

Maggie, followed by six women carrying pails of water, entered the chamber soon after.

Annie placed her hand on Connor’s arm. “Go rest.”

“Where be the Dragon’s Breath?”

“Simmering over the fire. Until it be ready we will cool her with another bath.”

“Be there naught else ye can do?”

“Not unless ye can hurry forth the sands of time.” Annie patted his cheek. “Go and rest. The circles under yer eyes look darker than night.”

“I shall sleep here.”

“If ye willna rest, then go and eat.”

“I be not hungry.”

“Yer presence keeps us from tending the lady.”

Connor clasped his hands behind his back. His sister’s game had kept him from Kasey before, but it would not work again. “I shall see her body soon enough.”

“Would ye taint yer joy by remembering her thus?”

“Would ye mar my wedding night by hiding aught else?” Connor rubbed his neck. Annie did not deserve suspicion. “Had I not seen her back afore our wedding night, dinna ye think my reaction would have crushed what little pride she still has?”

“I swear to ye, Connor, there be naught else ye need to know. Please, let us cool her.”

“If it makes ye more comfortable, I shall turn my back.”

Annie sighed. “If ye turn to face us, I shall scratch out yer eyes.”

Connor carried a chair to the window. His eyelids grew heavy as he gazed out. Someday he and Kasey would walk the heather-covered hills at the Mackintosh holding. At first he would share the beauty with no one save her. Later their sons and daughters would surround them.

A touch to his shoulder drew him from sleep’s embrace. Without opening his eyes, he clasped delicate fingers and smiled. “It be aboot time ye joined me, Kasey.”

The fingers pulled away. “Connor, hie yerself to bed. Maggie will stay with yer lady.”

He blinked a few times, then looked over at his sister, bathed in the moon’s glow. “I meant only to rest my eyes, Annie.”

“Ye be worn to the bone.”

“How fares Kasey?”

“We have not yet won the battle.”

If the enemy attacking the flushed woman could be touched, he would slay the beast. “Ye and Maggie need to rest. The next time her fever rages ye will use the Dragon’s Breath.”

Annie sighed. “I be too weary to argue.”

“Thank ye, Annie.” Connor walked his sister to the door and kissed her cheek. “I know not what I would do without yer aid.”

After she nodded, he closed the door. He crossed to Kasey’s pallet and stroked her hair. “Hold on a wee bit longer, love.”

Chapter Seventeen

Connor roused to a nicker. Two shadows dismounted and slunk toward the manor house door. Though Euan’s men would not allow a breach, Connor could not risk a lapse. He pulled a dagger from Kasey’s boot and crept behind the door.

His heart thundered when the door creaked open. He grabbed the intruder’s hair and placed the dirk at his throat.

The intruder raised his hands. “I mean the lady no harm.”

“Dillon?” Connor lowered the blade. “Ye be lucky I dinna cut ye.”

A scream rent the air.

Connor shoved Dillon behind him and wheeled to face Evonne. “Ye need not wake the entire keep.”

Too late. Euan and Gavin, swords in hands, ran toward them. “See to yer bride, brother.”

Gavin pulled Evonne to him and kissed her deeply.

Jealousy nipped at Connor’s heart. “Mayhap ye should adjourn to yer chamber.”

Evonne curtsied. “May I see milady first?”

Connor looked over his shoulder. “Despite the din, she rests. Ye may see her in the morn.”

After his brother carried Evonne from the room, Connor clapped Dillon’s back. His brother winced. Connor dragged him closer to the candle’s glow. “Remove yer tunic, brother.”

“Why, milord?”

“Question me not.”

Dillon doffed the garment. “Do ye wish to count the hairs on my chest? A few more have sprouted.”

“Turn around.” When his brother did not move fast enough, Connor spun him.

“Dinna concern yerself. Thanks to yer lady’s salve I be healing well.”

Like a plaid, the threads wove together. The whip forged the bond between Kasey and Dillon. When she tickled his brother at the stream, she played after assuring his health. He had no right or reason to envy his brother. Or blame him. Though Kasey suffered after tending Dillon, her choice to heal Connor had set the course. “Did ye ken the lady endured the same abuse?”

“What?” Dillon faced him. “Nay. I would have told ye.”

“Ye neglected to tell me ye suffered at Cameron hands.”

“I be sorry, milord, but milady’s welfare mattered more than revenge.”

“Mayhap I should thank ye for removing the choice from my hands. Go. Use my chamber to rest for we know not what the morrow will bring.” Connor looked toward the doorway. “I be sorry we woke ye.”

Ciara beamed at Dillon. “I dinna mean to eavesdrop, but I would be more than happy to show ye the way, Dillon.” At Dillon’s red-faced nod, Ciara threaded her arm through the crook of his elbow and led him away.

Connor returned to Kasey’s side. He sat on her pallet and stroked her hair. “We have come full circle, milady. I canna recall the words ye whispered as my fever raged, but I remember well the melody of yer voice.” He paused to gather his courage. “I have many weaknesses, yet when I be with ye, I feel strong enough to take on the world. I willna let ye go.”

He stripped off his garments, then lay down on the pallet. He slid his arm under her neck. “Let us survive the next day, and naught will ever separate us agin.”

****

Perspiration covered her skin. Dryness seared her mouth. Kasey tried to roll from her stomach onto her side, but heavy legs pinned her. She spied her boots next to the bed and slipped out a dagger. The animal that dared to trap her would serve her floor well.

The dirk slipped from her grasp. She stretched her arm as far as the weight upon her allowed, but she could not reach the blade. She glanced at her boots and wondered where her other dagger had gone.

“Be ye looking for this, milady?” Her captor held it. “I have given this matter great consideration. I would prefer ye greet me with good morn or good day. Should ye feel the need to do more, a kiss would serve us both well.”

The man’s impudence amazed her. She lifted her head, thinking her argument would bear more authority from an upright position, but the spinning room forced her to reconsider. She turned away from the infuriating man and mumbled an oath.

“I be sorry, Kasey. I dinna hear ye.”

“Had I meant it for yer ears, I would have spoken louder.” Kasey sighed. The man could probably hear an autumn leaf fall.

“I order ye to repeat yer words.”

She snorted. “Ye have no right to demand aught of me.” She treaded deep waters, but she had nothing to lose. She could barely move, she had no home, and she tired of others treating her like rushes on the floor.

“Only cowards whisper their thoughts.”

Two reasons earned her lashes. Either she failed to keep the ever-changing rules straight, or she failed to resist a challenge. She cleared her throat, “I called ye a conceited pig. By what right dare ye order me? And why be ye in my bed?”

He had the nerve to laugh. She pinched her lips together, then mumbled again.

“I realize ye be not in the best of health, but as ye have just proven, there be naught amiss with yer voice.”

“Ye be an arrogant oaf.” More laughter followed her slur. “Be ye too foolish to understand I have twice insulted ye?”

“Insulted? I think not. I shall remember yer compliments in the hard times ahead.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “Yer fever has not yet broken, but it soon will. My sister has made fresh Dragon’s Breath.”

Kasey tensed. Though she could not see the marks, she could guess how horrid they looked.

“Dinna worry. I shall stay with ye.”

“I dinna need ye here.”

“Ye ken not the burn of the Dragon.”

“And ye do?” Only one person outside her clan had felt the potion’s burn, and he did not lay beside her. “How did yer sister learn of Dragon’s Breath?”

“Broderick told us of yer dorlach’s contents and the key to yer code.”

“Broderick? Be I at Inverness?”

“Nay. Ye be at the MacPherson holding.”

She relaxed. At least the MacPhersons held no malice toward the Camerons. But why would Broderick be here? Like Hunter, he had forsaken her years before. Naught made sense.

“Rest. Dragon’s Breath will require all yer strength.”

Kasey’s eyes drooped, but before she yielded to sleep, she asked, “How would ye ken of Dragon’s Breath?”

Someone knocked at the door. Connor called out, “One moment.” He rose and pulled on his trews and tunic.

“Enter.” Connor nodded at Evonne’s curtsy. Her swollen lips and whisker-burned cheeks showed she and Gavin had spent their time together wisely. “Ye no longer wear the braces on yer legs?”

“Nay, milord. Thanks to my dear husband, my limbs be as good as ever.” She looked toward the pallet and gasped.

Connor put his hand on her shoulder. “Dinna worry, Evonne. Mackintosh men make Cameron women whole.”

“May I stay with her, milord?”

Connor nodded, then smiled at her before he left the chamber. His grin remained, even after he bumped into Euan. He nodded, “MacPherson, how be ye this fine morn?”

Euan raised a brow. “I be well, Mackintosh. Has the lady’s fever waned?”

“Not yet, but I be sure Kasey will heal quickly after my sister applies Dragon’s Breath.”

“Aye, my wife be quite the healer.”

Connor pounded Euan’s back. “Correct, laird, but Annie has been my sister much longer than she has been yer wife. I shall never stop caring for her, just as ye will forever worry about Ciara. Besides, I still dinna ken if ye be worthy of Annie’s hand. Mayhap ye can, once and for all, prove yer value.”

“Pray tell me. What might I do for ye?”

“A haircut and a shave would be a good start.”

“It may help, but I can do naught about the ugly countenance aneath the hair.” Euan chuckled. “Why in blazes have ye allowed yerself to become mangier than a wolf?”

Connor crossed his arms. “I shall have ye know, MacPherson, I trimmed my hair and beard so I dinna frighten ye.”

Euan snorted.

“I vowed not to shave or cut my hair until Kasey returned. Let us get on with this!”

“Stop by the kitchens and get a bowl of hot water and a few linens. By the time I gather my blade and soap, I expect to find ye in the great hall hidden neath a steaming cloth.”

“Ye dinna use flowery soap, do ye?”

Euan nodded. After Connor rolled his eyes, MacPherson burst out laughing. “Annie loves me enough to make pine-scented soap.”

“Good to hear. I canna abide smelling like a spring garden.”

Connor had barely settled under the steaming cloth before Euan lifted it.

“Ye be in luck. Annie has offered to tend ye.”

He looked over at his sister and noticed the blade trembled in her hand. “She will slit my throat.”

“Tempting as that sounds, I care not to clean the mess.”

Euan whispered. “She always be a bit nervous afore she draws blood.”

“Pray tell me, brother. What has so brightened yer mood?” Annie hacked off a handful of hair.

As the locks floated to the floor, he prayed his sister did not hack his hair as she had eight summers before. “I had a wee argument with Kasey.”

“Ye always did enjoy a war of words. I thought ye cruel all the times ye taunted me.”

After she set aside the shears, Connor ran his hands over his head. He would be grateful if it looked half as good as it felt. “Have ye a looking glass?”

“Vain as ever. Ye can wait until I scrape those whiskers from yer face.” She slid the blade of the dirk over a sharpening stone. “Ye willna distress Kasey.”

“Aye, milady.” The way she held the dagger, he would have agreed to give up his firstborn.

She soaped his cheeks and jaw. “I mean what I say. Ye will wait to begin yer games.”

“She cowers within her own walls. She will get no better until she remembers how to fight.” Connor raised his head so his sister could shave under his jaw.

“Do ye wish to keep the hair under yer nose?”

He shook his head, opened his mouth, and pulled his top lip down over his teeth.

Annie giggled. “Ye look like a hare.” She made quick work of the task.

Connor glanced at Euan. “I much prefer being compared to a mangy wolf.”

Euan shrugged. “Hares be fleet-footed.”

“Aye, but wolves protect their own. I expect ye to remember yer oath to Clan Chattan. I ken no bad blood exists atween the MacPhersons and the Camerons, but ye have pledged yer fealty to me.”

“Milord?” The strain in Evonne’s voice, the tears streaming down her cheeks needed no other words.

Death stalked Connor’s beloved. Her face had taken on a grayish tone. Her slow and shallow breaths had a distinct rattle. He ran to the pallet. “Ye canna die, Kasey! Fight, damn ye, fight!”

“I...be...too...weary.”

Shaken by her weak, raspy voice, Connor trembled as he took her hand in his. “Borrow my strength.”

Her fingers tightened.

“I shall never let ye down again. Look at me, Kasey!”

It seemed to take great effort for her to pry her eyes open. He leaned down until his nose nearly touched hers and waited for her to focus.

“It canna be.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Hunter?”

Moisture brimmed in his eyes. “I have never forsaken ye, Kasey. I pray ye will find it in yer heart to forgive me, for the king has granted me yer troth. Like it or not, milady, ye will soon be my wife.”

Kasey closed her eyes and shook her head. His chest tightened at her refusal. He sniffed back his tears and vowed to win her heart. Someone jabbed his thigh. He turned to see Annie.

“Begone.”

Maggie moved a chair into the place he vacated.

“Dinna let this oaf distress ye. I have known him all my life and will gladly teach ye how to handle him when ye get well.” Annie pulled back Kasey’s covers. “I have warmed freshly made Dragon’s Breath. We must apply it before it cools, aye?”

Kasey nodded.

“I have been told its name came from its burn. Would ye like a sleeping potion, milady?” She pulled open the nightwear and revealed the wounds.

“Nay. Must stay awake.”

Connor tensed as Annie dribbled the potion on Kasey’s back. The burn would begin anon. He made ready to hold her down.

Kasey did not scream, nor did she flinch. One hiss escaped her lips, but naught more. He walked around the pallet. A small smile graced her lips.

It had taken every bit of his control not to howl like an injured wolf. Yet Kasey lay, looking peaceful.

Just before he accused Annie of doing aught wrong, he remembered she wore that same look when he removed the arrow.

“Milord?” Gavin panted from the doorway. “An urgent matter requires yer presence belowstairs.”

“Ye dinna seem to need me here.” After both Annie and Maggie shook their heads, he followed Gavin into the corridor. “I canna understand how she tolerates such pain.”

“Pray ye have the chance to learn. MacPherson patrols have spotted contingents from both the Grant and Cameron clans heading this way. Euan and Broderick have gone to greet them.”