Highland Hero (33 page)

“Aye, but I now wonder if I truly found all who were guilty.”

“Sir Ranald did seem verra willing to let ye hunt down and kill three of his clansmen.” Robert eyed David warily as he added, “Especially when they claimed they had done naught but kill a witch.”

“I ken it. E’en the Church would have praised them. Yet ye are right, Sir Ranald was verra amiable when I demanded my reckoning. Too amiable. One of the men was his own cousin.”

“Wee Tatha may ken more about Sir Ranald than we do. I have heard a few rumors and I ken he has buried three wives, but I think the mon visited her father’s keep from time to time. I think they may be allies or friends. She may have more fact than rumor. Ken the mon better and ye can more clearly judge what may have really happened that day.”

“ ’Twill certainly help me seek out the truth. Ah, here comes Leith.” He smiled faintly at his cousin, who took the departing Robert’s place at his side. “Mayhap ye will bring me luck. My aim has consistently fallen short this day.”

“Mayhap your mind is on other things.” Leith tried and failed to bite back a smile. “She was asking after you.”

For one brief moment David considered telling his cousin he was not interested and not to be such a smugly grinning fool, then decided not to bother. He was interested and suspected too many of his clansmen knew it. “Did she now?”

“Aye. Caught me as I was headed to the stable. She asked where ye were and, after ye asking me where she was nearly every morning since she arrived, I fear I nearly took to laughing. She probably thinks I am daft.”

“Ye are. What did she say she wanted?”

“She said she just wished to ask ye a question or two about something ye had discussed earlier.”

“Ah, my mother’s murder.”

“I suppose. She was blushing like fire though.” He returned David’s sudden grin. “Now, I willnae claim to ken much about the lasses, but it seems to me she wouldnae be so unsettled if that was truly the only reason she was looking for you.”

“Nay, it seems that way to me too.” David was unable to hide his satisfaction.

“Just what do ye plan to do with the lass?”

“Does it matter to ye?”

“Aye, there is the odd thing, but it does.”

“I have a suspicion it matters to others too.” David shook his head. “Aside from wishing to see her sprawled naked on my bed, I am nay sure. Dinnae frown. She is a weelborn lass under my protection. I ken what honor demands of me. I ken I’d best be prepared to offer her more than a tumble in the heather if I let my passions rule.”

“And ye dinnae ken if ye want to do that?”

David muttered a curse and dragged his fingers through his hair, deciding that, if he had to reveal his confusion to anyone, Leith was the safest choice. “She believes as my mother did, although she shows more common sense about it all, and doesnae wave the pennant of the old ways in everyone’s face and demand acceptance. She is also betrothed. Although her father sold her like cattle to that swine Sir Ranald, and Tatha makes it clear she doesnae want the marriage, it doesnae change the fact that she has already been promised to a mon. Those two things alone create quite a hedgerow to leap.”

“I think ye worry too much o’er her beliefs. She seems to mix the Church’s teachings with those of her aunt verra weel, yet only lets most people hear her speak of God’s will. And aye, she has been weel taught to respect fear and superstition. As for the betrothal, weel, once ye prove Sir Ranald killed your mother, that will be at an end.”

Staring at his cousin in surprise, David asked, “Do ye believe Sir Ranald was behind my mother’s murder?”

“Aye, always have.”

“Why?”

Leith blushed slightly, and there was a wary look in his dark gray eyes. “ ’Tis nay something a mon should tell another mon about his mother. She didnae do anything to encourage the fool, ne’er think that, but Sir Ranald wanted her. Aye, wanted her and had for years. My mother told me about it, for I was oftimes the one sent to ride guard on your mother, and she wanted me to keep a watch out for the mon. Several times he appeared where your mother was called to go and ’twas clear that he had tried to arrange it. I didnae go with her on the day she was beaten, but I ken it was another ploy by Sir Ranald.”

“Ye ne’er told me of this.”

“Your mother didnae want it told. It embarrassed her. I was made to swear myself to silence. Weel, she has been dead now for five long years and ye are finally questioning if ye have the whole truth, and”—he shrugged—“I think we are strong enough to fight the bastard now. We werenae then.”

For a moment David struggled with his anger over such secrets being held from him. Then he let reason rule. Leith, and probably everyone else who had known, had been sworn to secrecy by his mother. He had to respect the fact that such an oath was kept. And at the time, the cold truth was that a battle against Sir Ranald would have resulted only in the complete decimation of his people. They had been weak, the keep nearly in ruins due to battles with the English and raiders, and time had been needed to recover from several years of battle, hardship, and poor harvests. He had also been firm in his opinion that his mother’s beliefs had led to her death.

“I am nay sure I would have heeded the truth anyway,” he admitted quietly.

“Nay, ye had your own at the time and werenae to be swayed.”

“And for that blindness my mother’s killer has escaped justice for five years.”

“Weel, aye, but ye did quickly seek a reckoning from the ones who actually did the deed. Sir Ranald’s guilty of bringing it all about, I am fair sure of that, but he didnae actually bloody his hands.”

“He didnae actually strike my mother, but he is guilty, as guilty as the ones who did, and I will now work to prove that.”

A cry went up from the men who rode ahead of them. At first David thought it signaled the sighting of some game. The next cry, however, had him tense and drawing his sword. Even as he realized they were under attack, an arrow slammed into his shoulder, propelling him back off his horse. Leith was swiftly at his side, sword in hand and using both their mounts to help shelter him. Just as David gathered enough strength to reclaim his sword and stand up, he knew the brief, fierce attack had already come to an end. A groan of pain escaped him as he sat down on the hard ground.

Leith sheathed his sword and, breaking off the tip of the arrow that protruded out of David’s back, yanked the shaft out of his body. Grimly, David clung to consciousness as Leith bathed and bound his wound. It was not only strange that they had been attacked, but that the battle would be so swiftly ended. He needed answers.

“ ’Tisnae mortal,” Robert said as he walked over and studied David, the rest of the Ruthven men gathered behind him. “The wee lass will soon mend it.”

“Who was it?” demanded David, wondering which of the many treaties he had negotiated with the other clans had just been broken.

“Weel now, there is an odd thing. They obviously took pains to hide their clan identity. We killed two, but the wounded were taken away, so there is no one to question. Howbeit”—he held out an easily recognizable clan badge—“one of the dead clearly loved this sad bauble too much to leave it behind.”

“MacLeans.”

“Aye. Sir Ranald’s men. Methinks your sudden interest in your mother’s death isnae much appreciated.”

“Was anyone hurt?”

“Only ye, and the moment ye flew out of your saddle, the MacLeans retreated. That speaks clear, doesnae it?”

David nodded as Leith helped him stand. “I was the target. Weel, we had best return to Cnocanduin. I need to get this wound seen to. The sooner I am healed, the sooner we can take a reckoning that I now believe has been long overdue.”

Ignoring David’s complaints, Leith mounted behind him and let someone else lead his horse home. It was not long before David was grateful for the support, the loss of blood weakening him. He smiled crookedly as they rode through the gates of his keep. Now he would see for himself if Tatha’s growing reputation as a skilled healer was fully deserved.

Tatha stared down into the water of the well. With the sun high overhead it was one of the few times she could clearly see the water, even see her reflection in its cool depths. Aunt Mairi had once told her that gazing steadily into water could bring on visions, could show one the path one must take. She desperately needed some sign at the moment. The path she wished to run down led straight into Sir David Ruthven’s strong arms, but Tatha was not sure that was the right one.

She grasped the edge of the well. After staring into the water for nearly half an hour and forcing her mind clear of all thought, she was beginning to feel a little unsteady. She was determined to give this water-gazing trick her best try, however, for she desperately needed answers. Was it the well that had drawn her to Cnocanduin or the need to find the truth behind the brutal murder of a healer? Or had fate done its best to lead her to her true mate?

It was just as she began to think it was all foolishness, and the sun had moved enough to begin placing the water back into the shadows, that Tatha noticed something. She could still see her reflection, but it began to slowly change. Soon the newly forming image grew clearer, and Tatha gasped softly when she saw Sir David’s handsome face. She continued to stare, deaf and blind to all around her, as if by the sheer force of her will she could make the well show her more.

Another gasp escaped her when, a few moments later, she saw Leith’s narrow face off to the side of David’s. It was as if he was peering over David’s shoulder. Leith’s mouth moved and she leaned closer. Suddenly, a hand tightly grasped her by the shoulder and yanked her back, away from the edge of the well. Tatha stared at a scowling Leith, who stood by her side, and felt a little foolish. The only thing that kept her from thinking it was all a dream was that there was no sign of David.

“It looked as if ye were about to fall in,” Leith said quickly taking his hand from her shoulder.

“Nay, I thought I saw something and was just trying to get a closer look.” She suddenly noticed how grim the usually amiable Leith’s expression was. “Is something wrong?”

“David has been wounded,” he replied, watching with intent interest how her eyes widened in alarm and she grew very pale.

“How?” she demanded as she quickly filled a bucket with water from the well.

“An attack whilst we were hunting.” He hurried to keep pace with her as she strode off toward the keep.

Tatha belabored him with questions all the way to the keep. She dragged him into her herb room and ladened him with all the salves, brews, and bandages she thought she would need to treat David. When she burst into David’s bedchamber everyone moved out of her way as she hurried to the side of their laird’s huge bed. Tatha gave him one slightly frantic but thorough looking-over, then set to work. Her mind told her that he would be all right, that the wound need not be a severely troubling one if it was taken good care of, but her heart remained twisted with fear and concern. By the time she had him stripped, bathed, stitched, and bandaged, everyone had wandered away, feeling sure that their laird was in good hands.

After forcing a weak David to drink an herbal potion, Tatha sat in a chair Leith had set by the bed, and asked bluntly, “Who tried to kill you?”

“MacLean,” he replied, smiling grimly when she paled. “Do ye think your betrothed kens that ye are hiding here?”

“Nay. And if he learned I was here, he would either come and collect me, as is his right, or tell my father to do so.”

“Aye, so I thought.” Feeling too weak and sleepy to discuss the matter, he closed his eyes, using the last of his strength to issue a stern command. “Ye arenae to leave the keep, nay to step one wee foot outside these walls.”

Even as she opened her mouth to argue, she realized it was useless. He had gone to sleep. She felt a little bit like some carrion bird as she sat there watching him sleep, waiting, hunting constantly for some sign of fever. The arrow could have been tainted, or just filthy. Tatha had cleaned the wound as best she could, but it had been over an hour between when the wound had been inflicted and when she had been able to tend to it. Fever was a possibility, and she wanted to be right there to fight it from the start.

Several hours later, Tatha felt herself falling asleep, her eyes stinging from staring at David for so long. She rose from her chair, stretched, and went to the washbowl to scrub her face. As she held a cloth against her eyes, trying to soothe them, she wondered if she should get someone else to sit with David for a while, then shook her head. Time would be lost while they decided whether he even had a fever and then as they came to get her. A fever was best fought from the very beginning, before it could get too high.

As she prepared to sit down again, she suddenly tensed and leaned over David. A soft curse hissed past her lips as she touched his face and felt the warmth on his skin. Her whispered prayers were to go unanswered. The fever was on him, and now the battle would truly begin.

Chapter 6

David winced as he opened his eyes. He felt weak; his thoughts were unclear. Partial memories of cool water against his burning flesh, of a sharp, scolding voice telling him to drink, and of the same husky voice, soft and coaxing, urging him to fight, crowded his mind. Slowly, he became aware of the fact that he was not alone in the bed. He wondered why, when he had been so ill, he would have taken some willing lass into his bed. Then he recalled that he never bedded the lasses at the keep, and at the moment, there was only one he was truly interested in.

Cautiously, he turned his head, fully aware now of the wound in his left shoulder and not wishing to move that arm much at all. His eyes widened when he saw Tatha curled up at his side. Only for a moment was he concerned that he had attacked her while delirious with fever. She was still dressed and lay on top of the covers. There were dark smudges under her eyes and her hair was a bright, tangled mass around her face, but he found her beautiful. He also knew exactly who had taken care of him during his illness. As more memories rushed into his mind, he faintly recalled that his fever had broken during the night. Leith had been there helping Tatha wash him down and change the bed linen.