Highland Solution (20 page)

“That doesn’t surprise me. I’m sure you have noticed Niall assigns one of his guards to keep an eye on Tomas every day.”

Father Colm chuckled, “I had noticed Tomas always seemed to have a guard with him. The days when Turcuil becomes a fierce dragon who needs taming are humorous indeed. I did not know the reason.”

Katherine laughed, too, and went on, “Well, the primary reason is to keep Tomas away from Lady MacIan.”

“That seems like a wise choice. It also explains a few things, clearly the lad is cautious of both Lady MacIan and Laird MacLennan. I have found children and dogs to be uncanny judges of character. I will keep an eye on Tomas as well.”

“Thank ye, Father. I will find Tomas as soon as I have spoken with Bridie.”

“It is probably nothing, but I’m sure he will feel better once he tells ye what it is,” Father said with a reassuring smile. “Let me know if I can be of any help. I have some things to take care of in the chapel this morning.”

It took much longer for her to seek Tomas out than she had anticipated. Before Katherine finished with Bridie, a servant came rushing into the kitchen looking for her.

“My lady, there has been an accident on the training field. Fingal is hurt. They’re bringing him up to the castle now.”

“Please go to my chamber quickly and bring me my bag of supplies,” Katherine said to the girl. She sent other servants to prepare Fingal’s chamber and to bring other supplies she would need. Then she rushed to meet the men carrying Fingal.

From a distance she saw blood drenched his left side, but he was still alert. When she reached him, she assessed his wound quickly. It looked more severe than it actually was. Relief flooded her and she thanked God and his angels for their protection. “This isn’t nearly as bad as I feared. Why, it is a scratch, really,” she teased.

Fingle groaned, “Just a scratch, is it? It hurts a tad more than any scratch I’ve ever had.”

“Well, perhaps it is wee bit deeper than most scratches. I will clean and stitch it, but ye’ll be fine. The bleeding has already slowed. How did this happen?”

Rab explained, “One of the young soldiers in training made a wild swing and lost his balance. As he fell, he slammed into Fingal’s back. Fingal was forced forward onto Bruce’s blade, with whom he was sparring. Bruce saw it happening and tried to avoid Fingal, but still managed to give him that wee scratch.”

When they arrived in Fingal’s chamber, Edna awaited them with all the supplies Katherine required. Katherine asked Turcuil to stay, fearing that he might need to hold Fingal still while she worked. “Drink this, Fingal,” she said, giving him a potion.

He swallowed it, shuddering when the cup was empty. “God’s bones, what kind of poison is this?”

“I’m sorry, I know it’s bitter, but it will help with the pain. Here is some ale to get rid of the taste.”

“Couldn’t we have started with the ale and skipped the other?”

“This is likely to hurt quite a bit. I’m sure ye’ll be thankful for both.”

“I believe ye, thousands wouldn’t.”

She gave the potion a few minutes to begin working before she started stitching. She had hoped between the potion and the pain, he would lose consciousness, but he didn’t. With his jaw set and fists clenched, he remained silent as Katherine worked. By the time she tied off the last stitch, he looked pale and exhausted from the ordeal.

“Try to rest now, Fingal, the potion I gave ye should make ye sleepy. Turcuil, please stay with him and let me know if anything changes.”

“I don’t need a big, ugly nursemaid. Now, if perhaps the fair Fineen wanted to tend to my needs, I wouldn’t turn her away.”

“Ye are a rogue, Fingal MacIan. I think it would be best for ye to keep your mind and your hands off the ‘fair Fineen’ until your side is healed. I don’t want to have to sew ye up again. Edna will bring ye some broth shortly and I want ye to drink it all.” Katherine laughed when Fingal pouted, looking very much like Tomas did when disgruntled. It reminded her that she needed to find Tomas. “If he won’t let ye stay, Turcuil, would ye please look in on him frequently for me? I need to find Tomas, he was looking for me earlier.”

“Aye, my lady. I’ll try to forget he called me a maid.”

“He called ye big and ugly, too, Turcuil,” observed Edna.

“Aye, love, I won’t argue about being big and ugly, but I am no maid.”

“Well, if Fingal doesn’t want me to put bitter herbs in his broth, he’d better not call ye ugly, either.”

Fingal rolled his eyes, causing Katherine to laugh as she left them to look for Tomas.

~ * ~

Katherine found Tomas tending Mab in the stable. “Father Colm said ye were looking for me earlier.”

“Aye, I was. I have to tell ye something, but we need to be alone.”

“We could go to my room. Will that do?” He nodded and they walked to the keep, going straight to the east tower. Katherine had barely shut the door to her chamber when Tomas’ arms were around her, holding tight as if he were afraid of something. “Tomas, what is it, sweetheart?”

“Da told me to rest yesterday and I went to my room but I just couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking Mab might need me. Mama, I only wanted to go out to the stable for a few minutes to check on her, and I was going to go back to my room and rest like Da said to.”

“So ye snuck out to the stables when ye were supposed to be resting? Is that what has ye so upset?” He seemed awfully distressed over something so small.

“Nay, I didn’t get to the stables. When I walked down the stairs, I heard two people talking in the stairwell. They were whispering and I couldn’t understand most of it, but one of them said Da was going to die.”

“What?” Tomas, maybe ye misunderstood.”

“One person said something was going to end in Da’s death and Duncurra would finally be the other person’s. Mama, I don’t want Da to die.” Tomas was near tears.

“Tomas, don’t worry, Da isn’t going to die. Sweetheart, did ye hear them say anything else?”

Tomas nodded, tears slipping down his cheeks, “The other person said something about pretending to be something for too long, and being sorry he wouldn’t be the one to kill Da, because he wanted Da to know it was him.”

“Then the people ye heard talking were men? Did ye see them?” Katherine asked.

“I think they were men. I don’t know, they were whispering. I didn’t see them. Mama, I was scared and I went back to my room. I was afraid to come out. When Fineen brought me downstairs I wanted to tell ye, but I didn’t want—anyone to hear me tell ye. Then I tried to find ye this morning, but I couldn’t.”

“It will be all right, Tomas. Stop crying, sweetheart. As soon as your da comes home, we’ll tell him. He will know what to do.” Katherine tried to reassure him, but her own mind spun as she tried to process what Tomas told her. She didn’t understand what, and perhaps more importantly, who Tomas had overheard.

“I don’t want to go down to the great hall. I want to stay here with ye.”

“Ye can stay here, Tomas. I will just let Edna know ye are not feeling well, so I will be here with ye here for a while. That way she can find me in case anyone needs me.” She decided not to worry Tomas more by telling him Fingal was injured. “I will be right back.” He nodded, looking forlorn.

Katherine went downstairs, found Edna, and explained that Tomas wasn’t feeling well and she was going to sit with him for a bit. She asked Edna to send up some soup and bread, then returned to Tomas. Diarmad was on his way downstairs after having checked on Fingal, and met Katherine on her way up. “Diarmad, Tomas isn’t feeling well, if ye see Niall, will ye ask him to come up?”

“Certainly, my lady, but the laird went out with a hunting party and I don’t expect him back until late this afternoon. Tomas seemed upset earlier, is there anything I can do?”

“Nay, thank ye, Diarmad, it is probably just a combination of rich food and late nights,” she assured him. Because Tomas had no idea who he had overheard, she did not intend to tell anyone the real problem until she had talked to Niall.

Nineteen

Finally, very late in the afternoon, Niall returned from hunting. He learned of Fingal’s accident immediately and left his horse with the stable master. He intended to go straight upstairs to check on his brother, but Malcolm called to him when he entered the great hall. “Niall, lad, come join me,” he said, motioning to a servant to bring another tankard of ale.

“I’ll be down in a few minutes, I just want to see how my clumsy brother is faring.”

“There is no need to rush to Fingal’s side,” teased Malcolm, “it was merely a flesh wound and your wife has tended him well. She has been absent from us all afternoon. I’m sure if there were any problem with Fingal we would know about it. Come, sit and warm yourself.”

Niall scowled. “If it was only a flesh wound, why was it necessary for Katherine to spend the afternoon tending him?”

“Well, ye know women, They all love the attention of handsome young men. A captive audience is irresistible.” He winked.

Niall fumed as he headed for the east tower. He went straight to Fingal’s chamber and entered without knocking, only to find Fingal alone and asleep. As he left the room, Niall met Diarmad in the corridor.

“How fares your brother this evening?” asked Diarmad.

“He is asleep.”

“He has been most of the afternoon. Katherine gave him a potion when she stitched him up.”

“Katherine didn’t stay with him?”

“I don’t know, I don’t think so. Turcuil and Edna have kept an eye on him and were to notify Katherine if anything changed. Although with love blossoming, I am not sure they would notice. I believe she is in your chambers with Tomas now, he apparently is not feeling well. She wanted to see ye as soon as ye returned from hunting.”

“Tomas is ill, too?” Niall headed to the stairs without waiting for an answer. When he reached their chamber, he found Katherine sitting with Tomas on her lap telling him a story.

She looked up and her face flooded with relief, “Oh Niall, I am so glad you’re home.” She stood Tomas on the floor and crossed the room to hug him.

He returned her hug, and put his hand on Tomas’ face, saying, “Diarmad said Tomas was ill.” Although Tomas appeared to be upset, he didn’t feel feverish.

“He isn’t ill,” Katherine explained. “Something very upsetting happened yesterday and I wanted to talk to ye about it. I thought it better to keep him away from—everyone, until I did. Tomas, Tell your da what ye told me.”

Tomas told the same story about slipping downstairs unnoticed and overhearing the whispered conversation. “Da, I don’t want ye to die,” said Tomas as he burst into tears again.

Niall felt the anger rising in him but he tried not to let it show. “Stop crying, Tomas, I am not going to die, but I need ye to tell me as much as ye can about what ye overheard. Were they men? Did ye recognize either voice?”

“They were whispering and I couldn’t hear them well. I think they were men, but I don’t know for sure.”

“What exactly did they say?” pressed Niall.

Tomas looked scared and Katherine said, “Tomas, Da isn’t angry with ye, he just wants ye to try to remember everything ye can.”

Tomas said, “One person said everything was arranged and it would end in your death, Da, and he said Duncurra would belong to the other person then. The other person said he pretended to be something for too long. He was the one who said he was sorry he wasn’t the one who would kill ye, because he wanted ye to know it was him. That’s all I remember, Da.”

Seething, but not wanting to scare Tomas more than he already was, Niall said, “It will be all right, Tomas, don’t worry.” Then Niall sent for Rab and instructed him take Tomas to his chamber and to let no one other than himself or Katherine in the room. When they were finally alone, he turned to Katherine and said with barely contained wrath, “It must be Fingal.”

“Fingal?” Katherine said, aghast. “Niall, it certainly is not Fingal. He is loyal to ye—he loves ye.”

“Nay, Katherine, he loves ye,” Niall spat. “It can only be him. He thinks he would be Duncurra’s heir if I died. My dear little brother may have waited too long. He doesn’t realize there is another heir on the way.”

“Niall, I think ye are jumping to conclusions. Talk to Fingal about this rationally.”

“I will talk to Fingal, but I can’t right now because he is sleeping off the potion ye gave him,” Niall snapped. The stunned look on Katherine’s face did not cool his anger even though part of him knew he was being irrational.

Katherine stammered, “I-I just gave him something to help with the pain.”

“Well, we certainly wouldn’t want Fingal to be uncomfortable, would we?”

She remained silent for a moment, then said softly, “What are we going to do about Tomas?”

“
We
aren’t going to do anything. Tomorrow, after Fingal wakes, I will get to the bottom of this. If ye aren’t too busy tending my brother, I will take ye down now for the evening meal. Don’t speak of this to anyone.”

Katherine said no more. During the meal Niall knew by his people’s reactions his unusually short-temper was clearly apparent. Katherine remained subdued and quieter than normal.
Fine,
everyone will assume we are arguing and there will be nothing to explain
. As soon as dinner was over, Niall offered his apologies to Malcolm and Eithne, retiring with Katherine. On their way up the stairs, Katherine said, “I would like to check on—”

“Fingal?” Niall said sharply, “Don’t ye think ye have offered him enough comfort for one day?”

Katherine folded her hands in front of her and took a deep breath before saying with a controlled, calm voice, “Niall, I would like to check on
our son
before we retire. It is not necessary for me to check on Fingal. His wound is not serious. I’m not sure what I’ve done to anger ye, but I have not seen Fingal since I stitched him up this afternoon. As soon as I bandaged his wound, I gave instructions to Turcuil and Edna to look after him. I have not been back since then. If anything goes awry, they will let me know.”