Time and Space (17 page)

“She is fine. You saved her.” Leave it to Cadence to worry about someone else when her own life hung in the balance.

Cadence sighed, closing her eyes. “Thank God. What of James and Kelley?”

“They are all fine. We suffered some losses, but won the day.”

At the next prick of the needle, Cadence screamed again, gritting her teeth and trying to breathe through the worst of it. “What of William? Did you find him?”

“The English bastard is here in the castle,” Fionn said darkly.

“Good, at least in the dungeon he can’t hurt anyone else.”

“Will you tell her Donnall or shall I?” Fionn sneered. “William is sitting ten feet away comforting my sister.” Fionn ground out through clenched teeth.

“Is Fee okay? Fianna?” Cadence called in a raspy voice.

“I am here.” Fianna stood and stumbled. Cadence saw a man grab her from behind keeping her from falling. “You should have some whiskey. My wound hurts not one bit.”

“I might need some. I don’t think I can take much more of the pain.”

“Grab my Cadence a tankard, Will.” Fianna sat on her brother’s knee and bent forward to press a kiss to her sweaty brow. “We are all here for you.”

“I guess there is something the English pig is good for after all.” Fionn raised an eyebrow, watching William grab the pitcher and a clean mug.

“Fionn, you cannot keep calling my hero a pig or a swine or a bastard. He might be English, but he saved the day.”

“Saved the day? He is the reason we almost lost the day! He is not your hero!” Fionn roared, his face turning an alarming shade of red.

“He most certainly is. Will saved me. Where were you when I required assistance?”

“I was fighting the other English dogs. Why were you in the middle of the battle when I commanded you to stay in the castle?”

“You are not the boss of me Fionn Ò Ciardha!” Fianna’s hands fisted on her hips and she wobbled a bit nearly falling off Fionn’s knee and onto the floor.

Cadence laughed and grimaced at the pain stabbing through her leg. “It’s my fault, Fionn. I saw Donnall in danger and wanted to help. The women followed me outside the castle walls.”

“You were told to stay inside the castle as well.” Fionn’s voice gentled.

“You can throw me in the dungeon as soon as my leg is stitched.” Cadence managed a small smile before crying out again.

“Here’s the whiskey. To your health, Cadence.” William handed the tankard to Donnall who slid his left arm under Cadence’s shoulders to lift her up to the mug.

“How do we know he did not poison it?” Fionn demanded.

“For fuck’s sake Fionn! I hardly think my brother carries around poison.”

“Enough bickering!” Islynn said. “Fionn go see your children. I am sure Jilly would welcome a visit from her Da. William, see Fianna to bed. The whiskey will wear off soon and she will begin to feel the effects of her injury. Come find me if she becomes feverish.”

“That swine is not going anywhere near-”

“Come along, Will.” Fianna held her arms out. Fionn wrapped his own more tightly around his sister’s middle.

“Come on, big fella.” Carter put a hand on Fionn’s shoulder. “Let’s get you cleaned up and then go see our babies. We can put them down for a nap in their own beds and then come back and check on Fianna and Cadence.”

“What if he hurts her?” Fionn asked in a small voice, his lower lip trembling slightly.

“If he puts a finger wrong, I shall stab him with my dagger. I was well trained and am quite vicious with a lethal blade.” Fianna tried to push off her brother’s knee when Fionn finally released her.

“Good luck with that, my pretty.” William easily lifted Fianna into his arms.  “You left your dagger on the battlefield.”

“You shall retrieve it for me,” Fianna declared.

William rolled his eyes. “Yes, my lady. Now point the way to your chamber.”

“I swear to the gods, Donnall, if he-”

“Don’t say it, Fionn. You might not be able to take it back later. Now let’s go.” Carter urged him out of his seat. “Send someone for us if you need help, Donnall.”

“Thank you, Carter.” Donnall was grateful for Carter’s support. He would need someone on his side if he had any chance of convincing Fionn to let William remain at Moone.

“He’ll calm down when he sees the kids.”

“If not, I’ll end up in the dungeon in the cell next to your sister.”

An hour later Cadence was tucked into her bed.  Donnall had done all he could to restrain her when she started screaming and fighting at every stitch. James and Kelley had to take over holding her down when it became too much for Donnall to handle.

Now here he was sitting at Cadence’s bedside where only twelve hours ago they’d been making love. In between pacing around the chamber he stopped to check her forehead, praying to the gods she would not become feverish.

He was completely worn out. Between the near sleepless night he’d spent with Cadence and the day battling the English, he was spent but he didn’t dare shut his eyes in case Cadence needed him.

Cadence loved him. It was the last thing she’d said before the pain carried her off into darkness while Islynn worked on her leg. In the grand scheme of things, today could have turned out much worse with the women taking it upon themselves to run out into the battle. Cadence and Fianna were the most seriously hurt. The left side of Mallory’s face was black and blue, but her jaw was not broken which was a blessing. She sat with Cadence while Islynn finished caring for her injury.

He brushed a hand down the side of her face. Her skin was paler than usual and dark circles ringed her eyes. “You were so brave today, my beauty. You must recover. I could not bear losing you.”

A knock at the door stopped his confession to Cadence. “Come.”

“Just wanted to see how Cadence was doing. May I come in?” William poked his head into the room.

“Come in. I’m glad you’ve not been shackled and taken to the dungeon.”

“It was a near thing when Fionn burst in to check on his sister and I was holding her delicate hand. How odd to see such a large man cuddling an infant while he yelled at me to get out.”

Donnall burst out laughing. After everything he’d been through this day, he couldn’t help it and let the laughter soothe his worries and fears. “That’s Fionn.”

William grabbed one of the chairs near the fireplace and moved it to the other side of Cadence’s bed. He sat with grunt. “You love each other like brothers.” It was a statement.

Donnall nodded, swiping at the tears his laughter brought on. “After father sent me here, Fionn took me under his wing. It didn’t matter to him that I was English. All that mattered was that I was his brother.”

“I am glad he’s your brother,” William said sadly. “Not a day went by that I did not think of you and wonder about your life.”

“I wondered the same thing as the years went by. How is Father?” As angry as he had been at his father for exiling him to Ireland, he still needed to know what had become of him.

“Father died about three years ago. According to Charles he dropped dead at dinner one evening. The doctor said it was his heart, which I found rather comical as he had no heart.”

Donnall nodded. He’d spent many lonely boyhood nights thinking the same thing. What kind of father sends his young child off to live among strangers simply because he looked like his mother? “What of Charles and Edward?” Edward was the third son and was two years older than Donnall.

“He was squired up north in Gloucestershire and stayed on as the man-at-arms. He writes occasionally, but I have not seen him since we were boys.”

“How did you end up serving in the Royal Army?” Even with Cadence fighting for her life, he was enjoying getting to know a bit more about William. He could only hope they’d have years to fill in the gaps of the time they’d missed.

“Father bought my commission and off I went at sixteen.”

Donnall had thought as much. “What is next for you?”

“I would like to stay on at Moone with you, unless of course Fionn has me run through, hanged, then drawn and quartered.”

“It’s likely I’ll be up on the scaffold alongside you. I’ve never seen Fionn this angry, unless he’s squabbling with Carter.”

“I take it Fionn and Carter are uhh, lovers?”

Donnall nodded. “They were bound in a handfasting ceremony yesterday.” Was it only yesterday he was standing up for Fionn at his wedding? It seemed years ago.

“Interesting. Well, live and let live, I always say.”

“Not for you, pig,” Fionn spat from the door.

“I know you want to kill us both, Fionn, but could you wait until Cadence is feeling better?” Donnall was dog-tired and Fionn yelling insults at William every chance he got wasn’t helping.

“How is she doing?” Fionn shut the door behind him and came to stand near the bed.

“She’s restless, tossing and turning and fighting in her sleep. Her skin is so pale and grey. Fionn, what am I going to do if she-”

Fionn set a hand on Donnall’s shoulder. “Do not speak like that. She is strong. She will make it.”

“She loves me.” Donnall barked a harsh laugh. “Can you fathom that? My beauty loves me.” Donnall sank his head into his hands.

“I felt the same way when Carter confessed his feelings for me.” Fionn shot an assessing look at William.

“I hear congratulations are in order, Fionn.”  William grinned.

Fionn growled in response. “What I was trying to say before I was interrupted, was that it feels miraculous every time Carter tells me of his love.”

Donnall nodded. “Are you going to kill my brother?”

Fionn’s lips quirked before he cleared his throat and turned to William. “Why did your
king
want Moone Castle attacked?”

William raked a hand through his hair. “Henry is looking to take as much land as possible. Moone is not the only Irish castle on his agenda.”

“Of course he is. English pig.” Fionn’s eyes narrowed. “Were you sent here because of your ties to Donnall?”

“No one outside my family knows Donnall is my brother. My heart broke when I was ordered to bring my men here.” William exchanged a sad look with Donnall.

“Why did you not refuse?” Fionn crossed his arms over his broad chest and gave William a weary look.

“Fionn, you know that’s not how it works.” Donnall sighed, tucking the blankets more closely around Cadence.

“I would have been thrown in the Tower of London for refusing. I was determined to come here and do my duty, until I saw Robert attacking your sister.” William stopped and shook his head as if to clear it.

“What has my sister to do with you turning traitor?” Fionn’s tone held a hint of curiosity.

“You can’t be angry at him for turning to our side,” Donnall spoke up.

Fionn raised an eyebrow at Donnall and turned back to William.

“I did not know she was your sister at the time. I trained my men to fight with honor and dignity. To see Robert acting a coward by attacking a woman was more than I could bear.”

“Several of your men attacked our women. I am told Cadence was injured defending one of our archers from another of your men,” Fionn challenged.

“I was told the same thing. Those men are the real swine.” William raked a hand through his short blond hair again. “Fionn, I promised my brother on the day he was sent to Ireland that I would find him. Now that I have, I do not want to be parted from him again. In truth, he is the only real family I have left.”

“What of your king?” Fionn fairly spat the last word.

“I hold no allegiance to Henry.  He is power mad and land hungry. He will continue to send me and my men to do his bidding until we die in battle and then he will replace us as easily as he would replace a soiled napkin.”

“Will he send more men to attack Moone when it is found you have turned traitor?”

Donnall could see where Fionn was coming from. He couldn’t allow William to stay if it meant putting Moone and her people in danger. He wasn’t sure how many men they had lost today, but this battle coming closely on the heels of the fight against the McRoths had pushed the men to their limits. Another battle could topple Moone’s already weakened defenses.

“No one will know I’ve turned traitor,” William said quietly, seeming to hate the way the word “traitor” felt on his lips.

“How is that possible?” Fionn demanded.

“Simple, you will tell what’s left of my army that you killed me.” William grinned widely. “I should think you will enjoy that.”

Donnall looked up at Fionn. It might just work, but nothing was to say the English wouldn’t try again to take the castle.

“I will think on it. For now, I have ordered a room be made ready for you on the opposite side of the castle. My men will be assigned to your door and you will need their permission to move about the castle.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh, Fionn?”

“I do not, Donnall,” William answered before Fionn could say anything. “I agree to your conditions Fionn and hope that you will allow me to visit with your sister.”