Highlander Betrayed (Guardians of the Targe) by Laurin Wittig Read Free Book Online Page B

cousin asked?”
    Scotia glanced at Rowan with a look that seemed to ask for help. Rowan shifted on the bench, searching for a way to explain without actually lying.
    “Be still, Ro. Scotia, go and fetch another kirtle for Rowan. This one”—Jeanette indicated the bloodstained one lying on the floor at Rowan’s feet—“will have to be mended and cleaned, though I know not if the blood will come out.”
    Scotia didn’t say anything but she did have the grace to mouth “my thanks” to both of them as she slid off the bed and made for the chamber door.
    “Are you done?” Rowan asked Jeanette.
    “Nay.” She reached into the basket that sat by her feet and pulled out a small glass vessel. An oiled leather scrap was secured with a thong about the wide neck. She opened it and the sharp scent of vinegar mixed with something herbal made Rowan wrinkle her nose. Jeanette slathered some of the salve over the wound. As soon as the salve touched it, a hiss escaped Rowan’s lips.
    “That burns!”
    “Aye, but auld Morven swears it keeps a wound from festering. Hold still.” She blew on the cut and a cooling sensation radiated from the salve, dampening the pain. “Better?”
    Rowan nodded. “Now can I dress?”
    Jeanette chuckled. “I need to put a dressing over it first.” Minutes later Jeanette had covered her work with a fresh linen pad and wrapped a long length of more linen tightly about Rowan’s ribs to hold it in place.
    Scotia came back into the room, a kirtle hung over her arm. Jeanette glanced at their mother, who had drifted into one of her many naps.
    “You should be ashamed of yourself, Scotia,” Jeanette said quietly, taking the undergarment from her and handing it to Rowan. “ ’Tis bad enough to ignore your duty to your mother, but to put Rowan and that stranger in peril, too.” She shook her head at her sister. “What were you thinking?”
    The stubborn glint was back in Scotia’s eyes as she glared at Jeanette. “I did not ken the wall was about to collapse. How should I ken such a thing?”
    The moment the wall had started to fall was etched in Rowan’s memory… a memory that included a terrible headache that had plagued her up until that very moment.
    And then it had ceased, leaving only the echo of it behind.
    Another memory tickled her mind, flitting just out of reach—a terrible headache, a wall falling—but she couldn’t grab the memory and pull it close.
    A shiver sent goose bumps over her flesh.
    “You’d have likely been crushed beneath the stones if Rowan hadn’t come in search of you.” Jeanette was wagging a finger, scolding Scotia, something they all seemed to do more and more of these days.
    Scotia stared at her for a long moment, then huffed and quickly climbed back on the bed next to her mother, whose eyelids flickered open. “And Rowan would have never had cause to be rescued by such a braw man as Nicholas of Achnamara if she had not needed to come find me.” The girl smiled like she’d eaten something sweet.
    Rowan’s face and the rest of her body went hot, except for the oddly still chilled wound. “Do you think Uncle Kenneth will let him stay?”
    Elspet’s face went from sleepy to serious. “He helped you and Scotia. I expect he will be allowed to bide a while at least, though it will depend upon what impression he makes upon the chief.”
    Rowan had a strong impression of Nicholas of Achnamara. He was a stranger, yet he’d done a service to the clan this day. Surely that spoke to his character. And then there was the fact that he was a strong man who looked able to wield a sword or an ax in defense of the clan. Saints and angels, they needed men for that. But there was still the lingering question of why he had been there just when-the wall fell. Where had he come from? She tried to hang on to her doubts about him, to ignore the memory of him holding her hand, tucking her hair behind her ear. When he touched her, she’d gone breathless in a way that had