Highland Champion (19 page)

“Hush, lass,” Ewan whispered in her ear. “This way is for the best. Liam can explain the way of it all later.”

All Keira could think of as Liam and Rauf began to fight was that the explanation had better be very good. Ewan started to remove his hand, but she placed hers over his to hold it in place. Even though she knew full well that crying out in any way as a man was engaged in a fight could dangerously distract him, Keira was not very confident that she could remain silent. She felt Ewan nod, revealing that he understood her concern.

Despite the fact that Liam was obviously suffering some pain in his leg, the fight was over very quickly. Rauf was good, but Liam was much, much better. No matter how good Liam was, however, Keira swore to herself that she would try her utmost never to watch him in a fight again. Her heart simply could not bear the strain.

Liam wiped his sword clean on Rauf’s jupon and sheathed it before moving toward Keira. His leg, having decided it could take no more abuse this day, buckled beneath him after only a few steps. He managed to catch himself just enough to be saved from the humiliation of sprawling gracelessly in the dirt. Liam managed a smile for Keira as she knelt by his side. Now that his fear and anger had eased, he was all too aware of the pain in the leg. He had pushed himself too hard and asked too much of it in the last few days.

When he had realized where Rauf was headed, Liam had felt terrified for Keira, but also for himself. He feared losing her, feared never hearing her laugh again, never hearing those soft murmurs and humming noises she made when her passion was running hot, and never knowing if she loved him. Ignoring all the advice to be calm, he had raced for the camp. Sigimor grabbing his reins had been what stopped him from loudly announcing his approach to his enemy. The only thing that had kept him from feeling utterly humiliated by his blind recklessness was the knowledge that both Sigimor and Ewan had suffered the feeling themselves and understood.

The stealth he had needed to reach Rauf before the man saw or heard him had been hard-won when he had seen how the man was trying to hurt Keira. Telling himself over and over again that she was alive was all that kept him moving slowly and silently. He even took a moment to start planning the lecture he would give Keira for not hiding and
for attacking a man a foot taller and several stone heavier than she was. Now, however, he could take his ease; rest his throbbing, overworked leg; and perhaps, bask a little in the warmth of her gratitude and praise for a job well done.

“Ye idiot!” Keira began to unlace his boots, terrified that he had damaged his leg in some way. “Your leg is barely a week healed, and ye are leaping about getting into sword fights.”

Concern for his well-being was almost as good, he told himself. Then he frowned. There was something wrong with her voice, and he did not think it was so soft and raspy because she was fighting tears.

“What has happened to your voice?” he asked.

Relieved from finding only a little swelling when she finally bared his shin, Keira replied, “Rauf decided to show me how easily he can strangle a wee lass with only one hand.”

She pushed away his hand when he attempted to look at her throat, hidden from his view by her hair. Studying Liam’s face, she saw all the signs that he was suffering badly. The least she could do for him after he had freed Ardgleann and saved her life was to take away his pain. She rubbed her hands together. That was obviously enough for him to guess what she planned to do for he grabbed both of her hands in his.

“Lass, we are nay alone,” he said quietly. “Ye risk your secret.”

“My brothers already ken it, and ye trust your kinsmen, dinnae ye?” He nodded, even though he still frowned. “And I think we can trust Meggie to keep a secret.” She smiled at the young girl who had moved to stand on the other side of Liam. “Ye will swear to keep what I do now a secret, aye, Meggie?”

“Aye,” Meggie agreed, “although if ye are talking about your healing gift, it isnae such a great secret here.”

“Duncan told ye?”

“Weel, he told a few people, nay everyone. Thought it a wondrous dowry. Said we shouldnae trouble ye about it though, because it weakens ye to use the gift.” Meggie frowned at Liam’s leg. “It doesnae look hurt.”

Shaking herself free of the shock of knowing her secret was not such a secret anymore, Keira said, “I cannae heal with a touch, Meggie. I can take away pain and sometimes see with my hands what ails a person.”

“’Tis still a wondrous gift”

“Thank ye. I would still prefer that it doesnae get talked about too much. Some dinnae see it as a gift.” Keira took a deep breath to steady herself, closed her eyes, and placed her hands on Liam’s leg.

Liam felt her hands start to work their magic. He softly ordered Keira’s brothers to try and find some food and drink, cider, honey, and bread being the preferred choice. Since Keira often carried such things with her, he told them to check her saddle packs first. Then he sat at the ready to catch her when she was finished, carefully planning all he would say to aid her in ridding herself of the pain she was taking into her body.

No one spoke as Keira worked her magic. Her brothers were quick to hand her food and drink when she was done. Liam had to move quickly as well in order to grab himself a little of the bounty before she devoured it all. As soon as she was done, Liam held her close and whispered a tale of cool spring rains and fields of heather. When he felt her begin to relax, she murmured a very polite thank you and then slumped against
him, sound asleep.

“Does she always do that after she does her healing?” Meggie asked, finally breaking the silence.

“What? Eat like a starving piglet and then fall asleep?” Liam grinned when the girl nodded. “Aye. The healing steals her strength. She takes a lot of the pain into herself and must then try to make it go away. ’Tis a costly gift.”

Meggie slowly nodded. “Nay one she can use all the time. A good reason to keep it as secret as possible.”

“True.” Liam looked around the camp and realized someone had already tossed Rauf’s body over a horse. “I think Keira and I will finish the night here.”

“Aye, that might be best,” said Sigimor. “’Twill give us time to clear away the bodies.”

“And remove those poor souls from the walls?”

“That was already being done as we raced out of the keep.”

“Good.” Liam frowned at Artan as the man crouched by Keira and worked through her thick hair to expose her throat. “What is it?”

“Just wanted to see what damage that bastard did,” Artan replied. “It might need tending.”

Everyone cursed, including Meggie, when even in the dim firelight, the bruises upon Keira’s slim throat looked livid. Liam was sorry he had not just gutted Rauf, had allowed the man to die like the knight he never was, but he had been determined to do nothing that might raise questions concerning his possession of Ardgleann. He winced as Artan rubbed some salve on the bruises.

“Can she nay heal herself?” asked Meggie.

“Nay,” replied Liam, “but she obviously brought salve, and she will ken what she may take to soothe her throat.”

“Sir Ian and his men will nay doubt pass through to collect their horses and supplies,” said Sigimor. “I will tell him to make sure he gives ye fair warning. Let the lass have a goodly rest for her skills will be needed when she gets to Ardgleann. A few small wounds. Only two dead, and they were Sir Ian’s men. It was a good victory.”

Even as he murmured in agreement, Liam had to wonder how Sigimor had found the time to make that tally. The man never ceased to astonish him, Liam thought as he watched the others leave. As soon as he and Keira were alone, Liam carried her to their small shelter, undressed her, and tucked her into their rough bed. Just as he was about to join her there, Sir Ian and his men arrived. The man wished to discuss the battle and exchange words of gratitude, much to Liam’s dismay. The sun was beginning to rise before he was able to join Keira.

As he slipped beneath the blankets and pulled her into his arms, Liam breathed a sigh of relief. The last of his fear for her faded away as she snuggled against him, fitting her slim back perfectly against his front. He ached to make love to her, but he knew she needed her rest. He had the feeling Rauf had done a lot of damage to Ardgleann in the few months he had been there, and he knew Keira would want to restore as much as she could as quickly as she could.

“Liam, we arenae back at Ardgleann, are we?” Keira asked.

“Nay, love, we are still at the camp.” Sensing that she was more asleep than awake, he kissed her cheek. “Rest.”

“But there is such a lot of work to do.”

“Ye can start it later. It isnae going anywhere.”

“’Tis going to break my heart, isnae it?”

“Aye, I ken it might. But it and the keep will mend.”

Keira looked around the bailey of Ardgleann as she clung tightly to Liam’s hand. He had let her sleep for hours, and it was now past noon. Although he had been sleeping for most of that time as well, it did not make her feel any less guilty about it. The fact that she dreaded seeing the people of Ardgleann tasted too much like cowardice, and she feared it was one reason she had lost herself in sleep. She had the strongest urge to run back to the little shelter in the wood, but she fought it. Ardgleann was her home now, and it was her duty to cleanse it of Rauf’s stench and all the memories.

It did look as if a great deal of work had already been done outside. There was little sign of the battle that had been waged, but Rauf’s mark upon the place was still clear to see. He had had no true feeling for Ardgleann, and neither had his men. There would be many hard weeks of work ahead to clear away the filth and fix all those things that had suffered from careless or thoughtless, destructive hands.

“He was a pig,” murmured Liam. “’Tis sad, but it can be mended.”

“Aye.” She looked at the doors to the keep, thick, oaken doors covered in fine carvings. “They didnae hurt the doors.”

“They are good, thick doors by the look of it. Good for defense.”

“Of course.”

“Ye have to go inside sometime, love,” he said gently. “Best to get it over with.”

She nodded and, still holding his hand, entered the keep. It took only a moment for her to realize why the heavy doors had been left partly open. Months of rough men living like pigs left an odor. Keira feared some of that smell could also have come from the corpses left to rot upon the outer walls. She shivered and then stiffened her spine. That scourge was gone from Ardgleann now. There would be the loss of some beautiful things to grieve over, of that she had no doubt, but the lives lost were of far more importance. Ardgleann could be repaired and scrubbed clean. The dead could never be replaced.

“The great hall first, I think,” she said, and Liam led her to it.

Even as she took the few steps down into the great hall, Keira looked around in a mixture of shock and surprise. There were half a dozen women working hard to clear away the filthy rushes upon the floor and scrub everything clean. Some of the furniture had obviously been lost, but the elegant tapestries upon the walls looked as if they had not been damaged. When Joan led the women over to her, Keira tensed, unsure of her welcome.

“M’lady, we had hoped to have the great hall and mayhap a few other rooms cleaned ere ye came,” said Joan.

Relaxing a little when she saw only welcome upon the women’s faces, Keira said, “Ye didnae need to set to work so soon, Joan.” She could see bruises on several of the women, and she felt her heart clench with sorrow over how they must have suffered. “Ye need time to heal, to be with your families.”

“We are healing, m’lady,” Joan said firmly. “Getting rid of every sign of those pigs
is
healing to us.” All the women behind Joan vigorously nodded and muttered their agreement.

“Scrubbing this place down is one of the ways to do it,” said Claire, the laundress. The woman suddenly brushed at her skirts and patted her hair. “Is this the new laird then?”

A little stunned, Keira introduced Liam. She almost wept at the way he greeted
each woman as if she were the finest lady. As she watched him learn each one’s name, her place in Ardgleann, and even her family, she felt someone gently tug on her arm. She turned to look at Joan and let that woman pull her a few steps away from where Liam was working his magic.

“Dinnae look so sad, m’lady,” said Joan.

“But they have suffered so,” began Keira.

“Aye, they have, and there are some deep wounds that will be a long time healing. But dinnae ye see?
All
the women of Ardgleann have suffered. We give each other comfort and strength now, just as we did whilst we were trapped here. Aye, a few escaped, but verra few.”

“Are there many widows?”

Joan nodded and sighed. “Verra few of the men within the keep survived. The men of Ardgleann who did survive have welcomed their women back, and that was a fine thing. ’Twill come about, dinnae ye worry. We see it all as a trial by fire, and we survived.”

“I should have—”

“Done just as ye did. Run—far and fast. We all ken what that beast had planned for ye. He ranted about here for days about nay being able to do it. Ye came back, m’lady, and we were all surprised. Ye were a verra wee lass married to a sad, troubled mon for but a few months. We were naught to ye. Hadnae had time to be, had we? But ye came back with as fine a group of men as I have e’er seen and sent that demon straight to hell where he belongs.”

“Ye truly didnae expect me to come back?”

“Why should ye? Aye, and we feared ye had died since ye were so hurt and all on your own. From time to time, we hoped ye were alive and might think of a way to help us. We also hoped Sir Ian would see what a threat Moubray was and want to get rid of him. But, wheesht, we ne’er expected our hell to end in only a few months.”

Keira felt the guilt she had carried for so long begin to lift from her heart. Joan was saying what everyone else had tried to tell her time and time again. Since Joan had been one of the ones to suffer at Rauf’s hands, however, the woman’s words carried far more weight. Keira could be certain they were the truth, and not simply words of comfort.

“Your husband is a bonnie lad,” said Joan, “and my Malcolm says he is a good mon, too. Ye have brought us a fine laird.”

“Oh! Malcolm!” Keira grasped Joan by the hand. “I forgot to speak to Malcolm about his hand.”

“’Tis a sad thing.” Joan looked around to make sure no one was near enough to overhear her and added, “But ye do ken that it isnae his working hand. It pains him though, and I hope Moubray suffers a thousand torments in hell for that.”

“I looked at his hand, Joan. I think I can help him. It will probably ne’er be as it was, but I think I can make it better than it is, make it hurt him less.” She grimaced. “Unfortunately, I would have to cause him pain to do so.”

“What would ye need to do?”

“Break his fingers, and set them properly.” She nodded when Joan winced. “The pain and the way his hand has become crabbed like that is because the bones didnae heal right. It shouldnae be left too much longer though.”

Joan nodded. “Do it ere it sets wrong permanent like. Makes sense. I will speak
with him, m’lady. A quick pain that could end most of the constant pain sounds a good thing. If he says aye, I will find someone to do the breaking, and then ye can do the setting.”

“His hand would be near useless for six weeks or so.”

“’Tis near useless now, and I will be there to help him.”

Keira took a deep breath to steady her sinking courage. “I ken how ye all suffered here, and, weel, if any of ye find yourself with child and cannae bear to keep the bairn because it will remind ye too much of your torment, bring it to me.”

“Ye dinnae think the bairn will carry the taint of its sire?”

“No more than I believe that a raped woman getting with child means she had to be enjoying herself. Nay, just because the mon is a brute and does things so cruel it turns one’s stomach doesnae mean his child will be of the same ilk. Nay, if he doesnae have the raising of that child. I dinnae believe Rauf was mad either, and ’tis odd, but I find that makes it all the more chilling.”

“I ken what ye mean. He had more a sickness in the soul than in the mind. I will tell the women, but I think there willnae be too many bairns born of this, and e’en fewer who willnae be able to abide the child. Aye, especially when I tell them that what Moubray and his men were was a pack of wild dogs, but a pup can be trained to be a fine companion if treated with a loving hand. S’truth, ’twill be the men who will have the hardest time accepting a bairn born of this time.”

“M’lady! ’Tis good that ye have come!”

Turning to see Kester hurrying over to her, Keira started to smile until she saw the worried look upon his face. “What is it, Kester?” she asked as he stumbled up to her, Meggie close at his heels.

“’Tis Sir Archie,” Kester replied. “He has cracked his head again.”

“No one told me that he had been wounded during the battle.”

“A mon or two asked him if he was hurt, and he told them all that it was naught but a scratch, but I think his old wound has been opened. Two of Rauf’s men tried to escape through the room Sir Archie was guarding. One of the women was verra good at helping Sir Archie find his target, and the other mon was dealt with by the others hiding themselves inside Sir Archie’s chambers. But Sir Archie did take a blow to the head ere he dealt with that pig.”

“Where is he?” she asked as Liam stepped closer to her, listening carefully.

“In the wee bedchamber we were given when we first came here.”

“Weel, I wanted to get a good look at that wound, and I thought to open it to clean it. At least I dinnae have to do the opening of it” She looked around at all the work that needed doing. “Is he bleeding badly?”

“Go take care of the mon,” said Liam before Kester could answer. “I can start dealing with some of the work, although it appears that these ladies dinnae need much direction. Go. Meggie and Kester can help ye get what ye need. And ye may as weel look at who else is wounded at the same time.” When she still hesitated, he gave her a quick kiss. “Ye go and do what ye are so verra good at, and let me survey the damage. I may be just a mon, but I think I can tell what needs cleaning.”

Keira laughed softly and then went off with Kester and Meggie to help her gather what she would need to tend the wounded. Liam hated to think that any of those who had helped retake Ardgleann were suffering, but he
was
pleased that Keira would be
thoroughly caught up in healing people for a while. He wanted to confer with the women about what damage they had seen and what they felt needed to be done first. As soon as Keira had disappeared, he turned to talk to the women, only to find them all gathered together watching him.

“’Tis better if ye take an accounting, m’laird,” said Claire. “We didnae have a chance to ken the wee lass verra weel, but we do ken that she has a soft heart, and what that mon did here will grieve her sorely.”

Joan nodded. “And add to her guilt.” Joan looked at the other women. “Fool lass thinks she failed us by nay getting back here sooner.”

Liam listened to the women exclaim in surprise, and then Claire looked at him. “Dinnae worry, m’laird. We will soon shake that nonsense from her head. Now, will ye be needing something to tally or write with to record it all?”

“Aye, something to write with and on would be most helpful,” Liam replied, fighting to contain the delight he felt, for he was certain these women would indeed finally remove the burden of guilt Keira had carried for so long.

Claire hurried off to get him what he needed, and Joan said, “The kitchens are in no need of work. The men rarely stepped inside the room. We have also scrubbed clean a bedchamber for ye and our lady. There are three women up there now putting it back to rights.”

“I suspicion Rauf Moubray used the laird’s bedchamber.”

“Aye, he did, so we have cleaned the lady’s bedchamber for ye. None of the men slept in there as it was used by Rauf’s woman.” Joan nodded to a very fulsome brunette with world-weary brown eyes. “Hattie slept in there. When that demon asked who was the laird’s whore, she bravely stepped forward, kenning that the mon intended to act the laird here. She also taught us a few things that helped us survive, being as she has, weel, dealt with a lot of men in her life.” Joan blushed.

To Liam’s surprise, Hattie laughed, and the women quickly joined in. “Weel, Hattie, if ye e’er decide ye would like to stop dealing with men, just let me ken it.” He could tell by the widening of Hattie’s eyes that she understood him, and he suspected he would hear from her soon. “Are there any other people who need tending to?”

“I suspicion our lady will be seeing to that soon,” replied Joan. “Those two big lairds went right down into the dungeons to free the poor souls Rauf had put in there, and most of them will be with the few men wounded in the fight. The truly grim work is done. Those poor souls that pig hung from the walls have finally been put to rest Rauf and his men were stripped of all that was worth anything and were buried in a pit dug by your men and e’en a few of Sir Ian’s who lingered here for a wee while. So did the laird MacKay’s son Adam and his men. They all made quick work of it, and I fed them weel ere they left. When they saw what had been done here, weel, to a mon, the MacLeans and the MacKays were verra pleased that ye had come to rid this land of Moubray.”

Which meant that he would get no argument from his neighbors for claiming Ardgleann as his own because of his wife’s short marriage to Duncan MacKail, Liam thought. In one stroke, he had won lands and a fine keep and secured allies. It had all gone so well, he was sure it would be quite a while before he fully believed it. Claire returned, and Liam set his mind to making a list of what needed doing and what might need replacing. He was just settling into what had been Duncan MacKail’s ledger room, one thankfully used little by Rauf and his men, when Sigimor, Ewan, and Keira’s
brothers joined him.

“We will be leaving in the morning,” announced Sigimor as he leaned against the heavy worktable at which Liam sat.

“Ye ken that ye all have my hearty thanks,” said Liam.

“Aye, but we dinnae need them. This needed doing. Ye gaining this place just sweetens it all a wee bit more.”

“And we would have come because of Keira,” said Lucas. “We are verra pleased that we didnae have to fight for what was hers all by ourselves.”

“’Tis bad?” asked Ewan, glancing over the listing Liam had set in front of himself.

“Nay verra good,” replied Liam. “Ye were right about the feasting. The mon gave nary a thought to what would happen when he and his men had eaten everything. The people managed to save a few cows, sheep, and fowl, but ’twill be a long time ere we can replenish what was sacrificed to his gluttony.”

“We can help there. A few small contributions from each of us willnae leave any of us suffering, but they will help ye keep the wolves from the door come the winter.”