Love's Magic (37 page)

“I wish I knew! My first thought was poison. But nobody is around her but Shy Sally, me, and now you—and nobody but me prepares her broth. It must be something inside her that is causing this distress.”

Viola’s voice broke on a sob. “Would that I could do more!”

Celestia felt horrible for her maid, and she tried so hard to get past the pain of breathing. Her lungs were on fire, and her limbs ached so that she would have cut them off, if she could but move.

“And where is Sir Nicholas? Surely Forrester has found him by now?” Celestia heard Viola’s question end on a cry, and then she heard footsteps run from the chamber.

Sir Geoffrey’s clomping strides followed the maid from the room, and Celestia knew a subconscious fear as she was left without her protectors.

Soft dainty footsteps stopped by the side of her bed.

Celestia wished she could see, as well as hear, however her senses were heightened and she could tell that whoever this was, they meant her harm.

Poison?

“Open,” the voice urged, pinching the doll-like Celestia’s mouth. The spiritual Celestia screamed and yelled for help, to no avail. Then the burning pain rushed through her body, numbing her and sending her back to the safe place amongst the sky.

“Ye can’t stay here.”

“Why not?” Celestia alternated between floating on clouds of white, or dodging bolts of lightning and fierce rain. Little by little she released her connection to her body, spending more time in spirit.

She was resting on a puffy cloud, contemplating absolutely nothing, when the Lady Esmerada said, “’Tis time for ye to return, lassie.”

Celestia yawned. “Nay. I don’t wish to go back. It pains me too much! I would stay here and sleep.”

“Yer
Mathair
and
Athair
are waiting for you.”

“Who?”

“Yer sisters are there, too.”

Celestia opened her blue eye. “Why have they come all of the way to Falcon Keep?”

“For you. They are worried. Ye must go.”

Struggling to get out of the soft cloud, she asked, “They are worried? What is the matter?”

Lady Esmerada smiled kindly. “Why don’t ye go and see?”

Without thought, Celestia returned to her body.

Every nerve ending screeched with pain. “Nay! You tricked me! I don’t want to go back.”

Shaking her head with sadness, Lady Esmerada said, “Ye must. Nicholas needs ye, as does yer family.” She lay quiet. “Nicholas?” Nicholas!

“I may not have the special healing gifts that you and Celestia share, but I know that my daughter needs me, Mam. Move along, please, sir knight—where is she?”

Celestia heard her mother’s strident voice carrying across the keep. She heard poor Gram sputtering and imagined the chaos of her family arriving in one large untidy heap. Her heart filled, but she still could not move. Willing to risk the pain, all she did was hurt herself each time she tried to regain possession of her flesh.

“Viola?” Celestia heard her grandmother ask. “Why are you lying over Celestia?”

Deirdre burst into tears. “Mother’s here, darling girl …” Galiana sniffed. “It smells in here.”

“Who has been giving Celestia poison?” Ela asked. “Her aura is grayish brown—she is
dying!
”

It sounded as if Lady Evianne dropped to her knees in front of Ela. “What do you see? Tell me.”

Frustrated, Celestia could only hear the pain in her youngest sister’s voice. “Grayish brown, like the undersides of toadstool … ‘Tis poison! Save her, Gram.”

Lady Evianne said, “Viola, are you sleeping, what is the matter with you, girl?”

Celestia wished she could burst free of her cage. If Viola was injured, she’d—she’d—what?

Thankfully, Viola’s sleepy voice came to Celestia like music. “I went to the kitchens for but a moment. When I returned, Maude was placing a powder beneath Lady Celestia’s tongue. I pushed her, but Grainne Kat hit me over the head with her walking stick. I tried to stop them, I did!”

“A powder?” Evianne bent her head and opened Celestia’s mouth. She sniffed. “An Amanita mushroom. It causes deep sleep and paralysis of the limbs, until finally the victim dies.” She snapped her fingers. “Galiana, gather my herb basket from my horse. Henry—bring me a pot of boiled water. The belladonna can save her.”

Deirdre gasped. “But that is another poison.”

Lady Evianne said, “Aye, but it may be the only way she will live.”

Chapter
Twenty

L
ady Evianne forced more of the belladonna concoction between Celestia’s lips. Deirdre smoothed her daughter’s hair away from her face.

“She’s so hot, Mam. Should she be so hot?”

“Aye, and soon she should be retching.” Celestia vaguely heard this, but she was so miserable she couldn’t concentrate.

“Be ready. ‘Tis the best thing for her. Did ye send Forrester for goat’s milk in the village? And Geoffrey to Grainne Kat and Maude’s?”

Deirdre trickled cool water over Celestia’s wrists. “Forrester never returned from trying to find Nicholas, but Geoffrey is on his way for the milk. I feel so hopeless! If you could not save her with all of your healing power, then what chance has she of fighting this alone?”

“I think that Maude must have been watching for any moment when Viola had her back turned. It would take less than a blink of an eye to dab some of the powder beneath her tongue. I think that my healing gifts may have helped Celestia fight the poison if we’d gotten here sooner, but who knows how much, or how often, Maude has given it to her?”

Lord Robert stomped into the room. “Evianne, I have many questions, and I know that now is not a good time to ask them. But answer this—where in the hell is her husband?”

Celestia squirmed, or tried to, as her belly rolled back and forth. Her stomach was fighting the impending nausea, but she had a horrible feeling it was going to lose.

Viola said, “He left on a holy pilgrimage to Spain.”

“What?” Lord Robert bellowed. “He left my ‘Tia alone with a group of knights barely old enough to shave? Bess is dead; no one ever found her murderer. Celestia has been accused of witchcraft, and he leaves? Selfish bastard!”

“It seems as if you’ve found someone to tell you what is happening,” Deirdre said dryly.

Her father gave a loud huff. “Forrester. Nice boy. Half in love with our ‘Tia, if I don’t miss me guess. That is who she should have married!”

“She never wanted to marry at all, remember?” Deirdre put her hand on Celestia’s wrist, and the cool press of her mother’s fingers was a balm. “We should have moved back to Wales, Robert. What have we done?”

Lord Robert yelled, “If I ever see that low-down knave again, I’ll kill him with my bare hands!”

“Lord Robert?”

Celestia quieted for a tiny instant. Was that Nicholas’s voice?

“Lord Robert! When did you arrive?” Nicholas asked. “You!” her father bellowed.

Helpless, Celestia heard the crunching sound of her father planting his fist in her husband’s face.

Nicholas rocked back on his feet, the welcoming smile gone as blood dripped from his nose. “What in God’s mercy did you do that for?”

Lord Robert faced him, his fists cocked to hit him again. “I’ll tell ye why—did I or did I not warn ye to take good care of my Celestia?”

Nicholas nodded, “Aye.”

“Well, she’s lying on death’s door from being poisoned, and where the devil were you? Gallivanting around the world with a finger bone?”

Nicholas felt the blood drain from more than his nose. The room swayed. “Celestia is hurt?”

“Maybe dying! Are ye deaf?”

Lady Deirdre stood on shaking legs. “This is a sickroom—take your fighting outside, but I’ll not have it here, Robert Montehue.”

Lady Evianne broke in with a calm voice that reminded him of Celestia soothing her patients. “Lord Nicholas, you can’t have gone to Spain and back.”

Looking around the small sewing room they’d turned into a sickroom, his gaze found his wife.

She looked dead already, and his stomach hitched.

Nicholas watched as Evianne dropped liquid between Celestia’s still lips. Deirdre was radiating fury, Robert was beyond reason, and Viola—she sat in the corner wringing her hands. His eyes went back to Celestia and then he saw no other.

He dropped to his knees and knelt by the bed. “What are you doing to her?” His voice was a mere whisper, but it resonated with anguish. “Why can you not heal her? With the magic in your hands?”

“So you believe, do you?” Evianne looked up after putting the last drop of the belladonna antidote inside Celestia’s mouth. “She had a bad fall down the north tower stairs, breaking her arm and her ankle. Grainne and Maude have been feeding her poison from an amanita mushroom. It causes delirium and prostration, resulting in death.”

Nicholas, desperate for answers, asked, “She’s a healer, why can’t she heal herself?”

“Because, you oaf,” Deirdre smacked him on the arm, “she loves you, and yet you don’t love her. In our family, unrequited love for a healer means that the she loses her powerful gifts. That is why our family has a special marital dispensation.”

Nicholas held Celestia’s delicate hand in his. “She never said anything. All the time I was talking about what I lost, and yet she never mentioned what she risked by giving her heart to me. She can’t die, she can’t.”

Raising her weary head, Lady Evianne asked the obvious question, “And why is that?”

“I love her.” Nicholas bowed his head against the sheet.

“And is that why you came back?”

Nicholas brought Celestia’s hand to his lips and kissed each pale knuckle. “I should have ridden faster, hell, I never should have gone. I was selfish, and couldn’t think past my own hurt. I cannot lose her now, Lady Evianne, not when I know how much she means to me.”

Lady Evianne sighed, then rose to her feet, stretching her sore back along the way. “I would love to hear your story, Nicholas. But I am afraid we don’t have time. Deirdre, hand me the bucket. The purging should begin soon.”

Nicholas shrugged helplessly. “What would you have me do?”

Evianne grinned, some of her old spark still left. “Hold the bucket, me lord.”

At the sound of snickering, Deirdre looked at the doorway and clasped her hand over her mouth. “Ned? Ed? What are you boys doing here? If ye’ve run away from the baron, you’ll ruin your chances for knighthood! Scamps, come here, boys.”

She raced forward, enveloping her twins in a hug.

“Your sister did not sacrifice herself in marriage to this,” Lord Robert pointed at Nicholas with a grimace, “
imbecile
for you to ruin it all by running away. What were ye thinkin’, boys?”

Ned poked his head free from Deirdre’s embrace. “We didn’t, Father.”

Ed’s head appeared on the other side. “We swear.”

“As soon as ye quit hiding behind your mother’s skirts, I’ll beat ye for lying.”

Nicholas glanced over from where he held onto Celestia’s hand. “They aren’t lying, Lord Robert. They are to be trained in this keep, under my tutelage, through knighthood.”

Lord Robert thundered, “I’ll not have it!”

Deirdre smiled delightedly. “Ye’ll be with your sister, then. How wonderful.”

“Did you forget, Deirdre, that Celestia may be dying?” Lady Evianne scowled, and Nicholas wondered at how they all managed to hear
without
yelling.

Deirdre ran back to the bed, taking her place next to Nicholas.

“Her color is changing,” Ela warned. “Grab your bucket!”

The Montehues, and a single Le Blanc knight, spent the night and all the following day crying, praying, and washing pails.

Nicholas was tired, but his body was used to going without sleep. The twins were so exhausted that they’d fallen asleep on the floor of the chamber. He’d sent Viola to bed hours before.

He and the Lady Evianne maintained the vigil, and finally she sat back.

“The fever is gone, she is cool to the touch. The clear mint broth should soothe her stomach. What say you, Nicholas? Are you ready for sleep?”

“I will stay here, if you don’t object.”

“She is your wife, Nicholas. How could I tell you nay?”

Nicholas chuckled, rubbing the pad of his thumb over Celestia’s knuckles. “I’ve noticed that your family is protective of one another, and a mite bossy and loud if you think you are right. If you felt like forcing me out of this room, you would try.” He attempted a smile. “Though I’d not go.”

Evianne laughed and Deirdre, whom he’d thought asleep, reached over and patted him on the head.

“Wake up,” Deirdre said to Robert, who was snoring in the corner, both boys at his feet. “At least long enough so that ye don’t break yer necks on the stairs.”

Robert stood, tripping over a twin. “Is she?”

“She lives, and is sleeping peacefully.” Nicholas heard the catch in Deirdre’s voice and his heart skipped.

Robert turned to his youngest daughter for confirmation. “What color do ye see, Ela?”

Ela smothered a yawn. “Light blue, Father. For Nicholas, too.”

He looked at Deirdre. “Is that good?”

“Excellent.” She shook Galiana’s shoulder. “She is going to be just fine, Gali.”

Galiana burst into tears. “It was the comfrey cream, with the merest hint of orange,” she sniffed.

The melee died down, and Nicholas found himself alone with his wife. His last sight of her had been at the window, after she’d hit him in the head with his knapsack. Smoothing her hair over the pillow, Nicholas whispered, “I want my warrior back.”

He wanted her to stand up to him and fight with him and love him. She looked more fragile than ever, her body wan and fleshless. He traced her eyebrows, wanting to memorize every curve of her face.

“I almost lost you,” he told her, as if she didn’t know. “Not for so long as I live will I forget how close to the brink of death you tottered. You scared me, Celestia.” In truth, there had been a moment when he’d thought she’d left them forever.

He stroked her cheeks, and was pleased with the healthy pink that bloomed beneath his touch. “I am glad that you returned to us; I don’t know how I would have borne it if you hadn’t.”

Bowing his head, he sent his thanks.

“I love you Celestia Montehue. I love you with all of my heart.”

He turned from the bed, determined to do what was right by her. He would offer her the choice of an annulment. She had no reason to stay wed, unless she truly loved him. His father had given the Montehue family the land without obligation; he had opted to foster the twins through knighthood. She would not lose her healing gifts, as he loved her dearly. He had removed every threat.

He hoped that he had the strength to endure if she told him good-bye.

Celestia opened her eyes, uncertain as to where she was. She felt disconcerted, separate from herself. Turning her head, she carefully kept her body still and wiggled her toes. They moved. “Nicholas?”

“Nay, daughter. ‘Tis just your old father, come all the way from Montehue to save your life.”

She giggled. “What are you saying?”

Lord Robert pulled his stool closer to the bed and gently touched her cheek. “I am saying, ‘Tia, that it is a beautiful day.”

She lifted her hand, which shook with weakness. “Are you crying, Father?”

Lord Robert cleared his throat, clutching her hand between his two large palms. “Pah! Men don’t cry, girl—ye know that—damned dusty keep, this is. Henry tells me you’ve had trouble with the servants. Tell me that you’re miserable, and I will take ye home.”

Celestia shook her head, confused.

“’Tia! You are finally awake. What took you so long? It has been a day since you began sleeping peaceful. We’ve all been walking on eggshells, but I was tempted to pinch ye awake.”

Ela plopped down on the side of the bed while Celestia tried her hardest to remember what they were all talking about.

Her mother and Gram entered the room next. Deirdre kissed her daughter’s forehead and then helped her to sit up. She plumped the pillows behind her, and then did it again.

“What is wrong with all of you? You act like I am dying.” Celestia’s smile faded as she remembered her father’s watery eyes. “How could I be dying?”

“You’re not—not anymore. You were poisoned.”

“Ela!” Celestia had a horrible memory of burning pain and helplessness.

“It is the truth, ask Mam.”

Celestia looked to her mother, who nodded in confirmation.

She felt sick for all of one heartbeat before exploding, “Will someone kindly tell me what bloody happened?”

Galiana ran to the doorway, her hand over her heart. “I knew you would be better soon, and now you’re yelling just like before.” She grinned happily. “You’ve got your temper back. I hate to admit this, ‘Tia, but I missed it.”