Page 112 of Claimed by a Highlander
Rory reached them a moment later, leaped off his horse, and knelt on the lad’s other side. When the boy opened his eyes, relief washed over him.
“I’m all right,” the lad said, and started to sit up.
“Wait.” Rory held him down while he ran his hands over the boy searching for broken bones or other injuries, then he signaled to Malcolm. “I don’t see anything serious, but take him back to the castle and have Grizel take a look at him just to be sure.”
Sybil appeared to have taken the fall much harder than the boy. She was shaking and pale as death.
“You’re riding with me.” He took her arm and helped her to her feet. “I’m sure the lad will be fine.”
An hour after he left her with Grizel and the boy in one of the upstairs chambers, he returned to find the two women alone.
“Where’s the lad?” he asked.
“He was only bruised, so I let him go,” Grizel said. “Lucky for him, he’s blessed with a hard head, like his father.”
Rory let that pass. “He’s all right, then?”
“Oh, aye,” she said. “If he’s anything like you were, he’ll get himself into more trouble in no time.”
Why did everyone assume the lad was his?
“How many times did I bind your wounds?” Grizel shook her head and started for the door. “I’d best refresh my supplies now that he’s living here.”
Sybil still looked shaken.
“Grizel is a good healer,” Rory said, resting his hands on her shoulders. “If she says the lad is all right, he is.”
“That’s not what concerns me,” Sybil said. “What about the next time?”
“I’ll make certain he has a gentler pony until he learns to ride better.”
“Kenneth is a good rider,” Sybil said, “and there’s nothing wrong with that pony.”
“Nothing wrong with it? The men guarding you told me it reared and spun, trying to toss the lad off before it bolted.”
“I know horses,” she said. “That pony is sweet-tempered. Something made him go mad.”
“Anything could have spooked him.” Rory shrugged. “Perhaps a hare jumped in front of him.”
“A hare would not make the pony behave likethat,” she said.
“Speak plainly.” There was something more to this, something she was not saying. “What do ye believe it was?”
“What I don’t believe is that it was an accident,” she said. “Someone wanted to harm Kenneth.”
“I selected the men who were guarding the two of ye myself,” Rory said. “If ye accuse them, ye accuse me.”
“Of course I don’t believe ye would hurt a child,” she said. “At least not on purpose.”
“Hmmph.” She seemed determined to insult him.
“You’ve made it clear to your men that ye never intend to claim Kenneth and that ye don’t want him here,” she said. “Perhaps one of them hoped to gain your favor by solving the problem for ye.”
“They would never do that.”
“I’m not saying it was one of them, but don’t underestimate the power ye wield as chieftain,” she said, clenching her fists. “For young Kenneth’s safety, show your men that you accept him as your son. At the very least, behave as if ye might do it.”
“I am chief of the great Clan MacKenzie,” he said. “I’ll not allow the Grants to coerce me into claiming that lad as my son and heir.”
