Page 117 of Claimed by a Highlander
“Water that cold takes a toll,” Rory said, pretending calm as he raced down the path. “We can’t have ye slip and fall into the river again, now can we?”
“I didn’t fall,” the lad murmured.
His head lolled against Rory’s chest, and his breathing was dangerously shallow. Panic choked Rory as he ran faster and faster to save his son.
CHAPTER 42
Sybil left her drawings on her table and went to look out the window again. As long as Kenneth was with Rory, she knew he would be safe, but she was anxious to hear how their outing had gone. She should not have pushed Rory so hard to accept the boy. Left alone, he would come to it in his own time.
She regretted her harsh words even more. She had blurted out the hateful words because she had been so frightened after Kenneth was thrown from his horse. Perhaps she was wrong about that too, and it was only an accident.
The breath left her lungs when she saw Rory come through the gate at a dead run. He was stark naked, his hair was streaming wet, and his leg was covered in blood. A moment passed before she noticed he was holding something wrapped in his plaid.
Oh, Mary, Mother of God,it was Kenneth.
She ran down the stairs to the hall screaming for help. The next hour was a blur. Grizel took charge, ordering Rory to take Kenneth to an upstairs chamber, sending a servant to fetch her bag of medicinal herbs and ointments, and directing others to build up the fire and bring extra blankets. Then she shooed everyone but Sybil out of the room.
“Comfort him while I work,” Grizel ordered.
Sybil held Kenneth’s hand and spoke softly to him while the older woman mixed a salve and applied it with quick, practiced hands to the countless cuts and scratches covering the lad’s body. She gave Sybil a worried look as she wrapped a strip of clean linen over the deep gash on Kenneth’s forehead. The boy was pale and too quiet.
“There’s nothing more we can do for him now,” Grizel whispered after they got a tincture down his throat. “Go fetch your husband so I can see to him. That looked like a bad cut on his leg.”
Sybil wiped her forehead and tried to calm herself before opening their chamber door. Rory was pacing when she entered but came to an abrupt halt. He had put on a léine, the knee-length shirt Highlanders wore, but his skin was still damp beneath it.
“How is Kenneth?” Rory asked.
“Grizel has done what she can and says he’s in God’s hands now.” Sybil looked down at the long jagged cut on his leg that tore open the newly-healed arrow hole. “She wants to bind your wound.”
“That can wait.” He made an impatient wave of his hand. “She must give all her attention to the lad.”
Something caught Sybil’s eye, and she turned to see that Rory had found the sketches she left on her table and spread them out over the bed.
“You’ve a talent for drawing.” He picked up a sheet on which she’d drawn several side-by-side images of Rory and Kenneth and shook his head. “I’ve been so blind.”
“So ye see the likeness now?” Hope stirred inside her.
“I can see it now.” He turned and met her gaze. “But I felt it in my heart first when I carried him in my arms.”
Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “I’m so glad.”
“You were right all along,” he said. “I’m sorry I’ve been so blockheaded—and not just about the lad. Can ye forgive me?”
She stepped into his arms and rested her head against his chest. “If you can forgive me as well.”
“I love ye so much,” he said against her hair. “Promise ye won’t leave me.”
“I won’t,” she said. “Not ever.”
Before they could say anything else, Grizel poked her head through the doorway. Sybil held her breath, fearing Kenneth had taken a turn for the worse.
“Perhaps the laird will let me take care of his wound now,” Grizel said, a smile playing on her lips. “The lad’s alert and hungry. God be praised!”
Sybil and Rory rushed past her and up the stairs to the chamber above. Though Kenneth had cuts and bruises on his face and arms, he was sitting up propped by pillows. Malcolm, who had come into the room since Sybil left, gave her his chair next to the bed.
Sybil smiled at Kenneth and squeezed his hand. “How are ye feeling?”
“I’m starving.”
