Chapter 20
Eileen held onto Archer with all her strength, which was slowly slipping from her with the lateness of the hour and the weakness she felt at being her brother like that.
She was grateful to hear his breathing, for it reminded her that he was alive, but each breath sounded laced with pain, and there was nothing she could do to ease it.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stem the flow of tears, but they wouldn’t stop. Happiness and sadness mixed together and overflowed from her body, spilling out and running down her cheek.
She felt something shift in Archer when she’d called him a good man. He was a good man and a great laird to his people, but she could tell he didn’t fully believe that.
Something clearly haunted him.
It hadn’t escaped her notice that he never spoke about his father, and she wondered if it was connected to his death.
It’s nae me place to ask him about that. If we were to be married proper, I’d want to ken, to help him, but I’ll be gone soon. I shouldnae meddle.
Still, her father had passed three years ago, and she knew something of the hurt he was feeling.
Reid suddenly coughed, sounding like a wild animal. Eileen almost fell over—she would have if Archer hadn’t been holding her. She struggled from Archer’s grasp and reached out as her brother convulsed, his chest expanding and the bandages becoming redder.
“Nay,” Archer uttered, pulling her hand back. “Let the healer do her thing.”
Eileen struggled against him, but he was far too strong for her. She could only watch as the healer pressed a hand to Reid’s shoulder, pushed him down onto the bed, and then poured a black liquid down his throat.
Read coughed and spluttered as the healer held his mouth shut. Eileen ached to run to the bed and push the healer away from her brother, but she was helpless in Archer’s arms.
“She’s helpin’ him,” Archer reminded her. “She’s helped many of the men here. She kens what she’s doin’.”
The tears came again, blurring her vision as the shape of the healer hovered over Reid before straightening up.
“He needs his rest,” the healer insisted.
Reid’s breathing slowed a little, but there was still a wheeze in every inhale.
“I’m nae goin’ anywhere,” Eileen declared.
“We’ll sleep in the chair,” Archer said, nodding toward the corner of the room.
The healer offered a tight smile. “I’ll bring some blankets.”
“Thank ye,” Archer said.
He led Eileen over to the corner of the room, where he sat down first and then pulled her onto his lap. The healer’s chambers were colder than his bedroom, but as soon as Eileen was on his lap, warmth seeped into her. She listened to her brother breathe, making sure he was still alive.
Reid looked more relaxed in his sleep after whatever the healer had given him.
The healer returned with a blanket and handed it to Archer, who then urged, “Ye need some sleep. Ye’ll want yer strength for when he wakes up.”
“I cannae sleep at a time like this,” Eileen mumbled.
“Ye must try,” he insisted.
Eileen watched her brother for a moment before she lay back a little. Archer spread out the blanket and pulled it over them. Eileen rested the back of her head on his chest, his breathing evening out. She melted into him, feeling safe in his arms.
Her head rose and fell with every deep breath he took.
“I’ll stay awake and watch over ye and yer braither,” Archer said. “The moment he wakes up, I’ll wake ye.”
“I just—”
“Shh, shh, shh,” Archer murmured. “I’m nae suggestin’ it; I’m commandin’ it. Sleep, Eileen.”
Eileen sighed. She took a deep breath, unable to keep her eyes off her brother. She couldn’t sleep at a time like this.
Yet, a few minutes later, her eyelids grew heavy, and Archer’s warmth seeped into her bones so pleasantly. She tried to keep her eyes open to watch over Reid, but sleep pulled her under before she was able to do anything else.
Eileen’s eyes snapped open as someone shook her shoulder. She looked around wildly to see Reid still on the bed, asleep, his chest rising and falling. The healer sat on a chair beside the bed, holding a small stub of a candle close to the book she was reading.
“I need to leave for a bit,” Archer whispered.
“I’m awake,” Eileen croaked. She looked toward the door to see Calum standing there. “What’s goin’ on?”
“The scouts have a report to give. I’ll return here as soon as I hear them,” Archer explained.
“I want to come with ye,” Eileen said.
“Ye dinnae want to stay with yer braither?”
She rubbed her eyes. “There’s nothin’ I can do for him now, and the healer is here with him. I want to ken who did this to me braither.”
Archer’s body tensed a little as he thought about it.
“As the future lady of the castle, I deserve to ken,” Eileen insisted.
She heard a sigh from behind her. “Aye, ye do deserve to ken.”
Eileen couldn’t see his face, but he must have looked to Calum for confirmation.
“Aye,” Calum said with a nod.
Eileen pushed herself up, stretching her arms above her head. Archer got up with a grunt after being beneath her for some time. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it was still dark outside.
“Dinnae worry, I’ll take care of him,” the healer reassured, lifting her head from her book.
Eileen turned around to look at Archer. “Thank ye.”
“Somethin’ tells me ye wouldnae take nay for an answer.” Archer’s lips quirked.
Eileen smiled, and it turned more serious when he offered his hand. She took it without question, feeling some comfort in his grip.
He doesnae need to do this, now that Reid is back and bein’ treated.
She appreciated the gesture nonetheless.
They walked hand in hand toward the council chambers, with Calum trailing behind them.
“We should make it quick,” Calum said. “We dinnae want any council members walkin’ in unannounced. I have men stationed around to warn me, but if we can keep this under wraps, we gain some momentum.”
“Where are we at with the men?” Archer asked.
“They willnae say a word to anyone,” Calum replied. “I trust them and believe them. I’ve sent them all off save for one scout—Bracken McLeod. Ye’ll hear what happened from his lips.”
“Good,” Archer uttered. “This is fine work, Calum, and would have been cause for celebration under different circumstances.”
“Thank ye, Calum,” Eileen added.
She wondered if she should inform him that Ivy was very taken by him. That could be a reward in itself. Unless Archer wouldn’t appreciate it.
“Ye’re welcome, Me Lady,” Calum said.
He knew about the sham betrothal as much as Eileen and Archer did, but none of them acted as if they did.
When they reached the council chambers, they found a man sitting at the long, oak table. He looked tired, but he sat straight-backed and alert, waiting for the Laird to arrive. When Archer entered the room, he rose from his chair.
“Please,” Archer said, waving his hand. “Ye and the other men did a fine job bringin’ Reid Kilmartin back here.”
“Thank ye, Me Laird,” Bracken said, sitting back down.
Eileen let go of Archer’s hand and rounded the table quickly to offer her hand to Bracken. “I cannae thank ye enough for bringin’ me braither home.”
Bracken looked surprised, but he took her hand and shook it firmly. “I’m glad I could be of service, Me Lady. Yer braither is a brave man. Ye should have seen him out there.” He smiled at the memory.
“What happened to him?” Archer asked.
“We found him close to the border between O’Gunn’s land and yers, Me Laird,” Bracken started. “They told us about O’Gunn’s men crossin’ back into their land, and seein’ as they usually dinnae roam here, we found it highly suspicious.”
“Ye thought they crossed into MacLennan lands to abduct Reid?” Archer asked.
“That makes sense,” Bracken said. “Maybe they kenned he was comin’ to see ye and got to him afore he could.
They must have smuggled him back to O’Gunn Castle.
So, we set up camp on the edge of their land and sent regular scoutin’ parties close to the castle at dawn and dusk to watch for any signs of his presence.
“We didnae see heads nor tails of him until yesterday evenin’.
We were hidin’ beneath the ridge when we heard shouts.
I went to look meself, and when I got close, I found O’Gunn’s men fightin’ with Kilmartin.
He was a man possessed. We assume he escaped the castle somehow and was chased by the castle guards.
I barely got there in time to see him kill the last guard. ”
Eileen didn’t like bloodshed, but her chest swelled with pride upon hearing about Reid fighting to escape with his life. He’d been through the wringer, but the one thing he hadn’t stopped doing was fighting. Archer could hardly have sent men into the castle on a rescue mission.
“Thank ye again,” she told Bracken. “I ken he felled the men by himself, but if ye werenae there, he wouldnae have made it back here. He wouldnae have made it anywhere. Me braither is alive, and I owe ye a debt.”
“Nay, ye dinnae,” he assured her. “We’re loyal to Laird MacLennan, and he’s loyal to us. There are nay debts to be paid.”
“Ye all did a fine job,” Archer praised. “We cannae have this news gettin’ out yet, but ye’ll all gain yer weight in ale after yer success. Now, go and get some rest. I dare say ye deserve it.”
Bracken nodded curtly, then got up from his chair and left the council chambers.
“Is Mack still in his bedchamber?” Archer asked Calum.
“I believe so, Me Laird.”
“I want to speak to him now. Me men will keep their mouths tightly shut, but news like this has a way of gettin’ out. I dinnae want him sendin’ word back to O’Gunn.”
“We dinnae have proof yet,” Calum reminded him.
“We have enough. When Eileen woke up after collapsin’, she told me more about Mack. When she was on her way here, she heard him and some others. They were smugglin’ weapons. If they were between MacLennan, O’Gunn, and McFair, there’s one more likely destination.”
“Aye, the McFairs wouldnae deal in stolen and smuggled weapons. They must have been headed to O’Gunn’s castle. So, he’s the one behind all of this.”
“Mack is one of them,” Archer said. “A man on me own council plottin’ against me. I wonder how much O’Gunn is payin’ him and how a man can turn against his own clan.”
“What of McDoon? The man we found hangin’ from the tree,” Calum asked.
“Who told ye about McDoon leavin’ the funeral?” Archer asked.
“Henry Millar,” Calum replied. “But he didnae see McDoon himself.” He sighed. “Mack passed the word, and Millar passed it to me.”
“Maybe McDoon was part of it, or maybe Mack thought he could make him a scapegoat. Do ye remember Mack stickin’ around after ye heard about McDoon?”
“I didnae see Mack after that, but there were a lot of people at the funeral, so he might have been there.” Calum sighed again. “I should have listened to ye when ye told me to lock him up.”
“Nay,” Archer said. “I spoke in anger, and I need someone by me side to be the voice of reason. Ye’re that voice of reason, Calum.
Go see to Mack privately. Take him to the dungeons for now, far from anyone he can whisper to.
Nay one is to visit his cell except ye and me.
When I speak to him, it’ll be out of the castle.
If blood must be spilled, I dinnae want it staining me halls. ”
“Aye, Me Laird.” Calum nodded once before turning on his heel and walking out of the council chambers.
“I’ll walk ye back to yer braither,” Archer said.
Eileen took a deep breath. She wanted to know what had happened to her brother, but she had not been prepared for how treacherous people could be. Plots of smuggling weapons, double-crossing councilmen, kidnapping, scapegoats, and too much bloodshed.
“Will ye really kill him?” she asked.
“Aye, I will,” Archer replied plainly. “He is in league with O’Gunn.
I’d like to hear what he has to say, but it willnae change anythin’.
He put our clan in danger, and he must pay for that.
Three men are dead because of him, and O’Gunn would have killed yer braither eventually or kept him locked up for the rest of his life.
This is how it is in the castle, Eileen. ”
“I ken, I ken,” Eileen muttered. “What has to be done has to be done, and Mack deserves to be put to the sword. I dinnae want to be there when it happens, but I ken it must happen.”
“Ye never cease to surprise me,” Archer said, puffing out his chest in pride before offering his hand, which she gladly took.