Chapter Thirteen
Emma watched the group leave the room. Once the door closed on the last member, Daniel clasped his hands and rested them on the table. “Emma, ye have spent more time with Morgan Gunn than anyone else here at the keep. How do ye find him, what sort of a mon is he?”
She thought for a minute. “He was quite surly when he was first brought to the healing hut. I think it had a lot to do with his feeling of helplessness, which ye would both understand, being warriors yerselves.”
Daniel turned to Gregory with a smirk on his face. “Recently, for the first time since the mon was carried into the healing hut, I can find some sympathy for him.”
Gregory nodded, and Emma continued. “Now he is feeling better about himself, just because he can stand and walk a bit. He is still concerned about resuming his Second-in-Command position, which, of course, he won’t have anymore, as laird.”
The laird placed his forearms on the table.
“I’d like to speak with him as soon as possible so we can get this situation resolved.
Two clans without lairds can be dangerous, especially with Gunn and Sinclair lands sitting right where the Sutherlands would love to attack and claim their lands for their own, making them much too powerful. ”
Emma nodded. “Do ye want me to bring him here? ’Twould be difficult for him to climb the stairs. but he is able to walk slowly.”
“Return to the hut now and tell Morgan that ye will be taking another walk in the garden. Send someone to find me when ye leave, and Gregory and I will join ye.”
Emma nodded and left.
*
Gregory looked over at Daniel. “What will we do about the Sinclair clan?”
“I doona ken who is next in line for that group, but I assume the king realized that once the two men were hanged, their clans were without lairds.”
“Except Gunn,” Gregory added.
“Aye. Was the subject of Morgan Gunn in our custody brought up to the king?’
“Nay,” Gregory said. “Since I was focused on finding Megan, I dinna even ken that Morgan Gunn was here. I’m thinking the king might have questioned the two lairds before the rope went around their necks, but ’tis known among the Highlander clans that Gunn was desperate to marry a lass so he could have his own. ”
Daniel smirked. “Even if he had to steal one.”
Gregory huffed.
*
The hut was busy when Emma returned. Janet had two lads whose mams had reported that they had been jumping from a rather high cliff.
Now, both lads were sitting with tears on their faces and with the way one held his arm, most likely he’d broken it.
The other lad had a nasty-looking bruise on his forehead.
Their mams didn’t look happy with them as they were kept busy trying to control younger bairns.
Enoch, who was now in the healing hut all day, was busy pounding the herbs Emma had brought in earlier. He looked up when she entered the room and smiled.
Morgan announced, “I’m ready for another walk.”
Emma grinned back. “I will go for yer noon meal and bring mine back with me. We’ll eat, and then we can go.”
She took a few minutes to check with Janet to make sure all was well, then left the room. She had to admit that she was a bit nervous about the conversation Daniel, Gregory, Morgan, and she were about to have.
Even though she was hungry, she found it hard to eat her meal once she and Morgan began their repast from the tray she’d brought into the hut.
She hated to admit it, but once the man was gone back to Clyth Castle, she would miss him. Not just as a patient, but as a woman who felt something for him that she’d never felt before for any man.
Although she’d had a kiss or two, they’d been nothing like the kisses Morgan had given her. It hadn’t escaped her thoughts that as laird of the Gunn clan, he would have to marry the daughter or sister of an important clan chief.
She was a lowly healer. Not that she was thinking about marriage and Morgan Gunn at the same time, she hurried to assure herself. That was not something she should even think about. Especially now that the man had gone from warrior and Second-in-Command to laird of the clan.
“Are ye ready for yer walk, Morgan?” Emma was tired of pushing her food around and concerned with how his meeting would go with Daniel and Gregory. Once Daniel and Gregory arrived, would she be dismissed? Sent back to the healing hut?
In some ways she wanted to know what was discussed, and then she felt nervous to hear what Daniel would say and how Morgan would react to the news.
She brought their lunch tray back to the kitchen and asked one of the kitchen maids to go to the laird’s solar and tell him she and Morgan were leaving for the garden.
Morgan sat on the edge of the bed, looking very much like a warrior. His leg might not be functioning perfectly, but he’d built up his muscles and added weight to his face and chest.
Once Morgan was steady on his feet, and ready, they left the hut. The day was a beautiful one, with a touch of summer in the air.
“Ye are doing quite well, Morgan. If I dinna ken better I would think ye had been practicing on yer own.” The mon didn’t say anything, but she wondered from the look he gave her if he had been practicing when she and Janet had been out making calls on patients.
So lost was she in watching his progress, she was surprised when the laird and Gregory approached them. She felt Morgan tense and they both stopped as the men paused in front of them.
Morgan nodded his head. “Laird.”
Daniel turned to Gregory with a gesture of introduction. “This is Gregory Mackenzie, my Second-in-Command.”
By the look in Morgan’s eyes, it was plain that he remembered who Gregory was. She wondered if he would ask about the trip to Edinburgh, but he already knew that things had turned out in Gregory and Megan’s favor.
Apparently not wishing to appear weak in front of these men, he spoke up. “Was your trip to Edinburgh successful?” The words came out as a snarl.
“What does it matter to ye?” Gregory asked with a bit of belligerence.
Emma sucked in a breath, waiting for Morgan’s answer. The last thing she wanted after all the time of healing was to have him tossed in the dungeon before he even learned of his uncle’s death and his assumption to the position as the Gunn laird.
“In case ye hadn’t notice, Mackenzie, I almost lost a leg so my uncle could have yer wife.”
Gregory shrugged and Daniel raised his brows. “What say ye about the skirmish? Did ye ken ye were faking a battle?”
Morgan’s eyes narrowed. “I obey orders.”
Daniel studied Emma for a moment. “How does yer patient fare?”
Morgan was not to be ignored, and he bristled. “Do ye see me standing here, Laird? Are ye ready now to toss me into the dungeon? Hold me for ransom from my uncle? I can tell ye now ye won’t get a coin from the tight-fisted bastard.”
Daniel studied Morgan for a minute. “Can he be so easy in refusing to ransom his heir? Or does he have other heirs aside from ye?”
Morgan shook his head. “Nay. That was why he wanted to snatch Gregory’s wife. He was desperate for another heir. He hated my father and only made me Second-in-Command because there was no one else besides me with the ability to control the men.”
Morgan gestured with his jaw at Gregory. “Since ye are no’ looking like ye want to strangle me with yer bare hands, I assume yer wife is safe from my uncle’s clutches?’
Gregory crossed his arms over his chest. “So ye dinna approve of yer uncle taking my wife from me?”
Morgan shrugged. “No woman should be pulled from her lawful husband and made to marry another.”
“Then why did ye lead yer men here? And then suffer a serious injury for yer trouble?” Daniel asked.
“As I said. I obey orders. I had no idea why we were attacking, I was only told that we would.”
“And the Gunn leads his men well? Takes care of his people?” Daniel asked.
Morgan hesitated, then said, “He is the leader we have, and I respect him for that. How I feel about his ability to lead doesn’t matter.”
Emma watched the exchange of the men. She knew why Daniel and Gregory were asking these questions. What she didn’t understand was why they hadn’t told Morgan yet about his uncle. She’d been under the impression that was the reason for this meeting.
Daniel nodded at Morgan and Emma. “Enjoy the rest of yer walk.”
The two men walked off, leaving her confused. And apparently from the look on Morgan’s face, he as well.
“Why all the questions?” Morgan asked, his gaze following the men as they walked away.
Obeying her orders, Emma shrugged.