Chapter 15
It was a long and painful journey for Gareth to make it back to the abandoned farm.
He’d done his best to hide how much pain he was in from Pelna so that he could convince her to go back with her people without him.
There had certainly been a part of him, though, that wished he could go with her…
or, better still, that she could simply remain with him.
He’d known it was for her own good, so he’d put up a brave front for her benefit.
Now his body was in such tremendous agony that he could barely remain upright.
He had lost far too much blood, and he was still weaker than he should have been.
His entire body was soaked from the rain, so much so that he didn’t realize he’d bled through all the layers of bandages on his chest until he looked down and saw that they were a deep crimson.
Before he reached the farm, he heard hoofbeats approaching.
For a moment, he thought it might have been Pelna coming back for him after all, but that would have made no sense, for she was riding double with that fresh-faced and impertinent lad, and he only heard one horse drawing nearer.
He squinted in the direction of the sound, trying to make out who it was through the driving rain.
Under normal circumstances, he’d have been automatically relieved, assuming that it was one of his fellow clansmen coming to his rescue.
After the attack earlier that night, though, plus the strange mystery of the dead farmer, he was far less certain and reached for his sword, wincing.
The injury was to his left side, while his dominant hand was his right, so at least there was that.
Even so, he was hardly at his best and wondered whether he’d be able to fight if called upon to do so.
As the rider came closer, he saw that it was Urich and relaxed.
“There ye are, damn ye!” Urich called out, coming to a stop before him. “Ye didn’t make it particularly easy tae find ye, did ye? Even a lost bairn knows tae stay in one place until an adult comes tae collect them!”
The mention of a lost child brought memories of Alex, and Gareth tried to banish them.
“I was escortin’ Lady Pelna Wallace safely tae the border. There was a—”
But before he could finish, gray clouds seemed to envelop Gareth’s field of vision, and he stumbled.
“There, there,” Urich said, hopping down from the horse to steady him. “Ye’ve been hurt! We need tae get ye tae the healers immediately. Come up on the horse and let us ride away from here. Ye can tell me all that’s happened on the way.”
As Gareth allowed Urich to help him up onto the horse, he couldn’t help but notice that Urich was carrying a longbow and that over half the arrows were missing from his quiver.
A queasy feeling settled into Gareth’s stomach.
“Urich, what were ye doing out in this storm tonight?” he inquired, trying to keep his tone neutral. “How did ye ken tae come lookin’ fer me?”
“Ah, funny thing, that,” Urich replied lightly, joining him on the horse.
“It seems Laird Fredric does have a use for his bastard son, at least when his real one goes missin’.
He summoned me and sent me tae go find ye.
He said it was because I’m more familiar with the borderlands than anyone else, but personally, I think it was simply because he didn’t want tae risk the lives of any actual guardsmen. ”
Gareth considered that answer. He supposed it was convincing enough. He was tempted to ask why half the arrows were depleted, but he supposed that might have been from Urich hunting for his food earlier that day.
As they rode, Gareth told Urich all that had transpired—leaving out the kiss that had nearly happened.
Then he repeated it once more for his father as the healers clucked over him and stitched his wound, telling him how lucky he’d been that the arrow hadn’t been a few inches lower, or it would surely have pierced his heart and killed him on the spot.
Laird Fredric thanked them, then dismissed them along with Urich, who looked unhappy to be sent away without a word of gratitude from his father. If Fredric noticed Urich’s consternation, he didn’t let on.
“So,” Fredric mused when the two of them were alone, “our enemies have long attempted tae kill me and Laird Cameron. Now it seems they seek tae dispatch our heirs. I suppose it makes a certain sense. Why keep tryin’ tae murder a pair of old men who are so near death already?”
“Ye believe this tae be the work of the Sinclairs, then?”
The laird nodded gravely. “Aye. No doubt this is some dastardly plot of theirs. It has the smell of them about it…underhanded murders and cowardly assassination attempts.”
“All the more reason we should attempt an alliance with the Wallaces,” Gareth insisted. “Between our two clans, we could put down the Sinclairs once and for all.”
Fredric pondered this for a long moment.
“I do believe ye’re right,” he said at last, sounding weary and hoarse.
“The truth is, we never ought to have gone tae war with the Wallaces in the first place. I see that now, though I was too great a fool tae understand it then. The truth of it is, although there was nay evidence that the Wallaces had anything tae do with Alex’s death other than the fact that it occurred near our border with them, I rushed tae judgment in my grief and anger.
I looked fer reasons tae blame them and hate them because… ” He trailed off.
“Because ye actually blamed me and hated me,” Gareth finished for him, “and needed someone else tae take it out on.”
“Blamed ye, aye, perhaps,” Fredric admitted miserably.
“But I never hated ye, my son. I never could. At any rate, aye, it is time fer ye younger people tae mend the fences I so callously damaged all those years ago. Ye and Lady Pelna might represent hope fer our future, though if Stefan Wallace assumes the role of laird upon Cameron’s death, that might disrupt things somewhat. ”
“Then it seems tae me that time is of the essence,” Gareth pointed out, looking out the window of his father’s bedchamber.
“Nae only that, but the sun is risin’, and the rain seems tae have stopped.
I take that as a sign, Father. I should take a battalion of soldiers and ride tae Wallace Keep at once in order tae petition fer peace.
The sooner this can be arranged, the sooner we can beat back the Sinclairs and live free of this constant war and bloodshed. ”
“Go, then, Son, with my blessin’,” Fredric rasped. “I wish ye well, and I shall offer up prayers on yer behalf.”
Gareth kissed his father’s hand, then went to the barracks to rouse the guardsmen who would accompany him on this journey.
As he did, his heart fluttered, and a hundred different emotions warred within him.
He was nervous that his petition for peace might not succeed, particularly if Stefan Wallace insisted on being involved in the negotiations.
He was concerned that, having not given himself a chance to properly heal from his wound, he was therefore riding into a potentially dangerous situation when he was not at full strength.
Most of all, though, he was giddy at the thought of seeing Pelna again so soon.
With peace between their clans, perhaps he might be allowed to woo her and thus make an alliance all the more solid? He knew it was too soon to think of such things, but he couldn’t help it. The prospect was simply too tantalizing for him.
As the morning sun blazed over the muddy and misty lands, beginning to dry the places that had been drenched, Gareth inspected the ranks of soldiers and knew that he had one more thing to do before they left.
He went in search of Urich and told him what he was planning.
“Ye must come along with me, Urich,” he insisted.
“Why?” Urich scoffed. “What good would I be tae ye on such an errand? Besides, Laird Fredric would not approve.”
“Laird Fredric isn’t the one leadin’ this excursion. I am,” Gareth reminded him. “And there is no one I would rather have at my side than ye. Whatever future is in store fer this clan, I want ye tae be part of it—startin’ here, with this.”
Urich appeared to think it over for a moment. “Very well,” he grudgingly relented.
Gareth was relieved.
He hadn’t told Urich the main reason he wanted to have him along was that he meant to keep a close eye on him.