Chapter 29 #2
Rhys was quick to answer, taking hold of her hand. “I am here, Heather, do not worry. I am not going to leave you, not ever again.”
She settled, though did not let go of his hand.
Rhys finally looked to Emma to see if she was finished tending Heather’s feet.
She, along with her sister, was staring at him.
He knew what they were thinking, but he was too concerned with his wife to discuss it with them now. “How are her feet?”
Emma answered quickly. “Some bruises and abrasions, though only one that could pose a problem since it shows signs of redness. I will soak the wound with a special brew I have and that should help ease the redness so that it does not turn putrid. We can take turns tending her if you would like?”
“We need to discuss what happened here and why your troops moved in from the west and north.” Patience said. “With Greer’s wife’s body being found on Macinnes land and Rab McLaud’s headless body to contend with, war with the Clan McLaud seems inevitable.”
It was time for everything to come together, though he had not planned on his wife being abducted, but he would not give Haidar a second chance at taking her away from him. The Dark Dragon would finally see it ended.
“I will take the first watch,” Emma said to Rhys. “I want to clean her wounds more and see that she gets enough of the special brew. And if she should ask for you, I will see that you are summoned immediately.”
Rhys did not want to leave Heather, but he also needed to see her protected and safe and he would have to go to battle to see that done. “If anything should change—”
“I will fetch you immediately,” Emma assured him.
Rhys kissed Heather’s brow and thought it felt cooler to him, His lips drifted near her ear and he whispered, “I love you. Do not dare leave me.” He stood and looked at Patience. “I have a plan.”
* * *
Heather sighed as she opened her eyes. The soft light from a low burning fire in the hearth was the only light in the room. She looked at the window and saw that it was night. How long had she slept? And had she dreamed she heard Patience and Emma?
When she saw her husband sitting in a chair next to the bed, his head bent back, his mouth opened slightly, and a slight snore coming from him, she smiled.
She sighed again. They were home and safe.
“Heather?”
She looked at her husband. “You woke.”
“So did you?” Rhys moved to sit on the bed beside her, his hand reaching out to rest at her brow. “Thank goodness your fever is finally gone. It has been two days and— ”
“Two days? I have been with fever two days?”
“Emma has tended you well.”
“Emma is here?”
Rhys nodded. “Patience as well and her name truly suits her, for she has tried my patience considerably.”
Heather laughed and was pleased to feel only a slight ache. She reached out and took his hand. “Lie with me.”
Rhys slipped out of his garments and into bed with her, something he had been aching to do these past two days.
Emma had forbidden him from sleeping with Heather until she was free of fever and so he had slept in the chair after placing it close to the bed.
He missed having his wife in his arms and that is what he did now.
He turned on his side and draped his arm over her waist tucking her close to him.
Heather sighed, his cool, naked body feeling so very good against her slightly warm one. She had endless questions to ask him, and she started with the most obvious one. “How did you end up a slave in a foreign land?”
“My da and I were attacked on the road by a band of thieves. They killed him and I woke in chains on a ship, bound where I did not know. It was a hellish voyage or so I thought. It was nothing compared to the nightmare I was about to live. I was sold shortly after being taken off the ship. I never knew how cruel someone could be until I met Haidar. He bought most of the slaves and my training to become a slave warrior started almost immediately.”
He kissed her gently. “I missed you so very much and I cried the night I knew Quinn had to die if I was to survive. And dying meant letting go of you and the love I had for you. In order to survive, I had to become as ruthless as Haidar and I could not let love stand in my way. I promised myself that night that whoever I became that that man would protect you and love you if he could.”
“It hurts me to know how you suffered, especially having tasted just a small portion of Haidar’s cruelty.”
Rhys caressed her arm slowly. “He did not have a chance to touch you, did he?”
“No, I kept him talking for a while, hoping you would reach me before he could,” —she could not bring herself to say what might have happened— “he seemed to want me to know why you deserved to be punished. He told me what you did to win your freedom.”
“I never truly won my freedom. Anala won it for me. When I captured her, she could have screamed and alerted the guards. Instead, she told me that she could show me a secret way out and if she went with me willingly, then I would have to promise to one day free her. I did not hesitate to agree.”
“So, you remained where you were, making Haidar think you did not want to leave yet, gaining his trust while planning to abduct his new wife?”
“I gave Anala my word and if anything, I am true to my word, though we both knew what it would cost us eventually.”
“You knew Haidar would find out and come for you one day,” Heather said.
“I think I truly wanted him to, though I expected him sooner than this, but I should have known better. He would want to take from me what I took from him.”
“He will try again,” Heather said and shuddered at the thought.
Rhys felt her shiver against him, and he held her close, wishing he could hold her even tighter but worried that he would cause her pain. “He can try and come for you, but you will not be here.”
“What do you mean?” she asked anxiously.
“As soon as you are fit to travel, we will leave for your home.”
“My home is where you are,” she said on a yawn, then smiled.
“Then you will be home, for I will be with you. Now no more talk, you need to rest.”
“One more thing.”
Rhys agreed with a nod.
“What do you keep locked in the room on the upper floor?”
“Get well and I will show you.”