Chapter Twenty-Four
Logan sat beside the edge of the bed in a chair he’d dragged away from the hearth.
After using charcoal, his beloved Elspeth had vomited twice and then went to sleep and had not woken up since he carried her here to his bed.
He was told his sister, May, was in the same condition.
Logan had sent out twelve men to look for theriac, the cure-all according to Elspeth.
They quickly learned of an apothecary in the village who had the ointment said to draw out poisons from the body.
Theriac. Logan had him brought to the castle right away and stayed with him while he administered his mixture of seventy-two ingredients, including viper venom, to Elspeth, May, and any others who had been poisoned.
There was nothing more they could do. His mother was well because she had gone out and collected berries to eat and had not eaten anything being served in the castle.
All the servers were the same for the last twenty years and friends of his family.
That left the cooks. His cousins had gone to investigate and found a new lass had been hired a week ago. She had not shown up today.
The lads were hard at work trying to find her. Logan prayed they would, but he needed to be with Elspeth. He had to make certain she fought.
He held her hand. He leaned forward and reached out to run the backs of his fingers over her brow.
“My beloved Elspeth, dinna go, I beg ye, lass. I know ye are strong. Ye stayed alive fer six years as a slave just to kill me.” He laughed softly.
“I’m happy hatin’ me kept ye goin’. Hate me some more if ye have to. Just come back to me, Elspeth.”
“Logan?”
He turned to look at his brother standing at the door and beckoned him to come in.
“Brother,” Ealar said, pulling a chair closer. “We have discovered who was hired in the kitchen. ’Twas Helen.”
Logan tried to take in what he was saying. “Helen, the lass who poisoned me? How did she…I thought she was in the dungeon, waitin’ to be hanged.”
“Aye,” Ealar said, then blew out a long sigh. “Aboot that—there was an incident of which none of us were made aware.”
Logan narrowed his eyes on him. “What does that mean?”
“After Roderick Woodburn escaped, he broke into the dungeon carryin’ a dead lass. He exchanged the dead gel fer Helen. We dinna know the rest since ’twas no’ reported when it happened.”
Logan’s expression went dark. “Find oot who was on duty that day. Tell them if I see them again, I will kill them. They are to be stripped of every honor and thrown oot with nothin’ to their name. I dinna care who they are. Find Helen and bring her to me.”
“Aye, Brother.” Ealar stood up and Logan wondered when his brother had grown taller than him.
“Ealar,” Logan called out before his brother left. “Thank ye fer all yer aid.”
“Dinna thank me fer that. Ye’re my brother.”
Who would get through to his brother? Logan thought, staring at him. Could a lass heal him? Was that what he was looking for when he slept with them?
“Ealar?”
“Aye, Brother?”
“I am here if ye need me. Even if I’m at the house at Ben Nevis, I will be there if ye come to me.”
Ealar paused as if there was something he would say. But then he gave Logan a genuine smile. “Thank ye. I will see May before I go.” He gave Logan a bow and then hurried off.
Logan shook his head, watching him go. Then he returned all his attention to Elspeth still asleep. He wanted to be near her, to hold her. He climbed into bed with her and took her in his arms. “What do ye think of him, Elspeth? Wake up now and tell me.”
She didn’t wake up, just like everyone in the castle who had eaten. They lay in the suspended place between life and death.
“I want ye back,” he demanded and then, more quietly. “I need ye to come back to me.”
He fell asleep holding her, whispering to her how much he loved her.
He only slept for two hours when a hand on his head woke him up. He jolted up, but Elspeth was still beside him in the same condition.
His mother stood over him and said his name.
“What is it? Is it May?”
“Aye.”
He bounded to his feet, almost knocking her over.
She laid her hand on his chest and smiled. “She is recovering, Logan. It seems yer physician’s theriac worked. I came to tell ye she opened her eyes and spoke to us.”
He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of such relief his knees almost gave out. “I want to see her.”
“Aye, go on. She has been asking fer ye and Elspeth. I will stay here and send fer ye immediately if there is a change. Now go, and dinna upset yer sister.”
Logan bent to the bed and Elspeth’s ear. He told her he would return in a few moments. “I love ye,” he made sure to tell her, and then left the room.
When he reached the door to May’s rooms, he knocked and then stepped inside. There was no one in the front sitting room, but her bedroom door was ajar, and a man’s laughter filled the air. His father.
Logan pushed open the bedroom door and stepped inside.
His sister sat propped up on her bed. Her cheeks were rosy, as they almost always were, and her eyes were wide and their usual vivid blue. Only her hair gave away any sign of her illness. Her curls were limp and lifeless.
When she saw him, she gave him a wide smile. Their father chuckled as Logan ran to her bedside. “She has been waitin’ fer ye, Logan.”
“I fell asleep.” He set his smile on May and then moved closer and bent to kiss her head. “How do ye feel, Mayfly?”
“Perfectly well! I keep trying to tell Papa, but—”
“Of course, ye’re no’ perfectly well,” Logan interrupted her, then turned to their father. “Dinna tell me she is already tryin’ to leave her bed.”
“She is,” the lochiel verified.
“Only because I want to see Elspeth,” May’s gaze on them both went scalding hot.
“She is still unresponsive,” Logan let her know. “The moment that changes, I will come and bring ye to her.”
“What do ye mean, bring me?” she argued. “I can go myself.”
“Nae, ye canna,” both her father and brother said at the same time.
“Och, Logan,” his sister scolded, “ye havena been here in so long, I fergot how much like Papa ye are.”
Logan smiled at her. “Then ye are doubly blessed!”
She brooded at him for a moment but then, she smiled back. “Logan, did ye see the ribbon in Elspeth’s hair?”
He thought of it and his smile warmed. “Aye, I saw it.”
“I gave it to her,” May told him happily. “I gave her all of them. I was going to give her the brush that matches the mirror and comb set, but I thought such a costly gift should come from her husband, so I gave her the ribbons.”
“Ye have my thanks, but I would prefer ye didna make bargains with Elspeth.”
“Och, but I didna,” she told him. “She made me that beautiful arisaid and matching skirts. She said she didna want to make any bargains, so we made them gifts.”
“Ye approve of her then?” he asked lovingly.
“If I said nae, what would ye do since ye’re already wed?”
“Will ye say nae, then?”
She laughed softly and shook her head. “I like her plenty.”
“I will tell her ye said it,” he promised.
He sat with her and his father until his aching heart would let him sit no more. He hurried back to his rooms and practically burst into his bedchamber, hoping his mother had good news.
She didn’t.
“I’m certain ’tis only a matter of time, Logan,” she tried to soothe him.
“Of course,” he made himself smile. As long as he didn’t look at Elspeth, he could do it. “May is her usual self.”
“Thank the Good Lord,” his mother said. “I’ll go to her. Och! Logan, did ye eat? Everything contaminated is gone, including food, pots, bowls, everything. Hmm? I can bring ye something.”
“Nae, I will get somethin’ from the kitchen a wee bit later.”
“Verra well, dinna ferget.” She went to Elspeth and tucked her blankets tighter around her. She left the room after a quick kiss to Elspeth’s forehead.
Logan was happy his kin liked Elspeth. Once they found out that she wanted to kill him, they set their minds against her.
But they were quick to forgive her when she proved that she would not hurt him.
“My kin worry over ye, lass,” he told Elspeth when his mother left.
It made him happy that they did and he smiled like a fool.
He sat in his chair and set his eyes on his beloved.
She was looking back at him!
“Elspeth!” he bounded out of the chair and onto the bed with her. “When? How?”
“Yer voice awakened me,” she told him huskily.
He pulled her into his arms while she was stretching and kissed her.
She giggled and tried half-heartedly to push him away.
“Och, Elspeth,” he pulled her closer and whispered into her hair.
“I should be angry with ye fer scarin’ me to death and keepin’ me awake all night listenin’ to ye breathin’.
” He stopped to take a breath of his own.
“I know ye fought hard, Elspeth. I knew ye would. Thank ye fer comin’ back to me, my love. ”
“Logan, fergive me fer making ye and yer kin worry.”
He withdrew an inch or two and shook his head. “Lass, ye returned to me. There is nothin’ to fergive. How are ye feelin’?”
“Surprisingly well.”
He cupped her face in his hands and examined her bones.
He soaked in the clarity of her big, bonnie, cerulean eyes staring back at him.
“Aye, ye look surprisingly well.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, tasting her, breathing her.
When he deepened their kiss, he drew back.
“Nae! Nae. Ye just opened yer eyes. What am I, some untamed, undisciplined beast?” he asked himself and stood up off the bed and away from her.
“Logan?”
He held up his hand. “I promised May I would bring her to ye when ye woke. I will go get her.”
When he left the bedroom, he shut the door and then leaned against it, disgusted with himself. How could he desire her a moment after she woke from the sleep of the dead?
He rubbed his palm down his face and made his way toward May’s chambers.