Page 41 of Cherished By A Highlander

“And my lies?” the man asked.

“You can thank Burgess for that since you almost had me believing you until Burgess said Lord Torrance would hang you. Lord Torrance never hangs anyone. He enjoys torturing them to death. He was letting you know Lord Torrance would reward you well.”

The man shook his head. “Burgess was a fool but so was I for joining him.”

Quint took a chance with his next question. “What do you know of the killing of the monks at Coggshall Abbey?”

The man’s breathing turned shallow, and he was barely able to speak. “Failed… mission.”

“What mission?” Quint asked, surprised he had gotten a response, having taken a chance that the fellow knew something.

He was annoyed when he got no response. It was too late. The man’s eyes closed. He still breathed, though barely. Shade confirmed what he could see for himself.

“He’s close to death.”

Quint pulled the dagger out of him and the man’s eyes shot open wide. Quint ended his suffering quickly.

“We leave here now and take the cart and horse with us,” Quint said when he got to his feet. “We will appear a farming couple and less suspicious that way.”

Shade nodded, finding it difficult to say anything as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. The Monk, her husband, was being hunted. Was someone seeking revenge for the eight monks’ deaths? Or did this hunt have something to do with his previous wife, Amara’s death? The Monk was growing more mysterious by the day.

They rode off in silence, sitting atop the bench seat on the cart with Quint’s mare tethered to the back. It was sometimelater when Quint finally said, “So, now that you have met The Monk, tell me… can you love him?”

CHAPTER 13

Shade had no chance to answer Quint, two bloodied warriors, each trying to support the other, stumbled out of the woods and collapsed directly in front of them. Quint brought the cart to a halt and gripped her around the waist before she could climb down and rush to help the pair.

“You will not go near them until I see for sure they pose no threat,” Quint ordered.

Shade hadn’t thought of that. They looked in dire need of a healer’s skilled hand, but she could be wrong. It could be a trap. She had not given a thought to Burgess being anything other than what he appeared to be: a traveling merchant.

Quint dismounted and helped her off the cart, then walked to his mare, Gillie, and grabbed his wife’s large healing pouch off the saddle and handed it to her. “Wait here until I summon you.”

“Hurry,” she urged, and he did, signaling her shortly after speaking with the pair.

“They are trying to avoid Lord Torrance’s warriors who are hunting and killing Chieftain Ryland’s warriors who survived the battle and are trying to make it home to Clan MacLeish,” Quint explained.

Shade got busy tending their numerous wounds, using her hidden skill to look deep inside them to see how serious they were. She was relieved to discover that the wounds weren’t as bad as she first feared, and it was more exhaustion from battle and travel that had the pair so weak.

Shade was glad they had been careful with the skein of water they carried, drinking from a stream when given the chance. She had Quint fetch it, the two men parched and needing a drink, and the water was also needed to cleanse their wounds.

As she worked on the pair, she said, “I am a friend of Ula and Caleb. I am a healer, and I am on my way to help Clan MacLeish. Do either of you know if Caleb survived the battle?”

Both shook their heads, one saying, “Ula is a good woman and Caleb a skilled warrior. He may have been one of the lucky ones who made it home already.”

“It was a bloodbath,” the other man said. “An equal match at first, then mercenaries suddenly started pouring down on the battlefield. Chieftain Ryland had the retreat sounded, and Lord Torrance’s men continued to attack with a vengeance.”

The other man wiped tears from his eyes. “I heard that Chieftain Ryland was carried off the battlefield in the dark of night by one of his own warriors. Another warrior insisted that our chieftain crawled across the field through the dead and dying. A blood trail was found, though it ended abruptly.”

“Was there much blood?” Shade asked, trying to determine just how badly wounded Chieftain Ryland might be.

“That would depend on who you talked with. One talked of puddles of blood and another man insisted it was nothing more than a few drops of blood.” He paused a moment. “There was a warrior whose words were dismissed since he was dying, and he rambled from one thing to another. He claimed he saw the ghost of Chieftain Ryland walking among the dead and he heard him speak to them, promising he would avenge them.”

The other fellow shook his head. “Clan MacLeish is doomed. Lord Torrance will see that we suffer.”

The younger of the pair looked at Quint. “There are more of our warriors in the woods who need help. Can you spare the cart, sir, so that we may collect them and bring them home since your destination is the same as ours?”

“I will go with you and tend to their wounds,” Shade said, hurrying to stand.

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