Page 20 of The Highlander's Dangerous Bride

“Thank ye, Meg, but we’re supposed tae be leavin’ tomorrow fer me braither’s castle. Am I gonnae be able tae ride like this?” Arne asked, clearly concerned about a delay.

“Ye should probably stay at least another night at the inn tae rest before ye go ridin’ any horse. I’ll give ye some tea fer the pain and some salve and clean dressings, so ye can see tae it yersel’.”

“I’ll see tae it, Meg. Ye can give me the things he needs, and I’ll make sure tae keep the wound clean and give him his tea,” Raven put in, giving Arne a defiant glance.

“Nay, I’m nae havin’ that,” he began to argue, his thick brows darting up in annoyance.

“Aye, ye will, ye lummox. We share a room, remember? Who else dae ye think is gonnae dae it fer ye?” Raven retaliated, letting him see how determined she was.

“Ach!” he muttered and subsided, clearly unhappy but seeing that what she said made sense.

“’Tis all right,” she said sarcastically, “ye can thank me later.” He just scowled at her in silence.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Meg showed Raven how she thoroughly cleaned and dressed the wound so she could do it for Arne later. When that was done, and Arne had been dosed up to the eyeballs with willow bark tea to help with the pain, Meg made up a basket of the supplies Raven would need to take with them. She also supplied Arne with an old crutch to lean on when he walked.

They thanked Meg profusely and left the cottage to return to the inn.

“Let me help ye,” Raven said, rushing to support Arne as he adjusted to the walking aid, but he pushed her away.

“I have me crutch tae lean on,” he told her curtly as he hobbled along, “I dinnae need yer help.”

“Why d’ye have tae be so bloody stubborn?” she asked, reduced to trailing along behind him.

“I’ve managed without ye fer the last three years. Why would I need ye now?” he replied grimly. She had no ready answer for that painful barb, so she kept her mouth shut to avoid provoking him as they made it to the inn and went inside.

Arne hated being injured. But more than that, he hated seeming weak and vulnerable in front of the woman who had hurt him so much. He told himself he should not care what she thought and that she held no sway over him.

But a long-suppressed part of him cared very much what she thought, and that infuriated him, making him treat her harshly, even when he knew she wanted to help. The way she had run to aid him had both surprised and, though he would deny it if asked, touched him. So being mean to her had only made him feel like a brute, which made him even more irritable.

When they got back to the privacy of their room, he took off his boots and his sword belt and hung them over the back of a chair, all in silence. Then he went straight to the bed and collapsed onto it, letting the crutch slide to the floor.

The willow bark tea had lessened the pain, but he felt bone weary and as if he would fall if he did not lie down. He closed his eyes and listened to Raven moving quietly about the room. He would have died rather than admit it, but though he could not see her, her presence was comforting, and he soon dozed off.

When he finally woke up and saw it was dark outside, he was confused about how long he had been asleep. He rubbed his hand across his face groggily and looked around the room for clues. He saw Raven, wrapped in a shawl, asleep in a chair by the fire, an open book resting on her chest. He leaned up on his elbows to study her.

Something suddenly struck him, something so blindingly obvious, he could have kicked himself.Reading is something only educated nobles and the well-off dae. So, how come a maid who worked in a house of pleasure is sittin’ there readin’ a book?

Then he remembered her neat, looping script.Illiterate maids dinnae write letters either. I used tae tease her about it.

He turned it over in his mind, along with something else that had been niggling at him. The memory of the richly embroidered shift she had been wearing when he had pulled her from the sea came back to him. In the heat of the moment, he had not really registered it consciously. But now he realized that such high-quality clothing was worn exclusively by wealthy, noble women, not lowly maids.

I’ve been a stupid fool, he told himself, only then realizing there had been many hints that she was more than a simple maid who worked in a house of pleasure. But before he could follow his train of thought, just as though she could feel his gaze upon her, Raven awoke with a start and opened her eyes. Their gazes locked.

“Och, ye’re awake at last,” she said with a smile, putting the book aside and sitting up.

“What time is it?” he asked, glad of the cover the bedclothes offered to his state of semi-arousal.

“I’m nae sure but judging by the smell of cookin’ comin’ up from below, I should think ’tis nearly supper time.”

“So, I must have been asleep fer hours.”

“Aye, that’ll be the willow bark tea, but the rest is good fer ye, as Meg said. How are ye feelin’? Are ye in any pain?”

“Naethin’ I cannae handle,” he said, unwilling to admit his leg was still throbbing, albeit not as badly as before.

“Well, ’tis about time fer the dressing tae be changed,” she said, getting up coming over to the nightstand. Arne saw she had neatly arranged the little pot of salve and clean dressings there, to be close at hand.

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