Page 52 of The Highlander's Dangerous Bride

“Ach, ye’re on fire!” Raven cried, patting frantically to put out the burning cinders that were landing Arne and singing his hair and shirt. Luckily, his body was sheltering her from the worst of it.

“Raven, are ye hurt?” he repeated anxiously, oblivious of the threat of burning. Finally, she appeared satisfied she had extinguished any danger and ceased her patting.

“Nay, I’m all right,” she replied, her voice hoarse, coughs still wracking her body as she spoke. Her face and clothes were smeared with greasy black from the smoke and cinders. “I just have a few cuts and bruises, I think, and me throat and lungs are burnin’.”

“Aye, I noticed. Mine too. Ye ken, Raven, ye shouldnae have taken that risk. Ye could have died. Promise me ye’ll never dae anythin’ like that again.”

“I cannae promise that! I was the lightest, and I’m a good climber. It made sense fer me tae be the one tae go up there,” she insisted.

“Bloody hell, woman, ye drive me mad!” he groaned helplessly. Fearsome warrior though he knew himself to be, at that moment, he felt no match for her.

“We need tae go and see if anybody needs help,” she said, wriggling to get down. He gripped her more tightly.

“Stay still, ye’re nae goin’ anywhere,” he said, determined to have his way this time.

“Arne! Let me down!”

“Nay, ye’re comin’ with me.”

“Where?”

“Tae see the bloody healer, of course.”

Ignoring her protests, he took off coughing and ran with her in his arms all the way back to the keep, to the infirmary.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

In the infirmary, the healers Aine and Broccàn were already working hard, dealing with casualties from the fire, most of them also suffering from smoke inhalation and the occasional small burn. Arne wanted to barge to the front of the queue, but Raven would not allow it. She insisted she was no more deserving than anyone else and made him put her down in the hallway outside the infirmary along with the others waiting to be seen.

“Ye breathed in yer fair share of the smoke,” she told him when he coughed along with everyone else. “Ye need tae get checked out as well.”

“I’m fine,” he argued, then broke out coughing again.

“There, ye see? We’ll wait and get seen together, all right?”

“All right,” he conceded, but he felt he had won a small victory by at least managing to persuade her to sit in one of the chairs provided as they waited, hovering over her protectively all the while.

They waited patiently until Broccàn, the tall, good-looking healer with intelligent green eyes, came to see them.

“I can hear ye both coughin’ well,” he said with sly humor as he listened to their breathing with his tube made of hartshorn. He nodded. “I cannae hear anythin’ tae suggest long-term damage tae yer lungs, but it’ll take a few days tae be sure. Ye’re both young and strong. If all’s well, the effects of the smoke should go away completely in time. Until then, take it easy and dinnae dae anythin’ too strenuous. Stay warm and dry. I’ll give ye some tea tae drink that will help expel the muck from yer lungs and soothe yer throat.”

“Thank ye, Broccàn,” Arne said when the healer handed him a packet of tea to take with them. “We’re grateful fer yer help.”

The healer’s green eyes sparkled as he looked at Raven and smiled. “I’m honored tae treat the hero of the hour. Lady Raven, that was a very brave thing ye did back there, savin’ the wee lad.”

Arne had to smile to see how the compliment went straight over her head. “Have ye seen Billy? Is he all right?” she asked at once.

“Aye, he’s coughin’ as well, of course, but I think he’ll be fine. His ma was in here with her brood, singin’ yer praises,” Broccàn replied.

Beneath the black soot, Raven smiled. “Thank the Lord he wasnae badly hurt. I’ll go and see him when I have the chance. I’d like tae see how he’s gettin’ on.” Once again, Arne secretly admired the modest way she turned away the handsome healer’s attempts at flattery.

He remembered she was impervious to such nonsense. In the past, he had reveled many times in the knowledge that she only had eyes for him despite the attention her charms drew from other men. He realized then that losing that sense of security of relying on her love for him, had been one of the most difficult things he had struggled with when she left. And he had been struggling with it all over again since her return.

He put his thoughts aside as they bid Broccàn goodbye and left the infirmary.

“I’m tired,” Raven said as they took the stairs slowly down to their landing. “I suppose I should go tae me chamber and rest.”

“Nay, ye’re comin’ with me,” he told her in a voice that brooked no argument. “I’m keepin’ an eye on ye just in case.” That was true, but he also felt a lot closer to her than before, and he wanted to be with her. In fact, he felt strangely happy, as he had when they had been at the waterfall.

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