Page 38 of To Wed a Witch
"No!Please call Paisley from the garden, tell her to take Aidyn to our chamber.A child is sick, I need to make sure 'tis nothing that can endanger us all," she replied firmly, already moving toward the doors.
"Will ye wait!"he said.But Sìne was already outside.
Bhaltair cursed, then strode out the back door and roared for Paisley to take Aidyn.The maid appeared and took Aidyn immediately.Bhaltair gave her strict instructions to remain in their bedchamber, then he gestured for a nearby guardsman to escort them to the Keep before Bhaltair went after his wife.
***
THE WOMAN STUMBLEDthrough the cottage gate.She was from one of the outlying settlements, her clothes travel-stained and her face streaked with tears.In her arms, she carried a boy of perhaps five years, his small body limp and burning with fever.
"Please, my lady," the woman gasped, falling to her knees before Sìne."The traveling healer said there's naught to be done, that my Drew is cursed and will be dead before dawn.But I heard tell ye have the gift of healing..."
"Stay back!"Bhaltair shouted to the crowd that was moving closer.
Sìne was already kneeling beside them, her trained hands moving over the child's fevered form.His breathing was shallow and labored, his skin hot and dry to the touch.But she could feel the steady beat of his heart, see the slight flutter of his eyelids that suggested he was fighting the illness with everything he had.
"What traveling healer?"Bhaltair asked, his voice sharp.
"A learned man who came to the village two days past," the woman replied without taking her eyes from her son."He was very friendly, even gave Drew a sweet treat to eat.Said he'd studied in foreign lands, knew all manner of cures.But when my Drew took ill, he just shook his head.Said the boy was beyond mortal help, that only dark magic could have struck him down so completely."
Sìne's hands stilled for a moment.Something about the woman's words troubled her, but she pushed the feeling aside.She rapidly fired questions at the woman, needing every detail from before he fell ill to now, including what he'd possibly eaten or drunk."Were there others in the village who came down with the same affliction?"
The woman shook her head.From her responses, Sìne knew two things with certainty: the first was the boy was not contagious, and second, if what she suspected was true, then time was of the essence.
"Help me carry him inside," she said."I think I ken what ails him."
Bhaltair immediately swept the lad gently into his arms as they strode to the cottage.
"My lady," the woman whispered, hope and fear warring in her voice."The healer said anyone who tried to cure my boy would be dabbling in witchcraft.That heaven has him marked for death and 'twas sinful to interfere."
"Then 'tis fortunate for yer son that I dinnae take healing advice from traveling strangers," Sìne replied crisply.
***
SÌNE WORKED QUICKLY.The boy's body wracked with convulsions that left him weak and barely conscious as he lay on the bed.His lips already tinged blue, his breathing shallow.But she'd seen similar symptoms before.If he'd been brought to her sooner, she could have given him a tincture to purge his stomach contents, but this...this was deliberate.She had already ruled out his mother from the woman's earlier answers, but there was something niggling at her.Sìne set it aside as she focused on the task at hand.
His mother hovered in the corner, quietly weeping.
"What is wrong with him?"she asked.
"He's been poisoned," Sìne replied.
"Poison!"the woman and Bhaltair said in unison.
"Aye, 'tis why I need to work fast."
Bhaltair glanced at her with a worried expression."What do ye need?"he asked.
"I need fresh milk, if ye can fetch some, and cold water from the well, a full pail if ye please," she replied.
Bhaltair disappeared without a word as Sìne rummaged through the jars on her shelves until she found the dried roots she was searching for.
"What can I do?"the woman asked.
"I need ye to try to keep him calm.It helps if he kens ye're close by.He can still hear ye."The woman nodded and immediately moved closer to soothe her son.
Sìne washed and dried her hands, then crumbled the dark, aromatic root between her fingers, breathing in its musky scent.The pieces went into her iron pot with hot water from the hearth.As it steeped, she selected a bundle of juniper branches from a hanging satchel and tossed them onto the fire.The sharp, clean smoke immediately began to fill the room.
"What is that smell?"the mother asked, lifting her head from her hands.
