Page 9 of MacAlister's Hope
Pink. Clear pink.
Kieron plucked the stone from Annis’s fingers and it was once more milky. “Did she cause the chief harm?” he asked Fia as he tucked the stone into the pouch at his belt.
“I do not think so. More pain, aye, but ’tis my fault for not checking her brews more carefully. I know better. I am sorry, Kieron.”
“You are not the one to be sorry. If she had told you the truth, there would be no need to check.”
“Still, I must take some of the blame. I will not let it happen again.”
“Nor will I,” he said. “Would you mind terribly if I had her kept under watch in the cottage you have yet to use?”
“Will she be punished?” she asked.
“If Tavish discovers her perfidy? Aye, but I think ‘twould be more fitting to return her to Kilmartin and let Lady Elena mete out her punishment, do you not?
“She will not believe either of you,” Annis said, sidling toward the door.
Kieron did not turn around. “If you so much as touch that door I shall break your hand. Fia, what do you think? Turn her over to Tavish who is not known for holding his temper, or give her to Elena for judgment?”
Fia weighed her options far longer than necessary, enjoying watching Annis quake for real for a change. But she could not let the woman be harmed by Tavish, no matter how much she deserved it. “Confine her to the cottage. She shall return with me to Kilmartin and Elena will decide her punishment.”
Kieron smiled at her for a moment. “’Tis more consideration than she deserves, but I am not surprised by that.” He turned to Annis. “You are lucky. Fia is more forgiving than I, but even her sentence would not hold with me if you had caused more harm to my chief than prolonging his pain, which is already more harm than the man deserves. If you had, I would happily give you over to Tavish’s temper.” He grabbed her none too gently by the upper arm and dragged her to the door. The pouch that held the milky stone bounced against his leg and caught Fia’s attention.
“Wait.” She knew the stone had turned vaguely pink when she and Elena had held it, and now it turned a sickly dark brown when Annis spoke. Kieron said she lied, and she had verified that for herself. The stone told him. A murky brown for lies. Pink for truth. She suddenly realized it was after he saw the stone turn pink, not only in her own hand, but also in Elena’s, that he had assured Tavish that she could heal the MacAlister chief, as if he knew it for a truth.
Truth. If the stone knew when someone spoke the truth…
“Kieron, can you have someone else take her away?” Excitement coursed through her, dissolving all fatigue in its wake. “I need to discuss something with you.”
He glared at Annis. “Aye, lass. Give me a moment to hand her off and I shall send someone to fetch more willow for you. I know my grandmum has a supply. Shall I summon someone I trust to sit with the chief so you can prepare the brew yourself?”
“Not yet,” she said, turning her attention fully to her patient. “Not yet.”
Chapter Four
Kieron hurried back to the hallhouse after rounding up a guard for the disgraced Annis. He then sent a lad to Kieron’s grandmother for some willow. He was anxious to get back to Fia, and not just to learn what she had in mind for the chief. In spite of the distraction of Annis’s interrogation, Kieron couldn’t shake the desire that had gripped him when he’d kissed her. The pull of it still shimmered through him like the northern lights, shifting and pulsing each time he thought of the taste of her, sweet like the first taste of honey mead, the warmth of her in his arms, her soft breasts pressed against his chest, the…
He had to stop lest he grab the woman and kiss her as soon as he saw her again, and that he could not do.
As soon as she had put her small, perfectly formed hand in his, he had known that she felt the same attraction he did. He grinned, well pleased with this day in spite of the discovery of Annis’s deceit.
He should have acted sooner with that one. He had known there was something uncomfortable between the lass and Fia from the way Fia dealt with her—cool and to the point—unlike the way she dealt with everyone else—with smiles and warmth—but he had thought it was just one of those tiffs women got into with each other, else why would Elena have sent the lass with them? If only he had tested her with the Winter Stone sooner…
But he hadn’t. At least now, thanks to Fia, Annis would be punished for her acts against the chief and for her lies. Pride rushed through him at the memory of Fia confronting Annis when she realized the lass put the chief’s recovery in danger. She was like a mother badger defending her kits, fierce and unafraid to stand between her patient and her assistant. Pouring the false brew on the floor had been a bit dramatic, but it made her point quite clear—she would not be giving anyone that brew.
He picked up his pace, jogging the rest of the way back to her side.
Moments later he burst into the chief’s chamber and found Fia at the brazier that was used to both heat the room and heat water for the chief’s care. She was stirring the embers under a small pot of water and had a larger bowl filled with oats ground to a fine powder ready to make a new poultice. He glanced over at the chief who was once more fitfully asleep.
“I gave him the last of the sleeping draught,” Fia said, rising and moving toward the bed. The fatigue that had seemed to weigh her down earlier was gone though he had only been away for a short while, too short for her to have even napped. “It was all I could do to ease his pain for the moment.”
“I’ve asked Margaret—one of the women who was taking care of him when we arrived—to come sit with him in a little while so you may make the brew yourself. I’ve sent for willow, too,” he said, joining her. He wanted to take her hand in his again, but he did not.
There was something about her that was different but he could not name it.
She smiled over at him. She licked her lips and swallowed as if she were nervous. With him? Nay, for she did not drop her gaze, nor did she look embarrassed or guilty about what had passed between them. Nay, her sapphire eyes fair glowed with excitement.
“That stone—” she nodded toward the pouch at his hip “—it helps you discern if someone lies or speaks the truth, does it not?”
