Page 26 of Fallen
Heaving himself up off the rock, Craeg stifled a groan. Sister Coira had bound his side tightly for the journey, and had given him instructions on how to look after the healing wound once he returned to camp. However, he now realized why she’d looked concerned as she’d secured the bandage one last time. It was too early for him to be exerting himself like this.
It didn’t matter though. Sometimes circumstance was against you. Every day he lingered at Kilbride increased the risk of his discovery by that visiting abbot.
Craeg moved off, gingerly picking his way up the slope. The going was harder now, and his boots slipped on loose shale. Nonetheless, he pushed himself forward. He needed to reach the camp by dawn.
Yet as he walked, his thoughts returned to the woman who’d saved his life. The nun who’d risked much on his behalf.
Coira.
How lovely her face had been in that clearing, her proud features bathed in the soft glow of the moon. For a few instants, he’d forgotten that she wore a habit under that cloak, that a veil and wimple framed her face.
He’d forgotten she was a nun.
He wasn’t sure where his declaration had come from. He certainly hadn’t planned to say anything so inappropriate. The past days, he felt as if he’d strayed into a strange dream.
He and Sister Coira had spent many hours together, and during that time a connection between them had been forged. Those expressive eyes were filled with wisdom and understanding, and often shadowed by a sadness that only served to intrigue him further.
Lord, how he’d wanted to kiss her in that glade.
He couldn’t believe he’d had the audacity to touch her face. A man didn’ttoucha nun.
And yet, he wanted to do much more than that.
Reaching up, Craeg scrubbed his hand across his face. He needed to stop these thoughts. It was hard enough scaling this mountainside as it was, without a pole in his breeches.
Ye don’t make life easy for yerself, do ye?Craeg’s mouth twisted. All the women living upon this isle, and the only one he wanted was a Sister of Kilbride. A foolish wish indeed. It was just as well he had other, more urgent, matters to draw his attention now.
The sooner he forgot about Sister Coira, the better.
Dawn was breaking behind the dark bulk of the mountains, when Craeg reached his destination. It was a fiery daybreak, a foreboding one.
Climbing the last slope, this one so steep that he had to virtually claw his way up on his hands and knees, Craeg’s mouth thinned.
A Blood Dawn.
The ancient people of this isle had believed such a dawn was an ill-omen, a harbinger of death and destruction. These days, folk were just as superstitious of such a red sky.
Misgiving feathered in the pit of Craeg’s belly. Over the last few months, all his neatly laid plans had unraveled. MacKinnon had closed in on him. He couldn’t hide forever, and neither could the men and women who followed him. It was definitely time to meet his half-brother in battle.
Breathing hard, Craeg reached the top of the slope and paused. A group of men, leather-clad and bearing drawn swords, awaited him. He wagered the scouts had been observing his journey up the mountainside. Two of them broke away from the group and approached him.
“I knew it was ye.” One of the men, a huge warrior with wild red hair, stepped forward, sheathing his claidheamh-mor. “Although ye climb like a woman … we started to take bets on whether ye would make it by sun up.”
Craeg snorted. It was hard not to pant like a winded carthorse. Holding his flank, he favored his friend with a tight smile. “Ye try climbing a mountain with a hole in yer side.”
Gunn’s gaze narrowed. “How’s the wound?”
“Healing. The nuns at Kilbride managed to stop the festering … and the fever lifted.”
“Ye have been away for days.” The second man also put away his broadsword. Tall and rangy, with a lean, sharp-featured face, Farlan was at least a decade younger than Gunn and Craeg. “We were beginning to think we’d lost ye.”
“Ye almost did,” Craeg grunted. “Come on. Leave the others to keep watch and follow me. We’ll continue this back at camp. I need to eat something, or I’m going to keel over.”
The three men left the mountainside and slithered down a pebbly slope into a narrow ravine. The rock walls of the gorge were so steep that Craeg had to crane his head to see the sky. The heavens looked ablaze now, and Craeg’s mouth thinned.
Blood Dawn indeed.
It had been a while since Craeg had left this place, and the ravine was busier than he remembered. It seemed that even more folk had joined them. Word of mouth traveled fast, even among the sparsely populated villages of Skye. Men, with a few women and children among them, were shaking out their bedding and breaking their fast.
