Page 18 of A Highland Healer Captured
But here, surrounded by walls not her own, tethered by a bargain she never chose, friendship felt like another chain.
She set her jaw and bent closer to Grayson. “I’ll help ye, laddie,” she whispered. “If only to spite yer faither.”
The boy’s lips curved faintly, as though he understood, “Me da is a good man.”
“He’s a funny way of showin’ it, laddie.”
The boy nodded thoughtfully. “I think it’s because no one can help me. He’s afraid that I’m going to die. He’s nae ready.”
The candor stole Skylar’s breath. He was so sure of his fate. No child should ever have to feel that way. The lad’s surety was heartbreaking and motivating all at once.
She squeezed his small hand, then, voice firm but warm. “Och, lad, yer da’s fought half the Highlands and never flinched, but aye, ye scare him. Because ye’re the only fight he cannae win with steel. That’s why he brought me here. Because I daenae lose either. I’m the best healer in Scotland.”
“I kent he’d find ye,” Garyson said, mid-yawn, his eyes falling heavily.
“Aye, he did, indeed,” Skylar hummed softly as she watched the lad drift off to sleep, a smile still on his lips.
Only a few moments later, as Grayson’s breathing evened out. She leaned back from the bed, eyes connecting with the Katie.
“Do ye think I can see the surgery?” Skylar asked quietly over the boy so as not to wake him. If she was going to help this child, she would need more than what was just in her satchel.
She was brisk as ever, no-nonsense as she led Skylar from the chamber and across the cold corridor.
“The surgery’s kept well,” Katie said over her shoulder. “A few of us see to it and check stocks twice a week. Ye’ll find it better organized than most keeps.”
Skylar clutched her satchel against her hip, her braid swinging as they climbed a flight of stairs that smelled faintly of herbs and resin. The castle’s upper passageways grew narrower the higher they went, until Katie stopped before a door banded with iron, unlocked it, and pushed it inward with her hip.
“There ye are,” Katie said, setting the lantern on a hook inside. “Everything ye’ll need should be in order. I’ll wait up here.”
Skylar frowned. “Here?”
Katie nodded toward the stairwell. “One way in, one way out. I’ll see nay one troubles ye, but the laird’s orders are plain. Ye’re nae to wander.”
Skylar’s lips tightened, but she bit back the retort that threatened. A barred door was still better than the locked chamber she’d endured. At least here she might work with her hands, remind herself who she was. She stepped inside.
The surgery smelled of dried lavender, camphor, and the sharp bite of vinegar. A wide worktable stretched beneath the narrow windows, lined with stoppered jars of dried leaves, powders, and tinctures. Mortars and pestles, bandages neatly rolled, bowls stacked clean. There was even a row of clay cups for infusions, each rim darkened by long use.
Skylar ran her fingertips along the jars, whispering the names she recognized.
“Comfrey, willow, yarrow, mullein...”
There was a steadiness in the familiarity. It was a balm. Here, she could almost forget she was a prisoner. Almost.
Her breath slowed. She moved toward the shelf at the far end, tugging one jar down to check its contents.
Marigold petals, still bright. Good.
“Ye’reher, then?”
The voice made Skylar start, nearly fumbling the jar. She turned swiftly.
A young girl stood by the doorway, half-hidden in the shadows cast by the lantern Katie had left. Sixteen or seventeen years old at most, pale in the soft lantern light, her hands clasped before her skirts. She hadn’t opened the door because it had been left ajar, but somehow she had slipped inside as silently as a ghost.
Skylar set the jar down carefully, smiling despite her surprise. “I daenae ken who ye mean by ‘her,’ lass.”
The young girl’s eyes were wide, unblinking. “The witch.”
Skylar blinked, then laughed. It was the kind of laugh she gave frightened children when they whispered about banshees in the dark. “Nay, nae a witch, love. Just a healer. Witches spin curses. I only mend what I can.”
