Page 54 of Her Highland Prophecy
“Where are they now?” he asked, and the boy seemed relieved. Was he that intimidating?
“They put yer betrothed in her chambers.”
Gordain dismissed him with a wave of his hand and the boy hurried out of the room without a backward glance. Gordain quickly followed him out and went down the corridor, happy that Diana’s room wasn’t too far from his own.
He berated himself inwardly the entire route for staying away from her. What good had it done? He had wanted to protect her and yet she was now unconscious because of it. If she woke up, he would never leave her side.
When, he corrected himself. He would be on her sidewhenshe woke up. The alternative was unthinkable and he was coming to realize that keeping away from her in any capacity was going to be next to impossible from that point on. He felt for her too strongly to stay away from her.
He just hoped she would forgive him for being an arse the last few days.
He reached the door to her chambers and knocked quietly, not wanting to wake her if she were resting. A moment later, the heavy door opened to reveal his sister. Her blue eyes narrowed.
“Eleanor,” he greeted.
“It’s about time ye showed up,a brathair,” she said, her tone sharp. He looked back at her sheepishly.
“How is she?” he asked.
He didn’t need his sister’s response because a moment later, Diana’s loud voice echoed through the room and out into the hallway.
“I saidno. You will not get anywhere near me with that thing,” she was protesting loudly.
He peeked over his sister’s head — something that was not hard to do as he surpassed her by more than a foot. The scene inside the room was comical. Diana was sitting up on the bed, her arms crossed over her chest as she glared daggers at the Clan’s healer who looked like he was two seconds away from putting his hands around her neck to strangle her.
“But Mistress, the humours!” the healer was exclaiming, and though the words were pleading, Gordain could hear the anger behind them. “I need to let yer blood or ye willnae recover.”
“I’m fine, thank you,” Diana replied, her eyes never leaving the sharp implement in the healer’s hand.
Gordain exchanged a look with Eleanor, and then he pushed past her into the room.
“What is going on here?” he asked, with the most authoritative voice he could muster. Diana and the healer both turned to look at him as he entered, their reactions vastly different from each other. The healer seemed relieved to see him, while Diana ranged somewhere between exasperated and joyful.
“Master Gordain!” the healer said, coming around the bed. “Please tell yer betrothed that she must allow me to treat her. She is clearly dealing with an imbalance of the humours but she willnae allow me to let her blood.”
Diana’s eyes glared daggers at him as if daring him to go against her wishes and give the man the authority to treat her. Not for the first time he wondered what the future was like for her to so easily defy the wishes of the men around her in such a manner.
After the way he had blundered the last few days he was not prepared to risk pushing her away.
“Surely that is not necessary? She looks much better already,” he asked looking her over.
He grimaced. His words were not strictly true. She looked much too pale, her eyes sunken into her cheeks with dark circles around them, but he would not force her to do as the healer asked if she did not want to.
The healer looked like he wanted to throttle Gordain now but did not comment on his words. He threw the small knife he had been holding into his case with a small clang and closed it with a snap.
“Call me when ye see sense,” he said and strode out of the room with his chin high.
Diana sagged back into her pillows tiredly as soon as the door closed behind him. Eleanor had approached the bed in the meantime and was pulling the pillows up around her.
“Ye should have let him do it,” she said gently.
“It would not help. Trust when I say that. Bloodletting does more harm than good,” Diana insisted fervently. Gordain thought that might be something she knew from her time.
“Ye dinnae ken that. It helped me husband when he was ill last winter. The healer let his blood twice every day for a week and then he was healthy again,” Eleanor said.
Diana grimaced but did not answer. Gordain was glad. If she had, then she would have had to explain how she came across the knowledge, which would definitely make things more difficult for everyone involved.
Gordain approached the bed and laid a hand on his sister’s shoulder.
