Page 53 of Highland Treasure (Highland Brides 9)

Once Elysande’s plaid, gown and tunic lay in strips around her, leaving her only in her breeks, Rory gave up applying pressure long enough to scoop her up so that Alick could roll the furs up and remove them from the bed, ruined clothes and all.

“Pull the top linen back,” Rory requested when Alick straightened from laying the rolled-up fur and cloth out of the way on the floor. When his brother tugged the linen back, Rory laid Elysande down again. While Rory lifted the blood-soaked linen to check her wound, Alick moved back around the bed to the bedside table where the medicinals bag was and began digging through it for what he might need.

“Needle and thread, salve and linens. Anything else?” his brother questioned as he removed items.

“Nay. That’s good,” Rory assured him, glad his brother had assisted him a time or two before and knew enough about what he was doing to be helpful. “Hand me the whiskey.”

“Were these shutters open when you brought Lady Elysande up?” Tom asked suddenly.

Rory took the whiskey from Alick and poured it over Elysande’s wound as his brother glanced around and said, “Nay,” with surprise as he noted the open shutters.

“It must be how her attacker got out, then,” Tom muttered as he now closed them. They obviously weren’t used much, for they squeaked loudly as he shut them. “We did not pass anyone in the hall or on the stairs as we rushed up.”

“He must have got in the same way, then, because Simon was guarding the door,” Alick said as Rory set the whiskey aside and began to stitch up Elysande’s wound.

“Nay, he wasn’t,” Tom said grimly. “He was below getting water and a cooking pot for Lady Elysande.”

“He left her alone?” Alick asked with shock.

“Aye,” Rory growled, some of his fury seeping into his voice as he added another stitch to his work. It was only the second one, and all that was needed. The wound wasn’t very big or deep. He should have realized that from the minimal bleeding, but the dagger had been sticking out of the wound when he’d first seen her, which usually meant a deep injury. Now he wondered if it hadn’t gone through the coin bag partway before sliding to the side and stabbing out the other side into her breast. The coin bag itself might have been what had held the blade in place, because the depth of the wound wouldn’t have done it. It hadn’t gone in far enough to hold the weight there. Aye, it must have been the coin bag, Rory thought, and shook his head, marveling at how lucky she’d been.

“Simon said Lady Elysande ordered him to get the water and cooking pot,” Tom pointed out unhappily. “As our lady he would have had to listen to her.”

“Aye,” Rory muttered as he tied off the thread and straightened to reach for the salve. “Which is why my men will be watching her from now on.”

He half expected Tom to protest, so was surprised when the man nodded wearily. “That may be for the best.”

A moment of silence passed and then Alick said thoughtfully, “So her attacker could ha’e come in the door and merely left through the window.” Glancing from Rory to Tom, he asked, “Did ye see anyone go past the door to the taproom in the minutes ere it happened?”

“Nay,” Rory said grimly. He didn’t add that he hadn’t even seen Alick leave. Believing Elysande was safe and guarded by Alick and Simon, Rory hadn’t been watching the hall while talking to the men in the taproom. Something he berated himself for now as he smeared salve over the wound and then laid a strip of linen over it.

“No one took the stairs except Simon,” Tom said with certainty. “I was watching. I would have seen.” Tilting his head, he added, “I did not even see you leave.”

“I took the back stairs and used the servants’ entrance to leave. ’Tis closer to the stables,” Alick explained, and then reasoned, “Her attacker could have come in that way. If so, he would not have had to pass the taproom.”

Tom grunted at that, but then joined them by the bed and peered down at his lady with worry. “Will she live?”

Rory hesitated, his gaze shifting from Elysande to the shuttered window and then to the door as he thought. The truth was he thought she should be fine. She hadn’t lost as much blood as he’d first feared, and the head wound appeared to be mild. He didn’t say any of that, however. Instead, he said, “I do no’ ken. She lost a lot o’ blood, and head wounds can be tricky too. If she does no’ catch a fever . . .” He shrugged, and then added, “The fact that she has no’ woken up yet despite the pain we’re causing her worries me though. ’Tis no’ looking good.”

Tom heaved an unhappy sigh at that, and turned to head for the door. “I’ll go ask the servants if anyone saw a stranger enter from the kitchens,” he decided.

“Brush yer boots off first,” Rory reminded him as he reached for the linen wrappings. “And bring back a bucket of water and a mop. We’ll need to clean the floor in here.”

Nodding, Tom quickly brushed off the bottoms of his boots, and then tramped out.

“Help me sit her up,” Rory requested, setting the linen wrappings on the side of the bed. He waited for Alick to crawl on the bed and kneel on the other side of Elysande, and then they lifted her up and Alick held her upright by the shoulders while Rory began to wrap the linen around her chest.

“Fer all the blood on the floor, it did no’ look to me like the chest wound is verra deep,” Alick commented after a moment.

“Nay, it is no’,” Rory agreed.

“And the knife did no’ hit any vital organs,” he pointed out. When Rory grunted in acknowledgment, he added, “I’ve seen ye heal worse than this.”

“Aye,” Rory muttered as he worked.

“And ye’re usually no’ so pessimistic with family and friends,” he pointed out. When Rory didn’t comment, he asked, “Why are ye wanting Tom to think she’s dying?”

Rory didn’t respond for a long moment, and then admitted, “I do no’ ken. Something’s bothering me, but I ha’e no’ had a chance to think what it is. I need to think about . . .” He let his words trail away as he worried over the thoughts running through his head.

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