Page 52 of Highland Treasure (Highland Brides 9)

“Here.” Tom was beside him, holding out fresh linens and Rory’s medicinal bag.

“Thank ye,” he muttered, accepting both. He set the bag on the table, but held on to the linens and bent over Elysande. Now that he had the cloth, Rory didn’t hesitate but yanked the dagger from her chest and quickly pressed the linens over the open wound, applying pressure as he tossed the knife on the table. He waited then, watching to see how quickly the blood would soak the linen cloth, when what he really wanted to do was look at the wound itself. Unfortunately, he had to get the bleeding to stop, or at least slow down, before he would be able to examine the wound. But it seemed to him that it was actually in her breast, not as near the heart as he’d thought. There was something hard over her heart though. He could feel it against the back of his fingers through the linen. Rory had just noted that when the bedchamber door opened and Alick entered, only to stop abruptly on the threshold.

“What on earth is all over the floor? Is that wolfsbane? Christ, that’s poisonous. What—” When Alick’s question ended on a curse, Rory guessed he’d either spotted the blood by the hearth, or the men gathered around the bed, or both. But Rory was more concerned with what Alick had said, and glanced at the floor by the fireplace, noting only then that Elysande’s mortar lay on the wood, its contents spilled in a wide starburst that now had boot prints all through it.

“Do no’ come any farther into the room,” he warned Alick, and then turned to Elysande, searching for any sign that the powder might have gotten in either of her wounds. If it had, she was as good as dead. Fortunately, he didn’t see any of the powder on her face or the front of her dress. Thank God. She must have fallen just outside the starburst of powder.

Able to breathe now that he saw no sign of the poison on her, Rory glanced to his brother again. “Ye need to go get a broom. The wolfsbane needs to be swept up so we do no’ traipse it throughout the inn.”

Nodding, Alick backed out of the room at once and closed the door.

Rory shifted his attention to the men then, his gaze sliding over their footwear. “When he brings the broom back ye’ll need to brush off the bottoms of yer boots, and do it well. Mayhap even go rinse them off outside too. Use a bucket and do it far from the horse trough or any other water source.”

“Surely wolfsbane is not that poisonous?” Tom asked with concern.

“If ye take yer boots off, get any on yer hand and raise it to yer mouth without thinking and swallow some, ye’ll die. Or if ye’ve a wound on yer hand and it gets into that, ye’ll die too,” he said grimly. “That’s how poisonous it is. Ye want to make sure ’tis off yer boots ere ye touch them.”

“Jesus,” Tom breathed with dismay. “And Lady Elysande has been rubbing it on her bruises?”

“What she’s been using is no’ full strength,” Rory explained, and then glanced to the door when it opened again. Much to his relief it was Alick back with a broom. “Give it to Simon, Alick, and go fetch some whiskey from Angus. I need to clean Elysande’s wound before I sew it closed.”

Alick was gone almost before he finished speaking, and Rory said to the other men, “I need the room. But ye canno’ leave until Simon’s brushed any wolfsbane from yer boots. I will no’ have ye dragging this out into the hall and possibly poisoning one o’ the maids or another guest.” Shifting his gaze fully to Simon, he added, “Be thorough.”

He waited long enough to see Simon nod and then turned his attention back to Elysande.

The head wound wasn’t too bad, he noted. In fact, it had already stopped bleeding. The chest wound had him more concerned. Although now that he had pressure on it, the bleeding there had slowed a great deal as well. The linen was bloody where he pressed it to the wound, but hadn’t leaked up through the bunched-up cloth to his fingers yet. That was good . . . and unexpected for such a serious injury. Daggers had to be driven deep for them to stay in. She really should be bleeding more, he thought, and then glanced toward the door, wishing Alick would hurry.

When his gaze landed on the men and he noted that half of them were already gone, he watched to be sure Simon was being careful to get the men’s boots clean. He seemed to be, but he was also quick, Rory noted as he watched him clean off the bottoms of Conn’s and Inan’s boots. When he finished those last two men and started to set the broom aside, Rory ordered, “Yers too, Simon. Ye’re leaving as well.”

“Shouldn’t I stay to help?” Simon asked with a frown.

“Nay. Tom can sweep up the floor and Alick will help me with Elysande when he returns. He’s helped me before and kens what he’s doing. Brush off yer boots and then go down to rinse them off. Then I need ye to get a bucket and mop and mop up the stairs and hall floor just in case any o’ the powder was missed,” he ordered.

Simon’s gaze slid to Elysande and his mouth compressed, but he nodded and quickly brushed the bottoms of his boots. He even brushed off the top of one where a splotch of the powder marked it, before leaning the broom against the wall and leaving.

“How bad is it?” Tom asked grimly.

Rory lifted the linen slightly to check how badly Elysande was still bleeding, and frowned again when he saw how little blood there actually was.

“You’re frowning. What does that mean?” Tom asked worriedly.

The door opened before Rory could answer and he glanced around to see Alick returning with the whiskey he’d sent him for.

“Avoid the powder on the floor, Alick,” Rory reminded him, and then glanced to Tom and said, “Sweep up as much o’ the powder as ye can while we attend to yer mistress. Ye’ll have to brush the bottoms o’ my boots too, and check Alick’s as well, but his should be fine.”

Tom hesitated, but then nodded and moved away as Alick stepped up to the bed.

“Set that on the bedside table, Alick, and then move around the bed and get yer knife out,” Rory instructed when his brother stopped next to him.

“Her gown?” Alick asked as he set the whiskey down.

“Aye. We have to cut it away, straight down the middle. I do no’ see any powder on her, but it may be on the side she was lying on, and might be on the bed furs. We’ll have to remove both. I need a clear view o’ the wound anyway.”

They worked quickly and silently, Rory keeping pressure on the wound while Alick sliced away the gown to reveal a small lumpy sack that had been tucked between her breasts above the tunic and beneath the gown.

Alick grunted as he went to pick up the small cloth sack and coins spilled out of a tear in the center, falling over her chest. As he quickly gathered up the loose coins, Alick muttered, “It looks like her attacker’s knife hit this and slid off into her breast rather than hit her heart.”

“Aye. It may have saved her life, then,” Rory said grimly, thinking Elysande had probably tucked the small pouch there to make the coins more easily accessible than they would have been in the small sack he knew was sewn into the inside of her skirts. She wouldn’t have wanted to hitch up her skirts in the shops to pay.

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