“They will be all right, will they nay?” she asked Jolene after they were alone again in the room and Jolene began to help her shed her clothes.
“Of course they will. There did not appear to be too many men chasing you and my husband likes a good fight. Or, considering how fast the men after you were fleeing, a good chase. Oh, my, such bruising you have. I will fetch some salve for them.”
Before Arianna could protest, she was in the bath and Jolene was hurrying out of the room. Arianna sank down into the hot water, realized Jolene had sprinkled some gently scented herbs in it, and allowed it to soothe the aches in her body. She was dangerously close to sleep when Jolene and an older woman hurried back into the room.
The two women had her washed, dried, dressed in a fine linen nightgown, and seated before a full plate of food before Arianna could protest. “Ye shouldnae be doing so much,” she said to Jolene as the woman finally sat down in a chair and faced her across the small table. “All this dashing about cannae be good for the bairn.”
Jolene laughed and poured herself a tankard of cider. “I am fine. This child is due soon and well settled within me. You, however, look like you had better eat your fill quickly before the need to sleep conquers you.”
“I am verra tired, I admit.” Arianna began to eat the tender venison on her plate. “I should tell you what this trouble is that I have brought to your home.”
“No need. We got a message from Ewan and he told us some of it. Brian can tell us the rest. Oh, and I am to tell you that Michel and Adelar are safely tucked up behind the very high, very strong walls of Scarglas.”
“Oh, thank God,” Arianna whispered, and then burst into tears. “I am sorry. I dinnae ken what ails me.”
Jolene handed her a linen cloth. “Relief and weariness. Have a good cry and then finish your food.”
Arianna laughed and wiped the tears from her face. “I have just been so afraid for them. This isnae over yet but at least I now ken that they have been taken somewhere safe, somewhere that has the men to protect them.”
“Oh, the men of Scarglas will keep them very safe indeed. You can put your mind at rest about that. Old Fingal might be a rutting old goat and the oddest fellow I have ever met, but he cares for children. No man will be allowed to harm them.”
Not sure what to say about that remark concerning Brian’s father, Arianna concentrated on finishing her meal. She could feel the hard pull of exhaustion and knew she would not be able to stay awake much longer. If she were not careful she would be falling asleep sitting in the chair in that strange way she did when she became too tired.
By the time she finished her meal she had become almost too tired to chew any longer. “I wish I could remain awake to greet Sir Brian when he returns, but I dinnae think I will be able to.”
“Nay, I can see that.” Lady Jolene took Arianna by the arm and led her over to the bed. “Rest. You still have a bit of a journey to complete and you need to sleep when you can. Sir Brian will understand. I suspect he will be doing just as you have done as soon as he returns.”
The moment Arianna was tucked up in the bed, she knew sleep was but a breath away. “Thank ye, m’lady,” she managed to say before she gave in to the overwhelming urge to rest.
“Weel, he doesnae have as many men as he once had, but I think ’tis time to end the chase,” said Sigimor as he reined in and glanced up at the sky.
“I was hoping to end it here,” said Brian as he halted by Sigimor’s side. “At least then we could travel to Scarglas without having to watch our backs every step of the way.”
“Mayhap that is where he flees to.”
“Aye, ’tis possible. ’Tis also possible that once he and his allies get a look at Scarglas they will decide it isnae worth the trouble just to gain a little revenge and that fool a title. I willnae put any wagers on that though. Chasing the lads here to Scotland when his parents already work to disinherit the boys was madness. I doubt this or a look at Scarglas will clear any heads.”
“Sigimor,” called Fergus, “what shall we do with the bodies scattered about?”
“Pick the three along the trail clean of anything that is worth something and leave them for the carrion,” Sigimor told his youngest brother. “The two left outside the keep are already dealt with.” He turned his mount back toward Dubheidland and left his brothers to deal with the gruesome chore as he headed back to his keep.
“There were a few more of them than there were the last time I saw them all together,” said Brian as he rode beside Sigimor.
“Hired a few men, aye?”
“I think so. Amiel may have kenned where we were headed but there were too many times when he was right on our trail yet I was nay following the one everyone kens about. He could only have done that with the help of some mon who kenned the land.”
Sigimor nodded. “And the others who are searching for the lads may do the same. Ye could find yourself in a true battle once ye get to Scarglas.”