“Ye will find a way to go and tell him, secretly, that the boys live. They are ours now. Lady Arianna got them a piece of land here from the Lucettes and here they will stay. And, as ye can see, they will be weel protected. That grandfather can deal with the Murrays or us if he e’er has need to speak to the lads.”
“She got the Lucettes to give the lads their Scottish lands?” DeVeau asked in surprise. “Mayhap she was not a madmon’s choice for guardian, eh? Do you think she will be wanting to be rid of their French lands?”
“If and when she and the lads want to, ye will be the first they offer them to. If ye do as I say.”
“And if ye dinnae,” said Sigimor, “then ne’er close your eyes, lad.”
The way DeVeau stared up at Sigimor, slowly blinking and paling a little, revealed his youth as nothing else had. Brian winced and knew he had to end this soon. His wounds had cost him a lot of blood and he was growing light-headed.
“I swear upon my father’s honor that I will do all you have asked,” DeVeau said.
“Go home, DeVeau,” said Brian. “If ye keep your vow, then it all ends here.”
“What of Lucette’s body?”
“We will see that he gets back to his family with a warning,” said Harcourt.
“Oh, and if ye truly were appalled by the sinking of the ship, ye may wish to speak to a Captain Tillet.” Brian gave the man Tillet’s direction. “It would serve ye weel to do so as I dinnae think ye want your name tied to that sinking, nor have it brought to the attention of the rest of your kin.”
DeVeau nodded. He and his men sheathed their swords and moved to gather their horses. Brian knew that would be all they would leave with for his kinsmen were already busy gathering up anything of value left on the battlefield. He frowned when he saw Callum fall into step beside DeVeau for he did not believe the young man would go back on his word.
“Callum?” he called.
Callum looked at him and grinned. “Naught to worry about, Brian. Just talking about wine and ships.”
Brian shook his head and then stumbled. Sigimor moved to steady him. He looked at his cousin and knew he was not going to be able to stay conscious much longer.
“Jesu, Brian,” muttered Sigimor. “Ye are bleeding like a stuck pig.”
“Just how does a stuck pig bleed?” asked Brian.
“And now ye are talking like a fevered mon. We need to get back to the keep and see to those wounds.”
Brian looked toward the keep. It appeared to be miles away and surrounded by a thick haze. He looked back at his cousin.
“Sigimor?”
“Aye?”
“Catch me.”
Sigimor caught Brian before he hit the ground. He picked his cousin up in his arms and, cursing softly, started toward the keep. “Arianna is nay going to be happy about this.”
No one disagreed.
Chapter 19
Arianna wrung out the rag she had just dipped in a bowl of cool water and bathed the sweat from Brian’s face. The terror that had gripped her when he had shown signs of fever had eased now. It had been two days and his fever had not risen very high. His wounds were healing nicely as well, with no signs of infection.
She shivered with dread as she remembered her first sight of him after the battle. To see him bloodied and carried in Sigimor’s arms had nearly brought her to her knees. If Brian had not groaned softly at that moment she would have started wailing like a banshee. The mere thought of him dying had torn the heart right out of her. She had actually been relieved to hear that he was only wounded, until she had seen the wounds. It had taken Mab and Fiona a few moments to assure her that none of the wounds were mortal.
Fiona and Mab had done wonderful work. Arianna was ashamed about how little she knew despite all the teachings of her family. She had been too young to understand the importance of such teachings. Her love had been the garden and still was. In her youthful arrogance she had thought the ability to grow all the plants the healers needed was enough. In France she had been better than the healer they had used but, next to Fiona and Mab, she was a fumbling novice.
“I just assumed that everyone had skilled healers,” she told a sleeping Brian as she bathed his arms. “That was verra foolish of me. Just because I grew up surrounded by women who had great skill didnae mean there were a lot of skilled healers outside the lands of my kinsmen. If I had taken a moment to consider the matter, I would have recalled how often one of my kinswomen was called away because of her skills. Then I would have kenned the idiocy of my belief. The fact that I was just a child doesnae excuse me, either.”
“Why not? Many of us dinnae think much on the future when we are children,” said Fiona as she closed the door behind her and moved to the side of Brian’s bed. “He looks better.”
“His wounds are still clean and already show signs of healing,” Arianna said.