Page 45 of A Forbidden Night with a Scot
“It’s better tae let him rest,” the healer said. “He is sleepin’ now. When he wakes, I will have the guards call ye. It’s better if ye rest, too.”
Alicia doubted she would get any rest, but she didn’t argue with the woman. Her father was fine, she reminded himself. He was alive and he was on the mend, and sooner or later, Alicia would get to speak with him.
In the meantime, she could try to speak with Samuel, if he had time to spare.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Samuel had hardly managed to sneak out of his study for a few minutes that evening, just enough to visit the healer’s quarters, so he could see Gavin. His men had already given him reports on his friend’s health, informing him straight away that the healer claimed he would recover well, but Samuel wanted to visit him himself, to make sure that he truly was fine.
Ever since the attack, he hadn’t stopped thinking about his friend’s fate.
The meeting with his council had been long and tedious, all of them trying to come up with a strategy for the attack that was sure to come. If MacLaine was bold enough to send his men after him like this, who was to say he wouldn’t orchestrate an attack too, and soon?
There was too much unrest in and around his lands. There were too many feuds, too many lairds fighting each other. In all hisyears, he had never before seen such a thing, but now there was no avoiding the truth: war was coming.
As he stepped into the healer’s quarters, though, Samuel pushed all that out of his mind, even if just for a short while. He was there to see his friend in the few minutes he could spare before he was inevitably discovered by his council.
Gavin was in one of the cots that were pushed up against the far wall. Samuel had never liked being in the healer’s quarters, though the place was anything but unpleasant at first glance. The main room was large, giving the healer ample space to prepare her concoctions and have several beds for the sick and injured, and she had used every inch of space to store her books, her papers, and all the herbs she kept and dried indoors. Large windows let the sunlight in, but now the sky was a dark blue with veins of red running through it, the sun quickly setting in the horizon.
Samuel approached slowly, quietly, so as to not disturb Gavin in case he was sleeping. When he got close, though, Gavin opened his eyes and smiled at him, motioning at him to take a seat.
Grabbing a nearby chair, Samuel pulled it to Gavin’s bed, forcing himself to smile back even though he hardly felt like it. Gavin had never looked worse—he was pale after losing so much blood, and though he was looking straight at Samuel, his gaze was glazed over and exhausted, as though he could hardly keep himself awake.
“Shall I leave ye tae rest?” he asked Gavin, who was quick to shake his head.
“Nay,” he said. “I’m fine. An’ I wished tae thank ye… I saw how ye put yerself between me lasses an’ those men. Thank ye fer protectin’ them. An’ thank ye fer savin’ me life. Without ye an’ Nerian, I would be dead now.”
“Ye dinnae need tae thank me,” Samuel assured him with a wave of his hand. “Ye would have done the same fer me.”
“Aye,” said Gavin. “An’ ye would have thanked me all the same.”
Samuel could hardly argue with that. It was true. He would have spent days thanking Gavin, despite knowing they both saw it as their duty to keep each other and their loved ones safe.
“How are Alicia an’ Katherine?” Gavin asked then, and Samuel didn’t really know what to tell him. He hadn’t seen the girls, hadn’t had the time to speak to Alicia at all. “Were they scared? They must have been.”
“They’re tough lasses, both o’ them,” said Samuel. “I’m sure they were scared tae see ye like that, but they will be fine, especially since they ken yer well.”
“I hope so,” said Gavin with a sigh, as he let his eyes fall shut. “Ach, an’ now we cannae even go tae Castle MacTavish until I heal. Dae ye think I should send them along with some guards?”
Samuel was quick to shake his head. He couldn’t stomach the idea of Alicia marrying another man, and he had already made up his mind; he was going to talk to Gavin, explain to him that he had feelings for Alicia which had crept up to him without any warning, and that he hoped Gavin would give him a chance to make her happy, but this was not the time for such a conversation. He wanted him to heal first, to rest, as the shock of the revelation was bound to be a lot for him and the last thing Samuel wanted was to make his friend worse. For now, all he could do was advise him to keep his daughters close, to ignore any demands that his daughters be sent to Castle MacTavish alone, if such demands ever came from Laird MacTavish or the king. Surely, the two men would understand Gavin’s situation was dire and he couldn’t travel, and that Alicia and Katherine should not be travelling unaccompanied by their father. If nothing else, the attack had proven that they lived in dangerous times, and so it was best to take full precautions when travelling.
“I think ye an’ yer daughters should stay here,” Samuel said. “Ye ken ye can stay as long as ye need. There is nae rush.”
“There is a rush when the king himself pushes fer this marriage,” Gavin pointed out. “Ye ken that as well as I dae, Samuel, an’ ye ken that soon the day will come when he will tire o’ waitin’.”
There was nothing Samuel could say, not when his plan was for Alicia to never marry Laird MacTavish; not when his plan was to go against the king’s wishes entirely and possibly attract all of his wrath.
“Gavin, dinnae think about any o’ that now,” Samuel said gently, placing a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “Rest. I must attend another meetin’ with me council, but I will be back tae see ye on the morrow.”
“There is much tae be done, isnae there?” Gavin asked with a sigh. “Perhaps I can help ye with?—”
“The only way ye can help me now is by restin’,” Samuel insisted. He knew all Gavin wanted was to be back on his feet, attending meetings, but the healer had given explicit orders that he was not to be moved from the cot. She would not even allow him to be transferred to private chambers while the wound was still so fresh, and stressed the importance of Gavin remaining still, precisely where he was.
“That is hardly helpful,” Gavin protested, but made no move to stand, much to Samuel’s relief.
“Trust me,” Samuel said, standing. “It is tae me.”
Once he left the healer’s quarters, Samuel sat through another round of meetings and then had dinner—or rather was served some food, which he pushed back and forth on his plate, his appetite long gone. He had gone all day without eating, but he couldn’t bring himself to stomach a single bite, not when worry had dug its talons into his guts, threatening to tear him in two.
