Page 40 of Wolf Heir
Aisling joined them and filled hers.
“How long did you watch me fight Holgar?” Coinneach tried to keep up with Aodhan as Aisling followed them from a considerable distance behind.
“From the beginning. How did you know his name? I assume Tamhas didna kill his brother,” Aodhan said.
“Nay, I did,” Aisling called out from behind them.
“No’ with a bow and arrow.” Aodhan glanced back at her.
She smiled. “As a wolf.”
Aodhan nodded. “She is a keeper.”
“Aye. I know. She saved my life,” Coinneach said. “You didna come to aid me against Holgar, Aodhan.” Coinneach thought they were supposed to have each other’s backs. And Coinneach was still dealing with a painful wound. He spoke the words not in condemnation but wishing to learn what Aodhan had been thinking.
“I told you. The two men on our right were yours to fight.”
“But Aisling killed two of the men you said you would battle.” Coinneach didn’t see the logic in it as he poured more water on the fires, groaning in pain. He glanced down at his shirt and saw that it was covered in fresh blood.
“I was busy fighting when you killed the first man, and then you became engaged with Holgar. ‘Tis a matter of honor. The man who sought revenge would have continued to come after your family once he learned you had his brother’s weapons. Unless you couldna fight any longer, I had to let you prove you were the better fighter. And you showed you were.”
The riders from the castle, including Tristan, soon joined them, dismounted, and began hauling water from the creek, and quickly put out the remaining fires.
A wave of dizziness crashed over Coinneach, and he grabbed Aodhan’s arm before he fell headfirst into the grass.
Aodhan quickly held him up. “You’re bleeding. Why didna you tell me? That would have been different. I would have killed Holgar for you.”
Coinneach weakly laughed.
Aisling dropped her empty buckets and ran to Coinneach. She removed his shirt. “You were no’ supposed to be fighting. What were you thinking? And you”—she gave Aodhan a stern look—“you knew he was wounded earlier. You should have taken care of Holgar. I would have, but Coinneach was in my line of sight and I couldna hit Holgar with one of my arrows.”
“Aye, lass, just as I was saying. Coinneach fought so well, I didna remember him being wounded.” Aodhan sounded truly repentant.
She wrapped the cloth from her head around Coinneach’s bloody bandage. “Someone needs to give Coinneach a ride back to the castle. He needs to see my mother at once.” She helped him on with his shirt.
Tristan offered his horse. “I’ll help you to get him on the horse. Aisling, you can go with him to ensure he stays in the saddle. We’ll take care of the dead men.”
“Give Holgar’s sword and the short sword to Tamhas,” Coinneach said.
“Aye, it will be done.” Tristan pointed at Holgar’s weapons. “These?”
“Aye.”
“You came late enough,” Aodhan said to the gathered men who had finished putting the fires out and were now ready to take care of the bodies.
“Even though you said you didna need our help, we were gathering a force to come to your aid. Morag stopped us from helping you. She said you wouldna need anyone else’s assistance. Then Chief Hamish learned about the two of you going to Coinneach’s family’s aid, that Aisling had slipped out tohelp you, and countermanded Morag’s order. He wasna happy with her,” Tristan said. “Nor was she with him.”
Coinneach was glad for that. But Morag’s actions made him wonder if she suspected who he was and hoped the Vikings would kill him, which would mean Blair was in more danger. And probably Aisling as well.
9
Aisling's hands trembled with rage as she retrieved her bow and quiver from her pallet in the women’s quarters. She'd heard every word of Morag's order for the soldiers to stand down, claiming that Aodhan and Coinneach would manage any trouble his family was having beyond the castle gates.
Once Morag had barked her command and the soldiers had fallen back like a tide retreating, Aisling stood dumbstruck in the dim corridor, her mouth agape, fists balled at her sides. Through the half-open door, she’d witnessed Morag’s hard eyes, the clipped, private whisper in which she assured the captain that Aodhan and Coinneach could handle any threat the crofters could possibly be facing.
The words stank of conspiracy. Aisling’s blood surged with a heat that lit her from scalp to toes, and she wanted nothing more than to throttle Morag right then and there, to scream her outrage until the castle’s stones trembled and the banners shuddered from their poles.
But Morag’s authority, for now, was absolute; the men would obey her, not some waifish girl with a wild streak and a bow. The guards outside the chamber door stood with their faces politelyblank, but Aisling caught the glint of amusement in their eyes as she stormed past them, her braid lashing her back like a whip. She shouldered past a knot of servants cowering in the hallway and skidded on the rushes as she rounded the corner toward the gates.
