Highland Barbarian Part 36

They had all been through h.e.l.l this day. Yet they had survived. That alone was a bond that would not soon be broken.

"Is there anything else I can do, my lady?"

Meredith turned to glance at the housekeeper, then at Angus, kneeling beside her. His eyes, dull with pain, were set in an ashen face.

"Aye. You can take this man to his bed and see to his wounds."

Though the servant's face betrayed her pleasure, Angus seemed surprised.

"My wounds are nothing, my lady. I cannot leave the side of my friend."

"You have been so concerned about Brice, you do not even know that you have been wounded." Meredith touched a hand to his shoulder in a gesture of kins.h.i.+p. "Brice will not mind that you have left him. He is in another world now. And it will be a long time before he decides whether to join his ancestors or return to us."

"Will you send for me the minute he awakens?"

If he ever awakens, Meredith thought sadly. Please, G.o.d, grant him the strength to fight this weakness. Then, brus.h.i.+ng aside such emotional thoughts she nodded.

"The very moment he is alert, you will be told."

With the help of Mistress Snow, Angus got slowly to his feet. He hesitated a moment, staring down at the woman who knelt beside Brice's still form, the woman who had been captive and was now healer.

"Forgive me, my lady, for doubting you."

"You had every right to think what you did, Angus." She gave him an encouraging smile.

"I trust Brice Camp- bell is worthy of the love and devotion you have exhibited."

"Aye, my lady. He has more than earned my loyalty.

And the loyalty of all who proclaim Brice Campbell their leader."

Meredith studied the man who would surely sacrifice his life for the one on the pallet.

"Rest now, Angus," Meredith said, as he leaned heavily on Mistress Snow's shoulder. .

"If there is anything I can do, you must tell me."

She touched a hand to Brice's throat and felt the pulse that, though thin and halting, continued to beat.

"You can pray."

Meredith spread the poultice over the festering wound before covering it with fresh dressings. Then she pulled up the bed linens and sat back on her heels, studying the quiet figure on the pallet.

He was so still. So very still. As though his life was slipping away, breath by breath.

He had not moved since she had first found him. Nor had he moaned or cried out, despite the depth of pain he must be suffering.

The servants drifted into the room whenever they found time, as did all Brice's men who were able to walk. They would stay for a few minutes, studying his pale face, watching the woman who worked tirelessly beside him. On each face Meredith saw the love, the concern, for this man. It was evident in the way they studied him, with a kind of reverence, and the way they spoke, in hushed tones usually reserved for the clergy.

The light through the windows had long since faded into darkness. The only illumination in the room was the fire in the fireplace and a single candle beside a basin on a small table.

The sounds of activity in the castle had ceased. The dead had been removed to the burned-out sh.e.l.l of the storehouse until proper graves could be dug and the grieving families could see to their burial. The wounded had been ministered to and carried to beds and pallets.

Meredith continued mopping the sweat that beaded Brice's forehead.

Her shoulders drooped in exhaustion. Her eyes blurred and she wiped a hand across them, blinking away the desire to shut them tightly.

Meredith looked up at the sound of the door being opened. Jamie crossed the room and knelt beside her. His gaze fastened hungrily upon the still form of Brice.

"You should be asleep," Meredith whispered.

"I cannot sleep."

She saw the fear lurking in his eyes. With great tenderness she brought her arm about his shoulder and drew him close.

"When Brice awakens he will have you scurrying about fetching so many things you will have no time to rest. Then you will yearn for the luxury of sleep."

"Do you believe that, my lady?"

"I must," she whispered.

"And so must you."

She felt the lad tremble. And then, in a burst of anguish, he cried, "I am so afraid, my lady. If I dare to fall asleep, I'm afraid Brice will slip away. And I will never have the chance to tell him how much I love him."

"Oh, Jamie." Meredith gathered him into her arms. Against his temple she whispered,

"His fate is no longer in our hands. We have done all we can. But I promise you this. I will stay here beside him. And if he should need anything, anything at all, I will see that he has it."

The lad shook his head from side to side.

"I am afraid to leave him."

"Then stay with him," she said softly.

"Sleep here beside him."

"Here?" The boy seemed astounded by her offer. Never would he presume to sleep beside so great a man.

Meredith lifted the folded bed linens that Cara had left in case her mistress desired to rest. She would have no need of them since she would never be able to leave Brice's side this night.

Fixing a pallet beside Brice, she lifted a corner of the blanket and motioned for Jamie to climb inside.

"Brice will not mind?"

"I think he would be pleased," Meredith murmured, tucking the linens about him.

As she so often did with her younger sisters, she bent and brushed a kiss over the lad's cheek.