Chapter 4
“You will stay close by my side. You will not wander away or go off with anyone. You will say I need you, that you must stay with me,” Bliss ordered.
“You do not trust anyone, do you?” Annis whispered as her sister had done as she looked around the large Great Hall where a servant had deposited them when they had arrived a few moments ago.
“I do not trust the men who search for a bride. They will cart a woman off without a thought, as if she was nothing more than chattel,” Bliss warned.
“I have the same instincts,” Annis said, agreeing with her sister.
Bliss tugged at Annis’s hand to be quiet when she spotted the older of the two men enter the room and approach them.
“I am Lawler,” the gray-haired man said when he stopped in front of the two women.
Bliss acknowledged him with a nod but didn’t introduce her sister. He would have to ask if he wished to know, but she had a feeling the man already knew who Annis was. The man might be aged, but his blue eyes were as vibrant and attentive as a young man’s.
“You will tell me if you require anything. I must warn you that the man you will tend can be difficult, but he will not harm you.”
Bliss nodded, not sure what to say, and worried what Annis would do if the man should prove difficult.
“Come and let us get this done with,” Lawler said.
Bliss kept Annis behind her. They barely had climbed the stairs when they heard the shouting.
“I DO NOT GIVE A BLOODY HELL! I DO NOT NEED A HEALER!”
The other person shouted just as loud. “IT IS NOT YOUR CHOICE!”
“IT DAMN WELL IS!” came the quick reply.
Lawler shook his head before opening the door and announcing loudly. “The healer is here!”
Bliss kept Annis tucked behind her as she followed Lawler into the room.
“Well at last I have a pretty face to look upon.”
“Good, you find the healer pretty, take her for a wife. She will serve you well since you are constantly near death.”
“Enough, Cadell,” Lawler admonished.
It was obvious the older man was in charge since Cadell remained silent.
“I may be condemned, Cadell, but I would never condemn a woman along with me. Now get out and let the healer waste her time with me when we both know I will heal no matter what.”
“As you wish, Lord Brogan,” Lawler said and snapped his hand at Cadell. The man scowled and petulantly stomped out of the room. Lawler looked to Bliss. “Buckets of water sit by the hearth as well as cloths. If you need anything else, please call out. I will be waiting outside the door.” With that he closed the door,
“Who hides behind you?” Brogan demanded.
Bliss’s hand shot out to stop her sister from coming out from behind her, but it did not matter. The command in Brogan’s voice was enough for her sister to take a stance.
“I do not hi—”
Annis lost all color when she turned her eyes on him. Brogan did not hesitate, he rushed at her as her eyes rolled back in her head and her body dropped. He scooped her up in his arms before she hit the floor. She was light, barely any weight at all, and he carried her to the large bed and placed her down on it.
Bliss stood beside him, hurrying to explain. “My sister cannot take the sight of too much blood.”
“And she is a healer?” he asked, though he did not take his eyes off Annis. Her beauty captivated the senses. He had known many women but none matched her stunning beauty. He actually felt a catch to his heart as if it had stopped beating for a moment as he stared at her.
“Heavens, no,” Bliss said, “but I was told to bring her along.” She thought it best not to let him know she had another sister.
“Tend her, then you can see to me,” Brogan ordered and turned away, feeling himself grow aroused just looking at the gorgeous woman in his bed.
“It is best I tend you first. At least by then I’ll have some of the blood cleaned off you and Annis may fair better when looking upon you,” Bliss said, offering a congenial smile.
“Have it your way,” Brogan said and returned to the chair by the hearth.
Bliss got busy adding a mixture of leaves to one of the buckets of water and soaking a couple of cloths in it. Even with all the blood on him, she could tell he was a man of handsome features. He wore only his plaid, the strip of cloth that usually crossed the chest hanging down from his side, leaving his chest bare. He was well built for his tall height, sheer muscle and not an ounce of fat. His fine shape could be the reason he had survived death so many times, though if the tale about him surviving a hanging was true, that was one she could not explain.