Jane’s eyes widened in shock. Surely, he couldn’t be serious by asking her to join him on that tiny stretch of fabric?
“There is nae way I will share yer bedroll. Are ye mad? ‘Tis improper! Nay, I will join ye over my dead body.”
Darach said nothing in response. He shrugged and adjusted himself on the ground. She’d heard tales of Laird Robertson while eavesdropping on the soldiers’ conversations at home. He was a ruthless man, and his fame and story were infamous. Some said that even the Scottish king feared him. She knew that Robertson and his brother were working with others to build an army called the Jacobites and that Darachwas the face of the revolt against William of Orange in a bid for the throne.
She sat with her back against the tree until the fire died out, buried in her thoughts. But as the flames burned out, the cold took their place. She stood up to move closer to the dying fire, but putting pressure on her ankle made her screech. She sank back against the tree in pain.
“For God’s sake, woman!” Darach cursed and stood up from the cloth. “Ye have a mind tae give yerself pain, dinnae ye? Ye might as well just kill yerself.”
Jane spoke no words as he grabbed her leg to check her ankle. His touch was soft as he unwrapped the rag. When he touched the swollen skin she yelped in pain.
“Sorry,” he whispered, looking into her eyes.
Jane was surprised to see his forehead crease in worry. He surely could not be troubled about her leg…could he?Mending her wound, finding that blasted squirrel…
Does he truly care? Or is he just pretending to be nice because he wants to keep me quiet?
She watched him quickly go back to his pack to retrieve some sort of ointment before approaching her and picking her leg up again. Jane made a move to yank it back, but he shook his head slowly.
“Please allow me, my lady. If we want ye walking on the morrow, I must apply this tae yer ankle.”
That must be it,Jane concluded. All he wanted was to make the leg good enough so that he could see through his abduction. Jane thought quickly about refusing to let him apply it just to muddle his plans, but his voice cut through her thoughts as if he could read them.
“It’ll help with the pain as well. Refusing my care may cost ye a foot.”
She surely didn’t want that, so she surrendered and watched him rub the ointment onto her ankle and wrap it gently again.
“Ye must have been a healer in another life.”Jane couldn’t stop herself from saying.The care and dexterity with which he cared for her leg stirred something within her—she was astounded by the roughness of his appearance and the contrasting softness of his touch.
He smiled at her. “I’ve been many things, my lady, but I think it would hurt the healing masters at my keep if I called myself one.”
“Where did ye learn tae do that, then?”
Jane nodded towards her ankle, and when she looked back at his face, she saw a shadow cross over his eyes. Pain.
What could have caused this man so much pain?
“Life taught me, my lady,” he chuckled, the pain now evident in his voice too.
It was louder, real.
“There were, let’s say, quite a few accidents that led tae quite some more injuries in the castle. Most times I needed mending, but sometimes it was my maither or brother. I needed to learn how tae care for them before the healers came.”
His eyes had gone dark now, darker than night itself, tinged with a mixture of aching guilt and anger. A strange thread of misery was pulled in her heart as she looked at him. His jaw ticked, and he looked away into the fire.
Whatever this was, Jane knew it was no normal accident. If it happened often enough to make him learn how to be a healer, then it must have been inflicted by a person on purpose. And onlyoneperson would dare touch a laird’s wife and sons: the laird himself.
Darach had probably thought that it was his duty to protect his mother and brother, hence his guilt. But what could a young boy do against a mighty laird?
It didn’t matter what she thought. How she could be sure? She could never voice such a question, no matter how much it ached to consider.
She looked into his eyes again and laid her hand on his own where it was resting on her ankle.
“It’s nae yer fault that ye couldnae protect them. Ye were just a lad.”
A squall of emotion flashed in his eyes at her words. The first emotion was surprise that she’d figured him out and then gratitude for her understanding, followed by discomfort. Then the unreadable veil of darkness came back in place.
“That’s all in the past. It’s time tae sleep now, lass.”