Jack shook his head. He needed to either drink more ale or go somewhere else, so he did not have to listen to their political talk at a time like this.
His heart grew heavier by the second. For a moment, he wished Isla was here with him. That way he could hug her close and enjoy her scent for some time. She would have understood him better at a time like this.
With her soft words and her tender touch, she could have comforted him more.
“I need to be alone.”
Neither Jamie nor Aideen said anything thankfully. They both left his study in silence, and he poured himself more ale, then called for a guard to bring him more.
In a short time he had emptied three quaiches and he was nowhere near satisfied. A servant came into his study with his supper.
Jack’s stomach was too tight to keep anything down.
His joints ached, his wounds felt sore, but none of that mattered. He stood by his study window for a long time and stared into the dark night.
Were the Heavens so cruel to take a good man and let those who had killed him go free? Jack did not believe in that kind of justice. The only way his heart would rest was if he found his brother’s killer, and he planned to dedicate the rest of his life to doing that.
Later that night, Moira came to his chamber and dressed his wounds. Jack sat in silence as she worked a cloth around his mid-section to cover the cut there, then handed him a vial of tonic.
“It is for strength, My Laird,” she said in a tender voice.
He took it from her and stared into her eyes before drinking. Moira hadn’t asked him a word about Isla since he arrived, and even after explaining to his cousin and Jamie that she had stayed back in Birlet Shallows, he still had to think of what to tell them next when she did not return.
“Thank ye, Moira,” he said after he drank and wiped his lips. She stayed on the chair next to his bedside for some time, and Jack desperately needed someone to talk to, so he asked, “Do ye think it was my fault? That perhaps there was a way I could have avoided what happened to Elliot?”
“Nay one could have avoided it, My Laird. He rode out that mornin’ to enjoy his time out in the open fields, and never returned. He was ambushed and killed… it was nay yer fault.”
“I just wish I was with him in his final moments. Maybe I could have protected him and fought by his side one last time.”
Jack struggled to find his breath
“We all thought ye died, My Laird,” Moira continued, and Jack looked at her. “Jamie and I, we—” She trailed off, her eyes turned teary, then she hiccupped and continued, “We thought ye were dead too and the entire Clan mourned for ye. Aideen mourned for ye… and Elliot. He was the most devastated among us when he learned of what happened to ye in Birlet Shallows and Elliot on our own land.”
“If I had stayed back then—”
“I trust that ye will find the killers, My Laird… everyone looks up to ye,” Moira told him. “And we believe in ye.”
Her smile was shaky, and Jack nodded as he felt the strength of the herbs mixed in her tonic take effect and weaken his muscles so he could relax.
“I hope this is to make me sleep peacefully,” he said to her after combing his fingers through his hair and sighing. “My mind willnae rest.”
“Ye must rest and regain yer strength, My Laird… ye will need it for the days ahead.”
Moira rose to her feet, then curtsied and walked out of his chamber. Alone with his thoughts now, he lay on his bed, spread his arms out wide and stared at the ceiling.
Isla’s voice came to him. Her soft laugh, and how her eyes sparkled when a smile cramped her cheek. He dwelled on that thought because it eased his pain and made him ease into a light sleep.
* * *
Isla entered the Castle with a crowd of servants returning from the fields with their baskets attached to their side hip. She didn’t need anyone to notice her, so once she dropped her basket, she snuck past the guards and headed toward the dark lower stairway leading to the dungeons.
She had been down to the caves with Jack before. The night they had found the treasure just lying in wait, she had wandered around the caves, not knowing that the key she sought was right here.
Her right hand moved to the medallion on her neck, and she fingered it a little while pushing every other thought out of her mind.
This was the moment she had waited for these past months.
When she reached the dungeons and continued to the last landing, she heard footsteps approach her and voices.