Page 49

“And how would you like it if you had to obey me,” Dru challenged.

“Lord, help the man stuck marrying you,” Nug said, shaking his head.

Dru’s small fist pounded the table. “I will never let a man rule me.”

Nug laughed. “What man would want to?”

Dru turned angry eyes on Nug. “There is no man worthy of marrying me.” She grabbed an oat cake from the bowl on the table and shook it at Quint. “You’ve got a good woman. Don’t be a fool and treat her badly.” She hurried off the bench and out of the room.

“She’s a menace,” Nug said.

“Dru is a young woman with no one to protect her who is trying to survive on her own. I think she is brave and strong, and I agree with her. There isn’t a man worthy of a woman of such courage.”

Quint handed his wife an oat cake. “Eat it as we go to wherever it is you are needed.”

Shade smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek, then took a swallow of cider and grabbed another oat cake to take along with her before hurrying off.

Quint dropped a heavy hand on Nug’s shoulder after standing to follow his wife. “Next time don’t help. Dru’s tongue is quicker and sharper than yours.”

Shade had forgottento grab her cloak, and she wished that she had when she stepped outside. The air was chillier since her arrival, reminding her that autumn was full upon them. She was about to turn to retrieve her cloak when a cloak was draped over her shoulders and arms circled her.

“What would you do without me?” Quint asked, hugging her and planting a kiss on her cheek.

His hug eased as she turned around in his arms. “I wouldn’t want to find out.” She kissed his lips, wondering how the man known as The Monk could be so thoughtful to her. She also wondered if love was as strong of a healing power as not only hergrandmother claimed it to be but Brother Emmett as well. She was beginning to think they were both right.

“I wouldn’t either,” he said after a last brush of his lips across hers.

She stepped out of his embrace and hooked her arm around his to continue down the stairs. “I am so glad you paid heed to Dru’s wise words.”

“And what words of hers were wise?”

Shade chuckled. “All of them.”

Quint almost groaned aloud when they hadn’t gotten very far into the village before he spotted a line of men, bruised and with multiple bloody bandages covering them, had already formed and the end of it, or the beginning, led to a cottage.

He brought his wife to an abrupt halt. “You cannot tend to all of them today. You will exhaust yourself and be no good to anyone.”

One quick glance at the line told Shade what she needed to do. “I will treat the more immediate in need and leave the rest until tomorrow.” She stepped closer to him. “This might be the perfect time for you to talk to some of the men and see if they have any information that may help you.”

“A good thought, wife,” he said, thinking it would also let him keep watch over his wife. “One thing before you are gone from me for some time. Did Chieftain Rylan speak with you at all.”

“He didn’t wake while I was with him, though Ula assures me he does wake at times.”

“Nug hopes to speak with him when he does wake, and I would like to be there as well.”

This was the opportunity she hoped for, and she asked, “Do you know Chieftain Ryland?”

“Not well, I only exchanged a few words with him once, but I prefer firsthand knowledge of what is said instead of having theconversation repeated to me. It always loses something in the retelling.”

“You should let Nug know that you wish to be there when the chieftain wakes.”

“I will make him aware of it.”

“And I will let you know when Chieftain Ryland is able to speak with Nug,” Shade said, feeling guilty that in a way she spoke the truth while also avoiding it.

They continued to the cottage, most of those waiting in line calling out their thanks and appreciation for her help before she even tended to them.

Shade hurried to an older warrior who two men were fighting to keep on his feet. “Please sit him under that tree.” She pointed to a large oak near the cottage.