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“Only a man who wanted a woman would try to convince her of that.” Dru laughed. “Sorry, Nug, but I’m not interested.”

Nug shook his head. “You’re a menace.”

“Sweet words will get you nowhere,” she said, continuing to laugh.

“Set her to the task, so there will be peace in the village,” Nug said.

Dru couldn’t stop chuckling. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

Quint couldn’t help but laugh as well.

All laughter stopped when Ena entered the Great Hall. “You both are wanted in Chieftain Ryland’s bedchamber right away.”

Nug rushed off, but Quint lingered a moment. “I do not want to put you in harm’s way, but if you could find out what Asher is up to it would be a great help.”

“I can do it,” Dru assured him.

“I will see that you have a few coins to take with you and get food from the kitchen. Take no more than a week whether you succeed or not, or I will come looking for you,” he warned her.

“Aye, I’ll be back by a week’s end,” Dru said.

“Take no chances, Dru,” Quint ordered and hurried off.

Quint took the stairs quickly. It had been several days since the night he and Shade had discovered that Amara actually had visited her. He continued to think over all that Shade had said to him after he discovered that Amara had been with child when he met her. He wondered if Amara’s decision to keep the bairn was what got her killed and the responsibility of her death laid at Shade’s feet. If Amara had purged the bairn, would she still be alive? It annoyed him that he might never know.

The one good thing that came of it all was that Shade was innocent. She had offered healing advice and nothing more. She had done her best to help Amara and that was a relief to Quint. Though it should have never been a worry in the first place and it taught him a lesson to always, without doubt, trust Shade.

Quint approached the bed when he entered the room. Nug was sitting in the chair beside the bed while Ula stood to the side.

Apprehension glinted in Caleb’s eyes at Quint’s approach, and he wondered what Nug had told him so far.

“Nug told me how you have helped the clan and that you keep Chieftain Ryland’s absence a secret. I am grateful to you,” Caleb said, cringing now and again at the pain caused by him shifting his position to gain some comfort.

Shade stepped forward. “Ask, Caleb, what you must, now that he is awake enough to talk with you, but do not take long. He needs to rest if he is to heal well.”

Upon hearing that, Caleb hurried to tell them what he knew. “Chieftain Ryland is alive. He carried me off the battlefield and after leaving me in a safe spot, he gave the signal to retrieve a wounded warrior. I remember what he kept repeating to me. ‘Iam alive, Caleb. Make sure everyone knows that I live. Tell all to have patience. I will return when the time is right. We have won the battle.’ He repeated that over and over to me so that I wouldn’t forget it. He is alive and strong, and he will return to us.”

“Are you sure he said nothing of where he was going?” Nug asked.

“Nay. He just kept repeating those words to me and I am glad he did, or I may never have remembered them, my pain was so bad.” He cringed, a pain striking him and reminding him he had yet to fully heal.

“Caleb needs to rest,” Shade said, seeing the pain he still suffered. “You can speak with him again tomorrow.”

Ula hurried to the bed, urging Nug out of the chair and when he got up and moved away, she hurried to sit and take her husband’s hand. “Sleep some, so you continue to heal,” she urged, and his eyes closed at her command. She sent Shade a worried glance.

Shade was quick to reassure her. “He still has much healing to do, and rest is what he needs right now. It takes effort to speak, so too much talk will not help him.” She looked from Nug to her husband. “Once a day and not for long periods. Once he grows stronger, we can change that.”

“If that is all Ryland conveyed to him, then we have all we need,” Nug said, “though I will visit him the time you allotted me in case he recalls more. Besides, we want the clan to continue to believe that Chieftain Ryland is recovering nicely and my daily visits to his bedchamber will confirm that.”

Shade placed her hand on Ula’s shoulder as Nug and Quint walked to the door. “I will leave you alone with your husband. Make sure he gets the brew and eats, and you may talk but keep his talk brief.”

“I will do whatever you say, Shade. You saved his life.”

“He still has healing to do,” Shade said, aware that Caleb was not sufficiently healed so that death could no longer claim him.

“I understand, but he does well and that is what matters,” Ula said.

As soon as Shade closed the door to the bedchamber, Nug said, “He is so pale, and you can see the pain he suffers. Will he survive?”