Page 44 of Bride Takes a Laird

“Laird,” Hayden called, “Oswald and Jake are injured. Two others didn’t make it. Their injuries were fatal. We should probably get Oswald and Jake to a healer.”

Magnus marched to the group of men who stood nearby. Jake and Oswald sat on the ground. Two others tended to them and wrapped Oswald’s leg and Jake’s shoulder. Once their injuries were cared for, at least for now, they retreated from the woods and gained their horses’backs. His followers retrieved the bodies of their fallen brethren and tied them to their mounts. They’d receive the highest praise at their burials when they reached home.

As much as he appreciated battling with the Chattans, he disliked the fact that two of his men had died and two others were most grievously wounded. His brother was carried on Hayden’s horse because he couldn’t ride alone.

“Laird,” Hayden called, “Jake hast lost a lot of blood. He’s barely hanging on.”

“We’ll stop near the border of our land and MacKendrick’s. There’s a healer there, Lillith, who aids anyone in need. It’s much closer and we’ll get the men seen to sooner.” Magnus took up the rear of the procession. He was concerned for his brother and when he chanced to look at him, his brother appeared to be pitched forward, slouched over and unconscious.

Hayden kept hold of Jake’s tartan-clad body and peered at him. “We need to make haste. Jake is not doing well and might succumb before we get to Lillith’s.”

It didn’t take long to reach the stone wall surrounding the healer’s cottage. Magnus bade his men to await him by the wall as he approached on foot. He knocked at the door and it was opened slightly.

“What do ye want?” a woman’s voice came.

“Lillith, it’s me, Magnus. We need your aid.” He hoped she’d be amiable to help them. She was renowned for her healing methods and she never refused to help anyone regardless of which clan they belonged to.

“I wouldst gladly aid ye but I have a man convalescing within. He is of the clan MacKendrick if that matters to ye.”

Magnus shook his head. “We are not aligned with the MacKendricks but we are not warring with them. I give ye my oath that we will not make trouble for ye or your charge. We only seek your aid for our wounded men.”

“Very well, bring them inside.” She turned, opening the door more widely before she disappeared from the entrance.

He motioned to his men and signaled to Hayden to bring Jake. His soldier dismounted, pulled his brother from the horse’s back, and set him over his shoulder. He trudged forward and entered the cottage. Oswald, with the aid of another soldier, limped toward the building and also entered.

Magnus was about to follow them but turned and said to the remaining men, “The rest of ye settle in until we know how the men fare. Make camp for now. If we are delayed, I’ll send ye along home with our dead so they can be readied for burial.”

Inside the dark cottage, there were bunches of drying plants hanging from a rope nailed from one wall to another. Scents permeated from simmering cauldrons hung in the hearth and on a long table at the far end of the cottage, sat medicinal jars lined in perfectly aligned rows. Set before them were pestles and healing tools of which Magnus had no knowledge. The woman was apt at her occupation and he admired her for the skill.

Jake was lying on an empty table near the long table of medicinals. Lillith set to work on him and Hayden helped her remove his tunic. She went about her tasks silently and engrossed. Magnus took a moment and peered at the man who lay upon a makeshift cot on the other side of the cottage. He recognized Trevor, one of Declan MacKendrick’s guardsmen.

“Will Trevor survive?” he asked Lillith in a low voice.

“He’s out of danger for now. It will take him time, however, to heal. Now, about this man…”

“My brother Jake,” Magnus supplied.

“He was pierced through his shoulder. It doesn’t appear that anything major was sliced. He’s lost a good bit of blood though. I’ll clean the wound and get him patched up. We must pray that infection doesn’t come to his wound.”

Magnus paced the small area before the table while she tended to his brother. Jake still hadn’t regained his senses, thankfully, and remained unaware of her poking and prodding. When she finished, Lillith covered the wound with a cloth and tied it.

“He will need to stay here on the table. I have given him a dram which will lessen his pain, ward off infection, and keep him sleeping for a while. Now who else needs aid?” Lillith approached and stood before Oswald.

“Let us see what’s what.” She lifted the hem of his tartan and pressed the fabric far enough upward to reveal the bulky muscle of his thigh.

Oswald drew in a hiss at her touch. “Will I lose my leg?”

Lillith frowned at his leg and focused on the wound. “Ye took a good strike to your leg and it barely bled. There will be a good bruise which will probably take weeks to heal.”

“It hurts,” Oswald said. “I can barely stand on it.”

“Aye, ye shall limp for a time. For now, I will wash your leg with wine and then put some ointment on it to soothe it and a cool compress to ease ye.” Lillith crossed the cottage to the back table and turned her back to them. She prepared medicinals for his soldier’s leg.

“I am sorry, Laird. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to become injured—”

“Ye need not apologize, Oswald. Let Lillith tend to ye.”

“Ye should go and return with the men. I will stay here with Jake and that will give me time to recover. Take our brothers home and bury them.”