Page 8 of The Cruel Highlander’s Healer (Highlanders’ Feisty Brides #1)

CHAPTER EIGHT

C onall turned, staring out at the rolling lawns surrounding MacKinnon Castle. The horizon was only just streaking with gold as the first rays of the morning kissed the sky, and he took a moment to breathe deeply.

This is goin’ to work, the healer will get her herbs, and the bairns will get their tonic.

It had been late when he’d left Eliza in the drawing room and finally made his way to his chambers. But, despite the late hour, he’d lain in bed for what felt like hours more as he tossed and turned and prayed for sleep.

When, finally, sleep did come, he had been plagued with dreams of the small bodies currently resting in the Great Hall being placed into caskets. He’d heard the cries of mothers and fathers as those caskets were lowered into the ground. Conall had felt the weight of that responsibility every moment since the sun had finally woken him.

The reassuring thoughts did little to bring him peace, though, and he tapped a foot impatiently as he waited for Eliza to appear.

The front door of the castle was pulled open, revealing Eliza being escorted to him by Morna.

“About time ye got down here,” Conall grumbled, grabbing the horse’s reins in his fist and holding it steady as she approached.

Eliza ignored his barb, instead eyeing the stallion that he stood in front of.

“Are we only usin’ one horse?” Her voice was filled with doubt, and Conall just nodded his affirmation.

“Aye,” he pointed to the stirrup. “I told ye, ye’re the only healer. And I cannae risk ye ridin’ off without helpin’ the bairns if I give ye a horse of yer own. So climb up, and we’ll be off to start yer foragin’.”

“Ye really think I’d ride off without helpin’ ye?”

“Aye, absolutely. I think ye wouldnae help me even if I was bleedin’ out on yer boots.”

She snorted. “Well, that might be true. But I wouldnae abandon the bairns.”

“Stop yer stallin’, lassie, and get up on this horse.”

Conall pointed again to the saddle and was surprised when Eliza didn’t argue any further.

Moving past him toward the stallion, she placed a booted foot into the stirrup and pulled herself up into place. He watched as she got herself seated, giving Eliza a few moments to adjust herself before swinging himself up behind her.

Just like the day prior, he felt the presence of her body immediately. Once again, the smell of her drifted up to his nostrils, filling every one of his senses.

Images of her staring at him defiantly the night before floated into his mind’s eye. Throughout his entire life, Conall had hated being challenged. Loathed it with every fiber of his being.

But when Eliza had been firing back at him the night before, he had wanted nothing more than to push her against the wall of the drawing room and ravish her. Her clear hatred for him had made the thought all the more enticing.

Once again, Conall felt a stiffness below his kilt, and he flexed his thighs into the horse, hoping that she wouldn’t notice.

Get control of yerself. Cannae go losin’ yer head over a lass when there’s bairns to be saved.

The thought sobered him a little, and as he steered the horse away from the castle and toward the forest, Conall was able to relax a little more.

After a while of riding in silence, a low, lovely sound drifted to him on a breeze. It was only when Eliza was jostled by the horse, her back pressing against his chest so that he could feel her voice vibrating through him, that he realized that she had started humming.

She had been singing the day before when they’d arrived at the cottage. He’d heard her through the open window before she’d realized he and Eliot were there.

Her voice might be as bonnie as her face.

He didn’t want her to stop. So he said nothing as they ventured farther into the trees.

After a little while, Eliza lifted a finger, pointing toward the west.

“It looks like a thicket that way,” she said, the slightest hint of excitement in her voice.

Conall tugged on the reins, guiding the horse in the direction she had indicated. Sure enough, in no time at all, the trees gave way to a large, circular clearing that was absolutely bursting with plants.

He stopped them on the edge of the thicket, sliding out of the saddle and giving Eliza space to follow after. The moment her boots hit the ground; she began walking around the space.

Her soft brown eyes were fixed intently on the ground, and Conall turned away to tie the horse off to one of the trees. When he turned, she was still sifting through the foliage, her lips moving as she murmured to herself.

Not knowing what she was looking for, Conall leaned against one of the trees, watching with barely concealed amusement as she continued to flit about the thicket. It didn’t take long before Eliza’s mouth popped open in an ‘o’ of surprise before glancing at him with a broad, excited smile that shone brighter than a midafternoon summer sun.

God, but she’s beautiful.

Immediately, Conall silenced the thought, especially when she began waving him over.

“Come see,” she called out.

He crossed through the foliage in a few quick, confident steps. A few brambles reached out, snagging the edges of his kilt, and he felt the sharp sting of thorns scrape against his shins, but he did not slow as he made his way to her.

Her back was to him again, and as he peered over her shoulder, he found Eliza yanking handfuls of what looked like weeds out of the earth.

“What do ye need?” he grunted, trying to see what kind of plant it was that she was yanking up.

Eliza turned toward him, grinning as she held a fistful of plants out to him.

“Look!” she exclaimed, pointing to the herbs in her hand. “Do ye see how this one has small, pointed leaves and a waxy sheen?” Conall nodded. “And this one, the leaves look more like needles that are curlin’ in on themselves?”

Conall got a closer look at the plants, noticing with a little bit of a shock that they seemed slightly familiar. He was certain that he’d seen them garnishing a dish, or used in something by one of the maids. Although, he couldn’t say for certain.

He gave Eliza another nod, grunting that he noticed exactly what she’d just pointed out to him.

“Well, I need ye to go through this thicket and find as much of these two things as ye can,” she informed. “Fill the saddlebag as full as ye can. We’ll need as much of these as we can get.”

Conall nodded, walking to the other side of the clearing and beginning to forage. Every time he’d yank out a fistful, he’d bring himself to standing, casting a furtive glance over his shoulder to ensure Eliza was still there.

He’d half convinced himself that she’d shown him the herbs as a diversion, and when he turned around, she’d be gone, having disappeared into the woods that surrounded them. But every time he looked behind him, there she was, ripping out fistfuls of plants from the earth.

It took nearly an hour for them to fill the saddle bags, and as Conall placed his final bit into them, he turned to find Eliza standing not far to his right. She was whipping her hands on her skirts, a smile still lighting her face as she turned her gaze to him.

“We’ll be able to make quite a lot of tonics with that lot,” she said, more cheerily than he had seen her since the moment they’d met.

“Enough to help all of the wee ones?” Conall asked, stifling down the hope that had bubbled inside him.

Eliza nodded. “Aye. And I can teach Kate how to make it, too. So if this nasty problem rears up again, ye can handle it on yer own. Daenae need ye kidnappin’ anyone else.”

“Daenae go pretendin’ ye daenae like a wee bit of kidnappin’, lass,” Conall warned, but his typical growl lacked any of its usual menace. “I saw the way ye were lookin’ at me last night.”

“All in yer head, Laird MacKinnon,” she said, not rising to the bait that he’d laid before her.

But Conall could have sworn that he caught a slight blush to her cheeks as she turned away from him.

Without another word, Conall climbed up behind her, and the two fell into silence once more. In the few hours since they’d left the castle, the sun had fully risen in the sky and the air around them had warmed quite a bit.

As they shifted and swayed on the back of the horse, Conall was momentarily distracted by a bead of sweat rolling down the nape of Eliza’s neck.

“I want to show ye somethin’,” he said abruptly, tugging the reins so that the horse started to turn slightly to the right.

“Oh, do ye?” Eliza replied, skepticism leaching her words. “What is it, then?”

“Ye’ll see.”

He didn’t explain further, and she surprised him by not asking any additional questions. He tried not to focus on her nearness as he led their mount down a well-worn path.

It didn’t take long for the sound of splashing and laughing to fill the air. And, as they exited the forest and came over a small hill, the view of a large lake came into view.

He felt Eliza stiffen and heard her small gasp of surprise as she took it all in.

“Would ye look at that,” she said as he guided the horse to a stop.

A little in the distance, a large lake spanned before them, surrounded by lush, rolling hills. Bairns splashed and played in its waters while their mothers watched from the sandy shore. One of the women threw their head back and laughed while their bairns screamed with glee.

“It’s the same lake from yer painting last night,” she mused, and Conall grunted his confirmation. “It’s special to ye.”

“They’re special to me,” he admitted, nodding his head in the direction of the lake. “I would do anythin’ for them. Would do anythin’ for me clan, and for its future.”

She glanced over her shoulder, soft brown eyes meeting his.

Eliza snorted a laugh. “I gathered that when ye threw me over yer shoulder and ran away with me.”

Conall shook his head, kicking his heels again so that the horse began moving once more. Eliza didn’t say anything further to him, just settled back into the humming she’d been doing while on their way to the lake.

She’s infuriating.

But Conall knew that wasn’t the whole truth. Eliza was aggravating, yes. But he had to admit, even if only to himself, that her aggravating him was quite enticing as well.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the castle, and as soon as he tugged the horse’s reins to a stop, Eliza threw her leg over the saddle and slid down to land on the ground.

“Make sure the herbs find their way to me,” she called over her shoulder as she trotted up the steps. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

She didn’t pause to look at him as she disappeared into the door. The woman simply believed with all of her being that he would follow whatever it was she was commanding.

I showed meself last night, she kens there is nothin’ I wouldnae give to help me clan.