“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Cook said.
“No poisoning,” Ilysa scolded, though she did not believe he was serious—at least, she did not think he was. She kissed his cheek. “’Tis late. I’m going to bed.”
Before going to her own bedchamber, Ilysa decided to visit Connor’s. She felt his presence most there, and, perhaps it was silly, but it reassured her to touch his things. She slipped through the doorway from the hall into the adjoining building. When she reached Connor’s door, she nearly collided with someone coming out.
“Sorely, what are you doing here?” she asked.
“I might ask you the same,” Sorely said, and she did not like the way he looked her up and down.
He was a crude man, but then, most of the former chieftain’s guards were. She suddenly remembered the servants in the kitchen talking about how the tough old warrior was afraid of the nursemaid’s ghost.
“Ye came up here to see the ghost, didn’t ye?” she asked.
“Some of the men dared me,” he said with a swagger.
If he’d come on a dare, the other men would be watching, not snoring in the hall. So why had he come up here? Perhaps he was aware that he’d been the subject of ridicule and wanted to overcome his fear in private.
“I didn’t see anything,” he said. After a hesitation, he asked, “Have you seen her?”
“I saw the ghosts of two women here.” Ilysa said it to throw him off balance and hurry him along, though it was true.
Sorely’s eyes went wide, and he turned to look over his shoulder into the room.
“I don’t expect they’ll come after ye.” She paused. “Unless they have good cause.”
“Ye hide a nasty sense of humor behind that innocent face,” Sorely snarled, but he left her quickly, which had been her aim.
Ilysa had come hoping to find solace in Connor’s chamber. The moment she crossed the threshold, however, she felt engulfed in sadness. Had she inadvertently summoned the despair of the two women, or did it have to do with Connor?
The Sight was fickle and told her nothing.
***
Dawn broke over the sea and shone on the haggard faces of the rowers. By a miracle, Connor had only lost two of his warriors in the fight against Hugh’s pirates, and all the survivors had made it to the boat. Another six were injured, though none badly enough to force him to return to the castle.
Connor gave the order to continue south. Before long, burned-out cottages dotted the coastline. They stopped at each one, looking for survivors and offering what help they could. By the time they reached the end of Hugh’s path of destruction and turned around, Connor was so weary and heartsick he could hardly hold his head up.
He had seen too many burned cottages, heard too many tales of murder and rape.
CHAPTER 27
Ilysa’s heart lifted when she saw Connor at the head of the line of men climbing the steps hewn into the side of the cliff from the beach.
“Praise God, he is alive and well!” she said and turned to smile at Lachlan, who had come with her to the gate to meet the returning warriors.
“Two of the men are missing,” Lachlan said, “but that’s better than I feared.”
Connor walked through the gate, his gaze straight ahead, as if in a daze. He ignored all the people who ran up to him asking questions.
“See to the injured,” he said, the only sign that he saw Ilysa as he passed her.
Her stomach tightened. Whatever had happened must have been bad indeed.
Lachlan helped her herd the injured into the hall. As she checked wounds and applied fresh bandages, she heard snatches of conversation about the confrontation with Hugh’s men.
We were surrounded…The chieftain must have killed half a dozen himself…No, it was eight, I’m sure…I was injured and wouldn’t have made it to the boat, but he carried me across his shoulders…He came back for me as well.
Ilysa’s heart swelled at hearing the men speak with such pride about their chieftain. Although Connor had not succeeded in capturing Hugh, he had won the undying loyalty of these men. Yet a skirmish with Hugh’s men did not explain the look on Connor’s face as he walked past her. He was a hardened warrior.