“It poses a problem, does it not?” Bowen said.
“Aye,” Graeme muttered. “I don’t want to lose her. I don’t want her to look at me with hate in her eyes. It would be more than I could bear.”
“Nor do I want her to look upon me with hatred,” Teague admitted in a low voice. “I don’t want to be the man who destroyed her family. I like her, Graeme. She’s proven herself ten times over and has been humiliated, mocked, and worked to the bone, and yet she hasn’t allowed that to turn her against us. She is loyal to us still.”
“How many men can say they have a wife who would sacrifice so much for her husband?” Bowen asked.
“I can,” Graeme said bluntly.
“I wanted to put to you the same question Teague brought up when he and I first spoke to Eveline about what she saw,” Bowen said.
Graeme sent him a questioning look. “Go on.”
“Do you not find it odd that if Tavis Armstrong wanted to secretly kill you that he’d send a man outfitted in distinctive Armstrong trappings?”
Teague nodded. “It could be that someone wanted it to look as if the Armstrongs made the attempt on your life, because even if the man did not succeed, it would certainly start a war between the two clans and accomplish the same thing. We would no longer be allies, grudging or not, and there are many whom I’m sure are uneasy over the two most powerful clans in the highlands joining forces.”
“Aye, there are those who would prefer we remain bitter enemies and fight among ourselves. If we had a mind to, we could easily defeat any clan now that we have a larger combined army than even the king. That has to play heavily on their minds,” Bowen added.
Graeme nodded. “What you say makes sense. Tavis Armstrong is not stupid. But he also may not care if he starts a war. ’Tis hard to know what is in his mind until we speak to him on the matter.”
“What do we do?” Teague said. “You are in no shape to wage war.”
Graeme simmered with impatience. He wanted to be out of bed now, readying his men for battle. But he knew he would be worthless as a leader and a warrior in his current state. As much as it aggrieved him to wait, he knew he must.
But it didn’t mean he couldn’t send word to Armstrong and demand a meeting in the coming days. He would take a few days to recover, and then he’d send a messenger, demanding a meeting on neutral ground. If he worded it just so, Tavis would be unable to refuse. He would want to know his daughter was well, and he’d also want to know what had driven Graeme to demand the meeting.
When he informed his brothers of his plan, they nodded their agreement, and relief was evident in their eyes. They had no desire for war any more than Graeme did himself. And yet, if Eveline’s father had indeed instigated the threat against Graeme, battle was inevitable.
And he could lose Eveline.
He lifted his left arm, testing the weakness and the pain level of his shoulder. Fiery pain shot through his shoulder, nearly robbing him of breath. He let his arm drop, sucking in deep, steadying breaths.
“That was stupid,” Teague growled. “You won’t heal if you don’t lay off that arm. You’re of no use to us if you can’t stand up in battle. You can’t hurry this, Graeme. As much as it pains you to lie here and heal, ’tis what you must do.”
“Aye, I know it,” Graeme muttered. “And nay, I don’t like it at all.”
“Spend the time with Eveline. She needs much care right now,” Bowen said. “She’s not well, Graeme.”
Graeme’s lips formed a tight line. “She’ll do nothing but rest. I’ll make sure of it.”
The door swung open and Nora bustled in, her gaze honing in immediately on Graeme.
“What is amiss?” he demanded, not liking the look in her eye.
“Now, Laird, remain calm. Nigel is carrying the lass up now.”
He surged upward, and Teague and Bowen both leaped to push him back and they held him against the pillows.
“What happened?” he bellowed.
“She’s given out,” Nora said. “She ate, and then we put her to soaking in the bathhouse. The poor lass passed out or fell asleep, but either way, there was no waking her and so I wrapped her in a sheet and had Nigel carry her up the stairs. Ah, there he is now. In here, Nigel. Bring her to the laird. We’ll put the poor lass to bed, and I’ll look in on her later.”
She gestured at the younger man, and he appeared in the chamber, holding Eveline’s slight form in his arms. She looked small and delicate in his grasp. She looked frail and it sent a chill down Graeme’s spine.
“Put her on my other side,” he ordered, wanting her between the wall and himself so she would be protected.
Bowen and Teague stood and helped to carry Eveline over Graeme’s body and settle her gently on his other side. She was completely wrapped in the bed linen and only her face was visible.
Nora shooed Nigel from the chamber and then turned to shoo Teague and Bowen out as well. Graeme saw purpose in Nora’s eyes and realized that she wanted everyone out of the chamber because there was something she wanted to impart to him.
He waved his brothers away, promising he’d summon them in the next while. After they’d left, Nora closed the door and turned troubled eyes back to Graeme. She strode over to the bed and reached over to start loosening the sheet around Eveline’s body.
“You need to see, Laird. The poor wee lass is bruised from head to toe. It nearly made me cry when we undressed her to put her to soak. I don’t know how she’s suffered the pain these last days and I know not how she didn’t break something in her fall from the horse.”