Finlay’s stomach churned as they thundered toward the MacTavish lands. What had Kyla been thinking? Why couldn’t she have waited for him? It seemed like ages before they finally rode down the hill to Darfield. The clan was gathered in the courtyard, looking menacing as they advanced on Kyla and Hamid, who was scrambling to open the door as he seemed to be attempting to shield Kyla with his body at the same time.
Suddenly Kyla turned from the door and looked to her horse. “No, Kyla, no!” Finlay shouted from the distance, but was too far to do anything or for her to even hear him. All he could do was watch in agony as she ran toward her horse. He breathed a sigh of relief as she managed to mount Cadarn without any difficulty.
“Ride like the wind, then,” he said, praying she would escape the crowd quickly.
Then he saw the man pick up a rock and take aim. Finlay yelled out her name helplessly as the rock flew toward her head. Time slowed as he watched it strike her, and he felt a sickening madness within him as she tumbled from the horse to the ground.
Roderick and Adam, who had convinced Peggy to stay behind and watch from the hill, followed their brother closely as they rode through the assembled men, breaking up the pack. A few loyal MacTavishes finally emerged from the house, and together they managed to take the leaders to the ground. A few scuffles broke out but were quickly resolved.
There were some brutes among the MacTavish men, but none as big as the McDougalls.
Finlay ignored all of them. His only thought was for Kyla, as he rushed to her side and picked her up gently, cradling her in his arms.
She was so limp, so still, that for a moment everything occurring around him seemed to stop. It was as if his heart and soul had exited his body and were hovering overhead, looking down as he held her. He put his fingers to her wrist, the whole world going still until he felt the faint beat of her pulse beneath his fingertips.
The breath he didn’t realize he had been holding released in a whoosh from his body, and he held her desperately close to him. He had always loved her, but he realized that what he thought had been love for so long was more of an infatuation. Now, he loved her mind, body, and soul. If anything happened to her, he didn’t know how he could go on living without her.
It took him a moment to realize his brothers had joined him, and were trying to capture his attention. They brought him back to the moment, and he saw the yard was littered in destruction, but the men, for the most part, had cleared away.
“Let’s get her home, Fin, where Mother can help,” said Adam gently, as they helped him onto his horse, lifting Kyla up into his arms. He gently held her as he urged his horse forward at a slow pace, not wanting to overly jostle her.
Roderick left them to summon the nearby healer. Their mother could treat most ailments, but this was something that would likely be beyond her. Peggy, for once, said nothing, while Adam led Cadarn home, a steady, silent presence at Finlay’s side.
19
Finlay paced around Kyla’s bedroom as the healer tended to her, doing a thorough review. The man looked at her head wound, in addition to holding back her lids to peer at her eyes, followed by a look into her nose, her ears, and listening to the breath in her chest. It was shallow, but present. They called him a physician, though no one was quite sure of where he learned his skills. He had always, however, been fairly competent, so they continued to call upon him just the same.
No one, however, was currently good enough for Finlay. He wanted answers. And he wanted them now.
But he also knew that rushing things wasn’t going to help anyone, most especially Kyla, so for once he forced himself to be patient.
The physician finally turned to Finlay with worry in his eyes.
“There is nothing to be treated,” he said, raising his hands at his sides helplessly. “I cannot tell the extent of her head injury until she awakens, if she ever does. I’m uncertain what type of damage has been done. See if you can get some water down her throat, but ensure she doesn’t choke. Otherwise the best thing for you to do now, son, is pray.”
Finlay’s heart seemed to stop, and he forced himself to swallow the huge lump that had formed in his throat.
“Can— can she hear me if I speak to her?”
“Mayhap. I dinna completely know.”
On that somber note, he left the room. Finlay heard him tell Roderick on his way out of the castle to summon him if there was any change.
Finlay said nothing else, just walked around the room in circles, unable to stop as he felt completely and utterly useless.
* * *
Finlay paced, then stopped and looked at Kyla. Nothing—no change. He paced again. Stopped. Looked at her. The same. Over and over, he did this, round and round the room. One of these times, he told himself, he would stop, and she would be staring at him, laughing at his ridiculousness. But every time it was the same. Eyes closed. No change.
Finlay didn’t know how long it had been, until he was eventually seized by his brothers, one on each side of him.
He tried to fight them off, but Adam and Roderick forced him across the room and into a chair—one that hadn’t been there before but someone must have moved in.
“Sit,” said Roderick forcefully. “You’re not going to help her any by wearing treads in the floor with your boots.”
Finlay looked down at the floor and took a deep breath. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, his head in
