“She has a strong heartbeat, Me Laird,” Rinalda replied, “I ken she will wake up soon.”
“I know ye healing women are very territorial of yer space, but would ye mind if I stayed for a while?” Leith asked.
“I see nay objection—”
“But Leith,” his mother interrupted, “dinnae ye want to tell me about the trip to Robasdan’?”
“I can do that here, Mother,” Leith said. “There is some hope on the horizon. Tarrant is searching far and wide through his domain to find me a mind healer for Faither. I was hurrying back to make sure he wasnae abusing ye anymore.”
“Ye dinnae have to do that,” his mother said kindly. “Ye ken Dugald and Finlay keep an eye on me. Ye could have kept searching. To Edina even.”
“I could,” Leith said, “but I am sure Tarrant will hold to his word. Faither will get the help he needs, just like this lass.”
Another cold press was at her temple and Mary decided to wake up. She began shifting away from the touch little by little until the cold came again and she jerked her head away.
“Shhh, lass,” a calm voice, Rinalda’s said. “Nay one’s here to hurt ye.”
Mary shifted her head away and her eyes clenched tight. She could feel Leith coming near her. There was just something about his presence that had her skin tingling. “Lass, can ye open yer eyes for me?”
She shook her head and kept her eyes clenched until a soft hand, a female hand rested under her chin, “Please open yer eyes, Miss. Yer safe here, nay one is her to hurt ye.”
Swallowing, Mary eased back and slowly opened her eyes. She made sure to scoot back on the bed and look around her with wide eyes. She saw three women, two of them dark-haired but with lighter brown and calm-blue eyes. An older woman was sitting with the spidery hands resting on her lap.
“Lass?” Leith asked. “Can ye tell me yer name?”
She shook her head.
“Why nae?” he asked. “Are ye scared of me? Would ye prefer to talk to a woman like ye?”
Mary shook her head harder and pointed at her neck then shook her head with a deeply distressed look on her face. The woman with the calm blue eyes frowned, “Miss…can ye talk?”
Dropping her head, Mary let her hair cover her face as she shook her head. She even forced a tear from her eye to drop. A hand, Leith’s this time, lifted her head up. “Do ye remember where ye came from, lass?”
This time, Mary scrunched her forehead tighter and dropped her eyes before she slowly shook her head. Leith took his hand from her chin but not before he said, “Ye should rest. Rinalda, please get her some food, something easy on her stomach and have her rest.”
Looking up, Mary noted that the woman with the light-brown hair nodded, “Aye, Sir.”
“Mother, please come with me,” Leith said, “I’d like to speak with ye in private. Helen and Mira, I ken its best to leave Rinalda with the lass,” he added. “Too many people with her at one time might be a bit troubling for the lass.”
The other two stood, curtsied and said in almost unison, “Aye, Sir.”
As Leith ushered his mother and the two women out, she met his eyes briefly and felt proud at the pleased look in his eyes. She turned away before her own look would give her away. Rinalda came close to her. “Would ye like some water?”
Nodding, Mary offered her a thin smile and reached up to press her hand at her temple. She made sure to wince at an imaginary pain. The lady, Rinalda, softly tugged her hand away, “Dinnae touch it, Miss. It makes the pain worse.”
Nodding again, as it was the only thing she could do to make them know she understood, Mary sank back to the bed with a long breath escaping her nose. The first part of their deception had gone well, the question was, could she keep it up?
The walls in the room were whitewashed with potted plants in a corner. The wide windows were open and the thin curtains were flittering with the wind. A peaceful air rested in the room as with the Robasdans’ but this was not that clan, this was Leith’s. The pressure was heavy on her now more than ever. She had her eyelids half-mast as she rested on the pillow.
“Miss,” Rinalda said aside her, “are ye able to eat anything? Broth?”
Sitting up, Mary smiled tightly at her and nodded. She forced her hands to tremble as reaching for the bowl, acutely aware of Rinalda’s eyes on her. She took the bowl but made sure to slosh enough to have the woman take it away from her.
As she had hoped, the bowl was taken and the broth was spooned to her. “Ye still dinnae remember where ye’ve come from?”
With a puckered brow, Mary shook her head. She was given another spoon of broth. “Dinnae ye worry,” Rinalda smiled comfortingly. “Young Lenichton will find out where ye came from and if ye have family, I’m sure he will get ye back at them. Do ye have family?”
Tempted to lie, Mary considered if she truly did have any. With the way her parents had betrayed her, she felt she didn’t. She shook her head.
“Did they die or is it that ye dinnae remember?” Rinalda asked. “Hold up one of yer finger for if they died and two if ye dinnae remember.”
She prayed for forgiveness then held up two fingers. Pure pity shown in the woman’s eyes, “I’m so sorry, Miss. But we’ve seen
