His hand tightened about hers again.
Ceanna blinked away tears. Her father believed her. ‘I’m real, I’m alive and I’m here. And you are going to get better. I met a healer on my travels—Mother Mildreth. She will come and look after you, I am certain of it, particularly because I believe she is the estranged sister of the tavern keeper’s wife. I will send a messenger tonight.’
Her father collapsed back against the pillows and gave a tremulous smile. ‘I have barely been able to eat since you were supposedly killed and my mind seems less fuzzy as a result.’
‘I believe you were being poisoned. I also believe my stepmother poisoned a priest at St Fillans. My aunt...’
‘Abbe always wanted to shape the world the way she wanted it. Mhairi was her project. I was a lonely fool.’ He closed his eyes. ‘Sit with me. Please.’
After they had discussed a few things and her father had drifted off, Ceanna remembered about her other task and summoned the maidservants back into the chamber.
‘Feradach’s brother, the false monk, had two children in his care. Has anyone seen them?’ Ceanna asked.
‘They are safe in Dun Ollaigh,’ one of the maidservants said. ‘One of them keeps crying and asking to return to court. Brother Mattios—’
‘Go and get the children, please, and bring them to the hall.’
‘You are back to stay,’ her father murmured as he awoke. ‘We will have a feast to celebrate your marriage. I assume Northmen feast the same as us.’
Ceanna noticed Sandulf’s face become thunderous. ‘No need for a feast, Father,’ she said awkwardly. ‘Sandulf and I have much to do. Much to put right.’
‘Dun Ollaigh needs you, Ceanna. When you were gone, everything went wrong. It will all be right now that you are home and have your husband by your side.’
Ceanna brushed her lips against his forehead. ‘Try to rest.’
The maidservant rushed back in. ‘My lady! Your stepmother!’
Ceanna put her finger to her lips and motioned towards where her father lay. The woman nodded and followed Ceanna and Sandulf out of the chamber.
‘What is the problem with my stepmother? Has she tried to escape?’
‘The Lady Mhairi is dead!’
Ceanna staggered backwards. It was only Sandulf’s reassuring bulk which kept her from falling. ‘How?’
‘Lady Mhairi kept the herbs for preparing your father’s medicine in her chamber. When I went in to ask about the children’s exact whereabouts, I found her with a goblet by her side and her box of herbs open and empty. Dead.’ The maid’s words ended with a little gasp.
Ceanna put an arm about the maid. Her stepmother had taken the easy way out. She would not have to answer for her crimes or face awkward questions about what she knew. Ceanna knew she should feel sad for the woman who had been married to her father, but all she could feel was a sense of relief. ‘It is good you came to me.’
‘His lordship?’
‘His lordship will be informed when he wakes,’ Sandulf said before she could think up a suitable response. She gave him a grateful look. ‘He needs to rest. He has had enough shocks for today.’
The maid curtsied while another rushed in to say that the royal boys were eating apples in the kitchen orchard. Ceanna issued orders that they were to finish their food and then be brought before her, and that messengers needed to be dispatched to find Mother Mildreth and to inform her aunt of what had happened.
‘Are you all right?’ Sandulf asked in the sudden quiet. ‘You had barely any sleep last night and now you are dealing with all of this.’
Ceanna looped a strand of hair about her ear. ‘Me? I’m completely fine. I thrive on activity.’
Sandulf pulled her into the circle of his arms. With a shudder, she burrowed against his chest and allowed herself to draw strength for a long heartbeat. His arms fell away. ‘It’s not an admission of defeat to admit you need help, Ceanna.’
She stood there, trembling, then she pushed away.
‘I have recovered,’ she said with pinched white lips. ‘We need to get those boys safely away from this kingdom. They need to go to Éireann where they were supposed to go in the first place. I have to put things right, Sandulf, before the King’s Regent finds out what has happened.’
Sandulf’s heart thudded. He had known he’d cared about her, but seeing her like this made his heart turn over. These people needed Ceanna. They depended on her. She was vital to them and their future and they knew it. They were not going to let her forget it any time soon.
And what was he? Who was he vital to? Not even his brothers trusted him to complete his task. And he wanted to be needed. He was tired of being alone. He knew he should never have refused her love, however it was offered. But saying anything now when there was still so much to do and to sort out would be a mistake.
‘The first thing you are going to do is eat,’ he said instead. ‘I insist on it, as your husband.’
She patted his cheek. ‘In good time. Then we will plan what happens next.’
He started to protest but stopped. She still needed him. It was something.
‘Are you going to tell me why you are acting like this?’ Danr asked the next morning when Sandulf was left alone with him in Dun Ollaigh’s great hall while Ceanna went to see about the sons of Aed. Danr appeared refreshed after a good night’s sleep and was finishing off what looked to be a large breakfast. However, Sandulf noticed that he had not attempted to flirt with any of the maidservants in the entire time he had been at Dun Olliagh.
‘Like what?’
‘Like a bear with a sore head. You are far worse than our father for being
