by Terry Spear
Gwyneth began to speak to the woman sitting on the other side of her, but Avelina and Fenella sat in silence, having a hard time finishing their meals. When the meal ended, they hurried off to speak to one another in Fenella’s chamber in private.
Fenella paced across her small chamber while Avelina collapsed on her bed. “I knew this would come to pass sooner or later. I hoped later, no’ that I wouldna love to have a man kiss me,” she said, glancing at Avelina. “Did you know anything about this?
“Nay. I would have told you had I known. I never suspected…” Avelina clapped her hand to her forehead.
Fenella hurried to sit on the bed. “What? Tell me.”
Avelina touched the shell necklace at her throat. “’Twas my mother’s. Da finally gave it to me before he left. I thought it was because he was going into battle, and he wanted me to have it, to remind me of him and of my mother. He had given it to her when they wed, and he was going off to battle for the first time after they married. I…I had no idea it could mean more.”
“To say it was time for you to wed.” Fenella collapsed on her back on the bed. “If I were you, I would return to Quinn and steal away with him.”
“And do what? Even if we could make it to the mainland, his brother wants to kill him, and my da would too. Probably yours also.”
“Ah-ha! You do care for him.”
“He saved my life when I was trying to save his in high tide.”
Fenella rolled onto her stomach. “You dinna tell me that. Oh, oh, you kissed him back to thank him! How was it? The kiss? Tell me.” She rolled onto her back and put her hands on her heart. “I may never know such a sweet thing. No’ from one I love.”
“Pleasurable and tender.”
“And?” Fenella turned to study her. “You wouldna be blushing so if it wasna more than that. Give.”
“And passionate. He made my world spin.”
“He was holding you close?”
“His ribs were bruised.”
Fenella slapped the bed with her hand. “I knew it! What was it like?”
“Painful for him, because he groaned.”
“Mayhap he was groaning because he knew he had to let you go.”
“He was groaning because he’d been injured.”
“And he was pressing you close to him.” Fenella sighed. “You have to keep him. I know you want to. I would want to, if I knew my da wouldna kill us both. Besides, you were the one who rescued him and went out of your way to make sure he would be safe. You canna tell me you did so just because you were being nice. I suspect you wouldna have done the same for the other men.”
“Nay. The one tried to kill me, and Quinn saved me.”
Fenella gaped at Avelina. “When did this happen?”
“When I returned for Quinn, and told him I’d said too much to Hamish. The brigand was one of the mercenaries, and he was planning to cut me. Quinn killed him.”
Fenella’s eyes widened. “How? He wasna armed.”
“I had given Quinn his sgian dubh.”
“But he was injured.”
“Aye. He threw his sgian dubh, and his aim was true. The man released me and fell.”
“Oh, Avelina.” Fenella gave her a hug. “Where is the dead man?”
“Quinn had to bury him in the bog. I canna imagine how difficult that had to be for him because of all his injuries. The other man had fared much better from the shipwreck.”
“Until Quinn took care of him. See? He would be a good husband. A good protector.”
“I canna believe our das are planning to marry us off, yet, I can. We knew this would have to happen before long.” Avelina laid back on the bed.
“When are you returning to see Quinn?”
“A few days from now. I will have to be careful Gwyneth doesna begin to suspect something.”
“She never leaves the keep. Unless she pays someone to follow you. Are you going to tell Quinn about your da finding a husband for you?”
“Nay. Why would I?”
“So he can steal you away.”
8
Quinn kept busy, building a small stone shelter out of a cropping of rocks on a hill so it wasn’t higher than the land, hoping no one would notice it. He’d fished and supplemented his stock of food that Avelina and Judith had given him. And he marked the days he’d been here, trying to avoid looking toward the other island that blocked his view of the one where Avelina lived. He craved seeing her worried frown, feeling her touch, smelling her sweet scent, yet he knew she needed to protect herself from her kin learning that she had helped him. And from them discovering he was here.
He worried too, if she’d made it home safely. And about the risk she’d take crossing the water to see him again. For now, he needed to occupy his time with staying alive and healing. And coming up with a plan to make his way back to the mainland. As much as he didn’t want to get Avelina into trouble, should they discover what she was doing, he was thinking that once he was healed enough, he would take her back to her island, and then paddle the borrowed coracle to the mainland. He may, or may not make it, but he felt he had no other choice. If her kin ever discovered him, they would kill him. He was certain his brother’s men were already dead. Better that than if they were tortured mercilessly though.
He couldn’t remain on this island forever.
He’d given many of the gray seals names—Whiskey, because of the tan on his face, Swimmer, since he seemed to be in the water more than out of it, Sleepy, because he basked on the rocks most of the time whether the sun shone or not. Growly always talked to him in a disgruntled way. Flipper always waved a flipper at him.
And he’d given names to some of the puffins too. As much as he loved Wolf’s company, especially warming him at night, he was glad he wasn’t here chasing the wildlife.
The wind was whipping up, and it appeared he was in for a storm. Besides thinking of Avelina most of the day and when he was awake at night, worrying about whether she and Wolf had made it safely to their island, worrying that no one learned the truth about what she’d been doing, and that no one had found the man he’d killed, he thought about his brother. Would he send another ship with men to attempt to steal Fenella away, or had he sent Quinn and the other men here, hoping to get rid of them? Always brawling with their kin, starting fights that were uncalled for, the mercenaries had stoked Cormac’s ire on several different occasions.
But Quinn wanted to be there to protect Fenella and Avelina, should his brother attempt to send more men. He knew Avelina would try to defend her cousin and could be killed in the confrontation or taken too. Then he pondered the reason his brother sent him when he did. He must have known most of her kin were away. Then he had hoped to really fetch the lass?
Quinn stored all his spare food and clothes inside the shelter before the rains began, the dark gray clouds blending with the dark gray sea, the white caps the only distinction between the sea and sky. With the storm pounding overhead and all around him, lightning illuminating the sky for brief seconds, thunder following seconds later, he was reminded of the storm that had broken the ship in two and had cast him into the salty sea.
He had felt barely any pain as he’d made his way to shore that fateful day, but once there—and thanking the heavens above for delivering him safely—he hadn’t remembered getting there. Not until he’d awakened and worried that this was the island they were supposed to land on and steal Fenella away from. Except he had no way to do so, and moving around the rocks to hide himself had been his only thought, until he could think of something else. That was when Avelina and her cousin had found him, and he was certain he’d be doomed to die. That the women would run back to the keep and tell the men what they had found, and they would have taken it from there.
He was grateful to both women for not telling anyone the truth. To Judith also, that she’d kept his secret. He wondered how she was doing and if anyone had finished building her byre for her sheep. He wished he could have finished it for her.
Most of all, he wondered if he’d ever see Avelina or his homeland again.
A knock at Fenella’s door sounded and both she and Avelina looked at it, neither making a move or saying anything. Normally, no one bothered them at his hour unless there was trouble.
One of the maids said from beyond the closed door, “Is Avelina in there? I’ve checked her chamber, but she isna there, and Hamish wishes to speak with her in the great hall.”
Her eyes wide, Fenella grabbed Avelina’s arm. “You are in trouble now. We both are.”
“It will be all right,” Avelina whispered to her, though she didn’t feel as though it would be. “I’m here and I’m coming,” she called out to the maid. To Fenella, she said, “I’ll return to see you as soon as I learn what this is all about.”
“I pray that ‘tis naught.”
“As do I.” Avelina gave her a hug and then hurried to the door. She opened it, but the maid had already left. She tried to quash the anxiety coursing through her blood, her heart racing as she walked down the stairs. She was attempting not to rush and break her neck, trying not to move too slow, making it appear she was afraid or reluctant to see Hamish. She truly liked him and was always eager to see him, so she knew if she acted otherwise, he’d be suspicious and assume something was amiss.
When she saw him speaking to three other men, all frowning, all her uncle’s friends, her step faltered. She scolded herself for her action because all the men turned to observe her and were eyeing her with wariness. Hamish didn’t have to speak with her in front of the other men, surely. She hoped he was going to dismiss them before she reached him. But he didn’t, and she feared they were all going to question her about rescuing Quinn on the beach.
“Avelina,” Hamish said in greeting, no smile, which didn’t bode well. “When the ship wrecked off our coast, you and Fenella had gone to the shore. Am I right?”
She frowned and folded her arms, not meaning to sound defensive, but maybe he would realize she wasn’t going to cower. “What is this all about?”
“A dead man has been found in a bog.”
Her heart beating even faster, she barely breathed, her lips parting in surprise.
Hamish cleared his throat. “A couple of the guards said they saw you return to the keep soaking wet. Everyone was curious, naturally, but they neglected to ask why. Then some of our men discovered the injured men from the shipwreck and brought them here.”
“I had never seen them before. No’ until I returned and saw them in the outer bailey tied up.”
“I dinna doubt that. But you saw the other man, aye? And he threatened you and you killed him. Afraid we’d be angry that we hadna the chance to question him, you managed to weight him down with rocks and left him in the bog. But he floated to the surface and one of our men came across him.”
She wiped away tears trailing down her cheeks, so scared they would have known Quinn had done the killing. She couldn’t believe they thought she had ended the man’s miserable life. In a way, she was relieved.
“Lass, ‘tis all right.” Hamish looked at his other men, appearing uncomfortable that she appeared so distressed about killing the man. He let out his breath. “We have half a mind to send Quinn’s remains back to his brother, but his body has deteriorated too much. We buried him with the rest of his men.”
She couldn’t believe they thought the man was Quinn. She didn’t know whether to be more upset about it or relieved. She didn’t want anyone believing she’d had to kill Quinn because he was a wicked man, but if they thought he was dead, they wouldn’t look for him.
“We just wanted you to know we understand, and you have naught to worry about. Your da will be proud of you for being able to defend yourself so well. That is all, unless you’d like to add something.”
Unable to speak, she shook her head. She hadn’t exactly lied because Hamish had made up the tale to fit the story, and she hadn’t agreed, nor had she denied it. She so wanted to tell him the dead man was one of the mercenaries who had tried to kill Quinn. But then they’d wonder how she knew that and if Quinn had survived, where was he now?
After Hamish dismissed her, she hurried back to Fenella’s chamber.
Fenella pulled her into the chamber and shut the door. “What happened?”
“They believe I killed the man left in the bog, and that it was Quinn.”
Several more days had passed, and Quinn was beginning to feel much better. His ribs were not as painful. The wounds on his head and arm were healing well. But he couldn’t stay here forever. He’d thought of swimming to the next uninhabited island, and then resting up for a day and night, and the next day, trying to swim to Avelina’s island. He would steal a boat and make his way to the mainland.
The day was gray and foggy, yet he kept up his spirits by visiting the gray seals. They were used to him now. He talked away to them as if they were his clansmen, glad his own kin couldn’t see him. The seals proved better companionship than some men he knew.
No one had come looking for him, and he hadn’t seen any sign of ships returning to Avelina’s island. He suspected his brother knew his men and the ship had been lost. Had it been worth the cost to his brother to try and kill him in this manner? And he hadn’t even succeeded. Not yet. Though his brother wouldn’t have expected the ship to be lost at sea. As much as he wanted to see people again, Quinn would miss this time spent with the birds and seals on the island. He’d even managed to see red deer one morning early at the inland loch.
He’d taken to swimming in the crystal clear, aqua sea every day, then in the loch to wash off the sea salt, getting himself in better shape for swimming to the other island. He had to find a way to let Avelina know what he was going to do. He didn’t want her making her way in the coracle to find him gone and worry about what had become of him. But he couldn’t just walk up to her keep and tell her either. He’d try to reach Judith, and she could tell Avelina the next time she saw her.
Pulling the chilly water past him as he swam, he had just finished his swim halfway to the other island and was heading back in when a couple of frisky seals joined him. One bumped him, and he smiled. Then a dog woofed some distance off behind him. Fearing it was a fisherman, though unsure why he would take a dog with him, Quinn swung around, his heart racing.
And saw the most beautiful sight. Avelina! And Wolf, standing in the boat, wagging his tail vigorously. He was afraid the wolf would tip the boat if he didn’t sit down at once.
“What are you doing!” she shouted crossly at Quinn.
What he was doing was preparing to leave the lass behind. She was forbidden fruit. He had nothing to offer her, and if her kin found him, he’d be killed for certain, but the notion of leaving her behind went against every other feeling he had for the lass.
When Wolf put his paws on the side of the boat, it began to tip. “No! Wolf! Down!” she said.
Quinn automatically shouted, “Down, Wolf!”
As soon as she tried to pull Wolf down, she upset the boat even further. The coracle tipped too far and flipped over. Both she and the wolf fell into the water. Though Wolf looked as though he might have jumped into the water, eager to swim to Quinn. Avelina couldn’t right the coracle, and her soaking wet clothes were weighing her down.
His heart in his throat, Quinn swam toward her as if her life depended on it. Which it might. He didn’t know if she could swim all that well, or survive the cold. “Hang on, lass!
At least she was able to cling to the boat for now. Wolf paddled toward Quinn and greeted him with a lick on his cheek. Quinn couldn’t let anything ruin his focus as he swam to reach Avelina. If she drowned, he would never forgive himself. She wasn’t returning to her island without him. He didn’t want her attempting to paddle back to the island again alone.
He prayed she wouldn’t grow sick from being exposed to the cold. “Hold on! I’m coming.”
“What…were…you…doing?” she asked, her speech slurred.
“Swimming.” Which he thought was
obvious. He suspected she knew what he had been planning to do, preparing himself for the time when he would do it. “I am almost there.” He saved his breath after that. Even though he had swum this distance for several days, trying to swim faster and not conserve his energy like he usually did, he was testing every inch of his body.
He finally reached her and gathered her in his arms.
“You are no’ wearing any clothes,” she said through chattering teeth, her body shivering in his arms.
“Nay. Then I’d have to wash them and dry them. Easier this way. I’m going to let you go, flip the craft over, and lift you into it. Can you paddle in place for a moment?”
“Aye, hurry.”
He released his hold on her, and pushed the coracle until he managed to lift it enough, and flipped it over. Once it was right-side up, he lifted her, sopping wet clothes and all, and pushed her up into the craft.
“Wolf,” she said, and collapsed on the bottom of the boat.
Quinn looked back, but the wolf was eager to chase seals and birds, and he wasn’t having any trouble swimming toward shore. “He’ll make it.” Quinn climbed into the coracle and sat down to paddle them to shore. As cold as she was, her cheeks turned a little red, and she struggled to unfasten the brooch attached to her plaid. He joined her and unfastened the brooch. She handed him her cold wet plaid, but she didn’t look away from him as he quickly covered himself with the wool cloth, and then he began to paddle again.
“You shouldna have brought Wolf.” The wolf could have drowned her.
She snorted. “As if I canna see that for myself.” She had her arms wrapped around herself and was shivering badly.
“When we get to shore, you can swim in the loch nearby to remove the sea salt. And I’ll start a fire, and then dry your clothes.”
“It will take too long.”
