Every image burned her. The look on his annoying face.
On his annoyingly smug, and…and handsome, and chiseled face.
She could almost feel his hand roaming over her skin. Her hand on his body. The heat that had risen while the world outside was cold. And why was she hoping to see his annoying smirk even when they fought? She had yielded. She, who had sworn she would never yield to him again.
She drew a deep breath and pushed her shoulders back. She was a healer, and she had wounded men waiting. That was all that mattered.
Inside the hall, the air smelled of herbs and damp cloth. Sorcha rushed forward to meet her.
Lily handed her the basket of roots. “Boil some water and let some of these steep. I will give them to the man who nearly died earlier.”
Sorcha nodded eagerly. “Aye. At once.” She paused, her eyes bright. “Ye ken, me Lady, ye are more than a healer now. In me eyes, ye are a miracle worker.”
Lily shook her head with a laugh. “Far from it.”
“’Tis the truth. Ye brought him back from the dead.”
“Nay, I didnae. He wasnae dead yet. That is the only reason he returned. I pressed on his chest, and luck was on his side.”
Sorcha lifted her chin. “If ye willnae give yerself the credit, then I will give it for ye.”
Lily laughed again and touched her arm. “Then give it quietly, or else the whole clan will think me a witch.”
Sorcha chuckled and hurried to the fire to tend the roots.
Lily moved down the row of cots, her eyes scanning the wounded. Some dozed fitfully. Others muttered in fever. She bent beside one soldier and checked the bandage on his leg. Infection had not set in yet. She thanked God for that.
“The storm was unexpected, and we didnae prepare well for it,” Sorcha spoke.
Lily exhaled, her eyes still on the wound. “Many things were unexpected today. Daenae think too hard about it.”
The words left her lips before she could stop them. She tied the bandage tighter around the soldier’s leg and prayed Sorcha would not notice.
At that moment, Daisy entered, her arms laden with clean bandages. “Fresh rolls, me Lady.” She bobbed her head with a smile.
“Thank ye,” Lily said, taking them. “Have any letters arrived from me sisters?”
“Nae today. I will check the post again on the morrow.”
“Good. Let me ken the moment they arrive.”
Daisy promised she would and hurried to the other side of the hall.
Lily turned back to her work. Her hands moved steadily, yet her mind refused to slow down. The memory of Alasdair’s touch lingered, no matter how hard she tried to push it aside. The warmth of his lips. The feel of his hand on her waist. The way her body betrayed her with every shiver.
She bent her head and shoved the thought away. The soldiers needed her. She would not falter. She would not let him unravel her again.
Still, as she tied the final knot on the soldier’s bandage, her heart beat too fast, and her cheeks were too warm.
“Fool. Ye foolish, foolish woman,” she muttered under her breath.
CHAPTER 21
Alasdair steppedout of his chamber, nothing but determination written all over his face. The memory of that moment in the cave lingered in his mind, but the attack on Lily weighed more heavily.
It had made him slightly paranoid that they may have a traitor in their midst, and he hated that. Whoever had sent the archer had targeted Lily, and that thought alone made his blood run cold.
He had walked for all of five minutes before he found a maid in the passage and stopped her. “Fetch Nathan and Finn. I need them in me study at once.”
