“Aye. Tristan should be taken to task for injuring you so.” Her mother cleaned the wound and then began to stitch it up.
“It was my folly.” Coinneach winced when she poked the needle through his skin again.
“You can cry out if it makes you feel better.” Aisling couldn’t imagine suffering through the pain without making a sound, but all he did was grit his teeth, and her comment earned her a smile.
However, her mother was all business and continued to sew up the laceration. “You canna fight until this heals. You must change the dressing daily to avoid infection.”
Once she had made twenty-one stitches, she applied an herbal poultice. Then she wrapped a bandage around his chest. When they heard someone else enter the great hall and saw it was Morag and a couple of her lady companions, Aisling’s mother quickly wrapped the dressing around his shoulder to cover up his wolf birthmark and then tied it off.
Frowning, Morag drew close. “How bad is it?”
“He needed over twenty stitches,” Aisling’s mother said.
“Thank you, Blair. I must see where I’m needed now.” Coinneach pulled on his shirt.
Before Aisling expected it, he kissed her on the mouth. Then he strode out of the great hall, maybe to avoid a confrontation with her mother for kissing her or Morag’s continued interest in his wound. Then again, he probably just wanted to prove he could work on his first day on the job.
“Do you approve of their union?” Morag asked Aisling’s mother.
Aisling held her breath to hear if her mother would say yes.
“You ken how it is with wolves when they meet the one who is the right one for them.” Aisling’s mother did not address the question.
“I suppose.” Then Morag turned on her heel and left, her maids dutifully following her out of the great hall.
Once they were gone, Aisling’s mother said, “You see how we can all be in danger?”
“What didBlair say about your working?” Drustan asked Coinneach when he sought him out.
“No fighting for a few days. You know, as wolves, we heal fast.”
“All right. I’m putting you on wall duty. Aodhan, who no longer has to serve in that capacity, said he would show you how it’s done. If you canna manage because of your wound, retire to the barracks.”
“Aye.” Coinneach had no intention of sleeping for now.
Aodhan joined them, and Drustan inclined his head to him and left.
“How bad is it?” Aodhan asked as he and Coinneach climbed the tower stairs to the wall walk.
“Nothing to worry about.”
“If we are to work together and have each other’s backs, we must be honest with each other. I need only to ask Blair, and she will tell me the truth.”
“About twenty stitches.”
“God’s wounds. That’s worse than any cut I’ve ever gotten. How did Tristan manage to slice you?”
“I lost focus. It willna happen again, though I would rather it be me that was injured than him.”
“All right. We have this section of the wall to watch. Others are posted on the other wall walks. With our great wolf’s night vision, we can see movement easily from way up here. Most of the time, our worst enemy is boredom and fighting sleep.”
That didn’t sound very appealing. Coinneach was thinking more of riding into battle and fighting their enemies.
“Because of your wound, if you feel as though you’re succumbing to sleep?—”
“I willna retire to the barracks.” How would that look to everyone in the pack? Coinneach gets a little cut and has to sleep the day away?
“Nay. You can rest, and I’ll keep watch. We will be relieved two hours after nightfall. Our meals will be served here. Mayhap your bonny lass will bring us our meals this time.” Aodhan watched the meadow stretching out before them, the forest, and a couple of crofts closer to the castle.
