Part 75 (1/2)
Meredith remembered the way she had suffered when Brice had lingered near death's door. Seeking to comfort him she placed her hand over his.
”You need worry no longer, my lord. I am home now. And I am here to stay.”
A look of pain crossed his handsome features and she longed to draw him close and ease his suffering. Instead she asked,
”Why is my throat so constricted?”
”You do not remember?”
At her arched brow he said softly,
”Gareth MacKenzie cut your throat.”
She touched a hand to the dressing that covered the wound.
”And Gareth?”
”Dead.”
She seemed to take a long time to let that fact sink in. She remembered the horrified look on Brice's face as he yanked her free of Gareth's grasp. But nothing more. Neither the pain nor the panic.
In a voice still softened by sleep she whispered,
”Leave me, Brice, and take your rest. Tis over at last. Now we can all live in peace.”
Peace. He watched, tormented, as her lids fluttered, then closed. How could he have forgotten her position as leader of her clan? He had foolishly nurtured the dream of making her his bride and uniting then- clans. But she was a Borderer, whose gentle, rolling countryside was a battleground that divided Scotland and England. And he was a Highlander, whose people depended upon his leaders.h.i.+p for their very survival in a harsh environment. His father had been brutally taken from them. It would not be fair to leave them without a leader again.
Neither of them could go with the other and leave their people leaderless.
Brenna, who had paused in the doorway, reluctant to intrude, now walked to the bedside and touched a hand to her sister's forehead.
”Already the healing has begun. With rest she will soon be as strong as before.”
She was surprised to see the stricken look on Brice's face.
”I.
thought that would make you happy, my lord Campbell.”
”Aye. I am delighted that Meredith is regaining her strength.” He stood wearily.
”But now that I know she will survive, I must leave.”
”Rest here a few days, my lord, until Meredith is strong enough to speak with you. From what I know of your time together in the Highlands, you have much to talk over.”
So she had confided in her sisters.
He shook his head and ran a hand over the beard that darkened his chin.
”She has already spoken. She desires to live in her home in peace.”