Highlanders Collection. Ann Lethbridge

got too close,’ was all he would tell her. But they both watched as his brother finally allowed Marguerite to help him remove the bloodstained tunic. He exhaled a sharp hiss when she had to peel back the fabric from his skin.

      When his bare back was revealed at last, Nairna’s arms held him tight. Bram breathed in the scent of her hair, holding her close as the years of his brother’s torment were revealed. By the Holy Rood, the sight of Callum’s raw, unhealed flesh was enough to send his stomach turning.

      Though her face turned white, Lady Marguerite said not a word. She merely soaked a clean rag in the cooled bath water and brought it to Callum, touching his face with it. Soothing him. Then she wet it again and lightly wrung it out before setting the cool cloth upon his brother’s back.

      ‘She’s doing well with him,’ Nairna whispered, moving out of his embrace. ‘We should leave them be.’

      ‘She’s a maiden,’ Bram argued. ‘It isn’t right to leave them alone.’

      ‘He’s not about to hurt her.’ Nairna pulled at his hand. ‘Look.’

      Callum had raised his face to Marguerite’s. Though his eyes held suffering, there was also relief there. There was no threat from Marguerite and his brother succumbed to her touch.

      ‘Bram,’ Nairna whispered. ‘Come with me.’

      He didn’t want to follow, but his wife wouldn’t let go of his hand. She led him down the winding stairs and outside.

      The rain had stopped and the ground was soft beneath their feet, coated with a light moisture. He thought Nairna would bring them back to their house, but instead she led him to the grain hut, where they’d spent their first few nights. It was dark inside and the interior smelled of barley.

      ‘He’ll be all right,’ she whispered. ‘You kept your promise.’

      ‘Why did you bring me here?’ He wound his arms around her waist, not understanding her purpose.

      ‘I know you’ll want to stay close to him this night. So we might as well sleep here instead of in our house.’

      He understood her intention, but he wasn’t going to leave Callum alone that long. For all they knew, his brother had fallen into the madness that haunted the prisoners he’d known.

      ‘You can sleep here, if you wish,’ he murmured to Nairna. ‘But I need to go back to the keep. Alex and I can take turns watching over him.’

      She touched his lips with her fingertips, before pressing a kiss upon his mouth. ‘I love you.’

      In her eyes, he saw the yearning and something inside him warmed to it. But he couldn’t voice an answer. He didn’t deserve to be loved, not after all this. If he could have gone back and changed his fate, he’d have freed Callum instead of seizing the chance for himself. His moment of selfishness might have destroyed his brother.

      ‘I’ll see you in the morning,’ he said to her, kissing her forehead before he left. As he left, his wife’s face held a sadness, as if he’d hurt her physically. And though he felt her pain as his own, there was nothing he could do to change it.

       Chapter Nineteen

      The next morning, Nairna left the hut, feeling restless. It was early and the morning sky still held the darkened shade of purple. The air was heavy, with a chill that slipped beneath her wrap, making her shiver.

      Bram hadn’t returned last night, and she knew he’d spent the hours guarding his brother. Though she understood his desperate need to ensure Callum’s well-being, it seemed more of a penance. Her husband couldn’t let go of the guilt that plagued him like a disease, festering inside him, until he could see nothing else.

      He’d been right; there were some wounds that didn’t heal. The comforts Nairna had tried to give him over the past few weeks had done nothing to wipe out the memories of his imprisonment.

      She worried that no amount of love would take away his sense of blame. Instead of accepting her feelings, he’d drawn away from them, as if he viewed her love as another set of chains.

      She tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter. In time, he would come to care for her again, as he once had. They wouldn’t have a shadow marriage, like Laren and Alex. She couldn’t live like that, with a husband who hardly saw her or cared what she did.

      Alone, she walked outside, pulling her wrap tighter. She crossed past the rows of houses, letting her mind drift. More of the women had returned, and she saw one young woman speaking in a soft tone, shushing her crying infant, bouncing the child against her shoulder.

      The sight of them twisted at her heart, for she wondered if she would ever hold an infant of her own. Her hands settled over her flat stomach, and she let herself dream for a moment. The thought sent a quiet ache of longing inside. Bram hadn’t touched her in several days, and she didn’t know when he would again. He was so caught up in tending his brother, he’d forgotten all else.

      But she supposed that would change, in time.

      When she reached the outer area of Glen Arrin, she started to turn back. The clan members were rising to perform their morning tasks and she scented the peat smoke rising into the air, as more bricks were added to the fires.

      A flicker of light caught her eye and she turned back. Peering at the hillside, she couldn’t quite tell what it was. Perhaps it was nothing, but it looked like the flare of torches. Her heart quickened with worry and she hastened back to the keep. If there were intruders near, Bram and Alex ought to know about it.

      When she reached the interior of the keep, she saw an exhausted Marguerite resting upon a bench with her head upon the trestle table. An untouched plate of food lay nearby.

      Laren came down the stairs, followed by her daughter Mairin. Adaira slept in her arms, her head tucked beneath her mother’s chin. Though she greeted Nairna with a smile, there was apprehension in her eyes. ‘Callum still hasn’t spoken. Alex and Bram had to subdue him. He flew into a rage when Marguerite left.’

      ‘It will take time,’ Nairna said. ‘But at least they treated his wounds.’ Glancing around, she asked, ‘Where are Alex and Bram now?’ She wanted to tell them about the possible intruders, as soon as possible.

      Laren glanced upwards. ‘They’re both still with Callum, above stairs.’ She led her daughter to sit down, and lowered her voice. ‘I didn’t tell Alex about the glass—I told him it was a tapestry.’

      ‘Did you find out who cheated Dougal?’

      Laren released a sigh and nodded. ‘It was a travelling merchant. Dougal believed the man’s praise and thought he’d brought back a great deal of silver.’

      ‘At least the coins served a purpose,’ Nairna offered. She told Laren about the unexpected ransom and about the lights she’d seen this morning in the distance. ‘I worry that it could be Lord Harkirk’s men, if they discovered what we did.’

      The chief’s wife paled, but she nodded. ‘Tell Bram and Alex. I’ll gather the women and children and arrange for them to be hidden.’

      Nairna’s skin grew cold at the thought of an impending attack. Her father usually avoided conflicts and she’d never been in the midst of a battle before. The idea of hiding from the invaders should have comforted her, but all she could think of was Bram fighting alone.

      The last time she’d seen him sparring with Ross, he’d been injured.

      Though she wanted to believe that he was stronger, she simply didn’t know. And her fear overshadowed the hope that everything would be all right.

      Laren was already waking Marguerite up and the young woman took Mairin’s hand, following Laren outside. Nairna walked up the winding stone staircase to the chamber where Callum was staying. She knocked softly, and when Bram answered she saw the shadowed circles beneath his eyes. ‘You didn’t sleep, did