The Saint (Highland Guard #5)(68)

But Will was being backed into a corner and didn’t like it. It was clear he didn’t want her to go, but also didn’t want to outright refuse the king to whom he’d just pledged his loyalty. He had to tread very carefully. “Additional men would relieve some of my concern.”

“I would be honored to protect Lady Helen,” Donald volunteered.

This time Magnus couldn’t completely hide his reaction. His jaw clenched as if he were grinding his teeth hard—very hard. Helen felt much the same. Kenneth and Donald, saints preserve her!

Will shook his head. Helen knew that look. She could see her chance slipping away. Her stubborn brother was going to ruin everything and jeopardize his standing with the king. “I’m afraid I can’t—”

“Perhaps I might speak to my brother, Sire?” Helen said, cutting him off before he could finish.

“Of course,” the king said, standing from his chair. “It’s getting late. I believe I shall retire for the evening and hear your answer in the morning,” he added to Will. “But I would consider it a personal favor, Sir William, were you to agree to my request.”

With that less-than-subtle admonition, the king left the solar, his men following behind him. Helen held her breath as Magnus walked by and caught her eye. A nervous flush rose to her cheeks. From the look on his face, she knew there was still a reckoning to come.

Kenneth hadn’t missed the exchange. He turned to Will. “You have to find an excuse. You can’t let her go. Not with him—”

Helen interrupted. “I have every intention of going with him, Kenneth. Your concern about Magnus is misplaced. He wants nothing to do with me.”

“And I intend to see it stays that way,” he said.

“If you could look beyond the feud for one blessed moment, you would see that you have nothing to worry about.” She turned to Will. “I hope I shall have your blessing, Will.”

“But you will go without it?”

She didn’t want to challenge his authority if she didn’t have to. She had no power. They both knew that. Just as they also both knew that if he reminded her of that, it would never be the same between them. “You cannot refuse the king, Will. Surely you can see that?”

“The lass is right,” Donald said. “Bruce has left you little choice in the matter. If you refuse, he will consider it a personal slight. It is in the best interest of the clan to let her go. You can use it as an opportunity to improve the clan’s standing in his new government.”

Helen was surprised—and grateful—to have Donald come to her defense.

Will had the belligerent look in his eye of a man who knew he’d been beaten but didn’t want to admit it. “If you go, you will leave us without a healer.”

“You have a healer if you want one, Will. Muriel will come back if you ask her.”

A strange look crossed his face. Longing? Regret? Anger? Helen didn’t know, but she was certain she’d guessed correctly: there was something between Will and Muriel.

Or, at least, there had been.

His mouth thinned. “She puts too high a price on her return.”

Helen smiled sadly. She suspected the source of conflict for her brother, and perhaps more than anyone, understood his struggle. Love and duty rarely twined together. “Then I suppose you must decide how badly you need her.”

Fifteen

Muriel pulled the cloak over her head and hurried across the narrow streets and wynds of Inverness. As the sun fell over the horizon, a damp mist had descended over the royal burgh, blanketing the hills and rooftops in a murky haze.

Normally the short walk from the guild to the small room the Earl of Ross had rented for her above the cobbler’s shop was a pleasant way to stretch her legs after a long day’s work. But on a ghostly night like tonight, she wished she’d accepted Lord Henry’s offer to escort her.

Lord Henry was a new master physician, and she was grateful for his friendship, of which she’d had precious little since arriving in Inverness. To say that the physicians of the guild did not welcome her was an understatement.

But friendship was not all Lord Henry wanted, and she knew it would be wrong to encourage him. Right now her focus was on knocking down whatever obstacles the venerable physicians put in her path, and not making any mistakes while she completed her apprenticeship. She couldn’t give them any excuse to get rid of her. And so far, to her surprise as much as she suspected to theirs, she was doing just that—and perhaps even winning a few supporters along the way.

But focus on her work was not the only reason she did not wish to encourage Lord Henry. Her chest pinched. Someday she would put the Earl of Sutherland behind her. But that day had not yet come. It would, though. By all that was holy, it would.

When she’d first realized Will was looking for her, she’d foolishly thought he’d wanted her back. Not trusting herself to be strong enough to refuse, she’d avoided his messengers. It wasn’t until Donald cornered her as she left the guild that she’d learned the truth: Will hadn’t wanted her back at all. It was the king who’d needed her.

Stung, she’d sent her reply, knowing well that in issuing the petty challenge she was ensuring he would never come for her. William Sutherland of Moray, the proud Earl of Sutherland, would not lower himself to chase after anyone. Even the woman he professed to love. Not when she’d spurned that love—or rather, his “offer.”