The other men roared with laughter.
Katherine suspected the huge man could put the fear of God into anyone, but when she glanced at him, he blushed like a maid.
“Since I am going by age, I have to tell ye about Keith and Keavy together.”
“They are both the same age?” Katherine asked, glancing at the two men. Keith had pale blond hair and was shorter and slighter than the other guardsmen. He laughed a lot and looked youthful. On the other hand, tall and stocky with shaggy brown hair, Keavy appeared quiet, almost sullen.
“I guess technically Keith is older by a few minutes. They are twins, though ye have probably noticed they are not identical. They are, in fact, as different as the night is from the day, but they are as close as two brothers could possibly be.”
“That they are,” said Alan. “If Keith eats too much, Keavy gets the indigestion.”
The men laughed but Fingal explained, “Alan must have cleaned that joke up out of respect for ye, Lady Katherine. As I recall, it is normally a much bawdier comment.” The men laughed harder.
When the laughter died, Fingal went on, “Now we come to Rab.” Fingle indicated a tall slender man with a head of shocking red hair. “Most people refer to him as ‘Rab the Red.’ I trust I don’t have to explain why—that isn’t a fire burning on his head.”
Rab grinned and ruffled his own hair, saying “Fingal, ye know it makes me a fierce warrior.”
“It only makes ye easy to see from a distance,” Fingal countered to the amusement of the other men. “And finally, ye have me, the more charming and handsome of the MacIan brothers.”
“Brothers?” said Katherine.
“Brothers,” answered Niall. “And the one who is going to die young if he doesn’t watch himself,” he added. Although he appeared to be teasing, Katherine thought she heard a serious undertone that surprised her.
Niall rose, offering his hand to her. “Now that ye have been properly introduced, I think it is time ye rested. We have another long day ahead of us.”
Somewhat reluctantly, Katherine kissed Tomas’ cheek and slid his head off her lap before taking Niall’s hand. Moving away from the rest of the men, she lay down with him on a plaid. He wrapped it around them and she fell asleep within the safety of his arms, thinking she could get very used to this.
Four
Their third day of travel went much the same as the others. Niall changed the dressing on Katherine’s back again before they left. The lacerations still looked very angry. He knew no matter how he tried to cushion her as they rode, the constant motion was irritating them. Then, late in the afternoon, the skies grew dark and a wind whipped up, signaling a brewing summer storm. Well into the Highlands now, Niall knew they really needed to have shelter this evening.
If once again he pushed their pace, they might be able to reach the protection of some caves he knew of. As much as he hated to do it, he reasoned sleeping in the rain would be considerably worse on Katherine than a couple hours of hard riding. Niall wrapped his plaid around her as the storm hit, but it didn’t prevent her from getting drenched and cold before they reached the shelter of the caves. The previous evenings had not been cold, so Niall had chosen not to risk drawing unwanted attention by starting a fire. Tonight he would have welcomed the warmth of a fire, but there was nothing dry with which to build one.
Looking chilled to the bone and trembling, Katherine stepped deeper into the dark cave. When she returned, she had changed into dry garments. She still shivered slightly, holding a heavy mantle around her shoulders.
“Ye are still cold.”
“Not as cold as I was. Everything is still a bit damp, but I’m a little warmer.”
Niall pulled her close to him, wrapping her in his plaid, hoping that his heat would further banish the chill while they slept. He held her close throughout the night, but she slept fitfully, waking with dark circles under her eyes.
“Katherine, ye don’t look well,” he observed.
“I am just a bit tired and achy. I’m sure I’ll feel better soon.”
“Just a bit?” he asked skeptically. He hadn’t known her very long, but he suspected that if she was admitting to feeling “a bit tired and achy” she actually felt much worse than that. Still, there wasn’t much he could do so he didn’t push her. “Come, let me change your dressing.”
Katherine turned her back to him with no argument. Niall opened her kirtle to find her back was not healing and one particularly deep lash showed signs of festering. Following her directions, he cleansed it as best he could. Her clenched teeth and fisted hands told him that it caused her pain, but there was nothing else to be done. When he finished, she looked as pale and drawn as she had the evening before.