“Aye, my lady. I’ll try to forget he called me a maid.”
“He called ye big and ugly, too, Turcuil,” observed Edna.
“Aye, love, I won’t argue about being big and ugly, but I am no maid.”
“Well, if Fingal doesn’t want me to put bitter herbs in his broth, he’d better not call ye ugly, either.”
Fingal rolled his eyes, causing Katherine to laugh as she left them to look for Tomas.
~ * ~
Katherine found Tomas tending Mab in the stable. “Father Colm said ye were looking for me earlier.”
“Aye, I was. I have to tell ye something, but we need to be alone.”
“We could go to my room. Will that do?” He nodded and they walked to the keep, going straight to the east tower. Katherine had barely shut the door to her chamber when Tomas’ arms were around her, holding tight as if he were afraid of something. “Tomas, what is it, sweetheart?”
“Da told me to rest yesterday and I went to my room but I just couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking Mab might need me. Mama, I only wanted to go out to the stable for a few minutes to check on her, and I was going to go back to my room and rest like Da said to.”
“So ye snuck out to the stables when ye were supposed to be resting? Is that what has ye so upset?” He seemed awfully distressed over something so small.
“Nay, I didn’t get to the stables. When I walked down the stairs, I heard two people talking in the stairwell. They were whispering and I couldn’t understand most of it, but one of them said Da was going to die.”
“What?” Tomas, maybe ye misunderstood.”
“One person said something was going to end in Da’s death and Duncurra would finally be the other person’s. Mama, I don’t want Da to die.” Tomas was near tears.
“Tomas, don’t worry, Da isn’t going to die. Sweetheart, did ye hear them say anything else?”
Tomas nodded, tears slipping down his cheeks, “The other person said something about pretending to be something for too long, and being sorry he wouldn’t be the one to kill Da, because he wanted Da to know it was him.”
“Then the people ye heard talking were men? Did ye see them?” Katherine asked.
“I think they were men. I don’t know, they were whispering. I didn’t see them. Mama, I was scared and I went back to my room. I was afraid to come out. When Fineen brought me downstairs I wanted to tell ye, but I didn’t want—anyone to hear me tell ye. Then I tried to find ye this morning, but I couldn’t.”
“It will be all right, Tomas. Stop crying, sweetheart. As soon as your da comes home, we’ll tell him. He will know what to do.” Katherine tried to reassure him, but her own mind spun as she tried to process what Tomas told her. She didn’t understand what, and perhaps more importantly, who Tomas had overheard.
“I don’t want to go down to the great hall. I want to stay here with ye.”
“Ye can stay here, Tomas. I will just let Edna know ye are not feeling well, so I will be here with ye here for a while. That way she can find me in case anyone needs me.” She decided not to worry Tomas more by telling him Fingal was injured. “I will be right back.” He nodded, looking forlorn.
Katherine went downstairs, found Edna, and explained that Tomas wasn’t feeling well and she was going to sit with him for a bit. She asked Edna to send up some soup and bread, then returned to Tomas. Diarmad was on his way downstairs after having checked on Fingal, and met Katherine on her way up. “Diarmad, Tomas isn’t feeling well, if ye see Niall, will ye ask him to come up?”
“Certainly, my lady, but the laird went out with a hunting party and I don’t expect him back until late this afternoon. Tomas seemed upset earlier, is there anything I can do?”
“Nay, thank ye, Diarmad, it is probably just a combination of rich food and late nights,” she assured him. Because Tomas had no idea who he had overheard, she did not intend to tell anyone the real problem until she had talked to Niall.
Nineteen
Finally, very late in the afternoon, Niall returned from hunting. He learned of Fingal’s accident immediately and left his horse with the stable master. He intended to go straight upstairs to check on his brother, but Malcolm called to him when he entered the great hall. “Niall, lad, come join me,” he said, motioning to a servant to bring another tankard of ale.
“I’ll be down in a few minutes, I just want to see how my clumsy brother is faring.”
“There is no need to rush to Fingal’s side,” teased Malcolm, “it was merely a flesh wound and your wife has tended him well. She has been absent from us all afternoon. I’m sure if there were any problem with Fingal we would know about it. Come, sit and warm yourself.”