“Good, for it will make a difference,” Aliss said, then placed his hand on his chest as Ivan had fallen asleep.
Rogan watched her roll her shoulders back as if attempting to ease the soreness from her joints. Then she yawned wide, her hand rushing to cover her mouth.
He walked over to her and she turned her head toward him as he approached.
“I need to talk with you,” she said in a whisper and cast a glance toward Ivan.
He understood that she did not wish to disturb the patient and he grabbed her healing basket at her feet and stepped aside, indicating he would follow her.
She nodded with a smile that turned to another yawn as she quietly left the cottage. She stopped to speak with Myra, Ivan’s daughter, and after a brief exchange, Aliss left the cottage.
Rogan had retrieved her cloak and once outside he draped it over her shoulders. “The early morning holds a chill.”
She turned sleepy eyes on him. “It feels refreshing.”
He had the intense urge to scoop her up in his arms and cart her off to bed—to sleep. She looked exhausted.
“We must talk.”
He was anxious to hear any news regarding the illness. “Tell me over breakfast.”
She yawned. “I am too tired to eat and I must get a few hours’ rest before seeing to the other ailing villagers.”
“You need—”
“For you to listen to me,” she finished.
He remained silent, keeping pace with her slow strides.
“The villagers I have examined thus far all have the same complaints. They suffer intense stomach pain and they can hold no food down. What puzzles me is that they grow ill and then seem to improve only to grow ill again and again, while some succumb to the illness.”
“Can you heal them?”
She sighed. “I hope so, though it may take time. I really do need to rest now.”
“Are you sure you do not want to eat first?”
Aliss shook her head. “I am too tired.”
She almost stumbled when they neared his cottage and his hand was quick to steady her. Her skin was warm and soft, the sleeves of her blouse having been rolled up. And for an instant he thought he felt her ready to drop into his arms, but then it seemed she caught herself and regained her composure.
“You need rest. You will be good to no one if you do not take care of yourself,” he warned.
“Do not worry. I will do what you brought me here to do—but I will do it my way.”
He grabbed her arm, jolting her to a stop. “I rule here.”
Her green eyes sparked. “I heal here.”
“Rogan!”
The frantic shout had them both turning.
“Derek has fallen ill,” John said.
Aliss looked to Rogan. “A friend?”
“A good friend.”
“Let us hurry.”
Rogan went straight to Derek’s bedside upon entering the cottage. “You were always one for finding a way out of work.”
“Someone needed to teach you to have fun,” Derek said with effort.
Aliss nudged Rogan away from the bed.
“She is a good healer.” Rogan said, remaining behind her and wanting to assure his friend that he would be all right. He wanted to know that Derek would be all right, though seeing him so deathly pale and weak when he was a man near to Rogan’s own size worried him.
“I knew you would not fail the village.” Derek took a fortifying breath. “When others grumbled about your not returning, I argued that you would be back. I would—”
“You will be quiet,” Aliss ordered with a gentle smile and a firm tone.
“You, my lovely lass, are a beauty and your touch angel soft. How lucky am I.”
Rogan grinned, glad to hear Derek attempting as usual to charm a lady, which certainly indicated he was not at death’s door.
He watched with interest the way Aliss tenderly cared for his friend. As she discussed his ailments with him, she gently pressed her palm to his forehead; her slim fingers probed the area around his eyes with a featherlike touch and then it appeared as if she stroked the flesh beneath his jaw.
Derek responded to her touch with a smile and to her questions with his usual charm. Rogan did not think there was a woman alive who did not fall under Derek’s spell, even when he was sick.
Aliss smiled and laughed at Derek’s responses. They appeared more a couple sharing an intimate talk than a woman attempting to heal an ailing man.
“It is good you keep a smile and do not surrender entirely to your illness,” Aliss said.
“I cannot mend too fast when I have such a beautiful healer to look after me,” Derek said with a grin, then suddenly gripped his stomach in pain.
Aliss placed her hand over his where he held his belly.
“I will give you something to ease the pain.”