The Laird's Captive Wife(46)

Chapter Seven

In the days that followed Ashlynn spent as much time as she could with Ban, though mindful not to tire him. He was still very weak but the terrifying pallor was gone and a healthier colour returned to his cheeks. Moreover, he could take nourishment now and, by the end of a week, was propped up on cushions and looking about him with interest. In the first days of their reunion   they had not talked much, being content to know merely that the other was there. Later, as he regained a little strength, they spoke more, of different things, trivial enough in their way, each glad just to hear the other’s voice. Sometimes, when he was asleep, she would sit and watch him, willing strength to return and restore him to full health.

She had been sitting thus rapt in thought one afternoon when he awoke. She saw him smile.

‘Still here?’

‘Where else?’

‘I thought I would never see you again.’

‘Nor I you.’

For several moments the emotion was too great for words. Ban’s sombre gaze was fixed on her face for there was yet a shadow over the joy of reunion  . He chose his next words with care. ‘There are still many things I would know, Ashlynn.’

‘I will tell you whatever you wish.’

‘Then tell me what happened after the Normans left. Everything that I have missed.’

‘Very well. But I warn you, it’s a long story.’

‘I’m not going anywhere.’

Taking a deep breath she began to speak, relating the story as she knew it, of her treatment at Fitzurse’s hands, of her flight from the barn and her meeting with Iain. How he had saved her from the icy river and brought her along with him, and how she had discovered only later who he was. She spoke of the journey north and of her marriage, leaving out nothing, or almost nothing. His face darkened as he listened and she saw his hand clench on the coverlet.

‘He forced you to wed him?’

‘He married me at the king’s command. For Malcolm it was the obvious solution and the one to cause him least trouble.’ She sighed. ‘There could be no place at Dunfermline for a penniless, friendless girl and a Saxon to boot.’

‘You had me.’

‘I did not know that and Iain did not tell me because he did not think you would live. I genuinely believe that now.’

‘He has not hurt you?’

‘No. On the contrary, he has kept me from hurt, even at the risk of his own life.’

Ban relaxed a little. ‘I cannot say I like it, Ashlynn. The man has a reputation of the blackest kind. However, I owe him much.’

‘We both do.’

‘So it seems.’ He paused. ‘And if, as you say, he saved your life and has since treated you well then I have no cause to feel animosity towards him.’

‘He has treated me well. I have no grounds for complaint on that score.’

Ban shook his head as he tried to assimilate what he had heard. ‘It is most strange to hear such welcome and unwelcome things at once. Perhaps his reputation has become exaggerated.’

‘I think perhaps it has, but I can only speak as I find.’

‘And what do you find?’

‘A man of his word, a leader, a fighter, one whom other men follow.’ Even as she said it her mind added, a man unlike any other. ‘He lives by his own rules but he is not dishonourable.’

He shot her a penetrating look. ‘Do you love him?’

Ashlynn’s cheeks grew pink. What was love exactly? She had heard it described as all encompassing, unchanging in the face of time and adversity, a passion so strong that death could not conquer it. A passion she had only dreamed of. The kind of passion that Iain had felt for Eloise.

‘I…I respect him.’

‘I see. Well, respect is a good enough basis for marriage. ’Tis said the rest comes with time.’

Ashlynn bit her lip. She would not tell him that respect was as far as it was ever going to go, or could ever go. Unwilling to linger in such dangerous waters she turned the conversation to other things. However, her brother’s words stayed with her a long time afterwards. They might have comforted her had she not already known that her husband’s abiding passion now was for revenge.

* * *

Unbeknown to Ashlynn, Iain paid her brother a visit of his own. He had long meditated it but wanted to give her space and time on her own with Ban, and the young man a chance to recover from his wounds. However, he also knew that the lad did not view the marriage with favour. Ordinarily Iain would not have cared a fig for any man’s opinion on the matter but things now were not quite so simple. He could not live in such proximity to his wife’s brother and be at odds with him. The nettle must be grasped. Accordingly he chose his moment when he knew Ashlynn was not by and presented himself at the bedside.