then. She hadn’t even realized Conran had grabbed her. Even as she looked down, he released her though, and moved to his brother’s side.
“Are ye all right, Geordie?” he asked with concern, helping him up.
“Aye. He caught me by surprise, but ’tis just a scratch, I think,” Geordie muttered as he stood up. He lifted the hand covering his arm, revealing a slice across the forearm.
It was bleeding freely, but would heal quickly with a couple of stitches, Evina was sure as she watched Alick and Aulay usher the injured man out. She glanced around with a start though when Conran clasped her chin and lifted it.
“Ye took a couple o’ nasty cuts too,” he said with concern as he examined her throat.
“I’m fine, ’tis fine,” Evina murmured, trying to tug her chin free. But he was having none of that and urged her to the pitcher and ewer on the table by the window. Grabbing the clean linen Tildy had set there, he dampened it in the water in the pitcher, and gently ran it over her neck.
“’Tis still bleeding,” he said with a frown. “Ye may need stitches.”
“I do no’ need stitches,” she said at once, and took the cloth from him to press firmly against the injured area. “‘Twill stop. ’Tis fine,” she assured him, and then turned to peer at her cousin. He hadn’t moved, and was still staring at his father’s corpse. Frowning, Evina handed Conran the bloody cloth and moved to her cousin’s side. When he didn’t seem to notice her presence, she clasped his arm gently, drawing his fixed gaze away from the MacLeod’s body.
“Are ye all right?” she asked, concerned about how he was handling having just killed his own father. It had been in self-defense, and the man had been horrible, but he was still Gavin’s father.
“Aye,” he muttered, patting her hand and turning his eyes back to the MacLeod. “’Tis fine. I’m fine.”
Evina eyed him dubiously. “I do no’ think ye are, Gavin. He—”
“I am,” he said, finally meeting her gaze. “In truth, I’m glad he made me kill him. He killed me mother, and tried to kill ye. He got what he deserved, and I’ve avenged both of ye,” he said solemnly, and then smiled crookedly. “I really am fine.”
Evina relaxed a little, but then gave a sniff and shook her head woefully. “I think ye’ve spent too much time around Conran. He had blood pouring down his back and still claimed he was fine too.”
“Me?” Conran asked with disbelief, crossing the room to join them as Gavin smiled faintly and murmured something about removing the body. “Ye do the same thing. Ye did it just now about yer neck,” he pointed out. “And ’tis ye he grew up around and learned it from.”
“Oh, aye,” Evina murmured the admission, and then smiled and shrugged. “Well, I guess ’tis fine, then.”
Conran chuckled at the words and kissed her quickly. He then lifted her chin and peered at her neck again. “The bleeding has stopped.”
“I told ye ‘twould,” Evina responded at once, but was secretly relieved. She hadn’t at all been sure it would stop bleeding. She just hated stitches.
“Aye, ye did,” Conran agreed, and then raised his eyebrows and asked, “Now, will ye please accompany me to the church so I can marry ye before something else happens to delay it?”
“Aye,” she said with a smile. However, she immediately dug in her heels when he tried to usher her away and said, “But . . .”
Pausing, he turned to look at her in question. “But?”
Evina glanced around, and then waited until Gavin had dragged the MacLeod’s body out of the room before turning back. Taking his hands then, she glanced down at them solemnly for a moment, before raising her gaze to his face to say, “Do no’ laugh, m’lord. But I think I love ye.”
Conran blinked at her words. “Ye think . . . ?”
“Aye.” She nodded. “’Tis ridiculous I ken after the fuss I made about no’ wanting to marry ye, but I was thinking on it while waiting for Da to collect me, and again while waiting for Garrick to kill me, and I decided I must love ye. That or I’m mad, because while I love me father and Gavin, and even Tildy, ’twas ye I fretted most over about leaving. Ye and all the things I would miss.”
“What would ye miss?” Conran asked, his voice husky and a soft smile curving his lips.