again? Did they find the bastard who tried to drown Evina?”
Geordie shook his head. “There was no’ a trace of him in the passage or the clearing.”
“Damn,” Conran breathed with a frown, and then muttered, “Where the hell did he go?”
“The best we could come up with is that he slipped out before the men got to the clearing, or that he managed to hide himself until they gave up and left the area.” Geordie said, and then added, “But Laird Maclean and Aulay went down and locked the outer entrance from inside when they got back. He’ll no’ get back in the keep that way.”
“Well, that’s something anyway,” Conran murmured, and then asked, “Did he have any idea who it might be?”
“They all seem to be going with the idea that ’twas the bandit who got away after attacking ye and Evina outside the bailey,” Geordie said with a shrug.
“Aye, but why?” Conran asked grimly. “Bandits generally stick to attacking travelers or people caught outside the gates. They don’t take the risk of following their victims in the castle. And if they did get in the castle, you’d think they’d steal something and sneak back out, no’ try to drown the lady of the house and leave empty-handed.”
“That’s true,” Geordie agreed, a frown now curving his lips too. “’Tis odd behavior at best.”
“Aye,” Conran murmured. They were both silent for a moment, considering that, and then Conran asked, “How did I end up in Evina’s bed? I thought I was to take a pallet in her room?”
“Ye were awake for that part, were ye?” Geordie asked with amusement, and then explained, “There was no pallet there when Rory finished working on you. No one thought to bring one up. The bed was big, and Evina wasn’t taking up more than a quarter of the one side, so we just put yer shirt back on ye and tucked ye in on the other side.”
Conran arched an eyebrow. “Does Laird Maclean ken?”
“Aye,” Geordie assured him. “He was pleased to ken ye’re in there in case of another attack.”
A footfall caught his ear then and Conran glanced toward the stairs to see Alick just stepping onto the landing carrying a tray of food and drink. It looked to be enough for two, he noted.
As they watched him approach, Geordie murmured, “Aulay said to tell ye that Dougall and Murine arrived today in case ye hadn’t heard that. He also said to tell ye that he expects Niels and Edith to arrive tomorrow, so he hopes ye’ve completed that project ye were working on.”
Conran glanced to him sharply, opened his mouth, closed it again and sighed. He knew exactly what project Aulay was referring to—bedding Evina so she knew it wasn’t the painful ordeal her first time had been. Unfortunately, he hadn’t got that far.
“He also said to tell ye if ye haven’t, then to get to it. He does no’ wish to see ye left at the altar by a runaway bride,” Geordie added.
Conran cursed under his breath, and turned to take the tray from Alick as he reached them.
“I got enough food for Evina too, and I got her mead and, you, ale,” Alick announced as he gave up the tray.
“Thank ye,” Conran said with sincerity, and turned to the door as Geordie opened it for him.
“Good luck, brother,” Geordie said as he pulled the door closed behind him.
Conran took several steps into the room with the food and then stopped, his gaze sliding from the bed to the table by the fire. There was already a tray on the table, he noted, and vaguely recalled Tildy bringing it in while Rory was working on him. It didn’t look like it had been touched and he supposed that meant that Evina hadn’t eaten anything either since his injury. Actually, he realized, while he’d broken his fast, she’d not even done that ere she was attacked. It was probably why she was still sleeping, he thought, and headed for the bed.
Conran set the tray on the bedside table and then eased to sit on the bed next to the pile of furs and considered the mound of coverings briefly before starting to remove them. Once down to just the linen, he paused. Evina was visible now. The linen started just below her chin and draped over her body, outlining her curves. Conran swallowed, and then grimaced as he was recalled to one of the other needs he’d become aware of when he