Children of the Moon 04 - Dragon's Moon

did his best to hide his amusement. He liked his head just where it was. Attached to his shoulders.
    “You will not take advantage of her innocence,” the Faol declared. “She is under my protection.”
    Lais did not blame the laird for doubting his honor. After what Lais had done to his own people, he did not expect the trust of other Chrechte.
    ’Twas why Eirik’s friendship was so important to Lais. The prince had never once questioned Lais’s motives or actions.
    But the insult to his integrity still wounded. “She is my patient. She is safe under my care.”
    “Of course she is safe with you,” Abigail soothed and then glared at Talorc. “My husband did not mean to imply otherwise.”
    The laird didn’t look in the least repentant. “He wants her.”
    Abigail blushed and gave Mairi a pitying look.
    Mairi made a high-pitched sound of protest, but she didn’t try to get out of his arms again. Her wounds must be paining her. And that was all that mattered right now.
    “I will treat her as if she were another ward of the Sinclair,” Lais said.
    “Good.” The wolf alpha’s eyes promised retribution if Lais did not do as he’d promised. “Because for now, that is exactly what she is.”
    “But I…my father…he won’t…” Mairi’s sweet feminine voice rambled out in confusion.
    Talorc ignored her, his face softening near miraculously as he looked at his wife. “’Tis time to take the boys digging in your herb garden, I think.”
    “The last time you did that, they dug up my thyme and our dinners suffered,” Abigail said with asperity, but an amused twinkle in her eye.
    “Then you had best come supervise us.”
    “I suppose I had better at that.” The Sinclair’s lady’s lips twitched with humor.
    “By your leave,” Lais said to the laird, indicating the stairs with his chin.
    Talorc’s attention came back to Lais and Mairi. “Do what you can for her. She is no warrior to suffer such pain.”
    Lais should not have been surprised that the Sinclair laird had noticed Mairi’s discomfort, or that the wolf cared about it, but part of him was. And it shamed Lais to realize he had his own judgments based on past experience to overcome.
    “I will.”
    Talorc nodded and then led his family from the great hall.
    Lais carried Mairi up to his bedchamber.
    He’d been taken aback when the laird had offered him a room in the keep beside Eirik’s. But Talorc had said that with Lais’s Chrechte gift of healing, he would be an invaluable member of the clan and best kept close to the laird’s family.
    Healing Mairi in Lais’s nest would help him focus and draw on the strength of his Chrechte gift. His weapons nearby, the furs Lais had brought with him from his home in the forest were arranged in a way that made his eagle feel comfortable and safe, despite them being on the floor.
    He kept a bowl of fragrant herbs used for healing in the high window, the scent soothing and a reminder at the same time. Anya-Gra had taught him that while his ability to heal others was a great gift, he did not have to use it alone. One of her daughters had spent the last seven years training Lais in the use of herbs, tinctures and other treatments in healing ailments for both Chrechte and human.
    The only furniture in the room, a long narrow table against the wall opposite the bed, held jars, pots and pouches filled with his tools as a healer from this training. In the center rested a small wooden box. Decorated with a carved dragon on the top, it had a raven, an eagle and a hawk decorating three sides and nothing on the back. Inside, rested the small amber stone Anya-Gra had given Lais the day after he had gone to live among the Éan.
    A memento to the fact he’d been given a second chance, the dark yellow crystal helped him remember that day of healing in the cavern seven years past. Anya-Gra had also worked with Lais in using it to focus and enhance his healing gift.
    Kicking the door shut, he bumped the bar with hisshoulder so it fell in place, ensuring no one could barge in and interrupt them. To break his focus at a crucial moment in her healing could have very detrimental effects on Mairi’s recovery.
    “This isn’t Ciara’s room,” the sweet blonde said as he laid her on his furs, her blue gaze filled with confusion.
    He settled a smaller, rolled-up fur under her head. “It is mine.”
    “But ’tis not seemly.” She tried to get up but barely lifted her head before settling back with a pained