Medieval 01 - Untamed

danger and I ran here and was told Dominic had been felled by a blow to the head from your sword.”
    Simon fought to control his temper. “Watch your tongue, vile witch.”
    Vile .
    Witch .
    Meg realized Simon wouldn’t let her go to Dominic no matter how carefully she pleaded. A wild anger swept through her.
    â€œWhy should I watch my tongue?” she demanded. “Does the truth hurt so much? Or are you hoping to inherit the keep if Dominic dies and thus don’t want me to tend him?”
    The accusation was so unexpected that Simon was struck speechless. Meg suffered no such handicap. She wrested her hands free of his grasp and continued flaying him with her tongue.
    â€œIf that is so, my brave knight,” she said with fierce disdain, “hear me now. I will tear down Blackthorne Keep stone by stone with my own hands and poison the well before I let you profit by your brother’s untimely death!”
    â€œHell-witch,” Simon whispered. “I would slay a man for even suggesting that I was such a cowardly villain.”
    Simon’s voice reminded Meg of Dominic at his most coldly furious. At any other time she would have bowed to the male anger and withdrawn, but not now. Dominic was dying. Next to that, nothing mattered.
    Hell-witch .
    Meg’s free hand came up and ripped the frail Glendruid smock from neck to waist, revealing the fine, creamy skin and the smooth swell of her breasts. Between them shone the golden cross that had once been her mother’s.
    â€œCould a true witch wear God’s cross?” Meg demanded. “Could she?”
    For three long breaths there was silence.
    â€œNo,” Simon admitted finally.
    With one gauntleted hand he carefully pulled the smock’s edges together, covering Meg’s breasts completely.
    Meg waited, but still Simon made no move to step aside.
    â€œLet me by, Simon the Loyal. Use your brains instead of your brawny arms to aid your brother. Who else in this keep can help Dominic but me?”
    There was a taut silence while Simon stared at the girl with the uncanny green eyes. Ever since he had come to Blackthorne Keep, the vassals had told anyone who would listen what a magic touch Meg had with the sick or the wounded. They called her Glendruid witch.
    White witch.
    A cross lay cool between her breasts. Dominic lay ill unto death.
    Never had Simon been more frightened for his brother, not even when Dominic had ransomed twelve knights by turning himself over to a sultan whose cruelty to Christians had to be endured to be believed.
    â€œIf my brother dies,” Simon vowed quietly, “you will die by my hands an instant after Dominic draws his last breath. I swear this before God.”
    â€œSo be it,” Meg agreed, sealing the vow.
    Surprise showed in the fierce lines of Simon’s face.He had expected many things from his brother’s witch-wife, but not such unflinching acceptance of danger to herself. Whatever else might be said of her, she didn’t lack courage.
    Simon stepped away from the door. Before he could turn around, Meg was in the room and leaning over Dominic’s canopied bed. A huge fire burned in the hearth, making the room hot.
    â€œHe barely breathes,” Meg said in a low voice.
    She touched Dominic’s skin. Her breath caught in the vise of her clenched throat.
    â€œDear God…’tis cool as water.”
    Bending low over Dominic, she breathed in deeply of the air he had just exhaled. A stillness came over her body. She forced air from her lungs, then breathed in deeply again.
    Simon stood without moving, listening to the small golden bells Meg wore shiver and murmur among themselves as though mourning for their dying lord.
    Slowly Meg straightened, pushing aside hair that had come free during the wild run from Harry’s cottage. A golden cascade of music trembled in the silence from the long chains of bells still tied around her half-unraveled braids.
    â€œLady?” called Eadith from beyond the door. “Here is the water and smock you requested.”
    â€œGet it from her,” Meg said in a low voice. “Do not let her in. She has a taste for gossip. If the Reevers were to hear that Dominic was ill…”
    Simon was turning away before Meg finished her sentence. The door shut quite rudely on Eadith’s anxious questions.
    â€œPut bowl and smock by the hearth,” Meg said quickly. “Then turn your back while I prepare