Medieval 01 - Untamed

nothing of the brilliant amber liquid remained.
    When Meg turned back to the bed, Simon moved aside to give her more room. Her fingertip slid alongDominic’s mouth, which opened more readily this time. She drank from the bowl of potent medicine, bent to him, and fed the precious liquid onto his tongue.
    After the first searing mouthful, it went quickly, for Dominic was less in the thrall of the poison with every heartbeat that speeded the medicine through his body. When Meg bent to him for the last mouthful, he drew the medicine from her lips as naturally as a babe taking nourishment from his mother’s breast.
    Even when the bowl was empty, Meg lingered over the final drops, for Dominic had taught her to enjoy the intimacy and warmth of his mouth.
    After a final gliding pressure of her tongue over his gave Dominic both a caress and the last drop of medicine, Meg straightened. When she realized that Simon was watching her with a combination of compassion and surprise, she flushed. Without a word she went to the water pitcher, rinsed the bowl, and then rinsed her own mouth thoroughly.
    Despite Meg’s care, enough of the potent medicine had seeped into her body that she found it impossible to be still. She paced the room with quick strides that set golden bells to singing. When that was not enough to ease her, she grabbed the stone bottle and rolled it between her palms as though it was a cool, soothing river pebble.
    Simon watched Meg, then his brother, then Meg once more.
    â€œWhat next?” Simon said.
    â€œWe wait.”
    â€œUntil…?”
    â€œUntil one or the other medicine wins,” Meg said simply.
    Simon looked at the bottle in Meg’s hands. The careless way she held it told him that nothing ofvalue remained. There was no more medicine to give.
    â€œWhen will we know?”
    â€œI can’t say,” Meg whispered. “Any man less strong would have died twice by now.”
    â€œTwice?”
    â€œAye,” she said curtly. “Once from the poison. Once from the medicine to counter it. ’Tis a stimulant strong enough to make a swine jump over the keep’s highest wall.”
    â€œIs that why you’re pacing like a squire before his first battle?”
    Meg nodded her head.
    â€œAre you at risk?” Simon demanded.
    â€œI don’t know. If Dominic awakens and I’m not—” Meg’s words stopped abruptly. “Give him water and more water until he can take not one more drop. It will help to purge his flesh of any remaining poison.”
    Simon released his brother and went quickly to Meg. “Is there nothing you can take for yourself?”
    â€œNo. I haven’t Dominic’s great strength. I would lose the tug-of-war between the two most potent medicines Glendruid knows.”
    When she saw the concern in Simon, Meg smiled despite the too-rapid breaths that the medicine was forcing upon her. Her heart speeded wildly.
    â€œDon’t worry. The stimulant—spends itself—quickly.”
    Meg’s jerky words and breathing did nothing to reassure Simon.
    â€œYou should have told me to give the medicine to Dominic,” he said. “Or is the method a Glendruid secret?”
    She laughed oddly and paced even more quickly, setting bells to jangling wildly.
    â€œGlendruid?” she said. “No. Dominic taught me.”
    Simon looked startled.
    â€œYou see, my husband wants a son more than he wants anything on earth or in Heaven. He plans my seduction with the care he planned his most grueling battles.”
    Bells cried urgently as Meg spun to pace the room again. Like her walk, her words were quick and nearly wild.
    â€œBut a son is not mine to give or withhold. When Dominic understands that, he will hate me as savagely as ever a man hated a woman.”
    Bells jerked and screamed in tiny golden voices that made the hair on Simon’s neck rise.
    â€œGlendruid,” Meg said raggedly. “Curse and hope in one. Every Glendruid girl has borne the curse. None has borne the hope.”
    Before Simon could answer, Meg began to breathe like a charger after a long race to battle. Her steps became shorter and shorter until she was all but running in place while bells trembled and cried with a ghastly music. Gasping, shaking, Meg tried to stay upright while the stimulant raged through her body like lightning.
    Simon caught Meg and held her when she would have fallen. She gasped convulsively yet seemed