And still Judith didn't return. His gut instinct nagged that something was wrong. He told himself she had simply lost count of the time. She was probably sitting at Frances Catherine's table, deep in discussion about some topic or other, and didn't realize the time. Reason didn't allay his worry, however.
He couldn't sit still any longer. He didn't announce his intention to leave the meeting. He simply got up and started for the entrance.
"Where are you going, Iain?" Graham called out. "We've need to form a plan now."
"I won't be gone long," Iain answered. "I'm going after Judith. She should have been back by now."
"She probably just lost track of time," Brodick suggested.
"No."
"Is she testing you, then?" the warrior asked, smiling over that possibility. "The woman's stubborn, Iain. She might have taken exception to your order."
Iain shook his head. His denial was vehement. "She wouldn't defy me."
Brodick abruptly stood up. He bowed to Graham and then hurried after his laird. Iain took the path down to his brother's cottage. Brodick rode his mount and took the long way around the trees.
Iain found her first. She was crumpled on the ground, resting on her side, and the only part of her face visible to him was covered with blood.
He didn't know if she was dead or alive. And in those seconds it took for him to get to her, he was consumed with terror. He was incapable of reasoning anything through. Only one thought raced through his mind. He couldn't lose her. Not now, not when she had only just come into his bleak life.
His roar of anguish echoed down the hills. Men came running, their swords drawn, ready. Patrick had just started out the doorway with his wife on his arm when the chilling sound reached him. He pushed Frances Catherine back inside, ordered her to bolt the door, and then turned and went racing up the hill.
Iain wasn't aware he'd shouted. He knelt down beside Judith and gently turned her until she was resting on her back. She let out a soft whimper. It was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. She hadn't been taken from him. Iain started breathing again.
His men gathered in a half circle around him. They watched as their laird slowly checked Judith for broken bones.
Brodick broke the silence. "What the hell happened to her?"
"Why doesn't she open her eyes?" Gowrie asked at the same time.
Patrick shoved his way through the crowd and knelt beside his brother. "Is she going to be all right?"
Iain nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak yet. His attention was drawn to the swelling on the side of Judith's temple. He gently brushed her hair away to get a better look.
"Good Lord," Patrick whispered when he saw the damage. "She could have killed herself in the fall."
"She didn't fall." Iain made that statement in a voice shaking with fury.
Patrick was stunned. If she hadn't taken a fall, what happened to her?
Brodick answered his question before Patrick had time to ask it. "Someone did this to her," he said. He knelt down on one knee on the other side of Judith and began to gently wipe the blood away from her cheek with the edge of his plaid. "Look at the stones, Patrick. There's blood on one of them. This wasn't an accident."
It took every ounce of discipline Iain possessed not to let his rage take control. Judith came first. Retaliation could wait. He finished checking to make certain the bones in her legs and ankles were still intact, then turned to lift her into his arms. Patrick helped him.
The two brothers stood up at the same time. Iain's gaze settled on Brodick. The anguish the warrior saw in his laird's eyes was telling.
Iain didn't just want Judith in his bed. He was in love with her.
She was cradled against his chest. Iain started up the hill, then suddenly stopped. He turned back to Brodick.
"Find the bastard." He didn't wait for his command to be acknowledged. "Patrick, go and get Frances Catherine. Judith will want her by her side when she wakes up."
The vibration in his voice shook her awake. Judith opened her eyes and tried to comprehend where she was. Everything was spinning around and around, making her stomach queasy and her head pound. She closed her eyes again and let Iain take care of her.
She didn't wake up again until Iain was placing her in the center of his bed. The minute he let go of her, she tried to sit up. The room immediately began to spin. She grabbed hold of her husband's arm and held tight until everything came into focus again.
She ached everywhere. Her back felt like it was on fire. Iain quit trying to force her back down when she gave him that complaint. Graham came hurrying into the room with a bowl so full of water, some lapped over the sides with each step he took. Gelfrid followed with a stack of linen squares.
"Move aside, Iain. Let me get to her," Graham ordered.
"The poor lass took quite a fall, didn't she?" Gelfrid remarked. "Is she usually so clumsy?"
"No, she isn't," Judith answered.
Gelfrid smiled. Iain wouldn't let go of his wife. "I'll take care of her," he told Graham. "She's mine, damn it."
"Of course she is," Graham agreed, trying to placate Iain.
Judith stared up at her husband. He looked furious. His grip on her was stinging.
"My injuries aren't substantial," she announced, sincerely hoping she was right in that evaluation. "Iain, please let go of my arms. I have enough bruises."
He did as she requested. Graham placed the bowl on the chest. Gelfrid dampened one of the linen squares and handed it to Iain.
He didn't talk to her while he cleaned the blood away from the side of her face. He was being extremely gentle. The cut was deep, but Iain didn't think the injury needed to be threaded together until it healed.
She was relieved to hear that decision. She didn't relish the idea of anyone, even her husband, taking a needle to her skin.
Iain appeared to be calming down. Then Gelfrid inadvertently got him riled again. "It's a miracle she wasn't blinded. She could have had her eye plucked clean out. Aye, she could have."
"But I didn't," Judith quickly said when she saw the chilling look come back into Iain's eyes. She patted her husband's arm. "It's all right," she told him in a soothing tone of voice. "I'm feeling much better now."
She was trying to comfort him. Iain was exasperated with her. "You'll feel better after I've put some salve on your cuts. Take your clothes off. I want to look at your back."
Iain gave her the order just as Graham leaned forward to place a cold wet cloth against the swelling above her temple. "Hold this tight against the bruise, Judith. It will help take the sting out."
"Thank you, Graham. Iain, I'm not taking my clothes off."
"That blow to the side of her head could have done her in," Gelfrid remarked. "Aye, she's fortunate it didn't knock her dead."
"Yes, you are taking your clothes off." Iain told her.
"Will you quit trying to get Iain upset, Gelfrid? I know it isn't intentional, but what could have happened didn't. I'm fine, really."
"Of course you're fine," Gelfrid agreed. "We'd best watch her closely, Graham. She might be addled for a day or so."
"Gelfrid, please," Judith said with a groan. "And I'm really not going to take my clothes off," she explained for a second time.
"Yes, you are."
She motioned him closer. Gelfrid came with him. "Iain, we have… company."