Set in Stone (21 page)

"Listen, Verena. You invade our town, you wreck the Sogail, and you interrupt my song!" By the time she finished, she was shouting. "And you want me to trust you?"

Verena shrugged. "Maybe not." Then she dumped more dirt on the bandage. "But leave this on. You'll see."

Jean backed away and held her hands up. "I refuse. If you want to infect his wound, you do it."

"All right." Verena surprised Jean by efficiently wrapping the wound and tying off the bandage.

After the Grandurians led the injured men away, Jean headed for home and began preparing a list of supplies she would need to assemble.

She expected to treat many more wounds before this crisis ended.

Chapter 21

Connor crouched behind the Powder House and peered around the corner toward the wall gate where a Grandurian soldier stood in plain view. He wanted to howl curses at the invaders. He'd hoped to arrive before they consolidated their hold on the town. He shuddered to think what suffering his family and friends might have already experienced at their hands.

Captain Ilse had not seemed bloodthirsty, but she might be seeking to wreak vengeance on the town, to punish them for Connor having spirited Shona out of her hands.

Part of him wanted to turn and sprint back to Captain Rory, but the burly captain would need specific information in order to best overthrow the Grandurians. Connor could provide that information, had to provide it. He couldn't think of a better way to prove his worth and secure permanent Patronage.

So when the guard stationed at the wall gate turned away to look at something in the town, Connor sprinted across the blocking yard toward the mighty cliff of Wick Tor that reared high above town. At the junction of the cliff and the wall of Alasdair, he climbed up a series of handholds he'd used hundreds of times.

At the top, he paused to peek over. From this angle, he remained invisible to the guard at the gate, and he saw no other soldiers. He would have been surprised if he had. Ilse's company was very small to maintain control of so large an area. He was a little surprised he hadn't encountered any villagers fleeing the invaders as he approached town.

After another visual sweep of the area, Connor slipped over the wall and stealthily moved deeper into town. Most windows were shuttered, but he caught glimpses of townsfolk. They looked frightened, but not hurt. He longed to rush home to check on his family, but his house lay on the far side of town. Instead, he headed for the one place where he could be sure to find accurate information.

Jean's home. The Healer's house.

Situated close to the base of the cliff, not far from where he slipped into town, it was a large two-story structure. The first floor held treatment rooms plus a large kitchen and huge storeroom for all of Mhairi's healing supplies. Jean and her grandmother lived upstairs.

Connor slipped through the kitchen door in the rear of the building and came up short when old Mhairi turned from a counter where she was kneading dough.

She squinted at him, "Town's in an uproar, Lady Isobel wants your hide, and all you can think of is to come a-courting?"

As she reached for the ever-present jug of cure-all potion she inflicted on everyone who came calling without a visible injury, Connor said, "Wait, I'm not here to see Jean." At her incredulous look, he added, "Well, I am, but I'm not."

"Hmm. Incoherent, but otherwise not damaged. Take a blow to the head, did you son?"

"No, it's not like that."

"Here to kill old Mhairi like you tried to kill Lady Isobel?"

"I did not try to kill her," Connor said angrily.

"Wouldn't blame you if you had," Mhairi said with a wink. "Now, what brings you here to see Jean but not to see her?"

Connor relaxed just a little, although he watched her hand carefully where it rested on the counter next to the jug.

"I have information about the Grandurians."

"Well, why didn't you say so?"

"I just did."

"Listen, youngling," she said sternly. "The town's been invaded. We don't have time to waste jabbering."

Connor just stared.

"Jean," Mhairi called loudly.

Jean came in from the other room, still dressed in her Sogail finery, and Connor drank in the sight of her. She stopped at seeing him, and her bright blue eyes sparkled with joy.

Hamish walked right into her back. They stumbled forward, and Jean almost fell. Hamish caught her, and then he almost fell and she caught him in turn. They ended up holding each other tight, faces close as they laughed. Connor had to fight down a wave of jealousy.

Hamish caught sight of him. "Connor!"

Connor shushed him. "No one's supposed to know I'm here."

"Where have you been hiding all day?" Jean asked. She was wearing some kind of perfume, and smelled like sunshine and green fields. It proved very distracting.

Hamish added, "How did you know about the Grandurians?"

"It's a long story."

"You could have warned us."

"I'm trying to."

"No you weren't." Hamish looked angry. "All you said was 'tomorrow something big is going to happen.'"

"What?" Connor and Jean said at the same time.

Jean frowned. "You knew they were invading?"

"No."

"That's not what you said yesterday," Hamish insisted.

Then Connor remembered the conversation in the manor. "That's not what I was talking about."

"Then what?"

"Never mind. Listen, I'm here with High Lord Dougal's men. They're going to fight Ilse."

"How do you know her name?"

"I was her prisoner."

"Connor, we're all her prisoners," Hamish said with a frown. "Are you all right?"

Connor blew out a frustrated breath. "Will you just listen to me?"

"I don't see any soldiers," Jean said. "Are they hiding too?"

"No, they're not here."

"Connor, you're not making any sense," Hamish said. "You said you're with the soldiers, but they're not here. So are you not here either? Are we imagining you?"

"No."

"I'm confused. Is there anything to eat?"

Mhairi silently handed Hamish a large mug.

He took a long pull and then gagged and spat. "I didn't need the tonic!"

She shrugged. "It usually works. Helps control the appetite."

Connor held up his hands. "Quiet! Just listen to me. I'm Cursed."

Jean gasped and Hamish dropped a stick of hard bread he was about to pop into his mouth. Mhairi only grunted and nodded.

"The Grandurians are here because of me."

Jean frowned. "Connor, how could they know you were Cursed?"

"And why would they invade Obrion just to come find you?" Hamish added.

Connor took a long, steadying breath. "Just listen and I'll explain." Then he realized they'd never believe everything he'd been through in the past day. "Never mind. There's too much. Here are the important parts."

"I've been granted Patronage by High Lady Shona, who I rescued from the Grandurians last night. She is leading an army to fight off the Grandurians. They should be here tonight."

"Wow. Why didn't you just say so?" Hamish said.

"I need to know what they're doing."

Jean said, "It's been crazy here, Connor." She related how Ilse interrupted her song, and although she tried to hide her still-simmering anger over the timing of the invasion, Connor picked up on it. She related in great detail the short fight in the square and concluded with, "Now they've dragged Lord Gavin, his family, the Curse Finders, and every Cutter up to the manor. They've posted a few guards at the village gates and told everyone to stay in their homes and no one will get hurt."

Connor grinned, pulled her close, and kissed her square on the lips. "You're amazing."

Jean blushed, and Connor barely suppressed a gasp of surprise at his own audacity.

I just kissed Jean!

Hamish gaped, "Hey, no fair."

Mhairi produced a long thin switch and whacked Connor across the shoulders. He winced, but couldn't stop grinning. Jean hadn't really kissed him back, but she hadn't pulled away either. His entire body tingled with the memory of her warm, soft lips against his.

I kissed Jean first!

Mhairi pushed him back, "None of that, boy."

"Sorry. I got carried away."

"I have a tonic that'll help with that."

Still smiling, Connor said, "That was worth drinking any tonic you can come up with."

Jean's blush deepened and Mhairi grunted and surprised him with a smile. "I bet it was, lad." She pointed a threatening finger at him. "Now, no more of that malarchy."

Amazingly, she did not force her tonic on him.

Jean said, "Connor, did you make all this up just to kiss me?"

"No, but I wish I had."

Hamish, still frowning said, "Connor, Lord Gavin ordered everyone to stay in town and obey the Grandurians on penalty of Daor."

Connor gaped. "Why would he do that?"

"Ilse said that anyone found trying to leave will be taken prisoner. If the town does not obey, she'll start executing Lord Gavin's family and the Cutters."

"She wouldn't."

"No one's willing to take the chance. The Cutters are all prisoner, but the women's circle met already and reiterated the order. No one is to leave."

Mhairi said, "If only we could be sure they'd execute Isobel first. That would make it a lot easier to decide."

Connor forced aside his anger at Lord Gavin's short-sightedness. The entire town was now effectively locked down under Ilse's control, hundreds of hostages for her to use against Rory and Shona.

He gripped Jean and Hamish by the shoulders, "It won't matter. The army is coming and they'll defeat Ilse. Keep an eye out. Watch if anything changes. I'll contact you when I return with the army."

"Can I come?" Hamish asked.

"No. You stay and take care of Jean."

He regretted the words immediately as Hamish grinned, and Jean scowled.

"Better take the flood under," Jean said.

"Good idea."

Jean kissed him on the cheek, "Be careful."

Hamish punched him in the shoulder, a little harder than normal. "Hit a Grandurian for me."

"Already did that."

Hamish's eyes widened. "Really?"

"I'll tell you about it later."

Mhairi insisted on gifting him a satchel of food before he left. It took ten minutes to cross the village without being seen.

After carefully scouting the outer wall for any patrolling Grandurians, Connor crawled into a hole at the base where the granite had collapsed. Several years ago, during an unusually hard rain, the Wick had flooded its banks and washed away the ground under this section of wall.

Connor wormed his way through the narrow opening, happy he didn't encounter any of the large spiders that often made their homes there. The village children must have been playing in the passage recently. Killing the spiders was one of their favorite games.

A few minutes later, after crossing the Wick and returning to the wooded trail on the far side, Connor broke into a run. In his mind, he heard Shona and Rory discussing acceptable casualties, and fear for his father's safety drove him on all the faster.

He had to find a way to protect his family.