“I feel it,” Lady Madelyn called, stopping Gwen’s hands midair as she threw herself back, lest her ministrations affect the beat. Duncan caught her before she fell from the table. Then she hurried to check Greylen’s breathing for herself. The sound of his heartbeat grounded her precarious balance between insane fear and utter elation.

The wound to his shoulder was repaired in minutes, the tip of the arrow easily removed. Lady Madelyn kept a count of Greylen’s pulse, which remained steady, though weak, as Gwen poured antiseptic over the gash behind his head. The wound wasn’t deep, but it was wide and took almost twenty painstaking stitches to close. It was another hour before she was done.

Then her head hit the table next to Greylen’s. It was minutes before she finally lifted it and looked at everyone staring at her. Their expressions the same as her own. Relief. Fear. Exhaustion.

She stood slowly, and Gavin held her shoulders as she began to sway. Then he whispered for her ears only, “I’ve never loved you more than I do at this very moment.” She covered his hand, squeezing her acknowledgment as she began with her orders again.

“We can’t move him yet,” she said. “Anna, prepare my chamber. Lady Madelyn, I need fresh linens and water. Alex and Hugh, scrub the board with antiseptic.”

Gwen washed Greylen, each part of his body cleansed to her satisfaction before laying him against clean sheets. Then she covered him with another clean sheet. It was another hour before she finally agreed to move him.

Though his pulse was steady, she was terrified he wouldn’t wake up. He could easily lapse into a coma, and there was no way to know if he’d suffered any lasting damage. She kept reminding herself that he was strong, he was conditioned. That she was here to fix him, not to watch him die. But uncertainty still consumed her.

In a somber procession, Greylen’s men carried him to their chamber on the board they used to bring him inside. The trunk that had been at the end of their bed lay in pieces outside the chamber doors. Ian had, in fact, destroyed it when he retrieved her satchel.

With the same care used below stairs, they grabbed the corners of the sheet and placed him on the bed. Lady Madelyn stood by the bedside looking at her son. “You saved his life, Gwendolyn.”

“I kept him alive, Lady Madelyn,” Gwen said gravely. “It’s not over yet.”

“He has much to fight for,” Lady Madelyn whispered, touching her shoulder before leaving the room.

Gwen was left to care for her husband and sat in the chair Ian placed next to their bed. Duncan and Connell stood just outside her chamber doors while Gavin, Kevin, Ian, and Hugh called their men to arms.

They would search for Malcolm.