Highland Intrigue - A Prequel

“A curse could make it so,” Annis argued. “Everyone is gathering to see him.”

“Good Lord,” Elysia said, dropping the needle in her lap. “He is the one they need you to tend, Bliss.”

Annis paled and her loss of words showed just how worried she was for Bliss.

“I am in no danger. I will tend him and all will be fine,” Bliss assured them both.

“With his numerous close calls of death, what if it is decided it was best for him to wed a healer?” Elysia suggested.

Annis was quick to tell more. “I heard say that he favors any type woman, small, tall, wide, skinny, pretty or ugly. It doesn’t matter to him. He eagerly pokes any woman.”

“Annis!” Elysia scolded. “You do not think before you speak. You insult our sister with your suggestion that her looks make no difference.”

“I do no such thing, though it would be a good thing if he does not choose her,” Annis argued. “I only tell you what I hear and I bet no one wants to poke him since they fear him a doomed man.”

“Bliss!” a shout came from outside.

Bliss recognized Lendra’s voice and opened the door.

“Chieftain Emory sent me for you. He wants you at the keep to tend the man entering the village now.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “He is one of the three men who are doomed by the curse. He is the condemned one.” She grabbed Bliss’s arm, fright having turned her eyes wide. “He says to bring one of your sisters in case you require an extra hand.”

Elysia gasped.

“We will be right there,” Bliss said, her stomach roiling so badly she feared she would lose her breakfast.

“Bless you both,” Lendra said with teary eyes and hurried away.

“I will go,” Annis said, leaning down to make certain her knife was tucked safely in her boot.

Bliss preferred neither of her sisters accompanied her, but she had little choice in the matter. But how did she decide which one?

“I should go. We need to keep Annis away from those two men,” Elysia said. “Besides, she is not good at the sight of a lot of blood.”

“I can manage,” Annis argued.

“So you will be all right if he is oozing or flowing with blood and some of it touches your hands or gets on your garments? And you will have no trouble wiping away caked blood if necessary?” Elysia continued.

Annis turned away gagging and when she turned back her face was sickly pale. “It is better that you go, seeing how good you are with a needle you could stitch wounds as beautifully as you stitch cloth.”

Bliss had felt the pain of loss when their da had died and then their mum, but never had she reason to feel the pain of defeat and that was what she felt now listening to her sisters. They needed to hear the truth of their situation, whether any of them wanted to face it or not.

“We must face the truth,” Bliss said with a heavy heart. “We are foolish to think we can avoid those men. They will seek out every woman in the village without exception and choose without care.”

“I do not like my fate left to another,” Annis said.

Elysia offered her own worry. “I do not like feeling so vulnerable.”

“And I cannot bear the thought that I cannot protect either of you from this,” Bliss said. “But right now, we are together and God willing we will stay that way.”

It was decided after some debate that Annis would go and she and Bliss headed to the keep. Elysia remained in the cottage, having no desire to leave the quiet and safety it provided her. She got busy stitching, knowing the chore would chase her worries away at least for a while.

The knock at the door startled her and while she would have preferred not to answer it, it could be someone in need of healing. If it was a minor problem she could tend it, since she had learned quite a bit helping her sister, anything more and they would have to wait until Bliss returned.

Elysia drew back when she opened the door, the man who she had hid behind on market day consuming the doorway with his large frame. His eyes were still the only part of his face she could see, the lower portion remaining covered. The intensity of his bold green eyes put a fright in her as did his size. It overwhelmed.

He looked to his hand that he held out to her and pointed to his middle finger.

“Oh my,” Elysia said and stepped forward to gently place her hand beneath his, though his spilled over her small one, completely covering it. “That is terribly red and swollen. It must hurt.” She raised her head to see him nod. “Bliss is not here, but I may be able to help you if you would like me to.”