“A splinter,” he said and bit at it again.
“Let me have a look and stop biting it,” she ordered as she hurried off the bed, dropping the blanket as she went.
When she stepped close to him, he hooked her chin with his fingers. “Never tell me what to do, Bliss.”
She eased her chin out of his grip. “I acquiesce to your skill as a warrior; I ask only that you grant me the same respect as a healer.”
Rannick conceded to nothing, but he held his hand out to her.
Bliss scrunched her eyes trying to see. “Come closer to the hearth.”
He did as she said, mesmerized by the gentleness of her touch, so when she pressed on his shoulder for him to sit on the bench, he did so without hesitation.
“This did not happen today,” she said, seeing how the wound had swelled red. “You should have come to me as soon as this happened.”
“Are you scolding me?” he asked.
She thought she detected a bit of humor in his voice.
“Advising,” she said with a smile.
“Then I will defer to your knowledge.”
Her smile grew. “A wise decision.”
“I am not always wise.” He didn’t know why he told her that, yet he did not regret it.
“Who is?” She chuckled.
There was something about her face when she smiled, something that revealed a goodness in her he had never seen in anyone. He wanted to lose himself in her goodness. Or was it that he hoped her goodness could conquer his evil?
“I am going to soak your finger in a brew that I will make, then I will remove the splinter,” she explained.
“I should finish the door first,” he said, though preferred that his hand remained in hers. It soothed and brought him a calm foreign to him.
“Finish it while I brew the leaves,” she said and gave a nod to the open door. “The chill and gray skies promise rain.”
“I will hunt or fish for supper when you are done,” he said.
“Nay. I saw kale, cabbage, and wild onion in the garden. I can brew a hardy soup with that and bake bread as well. Your finger needs to stay clean if it is to heal well. Do you have honey?”
“Aye, my mum sent a crock with the last supply of food.”
“She looks after you,” Bliss said and let go of his hand to gather what she needed to make the brew.
The absence of her touch left him baffled. He liked how she had gently cradled his hand in hers and how she had probed his wound with a tenderness that sent a pleasant sensation racing through him.
Do not let her touch your heart!
The warning rang powerfully in his head. He could not care for her, not even a little. He had to keep his heart cold, or she would suffer for it.
“My mum is a good woman,” he said and returned to finish the door.
Bliss recalled what his mum had begged of her. Heal my son. His mum’s heart hurt for her son, and she could only imagine the pain she suffered seeing her son suffer. Seeing how the curse had hurt so many lives, she wished there was a way to end it.
The brew was ready by the time Rannick placed the board across the door.
“Come sit and let me see to your finger, then I will go and collect what I need for supper,” Bliss said.
“Not without me,” he ordered sharply.
“Not without you,” she confirmed.
Bliss placed his hand in the bowl with the brew she had cooled down enough for him to soak his finger and sat on a bench she had placed in front of him.
“What made you become a healer?” he asked.
She laughed softly. “It was forced on me. I was told by an old healer that I was a healer and had to follow the way.” She dared not mention it was Kendesa for fear he would recognize the name from Clan Loudon. “Surprisingly, I found it came more naturally to me than I expected, so I guess the old healer was right.”
Bliss lifted his hand out of the bowl and patted it partially dry, then she picked up the thinnest needle she had brought with her and set to work.
Rannick watched her work with interest. Her touch was gentle and instinctive. She did not hesitate in what she did, she did so with confidence and precision. He felt little pain, but then his thought was on how her hand held his with such firmness.
“Got it!” she said triumphantly and smiled wide when she raised her head.
“Will you see to the other ache that hardens me… with such ease?”
Bliss stopped her mouth from dropping open. He meant to shock her, but why? She might never have known a man intimately, but she was far from ignorant about men and their needs thanks to the endless women who sought her care.