Chapter 30

30

A rcher couldn't tell what happened after he shoved Maeve's sister aside and took an arrow to the chest for her. He heard Maeve's insistent sobs and tried to speak, so he could tell her he was all right. He could only muster a tiny sob as the pain sliced through him some more and seized his breath.

He knew Quinn and Jensen were by his side too. The bliss of darkness took over after some time providing him with the promise of a painless dream. Archer could envision a peaceful life with Maeve in it, and he hoped it would never end as he enjoyed seeing her radiant smile and feeling her warm body pressed to his.

Once again, tiny sobs pulled him back to reality, and he groaned before shifting to adjust his hand. "Maeve," he muttered in a hoarse voice, and she raised her head to look at him.

"You are alive," she cried out with tears in her eyes and flung her arms around him for a tight hug. "I thought you died. I was so scared, and I did not want to lose you. This is entirely my fault. I should have listened…I should have…"

"This has naethin' to do with ye," he rasped and moved, ignoring the hefty pain in his chest as he sat up on the bed and gently tugged at her hand, so she came to sit next to him. "I will find the one who did this. It has naethin' to do with ye."

Archer hated the tears shimmering in her eyes. They made him hurt, and he wiped her cheeks with his thumb, stopping her from saying anything else.

"Lie with me," he invited, wanting to feel her warmth on his skin.

Maeve sniffed hard then crawled into the bedding with him. Archer cradled her close to his chest and pressed a kiss to the top of her head when she rested it against his heart.

"Thank you," Maeve whispered after some time as they lay still there. Somewhere in the distant night skies, a hummingbird sang its slow tune and made the moment even more relaxing.

By dawn, Archer's first visitor was Laird O'Kane. Maeve left the chamber with Quinn and the O'Kane's healer while he sat up on the bed and winced from the pain shooting all through him.

"I apologize, Laird O'Kane, for how the feast ended yesterday. The second I recover, I shall help find the person responsible and …"

"We captured the shooter," Flynn revealed, silencing Archer's next words. "Ye are a hero, Laird Devlin," Flynn began when he stopped his pacing. "The entire clan speaks of yer bravery last night. Ye saved my sister's life and nearly died, too. I will forever be in yer debt."

Archer returned the smile that spread on Flynn's face, and he felt relief snag through him as he sighed deeply. "I want to interrogate him meself. Whoever tried to kill yer sister last night might be responsible for Laird MacGuire's murder."

"Ye need rest right now, but as soon as the healer deems ye fit, then he is all yers to do as yer please. Most of the Highland clans send their regards, and they were shocked at what ye did. I believe ye have successfully changed their perception of ye and yer clan, Laird Devlin.

"Ye risked yer life to save yer wife's sisters. That proves to them that ye are a loyal man who will protect his own. I'm certain they all see ye in a different light now."

Flynn acknowledged him with another head bow before he headed towards the door. He paused after twisting the doorknob. "Ye are a good man, Laird Devlin. It is a relief to learn that ye are naethin' like yer faither."

Those words echoed through Archer for a long time while he lay alone in the chamber, slipping in and out of deep sleep due to the effect of the herbs in his system.

Maeve visited him countless times while he stayed bed ridden, and she beamed each time as she sat long hours by his bed side and told him everything that happened in the castle during the rest of the Yuletide celebrations.

"You will join us for a jousting competition as soon as ye are stronger," she said with delight. "Flynn boasts of his skills, and the only other person who can best him is ye."

"Yer brither indeed doesnae stand a chance against me," he boasted with a proud smile, and Maeve laughed some more before she leaned closer to him again. He seized the chance to steal a kiss.

Their lips clung in a passionate embrace that lasted a full second before he pulled away from her.

"I dinnae think I will compete with him though," he said in a breathless voice after he pulled away from her.

"Why?" she sulked just like he expected her to. Archer laughed whole-heatedly as she pleaded with him to join in the yuletide competitions. "Please…do this for me?"

He could never say no to her. Maeve did not know this yet, but she softened his heart from the moment they met. Somehow, she had pierced through his armor and found a spot in his heart.

Archer had not understood his feelings at first because he had never experienced emotions as intense as this before. So deep and true.

He realized he was falling in love with her. She brought joy and hope to his life. With Maeve, Archer could dare to dream of a promising future for himself and his clan.

He was on his feet by the next day and strolled around the O'Kane castle with Maeve and her sisters.

"When did ye yield a sword for the first time?" the youngest, Erin, asked with wide eyes as she clutched to Maeve's elbow the entire time. Archer noticed Erin still dressed in English women styles, and her hair was wrapped in a chignon unlike how her sisters wore theirs.

He wondered if she found it difficult to settle back in her life here, considering she left Scotland when she was very little.

"I was six summers," he answered, loving her gasp. Archer enjoyed having the company of everyone, and he thought Ayda and Erin were lucky to grow up in the midst of a family who cared for their well-being.

"I want to learn to wield a sword…Will ye teach me?" Ayda chirped in, and Erin rammed her elbow in her side.

"Brother will kill ye if you do. He does not want ye to get hurt." Erin flushed beet red as she lowered her voice a notch. "A lady never wields a sword, remember?"

He loved watching the sisters bicker, and when Maeve quieted them again, he chuckled. "I will teach anyone who is willin' to learn, but ye must be of age first."

Their conversation continued till Flynn and three of his men came for Archer. He kissed Maeve on the lips quickly before heading out with Flynn and his men to the dungeons.

Their prisoner looked Archer in the eye when he arrived and let Flynn's men drag him into a separate chamber for an interrogation.

"Who sent ye?" Archer growled each time they rammed the wooden edge of their swords into the prisoner's abdomen.

He coughed, spat out blood, then sneered at Archer. "Yer faither burned me faither alive," Archer's attacker snarled in a threatening voice. "I was a wee lad, and I ken ye dinnae remember me, but I stood there and watched it happen. Nae one paid me to murder ye, and I would do it again if I got the chance."

The man's words made Archer's guts twist with the raw intensity of his guilt. He felt the hot rush of emotions tide through him, then his jaws tightened, and he cleared his throat. "Let him go," he ordered and turned away from his attacker.

Archer saw Flynn hesitate then he ordered his guards to free the prisoner. "I am lettin' ye go because me faither indeed committed a lot of inhumane acts, but make nae mistake, the next time ye attempt to hurt anyone I love, I'll kill ye. Do ye understand?"

The man nodded after Archer's growl. His eyes widened to show his terror then he fled out of the dungeons.

Archer took a moment to catch his breath then he turned to meet Flynn's disapproving glare. "The man tried to kill my sister, and ye let him go without consequences? I dinnae think ye were weak, Laird Devlin."

"I am nae weak," Archer countered. "I showed him mercy. It is what my faither would have never done. Besides, I dinnae think he was the shooter."

Flynn frowned now, and Archer raked his fingers through his hair as he marched out of the dungeons together with Flynn's guards. They headed for the main keep, and he walked into Flynn's study.

"Then who do ye think the shooter was?"

"I dinnae ken, but that man wants me dead, nae yer sisters. Whoever shot the arrow that wounded me aimed for yer sisters, nae me. I wasnae their target."

His words rang hollow around them, and the weight of an unspoken question danced in the air as Archer met Flynn's gaze with intent. "Who would want my sisters dead?"