The Witch's Daughter by Leigh Ann Edwards

Author:Leigh Ann Edwards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Published: 2016-08-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

The morning dragged on for Alainn, though she had passed the time with readying bandages and sorting through her remedies. The physician had spoken a few words to her but then left her to her temper. There had only been a couple of men from neighboring clans brought in from the challenges, and their wounds had been bloody but quite minor.

She could hear the roar of the crowds in the playing fields. The cheers were always the rowdiest when an O’Brien was on the court, and when they’d won a bout, there was no need to be watching to learn the outcome. Two generations of O’Brien’s were competing in one or more event. Though Hugh and all of his brothers were scheduled to take part, it was Riley and Killian who brought the greatest pride to Clan O’Brien. They were the undefeated champions in all of Munster.

She was standing on a wooden crate straining her neck to look out the tiny window at the current match, when the wee babe within her moved.

Is it your da who’s battling for the honor of his clan? she silently asked the child, smiling. She wondered if he would resemble his father.

“How far along are you, then?” She nearly fell off the crate at the physician’s words.

“What? How? Is it evident?”

“No, you cannot tell by the look of you, to be certain. But I’ve noticed the scent of herbs on you. Now, the only reason people ingest that combination of herbs is if they are squeamish, which is surely not the case for you, since you have not flinched nor seemed the slightest bit disturbed by the amount of blood you see, or they have a stomach ailment. You eat later in the day, never in the morning, and you’re moody and disagreeable. Yet, every so often you smile and place your hand to your belly. I have seen it before.”

“Most physicians are not so knowledgeable or accepting of herbal remedies.”

“They’ve been used for centuries. I can hardly discredit hundreds of years of proof.” He smiled. “My mother was a healer, and my father a physician. Sometimes the two complement each another.”

“Is it you then who’s been leaving bits of thyme throughout this chamber?”

“No, I’ve not gone near your herbs, and though I do not discredit the use of herbs, I only use them on occasion. Why do you ask me this?”

“I have found scattered sprigs of thyme on my table, in my mixing vessels, and even occasionally on my pillow. The old healer, Morag, who has recently gone to the beyond, found great favor in thyme. Of course, it cannot be denied to be a heal-all and beneficial in any number of remedies, but Morag adored the scent of it. She carried it with her always.”

“But you’ve not answered my query, when is your time?”

“The babe will be born early in the month of December.”

The words were barely out of her mouth when Riley entered the healing chamber assisting a limping Killian. There was a large, dark red stain on the front of his thigh.

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