Never Leave Me by Jody Hedlund

Author:Jody Hedlund
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction;Romantic suspense fiction;FIC042110;FIC027090;FIC027150
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2021-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

“I bid you to drink the holy water.” A man spoke in low, urgent tones.

The voice woke Ellen. She’d positioned herself in the chair next to Marian’s bed, intending to watch over her sister. But she’d dozed and somehow missed the entrance of the newcomer.

Marian would be very sore for days ahead. But with the help of the midwives, Ellen had compressed the uterus, prevented hemorrhaging, and then cleaned out the clots. The pregnant servant woman had taken care of bathing and swaddling the baby. Once she’d placed the squalling bundle in Marian’s arms, the baby had nursed for a few moments, quieted, and fallen asleep.

Not long after Ellen finished stitching a small tear, Marian succumbed to fatigue and pain. While the servants cleaned up the bedchamber, Ellen perused Marian’s array of medicines in an assortment of small, colorful bottles. Ellen hadn’t been sure what some of them were or the necessary doses, but she’d suspected Marian had replicated a few important modern medicines to the best of her ability. Hopefully, one of them was an antibiotic that would help Marian through the healing process.

“I do not need the water.” Marian’s response was hushed. “I shall heal on my own in due time.”

Ellen opened her eyes to the sight of Marian reclining in the feather-stuffed mattress and propped up with pillows, the baby cradled in her arms. The room glowed with candlelight, revealing a fierce-looking but strikingly handsome man perched on the wooden bed frame on the opposite side of the bed. He was dust-covered and disheveled, strands of his dark hair loose from the leather thong tying it back. While his eyes were intense and his face grooved with worry, he stroked Marian’s cheek with a tenderness and intimacy that meant only one thing. He was her husband. Will.

“A few drops.” Will held a small, colored bottle.

“We cannot use up the last of what we have. We must save it for when we truly have need.”

Ellen marveled at the change in the way Marian spoke. She sounded formal, more like someone from the Middle Ages than from modern times.

At a sudden yawn that crowded for release, Ellen lifted her hand to stifle it. At the movement, both Marian and her husband startled and looked at her.

“Ellen.” Marian’s tone held a soft rebuke.

Ellen sat up and smiled at her sister and then at the sleeeping baby, who was still wrapped as tightly as the swaddling cloths could be wound. “I see that one of you is awake.”

Marian held out an arm in an invitation for a hug.

Ellen leaned forward and embraced her sister, breathing her in and trying to convince herself she wasn’t dreaming, that she really was hugging Marian.

“Thank you for saving me and my babe.” Marian pulled back and examined Ellen’s face, cupping her cheek and studying her as though she couldn’t get enough of her.

Will had risen, and now stood above the bed, the strength of his presence nearly overwhelming. “I am indebted to you, my lady.”

“I’m just glad I arrived when I did.

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