Devil's Blade

[Men of Skye]

The Attack

Inside the cottage, Jonathan grunted as he lay bleeding upon the floor… with every ounce of strength he could muster, he hauled himself to his feet and stumbled across the room, table and chair his support… in the bedroom, he saw Eryn crumpled against the wall… Was she dead, or unconscious? He thought, fearing the worst. As he entered the bedroom, he fell forward to the floor. Crawling he stretched out a bloody hand to touch hers… “I love yu my deare…” as his hand took hers, he fell forward unconscious.

Having just finished the delightful breakfast he had made for them she went to get a few things before they left for the city when the door to their home was thrust open and two men swords drawn entered. fear clutched her heart like never before as the older man spoke to Jonathan... his friend moved into position cornering her. "JONATHAN!" she cried out as they began to fight, but she had no time to do anything as the other man came at her. She slashed out raking her nails across the face of the younger of the two as he grabbed for her... looking left then right for a way to escape him... but none were found in the small confines of their home.

Eryn felt panic and fear for her life and something in her went into fight or flight mode. Pulling a pin from her hair she with all her might plunged it into his arm... he attempted to grab her again but she managed to avoid his grasp but not the vicious backhand that would send her flying onto the bed and causing her head to slam into the wall with a sickening.... THUD! Her vision swayed... darkness crept in like a wraith... threatening to consume her.

Looking over she saw her husband fighting the older man and then she saw the blade sink into his stomach... she would have scream but it would not escape her lips... it was them that darkness claimed her.

How long she had been out she did not know but it was Jonathan's faint hoarse voice that beckoned her back to the here and now... a cool wet hand on her own. Her eyes fluttered open to see him lying on the floor blood pooling beneath him. It was then she bolted up right the movement making her head pound like she had a smithy in there... "JONATHAN.... MY LOVE!" she cried and fell beside him rolling him over as gently as she could. So much blood she feared he was dead.... but then she noticed the slight rise and fall of his chest "Please love do not leave me.... stay with me." she whispered as tears filled her eyes and nearly choked her.

She tore the sheet from their bed and began to shred it placing it on his wound to stop the bleeding... she needed help. He was so pale... and they were miles from any who might help them. Her sewing basket was by the fire and she raced to grab it and some water... she tore his shirt open and gasped at the wound her stomach rolled violently threatening to rid itself of the breakfast that filled it, swallowing hard to keep it down she set about the task of closing the wound and figuring out how to get him to the healers in the city on her own.

From outside, people began to come closer to the door after the intruders left... One old woman entered and knelt down beside Eryn... “Let me ‘elp lass...” then she began to thread a needle. “Hold ‘ere...” indicating where to apply pressure whilst the old woman began to help them. Another man had pointed guards to where the attack had occurred.

After the old woman finished, he smiled at Eryn, while the city guards made a litter. “He’ll bae fine lil one...” the old woman said... Then the guards picked up Jonathan and laid him upon the stretcher, and hefting him up, the trio left the room heading for the Infirmary... The old woman remained behind to console Eryn. “Let’s git yae all cleaned up lass, yer man nae wanna see ya like dis whe’ he wakes up...” she smiled.

She was scared... he had lost so much blood and before she knew it people had begun to gather about. An old woman... Ella was her name, came and knelt beside her and took over tending Jonathan. Though her hands were a bit knarled from age she moved with ease as she set about the task of stitching giving her instructions which Eryn followed in a dazed like state.

The men spoke to the guards and told them of what they knew... Jonathan was stitched and resting as well as he could all things considering. Eryn bent to his ear.... "Hold on my love....please." she kissed his lips softly and held his hand. This man who was her husband had fought bravely to defend not only himself but her as well.

Shortly afterwards the guards came in... with the help of a few of the men they had made a stretcher and were picking up Jonathan readying him to be taken to the healers in the city.

Eryn felt as if she had aged ten years in but a few moments... she was scared and exhausted... Ella laid a hand on her shoulder and urged her to come with her to get herself cleaned up a bit. Eryn nodded and let the woman lead her into the other room and helped her... a few minutes later Eryn was washed up and changed and walking out to meet the guards as they escorted her and Jonathan to the city. Eryn turned and hugged Ella "Thank you.... thank you all." she said in a soft voice. Then a guard helped her mount a horse and they were off.

Looking back at their home where they had been so happy now it made her skin crawl... Who were those men and why had they attacked them?? Jonathan had seemed to know them... when he was awake and could answer her she would ask about it. Until then her only concern was that her husband would live.

Jonathan was lifted into a wagon, and winced with each jolt along the way... all the way to the Infirmary... and soon he passed out from pain... With no recognition of time, he finally awoke and he laid in a cot inside the ward of the medical center. Looking around, he weakly moved his arm and saw the pink-stained bandage on his side of his abdomen area. His head was so heavy, he just laid it back down... the words of his beloved Eryn echoing in his mind... "Hold on my love....please." ... His hand raised as a medical person walked past. “Do yu know where my wife is... Lady Eryn... a beautiful redhead, slim, with beautiful eyes?”

Eryn had been at his side... never leaving and barely sleeping, he was resting comfortably now, guards were posted outside his room... speaking with them to let them know she was going to the small garden to get some air... turning she left.

She had not been there to long... sitting by the very fountain as she had so many times when she herself had been the patient in these very walls. Looking at her reflection praying the Jonathan would live she had not heard the guards arrival until he spoke... "Lady your husband is awake and asking for you." her head came up as she looked at him... tears filled her eyes. "He is?" her voice sounding happy and yet surprised. Wiping her tears and fussing with her hair she stood up and it was noticed how tired she looked... how worried she had been. The guard stepped forward and offered his arm to her more for support than anything. Placing her hand on his arm with a small nod "Thank you... I cannot wait to see him." she said as he led her back into the ward.

Eryn raced into his room and to his side... her hand went to his face to cup it gently. "My love I am here... how are you feeling?" she shook her head at the stupidity of her question, but one she asked regardless; bending she placed small kisses to his face and more tears fell "I thought I lost you...." she whispered. Her eyes shone with her love in their depths.

She sat on the bed carefully and looked at him with a small soft smile... "I love you." then she kissed his mouth. She had been so scared he would die... and now joy filed her to see him awake and smiling at her with a crooked smile.

His eyes opened slowly and focused, a smile forced its way thru the pain. A calloused hand cupped hers... “It hurts when I laugh...” he said softly. “Lose me? After all we been thru? Nay m’luv... The Devil shall not have me before our time is done...” then he gave her hand a slight squeeze and he winced at the pain. “We shall have to postpone our venture to the market for a few days...” the faint smile returned, wiping the tears away... “Do nay weep, m’luv... I shall be fine...” he smiled. “M’Luv has nay changed... only given me more resolve for us to be together...”

He lay back and repositioned himself... “And our attackers? Did they get away or were they captured.”

Eryn was at his side in a heartbeat it seemed and her hand held his. His eyes opened and he smiled at her and for the first time since he had been injured she felt a wave of relief wash over her. "Then don't laugh, love." she scolded him with a soft smile then it faded with how close she had come to him dying. "Aye... there was so much blood but Ella and some of the men came to help... guards brought you here." her voice soft as tears filled her eyes.

"Jonathan I have a question.... who were those men and what did they want with us?" she had meant to wait to ask him but it had been burning in her mind about the strangers and why they attacked them. "The venture is the farthest thing from my mind love.... I just want you to heal so I can take you home." she leaned down and kissed his forehead tenderly.

She nodded as he spoke of his love and resolve, she adjusted the pillows behind him to help make him comfortable... she met his gaze when he asked about the men "I know not about them... the guards have said nothing despite my asking." she said and sat carefully on the bed and pushed a lock of hair back from his face "I only care about you getting better right now.... rest love I will be right here"

Jonathan looked up at Eryn and smiled... “Concern yerself not with who they were... but I fear they may have been after the new firing mechanism...” He had lied... and it ate him up, but all those months as Anwen, the months that followed that she could not be whole, yet shared Anwen with Eryn... and now she was whole as Eryn... and as his wife... He could not take the chance to rejuvenate the chance that Anwen would come forth, possibly even stronger... especially now... so he lied. His hand went to her face and caressed her gently. “I love yu, and I shall nay leave yer side...” His usually curly brown hair was now matted from sweat.

As he turned his face a bit, he smiled and watched her sit next to him... Déjà veaux... now they were once again in the infirmary... this time switched roles... He smiled as he thought of a better reason to be here in the medical center... “her having his baby...”

[Men of Skye]

Eryn could not help thinking that it really had not been all that long ago that he was the one sitting on the bed as she lay upon it healing from injuries of both body and mind. His explanation of the why they attacked seemed to ease her... he was, after all, working on a very important project and it was logical many would want it. Smiling, she carefully lay down beside him... "Promise?" [/i]she asked as he said he would never leave her side and it comforted her to know he meant it. Someday it would nice to be here and not have one of them injured and then a image formed of him holding their child and she smiled... a dream for now, until God saw fit to grant it and make it a reality. "Nor will I ever leave you....you are my life... now and always."[/i] she said softly the sound of his beating heart soothing to her like a soft lullaby.[/color]

“I promise girl...”[/i] he would say as he careful, and painfully laid his arm over her waist. Sooner than later he would fall asleep again, in the comfort of her presence. How had all this come to be? How could a simple task of caring for his Lord’s wife come to have him lying beside his own wife... the same woman?!

In the market place, high above the bustling crowds, two heads, rotting as the sun began to bake them, maggots eating at ruined flesh... At first, the crowds stared, some sickened by the smell, others smiled knowing the bane of Skye was dead... Now, none cared... Soon dead skin would wrinkle, and draw tight... and yet, two people who were concerned by the past would miss the event of the heads. Had God saw fit to keep them from witnessing the affair?

Sleep was only interrupted by the healers to clean and redress bandages upon the man’s side... and the pair was never separated, as love was considered the best medicine right now.

Eryn carefully nestled next to him, sleep looming in the distance as she had not slept since he had been brought here to the healing wards. "I will hold you to that husband."[/i] her voice laced heavily with the exhaustion she was feeling and closed her eyes.

Neither had a clue as to what had happened in the market place, and yes God had seen fit for them to not have to be witness to it. For could she really handle it right now with all she had been through?? What they have been through?

She was vaguely aware of the healers coming to change his dressings, and to once more cover them both as they lay side by side. A soft smile curved her lips as she slept and for the first time in a long time her dreams were pleasant and filled with happy things... she was fat with child and he held another...and small boy in his arms as they spent the day by the lake.[/color]

Weeks in the Infirmary had made Jonathan irritable... his wound was healing nicely now, thanks to Lady Aislin and her physicians. One sure thing was Eyrn’s persistence at his side. She had remained at his side, just as he had hers, years and months before... She changed bandages, cleaned his body, and fed him, at least until he was able to do it himself.

For the past few days, he and Eryn had been taking short walks in the Infirmary gardens... “Ya know lass, yu have been exceptionally good for me... Until I met yu, my life had been on a collision course with death... I had no real meaning... at least not that I knew of... but now, I have a wife, steadfast and loyal. How can I be the man yu need me to be...?”[/i]

They were oblivious to what had occurred since his attack... not the fact that Lord William, and Gerard, were dead, nor the fact that their heads had been on display. The pair needed no reminders of a past such as theirs... especially Eryn.

Days had turned into weeks as Jonathan recovered and Eryn had left his side only to see to her most basic of needs. Now he was able to get up and walk for a short time and most often it was spent walking at her side in the Infirmary gardens where not so long ago she had been the patient and they would spend time here as she healed... it was familiar and peaceful to her.

The Lady healer Aislin and the other physicians had told them he would be able to leave soon and for that she was grateful. Sitting on a small bench hand-in-hand he spoke and she turned to look at him for it was not often he became so serious.. "Before you, I do not remember much Jonathan, bits and pieces of a life that does not feel like my own. You ARE the man I need you to be.... but perhaps when we can return home, we can work on a family?"[/i] it was her greatest desire to give him a child. Her eyes locked with his as she gave him a soft smile... "Until you, I did not exist... I will always be loyal to you.... I love you" [/i]she leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips.

Neither knew of what had happened to William and Gerard, but really would it matter now for they were now free to live their lives as they wanted and did not have to look over their shoulders waiting for the threat to come. Now they could concentrate on their love and living to old age together. [/color]

He held her hand as she professed her love for him... and he said a silent prayer that would keep her ever finding out what and how they met and eventually fell in love. “The bits and pieces of the previous life mean nothing any more... only now...”[/i] his hand caressed her beautiful face. “I love you more than ya know lass... way more than ya know... and I would be more than glad to father a child with yu...”[/i] he smirked and winked.

As they walked back to the Infirmary, his mind seemed to wander to his task that the Mo’r Triath had given him more than a month ago... “Once we are home, and we have... rested... I need to return to work... for I am far behind schedule...”[/i] he smirked and canted his head. Just as they returned to the bed gallery where he had laid for a month, a healer approached. “Lady Aislin has given yu medical release MiLord... yu may return home...”[/i] [/color] Jonathan smiled, squeezing Eryn’s hand... Then he wasted no time gathering his things...

Within minutes, the pair had received medical instructions, signed out of the Infirmary, and were walking home. [/color]

Jonathan was healing and they spent much of their days in the gardens by the wards. They talked about the future and for the first time began to make plans for it. Eryn was happier than she could ever remember and when he spoke about wanting a family as well her heart beat a bit faster.

He spoke of work and she laughed softly for he was not one to sit about; he almost needed to be busy and it was a good sign that he was improving. "I know you have work love but you need to rest a bit more then you can do so ... alright?"[/i] she was still worried about him doing to much to soon. Besides what if those men came back??

Smiling and laughing they walked hand-in-hand back inside they were greeted by a healer with a joyous message for them. Jonathan moved with amazing speed to gather their things so they could once more return home.[/color]

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