Aideen's Answer

~Chapter Seventeen~

The first thing Aideen did once they reached the castle was send Mitchell to relay everything that had happened to their parents. The second thing was to go find Samantha.

She walked quickly down the halls and made it to her cousins chambers swiftly. Just as she reached for the door handle, it turned and flew open.

"Aideen! Thank goodness, have you been out on the grounds? What on earth is going on out there? We could hear the shouts, and I wanted to go check, but your parents forbade it, of course. So, I came up here to see if I could find out anything by watching through the windows. I could not," Samantha took a deep breath. "So tell me! What happened?"

Aideen grasped her cousins arm, pulled her to the bed and sat her down. She then went back to close the door before standing in front of her cousin, taking both of her hands, and looking her directly in the eye.

"Aideen, you are beginning to frighten me, what is going on?" Samantha said uncertainly.

"There was an attack," Aideen said. "A lone rider. He took, no, tried to take Mitchell."

Samantha gasped and Aideen continued.

"Eric rescued him, Samantha, and was injured in the process. It is not life-threatening," She reassured her quickly, "But it is serious, he took a knife to the shoulder. He will be fine, he is with the doctor as we speak, but I imagine he could use the comfort of your presence right now."

Samantha had done well. Her face slightly pale and she had a death grip on Aideens hands, but she had not interrupted, nor cried out.

Samantha nodded jerkily, and Aideen noticed she had begun to tremble.

"Of course, I shall go to him straight away. He needs me! Where is he?" She turned toward the door, her blue gown swishing around her, but Aideen grabbed her arm.

"Samantha, wait."

"Yes?"

Aideen pulled her close and hugged her tight.

"It will be okay, cousin, he will be just fine," Aideen whispered.

"Oh, Addie!" Samantha said as she clung to her, "I am so afraid! I can not bear the thought of him being hurt. And if I were to lose him-"

Aideen pulled away slightly so she could look into Samantha's brown eyes, which were filled with tears.

"Do you hear yourself, Samantha? This wound is not deadly, and even if it were, Eric is a fighter. He would never give up! You will not lose him."

Samantha nodded, "You are right. He will not give up. We must trust the Lord to heal Eric," She said with a smile. "Now, let us go find him."

Aideen looped her arm with her cousins and together, they walked out of the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It took Aideen no time at all to find out where they had taken Eric. She led the way to one of the guest rooms on the first floor. They entered quietly, hand in hand. Aideen nodded to the servant watching over him and she slipped from the room to wait in the hall until they were done. Aideen gave Samantha's hand a reassuring squeeze as they approached the bed.

Eric looked surprisingly normal. He was a bit pale, and Aideen could see the bandages on his shoulder peeking out from the sheets that covered him. He laid propped up on some pillows, but his eyes were closed.