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all. There were only
five rooms, and their small party took three of them. With no other
guests, the inn keeper had been overjoyed when Jamie had purchased
all five rooms for the night. The extra money he had handed over
had assured their privacy and whatever refreshments they
needed.
    Frowning
at the door, Jamie glanced up and down the corridor. He knew
Jonathan was on watch in the tavern’s main room. Had she left? Had
someone kidnapped her?
    Growing
cold, he cursed fluidly and swung the door open. The sight of the
darkened interior made his blood run cold and he drew his gun.
Glancing quickly around the small square space, his eyes landed on
the clearly unconscious form of Cecily lying across the bed. She
wasn’t tucked between the sheets, merely flopped out across the
top, still fully dressed, still dirty and soiled from a days’
riding. Was she ill? Had she fainted?
    It was
then that he had remembered she had hardly eaten all day. The
contents of her stomach had been lost in the carriage and, although
they had carried food in their saddlebags, there hadn’t been much
of it. Cecily had only nibbled on an apple while warily perched
preciously on the horse she now didn’t trust. Cursing himself for
being such a fool, Jamie strode across to the bed, his eyes running
over her supine form.
    “ Cecily?”
    He
quickly lit the candle stub that was sitting on the bedside table
before placing his hand upon her brow to check for fever. He was
the very last person likely to nurse-maid anyone, especially a
female and felt at a complete loss to know what to do with her.
With any of his colleagues he would have slapped them about a bit,
shook them roughly and swore at them. He couldn’t – wouldn’t do
that with Cecily. If she was merely sleeping she would probably
scream the entire place down, if not slap him back.
    “ Cecily? Are you all right?”
    Cecily
grumbled and pushed at the hand on her shoulder. She turned away
from the annoying noise and readily slipped back into the foggy
depths of sleep.
    Jamie
watched her with a frown. She was out cold, and he wasn’t certain
if it was a good thing or not. He couldn’t leave her on her own in
case she was sick, but it wasn’t appropriate for him to remain in
the room with her all night, whether she needed protection or not.
He could hardly ask for the maid-come-wrestler-type woman who had
shown them up, to babysit her.
    Cursing
fluidly, he puffed out his cheeks and considered his options.
Shaking his head, he covered her over with a rough blanket, and
quietly left the room, heading downstairs to relieve Jonathan from
his turn on watch. Once there, he quietly discussed Cecily’s state
with his colleague and they agreed to take turns keeping watch on
her as well. They came to the conclusion that she was just
exhausted, but at any sign of illness they were going to get her
out of there and ride with her all the way back to Melvedere Manor
rather than risk calling one of the local doctors. They couldn’t
allow the doctor confining her to her bed for a week while she
recovered from her ordeal.
    Shaking
his head at the weakness of females, Jamie took a sip of the
surprisingly strong brew the inn keeper handed him, and ordered his
dinner.
     
    Cecily
awoke with a frown. Her head was bounding and every inch of her
ached from head to foot. She was certain that someone had succeeded
in sawing her bottom half off over the night because she could feel
nothing from the waist down, except for her legs. Those hurt a lot.
Oh, and her feet; those ached fiercely, as though she had walked
throughout the last day rather than rode on a feral beast that was
as determined to do away with her as the spies were.
    The last day , she thought, wrinkling
her nose up in distaste. To begin with she had quite enjoyed riding
but now, she would be very glad if she never had to see another
horse again, let alone ride one.
    She
slowly peeled her eyes open, and blinked rapidly against the
sunlight that bathed