Read Online Knight Errant: A Highland Passage Novel by J.L. Jarvis - Free Book Online

knocked on it. She opened the door to find one of the monks with an urgent expression.
    “I’ve been sent to fetch you,” he said.
    She followed him next door to find Robert on the cot, leaning back against the wall and barely conscious.
    “What’s happened?” Violet rushed toward him, but the monk who had fetched her held her back.
    A second monk held Robert while he vomited into a pail. “He was attacked riding out of the city.”
    “It was only a scratch,” Robert protested.
    “Aye, but your skin’s cool and clammy, and your heart’s racing.” The monk turned to Violet. “The blade must have been poisoned. They waited until he was out of the city to strike.” The monk helped Robert lie down on his pillow.
    Robert struggled to breathe. Violet broke free of the monk holding her shoulders and went to Robert’s side.
    “My quiver. Where is it?” he said between breaths.
    “Where’s the quiver?” Violet looked from one monk to the other.
    The one by the door nodded toward the bed. Violet looked underneath it.
    “He has no use for it now,” said the second monk as he wiped Robert’s brow.
    Violet tossed him a burning look then put the quiver under Robert’s blanket. “It’s here, right beside you.”
    Relieved, Robert let his eyes close.
    The monk shrugged impatiently. “A shopkeeper found it beside him.”
    His words ended abruptly when Robert grabbed the pail and was violently ill.
    When he could speak, Robert said, “Violet.” He searched about until his eyes settled on her. “You’re safe.”
    Violet grasped his hand and sat beside him, confused. “Yes, I’ve been here all day, safe and sound.”
    Robert sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. “I was worried about you.”
    “About me?”
    He grasped her hand weakly. “After they attacked me, I thought they might have done something to hurt you too.”
    The monk beside Violet said, “Nae doubt they were expecting you to collapse well past the city.”
    “I came back for Violet.”
    Violet shook her head. “I’m safe. Please don’t worry about me.”
    Robert pulled her close enough to whisper into her ear, “Be on your guard, lass. You may not be safe here. As soon as I’m able, we’re leaving. Be ready. Until then, you’re no safer than I.” With a cautious look, he released her to sit back up. He tried to get up but leaned back again.
    Violet dabbed a cool, damp cloth on his forehead. “Rest now. We’ll talk later.”
    His eyes closed.
    One of the monks touched her shoulder and beckoned for her to follow him. In the corridor outside Robert’s room, he spoke in hushed tones. “He must have kent he was poisoned and come back for help. He slid off his horse in a close outside a shop, where the shopkeeper found him and sent word to us.”
    Violet spoke softly. “Will he recover?”
    “I dinnae ken. It is up to God now.”
    God was fine, but she wouldn’t mind bringing in a modern doctor for a consult. But that couldn’t be, so she went back inside and sat beside Robert while he slept. He was fitful. She blotted beads of sweat from his forehead. The monks went to supper and left her to tend to him, provided a monk remained with them for the sake of propriety, or so she assumed. After what Robert had said, she doubted the motives of everyone around them.
    Violet Quinn was a practical woman. As an accountant, she did her best work with numbers and logical patterns. There was an inherent order to numbers that could always be relied upon. They could be managed and balanced until everything fell into place. She liked order in her life. That wasn’t to say that she had no feelings, but she always felt best when her emotions were under control. But now she had lost all control. She found herself in a place where nothing made sense. Her journey through time had disrupted her sense of balance—both physical and emotional—and with what little remained, Sir Robert de Mallay had finished the job. He made everything else