“What do ye mean Calder is gone? Do ye mean to the village? When will he be back? He knows ’twill require all of ye to heal me.”

Maddock’s jaw was clenched, his eyes narrow. Raudrich was half-surprised that steam wasn’t coming out of his ears. Maddock was one of the most calm and centered men among them. Raudrich had never seen him so angry.

“No, I doona mean to the village. His horse and satchel and every personal item he had are no longer in the castle. I followed him to see if he would truly go through with it, and he has. He loaded himself and his horse on a boat and left the isle completely. He has abandoned his post here and us along with it.”

Raudrich couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They couldn’t afford to lose another man.

“And why dinna ye stop him?”

Maddock’s tone was entirely without remorse. “If that arse of a man wants to leave us, then good riddance to him. I thought I knew him. ’Twas clear to me earlier today that I dinna know him at all. He is not the sort of man we need here with us. If ye’d heard what I heard, ye would’ve not only let him leave, ye would’ve taken him down to the shore and thrown him in a boat yerself.”

“What did ye hear?”

Just as Maddock opened his mouth to answer him, Harry, Ludo, Quinn, and Paton entered his bedchamber. Nicol was still sleeping, as he did every day until dinner.

“Maddock, we hoped ye were already in here. Where is Calder? We’ve much to discuss while Quinn’s stew cooks away in the kitchen.”

Raudrich barely listened as Maddock told the rest of them what he’d just told him. His mind was now too busy wondering what this would mean. Was it even possible for one of The Eight to leave, to break their bond of their own accord? It had never been something they’d had to worry about before now. If there was a way for Calder to remove his magic from its bind to the isle, what would happen when The Eight became Six?

He was deep in thought when Quinn reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Are ye here, Raudrich? Did ye hear a word we said?”

“No.” He shook his head as he shifted in his bed. It was impossible to get comfortable with the ache in his ribs. “I dinna. I’m sorry. Calder’s departure means bad things for all of us.”

Quinn nodded as they all gathered around his bed.

“Aye, there is no question about that, but we doona have the luxury of dwelling on it. Nor do we have the time to mourn Timothy’s death with ye as we wished to. As ye know, we saw him buried shortly after his death. Ye must say goodbye to him on yer own time now.”

He’d hoped they would all have a chance to reminisce about their old friend, to bid him farewell properly, but Raudrich understood Quinn’s urgency. With each new event at the castle, their time became all the more precious.

“Aye, I shall visit his grave as soon as I can walk without crying out in pain, which I’m afraid may be weeks now that Calder is gone.”

“No.”

Harry’s sure voice surprised him. Healing magic was exhausting. With his magic too weakened by the frail state of his body, they couldn’t risk the strain that such an act would place on the remaining five.

“What do ye mean, no? I’ll heal as quickly as I can, but I doona know how I can rush it.”

Harry sat down on the edge of the bed. Raudrich could see by the stern gaze in his eyes that his mind was already made up.

“We canna wait weeks for ye to heal. If Calder truly means to leave, he will begin to look for a way to break his bind with us. Should he succeed before ye are healed, none of us can know the strength it would give Machara. ’Tis better for us to all let our magic be weakened for a day or two now than for us to be without the magic of three of the eight in a few week’s time. Ye willna be able to wield all of yer own power until yer body is healed. We shall pool our energy now and make tomorrow a day of rest for all of us so we might regain our strength before we determine what must be done next.”

Raudrich couldn’t deny that such a plan appealed to him. He wanted his body back, and if they could, his sight, as well.

“If ye all wish to do this, I willna fight ye on it. With my eyes, and now this, I havena felt like myself for far too long. Timothy’s death has placed a strain on all our magic. It willna take long for Calder to begin to feel the ill-effects of being away from the castle.”

Maddock’s angry voice spoke beside him.

“Then may he lose his sight completely and much more quickly than ye lost yers.”

All of the men looked at Maddock in question, but before he could say more, Harry stood.

“Then, let us begin, lads. Should this work, Raudrich, ye may have to be the one to finish dinner for I doona know if the rest of us will be able to stay standing afterwards.”

Raudrich laughed as the men formed the necessary circle around him.

“If ye succeed at healing my ribs, my nose, and my sight, I shall wait on ye all hand and foot for a fortnight, at least.”

Ludo laughed and Raudrich shifted so he could lie down completely on the bed. The healing was bound to be unpleasant, and he needed to prepare himself for the pain.

“Doona make promises ye have no intention of keeping. We all know that by this time tomorrow, ye will be ordering us about. Ye will have no sympathy for our exhaustion.”

Ludo was probably right about that. Serving as laird for the past two years in Allen territory had made him bossy. It would take time for him to grow used to an equal partnership with the other men again.

Energy built in the room as they started to chant. It didn’t take long for the pain to begin to sear through his body. Try as he might to swallow his screams, they wouldn’t stay inside him.

It was horrific. No matter how much he screamed at them to stop, they continued their chant.

He wished he would pass out, but as the pain raged on, he remained awake, feeling the shift of every bone and every pull of his skin.

Only as his vision cleared and he was able to make out the beams across the ceiling was he able to relax into the pain.

As soon as they were finished, it would all be worth it.