“Sorry to…ruin your…homecoming,” she said groggily.
Breckin pressed his hand to her face and shook his head. “Ye did not ruin it, lass.”
Noise alerted him that Willa had finally arrived. The small chamber was suddenly filled with people: him, Eva, Clare, Gideon, and Willa. He explained her malady to the healer and waved her forward. “Will ye tend to her? She needs care.”
“Go on with ye, Laird, and all of ye get out. I shall see to her,” Willa said.
The aged woman wore a head covering over her brownish-red hair, streaked with a little gray. Her eyes had dulled to a steely blue but there was still a shine to them. With a smile, she shuffled all of them out of the room with flaps of her hands. “I cannot take care of the lass with ye all looking over my shoulder. Worry not, for she is in good hands.”
Breckin stood by the door. “I will return shortly. She’s been feverishsince early this morn.”
“All will be well, Laird. The willow bark shall cease the fever’s hold on her, I can promise ye that. Before ye leave, light a fire in the hearth.” Willa turned away from him and began her ministrations.
He did as she asked and placed logs in the small hearth. Then he set kindling in and found flint in a basket where the logs were kept and set the flame. Breckin was hesitant to leave because Eva wasn’t quite aware of where she was or that Willa tended to her. She had fallen back to sleep before the healer arrived. Breckin would hurry about his tasks and return to ensure she was on the mend.
As he passed through the cottage, Clare stopped him. “Who is she? I will hear no tales, Breckin, and disbelieve that falsity about a wife. If ye think to keep your mistress here in my home—”
Gideon stopped next to his aunt and bellowed, “She is his wife if ye can believe that.”
His aunt scoffed. “I never knew ye to be deceitful, Breckin. If ye were going to marry, ye would have told me, would ye not? Nay, Gideon, he must speak falsely.”
Breckin grew wearisome of their incredulity and grunted before he explained, “Alexander bade me to marry her when I was in Edinburgh. Unfortunately, we owe the king a good amount of tax on our land and he was willing to forgo it if I married Eva.”
“Oh, good Lord. Did ye not tell him that we paid Lord Lennox as agreed?” Clare asked.
“I did, but the king said that regardless of our agreement with Lennox, we still owed tax on the land to him, to our sovereignty, and hadn’t paid it since we’d received the land from Lennox. Ye can imagine how it amounted as we have held these lands for years. As ye know, we do not have the coins to pay such an exuberant amount of tithe and I had no choice but to marry her.”
“Well, I for one am gladdened,” Gideon said and shoved his shoulder. “She’s a bonny lass, Breckin. Ye are fortunate. I fear our soldierswill have a hard time focusing on their training if she passes by them.” He whistled low. “I do not think I have ever seen a more beautiful woman.”
Clare set her hands on her hips and glared at his commander. “I will be sure to tell your wife ye spoke such nonsense, Gideon.”
Gideon snorted. “Och, go ahead, for she will not believe ye. But ’tis true enough because your wife, Laird, is breathtakingly beautiful.”
“I would appreciate it if ye did not notice or say such things.” He wanted to laugh but with Eva being ill, he kept his mien serious. “Now, tell me about the happenings whilst I was away.”
At that moment, his brothers entered the cottage shouting his name. Breckin shushed them. “Quiet. Why must ye bellow?”
Connor pushed past Caden. “Is it true, Laird, that ye brought a woman home?”
“Aye, the men said they saw ye holding a woman,” Caden said with awe, “…upon your horse.”
“I married a lass in Edinburgh named Eva. Lady Buchanan, to all of you.”
Breckin stepped outside and stood before the cottage. He needed air. The closeness of the cottage and the retelling of the events at the king’s castle nearly suffocated him. But his family and commander followed and surrounded him. They seemed to want to question him further about his marriage.
Meanwhile, his younger brothers continued to snicker.
Conner said, “Why do ye need a wife, Breckin? Och, we do not need another to tell us what to do. We get enough of that from the elders.”
He wanted to cuff his brother’s head for such a comment but just shook his head. “I did not need a wife, but when the king demands ye accept one, ye do. And as for telling ye what to do, go on and see to my horse and mywife’s. Bring our satchels and belongings back to Clare’s.”
“Breckin, the cottage is small. There’s barely enough room for me and the lads.”
“We shall only stay long enough for Eva to recover from her ailment.” Breckin had given thought to where he would put Eva when they arrived. The only available lodging was his uncle’s longhouse. No one had occupied it for a time, but he’d have his brethren make it habitable.
As he waited for Gideon to give his report, his aunt left them and ambled down the lane to speak to some of the women who stood in a group. He suspected they would gossip as women were likely to do.
“Tell me the happenings, Gideon. Did the men train hard?”
