“Ye should have accepted the maid’s aid when I offered it, Clare. She hoped to serve us.”
Clare snorted a laugh. “Oh? She hoped to serve ye, not me. I tell ye the lass is smitten with ye, Breckin, but ye are blind to it.”
“Amara’s attention was unwanted; besides, she is too young for me. I am much too busy to be distracted by such unimportant matters. Ye have only to say the word and I shall get ye help.” Breckin suspected his brothers were too much for his aunt to handle, but she refused any support, even if the lassies had other motives in mind.
“I will not have other women in my home.” Clare glanced at him, shook her head, and returned her attention to her meal.
Breckin pressed the parchment open that he’d set on the table and read the lines. His lips tightened at the words scrawled across the page.The king had written the summons himself and bade him to make the journey to Edinburgh. It was an odd request. Alexander had his fealty, for he’d sworn it before his entire court when the king had married Queen Margaret. The matter must be important but it gave no indication of the situation or need.
He had only just returned home and had no wish to travel so soon. With his younger brothers’ misdeeds, trying to find out how Marian died, and handling the minor scuffles of other clans, he had no time to make such a tiresome journey. Yet no one refused the king and he had no choice but to go.
“I will be leaving on the morrow for Edinburgh, Clare. The king calls me. Whilst I am gone, I will have the lads stay with Gideon. He’ll reform these two.” With that settled, Breckin picked up a spoon and ate the heavenly stew before him. He abated his hunger with a large piece of bread and smeared it with a good amount of creamy spread. After, he washed his meal down with the oversized cup of ale his aunt had poured for him.
“Well, I am gladdened to hear it. I could use a break from those two,” Clare said.
His brothers spooned up the stew, unspeaking, with their heads practically in their bowls.
He turned his gaze on them. “When ye are finished your supper, ye will go to bed. I will hear no noise from either of ye for the rest of the night.”
His brothers kept their mouths closed but they nodded to indicate they understood.
As soon as he finished his meal, Breckin left the cottage and ambled toward Gideon’s home to inform him of his departure. When he reached the large, stone house, he knocked at the door. It was opened by Hamish, Gideon’s wee lad. He had his father’s likeness with his reddish hair and freckled face, and was a sweet lad, not one bent on giving his father heart pains with daring feats like his brothers did to Breckin.
“Get your da, Hamish.”
The lad disappeared and Gideon pulled the door open wider. “Oh, Laird, I did not expect to see ye again this night. I thought ye’d be at slumber by now.”
“Aye, I will seek my bed soon enough. I wanted to let ye know that I will leave for Edinburgh in the morn and bid ye to watch over my brothers whilst I am gone. They will stay here at night.” Breckin turned away and his commander followed him, rushing to catch up.
“Hold on, Laird… My wife might not be agreeable to that,” Gideon said.
“Since when do ye let your wife’s agreement dictate your duty?” Breckin wanted to laugh at his challenge but remained somber. “Clare needs a break from them. My brothers have caused a wee bit of hell since I’ve been gone and I need someone who can keep them in hand. They have been duly punished and will only be in your cottage at night for sleep. But I want ye to keep watch on them throughout the day. See that they do not kill themselves.”
“I suppose it will not be much of a hardship. Och, one day, Laird, ye will have a bonny wife who will grumble at ye as mine does to me,” Gideon said with a bellow.
“Well, fortunately for me, I do not have a wife. That is the last thing I need.”
“Aye, ye could already be wedded if the lass did not call it off. Do ye ever think of her?”
Breckin felt the pull of his brows as he scowled at his comrade. “Who? Danella MacLaren? To tell ye the truth, I was gladdened when her family ended our betrothal. I was not ready to marry anyone at that time…” He hadn’t thought about his betrothal to the MacLaren woman for a while. His parents had only died a year before and he was still trying to figure out how to be a father to his siblings and leader to his clan.
His betrothed had broken their clan’s pact with his, over a yearbefore with no excuse. Since then, the MacLarens feared the Buchanans as well, as they should. With the ended treaty, there was no cause to support them, leaving them open to a rival’s havoc on their lands and against their clan. Breckin had no sympathy for them because the MacLarens caused their own grief.
“Ye do not fool me, Breckin. I thought her the perfect wife for ye. Ye really should think about finding a wife soon to help ye rear your brothers. Aye, before ye get too old to satisfy a woman as well.” Gideon chortled and shoved his shoulder in jest.
“I satisfy plenty of women.”
Gideon scoffed and then bellowed with a laugh. “Aye, when? How long has it been since ye been with a woman?”
He wanted to use his fist to answer his comrade, but instead ignored his friend’s banter. “I have been somewhat busy with clan matters and… Hell, a wife or a woman is the last thing on my mind right now. There are more important matters to attend to.”
Gideon sighed with a moan. “A woman can aid ye more than ye know and mayhap help ye rid that angst ye carry around on your shoulders.”
“Perhaps that is so.” Breckin nodded. “Och, but when I must do my duty and marry, I will. Until then, ye will have to deal with my angst. I will keep my brothers in line and see that our clan prospers. No wife is necessary for that.”
“Aye, so we all hold hope. ’Tis odd, though, that the MacLarens have not tried to make amends for their withdrawal or affront. Do ye think they consider themselves our rival?”
He shrugged in answer to Gideon’s question. “Probably, but I have had no time to deal with their pettiness. I was too accepting at the time when they withdrew their daughter’s hand and might have spoken of a rivalry. Now, I am gladdened that I did not have to marry her. The MacLarens are a needy clan and there are too many other needful clans hereabouts.”
