Niall chuckled. “That’s not how I remember it.”
Evan ran a hand along the smooth stone. “It’s... impressive.”
He meant it. He hadn’t expected this. Hadn’t expected to find the estate thriving rather than decaying. In his memory, everything had been tainted by bitterness—arguments echoing through halls, lawyers with grim faces, Bryce’s cold determination to consolidate power.
But this—
Niall had not only stayed, he had built, expanded, carved out a life for himself from the ruin he and his brothers had made.
A sharp pang of shame pierced Evan’s chest. When things had grown ugly and suffocating, he himself had chosen the open road over responsibility. He had told himself it wasfreedom. Independence. Refusal to be dragged into his family’s machinations.
But he had also left behind tenants who had relied on him. People whose rents and disputes and harvests he had once overseen, however reluctantly.
“I should have done more,” he said quietly.
Niall glanced at him. “Done more?”
“For my share of the estate,” Evan clarified. “For the people who needed me.”
Niall studied him for a moment before answering. “We all made decisions back then that seemed right in the moment.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“No,” Niall agreed gently. “But it is an explanation.”
The sails creaked softly overhead as they turned. Evan folded his arms, staring out over the land. “Have ye seen them?” he asked abruptly.
Niall’s brow furrowed. “Who?”
“Ronan. Rian.”
Their two remaining brothers, twins, younger than Evan, older than Niall. He hadn’t thought about them in a long, long time. Ronan, sharp-witted and restless, always chasing something just out of reach. Rian, quiet, thoughtful, stubborn as stone.
Niall shook his head. “Not in years. I’ve asked around, but nobody seems to know where they are.”
Evan exhaled slowly. “And Bryce? Our mighty Earl of Newborough?”
Niall met Evan’s eyes, not missing the sarcasm in Evan’s tone. “Aye, I see Bryce regularly. We’ve been trying to repair our relationship. He was here not a fortnight ago.”
Evan’s shoulders went rigid. “Repair yer relationship,” he breathed softly. “As if it’s that simple.”
“I never said it was simple,” Niall replied. “But to my surprise, I find I’m starting to like the man our mighty Earl of Newborough has become. He’s changed, Evan. We all have. I’m sure Bryce would love to see ye again.”
The words dropped like a stone into still water.
“No,” Evan said.
Niall frowned. “He’s still yer brother.”
“He stopped being my brother the day he betrayed us all and tried to take everything for himself.”
“I know. I felt the same. But now I understand it was... complicated.”
“Complicated? It was greed!”
“It wasfear,” Niall countered. “Father left matters tangled. Debts, promises, old obligations. Bryce panicked.”
“And so he tightened his fist around everything and left us scraps.”
