Page 55 of Viking in Love

“We want a mother,” shy Mina said, immediately hiding her face in his side after her outburst.

Beth raised her head to look down on him. “Whilst the princesses are here, we have seen what we are missing.”

“Oh? What might that be?”

“The food tastes better,” Alfred pointed out.

“An’ my head lice is gone,” Aidan added.

“I like the roses,” Joanna said, then snarled when Oslac and Kendrick elbowed her from either side. Hugh put a quick stop to that by smacking the two boys aside their heads.

“Lady Breanne helped me fight some bullies,” Angus surprised him by saying even as he glared at the three Welshies.

“Mayhap ye would be happier if ye had a woman,” Alfred suggested.

“I am happy enough.”

“A man needs a bedmate,” Aidan said. “Geoff tol’ me so.”

“Geoff talks too much.”

“Can I be a princess when I grow up?” Mina asked.

“Only if you marry a prince.”

Mina started to cry.

Beth blinked at him through tear-filled eyes. What? Did she want to be a princess, too? “Aunt Alys wants ye to wed again, Father.”

“That is so she can flit off and ignore her responsibilities.” Really, this was a ludicrous situation. “And you, Hugh, what do you think?”

Hugh’s pale face turned paler, with rosy patches on his cheeks. Hugh did not like to call attention to himself, this son of his. “I like the Lady Breanne,” he said, as if that had been the question.

“Well, I am not in the market for a wife, and neither are the princesses wanting to wed.” Leastways, he did not think so.

All of their little shoulders drooped.

“Why is there a tent behind Piers’s bottom?” Joanna inquired, cocking her head to the side to see better.

Everyone else, except for Piers, also looked to the section of sheet over his manpart. Oh, my God! He immediately raised his knees to hide his “tent.”

“Do you know nothing, Joanna?” Oslac commented. “We men have morning thickenings to deal with.”

We men? Help! Oslac was only seven years old.

“It means he has to piss,” explained Kendrick, who was also only seven years old.

Coughing to clear his throat and change the subject, he said, “I promise things will be better here at Larkspur in the future.”

They did not look convinced, but there were no more arguments.

“Now, off you all go. Ask Amicia to give you some bread and honey. Except for you, Hugh. You stay.”

The look of sheer horror on Hugh’s face gave Caedmon pause. A son should not be fearful of his father. Respectful, of course, but not afraid.

Sitting up and swinging his legs over the side, he motioned for Hugh to sit beside him.

“Starting this morning, you will be squire to Wulf. You will do battle exercises with the men, under his mentoring. Go to the weapons room and Henry will allot you a sword, shield and other battle gear.”