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Kade reached the top step in time to see young Laddie charging up the far end of the hall with a trio of maids on his heels. As he started after him, the lad came to a skittering halt at one of the bedchamber doors near the end of the corridor and thrust it open. The hallway immediately resounded with loud, panicked, and completely unintelligible screeches that were now joined by the loud slurring voice he'd heard heckling Aidan at the gate.
"Come on, lass, just a quick tumble. I promise I'll make ye like it."
Brodie! Cursing, Kade rushed forward and burst in on a scene he would not soon forget. Averill appeared to be in a wrestling match with Brodie. He was sitting up, struggling to pull her onto the bed from the far side, while she did everything she could to resist. Meantime, Bess, the source of the shrieking and wailing, was on the near side of the bed, pounding on his head and back trying to make him release her mistress.
Laddie and the three maids had apparently come to an abrupt halt inside the door at the sight as well, but even as Kade took everything in, the boy spurted across the room, snatching up a shield that lay discarded on the floor as he went. Leaping onto the head of the bed with the heavy metal item, he swung it up, then brought it back down with a horrible gong as Kade started across the room. The action didn't knock Brodie out as the boy had probably hoped, but it certainly got his attention. Releasing Averill, he swung around toward the boy, emitting a furious roar as he did.
Laddie's eyes became great holes of horror in his head, then he slammed the shield down again, putting every bit of weight and strength he had behind it. That time it worked. Brodie's eyes rolled up in his head, and he collapsed in a heap on the bed. Laddie immediately tossed the shield aside and scrambled across the bed to leap off on the other side and crouch beside Averill.
"Are ye all right, me lady?" Laddie asked anxiously, catching at her arm and tugging at it in an effort to help her up even as Bess finally stopped her shrieking and rushed around the bed to help as well.
"Oh, my," Averill said breathlessly as she sat up from where she'd fallen when Brodie had released her. "Aye, I am well, thank you, Laddie. That was very brave of you."
"Aye, 'twas," Kade growled, as Bess and Laddie helped his wife to her feet. The maids by the door had noted his entrance as he'd passed them and begun to sidle out of the room at once. Though he noticed that while they'd taken themselves out of striking distance, they had not left completely but were peering in around the edges of the door, trying to see past Will and Aidan, who had followed him.
Bess, Averill, and Laddie, however, had not noted his entrance and did so finally with wide eyes and surprised gasps.
"Oh h-husband," Averill said breathlessly. Forcing a smile, she avoided his gaze by brushing down her skirt as she murmured, "We...er...I was j-just ch-checking to be sure your br-brother did not do himself an injury when he fell. Unfortunately, he woke up and...er...seemed to think I was...w-well, he th-thought..."
"I ken what he thought," Kade growled, catching her arm and urging her toward the door. In his drunken state, Brodie had obviously thought her one of the maids and had intended to have at her. And, apparently, he hadn't cared if she was willing or not. That infuriated him. It seemed obvious he'd have to have a stern talk with the man when he woke up. In the meantime, he had a wayward wife to deal with.
"I told ye to stay close unless I said otherwise, did I no'?" he asked grimly as he led her past Will and Aidan and into the hall.
"Aye, and I d-did," she said swiftly. "Y-you said I c-could c-come above stairs and--"
"And check to see what shape the rooms are in," Kade interrupted grimly. "I didna say ye could check on Brodie."
Much to his surprise, she nodded. "Aye. Y-you are right. I should n-not have--"
"Nay, ye shouldna," he said grimly, then paused in the hall to ask, "Which o' the rooms did ye settle on fer us?"
She hesitated, then said, "The three at the end of the hall need only an airing, dusting, and a change of linens. The rushes are old but clean and will do for tonight."
Nodding, he started forward again, urging her toward the last room at the opposite end of the hall, as far away from his brother's room as possible. He ushered her in, turned to close the door, and then scowled when he saw that everyone was following...everyone except for Laddie. There was no sign of the boy.
"Where's the lad?" he growled with a frown, worried he was still in the room with Brodie and that if his brother woke up, he might be in trouble.
They all peered around rather blankly at his question, and Aidan said, "I'll find him."
"Thank ye," Kade muttered. "Send him here when ye do."
Nodding, Aidan turned away to head back up the hall, and Kade glanced to Will. "I'll be down in a minute."
Will hesitated, his gaze sliding from his stern face to Averill, who was now biting her lip, but he nodded and turned to head for the stairs. Glad he wasn't going to interfere, Kade ignored the women, closed the door, and swung around to face his wife.
"I w-was..." Averill's eyes darted around as if seeking an escape, then she gasped with surprise when he caught her hand and tugged her up against his chest. "Husband?"
Kade kissed her: a deep, wet one that spoke of his hunger for her and was propelled partially by the fear he'd suffered at the shrieking that had brought him running. Just as quickly as he tugged her into his arms, he broke the kiss to glare down at her. "Stay away from Brodie."
"Aye, husband," she breathed, her voice dreamy, and she tugged his face down for another kiss.
The bold action startled a smile from Kade that turned into a frown when a knock at the door sounded before he could even begin to kiss her in return. Sighing, he lifted his head and set her away to answer the summons. But a small smile formed on his lips when he heard her sigh of disappointment as he reached for the door handle. Promising himself he would ease that disappointment tonight, he pulled the door open and scowled out at Aidan, then dropped his gaze to the boy he held by the collar. Kade took in Laddie's wide eyes and pale face, then glanced to the women now gathered around Bess, twittering nervously a few feet away.
Stepping into the hall to join Aidan and Laddie, he pushed the door open wider, and said to the women, "Get yerselves inside and help me wife ready the room."
It was all he had to say. The women bustled forward and hurried into the room at once, seeming eager to escape his presence. Laddie was equally eager and tried to follow them in, but Aidan still had him by the collar and tugged him back.
The boy's shoulders sagged, and a defeated sigh slipped from his lips when Kade pulled the door closed. He then raised sad, resigned eyes, opened his mouth to speak, found he had no voice, and swallowed a lump that had apparently lodged itself in his throat, to ask, "Are ye gonna k-kill me now?"
"Kill ye?" Kade asked with shock. His eyes shifted to Aidan, who looked just as startled as he was, then he glanced back to the boy, and asked, "Why the devil would I do that?"
"'Tis ag-against the laws for a p-peasant to hit a noble," Laddie said in quavering tones, then, just in case Kade had forgotten, he added, "And I hit yer b-brother."
"Aye, he did," Aidan pointed out solemnly.
Kade grimaced but kept his eyes on Laddie, and said, "But ye did it to save me wife, did ye no'?"
"Aye," he admitted, shoulders straightening and mouth setting rebelliously. "And I'd d-do it again even if ye will k-kill me for it. Lady Averill is nice and p-pretty, and he's a nasty mean c-cur even if he might be me d-da."
Kade stiffened. "Yer da? Brodie's yer father?"
All of the stuffing went out of the lad, and he shrugged unhappily. "Me ma s-said he w-was."
Kade stared at the boy, now seeing the family resemblance. He had the Stewart features, and the same red hair as Brodie and Gawain, though his was darker. His eyes were also the same deep green as Kade's sister, Merry's, and his own. Mouth tightening, he asked, "Who's yer ma'?"
"B-belle," he answered sullenly.
"She was a chambermaid here,
" Aidan said quietly.
"'Was'?" Kade asked with a frown.
"Died last month," Aidan said, face grim. "When the laundress took to her heels, the maids started trying to do the washing. She lost her balance and tumbled in the vat while stirring the clothes over the fire. Burnt something awful she was, died a week later."
After days of pain and suffering, Kade thought grimly. His gaze slid over the boy's ratty clothes and dirty face. "Who tends ye now?"
Laddie shrugged dully.
"The maids look after him some," Aidan answered. "Keep him out of harm's way when they can."
Judging by the bruises the boy sported, that wasn't often, and Kade wondered if his brother even knew the lad was his spawn...or cared. Sighing, he shook his head and straightened. "I'm no' killin' ye."
Laddie glanced up hopefully.
"In fact, I sent fer ye to commend ye fer defendin' me wife," he said solemnly. "'Twas verra brave. Ye'll make a good soldier one day, and I'll see ye squired in a year or two."
Laddie sucked in a long breath at this news, his eyes starting to shine.
