“I was scared.”
“Every bride is scared.” Mary joined the conversation, having grown impatient for her sisters to move closer to the fireplace. “My husband forced me on our wedding night, but I got over it. Laurel can barely tolerate the sight of her husband, but she’s born his children. Who are you to decide you can avoid your duty?”
“You intend to punish me. Make me watch you two,” Allyson gestured to Mary and Alice. “Attempt to seduce him. He can’t marry both of you. He can’t marry either of you. Like I said, the king decided this matter.”
“I don’t intend to marry him,” Marry countered. “I just intend to bed him. A mon like that has appetites only an experienced woman can satisfy. Alice will marry him, but in the meantime, I shall enjoy him.”
“You’re disgusting. The bible teaches us ‘flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.’ You are covetous.”
“That’s laughable coming from a soiled dove who’s probably bedded more men than our tavern wenches.”
“You are convinced men have led me astray, yet Berta examined me when I arrived and found naught amiss. I have not been with a mon.” Allyson realized she’d fallen into her sisters’ trap. While she defended herself, she admitted that she hadn’t the knowledge or experience a man like Ewan expected from his bed partners. She bit her tongue lest she dig herself in deeper.
“Step aside, little sister. We won’t ask again,” Alice sneered.
“You haven’t asked for aught. All you’ve tried to do is bully me, but one thing I learned at court is how to survive those who would intimidate me. I have naught left to say to any of you.” Allyson spun on her heels but drew up short when she spotted a large form cast in the shadows of the passageway. She couldn’t tell if it was Ewan or Eoin, but one of them had heard the disastrous conversation. The exchange with her sisters mortified her too much to meet Ewan in the gardens, so she pivoted and dashed up the stairs.
* * *
Ewan stormed into the tower chamber, livid. He slammed the door shut as Eoin glanced up from sharpening his sword. Ewan paced across the small chamber several times, yanking at the collar of his leine as though it tried to strangle him. Finally he ripped it over his head and flung it against the wall.
“Failed to steal a kiss from Allyson? Did she smash your toes or knee you in the cods?” Eoin chuckled.
“Nay. I waited for her in the garden, but when she didn’t appear, I searched for her. I found her in an argument with her sisters. It started with Alice and Laurel, but then Mary joined in. They told her she’s illegitimate and that none of them ever wanted her. They called her a whore for her time at court and told her she would never be what I want. How the devil would they know what I want? Even if my reputation precedes me, which I’m now certain it does, or even if those bitches just made an accurate assessment of my past, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to marry Allyson. I chased her across God’s creation.”
“And until this evening, you intended to bed any woman you fancied regardless of being married. It seems they had a similar line of thought as you did.”
“But to say it to Allyson’s face?”
“You did. You did it not only in front of me but our father, her father, and the king. I don’t know which is a worse humiliation.”
“Bugger it. I’ve never wanted to strike someone as badly as I did her sisters. And they’re women!”
“You stood there and listened? You didn’t come to her defense?”
“At first, I was too stunned to say aught. When I gathered my wits, Allyson was already defending herself. I was in two minds whether to step in, but I didn’t want her sisters to think Allyson’s weak. If I intervened, they would never respect her.”
“That’s laughable, brother. You think they’ll ever respect her?”
“As though calling her a whore wasn’t bad enough, they taunted her, claiming she could never satisfy me. They went back and forth from every side, cutting Allyson down to the quick. Then Mary and Alice confessed they’ve decided Mary will be my mistress until Alice marries me! Bluidy bleeding hell! Can you believe that? Who says that to their sister?”
“Women can be conniving and manipulative, but this takes it to the extreme. It’s one thing when the women are competing at court. It’s political as much as it’s personal, but they usually aren’t sisters. They’re not even from the same clan most of the time.” Eoin paused as he shook his head before asking the pivotal question. “What are you going to do?”
“Since I can’t wring their scrawny necks, I will avoid them when I can. I want to spend time with Allyson, anyway.”
“I’ll do aught that I can to help you.” Eoin grinned.
“Don’t you dare bed any of Allyson’s sisters, or I’ll throttle you.” Ewan warned as Eoin threw his hands up in surrender and laughed.
“I’m not bedding any of her relatives. Maybe a wench or two at the tavern, but I have no interest in any of the Elliot sisters.”
“Eoin, she saw me.” Ewan came to stand before his brother, and it surprised Eoin to see how embarrassed, even ashamed, Ewan looked. “You asked why I didn’t step in. She must be asking herself the same question. I’m certain she couldn’t tell whether it was you or me, but I know she saw someone. What do I say?”
“If she asks, explain it to her the same way you did to me. It made sense to me.”
“I don’t know that she’ll see it that way. She defended me when Alice called me ‘something.’ If I’m to be Ally’s husband, then I should protect her.”
“But she’s also a woman who wants to prove she can stand on her own two feet, one who doesn’t cower behind a man.”
