“That’s most likely to keep ye safe. Do ye wish me to send a messenger to Varrich now and warn them that ye might head there?”
“Nay. I dinna want ye to send any men farther afield than yer border. I dinna want them intercepted or to rouse any suspicions.”
“All right. We have something of an idea what to do. Until we need to do otherwise, we carry on.”
“Aye. I promised to spend the day with Greer. I want to go back and find her.”
“I’m happy for ye, Thor. Ye’ve been a good friend to me since I met yer sister. I dinna take that for granted. I hope ye ken I will support ye just as ye did me.”
“I ken ye will if for nay other reason than ye dinna want ma sister to take yer bollocks.” At Blaine’s shameless grin, Thor pretended to retch.
“Ye brought it up, little brother.” Blaine was a few years older than Thor and Rose. He elbowed his brother-by-marriage.
“If ye wish to keep that elbow attached to yer arm, ye’ll remember who’s bigger.” They matched in height and had similar builds, but Thor had at least a stone on Blaine, whose body wasn’t as bulky.
“Go find yer wife while I go pester mine.”
“Trying to make me an uncle already?”
“Working on it.”
Thor grimaced, but he was happy for Blaine and Rose. They’d had a rocky start, but it hadn’t taken them long to realize how well suited they were to each other. They had a marriage that reminded Thor of his parents. He hoped Blaine and Rose found as much happiness in their marriage as his mother and father had in theirs.
He entered the keep to a group of women surrounding Greer. It was immediately clear that they were not congratulating her on her nuptials. His wife’s expression spoke of a woman used to being in charge of an entire keep. It appeared reserved, but self-assured. The other women appeared nothing less than hostile. He approached, but none noticed him.
“We didna believe the rumors when we first heard them, but now we ken ye’re the whore Douglan claimed. Ye got with child on purpose and trapped Thor into marrying ye.” A young woman pointed her finger at Greer. “He may have tupped ye, but he wanted me. Now he’s stuck with ye.”
“Ye are a shite liar. He hasnae looked in yer direction. Do ye ken how I ken? Because ma husband watches me wherever I go and whatever I do. Even if he didna love me and I wasna here, he wouldnae have ye. The Sinclairs dinna have lemans, whether they’re married or nae. And he wouldnae marry a villager from a clan his sister helps lead. The Sinclairs may choose who they marry, but they’ve all married fellow nobles. Do ye think ye could be Lady Sinclair one day? Have ye spent yer life training to be a chatelaine? Have ye learned yer sums or to read? Have ye learned how to plan a year’s inventory of food? He’s second in line to an earldom. Even if he hadnae married me, he would have chosen someone who is prepared to run a keep as enormous as Dunbeath. So dinna try to tell me what ma husband wanted when I ken it’s only me.”
“Ye bitch.” Another woman hissed at Greer. “Ye think ye’re better than all of us, but ye’re naught more than a whore.”
“And ye arenae? I ken which men ye’re bedding, and nay a one of them is yer husband. He’s been on patrol for what? A moon? Yet ye have love bites peeking out from beneath yer kirtle. They dinna last that long.”
A third woman spoke, her malice the worst of them all. “Ye will regret the day ye came here, ye traitor. Thor, Blaine, and Lady Rose canna be with ye every minute of every day. There are ways to get ye out of this keep if we want. We’ll turn ye over to the Gunns, so ye can rut with those pigs. Or mayhap, it’ll be a Sassenach who finally breaks ye. We dinna care.”
“Ye’re a right bampot if ye think Thor would let anyone take me. And ye dinna have a healthy fear for yer life if ye think Lady Rose wouldnae put ye in yer grave for touching me. Then again, she might just put ye in the sea. Save her having to dig. Ye can snarl and hiss at me all ye want, but I matter to the people who lead this clan. If ye dinna like that, it’s too bluidy bad.”
The first woman lunged at Greer, her hand raised to slap her. Greer’s fist shot out and landed in the center of the woman’s throat.
“Do ye ken who taught me to defend maself? Ma husband eight years ago. He is mine, and he’s been mine.” She turned to face him, and he realized she’d known he’d stood there the entire time. He wondered if it angered her that he hadn’t stepped in. He would have if the woman struck Greer, but he wanted them to see she wouldn’t cower again. He walked over to her, and the women took a collective step back. He lifted Greer off her feet and gave her a passionate kiss that should have remained private.
“Wife, I love ye best when ye’re fierce. Let me show ye just how much.” Thor swept her into his arms and made his way toward the stairs, but he stopped at the bottom. He turned to the women all standing agog. “I heard what ye all said. She wasna wrong aboot ma sister or me. But Lady Greer doesnae need Lady Rose or me to defend her. I would fear her in her own right if I were ye. I kenned when we were five-and-ten that Lady Greer should be Lady Sinclair one day. I love her even more than I did then, and there isnae a doubt that she’ll be as great a chatelaine and partner for me as ma grandmama was for ma grandda and ma mama is for ma da.”
Thor placed Greer on her feet but wrapped his arm around her waist. They would walk up the stairs as equals for all to see. But once they reached the stairs up to the third floor, he hoisted her over his shoulder, making her giggle, and ran up the rest of them. When they reached their chamber, he put her down.
“Are ye all right? Should I have intervened?”
“Nay. They need to ken they canna intimidate me like they believe. Like ye said, one day I will be Lady Sinclair. I dinna want anyone to believe ye’ve picked a weak woman to marry. I dinna want anyone to think that once I take that role, they can target our clan when ye ride out.”
“Our clan? I love hearing ye say that. Say it again.”
“Our clan.” Greer loved seeing how happy it made him as much as he loved hearing it. But she grew serious. “Should we be worried aboot what they threatened? Could they go to the Gunns or the English?”
“I dinna ken any of them. Rose probably doesnae ken them well enough to say. I’ll talk to Blaine aboot that too.”
“What did he say when ye talked to him aboot those riders?”
“We agreed that for now, it’s best we stay. If it becomes too dangerous, then we take Sinclair and Keith men and ride for Dunbeath. If there’s time, I’ll ask Grandda to send more guards. If there isnae, we have the Sinclair patrols we pass join us.”
