“Dinna ever speak of a lady like that again. Douglan was a piece of shite traitor to yer clan. He spewed filth as he tried to undermine Blaine’s position as yer clan’s tánaiste andde factolaird. Would ye speak that way if he could hear ye? If Lady Rose could? Are ye the type of mon Laird Keith trusted to guard his clan when he followed King David to France? Ye’re disgraceful.” Thor brought his fist down to Drew’s nose, where it pressed against the dirt. Blood sprayed from it. He leaped to his feet before kicking Drew in the kidneys. “Get up.”
The man was doubled over and yelped when Thor grabbed his leine and easily pulled him to his feet with one arm.
“If ye or any other mon here ever spews such filth again, I will challenge ye, and I will kill ye. Ye dinna ken aught aboot Lady Greer’s past but what Douglan told people. She is Lady Rose’s closest friend and companion. I will defend her as a lady, as ma sister’s friend, and as a guest of the laird’s family. Ye would do well to think twice before ye open yer gob again.”
Thor shoved Drew away before he swung to face Marcus, who’d watched without intervening. Now he stood to his full height, almost as large as Thor but nowhere near as intimidating, despite being a warrior many men cowered before. Thor stood with his feet hip-width apart and his arms crossed. While he hadn’t inherited the Sinclair men’s dark hair, he had inherited the deep whisky-brown eyes that could nail a man to the cross with one look. His chest flexed with each breath. He’d adopted the Sinclair Stance, a posture people knew only boded poorly for whomever received it.
“Ye arenae yer father, and I ken that. But Blaine trusts ye to lead yer men. If they speak this way before ye, it’s because they ken ye will allow it. I dinna give a shite who ye are in this clan.Iwill nae tolerate it. Fix yerself and yer men before they wind up in single combat and dead. Ye can explain that to yer laird and yer tánaiste because it’ll be yer fault.” Thor spat beside Drew’s feet before he spun on his heels, his plaid swishing against the back of his tree trunk thighs. He passed Blaine on his way to his men. “Ye need to speak to Marcus. Yer men are vile and speaking ill of Greer. Marcus did naught to stop it. She willna be safe if they continue to repeat what Douglan claimed. Rose trusts ye. Dinna disappoint ma sister.”
Thor stormed off, continuing to make his way to his men. They recognized the tornado approaching and braced themselves for hours of rigorous training. Thor didn’t disappoint. He worked himself and his men until they could barely stand. They sparred through the midday meal and didn’t break until the bells rang for the evening meal. He hadn’t kept the reason for his anger a secret because he knew his men would understand. A menacing aura settled over the Sinclairs that kept the Keiths away. Not a Sinclair among them would have reacted differently from Thor.
Liam never tolerated any abuse—physical or verbal—to the women in their clan. Any man who raised a hand to beat a woman or child received a swift, unrelenting, and memorable punishment. It rarely happened. Kyla had arrived to marry Liam with bruises remaining from the beatings she’d received from her father. While Liam’s father never ignored abuse to women, Liam had been even more adamant and wrathful with his judgments when he became laird. It had only taken three men’s public lashing to make every man understand that Liam turned a blind eye to none of it. He’d raised his sons to believe the same, and in turn, they’d raised their sons as they had been. It would have been a personal failure on Thor’s part and a disgrace to his family to ignore the slight against Greer. It mattered not that they didn’t get along.
By the time he dunked his head in the water trough set aside for the men to clean themselves and ran a bar of soap over his torso, he’d spent his physical anger. But his mind wasn’t at rest. He donned a clean leine in the barracks that one of his men lent him since he didn’t have time to go abovestairs to his chamber. He tried to settle himself as he took his seat on the dais, but his chair placed him at an angle to see the men he’d interrupted. Marcus sat farther down the table to Blaine’s right. Rose sat to Blaine’s left, and Thor sat to her left. His sister leaned toward him after the priest blessed the food.
“What happened? Marcus told Blaine ye got in a fight.”
“I dealt with something.”
“Thor, they arenae yer men to deal with. Ye humiliated Marcus.”
“Good. Mayhap he’ll find his bollocks and deal with his men, so I dinna have to.”
“It’s nae yer place to—”
“They repeated something aboot Greer they shouldnae have. Ye would have had ma bollocks if I didna do something.”
Rose glanced at the men sitting below the salt, then to Greer, before turning her gaze to Thor. “What did they say?”
“Ye heard aboot the lies Douglan spread aboot Greer. They suggested they would make that the truth here.”
“What?” Rose’s voice rang out, and people turned to face her. She looked at her husband, fury clear. Blaine peered over her head at Thor, who wore a matching expression. So much for his physical anger ending. Her gaze didn’t waver from her husband’s. “Who?”
“Thor dealt with it, and so did I.”
“Who, Blaine?”
Blaine leaned to whisper to Rose. “Kyla, dinna. At least, nae right now. It’ll only draw attention to Greer, and that’s the last thing she needs. Please let it be for now. If ye wish to have words with them or even geld them, fine. But dinna fash in front of everyone. Only Greer will suffer.”
Rose’s chest heaved as she nodded. She turned back to Thor, and their expressions matched. With synchronicity they’d had since their birth, they shifted their gaze to the Keiths dining at the trestle tables in front of the dais. Their gazes swept the crowd before they settled on the men in question. Rose didn’t need to know who. She could guess from the brief time she’d met a few of the warriors. Drew’s face was battered, and he only had soft food in his trencher. Tim looked as though he would pish himself when his gaze locked with Rose’s. If she’d been able to hear their conversation, she would know Tim confessed she terrified him far more than any man in the room. After all, she was a Sinclair woman. They were fiercer than any of the men in the renowned warrior clan.
When she finished staring down the men, her gaze swept the dais until it landed on Greer, who sat with her back to the other diners. She’d pushed her trencher away and leaned back in her chair. She’d watched Thor and Rose and marveled at their similarities. She’d wondered what caused the shift in their tempers. When Rose met her gaze, she knew whatever happened was because of her. Her stomach knotted, and she wished to excuse herself from the table. But that would only draw attention to her. At least, only people at the dais could see her face. Her eyes darted to Thor, who watched her. His expression was shuttered now, and she couldn’t be certain what he thought. But he nodded to her, the movement so small that she almost missed it.
Why did he acknowledge her like that? What happened earlier? She knew it wasn’t something that happened during the meal. She’d heard people marvel at the Sinclairs’ training that day. As she watched Thor, she realized he’d been working off anger that now returned. She wanted to know why, but she didn’t want to ask him. She waited for the meal to end, and for once looked forward to meeting Thor on the dance floor.
“What happened in the lists?” She blurted her question the moment they partnered. Thor wouldn’t have time to answer if they continued to dance because he had only a few notes before the dance would force him to someone else. He guided Greer away from the other clan members.
“Lies. A mon repeated rumors, and I made certain he understood it wasna acceptable.”
“Rumors and lies aboot me.” It wasn’t a question. She already knew the answer.
“Aye.” Thor wouldn’t lie. He wouldn’t repeat what he heard, but he wouldn’t diminish the event either.
“And ye fought him over it?”
“There was nay fight. I made ma point vera clear. Nay mon says such things aboot any woman.”
Greer nodded, but her eyes no longer met Thor’s. He’d done it out of his inherent sense of honor and duty. It had nothing to do with it being about her. She didn’t want to examine why that hurt so much.
