“M-marriage?”
“Since when do ye stutter?”
“I started stuttering when ye decided I should marry.” William shook his head. “I canna marry. I am a…a warrior.”
“Have ye forgotten my brothers? Thorburn and Ross?” Valan leaned against the railing and waited. “Both are still respectedGallóglaighconstables even though Thorburn concentrates on training new men, while Ross recruits and negotiates the most profitable campaigns. Both are married with children.” He climbed the last few steps and stopped again just outside the door. “Consider it, aye? ’Twould be a reasonable enough solution, and one that would be difficult for Euban to fight without looking like a traitor to his king.”
“I-I will consider it.”
Valan doubted it. The man had gone pale. Perhaps he had nay been as besotted with the Lady Beitris as Valan believed. He shouldered open the heavy door to the hall, then came to an abrupt stop just across the threshold. Elspet and Beitris sat at one end of the long oak table eating in silence. They had washed the battle’s grime from their hands, but their faces and everything else were still coated in soot.
Elspet eyed him over the rim of her goblet, then slowly lowered it to the table. “What has come to pass now?”
With a wave for William to keep up, Valan strode across the room and joined them at the table. He seated himself on the end of the bench closest to Elspet. “Nothing, m’lady. Dinna fash yerself.” He looked to William and then directed his attention to the long cabinet opposite the wide hearth on the other side of the room. It was filled with pitchers, decanters, goblets, and tankards. “Pour us a drink, aye?” He hoped that assigning the man a task would enable the young warrior to rid himself of that hunted look.
“Aye, Constable.” William hurried across the room, his hands tensing into fists, then relaxing as if he battled with himself.
Beitris watched him, frowning. She leaned forward and whispered, “What is wrong with him? He looks like a deer that just spotted the hounds.”
Valan waved her words aside. “Nothing is amiss, Lady Beitris. I assure ye.” He returned his attention to Elspet and tapped a finger on the grubby forearm of her armor. “I thought bathing and fresh clothes wouldha come first.”
“With all the ash and soot in my hair, Dullis decided a full bath was in order.” She pushed the platter of cheeses and apples closer to him along with the plate of bread. A sigh escaped her as she rubbed her eyes. “It takes a while to heat enough water to fill the tub in the corner of my chambers.”
“Da brought it to her all the way from the Holy Land.” Beitris poured more wine into her mother’s goblet and then refilled her own. “’Tis a fine thing of copper with a fancy rolled rim. And special soaps with a recipe for how to make more, too. Caitra’s mother is the washerwoman, and ye canna tell the difference between the soaps she makes and the ones Da brought back from his travels.”
“Aye, but it takes so much work to fill the monstrous thing, I usually settle for a simple washing in the basin each day.” Elspet pushed her plate aside and sagged back in her chair. “But it was a thoughtful gift.” Resting her head in her hand, her weary look turned thoughtful and sad. “Herbert was a kind man. Sure to be missed.”
“He would nay have to be missed if he had stayed here where he was needed.” Beitris banged her metal goblet on the table.
“Dinna speak ill of the dead.” Elspet forced herself to sit straighter, but worry still slumped her shoulders.
Valan downed the whisky William set in front of him, then helped himself to the cheese and bread. After a side-eyed glance at William, he decided to help the marriageable warrior come to the appropriate conclusion. “William and I have come up with a way to foil Euban and Granger.”
“Without killing them?” Elspet might be tired, but the firm insistence in her voice remained strong. She locked her pointed glare on him.
“Without killing them,” he repeated.
Beitris stabbed a slice of apple as if it was one of the men in question. “Would the clan not be better off without both of them?”
“Aye,” Elspet said. “But I fear many in our clan dinna realize that. We can ill afford any accusations of murder. Especially with the village gone. We are mere women, remember?”
“There is nothingmereabout either of ye.” Valan reached for the decanter of whisky, then gave his second in command a meaningful nudge. “Tell them our idea, William. See what they think.” ’Twas time the warrior realized the needs of an entire clan far outweighed the needs of oneGallóglaigh.
“I am…uhm…King Alexander’s cousin.” William stared down at the table, his body tensed tighter than a newly strung bow. He slid his glass back and forth between his hands, nervously tapping it with his fingers. “If the Lady Beitris weds me, with the condition that Caerlaverock and all Maxwell lands are her dowry, not only would the men of the clan most likely accept us as the new laird and lady, but Euban couldna fight it out of fear of looking a traitor.”
“Yer enthusiasm for this plan makes my heart pound, William.” Beitris’s words dripped with sarcasm. She gave a disgusted shake of her head and stabbed another slice of apple.
Elspet’s sleek, dark brows rose to her hairline. “And I assume Euban would be told that the king himself demanded such a dowry for consent to marry his cousin?”
“Absolutely.” Valan lifted his glass for a toast. “Do ye not think it a solid plan?”
“Would proof not be required?” Elspet leaned forward, her interest piqued. “An order bearing King Alexander’s seal?”
“Aye.” William perked up as if sensing salvation at hand.
“Ye dinna have to be such an arse about it,” Beitris snapped. “Ye liked me well enough earlier today. Enough to steal a kiss.”
Valan slowly shifted on the bench and faced William. “Steal a kiss, she says? Even after my order that the women of Clan Maxwell were to remain untouched?”
