Grimacing, Gytha looked at Thayer. “I did not mean to make him angry.”
Chuckling softly, Thayer slipped his arm about her shoulders and brushed a kiss over her forehead. “I fear he has his father’s temper, but being so young, he has not learned control.”
She briefly grinned at him, then watched him thoughtfully for a moment. “You agree that I had to scold him?”
“Aye. He has to learn to think of others—all others. And if I did not agree, I would never say so in front of the boy. We would discuss it later.” He frowned in the direction Bek had gone. “He must learn to heed you as he does me.”
She quickly, fiercely hugged him. “Thank you, Thayer.”
Smiling crookedly, he looked at her as she stepped away. “Well, you are most welcome, though I am not sure what I did.”
Laughing softly, she patted his cheek before heading back to the keep. He accepted her authority over Bek. She doubted he would really understand what that meant to her. All she had to worry about now was Bek’s accepting it. As the day wore on and the only expression she caught on Bek’s face was a sullen one, she began to think a battle was brewing.
That opinion was confirmed, to her weary disappointment, the very next morning. As she left the hall where she had shared the morning meal with Thayer, she espied Janet descending the stairs, her plump arms full of linen. Even rolled up as it was Gytha could see the heavy dirt marks upon it.
“Bek dancing upon the linen again?” She moved closer to meet Janet as the woman finished descending the stairs.
“Aye, m’lady.” Janet grimaced as Gytha looked over the sheets.
“God’s toenails,” Gytha muttered after a good, long look. “You are not to wash these. Prepare the washing tub but wait for me to bring Bek. How did you know they would need washing again?”
“The lad called me to do it.”
“What arrogance.”
Waving Janet on her way, Gytha sighed. She supposed she ought to be glad he was doing battle openly, even brazenly, rather than behind her back. Turning to go in search of Bek, she came face to face with Thayer, who lounged gracefully in the doorway to the great hall.
“Trouble?” he asked.
“Only a little one. Have you seen Bek?”
Reaching behind him, Thayer tugged his son forward. “He was lurking in the hall. I begin to see why he was so careful to stay out of sight.”
Placing her hands upon her hips Gytha gave Bek the sternest look she could muster. “What did you do? Find the worst muck heap at Riverfall to march through, then race to your bedchamber to smear it all over your bed? I should not be surprised to discover you took it up in buckets so that you could freshen the mire upon your feet and dance about on your bed again and again. I do not know how you could sleep with such filth.”
The way he hastily averted his gaze told her he had not slept in his bed. She almost laughed. That, she knew, would be a serious error, so she quickly stifled the urge, keeping her expression stern.
“And then to command poor Janet to come and wash them again.”
“’Tis what she is supposed to do,” Bek snapped.
“Aye, but not because some naughty boy feels inclined to misbehave. Well, mayhap a taste of the work you so freely burden others with is what you need.”
“What?” Bek squawked in protest when she grasped him firmly by the ear.
“You will wash your own muddied linen, sir.”
“Nay! ’Tis woman’s work. ’Tis Janet’s work, not mine. ’Tis her place. Papa!”
Thayer met his son’s outraged, pleading look with a bland expression. “Sounds fair to me.”
“Fair? I am to be a knight, a warrior.”
“Aye,” said Gytha, “a knight. And there are rules a knight follows. He has consideration for those who toil for his comfort, for those who must look to him for their protection. ’Tis time you learn what consideration is.”
The grip she had on the boy’s ear forced him to keep step as she marched him off to the laundry shed. At first Janet and the other women were hesitant. Bek was, after all, their leige’s son. They soon fell into step with her, however, much to Gytha’s relief. Bek was proving very obstinate.
It was nearly an hour before Gytha felt she could leave Bek with only the other women to watch over him. Sullen though he was, he seemed resigned to his fate. She hurried through her rounds, then sought her bed. Flopping down on it, she closed her eyes and felt a new sympathy for her parents. Disciplining a stubborn child was not easy. For several moments she contemplated how hard it was for a grown woman to impose her will on a small boy. Then she sensed she was no longer alone. Even as she opened her eyes, Thayer sat down on the bed at her side.
