He sighed.
“I’ll see them. Show them in,” he said.
“As you wish,” Wilhelm said, moving off.
Fallon finished dressing and left his personal quarters, careful not to give a glimpse of his bed and the sleeping Shea as he slipped past the privacy screen.
Gawain glowered as Fallon made his entrance, the standard frown on his face. Fallon didn’t let it bother him. As the son of Fallon’s mentor, Gawain got away with more than any other clan leader.
Perhaps that was because Fallon felt guilt over the partiality Gawain’s father showed Fallon. Henry had made no secret that he considered Fallon the son he’d always wanted. It had led Gawain down a path of bitterness. Made worse by the fact that Fallon was the warlord, his superior.
Sometimes Fallon wondered why the other man had ever consented to join Fallon’s horde. There had been other options, few though they might have been.
Ben was a mirror to Gawain, welcoming Fallon’s presence with a slight smile. The other clan leader had a wrapped bundle placed next to him on the table.
A glance outside revealed it was still the middle of the night. What could these two want at this late hour?
“To what do I owe this visit?” Fallon asked in a dry voice, crossing the room.
While it wasn’t unheard of to have late night guests, the matter was usually of an urgent nature. Given the calm look on their faces, Fallon had to wonder why they had disturbed him.
“I’m sure Rain wishes to discuss his matter with you first,” Ben said, deferring to the other clan leader.
Gawain waved a hand, his face disgruntled. “My matter can wait.”
The response was obviously not what Ben was expecting and he looked momentarily off-kilter.
“Someone speak now,” Fallon ordered when the silence lingered. “You’ve pulled me from my bed. The least you can do is make this quick.”
“We do apologize for pulling you from your woman’s warm body,” Gawain said, his voice slightly snide.
Ah, there was the man Fallon was used to. His and Van’s support this afternoon had been unexpected. This response was more in keeping with the man Fallon knew.
“That’s the Battle Queen you’re talking about,” Fallon said, satisfaction at being able to give that title to Shea, coursing through him.
Gawain’s mouth popped open, complete surprise on his face. It didn’t last long as his expression turned thoughtful.
Fallon registered Ben’s choked gasp, a flash of horror before his face smoothed back into placid lines, but most of his focus was on Gawain.
Fallon lifted his eyebrows at the man who was both enemy and family all at once. Their relationship was complicated. They should have been the best of friends, brothers in all but name. That they weren’t could be laid at his mentor’s feet, but also at Fallon’s. He’d barely taken notice of the short, skinny child who tagged after him when his mother and he had come to live with the Horse clan.
He’d been too consumed with his own concerns to care about that child, nor did he care when Henry made him a priority even over his own flesh and blood.
“What? No sarcastic remarks? Nothing on the mistake I’m making,” Fallon asked, his face hard.
Gawain’s lips quirked. “No, I think that’s probably one of the smartest moves you’ve ever made.”
Fallon stared at him, trying to figure out what this newest game was. The one thing Gawain had been consistent in all these years was taking the opposing side of any matter Fallon was on.
He couldn’t be supporting him now.
Gawain sat back with a smirk. “She tempers you. Makes you bearable for the rest of us to deal with.”
Fallon gave him a considering look, going over the events of the past few days. “I noticed you didn’t speak up against my alliance with the pathfinders either. Both you and Lion seemed to be in support of it.”
Gawain reached forward and poured ale into a goblet, doing the same for Fallon. He slid a goblet Fallon’s way before taking the other for himself. He didn’t bother doing the same for Ben.
Ben, of course, let it slide. A mistake. If Ben wanted his clan to receive the respect they deserved, he needed to step up and demand it. Starting by taking a stand on the little insults the other clan leaders threw his way on a regular basis, such as what just happened with the ale.
