‘Aye. She is,’ he growled. ‘And if she’s savage, then she will suit Cullen well. Do you know, Lowri, that your husband is a bastard just like your brother? It seems the world is full of them.’ He glared at Maeve.
‘I’ve no interest in that,’ said Lowri, continuing to eat, but her blush deepened.
‘Why not, lass, when it means you and my cousin have something in common? And let me tell you, Griffin was not best pleased with Cullen when he came into this world. He wasn’t what was expected.’
‘Easy, Seamus,’ growled Cullen.
‘Cullen was passed around various houses when he was a young lad, after his mother died. Griffin wanted him gone, you see. I think he has always been a little frightened of his son, and with good reason, eh, Cullen?’
Cullen clenched his fists and glared at Seamus, who reddened and fell silent. Anger came off him in waves until the air grew thick with it.
Maeve did not seem to notice. ‘I do declare, your wife has quite the appetite,’ she said to Cullen with a grin.
‘We’ll have to ask Cullen about that,’ said Seamus. ‘But let us hope Lowri’s appetites are not as bad as yours, Maeve.’
Her grin faded at his implication. ‘What do you mean?’ she said.
‘You know full well what I mean,’ replied Seamus, glancing at her rounded belly.
Lowri banged down her spoon, making them all start. ‘Stop bullying her.’
‘I’ll do as I please in my own house, lass, and you’d best curb your tongue when you are sat at my table eating my food,’ growled Seamus.
Lowri shoved her plate across the table at him. ‘Take your damned food back then.’
Seamus sneered. ‘A spirited lass, you have there, Cullen. But you need to muzzle her before I deal with her.’
‘If you tried that, I’d have to knock you on your arse, now, wouldn’t I?’ said Cullen.
Seamus locked eyes with him. ‘As you like. But take my advice and curb her ways. If my wife spoke to me like that, I would take a hand to her.’
‘And do you take a hand to her?’ spat Lowri.
‘Now and then, but not in the way she wants,’ he said with a smirk at Maeve.
‘Oh, aye, he took my brother’s land and coin for the sake of the bastard in my belly easy enough, but he’ll not take me,’ cried Maeve.
‘Be quiet, woman.’
Lowri’s rebellion seemed to have emboldened Maeve, and she turned on Seamus. ‘My bairn is like a weed in a flowerbed that you want to tear out. I see you watching, waiting for my bairn to come. You will be on me then. I’ve no doubt.’
‘As is my right as a husband.’
‘And that is my lot as a wife. You will come to know this, Lowri. We are only useful for breeding, you see, not loving, not holding or wanting. And Seamus doesn’t need me anyway, for he has his whores he goes to.’
‘Aye, just as I have one at home waiting for me every night,’ said Seamus.
Cullen stood with a scrape of his chair. ‘That’s enough, Seamus. You are in your cups. Leave the lass alone.’
Seamus waved a hand. ‘Sit, cousin. Calm yourself. This is how Maeve and I get on together. And she is a whore, and was one long before some ingrate put that bairn in her belly. Aye, Maeve Glendenning had quite the reputation about the West March, which I knew nothing of when I agreed to wed her to spare her shame. But I’ve learnt it all since. So how am I to trust her now?’
‘How is your wife to trust you when you slander her before others? Come on, Seamus. Only a weak man bullies a woman,’ said Cullen.
‘Aye, he is but half a man,’ snapped Lowri.
Seamus banged the table hard with his palm, and Maeve squealed.
‘Half a man is it?’ he bellowed. ‘And what of you, Lowri Strachan? I want to hear about Cullen’s bride. He told me you live wild, like a man, running around the Marches as you please.’
