“Enough, Dearg, ye have had yer fun, but after a week, this is gettin’ pathetic,” Erskine brought them nose to nose. His usual menacing tone was enough to get his way with Dearg, preventing the need for them to come to blows, but today…Dearg did not look so inclined to agree.
“Ye wish me to stop?”
“Aye, it is tiresome to listen to jests day after day that only ye find amusin’.”
“On the contrary, brother,” Dearg disentangled his arm from Erskine. “Camden and Aiden certainly find it amusin’ too.” He stepped toward the coaching inn before hesitating and turning back, his expression lighting up with a thought. “I wonder if our faither would find it just as amusin’?”
Erskine saw red—as though a deep mist had descended on him.
This is difficult enough without ye threatenin’ to tell our faither that ye suspect me of likin’ a boy!
“Oh dear, are ye feelin’ emotional today, brother?” Dearg’s words were the final straw.
Suddenly it did not matter to Erskine that Dearg was his brother. He would deal with the matter the way he would deal with it if they were not related. He closed the distance between them and clenched his fist. Dearg was too busy smiling to realize what was coming—his eyes only widened in realization just before Erskine’s fist collided with his nose.
“Arrghh! Erskine!” His roar bellowed around the small road of the village.
“Erskine?” Tam’s voice sounded from the carriage. “What happened?” Erskine was distracted, turning to answer Tam so that he was not aware Dearg had recovered himself. Not until he felt the blow in the side of his chest.
“Oomph!” Erskine was winded as he buckled forward, but now that red mist had enveloped him completely. He and Dearg began brawling together, each one so matched in height and strength that the wounds they inflicted on each other were equally bad.
“Erskine, stop!” It was Tam’s voice.
Camden and Aiden were dragging Dearg away; they were both needed to restrain each of his arms. Dearg’s normally freckled face was bright red as he breathed heavily, almost matching the color of his hair.
“Leave us to it!” Erskine ordered Tam and the others, trying to break free of Tam’s hold in order to get back to Dearg. They always followed his orders, but not today, it seemed.
“Erskine, stop,” Tam pleaded, stepping between them now to use his entire body weight to push Erskine back.
“Get out of me way, Tam,” he lowered his voice, making clear his seething rage.
I will put an end to Dearg’s words now!
Erskine could not take his eyes off his brother, so determined to get back to him; Dearg appeared to hold the same determination.
“I think I said somethin’ to tick me brother off,” Dearg drawled out the words, clawing against his captors.
“Ye ass —” Erskine pushed past Tam, managing to break free, but before he could finish his insult and before he could reach Dearg, someone else stepped in the way.
“That is enough!” Billie’s voice echoed between the walls of the small road, much higher-pitched than he had used before. The lad pushed both of his hands against Erskine’s chest and shoved him back.
Erskine was too surprised to think of trying to push past Billie.
He could have lifted Billie up and pushed him out of the way if he had wanted. The lad was so much shorter and so slight, it would have been easy to do, but it was the last thing Erskine would do. He would never manhandle the lad in such a way.
“Get out of the way, Billie,” Erskine spoke with coldness, holding his ground. Still, Dearg was fighting against Camden and Aiden, trying to be released.
“No,” Billie said simply, raising his chin high. It urged Erskine to look away from Dearg, back down to the delicate features of Billie and the bold eyes that were now staring back at him.
“Billie, I said —”
“I know what you said, but no good can come from ending an argument with your fists,” he stepped forward again and placed his hand back in the center of Erskine’s chest. He continued walking forward, forcing Erskine to back up.
“Aye, there can. I can think of many an argument I have had that has been settled in such a way,” Erskine scoffed.
“This is needless violence. Do not be a brute,” Billie pushed him back a little harder before turning his head back round to see Dearg with the others.
Erskine flinched at the words. He had been called a ‘brute’ enough times in his life. It usually did not bother him, but Billie making the insinuation for some reason hurt a great deal.
