"If I’m to be honest, I think they do more harm than good."
"Did ye see something?"
Gawain nodded. His head snapped toward the door when footsteps passed by before turning back to his brother. “When I was on me way to the castle, I noticed that the villagers seemed tense around them. Knowing guards, they may be abusing their power." Gawain clenched his hands into fists while Caillen furrowed his brows into a frown as he looked away from his brother. "I ken it is far-fetched, but it is true. I heard an old woman complaining about what the guards had done to her son."
"Nae, me men would never—"
"Then step into the village with me? Let us sneak around like we once used to. We’ll pretend to be foreigners so we can observe them to the fullest. If we see anything wrong, maybe we can get ahead of it before things get worse."
"Nae...but Hector should ken about this? Why hasn't he done anything?" Gawain would have said perhaps Hector was getting something from the guards after their daily raid of bullying the people, but he held his tongue. The last thing he wanted to do was sound envious of his brother's left hand. "I must ask him first." Caillen shot out of his seat, but his brother was fast on his tail, grabbing Caillen's arm, dragging him back before the man could reach the door. "What is the matter?"
“Why are ye going to inform the commander of the guards that we are on our way to observe the bad eggs in his basket? Think, brother, think! He would simply warn them in advance to be on their best behavior. It would only make the guards more conscious of us. Trust yer men to find us before the end of the hour."
"Well, what do ye want me to do? I still have to call Hector into this at some point." Caillen protested as he rubbed his shoulder “And ye did nae have to pull me arm like that."
"Aye, I did nae, but I would do it again. Yer whining never stopped me. And as fer calling in Hector, aye, but that will be much later. Listen to what we’ll do. We get some cloaks and head into the village, where we observe not only the guards but the villagers as well. There might be things that we do nae even ken about. So come along. Go get a cloak and... get one fer me as well."
"What about yers?" Caillen narrowed his eyes at his brother, fully knowing Gawain simply wanted to take his and never give it back.
"Get us both cloaks and meet me by the main castle gates."
"Are we taking horses?"
"Nae. Meet me by the gates. Tuck in yer hair and try nae to draw attention to yerself." He half-joked as his brother left. He couldn’t believe the smile on his own face. Maybe he could be happy here, again. He only had to prove himself to the petty elders, the most stubborn people, their allies, Davinia, and his brother. His work was cut out for him. He swallowed gently as he braced himself for whatever came at him.
* * *
Gawain kicked at the loose earth at his feet. Caillen was taking more than he should. The sun was reaching its highest point, its unforgiving rays beat down on him, he could feel a trickle of sweat roll down his back. On the other side of the gates, he could hear the hustle and bustle of the people, the noise minimal compared to what he and Caillen would encounter in the main market.
His thoughts wandered toward Davinia. He had been swamped with the arrival of the elders all through the day, he did not have the time to see her let alone talk to her. He remembered the jaded hairpin still in his bag, he had to give it to her but he felt the timing was not right.
After all, he still did not know how exactly she saw him and he was sure up to a point that Hector was courting her. If he was being honest with himself, he was not all too sure about where he stood. He had to sit and think about it properly before he would give her the hairpin.
The groaning of the second castle gates opened, alerting Gawain of his brother's presence. Caillen stopped a few feet from his brother, two cloaks falling from his hands, and he bent over, panting.
"Ye are late."
"I jumped out a window and ran here! A praise every now and then would be greatly appreciated, Gawain."
"I never asked ye to jump out a window."
"Ye said to meet ye here without letting anyone in the castle ken!"
"Aye, but I never asked ye to jump out the window. Put on a cloak, and let us head out before the morning market clears out completely." Gawain picked up both cloaks, tossing one to his out-of-breath brother before he flung his over his shoulders, lacing it up before pulling up his hood.
"I feel like a thief." Caillen grumbled as he suited up as well. His comment earned him a laugh from his brother, who tugged at Caillen's cloak, inspecting him.
"Nae, ye would get caught by the maid, I bet. Come on, we'll be out fer quite a while." Both brothers set out into the village. The paths were filled up with clansmen and foreigners, livestock, and domesticated animals. Gawain remembered how the clan was before he left. His father did not allow foreigners, which was something Gawain was glad Caillen had changed. Gawain had proposed the idea first, letting people from all over the world trade and even settle down in the clan would only bring more growth and prosperity, but his father was not very open to the idea of sharing his land with immigrants.
The market was filled to the brim with people and wares. Gawain had always thought markets were very colorful scenes. There were the freshest fruits, greenest vegetables, the reddest of meat, carpets of spices, along with the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread. There were uncut rolls of color-splashed clothes, jewelry ranging from the smallest rings to the most obnoxious headwear. There was the sound of metal scraping and banging against metal, if one passed by the blacksmith. The lively chatter of the people as they bought, sold, haggled, and fought. For Gawain, a painter's masterpiece should be a market full to its brim.
"It has been a while since I’ve been to the market." Caillen said as he took a piece of bread from the bakery, handing the little girl her fee. Passing the bread to Gawain who broke it before handing his brother the smaller half.
"Nae that I’m tell ye how to do ye job but—"
"Aye, I ken. Ye do nae need to scold me. I’m nae as...how do I put this? Well, I was nae as popular as ye were when ye were in the clan." Gawain scoffed as he bit into his bread.
"Ye jest. Ye have always been the favored one. By father, the elders, the people."
