"Or perhaps ye ken something about his disappearance?" Scott chipped in, stepping between the brothers. "It could also be that Caillen had him killed, and to cover his tracks, he's acting the part of the concerned laird. Ye will both ask why ye would even do that, and me answer is that I do nae ken. Me point is that nae one kens what happened to Hector, Sir Caillen perhaps it would do ye good nae to point fingers just yet and Gawain, it would nae kill ye to help look fer the man. He could really be in danger."
Both brothers paused to shoot each other a harsh glare before turning in the opposite direction; Caillen continued his search, and Gawain led his group of men. A loud bang as the door was thrown open alerted the three men. Two guards supported a bloody, semi-conscious man by each arm, practically dragging the man along with them. Gawain reached them first, raising the bloody man's hair out of his face to reveal Hector's swollen face.
Chapter Seventeen
"We found him in the gardens, sir." A guard reported as Caillen and Scott caught up to Gawain. "We found him crawling back. There was a trail of blood behind him, sir." Gawain said nothing as Caillen swung into action, trying to get Hector cleaned up as fast as he could. Scott stood beside him. Both men silently watched the chaos Caillen was creating.
"Aye, ye were right, Gawain."
"Excuse me?"
"Ye said he would turn up, and he did." Gawain said nothing in reply, returning his attention to the injured man. A multitude of thoughts ran through his head. Who could have done this? Why did they do it? How did they do it? His musing was interrupted by Scott “If ye manage to get to yer brother tonight, tell him me wife and I’ll nae be leaving by the marrow just yet.”
“What is stopping ye?”
“If we leave now and all yer problems in the clan suddenly stop, that would bring a bad reputation to me clan’s name would it nae? The last thing I want is yer brother knocking me teeth in because he thinks I beat up his lackey like bread dough and I’ve a feeling ye would love to see that.”
“Why would ye think that?”
“No one exactly wishes well on the husband of the woman they lost.” Gawain’s head snapped away from Hector to Scott, taking in the man’s seemingly harmless smirk as Gawain’s brows furrowed into a frown.
“‘Tis nothing of the sort, I assure ye.” Gawain’s heart raced when Scott’s heavy hand landed on his shoulder, the taller man not breaking eye contact as he squeezed hard.
“I shall take yer word fer it.” Gawain only took a step back when Scott retracted his hand. “Besides, I’ll assist ye in finding the culprit and when this Hector nonsense has been resolved, I’ll make me way back to me chambers. Ye should too. Yer brother will most likely be in everyone’s business by the marrow looking fer who beat up his right hand.” Gawain nodded before Scott started to retreat, not relaxing until Scott disappeared past the doors.
His doubt was partially cleared. Scott had heard his conversation with Flora, but his question now was how much Scott heard. He should have kept his mouth shut when Flora approached him in the first place. What happened to his plan of not getting into things that was not his business? If Flora was getting beat up by her husband, that should be their problem.
He already had enough unwanted attention on him, the last thing he wanted was someone like Scott on his tail. Even the dangerous men he had met during his exile, he knew how much they often adored their wives but thinking about how terrified Flora was when she talked about her husband, it made Gawain wonder how terrible could the man be.
It was not his business, so he would not be poking around it and if the man’s wife claimed that his father feared him, who was Gawain to stop Scott from cutting him down? He had matters of his own to attend to.
After looking around to make sure his disappearance would not be noticed, Gawain slinked off, going a different hallway so as not to run into Scott, Gawain made his way toward where he remembered Davinia’s chambers were. Hopefully she still used the room. He did not even ken what to say when he did find her.
If Gawain was to be honest, Caillen was right. Emer would be the first to put her foot down on his relationship with her sister. The woman could claim that she did not hold any grudge against Gawain but even Davinia knew Emer would never accept Gawain for her sister. Since Emer was against him, Caillen would also be against him when it came to Davinia and not just because of Emer but also because of Hector. Hector wanted Davinia as much as Gawain did, and he had the support of the entire clan.
Gawain paused at the beginning of a staircase, leaning against the stone wall as he tried to gather his thoughts. He was more worried about Davinia’s reaction now that Caillen walked in on them. She would be upset, naturally but would she want to see him, knowing her sister would throw a fit once her husband told her what he saw.
Perhaps he should let her simmer down and come back when the sun was up. He doubted he would get any sleep without talking to her first. Taking in Scott’s advice about his brother, Gawain doubted he would even have the time to talk to Davinia with Caillen sniffing around everyone. Not to mention, he had to go into the village to select his men and that could take hours.
No, he had to see her before he slept. continuing toward her chambers, dragging his feet as he went. He was a nervous wreck. Wiping his sweaty palm against his breeches, he had no idea how he would react if Davinia refused to see him, though she had every right. Gawain tried to push his worries to the back of his mind as he approached her door. Bracing himself to knock, the door was flung open to reveal a wide eyed Davinia.
Gawain stepped back just as surprised himself but before he could speak, Davinia reached out and pulled him inside before peeking her head out the door in search of anyone other than Gawain. The hallway was empty. She shut the door before turning to face Gawain.
“Ye should nae be here.” Gawain hummed in agreement as he took in his surroundings. It was small. Bigger than the servant’s quarters but still small in Gawain’s opinion, even smaller than a guest room. It was furnished the same way as his except she had more trunks and books neatly stacked on her table. “Gawain.” Gawain snapped out of his trance, meeting Davinia’s eyes before he looked down at his feet.
“Me apologies, Davinia but I had to see ye before I retire for the night. It is about earlier.” He did not miss her flushed expression as she turned away from him.
“It is nothing to worry about.”
“Nae, do nae say that." Gawain took a step toward closer to her, a hand stretched out for her. Gawain waited, not saying a word as Davinia continued to stare at his outstretched hand, her eyebrows furrowed and her nose scrunched up. She let out a sigh, stretching out her hand to take his allowing herself to be pulled into his arms. "Ye have me most sincere apologies, Davinia. It was me mistake, nae shutting the door properly. But I assure ye that me brother saw nothing."
Davinia shook her head as she pulled away from him. "Nae, he saw everything. He saw exactly what would rile up me sister. Nae only was I caught with a man who is nae me husband, he’s also the brother of me sister's husband and Emer still doesnae like ye, I cannae imagine the scene she will cause."
"Emer nae liking me is nae news, and I do nae blame her. But to be honest with ye, Davinia, I do nae care of she likes me or nae. I’ve given it some thought as well, if me brother tells his wife about this then... things will nae be as rosy as we want it to be. There is a part of me that is sure me brother will nae run his mouth but when I remember that he also agrees with his wife when she says she wants ye to marry Hector, I—" Davinia interrupted him with a gasp, her hands flying to rest over her chest.
"Me goodness, I was so preoccupied with meself, I forgot to ask if ye’ve found Hector. The maids were buzzing about the place with his name in their mouth, it was hard nae to listen in on them. Have ye found him?" Gawain rolled his eyes with a scoff as he turned, heading toward her bed to take a seat. "Gawain, I ken ye do nae like him but he is still—"
"He’s alright. We found him. Well, some guards did. They said he was crawling back and could nae stand on his own. Someone beat him up and it doesnae look good." Davinia gasped again, her hand leaving her chest to cover her lips. Gawain understood her concern was as normal as anyone in the castle but he could help the small sparks of jealousy in his chest. "If ye ask me, it was to be expected."
