Why was he so tired in the morning? Granted, he was annoyed he overslept coupled with the awakening, but he had to deal with worse when he was in Ireland. That aside, why did his brother need him so urgently? Hector was out of commission, and Gawain had to be careful with his words and actions in anything concerning the injured man.
Still, Gawain snickered at the memory of Hector's swollen face. Whoever got Hector did a better job than Gawain would have.
His day was packed with activities, and he wanted to get them done as fast as he could. Perhaps he could just ignore his brother, do his duties and see Caillen before he retired for the night. But of course, he had to see Davinia as well, but with their schedule, where was he going to fit their meeting?
The main task he had was selecting his men, Gawain almost winced. He would have to summon the patience of a mother not to knee a guard in the stomach. Where would he even start? Hector's men were loyal to Hector and Caillen only, Gawain just stepping in to pluck out a few would not sit well with the men obviously.
Perhaps he could choose the men who assisted him in putting out the fire? They chose to help the clan over their dislike for him, that was something he could at least work with. They were small, very small, just about three men if he could remember properly. He would seek them out after he had gotten ready for the day. They should be able to lead him toward better men. Gawain did not need much for the time being. A dozen and a half would be more than enough if he had to be specific.
Once he was done with the men, he had to ease himself into the clan better. He would start with the market, he did have to make sure that the foreigner was alright. From there, he would distribute his men amongst the village and make his way back. He should be able to see Davinia before he did anything else. His mind drifted toward the jade hairpin in his pouch, he could give it to her when he got back.
A knock from the door brought him out of his thoughts. "Sir Gawain. I’ve your bath drawn!"
"Aye." He mumbled to himself as he shifted off the bed to get ready for the day.
Unfortunately, Gawain's plans were not playing out as he pleased. At first, he had decided to push meeting his brother toward the end of the day but that was foiled when Caillen himself blocked Gawain's path on his way out of the keep.
"I summoned ye." Gawain frowned at his brother's tone but said nothing about it.
"I never said I was nae going to heed yer call."
"It seemed to me as if ye were on her way out of the keep. Ye were nae going to heed me call."
"I was, just when I was done with me work." Caillen narrowed his eyes at his brother, stepping closer, so Gawain had to raise his eyes to meet his brother's.
"Me study. Now." Caillen pushed past Gawain, who clenched his teeth to hold back the comment he wanted to throw at his brother. Caillen was for sure going to swing his sword if he heard it. He had no choice, so he followed behind his brother to the study where Scott was waiting. Once the door was shut, Caillen started. "Hector will obviously nae be able to perform his task fer a while so I would like it if ye, Gawain would take over until he’s better."
"And why would ye think that is a good idea? Gawain shot at his brother, arms crossed over his chest. "Yer men want me blood on their swords, they would never listen to me. If anything, I would be stabbed in the back before the end of the day." Scott covered his laugh with a cough when he locked eyes with a serious Caillen. "Me apologies, but I refuse. It is hard enough to find men to back me up with the village, and now ye want me to lead all of them. It would never work."
"Aye Caillen, as much as I would love to disagree and assist ye in forcing yer brother to work, he’s right. Say an enemy clan comes charging in all of a sudden and yer men refuse to listen to Gawain, each one just rushing head first into battle, even if ye win due to yer numbers, the number of men ye will bury will double if Hector were to lead them. They trust Hector, and they are loyal to him. Putting someone else in charge all of a sudden is nae all too wise. I only advise ye as a friend." Scott chipped, which made Caillen's hands fly toward his temples, rubbing as his lips moved in a silent mumbling before he looked up at his brother.
"That was nae a request, Gawain. Ye will do as ye’re told."
"And will all due respect, me lord, but that is a command I cannae carry out. Yer stress is understood, brother, but ye need to think about this fer a little while longer. Ye might think this is a way to slip me back into the clan's good side but I assure ye that this will only bring about the commotion and more dispute. Ye have to take her men into consideration as well, Caillen. I’m still having trouble with gathering me men, forcing me into commanding Hector's army is nae the right way to go about this. I’m nae telling ye what to do, but perhaps it would be better if ye took over Hector's role yerself, but ye can think of something else while I’m away."
"And where are ye off to?"
"Caillen, ye asked me to gather men and men I’m on me way to gather. Ye and Scott seems to have some unfinished business, so please excuse me." Caillen said nothing, nodding at Gawain, who made his way out of the study.
Once the door was shut, Gawain leaned back until his head made contact with the door, a heavy sigh dropping from his lips. He understood his brother was frustrated, angry even at Hector's predicament. Even for Gawain, no matter how much he joked about Hector deserving a beating, he was still troubled about the situation of things. He could not shake the feeling he had that everything bad that had happy was linked to each other. The pot almost killed him, the fires, and now Hector. To someone else, they probably had nothing in common, but to Gawain, he could already see the fingers pointing at him. He was certain someone hated him enough to want him banished the second time or, even worse, executed, but the question was who that person was.
Gawain could not narrow down a line of suspects. He pulled out Davinia and his brother. He could rule out Hector since the man was probably a cough away from being a tale. As much as he wanted to drag in Scott, Gawain doubted the man would go through so much and even risk making an enemy out of a large and powerful clan just to get rid of Gawain.
Gawain could not even think of a time he had offended the man except for Flora's nonsense which Gawain was sure had been cleared. As for Flora...he ruled her out as well. The woman was cunning in her own way, but with her sudden interest in him, he did not think she would want him dead.
His mind drifted to Emer. There was a chance it could be his sister-in-law who was the mastermind in all of this. If Gawain thought about it properly, she forgave him quite easily after he had manipulated and blackmailed her before his punishment.
He cringed at the memory.
He had been so foolish back then. No matter how much Emer could dislike him, he doubted she would want to cause her husband or her clan this much distress just to get rid of him. No, Emer was too soft-hearted for that.
Then who could it be?
He heard the door unlock, and he hurried out of the way, turning around to face Scott, who raised an eyebrow at him. "Were you eavesdropping?" Scott shut the door behind him before crossing his arms over his shoulders.
"Nae...just thinking about something."
"Care to share?" Scott leaned forward, and Gawain took a step back, frowning at the eerie green eyes that stared straight at his blue ones. He started to walk away, but Scott followed." Is it about yer brother's offer fer ye to step into Hector's shoes?"
