Alison was quiet for a long while, and David’s thoughts turned to his stepmother, whose delicate health worried him. His duty to free her weighed heavily on him.
“Ach, the poor lads. I suppose that is one of the reasons Robbie seems so troubled,” Alison said, shaking her head. “He’s the other subject I wished to discuss with ye.”
“My brother?” Good God, why?
“He asked me to speak to ye on his behalf.”
Why would his brother confide in Alison? Robbie hardly knew her. If his brother had something to say to him, he could damn well say it himself. All the same, David kept silent and waited for her to tell him what this was about.
“Robbie wants ye to treat him like a man—which, of course, he isn’t,” she said. “I was relieved when he told me that ye refuse to take him…wherever it is that ye go.”
He almost smiled. Robbie had made a mistake in choosing Alison as his emissary.
“In truth, I cannot keep him from the fighting and raiding much longer,” David said. “Robbie will be a man soon.”
“Be that as it may,” she said in a tone that suggested she disagreed, “I hate to see him so unhappy. And he’s a bit hard on Will.”
“If Robbie’s done something he ought not, tell me and I’ll punish him.”
“He’s done nothing,” she said a mite too quickly. “But I am worried about him.”
“Robbie is right that Will acts in ways that invites jests from some of the young warriors.” He leaned on his elbows and ran his hands through his hair. “I fear I’ve been too soft on him.”
David was not accustomed to discussing his problems—especially problems involving his brothers—with anyone. But Alison was not going to mock the lads, so he saw no harm in it. And hard as it was to admit, he could use some advice.
“Will is just fine as he is,” Alison said with a flash of fire in her eyes.
He liked that she defended his brother, though she obviously did not know a damned thing about what it would take for a lad to gain respect from the men.
“Ye needn’t worry about Will,” she said. “He’s kind, but he’s not weak. That lad has a mind of his own.”
That was true enough. “All the same, I can’t have my brother being ridiculed. In the long run, it will do both him and the clan harm.”
“I have an idea...” She looked up at him from beneath her lashes as if waiting for him to object. When he didn’t, she said, “I understand Robbie has become rather good with a sword.”
“He has,” David agreed, though he had no notion why she was mentioning that now.
“Why not give him the task of training Will?” she asked.
“I should train Will, just as I’ve trained Robbie.”
All the experienced warriors helped train the younger ones, but his brothers’ training merited his personal attention. One day they would fight at his side and play important roles in the clan. He owed it to them and to the clan to see that they became the most skilled and cunning warriors they could be.
“I’ve been preoccupied with other matters, but that’s no excuse.” He had spent countless hours training Robbie, and Will deserved no less.
“Ye weren’t laird when ye trained Robbie,” she said. “When Will is older and more skilled, he’ll need your instruction. But surely he could learn a great deal from Robbie now.”
The more he thought about it, the more David saw the merit in Alison’s suggestion. Will would gain warrior skills, and Robbie would feel recognized for his.
“Lord knows I don’t know what else to do with them,” he said, rubbing his face. “’Tis worth a try.”
Alison blessed him with a smile that lit up her eyes and made his stomach flip. Odd, how she seemed to reward him when he showed weakness. Ach, women.
Regardless, a clever warrior took advantage of an opening when he saw one. With one sweep of his arm, he pulled her onto his lap. Her eyes went wide, but when he was careful to do nothing more to alarm her, she stayed put. Her soft bottom felt good resting on his thigh. He would content himself with that for the moment.
She ran her tongue over her lip again, and he nearly forgot his resolve to wait to kiss her.
“I was surprised Cochburn was gone before breakfast,” she said. “That was a short visit.”
