Page 33 of Alec

“If you dinnae soon sleep I shall use the thing to shoot you in the arse,” Farlan called after him.

After two more arguments in as many days, Alec realized he needed an outlet before his temper grew too unruly to control. He went early to the lists to shoot a few quivers of arrows at the targets, and there saw the laird’s wife practicing her staff fighting moves in one of the sparring circles. Ava would not coddle or spare him, he suspected, and expected to be treated like any other warrior. She was also strong enough to withstand a few blows without serious injury, as long as he was careful with where and how he dealt them.

“May I serve as your partner, my lady?” Alec said as he retrieved a stave and approached the ring.

“Sure.” Ava waited for him to join her, shifting her grip on her stave as she circled around him. “Darro would do better for you, though. I’m not near as fast or strong as you half-Fae boys.”

“You’re more devious, my lady.” He feinted to the left before swinging to the right, ducking under her stave as he rapped the side of her calf. “You ken that for the second meeting of the time cycle MacBren shall arrive just after the binding ceremony.”

“Tasgall mentioned it.” She shifted back, watching his face as she gripped the wooden staff with both hands. “This time his men search the first and second floors, don’t they?”

“Aye, they do. They’ll beat any male vassal who crosses their path and attack any female they catch unprotected.” He parried the two-handed blow she brought to his side and forced her back a few steps. “The brutes enjoy harming women, especially the young and helpless.”

“Do tell. Time out.” She lowered her staff and regarded him for a moment. “I think you need to stop dancing around whatever you really want to say to me, War Master.”

“Olivia doesnae ken what happens when the MacBren comes,” he said, planting the end of his stave on the hard-packed ground. “Dinnae tell her, my lady. ’Tis enough for her to accept being trapped here and living among us.”

Ava cocked her head. “You really think keeping her in the dark is a good idea?”

“How do I tell her that if she crosses the path of the MacBren he’s likely to seize and toss her to his men?” Alec said flatly. “They’ll drag her to the floor and do as they wish with her. After they’ve all taken a turn, they’ll cut her throat.” As she started to argue he added, “’Tis what happened to one of the maids caught by them before the curse.”

“She died?” the laird’s wife asked.

He saw how pale she’d grown but knew unlike Olivia that she could bear the truth.

“Aye.” Alec planted the end of his stave. “Now when the MacBren comes the maid vanishes, just as all other mortals and clansmen slain during the first attacks on the stronghold do at the time they died. No matter how we safeguard them, they go without warning at the same time they died in our world. At the end of the cycle, they reappear, with no memory of their end, or the passage of time since. We shallnae ken if the same happens to your murderess until next cycle.”

“Tasgall never mentioned that. He probably thought it would scare the daylights out of me.” She cleared her throat. “Look, Alec, there’s no reason to keep this secret. On the contrary, we ladies need to know what we’re facing so we can protect ourselves.”

“Yes, Alec,” a low, tight voice said. “We do.”

Alec stifled a curse as he turned to see Olivia standing on the edge of the circle. “How much did you hear?”

She folded her arms. “Everything after you said that Ava is more devious than Darro. You might want to rethink that, too. He sent me here.”

“I didnae wish to frighten you, lass,” he chided, trying to look wounded.

“Too late. Also, giving me the hurt puppy dog eyes isn’t going to work anymore, so quit that.” She came to Ava’s side of the circle and eyed the stave in her hand. “How heavy is your staff?” When she offered it, Olivia took it in both hands and frowned. “A little much for me. Is there a lighter one here?”

“You cannae spar with me,” Alec chided, and then had to follow both women over to the racks. “I dinnae fight females.”

“Really? I’m not a guy, and you were fine with fighting me,” Ava said as she took down a shorter, lighter stave and handed it to Olivia. “Try this one, Liv. It should be about right for you.”

“Stop.” Alec tried to take the staff from her and yelped as she used it to rap him on the back of the hand. “We dinnae spar outside the circle.”

“You have too many rules,” Olivia said, and nodded to Ava before she marched back over to the circle.

“Uh-oh.” The laird’s wife regarded him with a serene expression. “I’d say you’re about to get your butt kicked, War Master.”

He rubbed a hand over his face. “Fack.”

Facing Olivia in the sparring circle seemed ridiculous, although his hand still throbbed from the blow she’d given him. He didn’t try to evade her first attack, which she made with surprising ferocity, but simply blocked her stave.

“We should talk, lass,” he suggested.

“After days of avoiding me or watching me from a distance before you run off, that’s a nice change.” She swung the staff at his right leg, forcing him to hop. “You could have told me then all the things you just said to Ava—and yes, I get that you don’t want to scare me. Only I’m an adult, and I’m part of this now. I have the right to know.”

He grunted as she struck his left ankle. “’Tis naught for you to fret over, Olivia.”

“I’m here. That qualifies me to fret.” She brought the stave up and stopped short of smashing the end into his chin. “I’m not a child, War Master. Stop treating me like one.”

Alec didn’t push away her staff as he marched up to her, forcing her to cast aside the weapon. “I wish only to protect you.”

“I think I hear my husband calling me,” Ava said, winking at them before she walked into the stronghold.

“You can’t protect me. Not for every minute of every day.” Olivia’s gray eyes shifted as she looked all over his face. “If you’re that worried, I will stick with Ava when you’re working. I know I can help her with her investigation, and the laird has two guards following her everywhere when he can’t be with her. At night...” She stopped and ducked her head. “At night I’m with Inga, so I’m never alone. There are always two guards in the hall, too.”

“I want you in my bed.” He hadn’t meant to say it so baldly, but it was the truth.

Olivia gave him a skeptical look. “You said you didn’t want to be with me. That it was dangerous. Now you want me in your bed again. Why?” When he didn’t reply she made an exasperated sound. “Alec, tell me.”

“I dinnae sleep anymore. I’m failing the clan. I’m so tired, Olivia.” He took hold of her shoulders. “With you in my arms, I might manage to sleep.”

“So you just want someone to hold.” She looked away. “You could get a maid to do that. They’d probably line up outside your door every night.”

“No. No one else. Just you.” He couldn’t put into words what he wanted from her, so he said, “Naught else shall I expect. Only stay the nights with me, and permit me hold you, so I may rest a few hours.”

An unfathomable expression came over her face. “All right.”