Part 8 (1/2)
Aenos snorted. ”Have no fear, lad. There be plenty more of that to be sure.”
Ewan got up slowly.
”He doesn't need to be drinking any more ale,” Nora said, turning to Aenos. ”He needs a good bath and a night of rest.”
”And who are you to be lecturing me on what I can and canna drink?”
She thought about that for a moment, then seized on the one thing he couldn't argue with. ”Your responsibility.”
Ewan's face went from anger to shock in the span of a heartbeat. ”Beg pardon?”
”I'm your responsibility,” she told him, ”and you can't be watching after me while you're knee-deep into your cups. I happen to be quite a handful and could get into any number of fixes while you're off unconscious. So you see, it is my place to lecture you on how much ale you consume.”
She watched as the muscle in his jaw worked furiously.
He glanced to the old man beside him. ”Aenos, fetch me an ax.”
Aenos headed off at his command.
Those words made her nervous. Especially since they were said with a mixture of anger and determination. ”An ax? Why do you need an ax?”
His eyes blazed. ”I'm going to take care ofmy responsibility so that it plagues me no more.”
She gulped audibly. ”Take care of me how?”
”I'm going to cut your head off and bury your body in the back.”
She stepped away from him, unsure whether he meant that. His face was stern and serious enough.
”That is a jest, correct?”
”Mayhap. But if you don't leave me be, woman, you're going to find out firsthand why I choose to live alone.”
Aenos returned with the ax.
Ewan grabbed it from him, cast her a menacing glare and handed Aenos the empty pitcher. ”Take her inside to finish her meal, Aenos. I'll be back later.”
”Where are you going?” Nora asked.
He didn't answer. He merely headed off into the woods.
”Leave him be for a bit,” Aenos whispered. ”He's only going to work out some of his anger.”
”How?”
”He chops wood. I've enough of it now to fuel the whole village through the harshest of winters. But it calms him down, so I never say anything. Come, my lady, let's get you inside so that you can get dried off.”
Nora followed him back to Sorcha inside their worn but cozy cottage.
”Where is Ewan?” Sorcha asked while she was cleaning Ewan's trencher.
Aenos pulled his cap off and replaced it on the hook by the door. ”The woodpile.”
Sorcha sighed. ”Poor lad. At the rate he's going we'll be able to build a castle.”
Nora retook her seat. ”Is he always so angry?”
”He's a man in pain, my lady,” Sorcha said quietly as she returned to the table to keep Nora company.
”He's forgotten how to live without it. Forgotten how to find joy of any sort.”
”Remember when he was a boy?” Aenos asked, retaking his own seat.
”Aye.” Sorcha smiled as she wiped a cleaning cloth over her area of the table. ”He was such a happy lad. He used to get up and stagger down the stairs asking, 'Where's my Kieran?'”
She smiled at Nora and explained her comment, ”He thought he owned his brother. And Kieran, bless his heart, very seldom ran out of patience with him. I don't think I ever saw one without the other.”
”Until they fell in love with the same woman,” Nora breathed.
”Aye. Isobail was an evil la.s.s,” Aenos said. ”Turning them against each other so that she could get what she wanted. I know the devil's saving a special corner of h.e.l.l for her.”
”Aenos!” Sorcha gasped. ”Watch your tongue before the lady.”
”Sorry,” he muttered. ”But 'tis truth.”
Nora ate in silence as she thought about the lonely man outside in the woods.
What would it be like to live with such guilt?
She couldn't imagine it.
Once she finished her meal and had changed her clothes, she left them and headed outside again to find Ewan. There was a small path that led from the back of the cottage into the woods.
It didn't take long to find him. She could hear his chopping even from a distance.
What she didn't expect was to find him s.h.i.+rtless. His body was covered in a fine sheen that fair glowed in the moonlight.
He was beautiful.
Manly.
Powerful.
And as soon as he saw her, he did what she expected. He cursed. It seemed to be the only greeting he could give her.
”Unless you come bearing more ale, I suggest you head back inside.”
”And if I come bearing an apology?”