by Mia Pride
“So, you’ve come to seek out Mal?” Kelvyn said, before taking a gulp of ale. “I hope you find the bastard and stop his plans. He is naught but trouble.”
“Aye,” Brennain said distractedly as he searched the room with his eyes. “Which man is Morna’s husband?” he asked.
The man’s brow furrowed once more before his eyes widened. “Ah. I remember now. You quite liked her while you were here. I take it the news of her marriage is not welcome or expected? You should have taken her with you when you left. You cannot expect a lass like her to remain unwed.”
Brennain was close to throttling the man, but he swallowed his ire and continued his questions. He wanted… nay he needed to know who her husband was before he left. He could not explain why since it would make no difference in the end and would likely only drive him mad with jealousy. Still, he had to know. “Is he here?” He knew he sounded pathetic. Mayhap he was. He had never felt this way before in his entire life. Bereft. Absolutely beside himself.
“Is who here?” Kelvyn asked, causing Brennain to growl with frustration. “Oh! Her husband? Nay. You will not be finding him here anytime soon, if ever.” Kelvyn slowly sipped his ale and looked around the room as if his vague response was an acceptable one. Though, now he had Brennain’s full attention.
“Why not? Where is he?”
“Caleb abandoned Morna and Glennis when Mal came looking for support. Left without a word, he did. ‘Twas a few moons ago and he has not been heard from since. Either the man has defected, or he is dead.” Caleb. So, the man who married Morna was named Caleb and he was not only a bastard, he was a bloody fool. Glennis must be her daughter’s name.
“What does Caleb look like?” Though he already hated this man, he was determined to track him down and drag him back to his family. It was too late for him and Morna, but he would not have her raising a child alone if he could help it.
Kelvyn shrugged. “Tall. Almost as tall as you. Dark hair, not quite as dark as yours. Hazel eyes, not quite as green as yours… basically a lesser version of you,” Kelvyn snorted. Brennain was not amused. “The lassies sure did like him, and he sure did like the lassies.”
That made Brennain pause. “Was he unfaithful to Morna?”
“Of course, he was. Caleb was not the marrying sort. He only married Morna because her mother, Elsbeth insisted he do so… to raise his daughter.” Brennain needed to stop asking questions. They were not making him feel better. In fact, they were making him want to vomit. The man had gotten Morna with child, so he had been forced to marry her? So, Afterward, he bedded every other lassie while Morna raised their child… then he abandoned them both.
His blood boiled, but suddenly, he had a renewed sense of duty, a goal to add to his mission. He would track down Mal and if that bastard Caleb was with him, he would revel in beating the arse to a bloody pulp before forcing him back to his wife. Morna did not deserve to raise her child alone. He wished to be the man to help her, but how could he even think of such a thing? She was not his. He would have to live with that.
Suddenly, Brennain was more than wary. He had allowed his emotions to consume him since arriving earlier in the day. Gripping his fist tightly around his mug, he downed the last of the ale before slamming it on the table and giving Kelvyn a pat on the back. “My thanks for the information, mate. It was good to see you again. If you will excuse me, I need to be off by dawn, so I must seek a bed.”
“Any bed will do? I can find you a bonnie lass who will welcome you in her bed.”
Brennain considered the offer for the briefest of moments. He could use the distraction, but for the first time in his life, the thought of bedding another lass only made him grimace like he had eaten something sour. “My thanks, but nay. I would prefer to be alone tonight.”
Walking toward the king’s home, where he had been offered lodging for the night, he wondered how Morna had gotten so deep under his skin without even trying, that he had no appetite for another lass. She had truly ruined him. A chill ran up his spine as he looked up at the star-studded sky and a cold wind blew past him. It was a beautiful night, yet he felt so empty.
Nay. Stopping in his tracks, he sucked in a deep breath and looked back at the gathering hall. He would not let her ruin him. She had moved on and could never be his. The sooner he accepted that and moved on, the sooner he could heal. Walking back into the thinning crowd of the alehouse, he sought the first lass who looked in his direction with seduction in her gaze. He was not an overly arrogant man, but he had had enough women to know that they were attracted to him. Never had he sought the attention of a lass and not received it.
Scanning the room, he saw a red-haired lass standing by the fire, speaking with one of her companions. She wore a deep blue dress that fit snugly around her ample bosom and when her eyes met his and she whispered something in her friend’s ear, he knew he had found the one who would take his mind off Morna for at least a night. He had just enough ale running through his veins to make certain he did not second-guess his poor judgment, at least not until the morn.
As he slowly approached her, he forced his dimpled smile to flash at her and when her dark brown gaze bore into his, then scanned his body with appreciation, he pretended his stomach didn’t clench and ignored the voice of warning in his head. He had to do this. He needed to prove to himself that he was not a sorry sot in love with a woman who did not love him in return. That was not who Brennain Mac Greine was. He always got what he wanted, who he wanted.
“Greetings,” the lass whispered, and she tilted her head. Her companion giggled and tossed her chestnut-brown waves over her shoulder. She was quite bonny, as well. Thinner than he preferred but her blue eyes sparkled with promises he could not ignore. Nothing stirred in him and he bit back a grimace of disappointment. Mayhap he needed more ale. Mayhap he should just go to sleep.
Reaghan had disappeared quite some time ago and Brennain was certain he was enjoying himself with that serving lass from earlier. Should not Brennain find at least some enjoyment as well? Feeling sorry for himself was certainly not going to make him feel better. “Greetings,” Brennain murmured back with a smirk and looked the two over, wondering which one he would go home with tonight. “My name is Brennain Mac Greine, from Ráth Mór.” He gave them a sweeping bow and they giggled again.
“Och, we know who you are,” the redhead replied, fluttering her lashes. “I am Arline, and this is my companion, Mavis.” The brunette twiddled her fingers at him and bit her lower lip suggestively. He cursed Morna for ruining all other women for him. He had two beautiful women looking at him as if they wished to devour him, and all he could think about was walking away.
“Would you care for some company tonight, Brennain?” Arline asked as her gaze wandered up and down his body. Aye, he would, just not theirs. “I warn you, I do not wish to fight with Mavis over you, so you would need to suffer us sharing you for the night.”
His eyes nearly popped out of his head and he cursed Morna once more. He had had two women at once before and it was one of the best nights of his life. He should be thinking of all the ways to convince them to bring him home, but all he could think of was finding a way out of his suddenly not so great idea. He did not have it in him on this night to take on one lass, much less two. His heart was broken, and though two beautiful lassies should make him feel better, somehow, he knew not even a hundred could make him forget Morna.
“Is that so?” he cocked a brow, not wanting to let on that he had changed his mind. He had never started something he couldn’t finish and was not certain how to wriggle his way out without making a fool of himself in the public hall. He did, after all, have a reputation to preserve. Mayhap the best thing to do was pretend he was interested, walk the lassies home, then excuse himself privately and sneak away. “Let us discuss this while we walk,” he suggested slowly, as he gestured toward the door. The lassies looked at one another again and smirked triumphantly.
A few of the warriors in the hall made cat-calls an
d bawdy gestures as he wrapped an arm around each of their waists and escorted them through the open door of the hall. The night air slapped him in the face, helping to further sober his thoughts. He was more than glad he had decided not to take these women up on their offer. He needed to clear his mind of Morna and the ale he had so casually consumed all night before he decided to bed any more lassies.
Arline reached around and gripped his arse as they walked away, and he could not help the urge to pull away, but unfortunately, Mavis gripped him on the other side. Taking a deep breath, he resolved to simply walk them home and be well away from what he had started with these two wild women. On any usual day, he would be harder than a rock and ready to take these two lassies to bed, but today was not any usual day. Today was the day Morna had broken his heart. Today needed to end, just as soon as he was rid of Arline and Mavis.
The lassies were giggling and saying something to one another, but he was in a world all his own, determined to get himself out of this mess. When a shadow to his left caught his eye, he instinctively turned his head, suddenly feeling the hackles on his neck rise. When the shadow gasped, his eyes widened, and he stopped in his tracks. Through the darkness of the night and his ale-induced haze, he saw blonde waves blowing in the breeze and a wee lass standing in a blue dress.
“Morna?” He whispered her name, wondering if he was only imagining her standing there, watching him embrace two random women who still gripped his backside like he was their stallion and they were ready to hold on for the ride of their lives.
As the two women turned to see what he was staring at, they saw her as well and began to wave. “Morna!” Arline shouted and stumbled, bumping into his hip. “Wish to join us? I am most certain Brennain can handle all three of us!”
“Aye, leave Glennis with your mama and come have some fun for the first time in your life!” Mavis added with a cackle and a hiccup.
Morna made a choking sound and spun on her heel, running in the opposite direction. Brennain’s heart sank to his toes as he watched her disappear around a corner. He had not needed her to see him this way: broken, desperate, and intoxicated.
“She is dull, that one,” Mavis said with a cruel laugh, tilting her face up to the sky and swerving slightly.
“Aye, nay wonder Caleb left her and Glennis all alone,” Arline scoffed. “Caleb far preferred my bed to his own wife’s.”
Red fury burned hot in Brennain’s veins. “Enough!” he roared, causing the two women to finally release their talon-like grips on him, squealing at his sudden outburst. “Be gone with you!” he stepped away from them and scowled.
“But… but… I thought we…”
“Nay. I was going to walk you home, but now I find that I do not wish to even do that. How dare you treat that woman so cruelly.” His jaw clenched, and he balled his fists, furious at the way they treated Morna. “Go!” he shouted at them, and they jumped once more before running away from him in the opposite direction of where Morna had gone. Turning away, he looked into the darkness, wishing he knew where Morna had gone off to, wishing he could seek her out and explain that he wanted no other woman but her, but it was no use. She was still a married woman. It was useless to try to speak with her. It would only further hurt his heart.
With a curse into the night sky, he stormed toward King Ailbert’s home and vowed he would find that deserting bastard, Caleb, and drag his pathetic arse back home, to his wife and child, where he was meant to be.
Chapter Three
Humiliation had sat like a stone in Morna’s stomach since the night before. To think she had actually expected Brennain to be alone long enough to sit and listen to her side of the story. She should have known he would already have found a lass to keep him company… but two lassies? And of all the women, Mavis and Arline, the two cruelest women in Miathi, the women who took pleasure bedding her husband and publicly insulting her.
The image of their hands gripping his backside, his arms around their waists as the women giggled, was burned into her memory, the sound replaying in her mind. To think that Morna had wasted two years of her life thinking about that man, wishing he would return. He was a foul, loathsome swine! He would promise anything to a lass to get her into bed… only he had never even attempted with her. Mayhap she had misunderstood everything that had been between them. Mayhap he had only been toying with her emotions. Suddenly, she hated Brennain Mac Greine, and herself for falling for him.
Glennis cooed as she squirmed to be released from Morna’s grip. “Ma… mama… mama,” her daughter murmured as she chewed on her fist while Morna bent over to put her down.
“All right, mo chroí, I will let you free.” Turning to face her mother who was busy making dough for fresh bread, Morna blew a stray blonde curl away from her face and picked up an empty basket by the door. “Ma? Can you watch Glennis while I gather some herbs from the garden? Then I mean to speak to the king about dissolving my marriage. I wish to be done with Caleb and move on with my life.”
She also wished to be done with her constantly torturous thoughts of Brennain with those two awful women. Her stomach churned again. How could heartache make her entire body feel ill? How could she have been such a fool? No man would ever care for her, plain as she was when there were other lassies with larger breasts, curvier waists, and looser morals to distract them.
“Aye, but I want ye to avoid that man, ye hear me lass? He is nay good for ye.”
Taking a deep breath and struggling not to roll her eyes, Morna nodded slowly. “I know that now, Ma. I have nay interest in him any longer.” She found that now she was also unwilling to say his name aloud. It hurt too much. Her mother raised a brow suspiciously at her, but Morna decided against telling her all she had witnessed last night. It would not help, nor would it change her reality that she was all alone, deserted by her lout of a husband, and the one man who she had believed truly cared for her had walked away the moment he saw Glennis in her arms, and bedded the worst two women in all of Alba.
Now Morna was seething mad, clenching her fists. If he could not accept Glennis, then he was no man and would never be worthy of her affections. All he would have had to do was stop for one moment to listen to Morna while she explained that Caleb had run off and that Glennis was her adopted daughter. But, nay. Brennain was a selfish man who could not be bothered with the slightest complication. Nothing would prevent him from living freely and continuing in his fickle existence. Well, she was better off without him.
Walking over to the door, she grabbed her cloak and wrapped it around herself, securing it around her neck with her brooch. “I will return shortly,” she mumbled, as she opened the door and stepped out before her mother could begin to bombard her with questions. She needed fresh air and peace. She needed much more than that, but those two things would do for now.
Her herb garden, humble as it was, was around the corner from her home, next to the byre full of sheep and the three cows they had managed to keep. They did not have much, but they made due and her skill as a healer helped them earn their place amongst the village. They were given grains, fish, and all other sorts of essentials in exchange for her services, though she never felt like it was work or obligation. She truly enjoyed helping the people of Miathi.
The scent of wild green onions mixed in the cool morning breeze with the lavender and mint just as the morning sun was peeking up over the horizon, illuminating the clouds overhead in beautiful shades of pink and coral. Taking a deep breath, Morna closed her eyes and dropped her basket onto the soft soil at her feet. The smell of freshly churned earth after a light rain always fed her soul. She loved to come to this place where she could let her mind wander and get her hands into the earth.
Adjusting her skirts, she came down on her knees and began to pick the mint leaves off their stems, then she would move to her rosemary bushes. She had seen more wild dandelions in the fields just beyond her home the day before. She had meant to collect those as well before she had become distracted by a certain
dark-haired man with clover-green eyes and a dimpled smile that flashed straight white teeth. And his strong jaw… muscled arms… firm backside… the same backside Arline and Mavis had had their hands all over.
The tentative peace that had washed over her while in her garden suddenly disappeared and was replaced by that same gut-churning angst mixed with a healthy dose of anger. With a suppressed sob, she growled and yanked at a handful of unsuspecting mint leaves and tossed them into her basket, mumbling every foul word she could think of under her breath.
Was every man a complete arse, or only the men in her life? Her father had been a good man. She missed him very much, though she only had a few memories of him. He had passed away when she was a wee lass of only seven summers, but she remembered him as kind, loyal, and hardworking. He would bounce her on his knee and always had a spare kiss and compliment for her mother. Her parents had shared a great love and Morna had always taken that for granted, assuming she would one day love and be loved, live amicably beside a man and have his children. Never had she expected to adopt a child after the mother died and subsequently be strong-armed by her mother into marrying the philandering father of the child.
She knew her ma meant well and hoped to give Morna security and a chance to love as she once had, but marrying Caleb had been the greatest mistake of her life. Suddenly, those tears would not be suppressed any longer. Morna felt them slipping down her cheeks as her vision blurred and her heart ached in the most profound way. She used the back of her hand to wipe them away, but she knew all she had accomplished was to smear dirt across her face.
Her tears were not for Caleb. Nay, she never had and never would shed a tear over his desertion. She cried for the years of sentimental hopes she had held snugly against her heart that someday Brennain would return to her, for her, and claim her, proving all his whispered words of affection had truly meant something to him. Aye, he had returned, but not for her, and if he had any interest in rekindling their relationship, if it could even be called that, he had walked away without so much as allowing her to speak. Based on what she had witnessed the night before, Brennain was not torn up about her marriage. He seemed angry, mayhap disappointed, but his actions spoke otherwise. She had been nothing more to him than a passing fling, like all the other lassies. She had been a fool and nothing more.
