Kelby made a strange noise that almost sounded like a hum. When Garin handed him the piece of wood, the man stood there for a moment with a thoughtful look on his face. “Maybe Uncle Greg is right, and there’s hope for you yet, Garin. We’ll see.”
***
Dierthelm made a disgruntled noise when Mattie kissed Garin’s cheek the moment she joined the rest of them at the table. Her answer was a growling, “He’s my husband; get used to it.”
“The teasing potential we have against you, dear cousin, has grown immensely,” chuckled Kelby as he passed her the plate of toast.
Mattie glared at him. “Tell me that you two haven’t been giving my husband a difficult time.”
“There wouldn’t have been any food if they had,” said Thaddeus as he took his place at the head of the table. “You know how you aunt doesn’t tolerate fights in her kitchen.”
So I’ve learned, thought Garin caustically as he unconsciously played with the signet ring on his right hand.
His fidgeting stopped when Mattie used her foot to smack his. Obviously, she had heard his mental snark. “At least you guys left him in one piece.”
“We came to a bit of a truce,” admitted Garin as he took a few pieces of toast once the plate was handed to him.
Thaddeus chuckled. “Was it my eldest or his brother that gave you the welcoming shock?”
When Dierthelm proudly raised his hand, Mattie groaned, “Garin, forgive me for leaving you alone with these people.”
Garin couldn’t help but add to the teasing. It might be the best way to deal with this family, and maybe he could learn more about his wife in the process. After he handed a grinning Selina the plate of toast, he lightly said, “Thaddeus, because of the way you had put it, I can’t help but wonder how many others received such an electrified greeting.”
Mattie’s face turned scarlet as the brothers laughed. Thaddeus snorted before he snickered, “I honestly lost count.”
“Maybe dotage is descending on you, dear husband,” said Henriella frankly as she placed a bowl of hard-boiled eggs and a plate overflowing with bacon on the table. “Because I can still clearly count three idiots who tried to win her hand before this one did.”
“So I’m the winning idiot?”
Garin’s jovial question produced the responses he had hoped it would. Henriella lightly chuckled. Dierthelm almost choked on his toast, while Kelby had to spit his coffee back into his cup or suffer the same issue. Selina snorted happily, and Thaddeus’ laugh was deep and booming.
“Perhaps you are, lad,” Thaddeus said after catching his breath. “Perhaps you are.”
“Personally, I think it’s because he was the only one she couldn’t frighten away,” said Kelby with a snort. “Either that, or she severely addled his brain when she hit it against that table.”
“I know which one has my vote,” snickered Dierthelm as he grabbed a fistful of bacon.
“While I deserved the headache I got that night,” said Garin with a grin as he reached for the eggs. “My mind was most definitely sound when I asked her to marry me.”
Mattie threw a piece of toast at Dierthelm after he had countered, “Are you sure about that?”
When her cousin caught the projectile with ease and began to chomp down on it, she rolled her eyes and wearily said, “You might find it would’ve been easier for your sanity if the Brewers didn’t like you. They are an unusual bunch.”
Garin chuckled. “You say that like we’re normal.”
“Which we all know isn’t true,” said Selina with a smirk.
Mattie shook her head and grinned at the girl. “You have a point. Only someone as crazy as him would have been willing to move here just to be with me.”
“Definitely not fair,” said Dierthelm with an exaggerated sigh. “I was prepared to hate Garin for all eternity for stealing my cousin away. It appears that won’t be the case at all.”
“Speaking of hard feelings and long times…” said Henriella as she placed her hands on her hips. “Where is that ancient companion of yours?”
“Here, dear lady,” said Leto from the doorway, a wistful expression on his face. “And feeling very much his age this morning.”
“Then come and sit, man!” insisted Thaddeus, waving his hand towards the table. “Food always does the body good!”
Leto hesitated just long enough to glance Henriella’s way, as if he was waiting for her permission as well. Garin couldn’t see the expression on the woman’s face when she turned to look at the ancient being. There was a slight pause before she sharply tilted her head towards the table, and he muttered his gratitude before heading for an empty chair.
While the Brewers kept the tone light, the conversation had become significantly subdued after Leto’s arrival. Garin noticed more than one pair of eyes narrow at the wizened figure from time to time, and he couldn’t help but wonder how many of the residents held animosity towards the Draconian. He had a sneaking suspicion that Leto was not going to enjoy his stay in Crosshawk.
Chapter 7
Still wondering how Mattie had talked him into doing this, Garin glanced around the Silver Pheasant in surprise. The inn was filled this morning with the hearty aroma of freshly made coffee instead of roasting meat or fermented barley. Also, twenty-five souls seemed to have fallen asleep in the tavern itself, most cradling their heads within their arms on the besmirched tabletops, and more than a few were snoring loudly enough that it was a wonder none of them had woken up already. Dierthelm and Kelby immediately rolled up their sleeves and headed for the back while Thaddeus just put his hands on his hips and sighed.
“This is why I hated the fact Mattie had to leave my employ,” the large man grumbled. “She had a good eye about which customers were most likely to drink themselves into a stupor on any given night and could warn us to cut them off long before they had consumed too much. Things have been getting worse the past few months, I’m afraid. Never before have we found so many people still sitting by their cups come closing time.”
Garin’s brow furrowed. “So all these men passed out last night?”
“Meaning it was easier to just let them be,” said Thaddeus with a weary nod. “They can still be rather belligerent when they wake, which is why I asked for your help this morning instead of Mattie’s. Believe me when I say she would be the last person some of the regulars would want to see right now.”
“The two by the main entrance won’t want to see Garin either,” grumbled Dierthelm as he arrived carrying two large kettles. “But I volunteer to be the one to wake Sven and Gerold.”
Thaddeus quickly went behind his bar and placed a pair of extremely large blocks of wood on it. As the younger man set the pots down upon them, the elder Brewer bent over and started to pull out some mugs. Kelby entered the room soon thereafter carrying a platter overflowing with dried bread and small chunks of cheese, the best things for a man to nibble on when he was suffering a hellacious hangover. It wasn’t too much longer until the food was placed on the opposite end of the bar.
“All right, lads,” said Thaddeus as he started to carefully pour the hot beverage out of the kettles and into the mugs. “Time to clear out the Tavern so we can truly start our day. Garin, just choose one at a time to wake. Take a cup of coffee, a piece of bread, and a bit of care with you. More than one has been known to physically lash out when disturbed.”
The brothers deftly carried more than one cup of coffee at a time, along with some pieces of bread. Dierthelm went immediately towards the table near the front of the tavern, at which were two brown-haired patrons close to falling out of their chairs, while Kelby plopped the cups beside two auburn-haired men slumped over a table by the bar. Shaking his head in disbelief at how Thaddeus was being more merciful than any other barkeep he knew, Garin finally wandered over towards a lone man snoring at a table twenty paces from the closest corner.
How in the world the sleeper wasn’t on the floor would be anyone’s guess. The muscular man, who appeared to b
e in his late twenties, was slumped over in a chair that was balanced on the back legs alone while his feet were draped across the table. Strands of his brown hair were being blown about by the violently released exhales of his monstrous snores.
Garin stood for a second, wondering if placing the beverage on the table would be a sound idea. There was no way to know in which direction the man was going to swing those legs around. The likelihood that someone would be uncomfortably drenched with scalding-hot liquid was high. In the end, he decided to keep the cup in his hand as he used the other to lightly tap the man on the shoulder.
Then he quickly jumped back when the man swung out an arm in his direction and yelled, “Five more minutes, damn you! Those trees don’t wander off like cattle, you know!”
“I’m sorry, good sir,” said Garin, opting for a stern tone. “But there are neither trees nor cattle in the Pheasant.”
That phrase woke the man all the way up. Those green eyes were as large as saucers as he glanced wildly around. Then the chair and his feet hit the floor with a loud Thud! before he said, “Shit! This is the third time this week! My wife’s going to kill me!”
“Have some coffee first,” said Garin as he offered the mug to the man. “It might help you find the right words to dig yourself out of trouble.”
The drink was accepted, but not without a raised eyebrow. “Though you don’t have to tell me yours, my name’s Adler Bergstrom. Still, I can’t help but wonder why the king’s well-known bastard is the one to wake me this morning? Unless I’m supposed to help teach some restraint to you, my lord, about how to treat the fairer sex?”
Garin raised his eyes to the sky and swallowed the growl. That kiss he stole from Mattie was obviously going to make his work to gain any respect, let alone trust, from these people an uphill battle! Somehow he kept his voice level when he said, “I have long since atoned for my transgression that night, so Thaddeus asked for my help this morning.”
“Because you married the object of your infatuation, I hear,” said Adler with a snort. “Be careful with that one. She might have grown into a beauty, but she will always be wild. Pushed me out of a tree once, nearly crippling me—and that was when she was only nine years old.”
Garin’s eyes narrowed, not sure if he should take offense with what the man had said about Mattie. “Did you deserve being pushed out of it?”
Adler now barked out a laugh. “Quite possibly, my lord.”
“Just call me ‘Garin’ as long as I’m in Crosshawk,” he said as he looked around and realized that the brothers had already awakened nine men in the same span of time it had taken him to rouse just one!
“An honor given to just me or does it extend to the rest of the residents as well?” asked Adler in an amused tone.
Garin saw two more men receive a cup of coffee before he frankly said, “All of Crosshawk’s residents. Now, if you will please excuse me, I should return to the task Thaddeus set for me.”
The man mischievously chuckled before he stood up and shouted, “Hey, you lot! Time to wake up and finally meet Garin, our Duke’s new son-in-law!”
Garin failed to keep the growl in his throat silent, which only caused the annoying man to smirk. Crashes were resounding throughout the tavern as the remaining men woke up with a start, chairs falling to the floor left and right. More than one enraged voice yelled, “Bergstrom, you asshole!”, though none was louder than Thaddeus when he bellowed, “Adler! Damn it, lad; you know better than this!”
“You’re nothing but trouble, aren’t you?” asked Garin after he crossed his arms and glared at the man, beginning to understand why Mattie had pushed this one out of a tree.
Adler only widened his grin while shrugging his shoulders. “Depends on the day, my lord.”
“Which is every damn one,” growled Kelby as he approached, looking murderous. “Adler, I swear I will kick your ass back to that orchard your parents gave you if you ever do this shit again!”
“My father might have signed the land over to me because he has grown too old to care for it properly, but I would have inherited it anyways,” said Adler in a bored tone. “Sadly, because you are not the eldest, I don’t think you’ll ever understand just how difficult it is to care for both your aging parents as well as your family’s legacy at the same time.”
After that comment, Kelby looked like he was ready to explode! Garin didn’t know any of the underlying dramas buried in this duchy, but this seemed to be one of them. Luckily, Dierthelm quickly arrived to diffuse the situation.
After placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder, the beast of a man glared at Adler and said, “Do you really want me to mention this to your family at dinner tonight? After all, Greta loves hearing any embarrassing tales I have about you. I could easily forget my promise to you that I would keep those at a minimum.”
“Hey now,” growled Adler. “Using my sister like that is a low blow.”
“How about your wife?” asked Garin, thinking that this man was someone he did not want to get to know. “Didn’t you say something about her being upset with you for staying here last night?”
“Shit; you’re right!” said Adler before he started to take a few steps to the door. He then stopped and glared. “And Diert, keep your damn mouth shut! My father still has reservations about you, remember?”
“Not as many as you think,” grumbled Dierthelm as the other man continued his hasty exit.
“I say that went well,” said Kelby with a sigh after his brother shook his head and stormed away.
“While I vaguely remember seeing him from time to time, who exactly was that Adler character?” asked Garin after his brow furrowed because a few of the men scowled at him as they made their way to the bar in hopes of coffee and food.
Kelby snorted. “That was a Bergstrom. They often put on airs because they are descended from one of the few landholders here before Crosshawk was founded.”
Trying to vainly understand the dynamics of this strange duchy, Garin asked, “How many untitled landholders are there?”
“Including the Bergstroms and the Brewers?” chuckled Kelby as he straightened his back a little when he said his family name. “Eight in total, though only half of them have attitudes. Unfortunately, you just encountered a member of the one with the least regard for others because they have the largest amounts of dirt and pride.”
Garin used his hand to partially cover the wide smile he had for the way Kelby had phrased that. “So any sons from the others in here this morning?”
“No, which is actually a good thing,” said Kelby who rolled his eyes at the thought. “I doubt my Da would have asked for your help if that had been the case. One of them, a man by the name of Melker Krause, was refused by Mattie a couple of years ago. He and Adler are rather close friends, which is why he gave you a hard time today.”
Noticing more than one menacing expression being directed at him, Garin asked, “And the others?”
Kelby let loose a sigh. “Honestly? The fact that she gave her heart to you, the king’s bastard we almost had to trounce that one night, has caused a bit of a scandal in these parts. More than one resident would love to express just how upset they are about your marriage, particularly the men who had still hoped to woo her. Da hasn’t tolerated Sven Engstrom and Gerold Kramer’s complaints much because the fools missed their chances when they broke things off with her, but that doesn’t mean they won’t join with the others in trying to make your life here difficult.”
Garin ran a hand down his face, glancing over at the group of men and finding more than one still intermittently glaring at him. “So it’s definitely going to take me forever to gain anybody’s respect or trust.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t even think that amount of time will help you,” said Kelby with a shake of his head. “I hate to tell you this, Garin, because I truly think you are a good person who deserves every benefit of the doubt. But unless something catastrophic happens to prove to these people that you actually have their
best interests at heart, I doubt more than a handful of them will ever accept you.”
Chapter 8
The travel-weary group had just turned onto the path leading to the Hawksthorne Estate when the rattling of the gate could be clearly heard. Mattie had wondered what had prompted them to open it when a joyous whinny danced through the air. Even before Firestorm had started to gallop towards them, Mattie jumped off Goldenrod and threw the reins at Garin. He caught them easily, and he happily chuckled while she sprinted off.
Mattie’s arms were soon around her dearest friend while Firestorm lightly rubbed her chin across her rider’s back. Mattie had been there when the horse had come into this world as a gangly foal during a storm-filled night, and all of Firestorm’s training had been by her hands. Even with Mattie’s ineptitude at the time, the end result was the two fitting together like one complete being whenever she rode atop her steed.
Firestorm gave out a happy noise and lightly nipped at her rider’s braid. Stepping back, Mattie gave the chestnut mare the nose rub she was wanting. Her eyes were sparkling, as if the woman’s return was the greatest thing in the world.
“Garin met your father,” Mattie whispered as she heard the others slowly approach. “I think I understand you a bit better now.”
Firestorm’s snort sounded like one of disbelief while she gave her chestnut head a shake. The horse’s response made Mattie grin. “Point taken; no one can really figure me out either.”
Firestorm nickered and pranced as if laughing at the woman’s statement. Then she lowered her head while she bent down on one knee. There was no need to ask Mattie twice. She jumped onto the bare back, squeezing her thighs tightly against the horse when she was in position. Once the mare felt that her rider was safely aboard, she carefully rose from the ground. She gave a snort, turned away from the group, and broke into a mighty gallop!
Throwing her arms out to their respective sides, Mattie whooped in delight! Firestorm whinnied in response and picked up speed, causing the wind to nearly push the woman backwards. She then leaned down and hugged the chestnut’s neck while they rushed past the estate for a quick run. Firestorm kept to a familiar path as the world swirled by them in a blur of greens, browns, and blues.
Unraveled Homecoming Page 5
