Which made Coinneach wonder why Blair and Aisling had been alone when he had first met them. He knew it had to have been a case of fate.
Then the men all headed into the castle to break their fast. Coinneach hoped he hadn’t made an enemy of the two men who had to take their places on the wall walk. Tamhas stood tall and grand, and Coinneach was proud of him.
Drustan walked in with them, and Aodhan ushered Coinneach and Tamhas to his table. Coinneach was glad that Aodhan honored him by inviting him to dine with them.
However, the highlight for Coinneach was when Aisling served them. Instead, Nelly did. Coinneach frowned. Then he wondered if Aisling had asked Cook to allow Nelly to serve them instead so she could see more of Tamhas.
Nelly gave Tamhas two slices of bread instead of Aodhan, and Coinneach laughed. But Aodhan was of good humor and didn’t tell Nelly she had made a mistake when she didn’t give the second portion of bread to Aodhan.
Then she finally hurried to serve the rest of the table, smiling at Tamhas on the way back to the kitchen.
“What say you about the lass?” Coinneach asked his brother.
“She is bonny. Thanks be to thee, Aodhan, for allowing me to eat with you today.” Tamhas finished his second slice of bread, which should have been Aodhan’s.
Coinneach was resigned to seeing Nelly bring the rest of their meal as he finally saw Aisling serving the women’s table again. But he would meet up with Aisling after the meal before he returned to his duty on the wall walk.
When the meal was done, everyone got ready to leave the table.
Coinneach said to his brother. “I’m going to say goodbye to Aisling. Do you want to also?” He meant for his brother to say goodbye to Nelly, but he didn’t want to embarrass his brother in front of Aodhan.
“I will see you at the wall walk,” Aodhan said to Coinneach. “And thanks for joining us in the practice fight and for the meal.”
“My pleasure,” Tamhas said. “Aye, I’ll join you, Coinneach.”
He and Coinneach headed for the kitchen, where the women were preparing their meals to set on the table. Nelly immediately greeted them. “You did well at the practice fight.”
The tips of Tamhas’s ears reddened. “I learned a lot.”
Aisling hurried over to hug Coinneach. “I was proud of you for no’ joining the fight.”
“Your mother might no’ have stitched me up a third time if I hadna heeded her warning. And Drustan would be sure to give me grief if I had to spend more time sleeping in the barracks.”
“Well, I’d best be getting back to the farm,” Tamhas said to Nelly. “It was good seeing you again.”
“I would like it if we could see each other again. Mayhap when I forage for nuts, berries, and mushrooms in the forest.”
“Aye, I would like that.”
Then Coinneach kissed Aisling, and they said their goodbyes so the lasses could eat their meal. “I’ll bring your meal for later,” Aisling said, giving Coinneach another kiss, and then she turned to help carry plates of food to the table.
Coinneach smiled. “I look forward to it.” And another hug and kiss. If only she could sleep with him again tonight.
12
Aisling was still setting plates of food out on the table to help feed the cooking staff when Nelly grabbed her arm and whispered to her, “Change your plate with Gormelia’s. I’ll create a distraction.”
Desperately wanting to know what was wrong, Aisling didn’t hesitate to follow her friend’s advice. While the others were getting ale, Aisling grabbed her plate, and Nelly slapped one of Gormelia’s friends across the face. “I know you’ve been spreading rumors about me shirking my duties because I’m friends with Aisling.”
The girl, Kenna, grabbed Nelly’s hair, and everyone’s attention was diverted to the ongoing fight. Kenna and Wilma, Gormelia’s friends, both had unremarkable brown hair, and both were mousy in disposition, so neither stood out among the other pack members. Aisling was surprised when Kenna fought back.
“You think you’re special because Coinneach’s brother is paying attention to you now?” Kenna tried to scratch Nelly’s face.
Nelly punched her in the stomach. Aisling switched the plates and then came to Nelly’s rescue. Cook, as if suddenly aware of the fight in the kitchen, shouted, “If you want to eat, you will sit down now and eat. If you want to lose your position in the kitchen, then keep fighting.”
Everyone quickly moved around the table to take their seats.
Nelly squeezed Aisling’s hand under the table.
