Page 61 of A Fierce Archer

There was a stunned silence. It was rare for someone to be given such a large gift, especially a second cousin.

Darach looked to Kieran. “Why not ye or yer brother? Is it a land that is under threat?”

Kieran nodded. “There are always threats in our region. However, the area that my brother granted to Ewan is fairly peaceful. A laird is much needed there as it is very far from our keep.”

“And yet none of ye would take it?” Stuart asked.

This time, Ewan answered. “There are only three brothers, Malcolm is laird, Tristan manages the hundreds of warriors and Naill and Kieran are tasked with not only the army of archers, but also guarding the northeastern borders. One of them must remain near at all times in order to ensure the safety of the laird and the family line.”

“Our other cousin, Ruari, lives in a home near the keep and has no desire to go to live farther away from the family as his wife is a Fraser and he has given his oath to go to their defense if needed,” Ewan explained.

“And he prefers breeding horses and such,” Kieran added.

Once again, there was a long silence. Finally, it was his mother who spoke. “It is a great honor to be mother to not one, but two lairds.”

“I will not bow to ye,” Duncan said, punching Ewan’s shoulder. “Ye will always be my younger brother.”

“I am everyone’s younger brother, except Gideon, and will continue to be. However,” he added with a smirk, “when ye come to my home, ye must address me as Laird.”

“I have a hard time imagining that will happen,” Stuart quipped, and everyone laughed.

Kieran pushed away from the wall. “If ye do not require that I remain, I must admit to needing sleep.” The warrior looked anything but tired. Obviously, he wished to give them privacy as a family.

When Kieran left, the family began telling Ewan of things that had happened. They kept to light topics until he began to yawn.

“We should let him rest,” his mother announced and everyone began to drift from the room.

When the men lingered, Ewan realized they would speak of what happened the night before he’d left.

“Father kept her here for many months. Finally, Mother demanded she be sent away, and she went to live in a house in the village,” Stuart said. “She remains there, along with two bairns now.”

Knowing the woman was not there made Ewan feel better, however, he still wondered at times if the eldest was his son. According to his calculations, the child could to have been conceived while he was gone. Una had tried to convince him the child had been born early, but the babe was well formed and quite large.

“What about my marriage?” Ewan asked. “Was it dissolved?”

“It was,” Darach replied. “Soon after ye left.”

He was free. He could marry, raise a family of his own and be laird. In that moment, he wanted to know more about what the position entailed. He looked to Darach. “I hope to spend a few days with ye and learn what I can.”

Darach nodded. “I expected that Mother would try to convince ye to remain.”

Obviously, there was more Darach wished to say on the topic as he waited for Ewan’s response. His family had always been close. In a way, they had to be in order to stand united against the ruthlessness of the patriarch. Their father had done his best to divide the brothers, to bring some to hate the ones who disobeyed him.

It had worked when they were younger, until they grew up and realized how unbalanced the man truly was. Their father’s animosity toward Caelan, the son from his mistress, had driven Duncan to move out of the family home.

While, the other brothers often went from one home to the other, depending on what occurred at the keep, Darach had always remained. The eldest knew he’d be laird one day and had done his best to stay there to keep an eye on whatever his father did.

“I miss being here. This will always be my home. I am thankful that ye are at the helm now,” Ewan said. He met Darach’s gaze for a long time. “I hope ye and the rest of the family will travel to my new home to visit.”

Darach nodded. “Of course.”

***

The bedchamber was dark and a bit cool. Ewan sunk into the bedding and visions swam before him.

His arms wrapped around her body, pulling her under him, needing access to every delectable inch.

She squirmed under him, her lips curving as his hardness pressed against her inner thigh.