Staring at each other, the pair stayed stuck to that particular spot. Until, finally, Briec spoke.
“You left me!”
No angry bark that. Nor a yell. Or even a shout. It was a roar. So much so, it shook the very foundation of the castle. The music stopped. The dancing stopped. Even Fearghus stood in surprise, dropping Annwyl on her ass since she’d been happily sitting in his lap at the time.
“Well?” Again that roar.
Recovering quickly and clearly livid, Talaith snatched her arms away from Briec’s grasp. “Don’t you dare yell at me!
“No word from you. You just left!”
“I had a previous engagement that didn’t involve you!”
She turned away, but Briec took firm hold of her arm. “So you say nothing? You simply sneak out?”
“Why don’t you just say what you mean? It isn’t that I left that bothers you. It’s that I left you. The wondrous Briec the Arrogant. Left by some peasant no less.” She snatched her arm back. “How humiliating for you,” she sneered with enough venom to wipe out a small town.
“You seem to forget, m’lady…you belong to me.”
Fairly growling, “I belong to no one. Especially you.”
Pitch black smoke snaked from Briec’s nostrils and then his brothers were there. Fearghus took firm hold of the back of his neck. “Let’s go somewhere and talk, brother.”
“We’re not done,” he snarled, his eyes never leaving Talaith’s face.
“Oh, we are,” Fearghus insisted, pushing Briec toward the great doors; Gwenvael and Éibhear following their kin out.
Annwyl motioned to the musicians to begin playing. Then she crooked her finger at Talaith and Morfyd.
Watching Morfyd and Talaith disappear with Annwyl, Brastias sighed heavily.
Will I ever get a moment alone with that woman?
* * *
They walked past the gates of the castle, stopping when they finally hit the forest, and that’s when Briec punched Fearghus’ hand off his neck. The last thing he wanted right now was for anyone to touch him.
“You need to calm down, brother,” Fearghus warned softly.
“And you need to go to hell.”
Éibhear, always the peacemaker, stepped between the two. “Everyone calm down. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation to all this. Right, Fearghus?”Fearghus, ever the “calm one” stared at their baby brother as if he were simple. “How the hell would I know that? I don’t know what’s going on.”
Gwenvael leaned against a tree, looking smug. Briec wanted to rip his face off. “Brother has Claimed a woman.”
“Talaith?” Fearghus asked, confused. “The human?”
“I didn’t Claim her.”
Gwenvael crouched beside the tree, picking up blades of grass and ripping them with the tips of his fingers. “You certainly are acting like you did.”
The bastard was right. But he couldn’t help it. He’d walked into his brother’s hall expecting to give him news and go. He’d been in no mood for a party, so he’d had no intention of staying. But there she’d been. Right in front of him—in another man’s arms. Several other men, in fact, dancing her around the floor. She wore a dark blue velvet dress clearly fitted to her frame. Her black, curly hair threaded through with flowers the same color of her gown. She looked so beautiful. She looked…happy, like she didn’t have a care in the world. All the time they’d spent together, she’d never looked that relaxed except when she slept in his arms.
What did he do wrong that some other male did right?
Fearghus crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Who is she anyway?”
“Don’t you know?” Didn’t seem like his brother not to know who’d come into his den.
“I’ve asked Annwyl about her, but suddenly the most direct female I’ve ever known turns surprisingly vague. As does Morfyd. And I haven’t had much time to get any details.” Most likely because Fearghus had been busy f**king Annwyl blind.
“Briec found her in a little village outside of Madron.” Éibhear pulled the hood of his cape back. “He took her.”
“I rescued her. Get it right at least.”
“Why did she leave you?”
“Do you think I know that? Do you think I have any idea why I woke up and found her gone?”
“Perhaps she had another man all along.” True, he could kill Gwenvael, but their mother would never forgive him. “Perhaps she left simply to get back to him and she merely waited until you trusted her enough.”
“She left for no man,” a female voice said from the safety of the trees. “She left for me.”
Gwenvael grinned. “This just got interesting.”
“I will kill you where you stand, brother.”
“Don’t yell at me because your woman…has a woman.”
“I want you two to stop this conversation right now,” Fearghus ordered softly. “I mean it.”
The trees rustled a bit and a tall, but extremely young, brown-skinned girl stepped forward. Even in the dark night, the nearly full moon blocked by the forest trees, Briec could still see the girl clearly. He sucked in a startled breath.
“By the gods…”
Fearghus motioned to the girl. “It’s all right, Izzy. They’re harmless.” The girl moved closer and Fearghus introduced her. “You degenerate lot, this is Iseabail…Daughter of Talaith.”