Amanda Scott - [Border Trilogy 2] by Border Wedding Read Free Book Online

That one he says ye’re to marry’s got a face on her that—”
    “Enough, Tam. That lass is soon to become my wife.”
    “Aye, sure, and if she does, we’ll no say nowt, but be ye sure, lad? I dinna ken what your da’ will say about this, nor yet the Douglas. ’Tis his own cousin ye were to marry, after all.”
    “That was my father’s wish,” Wat said wearily. “I had nowt to say to it, so I don’t even know how far those negotiations have advanced. Not that it matters now, of course, not where I am concerned or where their tempers are concerned. I think I should give thanks that I’ve won my spurs, don’t you?” he added wryly. “Otherwise, I’d not put it past my father to take a tawse to my backside for this.”
    “As to someone deservin’ the tawse,” Tammy said with a grim look at Wee Sym Elliot, “I’ll wager that lad has some painful minutes comin’ to him.”
    “That he does,” Wat said, motioning to Sym.
    The boy approached warily. Glancing at Wat, then Tammy, and back again, he said, “Be it true that old sneck doesna mean to hang us after all, Master Wat?”
    “It’s true, aye.”
    “Are ye going to marry his daughter, then? Which one? To my mind, they both seem devilish ill favored to suit a man o’ taste like yourself.”
    “If you are wise, you will keep that opinion to yourself,” Wat said sternly, aware that Tam had put one huge hand over his mouth, doubtless to hide a grin.
    “I just wondered, is all,” Sym said. “The old one be skinny and her mouth be too muckle for me. The other one’s too fat, and neither o’ them looks cheery. I like a cheerisome lass, m’self.”
    “You are too young to be thinking of lasses, cheery or not,” Wat informed him. “Now, what the devil did you mean by following us here?”
    “I saw ye leaving, is all, and I thought I’d see where ye’d be going, the lot o’ ye. I only meant to go a short way, but ye kept on, so I got curious to see if ye’d cross over the line after the Douglas said ye were no to do it.”
    “Have I not told you that you must not follow us anymore?” Before the boy could reply, Wat added curtly, “Has your mother not told you the same thing, and your brother Dod as well?”
    “Aye, sure, I guess near everyone I ken has told me, but when the moment comes, I forget. Am I really to serve your lady then, for the rest o’ me life?”
    Remembering Murray’s demand, Wat nearly told Sym that he need not feel himself bound by any promise made under such duress, but the lad’s grimacing annoyance gave him pause.
    With the Borders as unsettled as they were, and with Douglas eager to meet England’s Hotspur, thus threatening battle any day now, the likelihood was smaller than ever that anyone would keep a close eye on Sym. The much greater likelihood was that with such interesting events looming around him, the lad would be in trouble again before his mam’s cat could lick an ear.
    “You heard what her father said,” Wat told him. “What’s more, when I looked to you, you nodded your agreement. You thus gave your word to me to serve her, your word as a Borderer. You ken fine what that means, do you not?”
    Sym grimaced again but nodded. “Aye, sure, a Borderer’s word is aye good, or he doesna give it.”
    “I’m thinking you have hitherto taken good care to avoid giving your word to anyone,” Wat said. “Is that so?”
    The boy nodded again. “I dinna like to give it, because a man never kens what may arise afterward that he didna expect.”
    “That is true,” Wat said. “But a man’s word is important. He should not give it lightly, but when he does, he must keep it. If he fails, he breaks the trust he has with others, and he can never replace that. He may swear he’ll never break his word again, and he may keep that promise despite breaking the previous one. But the trust others place in him will never be as strong as before he broke faith with them the first time, simply because the others