as though he’d just sprouted a third arm.
He ignored them, determined not to let anything spoil his fine mood.
“Raibeart, how go yer studies?” he asked as he stuck his knife into a piece of ham.
The young man sighed with resignation. “Fair, I suppose.”
“But not as well as ye’d like?”
“Nay, Richard, not as well as I’d like.” He pushed his food around his trencher, looking forlorn.
“But ye are trying, aye?”
He nodded. “I am, but ’tis not easy.”
“I dunnae find it so difficult,” Colyne boasted.
“Each of us learns at our own pace. Is that nae what Aeschene says?”
Colyne shrugged his shoulders.
Richard appreciated Raibeart’s honesty and decided to reward it. “Raibeart, Aeschene tells me ye have been working verra hard of late. I am glad to hear it.” He waited until Raibeart looked at him before he said, “I think ye should begin yer training today. What say ye?”
The slightest breeze would have knocked the young man from his chair. A broad, beaming smile curved his lips, his eyes bright with excitement and relief. “Ye mean it?”
“Have ye ever known me to say a think I didn’t mean?”
“What about me?” Colyne said, peaking up from his porridge.
He didn’t have the same fire, the same deep desire to train as his older brother. “If ye continue to do well with yer studies, then when ye turn twelve, we shall start yer training.”
“That isn’t fair,” he complained loudly. “I am doing better than Raibeart at our studies.”
Richard held his hand up to stop the lad’s protests. “Would ye like to wait until ye are five and ten?”
Colyne clamped his lips together, realizing ‘twould do him no good to argue. Sullen, he went back to his breakfast.
“Let us eat up and get to the training fields,” Richard said. “Colyne, ye may come along to watch.”
‘Twasn’t complete mollification, but ’twas enough to lift the boy’s spirits.
What Raibeart may have lacked in book learning, he more than made up for with his almost unnatural skills with a sword. Fierce and determined, the lad refused to give up or give in. Richard knew, without a doubt, that the lad was gifted. He might be a bit awkward at times, but the lad possessed a natural talent with the sword.
They would train for hours each morning. As soon as the nooning meal was over, Raibeart would go to work on his studies with Aeschene and Marisse. It seemed the lad had grown up overnight. In hindsight, he should have started his training much sooner.
Both Colyne and Raibeart began to make new friends, another fact that made Richard’s heart swell with pride. No longer were they deemed criminals or troublemakers.
The evenings were spent around the table, eating, talking about the day’s events, and making plans for the morrow. Many nights after the evening meal was cleared away, they would gather by the hearth whilst Aeschene told one of her many stories. Most, Richard had never heard before.
Colyne had managed to befriend three lads around his own age. With Aeschene’s permission, he had invited the lads to sup with them one rainy summer night. For the most part, they were well-mannered and well behaved until the meal was over.
Running through the gathering room, pretending to be warriors defending themselves from Norse invaders, they were loud and boisterous and Aeschene enjoyed every moment of it. Listening to the lads play, listening to Richard and his men laugh or tell the boy’s they weren’t holding their swords correctly, was a most delightful thing to witness, to be a part of. ’Twas a glorious evening she didn’t want to see end.
To get the lads settled down Aeschene told them the story of Dagda’s treasures. They listened intently and hung on every word. When she finished, the boys huddled together at the table, trying to decide where the best place to search for Dagda’s treasures would be.
Soon, Colyne was begging Aeschene to allow his friends to spend the night.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The waning days of summer were upon them. The world all around them was still bathed in beautiful greens, but in a few short weeks, the leaves would begin to change. For now, everyone was content with soaking up as much sunshine and warmth as they could.
For the past few weeks Aeschene had been exceptionally tired. Many mornings she slept late and only woke because her stomach was so upset. A few times, she had barely made it to the chamber pot in time to throw up.
’Twas mid-August and she was growing more concerned. So much so