if you’ve experienced the same. Have you?”
“Nay, I have not, but my mother and sister have. If you’d like, you may speak with them anytime.”
“Many thanks, but I know not when we’re leaving, and I need to learn how to use the bow and the dagger before my sire awakens and comes looking for me.”
Dyna’s gaze narrowed, and she started fussing with her arrows, arranging them like she wanted them. “Understood,” she said while she worked, “but I will tell you that my cousin is a fine and honorable man. Did you dance with him, too? Alick is a wonderful dancer.”
Dyna was unlike anyone she’d ever met. Serene yet confident, kind yet fierce. She made Branwen want to confide in her. But what would the other lass think if she knew Branwen had danced with Alick outside, away from the others? That she’d kissed him. That they’d climbed the curtain wall and run away—outside the wall. A lass wasn’t supposed to do any of that.
Her shoulders fell and she dropped her gaze to the ground again.
But when Dyna spoke, her voice was soft and sweet. “Look at me, Branwen. You did naught wrong, for certes naught to deserve a blow like the one he must have given you to leave such a mark on your face.”
Chrissa came up and stopped short. “Who did that to you? If any of the warriors in my family find out, they’ll hit him for you. Then they’ll send him off our land. Lads don’t hit lasses unless they’re bairns.”
Branwen’s hand went up to her cheek, touching it briefly before she dropped it. “Your sire doesn’t strike you for misbehaving?”
“Nay!” Chrissa said as if horrified. “My sire would never hit me. My mother would, though. She got mad at me when I was wee and walloped my butt.”
Dyna snorted. “Don’t get into trouble, Chrissa.”
The lass hung her head and said, “I don’t. I have not been bad in a long time. I try, Dyna. Truly I do.”
Dyna stood up and grabbed Chrissa, giving her a hard hug, so hard the lass broke into giggles. “I love you, wild one. Someday you’ll calm down.” When she released the younger lass, Dyna turned to Branwen. “Weak men hit women because they are the only ones they can overpower. Your sire was in the wrong.” She paused for a moment, looking at Branwen with glimmering eyes. “He does it often, and he’s not the one you fear?”
She shook her head. “My betrothed, Osbert Ware.”
Chrissa’s eyes widened. “I must tell Alick you’re betrothed. Does he know? He won’t like that.”
“Chrissa, ’tis not your concern so you’ll say naught.” Dyna didn’t say another word, but the fury on her face was unmistakable. A moment passed, then another, and she finally asked, “I expect your sire didn’t seek your approval.”
“Nay,” she said, appalled. “I’d never agree to marry such an old man.”
“Aye, I know of him. Not to mention he has six bairns for you to care for.” Dyna paced in a small circle, driving the toe of her boot into the ground with a kick. “I’ll speak to my sire, see if he will step in, though that may not be possible since you live on Thane land. Have you asked your uncle to put a stop to the match?”
“Nay, my sire arranged it here, this verra night. He was angry about my behavior with Alick.”
“’Tis all Alick’s fault,” Chrissa cried out. “I’ll tell him he should leave you be.” She looked as if she thought she was being helpful, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The last thing Branwen wanted was for Alick to stay away. “Chrissa, nay. Please do not say anything to your brother.”
When Chrissa nodded her agreement, Branwen turned back to Dyna. “My sire says he no longer has a need for me. ’Tis why I fear he may go through with this.”
Dyna’s brow arched at that admission, but Branwen didn’t wish to speak of it. The words still pained her. “Please teach me to use the bow?”
“Aye, we must move forward. We are wasting valuable time. Come, I will choose your bow and teach you how to start. I will also give you a dagger, though we’ll save that instruction for another time. Even one unaccustomed to a dagger knows which end is the pointy bit.”
She nodded, and Dyna selected a weapon for her. She taught her how to stand, how to nock the arrow, and how to let it fly, sometimes using Chrissa