“Thinking it Ranulf, she tugged the garment down and beamed the incomer a smile. The smile changed to one of shock at seeing her sisters-both up and already dressed.Seeing her initial jubilant welcome, Edythe snorted and rubbed her arms vigorously in an attempt to get warmer. Lily, on the other hand, laughed. "Sorry. You obviously hoped we were someone else," she mumbled, not meaning it at all.Tyr poked his head in and, looking at Edythe, said, "We are to be leaving soon.Be ready."Edythe issued him a scowl and rubbed her very red nose. "I heard you the first five times," she moaned. "The man does not believe in sleep and cannot seem to get it through his head that some do," she added, speaking to Bronwyn but keeping her gaze on him.Tyr arched a single brow and stepped inside. "I sleep,just not all day."Edythe sniffed.She wasn't feeling her best, but she was not about to let Tyr chide her without consequences. "You may have been the one standing beside me at the alter, but that doesn't give you permission to act like my husband.""I know your husband well, and Garik's going to feel the same way," Tyr responded, crossing his arms.Edythe lifted her chin and several locks of her red hair fell around her shoulders. "Not after I'm done with him. He'll be glad to have a wife. And the fact that I like to sleep in bed, he's going to consider a bonus." Then with a manufactured flair, she stepped around him and plopped down on the fur blankets with enough force that her hastily made braid came totally undone. Few outside of family had ever seen Edythe's auburn tresses completely free, but those who did were blessed with a sight that denied description.Tyr just stared at her for several seconds. Every muscle in his body had gone tight and he looked as if he were struggling just to breathe. A second later,he pivoted and abruptly exited the tent, stomping off with no effort to hide his displeasure.Edythe, who refused to look at him, could no longer pretend to be ignorant of Tyr's mood. "The man is a menace," she mumbled as she once again rubbed her nose.”

“I told her that it was a bad idea," Edythe mumbled under her breath."Must be nice to know everything."Edythe sent Tyr a silencing sideways glance. "I'm practical.""And openly opinionated," Tyr added matter-of-factly."And usually right," Edythe added, turning to face him squarely. She wished he wasn't so good-looking. Deep dimples, dark hazel eyes, and reddish-brown shoulder-length hair, the color she wished hers were instead of its intense auburn hue, all in a superior male body. Men that handsome weren't to be trusted.”

“The door slammed and the reverberating sound bounced back and forth down the hall. Edythe and Lily sat perfectly still and stared at each other, eyes wide open. For once,their thoughts were in accord.When Ranulf had first arrived and started banging on Bronwyn's door, both had awakened wondering if they should do something. When the racket ceased, Lily scurried into Edythe's room. "What's going on?""I don't know," came Edythe's simple reply."Why is Ranulf so angry with Bronwyn?"Again Edythe shrugged."Well,should we go and see if Bronwyn needs help?"Edythe bit her bottom lip. The situation was foreign to her.She supposed they should go, but her gut was telling her to stay put. She was still debating the decision when voices rose again,and this time Bronwyn's was in the mix. And she never yelled.The door slammed and heavy footsteps retreated. "I think...I think I was just insulted," Lily mumbled. "By both of them."Seeing the stunned look in Lily's gray eyes,Edythe reached over to pacify her. "They also said some flattering things."Lily slipped out of the embrace and shook her head. "Edythe, what have I done?""What do you mean?"Lily bounded off the bed and passionately stabbed her finger toward the wall seperating Edythe's and Bronwyn's room. "Them! Didn't you hear?"Edythe nodded her head in relief. "I did.I just wasn't sure you had."Slump-shouldered,Lily returned to the bed and collapsed on it. "Oh Lord, Edythe, I just announced to everyone that I was going to marry the man our sister loves.""It's my guess that he loves her,too.”

“If you know so much,then tell me of Lily or are you too swayed by her beauty?""Aye,she's beautiful, but also complicated and young.She is an....an opportunist,but not necessarily a selfish one.""Ha.She can be. Lily's world revolves only around her."Tyr chuckled and the sound sent ripples of awareness down her arms. "I'd rather talk about you, Lady Edythe.""I'd rather not.""Lady Edythe," Tyr repeated, drawing out her name. His forehead wrinkled. "No. Don't like it. A girl like you needs a nickname."She hadn't been a "girl" for several years,and Edythe was irked that he saw her as such. "That's one thing I'll never want.""That's a shame.Everyone should have a nickname.""Really,then what's yours?"Tyr licked his lips and in a low voice, lied, "Bachelor.""Fitting," Edythe retorted. "I doubt with your type of self-serving charm, too many women vie to change that status."Tyr clucked his tongue, completely unfazed by her ridiculous barb. "Ed,I think.Little and sweet...just like you.""Thoin," Edythe hissed and moved to walk away,not dreaming for a second that he would know Gaelic and understand what she meant."Bauchle," Tyr chirped back in retaliation. Edythe spun around, her jaw open, but before she could retort, he added, this time with a Scottish brogue, "Ed,even if I didn't know my own language, certain words are known far and wide, and "ass" is certainly one of them."Straightening, she puffed out her chest and poked him in the ribs. "I may be many things,but untidy, fat, and your wife isn't one of them."Tyr gulped.It had been a long time since he'd spoken his native tongue to a woman who knew Gaelic and he plucked the wrong insult from memory.He had just remembered it being about a woman and knew it wasn't flattering. "You're right. My apologies.But you,my pretty lady, are in desperate need of a nickname. How about one that is more fitting?""I don't want a nickname," she gritted out. And certainly not one from you, she hissed to herself. Why did he have to call her pretty? And why did she care?"Well,Ruadh,you got one.""Red? Lord,you are the most unimaginative-""Hmm,when you put it that way...Red...Ed. Quite memorable and easy to say.I like it!""You would.That nickname-if you can call it that-wouldn't suit a kitchen rat."Tyr shook his head. "I disagree,and just remember that it was you and not I who compared yourself to such a repulsive creature.I would have said...a finch.Yes...small,loud and with a sharp beak.”

“Ranulf stared blankly into the campfire, trying to ignore Lily."White horses always look dirty," Lily told the young smitten soldier sitting beside her. "That's why I refuse to ride them.Brown ones may be just as filthy,but at least I cannot see the dirt. Black ones less so,but I have found that in general dark horses suit me better.""You just think you look better on them," Edythe protested before succumbing to several seconds of coughing. Bronwyn studied her redheaded sister for a moment.Tyr put another blanket around Edythe's shoulders and eventually the coughs quieted. Turning her attention to Ranulf,Bronwyn promised him softly, "You'll have to ignore them."Ranulf grimaced and sent a reproving look to his youngest sister-in-law. It,just like the others he had sent Lily throughout the day,changed nothing. "I just find it hard to reconcile the child I hear now with the woman who appeared after your death. With you gone,she had to grow up.Now that you are back..."Bronwyn snuggled up against his side with a sigh. "I admit I encourage it.Life will force Lily to grow up soon enough and I am glad it was not my death that thrust it upon her. In the meantime,you ignore her prattle and I'll just be amused it," she advised before planting a gentle kiss on his arm.Ranulf,with his free hand, raked his fingers through his short hair. How had he gotten into this predicament? But it took only one look at the huddled form next to him to remember exactly how. Bronwyn. He had wanted to make her happy. After thinking her lost to him forever, he would have promised her anything, even the moon.”

“The man was impossible. To her every retort,he had a counter. "A beak you may want to avoid for I will use it."His dimples turned into craters. "Aye, my lady,that you most certainly are not afraid of using. I think I actually see the small scars along your wrists and hands from where you missed your intended target and clipped yourself."Edythe opened her mouth,ready to send out another assualt, when the sparkle in his hazel eyes captured her attention. Tyr was not making fun of her. Rather,he was truly enjoying their conversation, and if she was being honest, so was she. Inclining her head in agreement, she curled her lips mischievously and said, "Inflictions all finches must learn to endure.""Indeed they must," Tyr replied with a bow. "You,Lady Finch,are a genuine surprise. These past few days,your elder sister has been gracious, kind, and all things a lady should be when welcoming a guest, but it seems that only my friend Ranulf can turn her into a fiery tempest. And each time she does, it pulls him farther in.I see now why he is susceptible to such treatment."Edythe briefly closed her eyes and gave a quick shake to her head. "You enjoy being insulted?""You have not insulted me, you couldn't. You don't know me well enough.Nor I you. We just merely sparred and I am finding that I like wit in a woman, a most uncommon trait where I have been. If I were not so decided in my ways,you,dear Finch, would be in trouble.""Well,then I thank the Lord you are decided, for I am not easily swayed by a pretty face and you have a ways to go before you seem even moderately charming. And before you try to convince me otherwise,I must go see to Lily for she is looking overly animated and all too often the results of such excitement negatively affect me.Excuse me,sir."Tyr bowed and stared as Edythe left his side and headed toward her younger sister. He had not lied. She was probably the most intriguing woman he had ever encountered.But it changed nothing.Marriage was not for him. Still,a pretty redhead with a cunning mind and a sharp tongue would be fun to pass the time with until he had to leave.”