He got annoyed at himself. For a moment, he had reverted to that young lad who wanted his father to be proud of him.
“Are you familiar with the barbarian tribe that attacked you?” Finn asked.
“Renegades similar to the mercenaries that sometimes fought with you in your earlier days,” Ruddock said.
“Warriors for hire,” Finn confirmed. “The question is who paid them?”
A knock sounded at the door and Erland entered.
“Forgive the intrusion, my lords. Wilda is here with your brew and you know how she insists you rest while taking it.”
“I’m sure you have plans to—”
“Add extra sentinels to the barbicans and defense towers and keep the warriors on alert and weapons at hand.”
“We will talk tomorrow, so—” Finn bit back the word, not letting it slip from his mouth and said no more as he walked out of the solar.
For a moment, they had conversed as they once did, as father and son, and for a moment Finn had thought of him as he once did… his son.
“Erland send a servant to me,” Ruddock commanded as the man assisted Finn.
“Aye, my lord,” Erland said.
Ruddock went and filled a tankard once again with ale. He had much to do and much on his mind, his wife his most important thought. He worried how she was doing and he worried that she had not sent for him. His biggest worry was that she would tell him she wanted to return home… home to her sisters, not him.
He wouldn’t let her go. He couldn’t let her go. It wasn’t only because she was his wife; it was because he didn’t want to live without her. He loved her far too much, would miss her far too much.
He smiled briefly. Life would be far too dull without her.
Ruddock turned, hearing approaching footfalls and when the servant stopped at the open door, he said, “Send the warrior Hollis to me, I have a task for him.”
Ruddock needed someone to be his eyes and ears throughout the clan, someone he could trust as his father trusted Erland.
He hoped he was right in choosing Hugh.
Blodwen went to answer the knock at Sorrell’s bedchamber door. She bobbed her head, and stepped aside. “My lord.”
Sorrell remained in the chair by the hearth, her feet tucked up under her and the soft wool robe wrapped snugly around her as she turned her head. Her eyes widened a bit seeing Lord Finn approach her.
He didn’t appear as frail to her as he usually did, but at the moment anyone appeared stronger than her. Propriety called for her to stand and it took all her effort to move just a little.
“Don’t get up,” Finn ordered. “I came to see how you were doing. It was quite an ordeal you went through.” The vacant look in her eyes told him what he needed to know. “For a warrior battle can be exhilarating, the aftermath not so much.”
“I never saw anything like it,” Sorrell said, letting out a breath that had been trapped in her.
Blodwen placed a chair by Sorrell and Finn sat.
“The grunts, the roars, the screams, the clash of swords, and the blood, so much blood.” She shook her head and whispered, “And so much death.”
“You survived that’s what matters,” Finn said. “Whatever difficulty you meet the only outcome is to survive it, and often survival itself takes courage.”
She stared at him and tilted her head, as if trying to make sense of something. “Survived. Ruddock became a savage to survive. There was no other way for him, and I saw that savage in him today. He felled more barbarians than all the others and he took a man’s head off in one swing of his sword.” Her whole body shuddered.
Blodwen was quick to tuck a blanket around her.
“My husband kept his word to me. He kept me safe as he said he always would. He is a good and honorable man.”
“And you, Sorrell, are a courageous wife?” Finn asked.
She turned her head away, shaking it. “That I’m not.”
“You want me to be to your counsel as Erland is to your father?” Hugh asked stunned.
“I do,” Ruddock said without an ounce of doubt. “I need someone to see and hear what I don’t and not be afraid to tell me I may be wrong. Someone who can learn things from others that would not be discussed in front of me. Someone I can trust with my life.”
Hugh stared at him too stunned to speak.
“And since you agreed to help me learn the truth of what is going on here, it would make it easier with this position for you to do so. Of course, you’ll have to clean yourself up, cut that beard some and the hair as well.”
“The hell you say,” Hugh complained and smiled when he caught the grin that surfaced on Ruddock’s face.