Caelen thought for a moment. He hadn’t stopped to analyze whether or not he was well content with his new wife and clan. There had been too much to tend to. Was he happy? Before, his happiness hadn’t come into the picture. It mattered not whether he was happy. It only mattered that the alliance would be kept and that he would be able to aid his brother in the fight against Duncan Cameron.

Happy?

He frowned.

“ ’Twas not a trick question I was putting to you,” Ewan said dryly.

“It matters not if I’m happy. What matters is that we have the might to destroy Cameron. I have more reason than ever to want his blood.”

“Aye, you do,” Ewan agreed. “We all do. He’s brought much harm to our clans. To our wives.”

“He killed our father.”

Ewan sighed. “You cannot still blame yourself for that, Caelen.”

“ ’Tis not a martyr I make of myself. I was young and foolish and we all paid the price. The signs were there for me to see but I purposely blinded myself to them. Our clan paid the price. We lost our father and you lost your wife. Crispen lost his mother.”

“I have never blamed you,” Ewan said in a low voice. “Not once. If Elsepeth hadn’t done the deed, Cameron would have found another way.”

Impatient with recounting the past, Caelen waved his hand dismissively. He didn’t like to dwell on just how young and stupid he’d been. Elsepeth had found an easy mark in him. She’d turned his head, seduced him, and kept him under her spell. He would have done anything for her.

He’d loved her.

He still winced when he made that admission, but he made it freely to remind himself of his past sins. It was a mistake he wouldn’t make again. Dealing with a woman required a clear head, one unclouded by emotions.

“Are you up for a little exercise, or has marriage and fatherhood made you soft?” Caelen challenged.

Ewan’s eyes glittered. “Are you prepared to be humiliated in front of your men?”

Caelen snorted. “You can certainly try, old man.”

Rionna stretched languidly and smiled even before she opened her eyes. ’Twas a wonderful morning. Her feet were toasty warm and she had no desire to get up from bed.

Then she opened her eyes and blinked sleepily as she gave another lazy stretch. She turned on her side and her gaze rested on a pair of leather boots on the floor next to the bed.

She blinked more rapidly and sat up, clutching the covers to her breasts.

New boots. Not just newly fashioned, but fur-lined.

And beside them, was a neatly folded fur-lined cloak with a hood.