Mairin held up a hand. “Rather than trouble your laird over such an inconsequential matter, perhaps I can be of help.”
Magnus rubbed his hands together and cast a triumphant glance in Athur’s direction. “There, you see? The lass will determine who has the right of it.”
Arthur rolled his eyes and didn’t look impressed with Mairin’s offer.
“There is no right or wrong of it,” Arthur said matter-of-factly. “The mare is mine. Always has been. Gannon knows.”
Gannon closed his eyes and shook his head.
“I see,” Mairin said. Then she looked at Magnus. “You dispute Arthur’s claim to the mare?”
“I do,” he said emphatically. “Two months past, he became enraged because the mare bit him on the—”
“There is no need to say where she bit me,” Arthur hastily broke in. “ ’Tis sufficient to say she bit me. Th in Athur&2019;s all that’s important.”
Magnus leaned in and whispered. “She bit him on the arse, my lady.”
Her eyes went wide. Gannon issued a sharp reprimand to Magnus for speaking to his mistress in such an indelicate fashion, but Magnus didn’t look the least repentant.
“Anyway, once the mare bit Arthur, he became so enraged that he turned her loose, slapped her on the flanks, and told the ungrateful …” He stopped and cleared his throat. “Well, he told her not to bother ever returning. It was cold out and raining, you see. I took the mare in, dried her, and gave her some oats. So you see, the mare belongs to me. Arthur relinquished all claim to her.”
“My lady, the laird has already heard their complaint,” Gannon whispered to her.
“And what did the laird decide?” she whispered back.
“He told them to work it out between themselves.”
Mairin made a sound of exasperation. “That wasn’t particularly helpful.”
This would be as good a starting point as any to assert her authority and show her clan that she was a worthy mate to their laird. Ewan was a busy man, and matters such as this should be settled without pulling him into a petty argument.
She turned back to the men, who’d begun bickering again. She held up her hands for silence, and when that didn’t work, she put her fingers between her lips and issued a sharp whistle.
Both men flinched and turned to stare at her in astonishment.
“A lady doesn’t whistle,” Arthur reprimanded.
“Aye, he’s right, my lady.”
“Oh, so now the two of you are prepared to agree on something,” Mairin muttered. “It was the only way to quiet you.”
“You wanted something?” Magnus asked.
She folded her hands neatly in front of her, satisfied that she had the perfect plan to solve the argument.
“I’ll have Gannon cut the mare in half and give you each an equal portion. ’Tis the only fair way to go about it.”
Arthur and Magnus stared at her then looked at each other. Gannon closed his eyes again and didn’t say a word.
“She’s daft,” Arthur said.
Magnus nodded. “The poor laird. He must have been tricked. He’s married a daft lass.”
Mairin put her hands on her hips. “I am not daft!”
Arthur shook his head, a light of sympathy in his eyes. “Maybe daft is too strong a word. Addled. Aye, maybe ee addled. Did you suffer an injury to your head recently?”
“Nay, I did not!”
“As a child then?” Magnus asked.
“I am in perfect command of my faculties,” she snapped.
“Then why in God’s name did you suggest we cut the mare in two?” Arthur demanded. “That’s the most daft thing I’ve ever heard of.”
“It worked for King Solomon,” she muttered.
“King Solomon ordered a horse cut in half?” Magnus asked in a confused voice.
“Who is King Solomon? He’s not our king. I bet he’s English. ’Twould be a very English thing to do,” Arthur said.
Magnus nodded in agreement. “Aye, all English are daft.” Then he turned to Mairin. “Be you English, lass?”
“Nay! Why on earth would you ask something like that?”
“Maybe she has some English blood,” Arthur said. “ ’Twould explain things.”
She gripped her head and felt the sudden, violent urge to pull out her hair by the roots.
“King Solomon suggested a baby be cut in half when two women both claimed to be its mother.”
Even Gannon looked appalled. Magnus and Arthur gaped at her and then shook their heads.
“And the English claim we’re barbarians,” Arthur grumbled.
“King Solomon wasn’t English,” she said patiently. “And the point was that the real mother would be so horrified over the thought of her baby being killed that she would give the baby to the other mother to spare the child’s life.”
She looked pointedly at them, hoping they’d understand the moral, but they still stared at her as if she’d spewed a litany of blasphemies.
“Oh, never mind,” she snapped. She stalked forward, grabbed the reins from an astonished Magnus, and pulled the hapless mare along as she headed back toward the keep.
“My lady, what are you doing?” Gannon hissed, as he jogged to keep up with her.
“Hey, she’s stealing our horse!” Magnus cried.
“Our horse? ’Tis my horse, you dolt.”
She ignored the two men as they began bickering all over again.
“ ’Tis clear that neither one of them deserves the poor horse,” Mairin said. “I’ll take her to Ewan. He’ll know what to do.”