Page 17 of Wolf Alliance

“Accalia, like your da told you. I’m staying here for a while. Maybe even forever.” Maybe losing their mother was the reason for their behavior. She wanted to demonstrate that she was there for them, even if she had to show a little tough love.

The lads cast glances in each other’s direction and then smiled. She suspected that meant they would do whatever they could to make her want to leave right away. They had never met her when she faced a challenge she was determined to overcome. Even if she didn’t stay because she didn’t want to be with Erik, the boys would be clean and mindful by the time she left.

“Thorfinn, since you’re so inquisitive, you get into the bath first.” She motioned to the pristine water.

Thorfinn raised his brows. “You canna make me. You’re no’ my da.”

“Do you have a dungeon?” Accalia asked Etta. She knew they did because Cook had mentioned it when Accalia had first arrived.

The boys’ eyes widened.

Etta smiled. “Aye, my lady.”

“You canna put us in there. Our da wouldna allow it and you would be put in there instead,” Thorfinn said, sounding like he knew what he was talking about.

“You are so filthy you are fit for the dungeon. If you dinna wash, you willna sleep in your clean beds. The choice is up to you. Sleep here or sleep in the dungeon.” Accalia folded her arms and looked as crossly at the boys as she could.

One of the other boys said, “She wouldna dare to do that. No one would allow her to, and she would be in big trouble with da.”

“You are Hendrie, aye?”

“Aye.”

“I will count to ten and if the first of you isna in the bath by the time I reach ten, I will march all of you off to the dungeon myself.” Accalia had learned the hard way never to bluff.

She hoped Erik would go along with her decision. She didn’t intend to leave the boys in the dungeon for long, just long enough for them to get the point and then they would start all over again.

She didn’t think it would go that far. But if they were used to sleeping in dirty beds, they might not care if they were sleeping in the dungeon. They might even feel it was a fun adventure.

“She wouldna do it,” Thorfinn said, stubbornly resisting the idea.

“Johnne?” Accalia asked, hoping one of the boys would rather bathe than go to the dungeon.

He looked at his brothers as if waiting for them to tell him what to do. Maybe that was the key. Separate the boys. She thought Thorfinn was the hardhead and the leader of the pack of brothers. If they didn’t have him telling them what to do, maybe she could get the others to clean up and go to bed. Thorfinn could sleep in the dungeon by himself. Maybe that would have more of an effect on him.

Accalia went to the door, opened it, and said to two of the men, “Remove Thorfinn and Hendrie from the chamber. Keep the boys there until it’s their turn to bathe.”

“Aye, my lady.” Smiling, the guards both looked amused.

Once the lads were removed from the chamber, Accalia told Johnne, “Go ahead and remove your clothes and climb into the bath.”

Two maids helped him out of his filthy clothes and Johnne did what he was told. He was much more of a follower, which meant maybe Accalia could reach him first. He seemed a little shy, sweeter than Thorfinn, and not as opposed to bathing. She gave him some soap and a cloth and directed him to wash himself as she began to tell a story.

“When I was a little girl, I was as wild as they come.”

One of the maids began to wash his hair.

“I loved to climb trees, play in the meadow, swim in the loch, and on a rainy day, play in the mud near my castle. My mother had fits of course. My da said it was good for me to experience life until I was too old to behave in such a way. But I always bathed and had a clean bed to sleep in. I behaved at meals and was rewarded with many freedoms.”

She swore Johnne looked like he was ready to fall asleep in the bathtub. She handed him a large cloth to dry him in and one of the maids had brought out a long shirt for him to sleep in.

Once he dressed, Accalia sat on his bed, had him sit on her lap, and combed out his tangled hair. “You have lovely blond hair like your da,” she said. “I imagine your mother had the same beautiful hair.”

“She died when we were four.”

“I’m so sorry. My mother died when I was young too. I was terribly sad when she died.”

“Are…are you supposed to be our mother?”

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