Aibhilin crossed her arms over her chest and tried to keep a blank face, but she could feel guilty heat crawling up her neck and settling in her cheeks. So Lord Wolf had more than valid reasons. He just wanted to protect his village and family. Sounded familiar. But that didn't make it right. Surely... Surely there could be a better way for him to pay the debt and feed his people! Ransacking and violence could not be the only solution. There had to be another answer.

Tilting her head down, as she had done before to show her apology, she stayed like that for a moment. Her fingers gripped into her sleeves. When she raised her head, she met the very blue eyes she had resigned herself to try to avoid. Close. Very close. There was an instinct in her that she should either push him away or pull him in closer. Neither option seemed very logical. So she just tightened her grip on her arms. 

What would she do if she were him? What would [i]she[/i] of done? He looked tired and exasperated, a familiar look on any man she sent her tongue to. He turned on his heel to bathe and just before he closed the door, mentioned that he had a wee little sister of only three years in age. Ach, well... Aibhilin felt as though it had been she who were caught trying to pillage some small village and not the blue-eyed Viking. Right. His name was Haakon.

She waited outside, arms still crossed over her chest and head tilted down. With a sigh, she leaned against the door. If there was one thing she hated, it was knowing when she looked foolish. And she had looked more than foolish, it was one step away from being mortified. With a sigh, she let the man bathe in peace, practically standing guard at his door. Aibhilin felt bad, aye, but she still would not let him out of her sight. Who knew what sort of rake was still hiding under all that weariness? Boys and men would always say one thing and end up doing something else entirely. That much she knew wasn't just for McConnich men, but men from every land. And she wasn't one to take chances where her sisters' virtues were involved.