Given that it was summer, the welcome feast had been prepared for outdoors, which suited Elinor much better. This many Scotsmen cooped up in one space tended to make the room smell right foul. At least outside there was a fresh breath of air, and plenty of games, which kept people moving around. Not that she could partake, though she longed to when she saw a horse race being set up. She hoped that Finlay would take good care of Angus in her absence.

It wasn't the wedding feast, so she wasn't seated next to Fergus, but on the other side of the curved head table. She sat next to Ean who hadn't spoken a word and maintained a murderous expression, at least till the food was brought out. Occasionally, she would dare a glance at Lord DunBroch, who seemed to wear a permanent frown. Her memories of Fergus from when they all were very small were of a boy who laughed too much and had a hearty enjoyment for pranks. But the man who sat conferring with her father seemed nothing like the boy she remembered.

Eventually she wandered away from the table, not heading really anywhere. She observed several different games, and watched for a while as her brother bested every challenger he had in dueling. She laughed till she felt a presence by her side; she looked up to see Fergus watching the duel.

He glanced down and quickly looked away when their gazes met. They were silent as the duel continued, the silence growing more and more uncomfortable. Then they both tried to speak at once, but stopped again.

"You first, my lady." He said, quietly looking away.

"My brother is the best duelist in our clan." She mentally kicked herself. What on earth made you say that? "He's still bitter over the defeat you gave him at the tournament last winter." She amended, hoping that Ean wouldn't hear what she said. Fergus grunted and nodded. Not very eloquent indeed, she thought as the duel ended with Ean victorious once again.

"Anyone else brave enough to challenge me?" Ean said, calmly swinging his sword around and looking at the group gathered at the edge of the ring.

"I challenge you." Someone said behind him. Ean turned and his smug expression dropped as Fergus deftly leaped into the ring. A loud chorus of cheers came from the group and many more people immediately joined to watch, pushing Elinor to the very front row. "Can I borrow a sword?" he asked, stretching his arms and shoulders.

A sword was fetched and Fergus weighted it in his hand for a moment. He smiled and nodded, before turning to face Ean. They circled around each other for a minute; one would advance a step and the other feint back. The crowd grew quiet and the anticipation built for the first strike.

Ean thrust forward and Fergus parried it off to the side easily. It took two more strikes and Elinor realized that Ean had finally met his match. She'd seen him practice and compete for years, and it seemed that no one could best him till now. The duel grew more and more intense. Ean was the first to draw blood, scratching Fergus's left arm, causing half of the crowd to cheer and the other half to boo. As the duel continued, Elinor felt like she had seen enough and she fought her way out of the crowd back to the head table where Betha and Kenna were conversing.

"What is happening in the ring, Elinor?" Kenna asked as she sat down.

"Lord DunBroch and Ean are dueling." She said, sounding thoroughly uninterested.

"What?!" the two women proclaimed together before hopping up and running down to the ring. Elinor watched them for a bit, her mother attempted to get Col to stop the duel but he refused. Almost the entire camp was watching the match, so she felt like no one would miss her if she slipped up to her room.

Fergus wiped the sweat off of his face and jumped out of the path from another swing from Ean. He was beginning to feel tired, but Ean showed no signs of slowing as the attacks came fast and furiously. For a moment, he thought he heard his mother's voice in the crowd. But she was drowned out when Fergus lunged and swiped Ean's feet from beneath him. Fergus touched the tip of his blade to Ean's nose and smiled.

"Good duel." He reached down to take Ean's hand, which he did though grudgingly. Fergus looked around to see where Elinor was. She had been in the front row when the match started, which was partially why he challenged Ean. Show that he wasn't just a dunce; he was at least a dunce with a sword. But as his clan swarmed around him to congratulate him, he couldn't find her.

"Excellent job, Fergus!" Dirk shouted, slapping an arm around his shoulders.

"Have you seen Lady Elinor?" he shouted to him over the continual cheering. Dirk shook his head and stretched to look as well. He pointed towards the castle and Fergus saw her figure enter the side door. Suddenly, the victory felt a little empty.

The mood grew worse when the crowd dispersed and Betha and Kenna caught up to their sons. Kenna took Ean aside and began whispering and gesturing fiercely. Betha simply looked at Fergus silently for a long while, then simply said,

"Go clean yourself. You smell like the stables."

Dark was quickly approaching when Fergus left the ring, and the stars had twinkled on by the time he was clean. He lay in bed for a long while, trying to make himself sleep and trying not to think about Elinor. He wasn't very successful at either.