The Death of a Bachelor

Chapter Eight

Ray and Joshua found Kieran at the stables near the Western wing of the manor, grooming his horse.

"You'll rest for the evening and head out at dusk to keep up the search," Kieran ordered without looking at them. "I'll join you tomorrow, before the cock crows."

Ray nodded, already at bay with the idea. Kieran probably had to write reports anyway.
"That's fine with us," Ray said. "But what of your bride to be?"

Kieran stopped what he was doing and looked at them, his eyebrow arched in curiosity. "What about her?"

His brothers exchanged glances.

"Well, you're courting her, right?" Ray said. "But then you're going to busy with this mission. Searching for the Eluder, and communicating back and forth with the Inspector and army authorities..writing reports...yet the whole concept of courtship is to see your lover every so often."

"I don't think this mission shall take such a long while that I am unable to see her," Kieran stated, and continued to brush his horse's fur.

"You sound eager to do so." The ever solemn baritone of Joshua spoke up. "I thought you didn't love her."

"I do not," Kieran averred, turning his attention back to his brothers.

"Then you need not see her every so often," Joshua plainly stated."Courtship isn't a mandatory process, you know. Yet you sound like you want it to be."

Kieran had a brief flash back to his talk with Alyssa in the library. It came back to him that he had originally been of the view that him and Elena should not court, and had agreed to just one date. Yet here he was, already forgetting about that and the fact that only two days ago, he had taken a mental note to keep away from her.

What was wrong with him?

"I don't..." he said, unsureness edging his voice.

"Kieran, remember why you're marrying her." Joshua said, enunciating the words slowly. He crossed his well toned arms and and looked at him through the bangs that fell over his forehead. "Don't you think that seeing her every so often will make her fall in love with you?"

Kieran barked a laugh at that notion and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "That's impossible."

Elena's indifference was so far undisputed.

"Is it?" Ray countered. "Brother it's you. She may not find you charming as per now, but gradually, if you keep meeting her, she will develop feelings for you. And you definitely don't want that."

"Yes," Joshua agreed. "And then she won't be able to leave you alone."

"No." Kieran shook his head in refusal of their notions. "She's not the type. She's indifferent to my presence, and her involvement with me is purely platonic."

Ray snickered. "That's how it always starts," he said, and shot Kieran a serious and warning look. "Or have you forgotten your past encounters?"

Darn.

Ray had hit the nail on the head. Kieran instantly remembered how his past relationships aside from Debra had ended up, and it had been catastrophic for him. He had sought friendship, and he had thought that's what it was; until it grew into something else- an obsession.

It was the core reason Kieran did not have many lady friends; they had always sought more than he could give. For some women, their romantic feelings blossomed from what started as a friendship, and for others, flings that were not supposed to mean anything. But they always did mean something for them.