THE HEIRESS (Sample)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

With one foot on the table, Aidan toyed with the tankard in his hand, twirling the liquid within. The pub was noisy tonight and also filled to the extreme.

Some men gathered around a table, gambling and cheering anytime they won and ordering for more wine. Others sat in twos and threes discussing while few were busy with whores they had picked up for the night.

The smell of smoke, stench of unbathed bodies and stale sweat filled the air. Aidan who was half-drunk angrily took up his tankard and slammed it down on the table spilling some of its content and startling everyone which made the pub go quiet with every eye fixed on him.

“What eats the rogue this time?” Asked a man leaning on a table nearby.

Aidan stared at them through dazed eyes, his head lulling, his chin almost resting on his chest. “All women are whores!” He stated.

A soft laugh escaped a prostitute at the far corner of the room who was absentmindedly stroking the long strands of hair of her customer.

“They are nothing but whores who can never be sated!” Aidan continued “They have nothing to offer besides a miserable life that makes you wish for death. They pleasure and trap every man who is foolish enough to seek comfort from the depth of their thighs!” he twirled the wine in the tankard as his eyes roamed on every attentive face.

“My mother wasn’t an exception! That bitch who is a good-for-nothing whore!” He hauled the tankard against the nearest wall, splashing the liquid all over the floor.

A frightened prostitute flinched in fear, wrapping her arms tightly around her man’s torso. “I should have killed her when I had the chance!” he sprawled on the chair putting his feet down. “I should have killed her before she killed my father and hanged filthy self right there in the barn! So unfortunate that I had to bury both parents in the same week.” He turned his head to the side and spat on the floor. “...but I felt no pity! I felt no sympathy whatsoever for the bitch! Her loss wasn’t even a loss at all. I was just bittered that she chose to take my father along.” He raked his fingers through his shaggy hair. “That man deserved better! My father deserved better!”

He slammed the table with his fist then forced a weak sly smile. “It just keeps baffling me why and how he unluckily ended with such a woman whose sexual need was insatiable!”

“When you’re drunk, you start to play the fool and gibber a lot of nonsense!” fired one man.

“Yea.” Said another. “Why don’t you shut up and go home, rogue.”

“Don’t you ruin the night for us!” Warned the first man.

“Gareth!” Aidan turned to face the last man. “I bet your mother was no filthy exception too.”

The huge man sprang to his feet immediately. “You might rant about your own mother the way you do but I won’t have you speak so uncouthly of mine!”

Aidan slightly staggered to his feet. “Did your mother also get laid in the streets and alleys?” He grinned foolishly.

Gritting his teeth, Gareth lunged at him. Aidan ducked under his arm swiftly and staggered to face him again. “I bet she would plead for a little bit of me for a few pennies.”

Gareth lunged at him again, catching him by the collar of his shirt this time.

“I will teach you some manners, rogue!” He threw a punch at Aidan’s face who quickly dodged and shoved him away.

Gareth staggered backwards from the unexpected action and almost fell. Before Aidan could turn, a tall man who was Gareth’s companion dashed a punch to Aidan’s face.