The king turned to face James and then turned back. “I am willing to forgo any judgments or punishments until we have had a chance to talk about all of these things and about why you have not brought news of our kinship to me before this.” Robert walked to the door. “She has promised to be a good and obedient wife from now forward, Sebastien, and I will take her at her word. With your strong guidance and her remorse, I believe she can be controlled and not repeat her offenses.”
James coughed as though choking, but stepped back to allow the king passage. Shaking his head, he followed Robert out of the cell. Sebastien could hear his words, for he was certain that James made no attempt to hide them. “She has not been yet, sire, why do you think she will be now?”
Sebastien suddenly realized they were alone, alive, and the door was open. He opened his arms to her and she stepped into them. “Obedient? You promised him you would be obedient?”
“Well,” she said, smiling at him, “other than this, I have been obedient.”
“Other than leaving against my orders, coming back against my orders and revealing what I told you not to reveal, when did your obedience begin?”
“You would have sacrificed your life for me,” she said, putting her head on his shoulder.
“I promised you that I would protect you. If you could trust me, we might have avoided much of this.”
“If I had trusted you, so much loss could have been prevented.” She leaned back and looked at him, her eyes bleak with the same thought he had. “Philippe. The other lives shed because of my words. I will regret their deaths forever, Sebastien.”
“Lara, the boy’s death was my fault. I knew that Eachann had my plans by then. You were not the only one of his spies here. I should have protected him by leaving him behind. You did warn me. You begged me not to take him. Although I did not know why, I should have listened to you.”
They were quiet then and he thought of the smiling boy whose life had been lost in his service. The king was no doubt handling matters of treachery and clearing their way above stairs, so they should follow.
“Come, Lara. We should see what the king wants of us. And you should change out of these clothes.”
“I used to wear something like this when I learned to climb the walls of the castle.”
He felt faint. Blinking, he shook his head. “Never tell me that you climbed the walls to get in here today.”
“Oh, nay. I just threatened a pox on James’s essential parts if he would not help me.”
“I do not wonder why he fears you, lady. He needs those if he wants to start his own family.”
“Come now, Sebastien,” she said, as he took her hand and led her out of the cell. “He needs those parts to pleasure a certain kitchen maid named Peggy.”
Sebastien laughed for a moment, knowing that Lara would give James no quarter in the future. “We have much to discuss and many things to do.”
The Lord and Lady of Dunstaffnage were greeted by their people as they entered the hall. The Campbells were gone, and apparently the king’s declaration that Sebastien was still in his esteem had smoothed the way quite nicely for them.
Sebastien was not happy when he discovered that Robert would stay for several more days…and use their chambers, as befitted his station as king. But he knew that the Bruce, having not visited there for some time, would not miss the strange, large chair from the bedroom.
Epilogue
“I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
Father Connaughty poured the final amount of water over the bairn’s head and smiled as his outraged howls filled the chapel. Handing him back to his godfather, the king, the priest stepped away and allowed them a moment of privacy.
“A handsome boy,” Robert said, as he turned and held the babe out to her.
“Aye, sire. He has his father’s eyes.”
Lara dried Philippe’s head and soothed him back to sleep. Sebastien offered to return him to his nurse, but Lara held him. They had spoken often of the first Philippe over these last months and it seemed fitting that they should name their son after him.
“Raise him well, Sebastien. I need good warriors on my side.”
“We will, sire. If he has his mother’s daring—”
“Dear God in Heaven, save us!” James finished the sentiment, although Lara knew it was not what Sebastien had been planning to say.
“I did not know you could enter a church safely, James. There are rumours, you know.” Lara relinquished the babe to Margaret’s willing arms.
He held up his hands in surrender and walked away.
“You will have to teach me that skill, lady. Even beating him to a pulp does not gain his surrender to me.”
“’Tis simple, Sebastien. He has a secret that I know and he fears I will reveal, so he acquiesces to me.”
“And that secret?”
“I cannot say, my lord. Mayhap one day he will tell you himself.”
“Lara, as your lawful husband, I command you to tell me,” he ordered.
She laughed. It was such an inconsequential thing, but always important to men. And she had such fun using it against James. To share it would lessen its power.
“Let us go back to our chambers and discuss this obedience you desire.”
“Oh no, Lara. I know your ways. We will go there, you will seduce me and I will never find out.”
She moved her gaze over his body until it reached the part of him that would react to her words. “And would you like to do that or not?” She licked her lips and he tensed. “The king will be using our chambers this night, but if we hurry…”
“Damn!” he said. “Very well, I will allow you to seduce me then.”
She leaned up and kissed him. “And I will allow you to seduce me the next time.”
The sparkle in his eyes spoke of his passion and told her he knew her game.
“I am always your obedient wife, my lord.”
“Or you let me think you are.”
“Oh, aye, my lord.”
He kissed her then and swept her out of the church to their chambers, where their laughter filled the keep with love.
Author’s Note
I based my story on a factual event, the battle of Brander Pass, which was fought on August 11, 1308, but I confess to taking “literary license” with some of the real history of the time. The Bruce did indeed defeat John of Lorne, who escaped to England and was appointed Admiral of the Western Seas by Edward I. As a hostage, John left behind his elderly father, not his children, as I used for my story. The eldest daughter of the Lord of Lorne, and head of the MacDougall clan, was given the honorary title of “Maid of Lorne.”
I fear I did not give James Douglas enough credit, for it was his battle strategies that saved the Bruce that day. James, who was later called “Good Sir James,” was Robert the Bruce’s premier fighting machine and guerrilla warfare expert, and fought in more than sixty battles during his lifetime. Robert the Bruce so trusted him that he asked James to take his heart to the Holy Land to fulfill a promise to go there on a Crusade. James died in Spain on his way to the East, and Robert’s heart was returned and buried in Melrose Abbey, while the rest of his remains are in Dunfermline Abbey in Scotland.
I think I owe the MacDougall clan an apology—their actions were no better or worse than any other noble family in this struggle that was both a civil war and a war against England. Fathers and sons, brothers and sisters, even husbands and wives, often found themselves on opposite sides. Extremes in brutality and mercy were seen throughout this war. As I mention in the story, Robert the Bruce originally fought on Edward’s side, but changed loyalties during the struggles after being inspired by the actions of William Wallace—and perhaps his own desire to be king? He was also known to forgive former enemies; Thomas Randolph and William, the Earl of Ross, are some dramatic examples of mercy he showed when it was politically correct.
Dunstaffnage Castle, home at one time to the
legendary Stone of Scone, was seized after the Battle of Brander Pass, and a royal warden was appointed to hold it. It was one of very few castles that the Bruce’s forces did not destroy during his campaign to take back Scotland. Eventually, after Robert’s death, John of Lorne regained it, and later it passed into Campbell hands. As Sebastien predicted in the story, John of Lorne would never get the castle back while Robert lived—and he did not!
One final bit of history—although the first formal “parliaments” of Robert the Bruce were held in the spring of 1309, there are a few mentions of a gathering held at Ardchattan Priory, a monastery a few miles northeast of Dunstaffnage, which had been established and supported by the Lords of Lorne. No doubt Robert was pleased by the choice of the site, since it would be a smack at his enemies.
If you have any questions or comments about the history contained in my story, you can contact me at [email protected]. I like nothing more than to discuss brawny, powerful Scottish heroes and their heroines with readers!
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
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First published in Great Britain 2009
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Theresa S. Brisbin 2006
ISBN: 978-1-4089-1619-3
The Maid of Lorne Page 23
