“Equal before the Lord, Kat. Yes, we are all equal before him. But we each have earthly duties to perform the best we can. Even Sir Bryan has duties he must perform in obedience to his liege laird, whether he likes them or not.”
She grimaced. “I’m not sure that makes me feel any better, Fergus. Either he is marrying me for my inheritance or because it is his duty.”
“Ah, lass, ye were hoping to find love, weren’t ye?”
“Aye. Love. Or at least mutual affection.”
“Come, Kathryn. Ye would have found little of either with Sir Rodney. Edward of England will come north and Carleton will come with him. Ye made your choice when ye yielded to Sir Bryan and Scotland’s king. Be fully truthful with Sir Bryan. And see if love will bloom.”
“It will take a very special man to overlook what I’ve done, won’t it?”
“Aye, it will.”
“And you think Black Bryan is such a man?”
“Only time will tell.”
“Perhaps. But I would still like you to send for Cousin Richard.”
“All right. But it will take some time. If the king insists on a wedding, ye’re going to have to delay it as long as ye can.” They walked out of the chapel and down the steps. “Surely Sir Bryan has some redeeming qualities that ye could admire if ye tried.”
“You may judge for yourself. Thus far I have found none.”
KING ROBERT insisted on sending his priest with Bryan so the ceremony could be held without delay. Bryan returned to Homelea the next day resigned to the marriage. And mindful that Ceallach would arrive in a matter of days with the arms shipment. Bryan had sent word to Kathryn that the wedding would take place the next day. They must marry and prepare to leave within the week so that the inhabitants of Homelea could accompany Ceallach and the wagons north to Stirling.
Bryan asked for his evening meal to be served in the solar, which opened off the great hall at the end farthest from the kitchen. Apparently the old earl had used it as his office, for it boasted a large table and sturdy benches.
He pushed the food around his trencher with a knife as he considered his conversation with the king. A conversation with his father. How strange it seemed to freely think of Robert the Bruce as his father. He’d always known of the relationship, and nothing had really changed. Still, he was gratified at the man’s admission and by his praise.
But the conversation had ended with Bryan’s agreement to wed Lady Kathryn.
A shadow graced the doorway. “Would you care for some company, brother?”
“No.”
Adam walked in and sat down.
Evidently Adam’s question was not a sincere request for information. Bryan smiled. He found it difficult to be angry in the man’s presence.
Without preliminary, Adam asked, “When do you plan to tell her that we must leave?”
“First we must marry.”
Although they spoke French in the company of others, Adam now conversed in their native Gaelic. “Am I to be your witness, then?” He took a drink.
“Aye, if there’s a wedding.”
Adam coughed and sputtered.
Bryan pounded his back. “Are you all right?”
“Aye, no thanks to you.” Adam took another sip of water. “What do you mean, if there’s a wedding?” Adam managed to croak.
Bryan examined his food, then spoke quietly. “She made it clear that I am not suitable for her station. I’m not noble or even a landed knight.”
“Well, someone needs to talk some sense to her. Once we desert Homelea, she will have a difficult time reclaiming it as a single woman.”
“The fact is, she’d be better off as my widow.”
“Aye, but do try not to be killed, Bryan.”
“At least as a widow no one could force her to marry, not even Rodney.”
“Aye.”
They ate in silence for a few minutes before Bryan spoke. “We are to accompany the arms to Stirling and leave nothing here for Edward when he marches through.”
“That isn’t going to endear you to your betrothed, Bryan. She expects you to protect her home. Though she may not be happy with you, she does seem relieved to be rid of Carleton. Why didn’t you kill the man when you had the chance?”
“If he’d challenged me, I would have tried. But I’d given the lady my word not to harm anyone within the castle.”
“Then you should have followed him outside the walls,” Adam stated with fervor.
“Perhaps you’re right, but it’s too late now.”
“I’m sure you’ll meet up with him again. In the meantime, you will have the joys of marriage to occupy your mind.”
Bryan wasn’t about to admit to Adam or anyone his decision to have a chaste marriage. “I’m not so sure this marriage is in the lady’s best interest. My enemies become hers . . . and Edward of England is a formidable enemy.”
“Don’t let Robert’s troubles unsettle you.”
“Curse it, man. Even he couldn’t protect his wife. Our queen remains in Edward’s prison, and Robert is helpless to release her. I’ve seen how it tears at him.”
Adam put a hand on his foster brother’s shoulder. Somberly, he replied, “We will win this fight and free our queen, God willing.”
“Yes, and in the meantime I’m supposed to marry and protect this woman. And I don’t know if I can.” The admission clawed at Bryan’s innards. “Adam, promise me you will look after Kathryn if I cannot.”
Adam’s expression grew more solemn. “I will guard her with my life, Bryan. Not only because she is deserving, but because you ask it.”
A load lifted from Bryan’s heart. With both of them seeing to her welfare, Kathryn would be safer than if Bryan alone was pledged to her. “You should return home before the battle. See to your wife and bairns.”
“I will if there’s time.”
“Good. And you’ll stand with me at the ceremony tomorrow evening?”
“Of course. The event promises to be interesting.”
Bryan grinned. “Aye, she’s a spirited lass.”
They stood, and Adam clapped him on the back. “Mayhap she’ll save us the trouble and refuse to marry you.”
IN THE HOUR BEFORE VESPERS, Bryan waited with Bruce’s priest at the altar of Homelea’s tiny chapel, Adam and Thomas at his side. His thoughts weren’t on the forthcoming ceremony as much as they dwelt on his encounter with Kathryn. He rolled his shoulders as if to shift a weight. Perhaps with time she would come to accept the circumstances of his birth as he had done long ago. Somehow, they would make the marriage work despite their differences.
After months of wearing trews and his small plaid to accommodate a life spent on horseback, the great plaid kilted about his hips felt strange. But he’d dressed for the occasion, hoping to appease Kathryn with his effort, because he regretted his behavior in the stable. Kathryn’s defiance had fueled his temper, and like a fool he’d tried to conquer by force. He certainly knew better—even on the battlefield it was sometimes necessary to retreat to gain an advantage.
Adam leaned toward him. “You’re sure you want to go through with this?”
“Yes.” His terse response in no way told his true feelings. He was not sure at all. The late afternoon’s dark clouds reminded him of the cave in Carrick and his vow not to marry. Yet here he stood about to pledge himself to a woman. A woman who was at least half an hour late for her wedding.
Tugging at his plaid, he growled, “What keeps her?”
“She made it plain the thought of wedding you makes her swoon. Perhaps she’s had another fit.” Adam wisely said this without a trace of a grin, because Bryan was in no mood for levity.
“Aggravating woman. Go see what keeps her.” As he waited for Adam to return with his reluctant bride, Bryan glanced about at the few people in attendance. Dressing in his finest clothes was the least he could offer to the woman in return for this pitiful ceremony.
As an earl’s daughter, she had probably expected to have a fine
wedding. She would have ridden on a white horse to the steps of the village kirk while the many distinguished guests lining the way wished her well. Somehow, he would make it up to her, for although she did indeed aggravate him, he’d certainly given her cause to return the sentiment.
When Adam returned shortly, Bryan feared his foster brother would choke on the grin he was obviously trying to suppress. “Well?”
Adam stopped several arm-lengths away and drew a deep breath. “The lady refuses to leave her chamber. She has barred the door.” Adam struggled to keep a straight face. Thomas was less successful at withholding a loud guffaw and Bryan turned and cuffed his arm. “See to your duties,” he growled.
“What—”
“Go clean out Cerin’s stall!”
Thomas smirked but hurried off.
Bryan’s jaw tensed as his temper rose, good intentions sinking rapidly to the bottom of his priorities.
Adam hurriedly continued. “She bade me tell you that she will bring the castle down with screams of protest if you force her to wed.”
Clenching his teeth in what he hoped passed for a smile, Bryan muttered, “Bring the castle down? She has gone too far.” He strode to the stairway, taking the steps two at a time until he stood outside the obstinate woman’s chamber.
Pounding on the door, he demanded entrance. Silence. Not a sound from within.
“Is this the only exit?” he demanded of a cowering servant.
“Aye, my laird.”
“And she remains inside?”
“Aye. This chamber, ah . . .” The young boy swallowed deeply.
“Out with it.”
“The door has been heavily fortified, my laird. I fear it would take a battering ram to open it.”
Despite that warning Bryan drove his shoulder against the door with all his considerable might. Neither door nor hinge nor lock gave way in the slightest.
Rubbing his bruised joint, his temper on a very short rein, Bryan bellowed for the edification of the silent room’s occupant. “My lady will marry me if I must starve her into submission.”
Adam cleared his throat. “Is this a good idea, Bryan? Surely there are better ways to subdue a headstrong woman.”
“She has insulted me, defied me, fainted to get her way—now she shall taste my dislike of this marriage. She will not eat until she opens this door and takes the vows.”
He stormed away, leaving orders that his wishes best be obeyed unless Adam wanted to share her fate.
Bryan ranted against his king, England’s king, and his unwilling bride as he marched to the solar, slamming the door behind him. He went directly to a table that held uisgebeatha, wishing with all his strength that he was a drinking man. Still he poured himself some whiskey but only stared at the glass in his hand.
Why had he made such a foolish threat? How could he in all good conscience starve a woman to gain acquiescence? Again he wished he could just get drunk and forget war and death, kings and royal decrees, and a pair of bewitching, defiant brown eyes.
Aye, drink himself into oblivion. He hadn’t done so in years, having promised Adam not to give in to the temptation. But tonight he didn’t know where else to turn.
Just as he was about to raise the glass to his lips a knock came at the door. Carrying the glass over to it, he opened the door to admit his foster brother. “Ah, Adam. Come to tell me of the folly of my ways, have you?”
“As if you’d listen.”
“Just say what you came to say. You’ll not leave me be until you’ve said your piece.”
“Are you going to drink that?” Adam asked, pointing to the glass.
Bryan shrugged. “It will do about as much good as praying, which is what you’re about to suggest, isn’t it?”
“Have you even tried it? Honestly tried prayer?”
Bryan had attended church and prayed as a child. But he’d become a man that day in the hills of Carrick and he’d put away childish things. He stared at Adam. “Nothing has changed. I simply can’t give myself up to a God that deserts the innocent when they most need him.”
“God didn’t desert Bruce’s women or his brothers. He has taken the dead to be with him in heaven and stands beside the living through their trials.”
“Aye, so you’ve said.”
Adam just looked at him for a minute. “What would it take for you to believe, to trust God?”
“Something miraculous, Adam.”
“You see miracles everyday but you don’t recognize them.”
“Like what?”
“Laughter; the beauty of a sunrise or a woman’s face; the joy of riding a magnificent animal like Cerin. Life is full of small miracles if you aren’t too blind to see them.”
Bryan set the whiskey down, untouched. “I’ve given up whiskey. Don’t expect more of me.”
Adam stood before Bryan. “Good. You’re going to need a clear head to deal with her.”
“I’m still tempted to strangle her as well as starve her.”
Adam shook his head. “You can’t mean to follow through with either of those threats.”
“I’ll be forced to, unless you have a better idea.”
Adam smiled wickedly. “Aye, I do at that.”
“Well, out with it.”
“Nay, you need to come with me. There’s someone you should meet.”
Shrugging, Bryan gestured toward the door. “All right, then. Lead on.”
Bryan followed Adam through the main hall to the entrance to the dungeons. The sounds of a bagpipe playing a lively tune could be heard as they descended the narrow steps. “What is that—”
“You’ll see, or rather hear, in a minute.”
The piper’s tune ended, then the drones filled again and the tune was repeated. At least Bryan thought it was the same tune. He shook his head to clear his ears but it didn’t help.
By now they had reached the lower level, deep beneath the castle, where the castle piper and his young pupil stood. And as the boy continued to struggle with his playing, Bryan understood why the lessons were held in such a remote spot.
The sounds coming from the pipe were . . . awful. Either this was a very new pupil or a horridly inept one.
Seeing Bryan, the boy quit playing, much to Bryan’s relief. Adam introduced everyone and Bryan made polite inquiries before he and Adam returned to the solar.
Puzzled, Bryan asked, “What was that all about?”
“The lady did threaten to bring the castle down with her screams.”
“Aye, well she better hurry before that boy beats her to it.” He chuckled. “He’s bad but he’s loud.”
With a knowing wink, Adam replied, “Yes, he is.”
Bryan furrowed his brow but by the time Adam explained his plan, Bryan was laughing and pounding the man’s back. “It could just work, Adam. It’s certainly worth a try. Come, let’s put your fiendish idea to the test.”
BY THE NEXT MORNING Bryan was having second thoughts. Denying her food and water had seemed reasonable yesterday in his anger, but he probably would have capitulated by now.
However, Adam argued that he must make it seem as if he truly meant to stick with his threat if their plan was to work.
Now that she was good and hungry, Bryan could send a tray to her along with a note of apology.
And a surprise.
SEVEN
JUST PAST MIDDAY a knock at the chamber door startled Kathryn. She and Anna had heard nothing since the barbarian’s attempt to force the door yesterday. Aye, force. The man knew no other way to get what he wanted but to take, to coerce with sheer physical power. But she would not be intimidated. She only wished Anna wasn’t also sentenced to starve.
The knock came again, and she bid Anna look through the small hatch set within the larger, fortified door. “’Tis Gunna with a tray of food and water.” Anna reached for the bolt.
“Wait.” Kathryn’s stomach rumbled. “No one is with her?”
“Nay.” She leaned her ear closer to the opening, then turn
ed back to Kathryn with a look of triumph. “She says she has a written apology from Sir Bryan.”
It was past time the man came to his senses. “Let me see it— have her pass it through.”
Anna looked hopeful. “And the food?”
“Don’t open the door just yet. I don’t trust Sir Bryan.”
With a resigned sigh, Anna reached through the opening and then handed her the parchment.
Kathryn smiled in satisfaction when she’d finished reading it. “Sir Bryan is most sorry for his behavior. He does not want to force me into anything and has asked King Robert to reconsider the marriage.” She smiled at the small victory the knight’s apology revealed. She’d locked herself away in hopes that her cousin Richard would arrive in time to rescue her. But if Sir Bryan persuaded the king to change his mind about the marriage, all the better.
The smell of warm bread wafted through the small opening, and Kathryn’s mouth watered. A final peek through the trap door satisfied Kathryn that the servant was alone. She and Anna lifted the heavy timber that barred the door.
The door leaped open as if an army pushed against it. Kathryn and Anna strained to shove it closed but the door and the women were propelled backward as the Black Knight burst into the room. Just when she had gathered her wits enough to realize Sir Bryan wasn’t alone, a bagpiper began to play.
Loudly. And very, very badly.
And standing next to this incredible source of noise was an elderly cleric she’d never seen before.
“What is the meaning of this?” Kathryn shouted.
There was no answer. Thomas gently but firmly escorted Anna from the room before the door slammed shut and Adam bolted it, then stood with arms crossed to further bar the way.
At a signal from the knight, the piper quit playing and in blessed silence, Sir Bryan stepped toward her. Without thinking, she backed away from him until she could go no farther. Trapped against the far wall, she mustered her voice to sound as cold and disdaining as she could. “What is the meaning of this?” she repeated.
“We will wed this day, my lady.”
She shook her head, sure that she had heard wrong. “But your note—you said you’d sent a messenger to the king to reconsider.”
The Price of Freedom Page 10
