My Valiant Knight

by Hannah Howell

  “There will be few at Kengarvey who will fight your rule when Duggan is finally dead.”

  “Not even his sons?” asked Justice.

  “Nay,” replied Ronald. “The one thing those lads have learned is how to survive. They will have the wit to ken that, under you, they can do that with more comfort and more ease than they have e’er done beneath the fists of their father.”

  “And they will not feel a need for vengeance for the death of their father?”

  “Nay, I think not. Aye, most children love their parents no matter how foolish those parents are, but Duggan MacNairn has beaten all the love out of his children. They are terrified of the mon, no more. If they obey, ’tis out of fear. They dinna leave him, for they love Kengarvey, although Duggan has made it little better than a hovel with all his fighting. Nay, those sons willna seek to make anyone pay for their father’s death; they may even be more loyal to the mon who kills him, for they will finally be free. The only thing I fear is that they will allow Duggan to take them to their deaths.”

  “I will do my best to save them,” Gabel said.

  “I ken it. I have had little to do with Martin, George, and William, but I canna believe I am wrong to say that they dinna carry their father’s taint. Colin has little of his father in him, and he is the one I will grieve for if Duggan gets him killed. Howbeit, I realize that ye canna save all of the fools, laddie.”

  “At the moment I seem incapable of even helping my own men who are so sorely beset by those cursed Frasers.” Gabel frowned when Michael suddenly burst into the room. “Does no one knock anymore?”

  “My pardons, cousin, but I bring good news,” Michael said as he fought to catch his breath. “The laird of the MacFibhs is here.”

  “The laird himself?”

  “Aye,” Michael said, but before he could say any more a huge, black-haired man marched into the room.

  Gabel immediately recognized the lord of the MacFibhs, even though he had only met the man once. Angus MacFibh was hard to forget. The man stood head and shoulders over most men, was built as strong as the finest destrier, and had a huge red scar marring his square, homely face. He wore mostly rough peasant attire and a thick cape made of wolf’s fur. Sir Angus started toward him, but as Gabel stood to greet the man, the Scot stopped abruptly and stared at Ronald.

  “Ye treat the enemy verra kindly,” Angus said, eyeing Gabel warily, his hand on his sword.

  “I do not consider this man an enemy,” Gabel replied in a calm and courteous voice, but he was angered by the look of mistrust on Angus’s face.

  “He is one of those cursed MacNairns, isna he? Didna our king say that the whole nest of them needed to be cleared out?”

  “Our king also said that I may save any of them I wish to, except for Duggan MacNairn. I am of a mind to save Ronald.”

  “And I am of a mind to make Kengarvey bleed. Are we to be working against each other, my laird?”

  “I think not, not if you do not try to stop me. After all, what good is Kengarvey to me if I have no one to work its lands?”

  “There are a lot of MacFibhs who would do that for you.”

  “I am sure, and I shall remember that they are there if I have need of them. May I ask why you have come to Bellefleur? I expected a mere messenger to come and tell me that you were ready to attack, not the laird himself.”

  “I felt this battle was important enough to tell ye meself that I am ready.” Angus scratched his belly and spared another glare for Ronald. “I am eager to ride beside ye as we set upon those MacNairn swine.”

  Gabel sent Ronald one sharp look when the man began to speak, eager to answer MacFibh’s insults with a few of his own, and, although he grumbled and scowled, Ronald obeyed the silent command to be quiet. After a few moments of polite murmurings between him and Angus, Gabel had Michael take Lord MacFibh to his chambers, where he could rest after his hard ride. The moment the door closed behind the man, Gabel cursed and poured himself another tankard of mead.

  “The arrogance of that man is nearly choking,” grumbled Justice as he too helped himself to a drink.

  “The smell of him isna too healthy either,” muttered Ronald, but he managed a smile when both Justice and Gabel grinned.

  Gabel frowned as he sat at the end of Ronald’s bed, leaned against the bedpost, and took a long drink of his mead. “I do not see it as a compliment that MacFibh himself has come to tell me that all his men are gathered. I also find the man’s eagerness to kill MacNairns a little chilling.”

  Ronald nodded then shrugged. “I can understand his hatred, even though I think it most unfair that he feels it for all MacNairns. Duggan has a lot of MacFibh blood on his hands. He has killed a fair number of Angus’s close kin, and sometimes left the MacFibh lands so battered and burnt that people starved ere things could be put aright again.”

  “So, even if I do not have trouble from him about the lands themselves, I may well have trouble protecting MacNairns.”

  “Aye. He willna stop hating us simply because we have a new laird.”

  “And we have already had a taste of what treachery the Frasers are capable of.”

  “Mayhaps you can be rid of the place after the king’s temper has cooled, and he is feeling more generous toward you,” said Justice.

  “Nay,” Gabel answered, and he shook his head. “I am the one who will be taking the laird of MacNairn’s life. ‘Tis my duty to try and help the people who are left leaderless. And who would take the lands then? MacFibh? Fraser? If I give up the lands, the ones who will greedily take them up are men who will treat the people as poorly as their laird did. In truth, I would be handing Ainslee’s people o’er to their executioners. ‘Twould not be a very welcome wedding gift. I think I may have enough trouble explaining how ’tis not only her father’s life I have taken, but her lands.”

  Ronald smiled crookedly. “She may be a wee bit angry, but I dinna think ye need to fear any great trouble from her o’er who rules Kengarvey.”

  “Nay? You do not think she will feel that one of her brothers ought to be made laird, and not me?”

  “She kens that her brothers will be lucky to be alive. She also kens what a poor choice of lairds there is out there. Nay, she may feel angry with the king that her brothers are losing their birthright, when the crimes were of their father’s making and not theirs, but she will nay fault ye.”

  Gabel wished he had Ronald’s confidence, but did not argue with the man. “Well, I had best go and be courteous to my unwelcome guests. Fraser skulking about has been hard enough upon my poor aunt. I fear she may have to take to her bed after she meets that brutish Angus MacFibh.”

  “They willna all be here for verra long, will they?” asked Ronald.

  “Nay Now that the MacFibhs are prepared for the battle, we need not linger here any longer. If all of the Frasers are not here, that is their loss. I mean for us to ride to Kengarvey on the morrow.”

  “I will tell the men,” said Justice even as he headed out of the door. “This is the news they have waited for.”

  As Gabel stood up, he glanced at Ronald. “I do not believe I have ever been so reluctant to go to battle.”

  “I ken it. Ye must do as the king commands and, although my heart sorely aches for my people, if any mon must be sent to end the troubles at Kengarvey, I am glad it will be you. I can rest easy kenning that, if God wills that any of my people survive, ye will treat them weel.”

  He nodded to Ronald, silently thanking him for his trust, but Gabel’s heart was heavy as he left the room. The allies the king had sent him could neither be trusted nor liked. Bellefleur was crowded with brutish men who made no attempt to ally themselves with the men they would soon have to fight side by side with. Even his plans to show some mercy would be disobeyed, and he would not only have to fight for his life and those of his men, but for the people of Kengarvey who were willing to surrender to him. And, somewhere in the midst of all the duplicity and bloodshed, he had to try and find Ainslee before a
Fraser or a MacFibh did.

  Gabel knew that the next few days would be one of the worst ordeals he had ever had to suffer. He could only pray that he had the strength and wits to survive it, and to gain all he sought.

  Ainslee blinked, her eyes hurt by the light of the extra torch Colin set into the wall. She had been in the dungeons for five long days, and this was only the second time Colin had come to see her. All the rest of the time she was virtually alone, her guards acting as if they sat before an empty cell. She was rather surprised that her father even bothered with the guards anymore. As she stood up and walked to the bars, she also wondered how Colin could get rid of the guards without bringing her father’s wrath down on his head. She did notice that Colin was never left with the key.

  A little embarrassed by her own greed, she snatched the bread and cheese he pushed through the bars. The meager offerings Colin had slipped her before were all she had had to eat since her imprisonment. Her father saw to it that she had water and nothing else. It was very clear that he intended to starve her to death. Her guards probably had to report on how sickly she had grown. That would soon cause trouble for Colin, however, for her father would become suspicious if she lingered too long.

  “Are ye not afraid that the guards will tell our father what ye do?” she asked as she forced herself to slowly chew on a thin slice of the loaf of bread he had handed her.

  “They willna tell him about my visits,” Colin replied as he leaned against the bars.

  “How can ye be so certain of that?”

  “Because no one here ever tells our father what I am doing. In truth, only one or two of his hirelings would report on someone, but everyone is verra careful not to let them find out anything.”

  “ ’Tis odd for I would have thought that they would seek his favor.”

  “Most all ken that our father’s favor doesna last from one hour to the next. They gain more by keeping their own counsel. It means that, every once in awhile, one can do as one pleases, and not fear that they face a beating or worse.”

  “How have I missed this?”

  “Because ye didna need to join the conspiracy. Ye had Ronald.” He frowned when she carefully placed the rest of the cheese and bread beneath her thin, worn blanket. “Why dinna ye finish that?”

  “If I eat it all now, what shall I do about tomorrow or the next day?”

  “Eat whate’er slop they are serving you,” Colin replied, but he spoke with a slow wariness, tensing against the bars as he watched her.

  “There is no slop, Colin,” she said quietly, and watched a hint of color flood his high-boned cheeks. “I am given only water.” She winced a little when he spat out a foul oath and slammed his fist against the bars, apparently oblivious to the pain that had to cause him.

  “I begin to understand why it was so easy to get the guards to allow me down here with my meager offerings. Everyone kens that our father has ordered that no one be allowed to see you, and he promised a fierce punishment for anyone disobeying that command. I had expected to have to argue with the guards.”

  Ainslee smiled faintly. “I am also surprised the guards would allow it. They show no signs of their sympathies. They sit there and act as if I am but one of the many sad ghosts haunting this place.”

  “Father means to kill you—slowly.”

  “I ken it.”

  “Ye should have said something.”

  “I didna really accept that that was his intention until yestereve. I thought I was suffering through an added punishment, but that he would soon send me something. Ye have stopped him from beating me to death, and stopped him from cutting me down with his sword, so now he tries to quietly starve me. After all, who would question it if I died down here? People die in such places all the time. And, although some might frown upon putting one’s own child in the dungeons, ’twill not cause him the troubles that simply murdering me would.”

  Colin dragged over the guard’s stool and sat down, his hands clasped so tightly in his lap that they shone white in the flicker of the torches. “Mayhaps I can get the key.”

  “Nay.” She rose, walked to the bars, and reached through to clasp his hand. “That wouldna be allowed by the guards, for my escape would cost them their lives. Worse, it could easily cost ye yours. We both ken that there is only one way for me to flee Kengarvey without risk of capture, and, if ye tell me how to go that way, ye will do so at the risk of your own life.”

  “So I am to sit here and watch our father starve ye to death?”

  “Aye, although I dinna think it will come to that.”

  “Nay? He will soon realize that ye are living too long when fed only water every day. I am certain that I shall be the first one he turns to when he suspects that someone has been feeding you, and he will do whate’er he must to see that it stops.”

  “Then mayhaps ye should cease to help me.”

  “Oh, aye? And lie comfortable in my bed, my belly full, while ye slowly die down here? Do ye think me completely without conscience?”

  “I think that mayhaps ye have more than is safe for life inside Kengarvey.” She smiled faintly when he grimaced. “The threat of damnation ye keep hurling at Father will soon cease to intimidate him.”

  “Ah, ye guessed my game. Ye always were the most clever one of us.”

  “Ye are not without wit.”

  “Mayhaps. I ken that I grow verra weary of using it simply to keep people alive. Kengarvey could be nearly as grand as Bellefleur if Father would cease to waste its strength and wealth in battles and warring with all about us.”

  “ ’Tis the way life has gone on here for many years. One does what one must to survive.” She met his gaze and tried to be stern, knowing she could be risking her own life if she made him see sense. “Ye must protect yourself. Father forces everyone to that with his furies and cruelties. Ye may not wish to carry my death on your conscience, but neither do I wish to be the cause of yours.”

  “I begin to think that there is no answer to this dilemma. If I help you, I do so at risk to myself. If I protect myself and dinna help, then ye slowly die. No one should be given such a choice. Nay, especially by one’s own father.”

  “Then we must pray that the king decides he has had a stomach full of our father’s insults, and sends an army here.”

  “Oh, aye, and then we both die.”

  Ainslee laughed, surprised that she could find any humor in such a desperate situation. “Ye should be trying to cheer me, Colin.”

  Colin smiled crookedly. “I canna cheer myself from hour to hour. Ye expect a great deal from a mere mon.” He quickly grew somber again. “I suppose one can only laugh when there is nowhere to turn and little hope. Howbeit, someone coming to end our father’s tyranny doesna seem to me to be a thing to hope for. Whichever one of our enemies is sent, he will be determined to see all of us pay for Duggan MacNairn’s sins and arrogance.”

  “Nay, not Gabel.”

  “Ye see with the clouded eyes of a lass in love.”

  “Mayhaps a wee bit, but I am not completely blind. Gabel doesna wish to wipe Kengarvey from the earth. Aye, he will kill our father now, but the laird of Bellefleur isna a mon who will make every mon, woman, and bairn pay for the wrongs of the laird. I can think of no way to make ye believe me, except to keep saying this. Howbeit, repeating myself doesna make ye heed me, does it?”

  “Nay, and I am sorry for that. I should like to believe it, for it would give me hope, but I have learned that hope isna such a good thing at Kengarvey either. ‘Tis too often crushed, and one gets weary of it, thus ceases to hope.” He stood up and briefly clasped her hands through the bars. “I will do what I can to aid you.” He touched a finger to her lips when she started to speak. “Nay, there is no use in warnings and protestations. I do what I must. And I shall pray that ye are right, and that the laird of Bellefleur truly does have mercy in his soul. I will also pray that, when the king sends an army against us, ’tis lead by de Amalville.”

  She grimaced as she watch
ed him leave. Gabel had lost his wager that he could make the laird of Kengarvey accept a truce and hold to a vow. That may well have cost him the king’s confidence. As she went back to her bed and lethargically watched her silent guard return, she decided she had best do a little praying as well. She would ask God to give the people of Kengarvey one last chance, and let Gabel lead the army that would soon come clamoring at the walls.

  It was the only hope any of them had for survival.

  Gabel kissed his aunt and young Elaine farewell, smiling kindly at their commands that he protect himself. They were not good at hiding their fears each time he had to ride off to battle, but they did not beleaguer him with them. This time he knew they had good reason to fear for him. Not only was he riding off to fight an enemy, but the men the king had forced him to accept as allies were little more than enemies themselves. This time he not only rode toward danger, he rode with it.

  Mounting his horse, he smiled faintly and patted Malcolm’s strong neck. He had put the animal through many a test to judge his worthiness as a war-horse, and the animal had passed each and every one with admirable skill. Someone had taught the animal well. It did strike him as a little ironic to ride a MacNairn horse to a battle with the people of Kengarvey, but he could not set aside such a battle-worthy animal just because it used to be Ainslee’s mount

  As he rode through the gates of Bellefleur, Michael and Justice quickly moving up to flank him, he glanced back at the men crowding behind him, some on horseback, some on foot. The bloodthirsty eagerness of the Frasers and the MacFibhs still chilled him. What troubled him more at the moment, however, was the way the two had joined forces. He knew that he and his men were alone in the fight ahead. Their allies would help in that they would kill the men they had to fight, but he knew that not one of the MacFibhs or the Frasers could be trusted to watch his back or those of his men. A chill went. down his spine when he caught Fraser staring at him. In truth, he began to suspect that he would have to carefully watch his own back against a traitorous attack by his allies.