Rivals for the Crown (36 page)

In England, Edward's mother, Queen Eleanor of Provence, died, and the people muttered about the deaths of three queens in a year, wondering if God himself was abandoning their lands. First the maid of Norway, then Edward's wife Eleanor, and now his mother. All gone in such a short time. The mood in Scotland was sour. The people chafed under the English yoke. For every insult or assault revenged, there were five that were not, and the Scots vowed to even the score. Tempers were growing ever shorter.

In Berwick, Rachel and Isabel served ale and thought of Highlanders.

And in Ayrshire, Liam Crawford and a band of men attacked the supply trains that resupplied the garrisons. And Nell worried.

Rory stopped his horse at Magnus's gate. Magnus's men had prevented him from entering the yard. There were only one or two he even recognized, and they did not call him by name but threw

wary glances at those Rory had not seen before. Something was amiss. Obviously he was not welcome, but there was more. One of the men he did know came forward. "I'll tell Magnus ye're here," he said, as though greeting a stranger. "Ye'd be best to wait just where ye are."

Rory nodded, his concern growing. He should have gone to see Nell and Liam first, he thought, debating whether to go in at all, whether Magnus would welcome him. No matter. He'd come to do one thing and he would do it, welcome or no. He'd talked to no one on his ride back, avoiding towns and villages and any place he might be recognized, although he did not worry overmuch about that. The number of outlawed men was growing by the day, and although he was somewhat known here in Ayrshire, there were as many who would not recognize him.

He was here because he'd missed his brother. Worst of all, despite his best efforts, he had endangered his entire family. And Fenwick was still alive.

Magnus hurried out of the house, his expression, when he saw Rory, pleased, quickly replaced with something else. He stopped with his back to the others, then put a finger to his lips.

"Magnus..."

"Liam," Magnus whispered.

Rory frowned at him. "Magnus..."

"Thank ye," Magnus said, raising his voice a bit. "I'll see ye in Ayr, then. Good to ken ye've decided to sell the land." Magnus mouthed the word "Go."

"Thank ye, sir," Rory said, seeing the relief in Magnus's eyes. "I'll see ye anon."

"Aye." Magnus closed the door.

Rory grabbed his horse's reins and left without a word. He waited for hours in the copse of trees on the road to Liam and Nell's home, thinking Magnus would be right behind him. He waited until the gloaming, then continued on to his aunt and uncle's. It was quiet within the high walls, but when he walked around the outside of the enclosure, he could hear Liam's deep voice rumbling and Nell's lighter one answering, and Meg's and Elissa's voices joining in. And then laughter. He stood for a moment, for the first time in his life realizing that he, too, wanted this—a home, a woman who loved him, children, a house full of laughter.

Isabel. He pushed her out of his mind, as he did every time his thoughts turned to her. Not now. He was outlawed, and penniless. A younger son with few prospects. When he had his life sorted out, then he would find her. Until then.. .until then it was still the season of the Holly King.

He circled the walls again, found the gate, and pounded on it until Liam's man came, opening the small window and asking who was without.

"Rory MacGannon," he said, not sure if it was wise to give his real name.

"Och, lad," Liam's man said, swinging the gate wide. "We thought ye'd never come. They'll be so glad ye're here."

And they were. Nell cried, his cousins laughed and wept, and Liam embraced him, too, demanding to know where the hell he'd been.

"With William, aye I ken," Liam said, then held up a hand. "No, never mind. It's best ye dinna tell me. Then I canna reveal it under torture."

"Torture!" Rory looked from Liam to Nell. "Is it as bad as that, then?"

Nell shook her head. "Dinna listen to him. It's his idea of
humour
. But, aye, it's been a bit tense."

"I went to Magnus's."

They both stared at him.

"I dinna give my name," he said and told them what had happened. "What is happening there? Is Magnus a'right?"

"Aye," Nell and Liam said together, then stopped. Nell sighed and told him to sit at the table, that she would bring him food and wine while Liam told him.

"Magnus has English soldiers billeted with him," Liam said. "They've been waiting for ye to come home. He told them ye wouldna, that the two of ye had argued that bitterly. And then he sent word to everyone we trust to stop ye before ye went to him."

"Soldiers living in his house?"

"Aye, eating his food, drinking his wine, and watching his wife. He wants to send Jocelyn to her family, but she'll not go."

"Jocelyn willna go?"

"She says she willna leave him here alone."

Rory sat back,
trying
to take it all in—Magnus's worry for him, Jocelyn's worry for Magnus. "I did this. I brought danger to all of ye, and for it I am
sorry
."

"Ye should be sorry for worrying us all," Nell said. "But ye dinna place the soldiers throughout the land, laddie."

"They are in my brother's house because of me."

"Aye, they are. And ye could hang for it, Rory." She sighed. "I still don't know how we got to this spot, with soldiers in our homes."

"Our leaders did it to us," Liam said. "Now it's up to us to change our leadership."

"Which is what William is trying to do," Rory said. "He's meeting with the Balliol people all over, talking to clans and Lowlanders. And I've been with him."

"How have ye been received?" Liam asked.

"Well. They've agreed to wait until the end of the year. If we dinna have a king then, we'll take matters into our own hands."

"Ye're talking war, lad," Nell said.

"Aye."

"Magnus is here," Meg said, pointing at the open door.

His brother was not alone. Rory waited on the step while Magnus handed the horses to Liam's stable lad and crossed with Jocelyn to the house.

"I'm sorry," both brothers said at the same moment, then laughed.

"I'm sorry, Magnus," Rory said. "I came to apologize for the things I said. Ye were right to protect Jocelyn and yer home. I was wrong to say such things to ye. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry, Jocelyn. I ken how hard it must be for ye to have soldiers living in yer home."

She did not answer, but nodded her head.

"Ye were right, Magnus," Rory said.

"Aye, I was," Magnus said. "But ye were as well. I thought I could live my own life without taking a stand." He extended his hand. When Rory took it, he pulled him into an embrace. Jocelyn watched without expression.

"Come in, the both of ye," Nell said from behind Rory. "Dinna be standing here, where anyone could see ye. Have neither of ye a wit of sense? Come!"

Nell bundled them into the house, where she placed ale before each and then sat with them, Liam, Meg, and Elissa watching. "Now talk, we dinna ken how much time we have. How is it ye're here, Magnus, when ye had soldiers all over yer house?"

"We told them we were off for a wedding in Ayr," Magnus said. "We've been on the road since ye came. I told them we'd be back in the morning."

"I am sorry for what I said," Rory said. "I wondered if we'd ever speak again. I hoped we would."

Magnus nodded. "It wasna good, us tearing at each other like that. We'll not do it again, aye? But dinna fear—the tie between us is stronger than that, younger brother. I can argue with ye and think ye a fool, which ye are and always have been. And no doubt always will be."

Rory smiled and shrugged.

"But," Magnus continued, "let anyone else say a word again' ye, and I'm offended on yer behalf. And when they threaten ye, they have me as their worst enemy. When the soldiers came to my house, movi
ng in like they owned it, I ken
that I was the bait to draw my brother into a trap, where he would be arrested, or killed. And I'll be damned if I'll do that. It's Fenwick behind it. He wants William's head, and now he wants yers as well. The Comyns want ye to ken that they're with ye. The English still listen to John Comyn, thank God. It's him that's made Fenwick and the others back off Nell and Liam."

They talked all through the night. Jocelyn curled up in a chair before the fire and slept like a cat while the others sat at the table. In the morning they broke their fast, then Rory left with promises to return, or send word more often. He'd written a letter to his parents, which Nell promised would get to them; after giving it to her, he said his good-byes.

Magnus rode out with him. The brothers said their farewells at the top of a rise.

"Dinna go home, Magnus," Rory said. "They'll discover where ye were."

"It'll buy ye some time to find William."

"They'll slit yer throat as soon as look at ye."

Magnus shook his head. "I dinna think they will. They may suspect, but if they kent anything, they would have been here by now. They'll continue to watch me. I am their link to ye and to William."

"Ye're gambling with yer life here, and Jocelyn's. What if ye're wrong?"

"Laddie, am I ever wrong? I'm not a fool. We'll see what the next few months bring. Perhaps things will calm down if we have a king, but while we have soldiers living in our houses, there will be no peace here."

"Magnus, thank ye. I've missed ye."

"And I ye, ye halfwit imbecile." Magnus stuck out his hand. "God keep ye safe, Rory. Send word to Liam and Nell, or Ranald, if ye need me. I'll be there as soon as I hear."

Rory smiled. "No. Take care of yerself, Magnus, and Jocelyn. That's what ye can do for me, aye?"

"When will we see ye next?"

"I dinna ken. We'll see what the hearings bring us." In Berwick, he thought. Isabel.

At Loch Gannon, Margaret and Gannon were relieved to hear from Rory and delighted that the brothers had mended the rift, but still they worried. Every ship that entered the loch, every runner that

approached, made them look at each other and wonder if this was the day they would hear of the death of their son?

The summer passed, although not without news of skirmishes and more deaths. In the north Andrew de Moray was making noise about the soldiers billeted there. In the east Gilbert de Umfraville refused to surrender the castles of Forfar and Dundee and was punished for it. But nothing came of all the uproar.

In Ayrshire, things had quieted. The English soldiers continued to be billeted with Magnus, but there were no incidents from it. Gannon traveled as far north as the Orkneys, and south to Carrick and Solway, learning of the mood of the clans. He had an interesting meeting with the Bruces, who received him graciously, and he was far more impressed with the youngest Robert than he had been when he'd met him before.

"He's young," Gannon told Margaret when he returned. "And as rash as our lads, but he's intelligent, and no fool, and not Edward's lapdog, as I've thought. His father and grandfather are telling him to go this way, and right now he's listening. But we'll see what happens. If the Bruces get the throne, at least he'll be in line."

"But we'll still back Balliol?" she asked.

"Aye. Robert the Younger has potential, but he's also borrowed a great deal of money from Edward. And he's off to London again soon." Gannon sighed. "I just wish Balliol were stronger. But it's

out of our hands. What's to be is what's to be, aye, lass? There's no hope of us changing it."

"Is it all mapped out for us, d'ye think? Life?"

He smiled and reached for her hand. "D'ye think our meeting, and all that happened the summer that we met, was just chance? I think I was meant to be with ye, Margaret."

"Then this was destined as well, this endless waiting?"

"I dinna ken, lass. And maybe it's just as well that I dinna. I'm not sure I would have had the stomach to face all that life has handed us."

"I've never seen ye shrink from life. Are ye having any more dreams?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. So we wait."

She sighed. "At least we wait together."

"Aye."

September came, and October was on the horizon.

All eyes turned to Berwick. King Edward was said to be traveling north for the hearing, scheduled to begin on October 14. The Scots once again went to meet him, and once again the roads were clogged with travelers. Isabel listened carefully for news of

the king's arrival. She was loath to spend more time in the tiny room, but she was afraid to be seen. She'd heard nothing from Rory, or Henry, and contented herself with keeping busy.

And then the word came: Edward had arrived.

SIXTEEN

The king had been at Berwick for four days, but all was quiet.

Isabel was hidden away in her tiny room in the attic, and Rachel and her parents were busy every moment. Soldiers who had heard of the good food at The Oak and The Ash filled the tavern, and courtiers filled the rooms above. Rachel and her parents smiled at their patrons, not revealing how frightened they were that one of their staff would talk, that someone would reveal Isabel's hiding place.