Authors: Virginia Henley
Jock Leslie, Dumfries' steward, was angered when Comyn's men rode through Dumfries and stripped it of its livestock and fodder to feed the army. Jock and his sons, along with the other castle retainers, were gathered in Dumfries' bailey to assess matters.
"Dumfries is owned by the crown, and when King Alexander ruled Scotland and the Bruces were wardens in Annandale, we were paid wages for our services. Since the Comyn clansmen have occupied Dumfries we've seen little coin, but at least until now we had the largest herds of cattle and flocks of sheep to fill our bellies," Jock said with disgust. "Goddamn the bloody Comyns!"
"Ye should be ashamed, the lot of ye," Megotta scolded. "They've gone to fight the English and they can no' do that on empty bellies."
"Christ, woman, only a week ago the Comyns were on the same side as the English. Now they've turned their coats again. I hope to God the Bruces defeat the Comyns and regain Annandale and all their castles. We got paid our wages when the Bruce controlled the western marches!"
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"The Bruces are the greatest turncoats in Scotland," Megotta accused. "It's their Norman blood."
Jock's lips twitched. He knew she was trying to goad him; in Megotta's eyes, a Celt could do no wrong, and a Norman could do no right.
Alex Leslie spoke up. "In the forge, when they were gettin' their mounts reshod, the soldiers were complainin' that the Earls of Angus and Dunbar refused the call to arms."
"They're not the only ones, I'll warrant. Every clan this side o' the Forth prefers a Bruce to a Comyn."
"Earl Patrick of Dunbar always was thick as thieves with Bruce. The blood of all the Lowland clans is watered down with filthy English blood. It's too bad our family didna stay in the Highlands. I spit on the Bruce and the English!" Megotta cursed.
"Better get used to them." Keith looked at his grandmother with tender concern. "The English are comin', an' sooner than ye think."
"Ha! If they come to Dumfries to crush us beneath their heel, we'll poison the bastards. Jane and I know our herbs and potions, healing and otherwise!"
"No!" Jane cried. "I would never use my gift for evil."
Jock looked at his daughter's eyes, wide with distress and fear. "Come here, child. Ye have naught to fear. The Leslies are castle keepers. We serve whoever garrisons Dumfries Castle. I am half Anglo-Norman and I know the English are no more monsters than the Scots." He spread his hands.
"They are simply men." Jock realized he should have weaned his youngest daughter away from the old woman long ago. Jane should have a husband and bairns to fill her life.
Jane swallowed hard.
Simply men!
That was precisely what she was afraid of. She reached for her talisman and remembered that she'd had a dozen requests for protective touchstones in the past two days alone. Men as well as women wanted them. If there was naught to fear, why were the people of Dumfries suddenly seeking the power of magic to protect themselves?
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*
issued orders that whatever had been destroyed in the city must now be rebuilt. The walls of the fortifications were raised higher and the ditch was deepened. To set an example, the king wheeled out the first barrow piled high with mortar and stones.
Within a week, Edward Plantagenet improved the laws and appointed capable men to administer them. He also abolished the hated tax on wool, called themaltote.Some of this was done in an effort to atone for the slaughter he had ordered, but word of what the English had done at Berwick spread over Scotland like smoke from a wildfire, choking the Scots and filling them with hatred for the English conquerors.
When King Edward received King Baliol's missive renouncing his fealty, the royal Plantagenet anger was roused again. "The false fool! De Warenne, you will see that he is plucked from his bloody throne, and brought to me on his knees begging for my mercy! Within the month I want Baliol lodged in the Tower of London!"
John de Warenne had so many men-at-arms to deploy, he chose some of Lynx's foot soldiers, along withbattalions belonging to Percy and Bohun, to stay behind in Berwick to rebuild and to keep the seaport securely under English control. He directed Anthony Bek, the warrior Bishop of Durham who commanded his own levy of soldiers, to capture King Baliol, then de Warenne took the main body of the army up the coast toward Dunbar where he knew Earl Patrick would remain steadfast to the English. At Dunbar, Edward Plantagenet planned to rejoin his army as it crossed the Lammermuir Hills and cleared the way to the capital city of Edinburgh.
*
Robert Bruce began to gather up men-at-arms from throughout Northumberland. More Irish and Welsh troops, along with supplies, poured into Carlisle each day, and by the end of the week, Bruce was ready to march into Scotland to take back what had been his.
When word reached him of the massacre at Berwick he knew Comyn, who commanded the Scottish army, would retaliate. Robert Bruce assumed Comyn would march his main army to confront the English. He was astounded when he learned his bitterest enemy was avoiding the English in the east and was instead destroying towns in the west. Comyn's forces were meting out the same mindless destruction that Edward had used at Berwick. He encouraged his army of Scots to ravage the English countryside as soon as they crossed the border, first destroying the monastery of Hexham, then sweeping through Redesdale and the other dales, drawing ever closer to his goal of Carlisle. Every English town and village in the Scots' path was looted then burned, their men, women, and children put to the sword, their livestock driven off, and their churches razed.
Inside the walled city of Carlisle, Robert Bruce waited, ready, willing, and more than able to take on his enemy Comyn, the hated Earl of Buchan.
Comyn selected three thousand of his finest. The Scots relished the idea of a surprise attack,but until over a thousand were inside the city's walls, they had no idea they were the ones who would be surprised!
Leaving one of his brothers to defend the castle itself in the unlikely event it would come under attack, Robert Bruce and his other brothers descended upon the Scots from the north, south, east, and west. The enemy tried to flee, but the encompassing walls held most of them captive, like fish in a barrel.
The slaughter was both easy and terrible in its scope. Before the afternoon light began to leave the sky, almost one thousand Scots lay dead in the streets of Carlisle.
Comyn and a handful of his commanders fled through the 50
VlKVJirNIA ntllLCI gates to join the two thousand still outside the walls. He ordered them to stand and fight, but the clan chiefs were reluctant in light of the slaughter. And when the Bruce army poured out of the city, drunk with victory and ready to annihilate anything in its path, the lairds took their men and fled in the direction of the Scottish border.
By the time dusk fell, Robert Bruce and his army had vanquished the foe. They rode back inside the walls of Carlisle to help the citizens put out the fires that had been set by the enemy. It was only after Robert downed a tankard of ale to ease his parched throat that a picture of Marjory de Warenne flashed into his mind. Wigton was unsafe. He knew he must go immediately and bring her to Carlisle.
Once Robert Bruce deposited Jory de Warenne and Alice Bolton at Carlisle Castle, he set out immediately to rout the Scottish invaders scattered across the English dales and chase them back over the border. So many flocked to the Bruce banners that Robert soon had control over his old territories.
He dispatched his brother Nigel to scout the location of the main body of the English army and deliver the arrogant message that the Braces would hold Annandale, Dumfries, Galway, and Carrick secure for Edward Plantagenet.
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on the vigilance of his Welsh archers. Their night vision and hearing were superior to that of English men-at-arms and Lynx believed it did not simply come from training. He believed his Welshmen had a sixth sense that warned them of impending danger. When Lynx heard the signal cry of the night owl he was immediately alerted and caught Nigel Brace as he slipped into camp.
With a blade at his throat and his heart pumping out of control, Nigel cried out, "A Brace, a Brace!"
Lynx lowered his knife, but still kept the intruder in a ham-51
merlock until he got a good look at him. The two men recognized each other at the same moment and the stranglehold turned into a swiftembrace of brotherhood.
In John de Warenne's campaign tent Nigel Bruce told what had happened at Carlisle. He assured them that Marjory and Alicia were safe and that the Bruce army had won a complete victory over half the Scots force and had been hard on the heels of the other half, as Comyn retreated to Scotland.
De Warenne's spies had informed him that another force of Scots had seized Earl Patrick's castle of Dunbar, and as he listened to Nigel Bruce, he knew exactly where Comyn was headed. Once the Scots armies were joined, they would make a formidable force, and it was apparent that force would await them at Dunbar.
He asked Nigel Bruce to draw him a detailed map of Scottish territory from the border up to the Firth of Forth and pored over it for the next few hours. By dawn John de Warenne had a plan, but he knew its success depended upon the full cooperation of Robert Bruce and the army he now commanded.
Nigel shook his head. "My brother puts Bruce interests first. I left him ensconced at our stronghold of Lochmaben at the head of the Annandale Valley. When men saw the Bruce banners, they flocked to us; we encountered no opposition. Robert is back where he belongs, holding the western marches. It would take wild horses to drag him from his own turf."
Lynx felt the full impact of John de Warenne's long, speculative look. There was little point in arguing with his uncle when he was in the right. It was rumored that the Bruces had signed pacts with many of the earls of southern Scotland, so without the help of Robert Bruce, victory was uncertain. The fighting could drag on for years, taking and losing the same territory over and over. A decisive battle was necessary to tip the scales and send a message to all of Scotland that Baliol was deposed forever.
"All right," Lynx agreed. "I'll go back with Nigel and persuade the Bruce on one condition." His green eyes were deadly serious as he gave John de Warenne a level look. "I want your 52
word, not Edward Plantagenet's, that Robert will be reconfirmed in his lands and castles, and that everything that went to Comyn will revert to the Bruces, immediately and without question."
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Annandale visiting each of the Bruce castles from Caerlaverock to Lockryan. As they rode higher up the valley the views became spectacular. "What was the original grant?" Lynx asked.
"My ancestor Adam de Brus, who came over with the Conqueror, was granted lordship of Annandale and two hundred thousand acres straddling the important western route between England and Scotland."
"The Norman lust for land still runs hot in our blood," Lynx admitted. "We are all of us conquerors."
Robert laughed. "As well as Norman, I have Celtic blood from my mother. Is it any wonder I have a compulsion to rule it all?"
As they rode into the prosperous town of Dumfries with its Franciscan monastery and its magnificent stone bridge whose nine arches spanned the river Nith, Lynx could not help feeling covetous.
"I cannot fault you for never wanting to leave here. Annandale is the loveliest country I've ever seen. Don't get me wrong, Essex and Surrey are beautiful and well cultivated, as well as being the most profitable land to own, but the vistas here are so majestic they touch the heart and soul. Can we take a look at the castle?"
Robert grinned at him. "Dumfries isn't one of mine, it's a royal castle, but it happens to be in my territory. I have an idea! When we defeat Comyn, ask the king to make you Governor of Dumfries, then we can be neighbors."
Lynx's eyes locked with Robert's. "Then you'll join the fight?" Lynx had almost given up hope.
He'd talked himself hoarse without Robert's showing the least inclination to lend his 53
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support. Lynx had pointed out that Robert should have waited for King Edward to reconfirm his lands and castles before having reclaimed them. The English monarch did not take kindly to arrogance in anyone, other than himself. But Lynx got the distinct impression that Robert Bruce was indifferent to Plantagenet rages.
Now, suddenly, Robert capitulated. Lynx doubted it was for friendship's sake alone. More likely it was the challenge he had thrown out, Lynx decided. He hadn't the faintest idea how much his green eyes reminded Robert of his sister Jory's, as he rode beside him in the April sunshine.
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Lynx arrived at the castle, all who dwelled within and without were aware of the fact that the Earl of Carrick, Lord of Annandale was riding in. Dumfries had served the Comyns for the last three years, and all save the steward were nervous about the Bmce's frame of mind.
Jock Leslie was at the massive castle doors to welcome the powerful earl, and to provide him with refreshment and to offer whatever services he could render.