Knight's Legacy (16 page)

“I would like to beseech this council to be heard. Although I am but a woman, I plead your indulgence that you grant me favor to speak.”

All then turned to Roderic, silently waiting for his decree.

“Permission granted.”

Cat took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “I beg that you grant mercy to Sir Cameron, for I, too, was at fault. I should have run for help when I saw that Glyniss was being attacked, but I tried to intercede, and the attacker turned on me. I should have run back to the keep to plead for assistance. I did not inform Cameron that I was leaving.”

Gavin folded his arms before him, eyes narrowed when he spoke. “Think ye, lady, it be your duty to inform the mon to make his responsibility a light one?”

Cat heaved a heavy sigh. “Nay, sir, maybe not, but I cannot be silent if he's to be flogged.” She turned to Roderic. “Is this true? “

“Aye, the punishment will be twenty lashes.”

Cat grew pale at the thought. Turning to look at Glyniss, her expression was one of disbelief and astonishment, and she whirled back to Roderic.

“You mustn't do this!” she cried out. “You can't!”

“Brianna …” Roderic interrupted.

“Aye, lady, we can,” Gavin said.

Suddenly, Cameron spoke up. “Hear me, my lady. Say no more, for my duty is a sacred trust. You could have been killed, and I embrace whatever punishment my comrades decree.”

Addressing Roderic, her eyes pleading with him desperately, she spoke. “Please. May you lessen the punishment?”

“Why would I do that when I could have lost you?”

“Because I ask it of you … nay, I beg it. You are my lord, my husband, Roderic, and I beg you, please.”

“Enough!”

She had pushed him too far. No one spoke, and the silence stretched for a long moment as Roderic considered her pleas. Finally, Roderic spoke.

He turned to Gavin and bit off four angry words. “Five and ten lashes!”

The soldiers took Cameron to the middle of the courtyard and tied him up. Cat forced herself to stand and watch, though every stroke of the whip was a lash to her conscience. Cameron bore it all stoically, never once crying out. Roderic stood beside her, and at one point he spoke in a low murmur. “You needn't watch this.”

“Would it be any less cruel if I did not watch it?”

“Show me your displeasure in our chamber, lady, but here I will have your loyalty.”

Cat looked away, took a deep breath, and nodded. Later, she was silent and solemn when she entered the sick room, and began tearing strips for bandages for Cameron's back. Glyniss silently crushed up the herbs with mortar and pestle, and mixed the unguent that she would use on the wounds, then asked Cameron to lie down so she could have better access to the cuts.

“Have you anything you could give him for the pain?” Cat asked.

Roderic entered the chamber as Cat had just spoken the question. “Brianna, I will speak to you in our chamber now. Leave him to the healer.”

“Be at ease, Lady Brianna, for I will mix up a potion that will have him sleeping shortly,” Glyniss said.

Cat nodded, putting the bandages near the table by Glyniss' medicine, and followed Roderic silently down the hallway to their chamber. When the door closed behind him, Roderic immediately pulled her into his arms. He trapped her chin gently in his hand to examine her cheek.

“Does this pain you still?”

She made futile little moves as if to push him away, but he held her fast.

“I'm in very little pain, Roderic. Not like Cameron. ‘Twas my folly that brought down every stroke of that lash.”

He nodded, uncompromising. “Aye, 'Tis true.”

She snorted. “I see you're not going to ease my guilt.”

He shook his head very slowly. “Never, lass. With your title comes duty, and the two go hand in hand. Your manner as lady here may foster these people or give them tribulation. 'Tis time you yield to that knowledge. Gavin will take Cameron's place in keeping you safe until his back is healed.”

“Why must I have one of your soldiers take time out from his duties to follow me about? I am not accustomed to having a man guard me.”

“You are accustomed to having your own way, Brianna, but heed me in this you will. I'll warn you, Gavin will stop you from leaving the keep at all, even to hunt if you continue to risk yourself. Nor is he to allow you to please the boy with standing in the saddle.” Cat was not surprised Cameron had told him.

“I cause no harm when I ride standing in the saddle!”

“You harm me, with worry for your life and limb. Find another way to entertain Kenneth.”

She pushed away from him and sat on the edge of the bed. He sat beside her and took her gently in his arms, massaging her shoulders and stroking her back. Perversely, at this moment, Cat resented his touch.

“What are you doing?”

“Mayhap I seek to give you ease, to show you tenderness after being so roughly handled and abused.”

Cat felt tears come into her eyes. She didn't like her vulnerability, or his gift to comprehend her needs. Angus had inflicted upon her a loss of power and control even of her own body. In her own time Cat had accepted the belief that if a woman were capable and strong enough, she could, in fact, defend herself. Angus had proven that to be a lie. Though she was competent with her sword, she was not allowed to carry the weapon, and was defenseless in this time by the very nature of the culture. Her husband was her protector, and though in her own time she would have taken offense at such a presumption, it was necessary here.

Despite Cat's longing to blend in at the castle, it was a struggle. She had to fight against her inborn need to be independent and move freely, to do what she wanted when she chose to do so. Roderic would never understand those needs, yet he refused to punish her and allowed her own remorse to be a full recompense. He was trusting her to make the changes necessary in her own behavior. For now, it was enough.

He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.

~Proverbs 10:9

T
he old, thin Scot struggled as he walked up the short hill to the stone cottage. His crippled leg gave him pain in spite of the crude wooden cane he leaned upon, and his disposition was surly as he banged on the door.

Mary answered, her baby girl on her hip. Blue eyes were sharp when she addressed him. “Enter, Tobias. I have gathered them here as ye bid me.”

It was a bit before she could close the door. Tobias walked very slowly, but Mary knew better than to offer assistance. The old Scot had the pride of Lucifer, and he chose to go his own way, though slowly, rather than accept help. Some of the wee ones of the clan, having been taught their manners, had tried to help him in the past. They were given a harsh reproof and a whack on the backside with his stick for their trouble.

Tobias was a kind old one at heart, but he was suspicious by nature. He had done his best to help the women when Mackay's men were gone reaving. Once, although wracked with pain when he mounted a horse, he had taken two of the strongest lads and raided a neighboring clan for food and blankets. They had managed to eat for a month after his return. ‘Twas he that made the grave judgment to kill the horses for food, yet soon the hunger had weakened them all. The women had been coming to him with their worries, and he had done his best in Mackay's absence to keep them all alive. Such efforts had spurred a loyalty and willing obedience when he voiced a request.

Dorcus, Elsie, and Emma were there with their children. Tobias glanced briefly at Elsie's eldest daughter. The child was four and ten summers, and although she was heart-breakingly thin, her blue eyes and black hair were striking. Tobias feared the soldiers in the army of Montwain would take note of her beauty.

“Have the bastards let ye be, lass?” he asked abruptly.

“Aye, Tobias. They jest with me a bit, but they dinnae seek to hurt me.”

“I keep her close to me,” Elsie said, folding her arms over her chest. Elsie was a tall woman, with a wide face and a shock of gray in her dark hair.

“See that ye do,” Tobias said.

“I vow his men may even stop it, for there be one less rapin' Mackay about us now. Tried to have his way with the healer, he did. Did ye hear?”

“Aye, Angus was a fool to come back here, but, the wench gadding about alone brought on her own folly. She put herself in harm's way. Trust an Englishmon to put an outsider above the loyal Scot he was given to rule, and nae punish the one deserving.”

“She saved the healer,” Mary said.

“Aye, one more burden for us all,” Tobias said.

Mary gasped. “She isnae a burden! We have need of a healer so close to us!”

“Aye, we do. But, she will bring more trouble with the Gordon clan. Lady Montwain has no fealty for Mackay. Why did she stay, if not to lord it over us all?”

Dorcus snorted. “She is no lady, that one; she is from humble folk. Mayhap even the daughter of a stable peasant. And she thinks to look down on us?”

“Nay, Dorcus. She does not. The lady has been good to Edna and Kenneth,” Mary said.

“I see that is true,” Tobias said. “Howbeit, she is not of our clan and we cannae trust her. We know not if her virtue be that of a nun, or of a whore. 'Tis bitter enough to bear the King's gifts to the Englishmon. Where is her loyalty? She helped the Maitlands, and they hate us. Why did she leave and force Montwain to fetch her? Who was she tryin' to meet that she would court starting a war for the risk?”

“The lass dinnae have to help us,” Mary said.

“Bah! Her own hide she wished to keep hale and comely. Calum threatened her. Think ye she wished to wed Montwain? Thereupon, after the deed, she slithered away to Maitland. Nay, Mary. Ye favor her for she spoils the boy, but she will betray us as she does the Englishmon.”

“If that were what she was about, why did she not stay with the Maitlands when she reached their lands?”

Tobias rapped his cane against the table, making the children jump. “I know not! But she willnae say from whence she came! She hails from no clan in the Highlands? How can that be? She appeared before Angus and Graham in a stream with no horse about? Who left her? Who sent her?”

“Mayhap the lass was cast out. Edna helped her and gathers this to be so. To be wed, even to an Englishmon, is a comfort to one used to cold and hunger. We have borne it ourselves, so shall we judge her for wanting a full belly and a home with a strong warrior by her side? She fancies him, and even a small temptation from so fair a lass would lend the mon to come at her like a stallion. Montwain be as lusty as any mon. He willnae let her go, so best we welcome her if we dinnae want the wrath of Montwain upon us.”

“Mary speaks the truth,” said Emma. “Montwain is here and approved by the King. I am happy to be feeding my wee ones, and I want no part of bedeviling him. I be too weak and tired for any fight.”

“Aye,” said Dorcus. “I agree.”

“Elsie?” Tobias waited for her answer, frowning.

Elsie shrugged. “She hasnae earned our support or our hatred in my judgment. We should give Lady Montwain and Glyniss time to see if they mean us any harm.”

Tobias studied them all thoughtfully for a moment and sighed heavily. “So be it. Yet, we wait only until we be strong enough to defy them. I hope she will be the means to break him.”

Glyniss worked diligently tending to Cameron's back, soothing the wounds with a salve she made from plants. Meggie wandered into the room and, jealous of her attention to him, made an attempt to pull her away. Glyniss shook off her hand.

“Ah, go to the kitchens alone, lass! Ye are no bairn. Sit up and eat from your trenchers! I cannae spoon feed ye. Go and sit in the dining hall, and wait for me.”

Meggie looked mulish as she glared at Cameron. He winked at her, and smiled when she left the room, stomping.

“That was a pretty pout,” he said.

Glyniss bit back a grin. “She is eating better, yet clings to me. Why get up and walk if someone will carry ye? I allow it is time for a bit of firmness. Meggie cannae act a babe if she is to bear one.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. “What is that brew ye made me drink? I feel as if I've long been in my cups of ale.”

“It is a wee potion. Did ye hear the lady? She dinnae want ye in pain.”

He shrugged as she worked, deftly stroking the medicine on his back. “Ah, Glyniss, the touch of your soft hands is balm to me.”

“Weel, ye bore this with a lot of courage. Many a mon wouldnae stay in the service of Sir Roderic after such a judgment.”

“He did right, Glyniss. He strives hard to be fair to us all. Roderic dinnae even bring forth the charge. Gavin stepped up to it while he was still taking his own council, working it out in his mind. Though I willnae lie, I wish Lady Montwain would have taken care, for she would have saved my back and her own pain. His anger was a righteous one, for she was hurt.”