Chapter 18 #3
“I am riding to a friend, to avoid what bloodshed I can, because God knows, there is no way to tell the king he shouldn’t invade England.
There will be real battles soon enough. Hard-fought battles, and God, but I am sorry to say, he will push so far that we will have little chance for victory.
But here, I can see a friend, and change things, but you’re determined that I am on my way to see my mistress, nothing more. ”
“No.”
“No?”
“No, I believe you will be delighted to see your old friend Peter, you will laugh, you will drink, you will thump one another on the back, and you will be great warriors, and greater allies of the king! Then you will see your mistress.”
She didn’t have to exit the room. He stared at her another moment in pure fury, then slammed from the room himself.
Igraina had stayed long enough. She lived in one of the cottages on the mainland with Gwyneth, their grandmother, and Lars, their grandfather.
The two had raised Ewan and Igraina since their mother’s death at Igraina’s birth, and though Igraina was an exceptionally lovely young woman who’d received numerous marriage proposals, she had determined on caring for her grandparents before accepting any man’s offer.
She had, of course, been charmed by Sir Percy, just as Sir Percy had intended, but she knew as well that as a chieftain’s sister, she had a certain social stature, but not enough to be a wife to such a man, even if his elderly bride were to pass away.
Since she did find him very charming, however, she thought she might be better off at home.
She often traveled from the isle to the mainland by herself, but that afternoon, the tide was low, and Ewan was anxious to see his family, and so she rode with him to the cottages.
“Do you ride with Waryk?” Igraina asked him. “Or are you left home, to guard the castle—and Laird Lion’s bride?”
“I stay home,” he said carefully.
He felt his sister’s disapproval.
He sighed. “Igraina, I do not lust after the laird’s lady—”
“You’re a liar. She’s my friend as well. You’ve loved her forever. She’s beautiful, willful, passionate—”
“And you’re right, I love her. But you needn’t fear for me. I knew when Adin died that the king would never let her go to me. I’m glad the king chose the man that he did, for God knows, matters might have been much worse!”
Igraina turned to look at him. “Aye, that I can see. He is a fair laird, a fierce defender. He saved me, and I remain grateful. We may have Viking in our blood, but my blood, at least, is settled here, and I’d not be a Viking’s slave.
He will hold this land for the king, of that I’m sure.
But brother, he is leaving, and I promise you this, Mellyora is upset. ”
Ewan looked down at his sister’s tawny head. “Ah, I see. And you think that she will be furious that he’s gone to his mistress, and so she will think to use me against him?”
“She loved you—”
“Aye, sister, she did.”
“You think that she loves you no more?”
“I think that she will always love me, a bit differently, perhaps. And because she loves me, she will never use me.”
“I hope that you are right.”
“Indeed, because I would be so easily seduced to adultery?”
“It’s not that you would be easily led! You loved one another—”
“Aye, but again, things have changed. She would not use me, and—”
“You would not use her?”
“I wish it were that simple. The truth is, she would not want me anymore.”
“What?” Igraina said incredulously.
“She loves him, you see.”
“No, I don’t see.”
He sighed with mock distress. “Women are so blind!”
The fortress at Blue Isle sat atop high rock, cast against the cliffs, hills, crags and water with startling majesty.
Even when night came, her towers seemed to reach to heaven.
Candle- and firelight gleamed. Blue Isle glittered like a priceless gem set in a sea of gold.
Watching the isle, Ulric Broadsword contemplated his actions.
On the border, his Norman ally was creating havoc, but Ulric had been given much in the way of arms and men, and surely, he was expected to provide more in return than he had thus managed.
Actually, he’d performed magnificently, but since his attacks had thus far proven less than effective, no one would know.
That in itself was frustrating. But there was a great deal offered, not the least being the satisfaction of revenge.
Becoming part of Daro’s camp had been a stroke of brilliance, but Adin’s daughter had escaped from them.
He thought crossly that he really would enjoy taking a horsewhip to the girl—or slicing her throat.
Adin had trained his daughter to be a warrior, and he’d done well enough at the task.
But though he now found himself more anxious than ever to get his hands on Mellyora MacAdin, it was the complete downfall of his enemy that he craved.
Blue Isle. Adin had taken it. Adin had held it.
Just like other Scottish isles, this land could be taken and held by the Norse.
That would indeed be retribution. Yet so far, plans which should have succeeded had failed.
He had seized the Viking’s daughter from a Viking camp, only to lose her and a number of good men.
He had staged an attack which should have laid waste the mainland, but Waryk had arrived with his armed and mounted troops at least a day before he should have come. So now …
Now, word came, the great Laird Waryk was riding again—to bring an Englishman into the Scottish fold before the king seized lands which had fluctuated back and forth between the two countries for more than a hundred years—and would surely continue to do so.
David of Scotland would have his way. While Mathilda and Stephen fought, the powerful barons in northern England did what they would, creating their own little kingdoms, their own form of law.
Ulric knew this well himself, and was grateful for the situation.
Waryk rode with well-armed, well-trained troops.
Many of them. He’d learned his first battle tactics from descendants of wild, barbaric Celtic tribes; he knew to use the forests, the trees, the cliffs, the hills, to attack and retreat, to repulse an ambush.
Attacking his troops as he moved across the countryside would be suicide.
Any major action now against the mainland would be seen; the masons and carpenters had erected a tower from which guards would see any assault from the sea, and any large movement from the forests carpeting the hill to the east …
His impotence suddenly enraged him. He could remember the past. His father had often told him of a time when Vikings set out in their great longboats, and the people screamed in terror as they came.
The fury of the Norsemen! Monks prayed, women wept, men died.
The Christian God was cast down, His nuns were raped, His churches violated.
The Vikings took what they wanted, and they left, and they fought so well and so fiercely that they conquered half of the land they invaded, they ruled, they were the power.
They were such great warriors that indeed, they brought their prowess to their enemies, they interbred, and even when they did not, they were so powerful and indomitable that their enemies hired them at great prices to do their fighting for them and with them, and many a great alliance was born.
Han came to him where he stood on the hill.
Han had become sour. While escaping after they’d taken Mellyora MacAdin from Daro’s camp, Han had broken bones in his foot, and he still limped.
He’d been injured during the assault on the mainland off Blue Isle, and he was weary of their encampment here, northward of the isle.
“Word has come from the south,” Han said, sounding bitter. “You are not causing a great enough disturbance, and the Scottish king is beginning to move. There will be an attack on Tyne, but whether it can be rallied quickly enough …”
Ulric scowled and stared back at Blue Isle, glittering on the coastline. “Tyne is no one’s objective,” he said contemptuously.
“Tyne is perfectly good land, and the fortifications and manor there are fine enough. And with King David so staunch a supporter of his niece Mathilda, any land or estate we seize we can take in the name of Stephen, and history will say that we were but loyal supporters of a king over the prospect of a queen. The Normans brought this form of primogeniture here—they understand that a male must inherit. History may well exonerate us, and Stephen himself reward us. Vengeance and rewards. The fortress here will be weakened again with Waryk gone. If there was but a way for you to seize Mellyora MacAdin again and keep her …” Han said, his voice trailing.