Chapter Fifteen #2
It happened that fast.
“My bairn!” Fenella cried. “Dunna hurt him! He’s only a babe!”
“I have no intention of hurting him,” Atlas said. “But you will get out. Once you pack your bags and leave, I will give you back the lad. Refuse me and I will take him back with me to Trastamara.”
Fenella began to panic. “How can ye do this?” she wept. “He is yer brother!”
“He is not my brother,” Atlas roared. “He is my father’s bastard. He has nothing to do with me and I care less for him even than I care for you, so do as you are told, woman. My patience grows thin.”
Fenella had gone from being fairly excited to finally meet Roget’s son, thinking that somehow, someway, he would have a heart for her plight and the plight of his half-brothers, to being terrified and furious.
She had been told by Shand that Atlas wanted her out of Mordrington, but she didn’t really believe it until now.
It was clear that Atlas had no use for her.
There was no warmth in his eyes, no consideration.
No mercy.
This was not how she had planned this day.
She knew Trastamara was coming. Win and Shand had told her of their plans because they wanted her to try and keep the Trastamara army at Mordrington as long as she could so that they would have ample time to breach the walls of Trastamara Castle.
Of course, Fenella was willing. She had heard the talk from her brother and his men, and Shand, when they spoke of how they would divide up the de Sauque properties once Trastamara surrendered to the reiver army.
Win even spoke of calling upon the other reivers in the area, Na Bràithrean, and creating a large outlaw army to capture Trastamara, but that idea was discarded because Win knew he’d have to share Mordrington with them.
If his brethren reivers helped capture a castle, they would want a part of the spoils.
And Win didn’t want to share.
Therefore, he took his men and, along with Shand, made his way south to Trastamara before dawn, knowing full well that the Trastamara army would more than likely be mobilizing on them.
It was really a lucky guess based on the fact that there were spies watching Mordrington the day before, but it was more like an educated guess.
If Atlas de Sauque really wanted to throw Fenella from Mordrington, then it stood to reason that once the Scots were spotted, Trastamara would move quickly.
And they had.
Clearly, the spies had been from Trastamara because Atlas knew of Shand and he knew of the Scots.
But the situation had spiraled out of control once Atlas took charge of Emrys, who was screaming in the grip of an enormous English knight.
Fenella was willing to do what she could for her brother, and for her future at Mordrington, but that was until the Sassenach caught hold of Emrys.
Then, she wasn’t so willing to go along any longer.
“Ye want tae know about Shand and the Scots?” she finally hissed. “Give me back my lad or I’ll tell ye nothing!”
At that point, Cassius came forward, still gripping the weeping child. “Then you do know about them.”
“I’ll tell ye nothing!”
“If you want your son returned, you most certainly will.”
She took a step back, whispering something to the other boy, who ran inside the manse and disappeared. That forced Cassius to emit a piercing whistle between his teeth as two soldiers rode forward. As the men drew near, he lifted the child to them, but Fenella started to scream.
“Nay!” she cried. “Give him back tae me!”
Cassius still had hold of the child, now lifted up in his big hands. “Answer our questions and he will be returned to you.”
She shook her head, her frizzy hair whipping back and forth. Cassius promptly handed the boy over to one of the soldiers, who took off in the direction of the army with a screaming child in his arms. Cassius motioned to Atlas, who began to follow Cassius back the way they had come.
Fenella could see that they weren’t going to give her back her child until she told them what they wanted to know.
She was normally a calm woman, but not when it came to her children.
Living with animals as she did, she had seen men kill one another for little to no provocation and she’d always managed to keep her children away from it.
But not now.
Convinced the army from Trastamara was going to kill her younger son, she began to scream.
“Ask me!” she cried, following them as they walked away. “Ask me what ye will, but give me back my bairn!”
Cassius came to a halt and Atlas right after him. They both turned to look at her.
“Where is Shand?” Cassius asked.
Fenella was shaken, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Please,” she whispered desperately. “My bairn…”
“I will not ask again. Where is Shand?”
She swallowed hard. “He’s not here,” she said. “Ye can search the place if ye like, but he’s not here. No one is.”
“Then there were Scots here.”
She nodded unsteadily. “My brother and his men.”
“From Clan Hume?”
She shrugged. “We are part of Clan Hume,” she said. “But my brother… his men come from other clans, too. Men seeking money.”
It took Cassius a moment to realize what she meant. “Reivers.”
Fenella nodded. “They… they do as they please.”
“Is Shand part of them?”
She shook her head. “He only came here two days ago,” she said. “He said… he wanted their help tae lay siege tae Trastamara. He wants the place.”
“We know he wants it,” Cassius said. “Where did he go? Where did they all go?”
“South.”
“South where?”
“Along the road ye came on. The one that leads tae The Orchard crossing.”
“We did not see them and we were on the road since we left Trastamara.”
“They stayed tae the trees, out of sight.”
An ominous feeling swept Cassius and, suddenly, he was standing in front of her, his expression tight. All of her clues were leading to one destination.
“Is that where they are?” he demanded. “Trastamara?”
Fearfully, she nodded. “They knew ye would come here,” she said.
“They knew there were spies here yesterday and they knew the spies came from Trastamara. They figured ye would come tae rid Mordrington of Scots and I see they werena wrong – ye did come. They went south this morning as ye came north.”
Cassius’ eyes widened for a split second as he realized Trastamara was being targeted and her army was gone. He and Markus and all of the knights had badly misplayed this situation. They’d done exactly what the Scots at Mordrington, and Shand, had wanted them to do.
They’d left Trastamara with hardly enough men to defend her.
Suddenly, Cassius turned on his heel and began to bellow.
“Give the woman her son!” he boomed. “We return home now!”