Chapter Twenty #2
“Ye dinna have to make the decision now.” His tone was soft, coaxing.
Dangerously reasonable. “I’m a patient man and I’ll give ye time to think.
” He climbed to his feet and walked to the door.
He knocked, and two of the king’s guards stepped inside.
“Escort Lady MacFinnan to her chamber. She isnae our prisoner, but our guest. Ensure she has everything she needs.”
Elise didn’t resist as the guards pulled her to her feet and led her out of the room. She glanced over her shoulder. Phillip stood with his back to her, staring out of the window with his hands clasped behind his back.
How far would he go to make her do what he wanted?
*
Elise paced up and down in front of the window, muttering every curse and swear word she’d ever learned. It didn’t help. She was so angry she could spit blood, and so frustrated she felt she could tear her hair out by the roots.
She was furious that she’d fallen into Phillip’s trap. How could she have been so stupid?
Because you did what you always do! she answered herself bitterly. You jumped in without thinking things through first. Jump in. Ask questions later. Story of your life.
She glared at the closed door of her room for about the hundredth time. It wasn’t even locked. Phillip knew she wouldn’t try to escape. If she did, Albie and the others would pay the price.
She reached the wall and whirled, pacing back the other way. Phillip had been gracious enough to give back her old room rather than throw her in a dungeon.
Gracious? Ha! That was a joke! If he thought this minor kindness would soften her heart towards him, he had another think coming!
She felt her power raging up inside her, a hot tempest of fury that howled for release.
It took an effort to restrain it, like holding onto the bridle of an unruly horse.
Yet, restrain it she must. If she lost control now, it wouldn’t be Phillip but the people of Dun Arach who paid the price.
Behind her, the door handle rattled, and she turned as the door was pushed open.
“I told you I’m not going to help you, you lying, sneaking, sniveling bastard!” she yelled. “If you think for one minute—”
But it wasn’t Phillip coming into her room. It was Andrea.
The housekeeper was unharmed, thank God, but her face was pale, her normally immaculate hair disheveled, and there were dark circles under her eyes that showed her lack of sleep.
“Elise?” she said softly, tears welling in her eyes.
Something inside Elise broke. With a sob, she threw herself at Andrea, wrapping her arms around the older woman.
Andrea held her tight and rubbed her back, saying not a word as Elise cried out all the emotion that had built up inside her: her fear for Jamie, for Albie and the others, for the people of the Isles. Her anger at Phillip MacClelland, at King James.
At herself.
But finally, Elise’s sobs subsided, and Andrea pushed her to arm’s length, looking her over critically.
“Are ye all right?” the housekeeper asked. “He didnae hurt ye?”
Elise shook her head. “I’m fine. I don’t think the king would be pleased if Phillip damaged his most prized weapon.” Her tone was full of bitterness and self-recrimination.
“Oh, Elise,” Andrea said, her brow furrowing with worry. “What are we going to do?”
Elise steadied herself, squaring her shoulders. “Well, we are going to start by you telling me exactly what’s been happening here.”
She drew Andrea to the chairs in front of the fireplace. Andrea perched on the end with her hands clasped in her lap. Her grip was so tight that her knuckles had gone white.
“I…I canna believe Phillip could do this,” she began hesitantly. “I’ve known him for years and never did I suspect… How could he betray us all like this? And how could I not have noticed what he was up to?”
“Phillip used magic to hide his activities,” Elise replied. “You never stood a chance. If anyone should have realized, it should have been me. Just another thing I failed at.”
Andrea clasped her hand. “None of that. Without ye, Laird Jamie would be dead or in the king’s clutches right now. Ye’ve failed at nothing.”
Elise wasn’t convinced, but she nodded for Andrea’s sake. “Tell me. How do things stand on Islay?”
Andrea paled. “Not well. The king’s forces now hold Dun Arach and his fleet patrols the coast. They’ve been sending out groups of warriors to all the villages, intimidating everyone into submission. Anyone who shows the slightest dissent is punished.”
“Like Albie and the others, you mean?”
Andrea nodded. “When he figured out what was happening, Albie organized a defense. They fought ferociously to hold Dun Arach against the invaders. And mayhap they would have succeeded, except Phillip used his magic to breach the gates and let them in. Bastard.”
“When Jamie and I escaped, we went to Barra,” Elise said. “Both Barra and Skye have joined us. Jamie will be coming to retake Islay, have no doubt about that. And it’s our job to make sure he finds an Islay ready to rise up and help him.”
A light came into Andrea’s eyes. “What did ye have in mind?”
“For a start, where are Jamie’s ships?”
“Either commandeered by the king’s men or impounded in the harbor. We willnae be able to use them.”
“Damn it. Fine. Then we need to find a way to free Albie and the others, take back Dun Arach, and hold the keep until Jamie arrives. Do you know where they are being held?”
Andrea shook her head. “Phillip restricts my movements. He only let me come to ye because he seems to think it might soften ye towards him to see a familiar face.” A determined expression stole across her features.
“But I can find out. I will find out. And I’ll speak to others I can trust as well, tell them to be ready.
If Phillip thinks the folk of Islay are just going to roll over and play dead, then he doesnae know us very well after all. ”
Elise smiled. For the first time since Phillip’s attack on Barra, she felt some of her tension ease. She wasn’t alone.
She reached out and squeezed the older woman’s hands. “No, he doesn’t. But we’re going to teach him a lesson he won’t forget.”
*
“We need to get over there now!” Jenna snapped. “We’ve spent too much time talking as it is. Who knows what they are doing over on Islay or what Elise is being put through!”
The youngest of the MacFinnan spellweavers glared at everyone seated around the council table.
More fiery tempered than Rose but less wild than Elise, Jenna portrayed the characteristics of both of her aunts, and their influence on their niece was plain to see.
In the short time he’d known her, Jamie had realized that Jenna was strong-willed and forthright but also thoughtful and considered when she needed to be.
But right now she was up on her feet, fists planted on her hips, glaring around at Cailean’s advisors and ship captains as though they had personally offended her. Like Jamie himself, she was desperate to get over to Islay and help Elise. Like him, she chafed at this delay.
“What do you think we are here for?” Rose said calmly to her niece. “We all want to get Elise back, but we won’t help anyone by rushing over there before we know all the facts and have a proper plan in place.”
Jamie could see in their haunted expressions that the two MacFinnan spellweavers had taken Elise’s loss hard and blamed themselves for not being able to protect her.
It was a sentiment Jamie understood all too well.
He shared it. He should have been the one to protect Elise.
But he’d failed in that as he’d failed in so much else.
His stomach twisted painfully, a combination of fear, anger, and guilt making him sick to his stomach.
As Rose and Jenna began arguing again, he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to clear his thoughts and calm the racing of his heart.
He’d barely been able to think straight since Elise had been taken, and he’d contributed little to this council, merely listening as the others argued.
“Enough,” he said softly. When neither Jenna nor Rose took any notice and went right on bickering, he slammed his fist down on the table hard enough that the crack echoed through the room. “I said enough!”
Silence fell. Jenna and Rose turned to look at him in surprise. Jamie took a deep breath and gazed at the people seated around the table. Cailean and Arran were there, along with Cailean’s most trusted advisors, all adding their own opinions on how they ought to proceed against Islay.
Jenna and Rose resumed their seats. When he was sure he had everyone’s attention, he said.
“I’ve heard what ye all have to say. Arran, I know ye are in favor of taking Skye’s fleet and laying siege to Dun Arach.
Cailean, I hear ye when ye say we should land on Islay to the south and rouse the people as we move through the island, coming up on Dun Arach from inland.
I hear all of ye.” He met everyone’s gaze one by one.
“And I say that none of these plans will work.”
He held up a hand to forestall their storm of objections and continued speaking. “While the king’s soldiers hold Dun Arach and his fleet holds the harbor, Islay canna be retaken. We have to lure them out.”
Nobody spoke for a moment. Then Arran turned to him. “Ye mean to bait a trap? With what? They will expect such a ruse. They willnae leave their stronghold to chase Skye or Barra’s fleet. They dinna fear us enough for that. They’ll just sit tight and wait for us to come to them.”
Jamie nodded. “Aye, which is why it willnae be Skye or Barra’s fleet that attacks Islay. It will be Ulster’s.”
Uneasy muttering broke out around the table. The Kingdom of Ulster was their powerful western neighbor, and there had always been uneasy relations with them.
“Think about it,” Jamie continued, leaning forward and clasping his hands together on the table.
“Who does King James fear more than any other? Ulster. That’s why he wants the Isles so badly—as a bulwark against them.
So imagine his dismay when the unthinkable happens—an Ulster fleet attacks the Isles.
Phillip will have no choice but to engage. ”
Everyone glanced at each other, unsure where he was going with this. But now that the plan had become clear in his mind, he was certain of it. He just had to convince the others.
“I dinna understand,” Cailean said, shaking his head. “How do we get Ulster to attack Phillip’s forces?”
“We dinna,” Jamie replied. “We just make Phillip think that’s who’s attacking.”
“And how do we do that?”
They had come to the crux of it now. Jamie met Cailean’s eyes.
“Because ye and yer fleet, along with every fishing boat, scow or dinghy ye can convince to volunteer, will become Ulster’s fleet.
Ye will fly Ulster flags from every mast and sail on a course that will bring ye to Islay from the west, from the direction of Ulster.
When they see the flags ye are flying, Phillip will have no choice but to sail out to meet ye. ”
Cailean grinned suddenly. “Did I not say I’d taught ye well? Better than well. Yer cunning surpasses me. Aye, he’ll fall for it. The minute he sees those Ulster flags his arse will tighten, that’s for sure.”
Jamie nodded and turned to address Arran. “And that’s where ye come in. Ye will take Skye’s fleet and anchor among the islets to the north of Islay, out of sight. As soon as Phillip takes the king’s fleet to engage Cailean, ye will strike from the rear, forcing them to fight on two fronts.”
Arran rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Aye, it could work—for a while. But it willnae take long for them to spot the ruse. As soon as they do, they’ll turn tail, flee back to Islay, and dig in.”
“They will,” Jamie agreed. “But I dinna need ye to hold them long. Just long enough to allow me to land a small force on Islay, retake Dun Arach and free Elise, then bring Islay’s fleet to yer aid. Then, caught between the three of us, we’ll destroy these bastards once and for all.”
It was a bold plan. Reckless. There was so much that could go wrong that he would never have considered it unless he was desperate. But he was desperate. So desperate that wild, reckless gambles were all that were left to him.
“Let’s do it,” Jenna said into the sudden silence. “I’m no War Weaver, but I’ll at least be able to use my power to keep Skye’s fleet out of sight.”
“And I’ll see what I can do about tilting the weather in our favor,” Rose added. “Get our ships into position quicker than we might otherwise. I’ll also set every seamstress on Barra to working on making flags bearing Ulster’s colors, enough to outfit every ship we can field.”
Jamie nodded. He looked around at the faces gathered before him. He saw his own determination reflected back at him. He felt a swell of pride. These were people of the Isles. His people. And he knew every one of them would die to defend their home.
“Ah, my friends,” he said softly. “The Kingdom of the Isles is well served while it has people like ye to defend it.” He rose to his feet, scraping back his chair. “All right. Ye all know what ye must do. Let’s get to it. We sail for Islay as soon as everything can be made ready.”
Elise, he thought. Hold on just a little longer.