Chapter twenty-one
“Ye’ve done well, Conn!” King Alexander boomed.
Flanking the king’s chair, his two guards nodded, and the three men seated on the dais with the king nodded as well.
It had been more than twenty years since I had last been to the king’s court.
I had not actually interacted with anyone, but had merely accompanied my da, who insisted I was too young to mingle at court.
Still, I well recalled that my da had said nearly every day here that when the king decreed something, most men simply agreed, whether they knew it to be true or not, because they did not have the backbone to do otherwise.
“Thank ye,” my captor simpered, offering a slight bow to the King of Scotland. When he straightened, he added, “I’d be honored to use my tracking skills to serve ye again.”
I nearly snorted at that. I had to clench my teeth to keep my sour amusement from escaping.
I certainly did not want to draw any unnecessary attention, and I vowed no sound had escaped me, but the king and Conn’s gaze came immediately to me.
I stood still and tried to keep my expression bland, even as my thoughts raced along the same path they had for two days, leading to James and fear.
I had done three things during the two-day journey here.
First, I had prayed to the gods that James was not grievously injured, though for the life of me I did not want to care.
My heart refused to heed what my head told it.
Conn had assured me he had not left him in a critical condition, but still I worried.
I did not want to, but I supposed the joining had tethered me to James far more than I liked.
The second thing I had done was to pray to the gods that I could heal the king’s daughter quickly, depart the castle, and encounter no one I had known before I’d fled this life, so that I would not be named a witch and hanged.
The last thing I had done was to think about what Morgana had said would break my curse.
She’d said I had to give up everything for the belief that the man I loved would still love me.
Those words made no sense. I did not possess anything I could give up for true love, even if I were in love, and I was most certainly not.
James was a liar who wanted me for the prize I would bring him.
Morgana had also said I could not wager on true love while I hid my soul.
That part I’d understood because she’d named James specifically.
And I knew she meant I had not told James about the curse.
“What questions have ye for me, healer?”
The king’s voice pulled me back to the moment. “Sire, will I be allowed to leave here once your daughter is healed?”
“Aye, ye’ve my word that once Mary is well, ye may leave.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “In that case, I’d like to see Mary immediately.”
The king chuckled. “I’m unsure whether to be gladdened by yer enthusiasm to heal my daughter or affronted that ye seem to have a complete distaste for my court.”
“Tis nae yer court, Sire. I just prefer a much simpler life and the freedom to travel as I wish.”
He arched his eyebrows. “A rare lass, indeed. Most lasses I ken want to acquire more things and a large castle to rule over and store them all in. Nae less. Tell me, healer, I have heard of yer renowned powers far and wide, but there is nae a soul who keened yer last name? I assumed it was because ye were a Summer Walker, but ye speak with a gentle, noble voice.”
To lie to the king was treasonous and could get me hanged, but telling him the truth could get me hanged, too. My heart slammed against my ribs as I tried to decide what to do when, behind me, a man spoke.
“Sire, ye detect a noble speech, because this woman, the healer, is a noble.”
I whirled toward the voice, forgetting the king, and my heart dropped to the ground.
At the threshold of the solar stood Alec, easily recognizable despite the years since I’d last seen him.
He had aged well, with only a few lines around his eyes, which were still sharp, and silver now threaded his once dark locks.
He had stayed lean. My heart did not so much as flutter at the sight of him; it did, however, flutter in anticipation that this might mean my sister Millisandre was here, and then dread hit me.
I would be revealed and hanged. I was certain of it.
A knot lodged in my throat, my palms began to sweat, and the room began to tilt.
Just when I thought things could not possibly get worse, James appeared behind Alec, looking every bit as handsome as I remembered and decidedly no worse for the whack Conn had given him on the head.
Before I could fully process any of this, the king boomed, “Ye are late for court, Buchanan.”
“Apologies,” Alec said as he moved past me into the room. I could not tear my gaze from James, whose gaze was locked on me.
“James,” the king said, laughter in his voice. “So nice of ye to join us. Come in. Come in.”
James strode into the room and stopped right beside me, his presence nearly overwhelming as I felt his stare.
“Aye, the healer is bonny, James, but I’m afraid ye missed yer chance to ken her. Conn here has delivered her first and fair, though I must admit I had wagered on ye to win the prizes. Ye will tell me later what held ye back from victory.”
James glared at Conn, who smirked in return.
“James,” the king continued, “do ye ken Buchanan?”
“Nay, Sire,” James said.
“Well, he’s on my council, and he currently holds the Renfrewshire stronghold since his wife’s death.”
A cry escaped me at the news of my sister’s departure, and I had to slap my hand over my mouth. James reached for my arm, concern on his face, but I jerked away.
“What is this outburst?” the king demanded, walking to the dais to lean against it and scowl.
Alec spoke before I could. “’Tis what I was about to tell ye, Sire.
When I came into the solar, I heard ye mention that nae anyone keened the healer’s last name.
” Alec motioned to me, and the room tilted.
I feared I would faint. “This lass, the healer, is the long-lost daughter of the deceased Laird and Lady Wallace, making her my dead wife Millisandre’s sister. ”
My heart twisted at Alec’s words. I had suspected my da would be dead, but my mama, too, and Millisandre.
It was too much. My throat constricted as tears tried to claw their way out.
I was so upset at the news that I forgot to be frightened about being named a witch, that was, until the king stepped right in front of me, and looked at me as if I were some rare creature he was examining.
“How do ye ken this is the missing lass?”
“The missing heir,” Alec corrected the king, nearly buckling my knees. “She and her sister, Millicent, are the only two remaining heirs of Laird Wallace, and Katreine is the eldest.”
My nostrils flared at the news that Euphemia was also dead. Never, in my worst nightmares, had I imagined I would have only one sister left alive. I had to swallow again and again to keep the tears at bay, and just when I thought they would best me, the king said, “Come to me, healer.”
Fear shoved the tears down as I left James’s side, feeling as if I were leaving my only friend behind.
Funny, considering how he’d lied to me. I took tentative steps toward the king, trying and failing to think how I might explain my unlined face, and when I stood before him, he gripped my chin and turned my face left and right.
I was certain this was it, the end of me.
I could practically feel the rough, scratchy rope of the hangman’s noose around my neck.
“How are ye certain this is Katreine Wallace?” the king asked Alec, as if I didn’t have a tongue of my own. Of course, even if I dared to speak, I had no notion what to say, for fear of saying something that would get my head lopped off.
Alec came to stand directly beside me, and all I could think was the irony that my wish to have him as mine had put me here, and now my greatest wish was that he would disappear.
“Sire,” Alec said, “her face has nae changed so much since last I saw her that I can recognize her. And she’s the Wallace family eyes, and if ye’ll permit me to tug down her gown at her right shoulder, I vow ye’ll find a star pattern there.
” Behind me, I heard what sounded like a low growl, and I could have sworn it came from James.
The king’s attention flicked over my shoulder even as he continued to grip my chin and motioned for Alec to do as he had just requested.
As Alec’s hands came to my bodice and loosened it, I could only stand stiff, struggling to hold my tongue and praying I would escape this meeting with the king with my life intact.
“James, something is vexing ye?” the king demanded.
“Aye, Sire. I hardly think it appropriate to loosen the lass’s gown and examine her like a prized pig in front of us men.”
I was grateful for his words, even as a streak of bitterness toward him flowed through me. He’d thought it perfectly appropriate to join with me, knowing he was using me for his own gain.
“Stand silent,” the king commanded. “I did nae ask yer opinion.”
I had to clench my teeth to keep from saying that, in point of fact, the king had asked James what vexed him. James said, “Aye, Sire,” but having spent so much time with him recently, I heard the caged irritation in his voice. Still, he was smart enough to know to hold his tongue to keep his neck.
My gown was tugged off my shoulder, and Alec pointed to my freckle pattern. “As I said, she’s a star’s marking.”
“Cover her,” the king commanded Alec as his majesty studied me. “She does nae look more than twenty-three summers.”
“I do believe she was around ten summers when she disappeared,” Alec lied so smoothly that my lips parted in shock. “And she’s been missing for fifteen summers, so that would make her twenty-five summers.”