The room wasdark with dusk as soft sounds from the bailey wafted in through the lancet window. The old door to the chamber creaked open and someone entered the room quietly. Tate wasn’t asleep; he’d heard the door open even though his back was to it. And he recognized Stephen’s footfalls by the hollow sound of the boot.
“What is it?” he asked softly, his mouth muffled against Toby’s head.
“Our sentries have seen movement about a half mile to the south,” Stephen whispered. “You are needed, my lord.”
Tate looked up over his shoulder, seeing Stephen’s face looming in the dim room. “Is the fortress locked down?”
“Wallace has it sealed up tightly.”
“Then I shall be down in a moment. You and Kenneth assemble in the solar and wait for me.”
There was something in Stephen’s lingering gaze that peaked Tate’s curiosity. It was no more than a flicker before he turned away to do his liege’s bidding, but in that flicker was something alien. Tate had known Stephen for years and wasn’t sure what he just saw in the man’s reflection. But he made a mental note to ask him about it later.
When the door to the chamber shut softly, Tate tried to very carefully disengage himself from Toby and Ailsa. But Toby had a grip on his arm and Ailsa still held his hand. He managed to get free of Ailsa but when it came to gently disengaging Toby’s grasp, he woke her before he could complete the task. When she rolled onto her back to look sleepily at him, he smiled.
“Go back to sleep,” he whispered, placing her arm beneath the blanket and tucking it in around her. “I will be back.”
She yawned. “Where are you going?”
“Not far. I promise I will return shortly.”
He gently touched her forehead and moved away from the bed. But she reached out to grab his hand before he could move away completely. There was a strange look of anxiety to her eyes and he kissed the hand that held onto him.
“I shall return, I promise,” he kissed her hand again and put it back under the blanket. “Go back to sleep.”
That seemed to satisfy her and she drifted off again. Quietly, Tate quit the chamber and went downstairs.
Kenneth, Stephen, Edward and Wallace were in the solar when he arrived. The room was lit by a bright fire, almost too hot in the small closeness of the room. Tate focused on Stephen.
“What is our status?” he asked.
“As I said, we have tracked movement about a half mile to the south,” Stephen responded. “I have sent out a small scout party. We should be receiving a report from them shortly.”
Tate nodded, raking his fingers through his dark hair and spying a pitcher and a few cups on a table near the door. He went to it, pouring himself a cup of strong ale.
“Then we wait,” he said as he lifted the cup to his lips. “I have no doubt who they are. The question is how long it will take Mortimer to raise a large enough army to lay siege to Harbottle.”
“Then we should leave,” Edward said firmly. “We must get out of here.”
Tate cocked an eyebrow at him. “And go where? I would suspect that there are far more of them than of us. I fear they are heavily onto our scent, enough so they have had time to gather reinforcements. I fear that if we leave the safety of Harbottle, it will leave us open and vulnerable on the road. We would do better to stay here where we are safe for the moment.”
“Then send to Alnwick for reinforcements,” Edward said with mounting irritation.
Tate’s gaze was steady. “What makes you think that I have not already?” When Edward looked surprised, Tate took another drink of ale and turned away, pacing casually towards the windows. “When Stephen returned to Harbottle three days ago to gather more troops, he sent additional dispatches to reinforce Harbottle. I requested four hundred men from Alnwick, but I also sent a request to John de Clavering of Warkworth Castle. We should be seeing either army any day now.”
The young king was embarrassed that he had challenged him. Tate was wise in all things and he should have trusted him. As Edward hung his young and agitated head, Stephen moved to take his own cup of ale. Kenneth moved up on the other side of him and the three of them began to make short work of the alcohol.
“I doubt the movement we saw to the south was Warkworth’s men,” Stephen said, cup in hand. “They would not be skulking just inside the tree line.”
Kenneth took a long drink and poured himself more. “I am concerned that it is an advance party for Mortimer. The man is heavily allied with the Howards of Cumbria and we could very well be facing an approach from Howard’s army from the west and Warkworth’s from the east. We would be caught in the crossfire.”
Tate looked at Kenneth, the quieter of his companions but definitely the more cunning. “What would you suggest?”
Kenneth looked at him with his ice-blue eyes. “Remove Edward from this place. Return him to London and put him under the protection of the Crown troops.”
“Mortimer is at Windsor.”
“But he is not at the Tower; the Tower is still held for the king. That was our original destination once we raised funds for the king’s cause, was it not?”
