“What happened to her?” the laird asked. The girlhad bruises on her arms and her legs as well as her face.
She had been badly abused, yet she was still defiant.
“I had to beat her,” came the taciturn reply. “It was the only way I could control her. She’s as hot-tempered a wench as I have ever known.”
“He did not treat my lady with respect,” Elsbeth spoke up. “And he tried to bed her. Imagine! A border cur attempting to have my precious child, with her noble blood. Well, you did not, did you? His cock shriveled like a dried leaf. And he beat her for it, sir. I’d kill him myself, given the chance!”
Duncan Armstrong and Murdoc Bruce snickered at this.
“The old bitch lies!” William Douglas said angrily.
“Give me the half groat and a silver penny, Conal Bruce. You can have the pair of them, and good riddance, I say!”
“I am not a slave, sir,” Adair said, drawing herself up to her full height. “I am her ladyship the Countess of Stanton, half sister to the English queen. I wish to be returned to my home at Stanton as soon as possible.”
Conal Bruce reached out and, wrapping his hand in Adair’s long black hair, yanked her to him with a single sharp motion. “Be silent, madam,” he murmured against her lips. “Or Douglas will sell you into a stew where you would not last a week.” He turned and, digging into his purse, drew out the half-groat coin and the silver penny.
“Unshackle the wench, Willie. I’ll take the pair of them, and I suspect I’m paying you too much, but I need the damned cook, and if the girl makes her happy then so be it.” He handed the borderer his coins.
William Douglas bit each coin and tested the weight of them in his palm. He smiled and said, “You’ve got a bargain, Conal, and we both know it. The girl will warm your bed this winter, and the older woman will keep your belly full.” Pocketing the coins, he spit in his hand and held it out to the laird. “Done!” he said.
Conal Bruce spit in his own hand and clasped theborderer’s hand with it. “Done!” he agreed. “Now un-shackle my property, Willie, and we’ll be on our way. I’ll be wanting a decent dinner this day, and the kitchen will have to be cleaned first.”
William Douglas took a key from his belt and, putting it in the padlock on the shackles binding Adair, un-locked it. The shackles fell away, and Douglas jumped back quickly, avoiding a kick that Adair aimed at him.
“Go on with your new master, bitch,” the borderer snarled at her.
Adair felt a hand clamp about her upper arm. She turned startled eyes to Conal Bruce. “I will not run, sir,”
she said. “My Elsbeth could not keep up with me, and to where would we flee? I have lost all sense of direction these past days.”
The laird loosened his grip slightly. “Given what Douglas has had to say about you I will take no chances. Elsbeth, come!”
Elsbeth hugged her sister, Margery, and then followed after Conal Bruce and his brothers to where they had tethered their horses. As they passed an awning beneath which were spread an array of ducks, geese, and chickens, Elsbeth pulled on the earl’s jacket. “Buy a goose, sir, and I’ll cook it for your supper tonight,” she said.
He did not answer her, but he did stop and purchase a large bird, already plucked and ready for roasting. He handed it to her. “What else?” he asked her.
“I’ll have to check your kitchen, sir,” Elsbeth said,
“but if you have no bread we might buy a few loaves, and some apples and pears.”
He nodded and bought the required items, again handing them to her, and more to Adair. By the time they had reached their horses they were well laden.
“Duncan, take Elsbeth up behind you. Murdoc, carry the foodstuffs.” He mounted his own horse, reaching down to pull Adair up behind him. “The ride is not long,” he told her. “Two hours, no more.”
Adair said nothing. She was already contemplating an escape for herself, and for Elsbeth. If she could escape England’s king, if she could ride all the way from Windsor to Stanton alone, she could surely escape this Scot’s captivity. But first she had to learn where she was—and it must be done quickly. It was already the twenty-ninth day of September. In another month the cold weather would have set in, and after that the snow. They had to go soon, but first she had to learn how far from England William Douglas had brought them. And how far Stanton was. Not everyone had been carried off. Surely all the men had not been killed. There had been one herd of cattle not yet down from the high meadows. She could—she would—begin again. She hardly noticed the passage of time as they rode, but she did notice the rugged hills around them, and few dwellings.
“There is Cleit,” Conal Bruce finally said.
Adair looked ahead of them. There stood a gray stone keep on a hill ahead. It was not a large structure, such as Middleham or Windsor, but it still had a very formidable look to it, and did not appear particularly welcoming.
“How do you live?” she asked him as they rode.
“I have some sheep, some cattle; we raid, and hire out our swords,” he answered.
“There are no other women?” she said.
“Nay,” he answered her.
