“If I tell Edmund Kerr I’m shutting off the Aisir nam Breug, he will take it as a hostile act,” Dugald Kerr said. “I will not ruin what has been a safe passage for travelers for centuries simply because King James and King Henry are having a pissing contest.”
The Earl of Huntly grew red in the face, and before the argument might escalate further, Fingal Stewart finally spoke up. “The English send their armies into Scotland via the eastern borders. And now and again they have come through the western hills. But never through the midsection of the Borders, my lord. The Aisir is too narrow a passage to allow an army to get through it. If you should like, I will take ye there on the morrow so ye may see for yerself. Travelers move single file. There is no way the traverse can be widened to accommodate any army. Lord Kerr is correct when he says to close our end of the passage would be to invite suspicion. Edmund Kerr is a true northerner, and he pays little heed to London. Ye know that is so with the northern English.”
“The king fears the pass may be an easy entry for Henry’s armies,” George Gordon said.
“The king has seen the traverse and should know better,” the laird snapped.
“The Kerr families have monitored the Aisir nam Breug for more than five hundred years, my lord. In all that time no invading army passed through it,” Lord Stewart said.
“And the king knew naught of this pass until several years ago. The Aisir nam Breug has never presented a threat to Scotland. Tomorrow you shall see for yourself. In the meantime, tell us of what is happening beyond our walls,” Fingal Stewart invited their guest. “Aah, I see the meal is coming to the high board. Let us be seated and eat.”
“The king would go to war, but he is no warrior. And the memory of Flodden still burns in the hearts and minds of every family who lost sons and fathers,” George Gordon said. “We are trying to keep these difficulties under control. There have been raids and counter raids. I’m surprised ye haven’t been disturbed.”
“We have had one raid recently, and some cattle were driven off, but ’twas no more than usual,” Fin replied.
“Yer fortunate,” the earl replied. “The English have been marauding and harassing the Tweed Merse. I had to drive them off at Haddon Rig, and now we are burdened with English prisoners. The dungeons at Edinburgh Castle are overflowing.”
Maggie sat, the perfect hostess, listening to everything that was said by the men at her table. She knew the keep could sustain a siege provided there were no cannons. Then Brae Aisir’s stone walls were as vulnerable as any. She had two sons, and while she had said nothing to Fin, she was certain she was breeding once again. And this time she wasn’t certain that being more to the west and middle of the Borders was going to keep them safe. And what if Fin were expected to go to war? He would go, and damn his family’s vaunted motto,Ever faithful!She needed him here with her, with the bairns, more than James Stewart needed him for cannon fodder. Maggie remembered the tales of Flodden, and how there was hardly a family in Scotland that had not lost men to it.
She was suddenly and inexplicably afraid.
“Yer unusually silent tonight, Granddaughter,” Dugald Kerr said. “What are yer thoughts on this new war brewing with England?”
“I don’t understand why there must be a war,” Maggie said. “England is England, and Scotland is Scotland. We have been so forever. What quarrel can King Henry have with us that he must send an army into Scotland?”
“It actually has more to do with France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the pope,” George Gordon said. “They quarrel with one another over a minutiae of nothing, but they must each have their allies. They would destroy England if they could, but they cannot. We have been allied with France for centuries, and the English do not like it. Now the Reformation has reached England, and it is beginning to creep into Scotland, giving everyone something else to quarrel over. When King Henry isn’t defending himself against his enemies over the water, he takes time to harry Scotland.”
“It is all quite ridiculous, ye know,” Maggie said candidly.
“Aye and nay,” the earl responded. “There is much licentiousness in the church today. They preach one thing while doing another. The poor, it would seem, are not stupid or unaware of the religious profligacy.”
“There are many faithful priests in villages and keeps like ours all over Scotland who practice what they preach,” Father David spoke up.
“Aye, good Father, there are, but it is difficult to see the humble among us when the powerful are blatant in their actions,” the earl answered.
“So we are going to war because King Henry is bored right now?” Maggie said.
“Henry Tudor is a man of strong principles. While perhaps not always right in the eyes of the world, he is firm in his own beliefs and behavior,” the earl told her. “He would have his nephew listen to his council. When James will not, he believes the French are influencing him through the queen. Remember that one of her brothers is a cardinal of the church—a church that King Henry will no longer allow to exert its authority in England.”
“So we will all suffer for the intransigence of these kings,” Maggie said slowly. “I dinna like it, my lord. Nor will any woman in Scotland. How many women and bairns will be killed to satisfy the bloodlust of these men? Nay, it is ridiculous.”
“I think yer wife is right,” the Earl of Huntly said to Fin. “And ye are wise not to have answered the king’s call to arms. Many have not.”
“We received no call to arms here at Brae Aisir,” Fin said. “Had my kinsman called, I would have answered.”
“Yer fortunate to be here in this place then, for the call obviously did not reach ye, my lord. It was sent all over Scotland two months ago,” George Gordon said.
Maggie knew what was coming. She jumped to her feet and shouted, “Nay!Ye were not called, and ye will not go, Fingal Stewart. Ye have responsibilities here.”
“The earl says all of Scotland was called, and shame on those who have not answered,” Fin responded. “I will not shame my family’s name by ignoring this.”
“And I will not be widowed nor allow yer sons to be orphaned because yer a romantic fool,” Maggie raged at him. “Will this bairn I now carry even know his father? And if I lose you, will I be pressed into marriage again because it is believed a woman cannot manage the Aisir nam Breug? Ye cannot go!”
“Madam, we have an important guest at our board. We will quarrel later,” Fin said to her. “Yer with child again?”
“If ye leave me to partake in this foolishness, there will be no later, my lord,” Maggie said, furious. “I have a bad feeling about this venture.” She turned to the earl. “Tell him he must not go, my lord. He is needed here. Why should he go when others will not?” Her eyes had now filled with tears as she added, “Aye, I’m with child again.”
“My lady,” the earl replied, “a man’s honor is above all else. Yer husband is an honorable man. Now that he knows his kinsman’s need, he will answer his call. It can be no other way, else the Stewarts of Torra be dishonored. I will not tell him nay.”
