“Follow the path,” Parlan Fife said, pointing out a barely discernible track to Fin. After a few miles ye’ll come to a road. Turn right, and ye’ll find yer way to Edinburgh if ye follow it. Beware of raiders. There seem to be more out this year than in the past, and while ye haven’t a horse, they’ll steal anything they can lay their hands upon.”
“Thank ye,” Fin told the man.
Parlan Fife laughed. “Thank ye! I was able to finally get away from those two long enough to settle things with my Katie. Jesu and his Blessed Mother keep ye safe, Fingal Stewart, and get ye home to Edinburgh. Ye should reach it in a week or less.”
Fin nodded, and turning, set off down the narrow path. He had no idea what awaited him, but he sensed with growing urgency that he needed to get to Edinburgh.
Or was it Edinburgh where he was needed? Was there someplace else he needed to be?
Chapter 13
Lord Hay was quite surprised upon reading Edmund Kerr’s directive. “How the hell did ye manage this, Ewan?” he asked the younger of his two brothers.
“Lord Kerr dreams of controlling the entire Aisir nam Breug,” Ewan Hay answered his elder. “He thinks by using me to assert his authority he can have it all. I told him I only wanted Mad Maggie.”
“Ye do,” his elder sibling said knowledgeably.
“Aye, I’ll make the bitch my mistress,” he said, “but I want the power that comes with controlling the Aisir nam Breug.”
“And ye think Fingal Stewart is dead? That old Dugald Kerr will let you just march into his keep and take over?” Lord Hay said. “If ye do, yer a fool.”
“If Maggie’s husband hasn’t returned by now, he’s dead,” Ewan responded.
“He could be a prisoner,” Lord Hay reminded his brother. “Maggie has two sons who will take over the Aisir nam Breug one day. And she’s breeding once again.”
“Children sicken and die,” Ewan said. “Even kings lose their infant children. If I put a male bairn in her belly, I’ll want him to be the heir.”
Lord Hay sighed, but then he considered that if Fingal Stewart didn’t return, Maggie Kerr had to have another husband. If that happened, he would see Ewan married the woman. As long as his brother understood living with her put his very life in danger, then let him try to mount her, to get her with child. But to inherit, that child had to be legitimate. It was worth the gamble, and if Ewan succeeded, Lord Hay would have him off his hands, which was all to the good.
“I’ll give ye thirty men. ’Tis more than enough to hold the keep against all comers. Try to befriend the Kerr men-at-arms, Ewan. Dinna throw yer weight around, and irritate their clan folk. At least pretend yer there at Edmund Kerr’s insistance.”
“I can handle the folk at Brae Aisir,” Ewan said. “They’ll have a strong master in me, Brother, and so will their bitch.”
Lord Hay gave his brother thirty men-at-arms, telling his captain to part with new, half-trained lads. This way he felt his brother could not cause too much difficulty. The Hay captain did as his master requested, but he also took the opportunity to rid himself of one man among his own men who was a constant troublemaker, and a vicious bully. He appealed to the man’s pride by making him captain of Ewan Hay’s men-at-arms.
It was snowing the day before Christ’s Mass when Ewan Hay came to Brae Aisir with his men-at-arms. The drawbridge was up, and it was almost dark when Ewan Hay begged shelter for himself and his brother’s men returning from seeking survivors of Solway Moss on the border, as he claimed. The laird of Brae Aisir could hardly refuse. The lie gained him entry with his men into the keep. He strutted into the great hall with the air of a conqueror, his own captain, Bhaltair, by his side.
“I won’t say yer welcome,” Dugald Kerr told him, “but the laws of hospitality demand I shelter ye and yer men. Did ye find any survivors in yer travels?”
“Nay, but I did have an interesting visit with yer kinsman, Edmund Kerr,” Ewan replied. “He sends ye his regards. He is concerned that with Lord Stewart dead, ye and yer asset are without suitable protection at this end of the Aisir nam Breug.”
Maggie came slowly into the hall, and seeing Ewan Hay, spit a soft curse. “What are ye doing here?” she demanded of him.
“Edmund is worried about us,” Dugald Kerr said dryly.
“He needn’t be,” Maggie said. “And even if he actually was, what the hell do ye have to do with it, Ewan Hay?”
“I am appointed by yer kinsman to oversee this portion of the Aisir nam Breug and maintain its safety,” Ewan Hay replied with a smirk.
“Edmund Kerr has no authority over us,” the laird said in a hard voice. “He is English. We are Scots, and my lands are in Scotland.”
“The battle at Solway Moss has changed everything. Lord Stewart is among the dead. Ye have no one to champion ye, and yer kinsman knows that wars between kings have never before affected the Aisir nam Breug. He also knows yer without proper male authority. Rather than send one of his own sons, an Englishman, he sent me, a good Scot, that yer clan folk not be offended,” Ewan said.
“We have no need of ye,” Maggie told the man in a hard, cold voice. “And my husband is not dead. We are waiting for a ransom demand from England. But before Fingal Stewart came to Brae Aisir, my grandfather and I managed very well. We do not need an overseer now, and we certainly do not need ye! I dinna care if it’s snowing. I want ye gone on the morrow!”
“Madam, ye are not being given a choice in this matter,” Ewan Hay answered her. “Yer grandfather is a feeble old man. Yer a woman with a big belly, and two lads to care for, and whether ye like it or nae, this is best for ye all. Edmund Kerr’s interest in the pass may not be as large as yers, but it is still considerable. The king is dead. The queen struggles to maintain her daughter’s best interests. King Henry senses a weakness in Scotland. The Aisir nam Breug must be kept safe.”
“And we will keep it so,” Maggie told him.
