Villiers was fascinated. He followed along as the queen bustled into her husband’s privy chamber, saying as she came, “Here is your cousin of BrocCairn, Jamie, and he brings wicked news. You must hear him at once!”
Viscount Villiers melted back against a paneled wall to listen.
“Alex!” The king came forward slowly. His joints were stiff from the damp weather they had been having. It was almost like being home in Scotland again, he considered irritably. “What news, mon? Ye dinna come to court anymore but rarely. It must be verra serious to bring ye so far south, eh laddie?”
Alexander Gordon bowed low before the king, kissing his cousin’s outstretched hand. “It is verra serious, Jamie,” he said.
“Sit! Sit!” the king invited him, and they sat together on a bench by the fire. “Now, laddie, tell me what troubles ye?”
“The marquis of Hartsfield hae been in Scotland since early last winter. He hae a royal warrant wi yer signature, Jamie. It is for the arrest of my stepdaughter and her husband on a charge of treason. Now, I dinna believe ye signed such a document, nor hae any unkind intent toward the Leslies of Glenkirk, but St.Denis would appear to hae yer permission in this evil unless ye say otherwise. If he can capture Jasmine and her Jemmie, the law will seem to be on his side.”
“Ohhh, the wicked devil!” the queen cried. “Jamie, ye must do something this very minute! Poor Jasmine and Jemmie. Have they not had enough troubles these past few years?”
“I dinna sign any warrant,” the king said slowly. “Piers did surely importune me to do so many, many times, but I dinna.”
“Nonetheless who is to say in Scotland that it is nae yer signature, Jamie?” BrocCairn replied to the king. “Did ye nae get Glenkirk’s message? A man was sent south weeks ago, and we know he got as far as Queen’s Malvern in safety. The rest of the journey would have been surely easy. And he knew where to find ye.”
“Steenie, fetch Barclay to me,” the king said, then turned to his cousin. “He is my secretary, and will know what messages came, but since Stokes was killed, the workings of my royal office are nae so efficient, Alex.”
When the king’s secretary entered he was immediately questioned as to the arrival of a message from the earl of Glenkirk.
“From Scodand?” Barclay sniffed. “One of my assistants would have seen to it. Was there to be a reply? If there was, the messenger would have been told to wait at the court.”
“Find that message at once!” theking thundered in a rare show of spirit. “How dare ye keep it from me! ‘Tis a matter of lifeand death, Barclay. This willna do, mon. This inefficiency willna do at all.” And when Barclay had run off to find the message, the king muttered ominously, “There will hae to be changes made, I can see that.”
“My lord?”
“Aye, Steenie, my sweet love,” the king answered.
“A day ago Kipp St.Denis sought an audience with me,” Viscount Villiers said. “Do you think it might have something to do with this matter? I did not see him, fearing to offend you, but I know he is about the court, my lord. Shall I find him for you?” His handsome face looked anxious, as if he feared he had done something wrong.
The king nodded. “What can my poor Piers hope to gain by arresting the Leslies of Glenkirk?” the king wondered aloud.
“He means to murder them, cousin,” BrocCairn said bluntly. “He believes he can gain our wee grandson and thus hae power over ye, the damned fool! And, he hae nae forgiven Jasmine for choosing Glenkirk. What on earth ever made ye even offer her to him, cousin?”
“Because he’s a meddlesome old fool!” the queen snapped.
The king shrugged helplessly, seeming to agree with his wife’s sharp assessment. “‘Tis past now,” he said.
“Nae for the marquis of Hartsfield,” BrocCairn replied. “Jasmine was forced to be parted from her bairns, Jamie. We brought the little Lindleys to Cadby, and my Charlie is wi them. As for our mutual grandson, and the infant heir to Glenkirk, he hae to hide them at Glenkirk Abbey for fear of St.Denis. They should nae be parted from their mother, cousin, but we could do nae else gien the situation. Ye maun stop St.Denis before he does a serious damage to our family.”
The king’s secretary, Barclay, returned, and sheepishly handed the king an unopened message from Glenkirk. Glaring at him, James Stuart broke the seal on the missive and, openingit, read it through. He had no sooner finished than his favorite returned, Kipp St.Denis in tow.
St. Denis knelt before the king, head bowed.
“Speak,” said the monarch.
“I ask your pardon, my liege,” Kipp St.Denis said quietly, and he raised his eyes to the king. “I am nothing more than my father’s bastard, but he gave me his name and raised me with his heir. I promised my father, when he lay dying that I would always look after Piers. Now I have no choice but to break that vow, my liege, for my poor brother is surely mad to have done what he has done. Have mercy on him.”
“And what hae he done?” the king said softly.
“When we went into Scotland I did not know that the signature upon the royal warrant was forged, my liege. It was at Glenkirk that my brother admitted it to me. His desire to revenge himself upon the Leslies is so overwhelming it has certainly rendered him demented. He took the warrant off your secretary’s desk, signed it, added the names of James and Jasmine Leslie, and then sealed it with your seal. I did not know this when I went to Scotland with him. I only went to protect him, as I have always tried to protect him from himself.
“We were caught in Edinburgh over the winter, and I thought to dissuade him during that time, but I could not. He hired a group of cutthroats to take with him, and when the roads opened in the spring we marched north. When we arrived at Glenkirk, and found the Leslies gone, I realized we should never find them unless they chose to be found. The summer, I thought, and my brother would grow bored, and seek to return to court; but Piers’s talk became more wicked, more evil, and when he spoke of hanging the Leslies, and making little Lady India Lindley his wife, and that perhaps her brother would not reach his manhood and he would then control his fortune, I knew Icould no longer influence him; that he had become crazed and evil beyond all.
“I went to Master Adali, the castle steward for help, and he saw that I was able to reach Your Majesty safely. You must not allow my brother to continue on along his wicked path, my liege.You mustn’t!”
“Ahhhh, my puir Piers laddie,” the king mourned, “but I think ye are overfearful of yer brother’s actions. I nae ere saw that much wickedness wi’in him, Kipp St.Denis. I dinna believe my sweet laddie would murder, even if his puir heart was broken.”
