Baldric did not even acknowledge that Edric had spoken. "Ansel, if ye can hear me, it's all true—I havebetrayed ye. I have taken the side of Cailean McNair, thetrueMcNair and thetrueking. I hope ye can one day forgive me."
Ansel knew what Baldric was doing. He was clearing Ansel of any sort of suspicion, ensuring that nobody suspected he was involved. "Move!" he screamed again, naked fear flaying him more harshly than any whip.
The king grabbed the back of Baldric's head and shoved him down until his neck rested upon the block. Silence fell over the courtyard, an awful, expectant silence that was louder than the noise that it had followed. "Then ye die for nothin'. The rebel king is a pretender, fool!"
The satisfaction in Baldric's voice was audible. "He isnae, and I think even ye are startin' tae understand that, Uncle." He spoke with a serene calm that was jarring against the backdrop of blood and death. "Ye ken the True King is comin' and ye will soon be dead. Ye ken ye've lost already. I hope that terror follows ye tae the grave."
"Enough," Edric commanded. "If ye love the McNairs so much, then ye can join them." He raised the axe above his head.
Ansel shoved through the last layer of the crowd and burst out at the foot of the platform. For a brief second, Baldric saw him there, and he gave him a sad, reassuring smile.
"Father, nay!" Ansel called. "Wait!"
Edric glanced his way. Then he shook his head and looked down at his nephew. "Nae mercy for traitors!"
And the axe came thudding down.
15
Elspeth smiled weakly as Neala entered the room with two wine goblets in her hands. In the two days since the carriage had arrived, this was the first time the two women had had a chance to just sit together and talk. McNair Castle had been abuzz, most of the focus on ensuring that Ann was taken care of and making sure that the news of Morag's freedom reached the ears of the White Sparrows. Maeve and Eoin, both friends of Ann, had been frantic about her state, but all of that had paled in comparison to Ferda, who had not left the young Sparrow's side in the healer's rooms since the arrival.
Morag had spent a lot of time with Neala and Cailean together, weeping with joy at their reunion and begging their forgiveness for separating them. Neala had told her there was nothing to forgive. She wasn't sure she agreed with Morag's decisions, but she understood where they had come from, and there was no accounting for choices made in war. Cailean had been and was still captivated by Morag, the woman who had once been his second mother, and he had stuck close to her the whole time. Senan, too, was jubilant to see his old friend, and Ewan and Hamish had taken it upon themselves to spread thenews to the rest of the Sparrows and to the people at Bruce Castle.
Elspeth, though, had retired to the room that they had given her and not spoken much to anyone. Only tonight had Neala found the time to be by herself for long enough to reach out. Now, she sat at the small table in her friend's room, not sure what she was going to hear. That first night, Elspeth had wept that Baldric Ashkirk had been captured and would no doubt soon be dead, but Neala hadn't heard the whole story yet.
The silence ticked on, and at long last, Neala spoke. "I never really met Baldric," she said quietly. "Why did ye nae tell me when I arrived at Blackthorn Castle that the king's own nephew was secretly on our side?"
Elspeth smiled sadly, taking a sip of her wine before answering. Neala noticed that the older woman's hand was shaking. "He asked me tae keep his secret even from the other Sparrows. Laura and Morag both kent I had a connection within the king's ranks, but they respected that I couldnae give them his name. He's been me most loyal friend for the past ten years. The castle staff used tae talk about the scandal of it—the king's nephew spendin' all his time with a cook a decade his senior! But he never cared. He thought our work was more important."
Neala hesitated. She didn't want to upset her friend more, but she had to know. "Was he… was he yer lover?"
Another sip of wine. Then Elspeth shrugged. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she did not cry. "Does it matter? Lover or nae, he was the person I cared for and trusted most in the world. I thought that, perhaps, when this was all over, we…" She stopped and gave her head a sharp shake. "Never mind. He's gone now. He kent the risks, just as we all do. But he was brave, and we will remember him."
Tight sorrow squeezed at Neala's heart. She hadn't known the man, but she could tell that Elspeth had loved him dearly, and her friend's pain was her own. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
Elspeth wiped under her eyes. "Me, as well." She shook her head. "Baldric was the one who helped me save yer prince. All the rebels here ken that Ansel Ashkirk is alive now, of course, but dinnae fear. I havenae told them how he survived the poison, and I willnae."
Neala's heart crushed even tighter as though a fist was closing around it. "Were he and Ansel… close?"
"Close as brothers, if Baldric spoke truly," Elspeth replied tiredly. "He always thought he could one day turn the prince tae the light. Perhaps, had he lived, it would have been possible. But now…"
"I believe that too," Neala said, her voice shaking. It was the first time she'd said it out loud. "I believe there's good in his heart, Elspeth. He let me go, did he nae? And now he's freed his father's most valuable prisoners. This wasnae just Baldric's plan. Ansel wrote tae me tae tell me ye were comin', though I didnae ken what it meant."
Elspeth's smile was both knowing and sad. "Ye saved his life. The lad has some honor, unlike his father. Nae doubt he was returnin' the favor. But, Neala, he is faithful tae the False King. Did ye ken that he was flogged for losin' Nessa at his father's own hand? Even without the poison, he was sufferin' greatly that night. Baldric said it wasnae the first time. And yet he still willingly serves him."
Neala shook her head vigorously. "It's nae just that he let ye all go, or that he sent me home. The doll—the wee toy soldier that Morag returned tae Cailean—I dropped it before I fled. Ansel must have picked it up. Ansel was the one who returned it home. It was a message tae us, a message taeme."
"Or it was a goodbye," Elspeth replied. She reached over and took Neala's hand. "If he wanted tae turn, he could have escaped with us. He wasnae a spy like Baldric. He could have just fled."
"But—"
"And besides, it has been many days since we escaped, and two since we arrived. By now, Baldric will be—" Elspeth cut herself off, her voice cracking. A tear ran down her face, but she didn't wipe it away. "He'll be gone. Ansel is still there. I believe ye when ye tell me there may be good in the lad somewhere, but it isnae strong enough. There's nothin' we can do for him, nothin'yecan do. He's made his choice. And ye made yer own a long, long time ago."
Neala nodded, picking up her goblet. But as she sipped her wine, she couldn't help but think that the story wasn't over. Not yet.
The world seemed to tilt on its axis over the next three months. Nessa had watched in fascination as, since the moment the Sparrows had arrived at McNair Castle, each day seemed to bring more transformation toward a brighter Scotland than she'd ever expected to know. As news of the king's execution of his own nephew had spread, many of the clan lairds who had been undecided finally committed themselves to the war on the side of the rebellion. The cloud had lifted from the eyes of many, and they at last saw the tyrannical False King as he truly was. Many were still on the side of the False King, of course, and there was still a war to win, but many now saw the hope of the rebellion as a beacon of certainty.
Inspired, the people of the McKenzie clan had risen up against Chief Murtagh, and he had fallen. Now, Darren's cousinFergus ruled the McKenzie land alongside his wife, Sorcha, and her aunt, Lady Flora. It was another strong alliance, another promise of a Scotland full of connections and love. The open declaration of the McKenzie clan to the rebel cause under their new Laird had caused a new wave of fury from the False King, and the fighting had increased.
