She leaned forward to state in one word: “None.”
The king paused to run his fingers over his beard in contemplation, with a slight grin etching his mouth. Yep, he knew. “None. Almost twenty thousand warriors to feed and nae supply line. The original path holds true: we stay the course, keep them at an arm’s length; perhaps with an edge of luck the storm shall not be required to force a starving horde of ships from our shores,” Alexander declared.
All nodded in agreement before Aonghus directed his next topic toward the king. “My lord king, may I speak plainly?” Alexander nodded. “There may be another issue casting darkness in the coming days.” The curve under her knight’s jaw tightened; he was angry. “Lord Kollungr carries a stern fixation regarding my lady.” He darted his eyes at her. “If he holds as cunning as you claim him to be in the past” – he nodded toward her before meeting the king’s intent gaze again to finish – “my lord king, forthwith, I fear he may test her.”
“Test?” the Lord Chamberlain chimed in.
“Aye, there was a glimmer belonging to doubt in his eyes when he laid the charge that I had taken her ability as a fate-seer when we were wed,” Aonghus explained, and he must have seen her nod. “You took note of this as well, my Cluaran?”
Had she wanted to? Hell, no! Had she? “Aye,” she concurred, worried.
The king questioned. “What do you propose?”
“If a shadow-glance presents, even if it is forged by Lord Kollungr’s own hand, I propose we choose a cloaked word for my lady to say, thus raising the warning to all who surround.”Brilliant, my knight!
“Clever.” The lines on the Lord Constable’s face grooved deeper in a grin. “What shall it be?”
The king turned to her to say, “’Tis your choice, Lady Keirah.”
All eyes looked upon her. It should be something unique but one that would not give air to suspicion.Hhmmmm.She met Aonghus’s curious gaze – the color, perfection. “Blue.”
“Like the color?” the Lord Chamberlain clarified.
“Aye,” she replied, then met her knight’s eyes.This is in your honor, MacCade.“However” – her tone turned concerned – “when the shadow-glance presents, my lashes close a hard moment; how shall this be concealed?”
“We will simply state it to be a headache. They appear very sternly since your instinct in sense belonging to being a fate-seer has been taken,” Lord Constable offered in a mock tone for future explanations. A trail of ‘ayes’ in agreement concluded the plan forth.
“You bestow the concealed word,” Aonghus instructed, “then lock eyes on who or what will be the element in danger; I shall charge forth to stay the cause.”
How had she ever found brains and brawn in such a delicious Scottish honey cake? Thank you, Lady Fate! “’Tis a shining plan, MacCade.”
Both she and her knight had their attentions taken by the king, who stated, solemnly, “Lady Keirah, this Northman stole you from our shores –myshores – and I reflect in anguish to command you to remain in his presence through the assemblies to come. There is nae other path to hold them at wait till the storm presents in our favor.”
Her mirth vanished to vow, “Aye, my lord king, ’tis a summons I shall not fail.”
The king looked contented, then his attention locked upon Aonghus.Uh-oh. “You have always been loyal to me, Sir Aonghus; the command I give you now shall forthwith test your fortitude in loyalty unlike any other order I have given you in the past.” He paused in somber expression to finish questioning, “You seek to slay Lord Kollungr?”
She saw the grim look cover his handsome face and his eyes grew dark as the words he growled: “Aye, with my bare hands.”
“You cannot.” The king’s words cut through the air the same as a blade. “This is my command. Your moment shall come; however, forthwith, hewill notbe touched. Our wits, not emotions,mustprevail. The future of Scotland’s kingdom depends on holding a steady hand within these proceedings. Stay the course, Sir Aonghus. A grand deed will be bestowed to you once the Northmen are vanquished from our shores.” The king must have seen the reserved look in her knight’s eyes, then demanded, “I shall and will be takin’ your oath to me in this regard.”
Please, Aonghus, please agree.Her breath held as her knight looked at her. Helookedat her – no, he was looking for her opinion. A king’s demand and he looked at her firstbeforeagreeing – had she ever beheld anything so striking? Never. Her brow gave the tiniest incline; had he seen it?
He conceded, “Aye, my lord king.” He had.
Keirah inhaled. There was something she was going to tell him in their bedchamber before Lord Kollungr had appeared about a meeting with the Northmen’s king.Tell it now – perhaps the torment written in my knight’s eyes will find some solace.
“My lord king,” she began, and Alexander’s intense stare re-focused on her. “The fates have laid a path yet to come in a night-glance regarding all we now speak. I am to stand before King Håkonsson upon his ship once again” – she glanced at Aonghus before reconnecting with the monarch’s surprised look – “with your newly appointed knight at my side. I do not carry the purpose of this meeting yet to come, but there is a way to offer Lord Kollungr a fate worse than death, for one so arrogant. What if Lord Kollungr were cast out as an outlaw in disgrace, stripped of his title of lord by his very own sovereign?”
Those surrounding held silent in interest before she continued the explanation she had spoken of with Aonghus in their quiet times at Stirling. “Lord Kollungr was ordered by King Håkonsson to retrieve his son’s betrothed, Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. It was a journey filled with peril; the future queen was all but stolen by our hand from her homeland. I was demanded to be by Lord Kollungr’s side each step. We journeyed back through the terrain after landing in Tønsberg. The future queen’s dowry has been a very grand challenge to claim; however, she harbored a wee portion on our travels until taken by outlaws on the final length across the mountains and the gold coin vanished. It had been a ruse upon Lord Kollungr’s part,” she revealed to those present bearing intrigued expressions. “The very outlaws he accused of stealing, Lord Kollungr secretlyfound later. Then he ordered his own warriors, Svørn, Torsten, and Rune, to slaughter them, thus enabling him to claim the dowry into his own hands. It was not an act of greed upon Lord Kollungr’s part – he has vast fortune – nae, it was an act of power to take what was meant for King Håkonsson’s heir, Magnus, who will someday succeed King Håkonsson unto the throne.”
She stepped up to take a single gold coin from her pocket she had carried many times strapped to her leg in disguise as a bandage. How long had she waited for this priceless weapon to be unleashed? More nights than she could remember. She placed the glimmering piece with the silhouette belonging to a princess’s features onto the table between the five, who gazed upon the elegant prize; the Lord Chamberlain took a bold step forward at the coin’s sight.
“These,” she finished her explanation, “were minted with the likeness of the princess in honor for her dowry. King Håkonsson will have his hide when he learns of Lord Kollungr’s treachery.”
“My lady” – Lord Chamberlain placed his nose high – “why wait all this time? To deceive is to sin.”
Aonghus glared at the keeper of coin. “So is greed, Lord Chamberlain; however upon last check you counted your coffers with a rather frequent manner.”You tell ’em, Aonghus!
