He raised his eyes and looked at the three, returning the papers to McBain to see that they were properly dried.
“I will go down there, my lord,” the taller cleric said. “ ’Tis the least I can do after a rather ... invigorating night. Lord Hereford wants confirmation. There will be no denying the truth from my lips.”
One corner of Ruark’s mouth quirked. “What is your name?” He gave the quill over to Angus, who handed the pen and ink to someone else.
“Father Samuel. I am English,” he said almost defiantly. “Come to visit my brother.”
Ruark drew on his heavy gloves, eyeing him with interest. “Well, Father Samuel, you have done enough this day, and I have another emissary in mind.”
Sensing the bent of Ruark’s mind, the dandy straightened his brocade waistcoat with a jerk. “But I don’t ride a horse,” he protested.
“Then get the man a cart,” Ruark told Angus.
Angus shouted across the yard for a cart. The call went down the line of men saddling horses until the order reached the stable.
“But my lord ...” the man rasped, justifiably terrified. “What if Lord Hereford makes me swear to something that is not true?”
“Then we will have a problem.”
On this precariously diplomatic note, the cart arrived, equipped with a white piece of linen tied to a hoe but no place to put the pole. Angus drew his dagger with a flourish, cut a piece of rope and bound the hoe to the wooden bench. In just as efficient a manner, he lifted their emissary into the cart. Before Ruark made the suggestion, the second cleric volunteered to accompany the man, and he too made his way onto the bench beside the first. The man holding the pony’s halter walked the cart and riders to the hill’s edge to await the signal from the other side of the river.
They would meet Hereford’s representative on thearched stone bridge, exchange the necessary words and agreements as came with such dialogue, and then Ruark and Hereford would meet. Ruark would give Hereford the signed documents. In return, Jamie, Rufus and Gavin would be allowed to go free. Such was the way of negotiations.
Loki was brought forward. Ruark stepped into the stirrup and swung a leg over the saddle. He tossed a bag of gold to Father Samuel. “When the other two return, you will be free to go as well. I will trust you to share equally.”
McBain approached and returned the papers to Ruark, once again bound in red ribbon. “I do no’ think ’tis right ye sending me away,” he groused. “Ye may have need of another sword.”
“If we do, one more will make no difference.”
Ruark told him it was time to take Rose and leave. “Tell Colum he is not to allow her from his sight. Now go.”
Watching him hurry away, Ruark shoved the papers in his shirt.
“I’m tellin’ ye it makes no sense,” Angus said a moment later, coming along beside him and riding a large black barb. “Duncan ... he’d no’ turn from a fight. Not this fight.”
A breeze stirred the grass. The morning sky had begun to lighten and as the last shining star in the northern sky faded, Ruark’s gaze slipped past the stone walls overgrown with larkspur, beyond the chapel to the stables, where dozens had followed his lead and mounted. He rode his horse to the highest point overlooking the river, where the men began to line both banks, their accoutrements winking in the sunlight. Firelight dotted the landscape, and in the awakening light of dawn, he saw Jamie across the river. The boy sat on a roan next to Hereford’s large barb.
It was the first time Ruark had ever glimpsed his youngerbrother. His hair was not dark, like Ruark’s or their father’s as he’d expected, but the bright blond color of Julia’s. He was not large, but fine boned.
Loki restlessly curveted beneath Ruark.
“He looks well,” someone beside him remarked, swinging the glass in his hands and noting that Rufus and Gavin did not look nearly as pampered, but at least they were walking on their own volition as they were led from a tent.
Their long tangled hair looked as if it had not seen a comb in months. They wore no boots. Their trews, and what once had been white homespun shirts, were torn and ragged beneath old plaid rags. Then they raised their chained hands and a cheer suddenly went up in the crowd, followed by another that began farther down the river near the watch. Like everyone else, Ruark turned his head and looked west. A low grumble strengthened in the earth beneath him, the thunder growing louder as a line of mounted men roared over the distant hill.
Four hundred men exploded into view and across the rise. They were a wild-looking bunch, bearded, hair long and unkempt, fearless, enough to dampen the enthusiasm of even the most confident enemy.
Duncan rode at its head. Seeing Ruark, he broke ranks and turned his horse up the hill to where Ruark reined Loki around to meet him.
Raucous cheers continued to greet the newcomers as they jostled for space beside those already lining the riverbank. Heckles and jeers on the other side followed and soon swords were raised as taunts were lobbed from both sides. This went on up and down the river for as long as it took Duncan’s men to move their lathered horses into place.
Loki, perhaps sensing Ruark’s mood, sidled away asDuncan’s arrival was met with jovial backslapping by those on the hill. Duncan looked at Ruark. Scraping a hand across his bearded jaw, he leaned slightly in the saddle. “Sorry we are late, nephew. Nothing occurred while I was gone?” His gaze swept the gathering troops across the river. “I would hate to have missed the excitement.”
Showing yesterday when expected would not have had the same dramatic effect on the clan and its foes as his arrival this morning. No doubt, Duncan preferred the more substantial role as this day’s hero, especially considering the part he’d played bringing about these events in the first place. In some way, whether advertent or not, he had played a part in all the events, including yesterday’s events that led up to Ruark’s marriage to Rose. Had Duncan arrived as planned, the proceedings might not have progressed as far as they had, and Rose might not now be his wife.
But the effect of Duncan’s arrival on morale was palpable.
“Your presence is welcomed, Duncan,” Ruark said.
