“And ye abducted two women along with those wagons?”
MacDuff looked over at the blondes in the middle of the tent, embracing one another. “’Tis a grand opportunity, yer grace,” he said. “Those are the daughters of Alastor de Bourne. Do ye no’ see, yer grace? God has put them in our hands.”
“He has?”
MacDuff’s gaze was intense. “We can use the daughters against their father,” he said. “We can force him tae join our fight.”
That was very true. William knew it was a prime opportunity to force Alastor de Bourne to his will. Once the younger daughter gave away her family name, that very thing popped into his mind. His gaze moved to the women, huddle together, as he pondered MacDuff’s suggestion.
“What man wouldna do anything he could tae save his daughters?” he murmured. “As a father, I’d do anything within my power.”
“Then we send the man word tonight?”
William shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “And I’ll tell ye why. De Bourne has sons and fifteen hundred men tae think about. He has a legacy tae think about. If he turns against The Marshal, he’ll spend the rest of his lifetime, and probably his sons’ lifetimes, being an enemy in the heart of Northumberland. He’ll be destroyed. Men who were formerly his allies will make it so. Is that legacy worth the safety of his daughters?”
MacDuff wasn’t following him. “Ye said yerself he’d do anything tae save them.”
“But the family is greater than the children,” William said. “Alexander, a man can stand losing children, but he canna stand losing his entire family or his legacy, and that’s what this would cost him. Nay, he’d no’ side with us, no’ even if we hold his daughters, but I have something better in mind.”
MacDuff thought the man was going soft in the head. “What is that, yer grace?”
William’s yellowed eyes glimmered in the weak light. “Send them back tae The Marshal with a message,” he said. “The mercy we show upon those lasses will indebt The Marshal tae me. It will indebt de Bourne tae me. Let them see our mercy because the next time we require such a thing from them, they’ll be obligated tae give it.”
MacDuff was starting to follow now. “Ye want them tae be indebted tae ye?”
“Exactly.”
It wasn’t madness. It actually made good political sense as far as politics went. But MacDuff was grossly unhappy that William wasn’t going to make de Bourne pay for the debacle at Castle Keld, the same debacle that MacDuff had lied about. He’d told William that de Bourne had attacked him when the man’s daughter had contradicted that.
No, he wasn’t happy with de Bourne in the least.
Or his daughter.
“Is that yer command, yer grace?” he finally asked, jaw ticking with disapproval. “Tae send them back with a message?”
William nodded. “Tell the eldest one tae tell The Marshal that I spared their lives and expect the same courtesy in the future should I call upon him,” he said. “Let the man see that I am merciful.”
“Anything else, yer grace?”
William looked over at the women one last time. “’Tis too dark and dangerous tae release the lasses now, but ye’ll return both of them tae the Ord Crossing at first light,” he said. “Take them personally, Alexander.”
“Aye, yer grace.”
“If they willna sup with me, then find them a comfortable place tae sleep for the night.”
With that, he turned away, heading back to his chair next to the brazier and a hot drink that was no longer hot.
MacDuff, however, had other plans for the eldest de Bourne daughter.
And he intended to carry them out no matter what William had said.
*
Berwick Castle
The fight hadbeen a bloody one but, in the end, Cole and Julian, Addax and Essien had prevailed.
Focused on the gatehouse and making more noise than actually doing any damage, Jax wasn’t surprised when Cole suddenly appeared at the inner gatehouse, fighting Scots like a madman, tossing them into the deep moat that surrounded the castle. He had watched, fascinated, while his sons did battle at the gatehouse until Julian broke free and raced over the bridge to the smaller gatehouse where his father was standing. There were Scots there, manning the gatehouse, so there was a fight before Julian managed to open the man-gate in the larger gates that were bolted and sealed. With the smaller gate open, Jax and his men poured in.
