Alexander smiled at him, patting him on the cheek. “I know,” he said. “We will. But we cannot do anything at this moment and I must have time to plan a well-timed incursion. With this mist, we have little choice but to wait it out. You know this.”
Cole’s heart was pounding against his ribs, painfully, and for the first time in his adult life, he felt the sting of tears. “I know,” he said. “I know all of that. But give me something to do, something to plan, something to keep myself occupied or I swearI will go running into Scotland and kill every Scots bastard I can get my hands on.”
Jax went to him, turning him for the gatehouse where his men were already starting to bring in the bodies that had been posted on poles.
“Take charge of the removal of the bodies,” he said. “If the Scots see this, it could reflect badly on Corisande, so we do not want them to see this. Make sure the bodies are removed as quickly as possible and brought into the bailey so the Scots cannot see them.”
That realization spurred Cole. “You’re right,” he said, turning to Julian and Addax and Essien. “Help me, please.”
They surged forward, following Cole as he ran through the gatehouse, out to help the army remove the bodies on poles. Once Cole was occupied and focused on something other than his grief, Jax turned to Alexander.
“I do not know the landscape north of Berwick,” he said. “If William believes the Scots are somewhere in those hills, then we must know something more specific. It occurs to me that we must find someone who knows those hills.”
Alexander was listening. “Like who?”
“Like a Scotsman who is part of The Rough’s army,” he said. “Surely not all of them have fled. I would wager to say there may be one or more of them hiding in the city, mayhap in a tavern or two down by the river’s edge where the boats throw anchor.”
Alexander was following his train of thought. “And if there is not, I would imagine there is a villager who has lived in this town all his life and who knows the landscape around us.”
“Find one. And find out what you are facing in those hills.”
It was an excellent idea. Alexander turned to the Executioner Knights behind him and sent Kress and Achilles into the town, off to find someone who could tell them about the hills north of Berwick where the Scots army was located.
Someone to help them realize what they would be up against.
But whatever they were, or were not, to discover, Alexander and Cole would be leading the charge come the morning.
They could only pray the women could hold out that long.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
MacDuff had escortedCorisande and Gaia to a smaller tent that was near the edge of the encampment, but it was surrounded by several fires, all of them with men huddling near the flame to stave off the mist that had rolled in from the sea. It was heavy now, blanketing the land, and wet to the touch.
It was like being covered with sea spray.
The smaller tent had a brazier, a pallet, and little more. It was quite spartan when compared to the grand tent of William. Corisande and Gaia stood near the door as MacDuff went to add fuel to the brazier, watching it spark up and flame. Holding his hands over the heat, he turned to the women by the door.
“Come in,” he said. “Sit.”
Corisande didn’t like the feel of the situation. Something about the way MacDuff was looking at her made her feel vastly uneasy.
“I would rather not,” she said. “When we were brought here, it was in a wagon. Where is that wagon?”
MacDuff left the brazier and went to the entry, sticking his head out into the misty night. “It is over where we left ye,” he said. “Did ye no’ see it?”
Corisande eyed him before peering out into the misty night. She knew the general direction she had come from, so she looked off in that area. Oddly, the fog was heavier the higher it went, but not so heavy near the ground, so the visibility closer to the grass was better. She bent low, looking off towards the spot she remembered, and she could see the bottom of two wagons. The bottom of their wheels, anyway.
She stood back and looked at the man.
“We would rather sleep in the wagon,” she said. “When are we to be released?”
MacDuff looked her over, remembering William’s words. He wanted the women released with a message to William Marshal, but they didn’t know that. They hadn’t heard the directive, which would work in his favor, and they weren’t going to know of it if he had anything to say about it.
They were only going to knowhisterms.
It was time to get to it.
“Sit yer sister down,” he said. “I would speak with ye alone.”
