“Let us speak of de Bourne again,” MacDuff said. “If Canmore has been sending him missives about joining us, then he knows our plans. If he sends word tae Canmore agreeing tae join us, there is no one there tae accept the missive.”
William looked up at him. “’Tis true,” he said, “which means we must send someone tae de Bourne to find out just what his intentions are. Tae have the House of de Bourne with us would be a blow tae the Sassenach army.”
“Ye mean John’s army?” MacDuff ventured.
William shook his head. “No’ John,” he said. “The man is a fool. He is only concerned with himself and feuding with his own barons. If it was only John tae be concerned with, we could reclaim Northumberland and he wouldna know until it was too late. Nay, lads, ’tis no’ John we are concerned with. ’Tis William Marshal. The man has his finger on the pulse of England and the warlords will follow him. If The Marshal knows of our plans, then we will have a fight on our hands. Mark my words.”
“The Marshal is no’ the king, yer grace.”
“Who do ye think controls England, Alexander?”
It was the truth, a snappish bit of reality to the Scots who would doubt The Marshal’s involvement in England’s affairs. After a moment, MacDuff nodded faintly in agreement. It was absolutely the truth and they all knew it. William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke,wasEngland, and if he knew of the Scottish plans, an invasion into Northumberland just became more difficult.
William Marshal wasn’t about to let them in without a fight.
“Then mayhap that is why de Velt did what he did,” MacDuff said quietly. “Think about it– he devastated Fountainhall, but at whose command? Surely the man dinna take the initiative himself.”
William turned to look at him, his yellow-eyed gaze intense. “Then ye have yer answer,” he muttered “If I was a gambling man, I would bet upon the fact that The Marshal told de Velt tae attack Fountainhall because he knows my plans.”
“Then what will ye do?”
William sighed heavily. “We go tae Castle Keld and the House of de Bourne,” he said. “We discover if they are with us.”
“And if they are no’?” MacDuff pressed. “What if they are the ones who told The Marshal about the missives from Alpin? What if that is where it all started?”
William grunted at the possibility, something he was thinking about but didn’t want to voice. “Then we send enough men through the Kielder Pass tae raze Castle Keld if de Bourne goes against us,” he said. “De Velt destroyed Fountainhall. I’ll take Castle Keld in revenge. It’ll be their punishment for telling The Marshal about Alpin’s missives. Alexander, the directive is yers. Prepare my army tae depart for Castle Keld in two days.”
“Aye, yer grace.”
William’s gaze lingered on the man for a moment before turning away. “The Marshal wanted tae send me a message through Ajax de Velt?” he mused quietly. “I’m about tae send my reply.”
Every man in the hall understood what that meant. The destructive volley of threats and promises had begun. De Velt had fired first.
Uilliam mac Eanricwas going to answer… loudly.
A small army of Scots left.
CHAPTER THREE
Castle Keld, or simply The Keld
Northumberland, England
Three Days Later
“Christ, Cori!” Abig knight with dark hair and big, scarred hands was standing in the doorway, hand to his nose. “What in the hell is thatstench?”
It was a disgusting scene he had walked in on. The lady of the castle had just lanced an infected boil on a soldier’s thigh and the smell from the infection was filling the chamber. It was a smaller room attached to the knight’s quarters of Castle Keld, a chamber used for a few purposes, including bathing or surgery if the need arose.
On this particular morning, the lady of the castle was pressing on the boil, making sure all of the poison was draining out of it and into a bowl that a servant was holding, but it was a ghastly sight and an even more ghastly smell, just as the knight had suggested.
It didn’t take long for that stench to overwhelm the already squeamish servant.
It all came flying out.
Once the servant vomited, another one puked, followed by the very man whose boil they were draining. The horrible stench coupled by the weak stomach of the servant had nearly everyone in the chamber retching, including the knight who had just come in the door. He grunted in disgust and fled the chamber as the lady of the castle very calmly finished cleaning out what she could.
She could hear the knight outside the door, cursing because the entire circumstance was so disgusting, but she ignored him. He was her brother, anyway, and he tended to be a bit dramatic sometimes.
