Jordan cupped Maitland’s face between her two hands and kissed her on the cheek. “Lass, ye’ve repaid him many times over with yer help,” she said. “Ye dunna need tae earn yer keep. Tommy and I are very grateful for what ye’ve done.”
Maitland smiled timidly, her gaze moving between Jordan and Thomas, who was smiling openly at her.
“Come, my lady,” Thomas said. “Gather your needle and thread, and I shall escort you to the keep. It would be my pleasure.”
With a genuine smile on her face, Maitland did as she was told. Gathering black thread from Jordan’s sewing kit near the hearth, and a heavy bone needle, she collected Tibelda as well, and the three of them headed out of the hall and into the morning sunshine beyond.
Maitland swore that she’d never seen such a bright and beautiful day.
CHAPTER SIX
It was noonon the day after the night raid by the reivers and William was feeling that familiar exhaustion he seemed to feed off of. The exhaustion of a night of tension as a battle waged in the distance, but it was something that was as familiar to him as his own face. It was as much a part of him, as well.
The scent of battle.
The morning was dawning bright and lovely, but quite cold, and he stood on the wall next to the big iron braziers that had burned all night long, with peat, keeping the men warm. After the battle in Coldstream and the return of the men, he’d remained on the wall with his own men from Castle Questing, his seat, watching the roads and the woods in the distance for any sign of retaliation, but as the morning dawned, there was no sign of movement.
That was a good thing.
With the land beyond the walls quiet, William was seriously considering seeking out Thomas, who had returned a short time earlier. As Thomas’ liege, since all of this was his property,William wanted to know about the fight in Coldstream and Thomas’ assessment of the enemy. Wark Castle literally sat on the border between England and Scotland, and Thomas had seen more than his share of action since assuming command, and he’d been very good at assessing the enemy. The man knew his way around military tactics well.
William finally decided to make his way off the wall and seek out his son, who he had seen disappear into the great hall not a half-hour earlier. As he crossed the outer bailey and approached the hall, Thomas emerged with Jordan and Lady Bowlin. William beckoned to his son, who left the women as they continued on towards the keep.
“Christ, Tommy,” William hissed. “It is freezing out here. Why are you shirtless?”
Thomas pointed to the even stitches in his shoulder. “I just had my wound tended.”
William peered at the injury, about three inches long. “It does not look too bad,” he said. “Tell me what happened in Coldstream.”
Thomas sighed heavily, his breath coming out as fog against the chill morning air. “Reivers,” he said. “At first, I thought it was some of those clans you’d summoned to your conference those months ago, but I quickly realized that the clans were trying to fight off the reivers, who had attacked the village of Duns.”
William nodded grimly. “The reivers again,” he muttered. “How many?”
“I am not entirely certain, but at least forty or fifty,” Thomas replied. “I think it was that group that lives off to the east, between Wark and Etal, but I cannot be certain. They call themselves the ThurrockCú.”
“What makes you think it was them?”
“Their horses. They stole horses from Wooler last year and there were several pale horses among the group,” he said. “Now, that group rides those pale horses and I am fairly certain that I saw them.”
That made sense to William. “What did you do?”
Thomas shrugged. “We outnumbered them, but they are cunning, as you know,” he said. “We ended up pushing them back up against the cliffs that overlook the river and driving them right over the cliffs.”
William’s eyebrows lifted. “Allof them?”
“Most of them,” Thomas said. “Papa, you know that it is not enough to simply drive them away. Drive them away and they only appear somewhere else. We must eliminate them.”
William nodded. “I could not agree more,” he said. “Driving them over the cliff was a brilliant move. It should have killed some of them, but not all of them. The drop really isn’t enough to kill them, but they could easily drown.”
“I know.” Thomas scratched at his head, tweaking his wound and then gingerly rotating his shoulder because it hurt. “It did not kill all of them, but it thinned their ranks.”
William thought on that. “Well,” he said finally, “it will cause them to regroup, anyway. Mayhap we shall have a reprieve from their raids for a time.”
Thomas wasn’t so sure. “I know that Northwood Castle is having an even worse time than we are,” he said. “Hector came to visit last month and said the reivers have been so bold that they try to tie up Northwood so the army cannot open the gates as a group of them raid the village.”
“We are fortunate they did not do that to Wark.”
“Agreed.”
