Page 107 of Tempted
“It wasn’t Ramsay who poisoned me!” she protested hotly.
Angus looked relieved. “Nay, poison is a coward’s weapon. In any case he had only tae send ye home tae rid himself of ye an’ be free of the hand-fasting. What about his other men? He had sixty of mine.”
“He left some at Cumnock and more at Ochiltree to help the villagers rebuild. Their plight was heartrending.”
“Reckless young fool! I never ride out these days without a hundred Douglas at my back.”
“How long will it take Dacre to get him to London?” Tina asked fearfully.
“What makes ye think they’ll take him tae London?”
“Because he’s Lord Vengeance, and there’s a big price on his head. Before he hangs him for piracy, Henry Tudor will want to see what he got for his money.”
Angus cursed and sat down immediately at a desk littered with papers to write out orders and seal them with his earl’s signet ring. He could clearly see how agitated Tina was over Ram’s capture, and he explained some of what he planned. “I’ve orders for Gavin, Ian, and Drummond Douglas tae raid all along the east coast of England tonight and tae make sure they leave Lord Vengeance’s callin’ card. I’ll go tae the king, and we’ll send Henry Tudor word he’s got the wrong man. If Dacre took him yesterday, he’d take him tae Carlisle. Dacre couldna take him tae London and wouldna spare the men it would take tae ride tae the capital. Too much chance fer Ram to escape overland. He’d transport him in irons in the hold of a ship. That would take at least three, mayhap four days tae reach London. That’s ample time tae get a courier there wi’ messages. I’ll offer a kingly ransom fer him, lass. Henry Tudor might take the money, especially if we convince him Lord Vengeance is still free and raiding every seaport from Berwick tae Yarmouth.”
“I’m going to London,” announced Tina.
“Ye’ll do no such foolish thing!” he scowled, not really taking her words seriously. “I’d go myself, except they’d hold me fer ransom, an’ Jamie would empty Scotland’s coffers tae gain ma release.”
Angus stood with his back to the fire, sipping whisky he’d poured himself. Tina slipped to her knees before him in supplication. “Don’t you see, my lord? It is my fault he was taken. My brother learned he was Lord Vengeance through me and so betrayed him. If you do not help me get to London, I will go without your aid. I am determined upon it I vow to save him or die trying!”
“Lassie, lassie, it took the party of women who accompanied the queen twelve days tae ride from London tae Edinburgh.”
“Then give me a ship, my lord earl. We could sail there in two—less if there is a fair wind!”
He gazed down into her lovely face. “Ye love him this much?” he asked with awe.
“More!” she declared emphatically.
Angus began to pace. Like all active men who couldn’t be caged, he thought better on his feet. Ada folded her tongue behind her teeth. She knew she could not dissuade Flaming Tina when her mind was set She sat quietly beside the pile of baggage waiting for Angus to decide their fate She knew better than to interrupt a man who carried more authority than any save the king himself.
“A fast ship tae transport ye tae London is no problem. Yer safety is the problem.” He stopped pacing in front of Ada, stared at her breasts for two or three appreciative minutes, then said, “Ye can take diplomatic messages from Queen Margaret to her brother Henry. The queen will inform her brother that Ram Douglas is not this Lord Vengeance they seek and demand his immediate release.”
“But Angus, how in the name of Heaven do we persuade the queen to write such things to the King of England? I only met her once and have no influence with her whatsoever.”
He laid a finger beside his nose and winked at her. “I willna persuade her—ma son Archie will.”
Tina stared at him blankly. They were speaking of Her Majesty, Margaret Tudor, Royal Queen of Scotland, not some kitchen wench who could be coerced.
Angus was nothing if not plainspoken. “He’s fuckin’ her —she’ll write the letters tonight, or she doesna get laid. Ye dinna think he bangs her for pleasure, do ye? Christ, even Margaret is not that naive!”
Tina blushed, and Ada laughed.
“My servants are at yer disposal, lass. Ye rest while I go tae consult the king. He’ll run mad when he learns Black Ram Douglas has been taken.”
After they bathed and dined, Tina and Ada fell asleep in the earl’s great bed. Their baggage stood ready at the door with their cloaks. They knew they would be awakened before midnight for the short ride to Leith, where one of Angus’s ships would take them from the Firth of Forth into the North Sea on the floodtide.
Angus had put his sleekest, fastest vessel at her disposal, and miraculously the salty wind blew fiercely from the north, taking her down the coast of England as if it were aware that she was in a race against time. Angus had given her gold, as well as a letter of credit drawn on a London goldsmith. He had produced sealed personal letters from Queen Margaret to Henry Tudor, and a document of safe passage.
Tina did not recognize the weatherbeaten ship’s master, but she knew he was a Douglas even in the dark. He told her they would arrive at their destination under cover of night in less than twenty hours. He also informed her he would go back out to sea the moment she and her servants, along with their mounts, disembarked. For though he had ship’s papers signed by the King of Scotland and the Lord High Admiral of the Fleet to satisfy London’s port authority, he was keenly aware that the English were taking as many ships as they could, impressing their crews and hanging their captains out of hand.
Angus had insisted the two females be accompanied by two strapping male servants, and as they stood upon the London docks with their mounts and a mountain of luggage, Lady Valentina Kennedy realized that without the men’s physical strength, she would never survive long enough to reach the royal court
They learned that the court was now at the king’s favorite residence of Greenwich, which sat on the River Thames before the City of London. Greenwich sat in its own vast parkland only a couple of miles from where they had disembarked. Although it was after midnight when the small party arrived, the lights of Greenwich, both within and without, still blazed brightly. Her male servants remained in the stables while Ada accompanied her to the palace.
With the pride of a cat, Tina spoke with a liveried footman who sent a message to the palace steward. “I am here as an emissary from Her Royal Highness, Queen Margaret of Scotland, with messages for her brother the king.” The steward found her a tiny suite of two rooms and told her that her grooms would have to be housed over top the stables. “I will speak with the chamberlain on your behalf, and perhaps tomorrow he will be able to furnish you with chambers more fitting, my lady. As you may see for yourself, Greenwich is overflowing at the seams Some are even sleeping in tents and pavilions set up in the great park for the celebrations.”
“Celebrations?” Tina echoed.
