Page 20 of A Constant Blaze

Christian had seenat once that Donald didn’t really trust her. She could return that mistrust since he was the one who had broken his agreement with Adam and gone to Galloway, thus setting off this whole mess.

Of course, Donald only knew whatever part of the plan Adam had managed to impart to Mairead via their messenger. And Christian had been right in Glasgow. Maireadhadbeen suspicious of her and had passed her doubts on to Donald. Who, however, soon began to laugh softly to himself as he stripped off Mairead’s alarmingly revealing clothes and donned those that Henry had brought.

“So now I greet my father on his official release?” Donald asked with clear amusement.

“Yes, you do,” Christian said happily. “Providing no one has discovered you’ve released yourself in the meantime. So, keep your helmet on and blend in with the others. And you need to hurry because we have an appointment with the king.”

Donald threw himself onto the spare horse with enthusiasm.

“You make a fine French knight,” Henry said wryly.

“Ha,” Donald retorted. “Maybe you will too one day.”

Side by side they rode behind Christian out of the woods and around to the northeast entrance to the castle, from where they’d left for their early morning ride. Because of the king’s presence, there was already much coming and going across the drawbridge, and no one noticed that Christian had left with one soldier and returned with two.

In the courtyard, they were joined by the rest of the men, already mounted, apart from Henry, who stood respectfully behind Christian so that the fact they now had an extra mounted man wouldn’t be so obvious. But providing no one had yet discovered Donald’s escape, no one would be paying them much attention. That would all be on the prisoner of Roxburgh himself, and the king who emerged with his entourage, to stand in the center of the courtyard.

The king looked impressive, somehow no longer the boy Christian had first met. He wore a rich blue tunic, and a bright scarlet cloak hung from one shoulder by a jeweled gold brooch. His hat boasted a magnificent white plume that swayed in the breeze.

And then, only moments later, the door of the south tower creaked open, a soldier stepped through, and then the prisoner himself emerged.

In spite of herself, Christian found her gaze fixed on the legendary Malcolm MacHeth. He was tall and dark, like his sons, and lean, though not, it seemed, from prison deprivation, for he carried his own chest on his shoulder, and Christian knew its contents. No one could have guessed its weight from the way he bore it. He walked toward the king with measured, steady steps and set the chest on the ground at his feet before he straightened and fearlessly met the king’s gaze.

The courtyard had shrunk with his presence. He was just one man, a defeated rebel, a prisoner, in the presence of a king and his entourage; and yet it was undoubtedly Malcolm MacHeth who dominated the scene.

Suddenly, without even hearing him speak, Christian understood why so much of the country had followed him into battle so often, how he’d gained and retained the obsessive loyalty of his people, to say nothing of a woman like Halla. No wonder generations had been too frightened to let him go and yet could never bring themselves to kill him. It was about more than his royal blood and half-forgotten traditions.

Christian didn’t think anyone expected him to kneel, and he didn’t. But he did bow.

The king, emphasizing his superiority didn’t bow back. “Malcolm mac Aed, for the sake of peace in this kingdom, we grant you your freedom. On certain conditions for which you must now give us your word.”

Christian held her breath. This was the moment Malcolm’s intransigent pride could ruin everything. But surely it wouldn’t. Even the weather seemed to be smiling upon the spectacle in the castle bailey, spreading cool morning sunlight over both major players below.

The breeze blew a strand of still-black hair across Malcolm MacHeth’s forehead. He ignored it, gazing slowly around the surrounding walls of the great castle before returning to the king.

“After twenty-two years of these walls,” he said mildly, “I will be very glad to see beyond them.”

“I will be glad for you,” the king said. “And I thank you for changing your mind about leaving your son behind. He is, you understand, a hostage to your acceptance of our peace.”

Malcolm MacHeth’s gaze flickered beyond the king to the Earl of Strathearn and farther, to Christian and her mounted escort. Could he pick out Donald among them, or was he too taken up with the moment? Impossible to tell.

“I understand,” he said.

“Then I will introduce to you your daughter-in-law, the lady Christian, who will accompany you to Ross. On the way, I expect you to collect your other son and his army and keep the peace of the realm.”

Malcolm’s mouth twitched in distaste. He didn’t want to promise anything, but this was such a little thing, and the Lady of Ross had advised him to accept it all. If only he would take her advice…

His gaze remained on Christian. In many, very different ways, it was as difficult to withstand as Adam’s. Neither could she tell anything from his veiled, secretive eyes. He had no reason to trust her. He must at least have heard all of Mairead’s suspicions.

He said, “I can and do give my word to that.”

“Will you further keep the peace of the realm forever?”

Christian closed her eyes. She’d asked them to offer the king’s concessions first, to ensure Malcolm would make the necessary promises. Only now, Malcolm’s peace was demanded before any concessions were offered. The man was too proud.Please remember Mairead is in that chest at your feet, that your son is still well within range of recapture. You must know that, even if you don’t see him right behind me.

Malcolm MacHeth said, “I will do my very best to keep the peace under all reasonable circumstances.”

Christian breathed again. She thought Malcolm must have caught her tiny motion, for a smile flickered across his lips and vanished, so like Adam’s fugitive smile that her heart lifted. Malcolm MacHeth could not be such a bad man.

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