Page 72 of The Pirate Laird's Hostage

He looked over Will’s shoulder. ‘Ah, here is my brother.’

Will turned to be confronted with the handsome and unreadable face of Lyall Buchanan. Though he had the same knack Cormac had of hiding his feelings behind a mask of indifference, his hands were balled into fists.

‘You look grimmer than last I saw you,’ said Will.

‘So Bain, I heard you had come,’ Lyall replied bitterly.

‘And I heard you wed that bonnie redhead I caught you with. You are a lucky man.’

‘Do not speak of Giselle, ever.’

‘It was a compliment.’

‘Not coming from you,’ replied Lyall.

‘Well, much as I am enjoying standing here with the two of your glowering at me, I am in need of food and a bed for the night.’

‘No, you are not,’ said Lyall, turning to Cormac. ‘All is ready, Lord Douglas is waiting for us.’

Cormac turned to Will. ‘You will have to forsake your soft bed and food. Send word to your men and ships that they are now under the King’s command.’

‘They are mine to command.’

‘No, they are the King’s to command, that is if your loyalty is true. Or do you intend to slink back to my sister with your tail between your legs when this belated piece of patriotism gets too hard for you?’

‘If you trust me so little, why let me fight alongside you?’

‘Because I know a killer when I see one and I need killers right now. Gather the men you brought to camp. We march south, tonight, into England.’

‘England?’

‘Aye, the English force sent to Berwick is over ten thousand strong and cannot be overcome with what we have. They are attacking from land and sea simultaneously and moving miners up to the walls to undermine them.’

‘That will take time.’

‘Aye, but though the sow they sent up against the walls has already been burned, they will keep trying and eventually, they will get through.’

‘Lucky for us, Edward is a fool,’ said Lyall. ‘He marched his army north for a siege, but he did not have the sense to bring siege weapons with him. How the oaf thought he could smash his way into Berwick without trebuchets and slings, I do not know.’

‘He has realised his mistake. I saw siege weapons being transported,’ said Will.

‘Aye, they have had to be sent up from England, which has bought us some time, but not much. Once those weapons are assembled, Berwick is in for a pounding,’ said Lyall. ‘The English attack has already been repulsed twice by the town’s defenders but, as the siege prolongs, their resolve and courage will weaken.’

‘So we are headed into Yorkshire, Bain, to raid and smash and burn our way south,’ said Cormac. ‘We hope to antagonise Edward, make him retaliate and split his forces. That will give us a chance. If he sends men after us, it will weaken the siege of Berwick.’

‘If he sends an army south then we will be deep inside northern England and cut off from the Scots army,’ said Will.

‘Aye, but we can do some damage first,’ said Lyall. ‘So, William Bain, it seems it is time to test your new-found loyalty.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The hill was steep, so Morna was puffing by the time she reached its peak. Owen did not turn away when he saw her approaching. His eyes were fixed on her all the way up in a way that was unnerving.

Morna tried to catch her breath and think of something, anything, to break the tension evident in the way her former suitor was plucking at the grass where he sat, tearing it out by its roots.

‘So you are back,’ Owen said flatly, squinting up at her in the sunshine. His regard was resentful. ‘Where is he?’

‘Will has gone to Berwick to join King Robert’s army out of some misguided sense of honour. I begged him not to go, and we quarrelled. I don’t know if he will ever come back.’

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