“We know ‘tis likely a trap, lass,” the Bruce told her in a tight voice. “We have already investigated the manse. Naught is amiss. And we will no’ enter the church until the entirety of Edward’s emissary have entered.”
Tosia shook her head. The ride across Dumfries had caused her to lose her kerchief, and her hair flew wildly around her shoulders.
“Nay,thatis the trap!” She leaned to James and reached up to grasp his crossed arms. “They dinna plan on killing only ye. The English ye’ve seen in the emissary’s camp? ‘Tis only one army. The king has another army on the way. His plan is to wait until the emissary and his men are in the manse, and all of ye, then they will entomb ye and set the edifice ablaze, slaying ye all.”
James swallowed loudly in the shuttering silence that followed her harrowing words.
“Nay, lass,” Robert said in a low voice. “The new boy king might be susceptible to the words of his advisers, but even that inexperienced king would no’ kill an entire contingent of his own men, and his representative to boot! I decline to believe even Longshanks, the dark soul he was, would have sacrificed his own men thusly.”
James lifted his hand and held it up to the Bruce.
“I dinna agree with ye, my king,” he said slowly. Tosia could see his brilliant strategist mind working over her words. “In fact, given the boy king’s reputation as weak and foppish, it makes strong sense. What other way might a weak king gain the upper hand than through such vile subterfuge? And with the king’s own representative in attendance, we’d never see the trap until we were caught in it.”
The Bruce lifted his expressionless face to James.
“Am I to presume this soldier is no’ Scots?” the Bruce asked James directly. James tipped his head. A muscle in the Bruce’s jaw twitched. “Can we trust this soldier, James? How are we to know that he speaks the truth? What if his conversation with Tosia is part of the English’s trap?”
James’s gaze caught Tosia’s, and James pursed his lips before speaking.
“Aye. We can trust it. This lad owes his life to Tosia, and he seemed earnest to me. Tosia?”
She nodded wildly, her husband’s supportive words sending a burst of warmth to replace her icy fear. “Aye. I’d trust my life on this lad’s words. More importantly,” she said, her face softening to her husband, “I would trust his life. And yours, my king.”
Their shared endorsement of the English soldier seemed to appease the king and he nodded once. He looked over his shoulder at the eavesdropping MacCollough. “Declan, gather the men. A change of plans.”
Then he glanced at James.
“Sir James, a word, if ye may?”
The Bruce waved Jamesto the narrow clearing where the kindling sat ready for the fire. Though his expression was indifferent, composed, James knew that under his guise, the king was fuming at James’s treasonous deception.
“Do ye care to tell me about how ye and your wife are known to an English soldier? One that somehow owed ye a debt?”
The king’s tenebrous voice carried with it a veiled threat. James might be the king’s most staunch and loyal supporter, but no treason, or even the suggestion of treason, would be tolerated among his men.
James was abashed, feeling scolded by his king, yet his face remained firm and focused on Robert’s.
“We came upon a small scouting party in the woods to the east of Auchinleck. I dispatched two of the men right away. The third soldier,” James huffed, scoffing at the memory. “He was a lad, no’ even old enough to shave, it seemed. Tosia saw something more in him. He reminded her of her brother and begged for his life. How could I no’ grant my wife this small grace? So I sent him back the way he came, qualms and all.”
“It appears that your kindness was rewarded. If the lad’s no’ lying, then he might have saved us all.”
James dipped his head at his King.
“Or rather, your wife has saved us. Who would have thought your taking a wife could have such beneficent repercussions, eh?”
The king’s tease was not lost on James, who ground his jaw at the jest. Then he bowed low, a mocking bow, Robert well knew.
“Och, your intervention served me well, my king.”
At this, Robert cracked a smile, a thin white line amid his thick beard.
“Aye, now, serve your wife well afore we send her back, away from any of the fighting that will assuredly ensue and to the safety of Auchinleck. Then join the MacCollough and the rest of the men so we might decide our next course of action.”
“Shabib, Tavish, thankye for bringing Tosia and this news to our attention.” James had to temper his voice — he certainly wasnotthankful they’d brought her at all. “’Twill enable us to change our tactics. And keep the king alive. But I dinna want her here, regardless.”
“Sir James, I’d prefer to stay here with you. Another warrior, another sword, surely is needed?” Shabib’s eyes lowered, and a wretchedness filled James. He grasped Shabib’s shoulder in a powerful grip.
“Aye, ‘twould. But Tavish is yet a lad, and I canna have anything happen to Tosia. Nothing, Shabib. Do ye understand?”
