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Lyall frowned.
‘You would not understand, but I failed those I loved a long time ago. I was not there when a would-be King - Robert the Bruce - came to take his revenge on my family. I did not protect them, and I have carried that burden through my life with me. For many years I have wished to set it down, but I did not know how. I realise now that it does not matter what has happened in the past. Instead, I must look to the future, for my sake and my clan’s sake. Now I have your sister’s love, I must become worthy of it. I need to reclaim pride in who I am, pride in my name. So yes, it is shame that brought me here. You can never understand what that feels like.’
‘Can I not? I understand perfectly well Bain, more than you can ever know.’
‘Then tell me, if I came here to lose that shame, why, when I look around at what we have done today, I am more ashamed of myself than I have ever been.’
‘You spared me once, Bain, when we met, not so long ago, for the sake of my sister.’
‘What has that to do with anything?’
‘There has always been mercy in you, William Bain, I know it. What I am trying to say is that until a man confronts his own nature, he can never truly be honourable or merciful. Perhaps today you did that.’
‘I never intended to kill you when I saw you in that loch with that girl. I was playing with you, that is all.’
‘It did not feel like it at the time.’ Lyall scuffed the ground at his feet. ‘Now you are wed, does Morna make you happy?’
‘Aye, though she would not say the same of me, I fear.’
‘Then try harder. Morna does not trust nor give her heart easily, but once won, it is a treasure worth fighting for. I love my sister and if you don’t make her happy I will make you pay. Understood?’ said Lyall, but he was smiling.
‘Aye,’ said Will feeling as though, in time, he could come to like this brother of Morna’s.
‘We must go,’ said Lyall abruptly.
‘Where?’
‘News has come that Edward’s nobles have convinced him to break the siege and march south to meet us in battle. We have to go west, as soon as may be, to avoid the full force of his army coming after us. You may have mercy in you, but if the English army catches us, there will be none coming from them, I can assure you.’
Chapter Thirty-Two
Will lay in the tent watching the dawn sun wink through holes in the flap. He felt flat and desperately tired. His men were asleep around him, some fitfully, due to injuries sustained at Myton, some lost to exhaustion due to the rushed march west and then north, to circle around the English army. Edward’s ill-advised attempt to regain Berwick had ended in humiliation. Not only had he been forced to lift the siege, he had so crowed about winning, but his army had also failed to engage the Scots forces on its way south. He was once again at odds with his nobles, and he and his cousin Lancaster were back on a collision course of blame and retribution.
Will knew that the Scots had the luck of the Devil to elude Edward’s army. A force of thousands of men at arms was not something he wanted to meet on open ground with tired, hungry men still smarting from a full battle at Myton. The English had suffered a mortal blow to their northern campaign with losses in the thousands. Scots losses at Myton had been low, no more than a bloody nose, Lord Douglas had proclaimed loudly, and often, on the journey north. ‘We Scots kicked those English bastards so far up their arses, our boots came out of their throats,’ he would say, revelling in victory.
The tent flap came open, and the sun streamed in, quickly blotted out by Cormac filling the opening.
‘Get up, Bain, it is time.’
‘For what?’ said Will.
‘For vengeance, if you still want it. Ranulph Gowan is leaving camp.’
Will was on his feet in an instant and grabbing his sword.
As they mounted up, Cormac said, ‘Ranulph is heading back to Mauldsmyre with only a portion of the men he brought with him as an escort. The remainder are to stay, by order of the King, to aid with the repairs at Berwick and with making safe its defences. Ranulph, of course, begged to be allowed to return home to Clan Gowan, to protect his interests. He wants the high walls of Mauldsmyre around him, more like. The wretch knows we have been watching him, waiting for our chance. He seeks to escape what’s coming to him.’
‘He will not,’ said Will.
‘This thing must be done away from prying eyes. Are you sure you have the stomach to kill a man in cold blood, Bain?’
‘It will not be the first time,’ said Will, looking Cormac straight in the eye.
‘Good. Then let us make haste,’ said Cormac.
Will could see few people around. ‘Just the two of us?’
‘Aye. No need to involve others. This is our grudge and ours alone.’
