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“I do not understand. You said…”
“Aye, I remember well enough what I said. They were tae hang at first light.”
“You changed your mind?”
“Perhaps. Ye told me there must be another way. I did not believe so at the time, but I have since considered your words an’ find I may have an alternative solution, after all.”
“What?” she asked, her expression wary. Clearly, she expected him to resort to some barbaric form of mutilation or other such retribution.
If it were only up to him, Robbie might well be tempted to mete out a flogging or remove a limb or two. He was not a cruel man by nature, but he looked after his own. He would never forgive such treachery. The Mulletts had very nearly killed this woman who was fast becoming exceptionally important to him. They deserved to pay for that.
But Kat was dead against it, and he did not care to cause her further distress. What was more, he had to concede that she had a point. Firm leadership and stern justice were important. The MacKinnons expected no less. But his clan would not be won over by force alone. Mercy could be equally powerful.
If he were to spare the would-be murderers, and if it were made known that they owed their reprieve to the very woman they had attacked, who had pleaded for their lives, how might that change things? Kat was desperate to win the MacKinnons’ acceptance, perhaps he could help her to begin that campaign.
“I propose tae offer them a choice.” He turned his head to meet her anxious gaze. “I shall have their lives, one way or another. They may deliver them up tae me on the gallows, or they can choose instead tae submit tae a lifetime of servitude.”
“You would make slaves of them?” He did not miss the shock writ large upon her expressive face.
“They would ha’ made a corpse of you,” he reminded her.
Katherine chewed on her lower lip, then nodded slowly. She clearly did not much relish the alternative on offer but saw the necessity for firm action. She nodded again, more decisive this time. “How will you…?”
“I have discussed the matter wi’ Stephen. He has agreed, reluctantly, I should add, tae take them back wi’ him tae Elborne an’ find them suitable work tae do. I gather he is considering extending the walls of his bailey an’ has plans tae construct a new tower. There will be stone tae be dug an’ tae be hauled across the countryside. Doubtless, there will be cottages tae build an’ tae repair. Enough to keep those three busy an’ out of mischief for a decade or two. If Stephen runs out of rocks for them tae break, there is always hard labour tae be done in the fields. They will not be idle.”
“But what if they escape? Or refuse to work?”
“Then they shall live out their lives as renegades, since they will not be able tae return here. I doubt they would survive for long. They have no’ the wit between them for such an existence. Stephen will soon round them up again, an’ this time there will be no choice offered. He will hang them.”
“I see.” She gnawed on her lip once more. “And, they have agreed to this?”
“Not yet. I thought we might put the choice to them together. Unless ye prefer not to see them again?” If she did not wish to face the assassins, he would not insist.
“No.” She firmed her jaw. It was an expression he was starting to recognise. “I will come. We should do it now.”
“There is no hurry. Let ’em wait. Did you sleep last night?”
She shook her head. “I was too nervous. My head was spinning. I could not stop thinking about…”
He had thought as much. “An’ did ye eat this morning?”
“Yes. A little.”
“Kat?” He raised one eyebrow.
“No,” she confessed.
He rolled from the bed. “Sleep now. I shall have Mistress Hollett send up some food. Later, when ye feel somewhat less fragile, we shall do what needs to be done. Together.”
The Mullett brothers had clearly not fared especially well in his dungeon overnight, in sharp contrast to Katherine who now looked well rested and had regained most of her usual colour following a decent meal and a few hours’ sleep.
The trio blinked in the afternoon sunlight when they were marched up the narrow stone stairs leading from the underground chambers used for storing perishable meats and, from time to time, prisoners. Their clothing had become ripped and soiled in the struggles with his men, and probably from their brief sojourn in his dungeon. They had been none to clean even before. Their features were even more sallow and grubby than Robbie remembered, and they must be famished since he had instructed that only water be offered. There had seemed no point in feeding them. They stumbled out onto the cobbles, each of them glancing around for sight of the gallows which would signal the end of their not especially worthwhile lives.
They were not disappointed. The apparatus had been hastily assembled, in readiness for the expected event at dawn. Since hangings were not a frequent occurrence at Roxburghe, Robbie saw no point in wasting good timber on permanent gallows. Instead, three upturned barrels had been set in the open doorway of the huge barn at the end of the bailey. A noose dangled over each one, secured to the lintel above.
Their hands still bound in front of them, the condemned men shuffled closer together as though in a vain attempt to offer protection to each other. Sullen, resentful and defeated, they waited for their lord to appear and order the hangman to get about his work.
Robbie observed their emergence from the Roxburghe underworld with emotionless disinterest. He had yet to leave his solar. Stephen stood to his right, Katherine to his left. They all gazed out of the large window overlooking the bailey.
