Margaret’s stomach lurched at the thought of staying here at court and getting caught in her brothers’ political machinations. “Why do ye want me here?”
“As the queen has refused to play her part as my wife,” Archie said between thinned lips, “I need a woman to serve as my hostess.”
“Wouldn’t you prefer Lady Jane?” she asked, referring to his mistress. At least, Jane was his mistress before he was banished, and they had a daughter together.
“Having Jane play that role at the royal palace would be inappropriate,” George said. “More importantly, it would upset the king, and we must all do our best to make him happy.”
“But Alison will have her baby soon,” Margaret said, managing to keep the edge of desperation from her voice. “She needs my help.”
“Alison breeds like a rabbit and has a castle full of servants if she needs help,” Archie said. “I need you here. The Douglases need you.”
Margaret felt their expectations closing around her like a trap, making it hard to breathe.
“And while you’re here, we can find you a new husband,” George added.
“I don’t want a husband.” Never, never would she let them marry her off again.
“Nothing need be decided now,” George said, putting an arm around her shoulders. “We’re together again, and that is what’s important. Please stay for a few weeks so we can spend time together.”
That sounded so reasonable. How could she say nay? They would not let her refuse anyway.
“Of course I will,” she said, because her mother had taught her that when you could not avoid an unpleasant task, you may as well be gracious about it.
“I knew ye would,” George said. “Ye always do what’s best for the family.”
“Just for a few weeks,” she said. “I won’t stay longer than that.”
Her brothers, however, were no longer listening.
###
Finn sat in a tavern a few miles from Huntly Castle with a lass on his lap, another beside him, and a drink in his hand. Not long ago, this would have been enough to make him happy, but he was just killing time, delaying the inevitable, as he had been for the last few weeks.
God’s bones, he dreaded leaving Scotland, but what choice did he have? He was nearly out of money. After buying one last round of drinks, he had just enough left to pay for his passage across the sea.
“Which shall it be,” Finn said, holding up a coin for everyone to see, “Ireland or France?”
Wagers were quickly placed. As he flipped the coin high into the air, shouts of “Ireland!” and “France!” filled the tavern. With all eyes on the spinning coin, no one else appeared to notice the two warriors who came through the door wearing their weapons and dead-serious expressions. They were the Earl of Moray’s men, and their gazes were locked on Finn.
The shouting in the tavern turned into a roar of complaint when Finn let the coin bounce off the table and disappear into the filthy straw that covered the dirt floor.
A coin would not decide his fate, at least not today.
An hour later, Finn was ushered into the small room behind the hall that the former Earl of Huntly had used to conduct private business. He was surprised to find Moray here alone and sitting at Huntly’s table with a stack of parchments before him.
The Earl of Huntly’s death left a lad of eleven as the new earl and chieftain, which meant the Gordons, like Scotland itself, had no clear leader. Finn had wondered which of his Gordon uncles would fill the void, but he should have known it would be Moray instead. The Earl of Moray was a close Gordon ally and was the young earl’s royal uncle. The boy’s mother was another illegitimate offspring of King James IV.
“You smell like an alehouse,” Moray said, in lieu of a greeting, and gestured for Finn to take the seat across the table from him.
“I suppose that comes from spending time in one.” Finn slid into the chair and picked up an apple from a stunning silver bowl on the table, feigning indifference. It never paid to show you were desperate, especially to a man like Moray.
“Archibald Douglas returned to Scotland a few weeks ago, with the backing of Henry,” Moray said.
“Henry who?” Finn asked.
“Ye know damned well who,” Moray said. “His brother-in-law, King Henry VIII of England.”
“What does Douglas’s return matter to us?”