“’Tis his royal blood that makes him so bold,” Finn said, shaking his head. “Truth be told, I’m not keen on the task he’s given me either. But what else can we do?”
Finn sensed the monk’s resistance weakening with the reminder of Moray’s status, but the man needed one more push.
“Sooner or later, there’s bound to be a cost to saying nay to the king’s brother”—Finn paused and lifted an eyebrow—“or a reward for saying aye.”
“If you’re caught,” the monk said, “I’ll deny I had anything to do with it.”
“Don’t worry,” Finn said. “I won’t get caught.”
###
Lizzie was waiting for her outside the solar, but Margaret did not pause to talk.
“I must warn ye—” Lizzie started to say.
“Not now,” Margaret said, and hurried down the corridor to the hall. She was intent on reaching the privacy of their bedchamber before she lost her composure in the middle of the palace. “My brothers will donothingto save me from the king’s silly infatuation.”
Thank heaven the king would move to his next guardian in a few days. She ought to be able to keep the boy at bay that long without offending him.
But how would she avoid another marriage? Archie had regained his power in the country—and over her. He was the head of her family, her chieftain, an earl, stepfather to the king. God help her!
When they reached the entrance to the hall, Lizzie pulled at her arm, but Margaret could not stop. She could barely keep herself from running through the courtiers milling about the hall to reach the stairs that led to the private chambers above.
“Listen to me,” Lizzie said in an urgent whisper. “Ye need to know…”
Suddenly, the people between Margaret and the stairs shifted, and she saw a too-familiar profile she had hoped never to see again. It was William, the man who was her husband for seven interminable years, the unfeeling beast who threw her out in a storm in the dead of night while she was still bleeding from miscarrying his child.
Her feet forgot how to move. She was vaguely aware that Lizzie was speaking to her in a hushed voice, but she could not hear the words. The noise and the people in the hall faded and blurred as her vision narrowed so that she saw William as if through a tunnel.
God give me strength. I cannot do this.
She swallowed hard when she saw a very pregnant young woman attached to William’s arm. His new wife could not be more than sixteen. The poor thing.
For a moment, she thought she would escape before he saw her. But he turned, and when their eyes locked, memories flooded through her like a raging river threatening to drown her.The countless nights she gritted her teeth while he pushed, prodded, and grunted over her. What he said to her the day she suffered the stillbirth while the Battle of the Causeway raged outside the shuttered window.
At least it was only a girl ye lost. Ye must give me a son. Do ye hear me, Margaret? I need a son!
William started walking toward her with a smug look on his face. Unlike her, he was prepared for this meeting. He had known she would be here.
“I have my dirk hidden under my skirts,” Lizzie said under her breath. “Say the word, and I’ll stick it in his belly.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Margaret straightened to her full height, pasted a serene smile on her face, and walked right past William as if he was not worthy of her notice.
Margaret did not think they would ever reach their chamber. When they finally did, she began pacing the floor. She needed a plan. She could not stay here. But what could she do?
“We must tell your brothers,” Lizzie said. “I can’t wait to watch them kick Wretched William out on his arse.”
“William is too cowardly to come without the assurance he would be welcomed.” The truth was as clear to her as it was hurtful. “My brothers invited him here.”
“They wouldn’t!” Lizzie said.
“That is exactly what they did.”
William would never have taken the risk unless the invitation had come directly from her brothers. Margaret tried to think the best of people, but there was no escaping the truth about Archie and George.
Her brothers valued the support of the Lord of Drumlanrig in their play for power more than they valued her. While they may be fond of her, she was an asset first and always, a pawn they could use and discard.
After all she had been through to further their ambitions, and the price she’d paid when those ambitions failed, they thought they owed her nothing.