Page 84 of Laird of Smoke
“I should think the king would behappyFergus didn’t lay siege with the others.”
“That’s just it, “the first nun whispered.“I think the other lairds may be sidin’ against Fergus.”
“What?”said the second.
“What?”said the third.
“Think about it,” the first confided.“Fergus has been a thorn in the side o’ the other lairds for years.Wreakin’ havoc.Sackin’ their villages.I think they convinced the king to attack Fergus first so they can exact their own vengeance.”
“Ooh, that’s clever.”
“Wait.Do ye have proof o’ this?”
“Nay, but consider,” the first replied.“The king has been in France for a year.Why would he care a whit about Fergus?”
“True.”
“The lairds, though, they’ve had Fergus nippin’ at their heels, raidin’ their land, stealin’ their cattle.They have reason to despise him.”
“Well,” the second said, “I suppose Fergusdoesneed to be taught a lesson then.He can’t go on bludgeonin’ his neighbors.”
“Right,” said the third.“The king can’t have his lairds bickerin’ among themselves o’er every wee thing.”
“Do ye think Fergus knows the king is comin’?”the second asked.
The first replied, “He’s likely got spies in the king’s army.”
The other two gasped.
She went on to say, “And if he’s got men on the inside…”
“Fergus will know where to waylay the king.”
“Right.”
There was a long pause while they thought this over.
“Do ye suppose the king will be comin’ past Glasgow on his way to Galloway?”
“’Tis likely.”
“Ooh.I’ve ne’er seen the king.”
“Nor have I.”
“I’ve heard he’s the picture o’ chivalry.”
“And quite devout.”
The conversation continued as the sisters compared reports about the magnificent king they’d never seen, reports that were largely unsubstantiated.
Adam knew Malcolm.While it was true the young king was chivalrous, devout, and somewhat of a romantic, he was weak of body and easily manipulated by flattery.His reason for going to France had been self-indulgent.He could now claim the questionable honor of having been knighted by the English King Henry.
But despite his shortcomings, for centuries the Rivenlochs had been fiercely loyal to the Crown.If the king meant to attack Fergus at Galloway, the Rivenlochs would be at the forefront of the fighting.
What Adam and the lairds knew—what the king may not be fully aware of—was how much land Fergus had already acquired through his underhanded, tyrannical tactics.Reiving livestock.Burning fields.Raiding cottages.
There had long been rumblings among the Rivenlochs about Fergus’s ambitions to create his own empire in the west.Because his loyalty wavered, Fergus might as easily pledge his land to the English king as the Scottish monarch.And that would threaten all of Scotland.
