Page 53 of The Forest Bride
“Bran takes good care of her when I am gone. These birds are a bit lazy and like the convenience of being kept. When we take them out, they fly as long as they like, and always—well, usually—come back. They like the easy source of food, the shelter, the care in a mews.”
“She looks very healthy. I do not remember her being so white.”
“She was a juvenile when you saw her, with dull coloring for protection. A snowy gyrfalcon is a very valuable bird.” He gave her a quick glance.
“I know.” Memories flooded her. “You just fed her. Is she still upset with you?”
“Perhaps. Today I brought a friend.”
Margaret blushed. “She does not like strangers?”
“They do not love them generally, but she seems calm with you. Perhaps she remembers you. She is very intelligent and might recognize your voice or your hair. The color would catch her attention.”
She put a hand to her hair, wild and unplaited that day. “I thought you might have sent her to King Edward. I wondered if that happened after we—” She stopped.
“I never wanted to send her back, nor did my father. When I left to fulfill my knight service, he kept her at Innis Connell. And before I left, my brother Iain and I trapped the wild tiercel so she had a companion. Do you remember him?”
“The gray falcon. The male.”
“Aye. We caught and trained him. Smoke, we call him. He is over there.”
She glanced toward a smaller gray bird, asleep on his perch. “Could Edward lay claim to him as well? None but a king is permitted to keep gyrfalcons.”
“So the English say. But that is not the case in Scotland. Earls and some others may keep them. My father was an earl, my brother is earl now. I am the son of an earl and so there is some right there. But no one in Scotland fusses about such things. King Robert has no court, and he has far more important matters on his mind. And no one can prove she was Edward’s bird.”
“I kept your promise, Duncan. I never told anyone, even when I thought you were dead.”
“Thank you for that.”
“But it is a risk for you to have her. Edward is so fierce about anything to do with the Scots. If he should find out—”
“It is a bit of a risk. But Brechlinn is remote. I brought her here three years ago, once I could spend more time in Scotland. Before that, she stayed at Innis Connell with Smoke and their growing brood. Some were born there, some here. My brothers have a few of their juveniles. We also keep Tay here—for Taibshe, ghost. And Banshee, his sister. She is young yet, but will be a white beauty like her mother.”
“Where are they?” She turned. The mews had dark corners and niches, and places where sunbeams fell bright, transparent, full of motes.
“There and there. Tay is sleeping too. Lazy lad.” He indicated a smaller bird, gray barred in darker gray, and a larger pale bird, both with the distinctive arrow-shaped brow of the other falcons.
“I am glad they are safe here.”
“The risk is a bit more now that Menteith has land along the loch. Our lands meet to the east. He was granted the Lennox,confiscated from Malcolm when Edward outlawed him. So Lennox works for Bruce now. That,” he added, “is confidential.”
She smiled, glad of that sign of his trust. “Would Menteith see the birds if you fly them here?”
“It is possible. I am careful where I take them.”
“Will you always keep her here, or take her to Innis Connell or perhaps Ireland?”
“Some travel with their hawks and falcons from place to place, but I do not find it good for the birds’ wellbeing to move them often. This is their home now. It is familiar and the land suits their preferences—wide open spaces, with mountains, rocky heights, fields and forests, cool temperatures, a northern clime. They like the freedom here.”
“I am glad you never sent her to Edward. He would not have cared about her. He would only see that a Scot had her.”
“A Scot, a Campbell, a cousin to Bruce. That would have merited his anger. Well,” he said, “I wanted you to see that she is safe.”
“I always wondered. I even prayed for her safety.”
He smiled, then went grim. “Margaret, can I trust you with this?”
“I gave you my promise years ago. She is our bird. Or at least, she was.” She looked away.
