Draco A Medieval Scottish Roma - Jayne Castel Page 0,57

her as she worked. When Longshanks took this fortress, the De Keith flag would be torn down and the Plantagenet banner raised in its place.

A few feet away, Elizabeth wound wool for the tapestry onto a wooden spindle. And seated opposite each other near the gently flickering hearth, Heather and Aila both hunched over clothing they were mending: their husbands’ lèines and braies that had gotten a severe beating during the siege so far.

Gavina passed the shuttle through the loom once more. She worked mindlessly, without thinking or caring, for her thoughts were elsewhere this evening.

She’d met with Cassian and the Wallace earlier in the evening, and they’d given her a full report on the day’s siege. The attack grew evermore furious. Edward’s archers were relentless, as were his catapults. The English were determined to get men up over the curtain wall, although the defenders had managed to repel their ladders thus far.

Dunnottar was feeling the strain. Around three hundred warriors and guards had defended the fortress when the siege began nearly a week earlier, and now just one hundred and eighty remained. The dead had been laid out in the chapel, where Father Finlay shrouded the corpses ready for burial.

Gavina’s throat tightened further. The men defending Dunnottar were doing an admirable job, but they could not hold out forever.

Her attention settled upon the sisters. “Will ye both not reconsider taking the boat?” she spoke up, shattering the silence.

Heather’s shoulders tensed, her narrowed gaze snapping to Gavina. “I’ve already made it clear to Maximus,” she replied, her voice clipped, “but I thought ye understood My Lady. We will not abandon our kin. Ever.”

Gavina sighed. She understood that—on a rational level. But she was desperate now. She needed to be able to save at least two souls in this fortress.

Her attention swiveled to Elizabeth. Relations between the two women had been strained ever since her union with Draco. However, there had been no more talk of Gavina stepping down as laird for the moment. The situation here was too dire for politics. Gavina and Elizabeth needed to be united right now. Even so, there was reserve in Elizabeth’s midnight-blue eyes as she met Gavina’s gaze.

“Liz … ye and Robbie could take the boat, Gavina tried once more. “That way, when Robert is eventually released, ye can go to him. Ye can start anew. Ye can even take back Dunnottar together.”

Elizabeth stared at her. A nerve flickered on her cheek, a sign of the severe strain her sister-by-marriage was under at present. “I can’t do that, Gavina,” she whispered, the slight tremor in her voice betraying her. It was rare to see Elizabeth, whom Gavina had always looked up to as being the stronger of the two of them, look so broken. But she knew the reason why. The offer tempted Elizabeth, but she couldn’t accept it. “I could never live with myself if I betrayed my people,” she whispered. “And if Robert still lives, he wouldn’t want that either.”

Anger twisted Gavina’s belly then, taking her by surprise. She was sick of everyone being so noble, so proud—so brave. Couldn’t just one person here save themselves? If David had been alive, he’d have been the first person into that boat. “So, ye shall die by the English sword?” she demanded. “We’ll all martyr ourselves?”

“Ye could go, My Lady,” Aila said softly, speaking up for the first time. The young woman’s face was pale, her smoke-grey eyes red-rimmed.

Gavina’s mouth thinned. “The Lady of Dunnottar does not abandon her people, Aila,” she replied. “Or those she loves.”

Aila stared back at her, eyes glittering with unshed tears. Her throat bobbed then. “Well then,” she replied huskily. “It looks as if we’ll all face the end together.”

“Have ye seen Draco?” Heather spoke up then, splintering the tension.

The sound of the warrior’s name fell heavily in the women’s solar, and Gavina sucked in a sharp breath. “No,” she replied flatly. “Not for days.”

Since their wedding night, he’d stayed away. Clearly, once it became evident that the curse hadn’t broken, he had no use for her. And despite that Gavina told herself she didn’t care, it was difficult not to feel hurt by his behavior.

“The riddle can’t be wrong,” Aila spoke up once more, her voice as brittle as her face. “Everything else has been true … this must be too.”

“Not if the Dragon and the White Hawk refer to other people … or something else entirely,” Heather reminded her sister. “I’d say we made a mistake. Draco