Draco A Medieval Scottish Roma - Jayne Castel Page 0,59
the most foolhardy. The arrival of the ‘Battle Hammer’ was ill news indeed. “Irvine has betrayed us,” Draco muttered, his attention shifting back to the battering ram.
He thought then of Gavina. Although he’d been avoiding her, she often crept into his mind. How would she react when she discovered her brother wasn’t just a man who broke peace agreements with his neighbors, but was also a traitor to his own people?
As if reading Draco’s thoughts, Wallace growled a filthy curse and spat on the ground at his feet. “When I get my hands on Irvine, I’ll rip out his guts and strangle him with them.”
Draco believed him—Wallace was quite capable of it.
The arrival of the battering ram had caused a pause in the attack for the moment. However, the reprieve was a double-edged one. For it heralded the arrival of a weapon that would be their downfall.
On the walls, the men defending Dunnottar watched as the soldiers struggled with the cumbersome siege weapon. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, it might have been a comical scene. The bulky wagon and the weapon it contained hadn’t been designed to travel such steep, rough ground. It nearly got away from the men twice on the way down the slope, and by the time the wagon reached the bottom of the cliff, angry voices echoed up the defile.
They were arguing about what to do next.
Meanwhile, the long planks—runners that would allow the wagon to roll up to the gate—slowly inched up the slope. Soon the siege would restart.
Muttering another curse, the Wallace turned then to Draco, fixing him with a penetrating look. “Yer wife needs to see this,” he growled. “Bring her up here.”
XXIV
NOTHING AT ALL
GAVINA STARED DOWN at the battering ram that slowly rumbled up the incline. It was so big and bulky, so heavy, that a huge crowd of men had gathered behind it to push. Their grunts and curses echoed through the humid air.
Breathing fast, Gavina attempted to keep her reaction under control. She could feel the gazes of the surrounding men boring into her, challenging her. Overhead, the overcast day was oppressive, adding to the tension that rippled through her.
Traitorous dung rat … what have ye done?
She already had a low opinion of her brother, but she hadn’t thought he’d be the type to betray Scotland.
“What has Longshanks promised him, I wonder?” Wallace’s voice intruded. Gavina tore her gaze from the siege weapon and met his eye.
“Who knows … with my brother anything is possible.”
“During yer meeting … he didn’t say anything of uniting with the English?”
Gavina raised her chin a little, aware that the nearby guards were all glaring at her.
They think I’m part of this?
“If he had, I’d have told ye, William,” she replied.
“The lady speaks the truth,” Draco’s low voice intruded.
He stood a few feet away now, his handsome face as unreadable as ever. He’d found her in the infirmary earlier, helping to bandage the lacerated or burned limbs of injured warriors.
Gavina cut him a glance, her jaw tightening. The devil take him—the sight of Draco in the doorway to the infirmary had made her breathing hitch and heat ripple through the pit of her belly. Yet he’d appeared utterly unmoved, before he’d spoken, “The Wallace wants a word, Gavina.”
Gavina. He was the only one here, besides Elizabeth, who addressed her so informally. He was her husband after all. Even so, the intimacy of it had caused Gavina’s pulse to accelerate. He’d groaned her name once, on their wedding night. Just for a moment, he’d lost control—and it had thrilled her.
But, a few days later, upon the walls of Dunnottar, all sign of that man was gone. A cold stranger stood in his place.
“Maximus and I were with Lady Gavina when she met with her brother,” Draco added, holding his leader’s eye. “We heard all words that passed between them. He said nothing of allying himself with Longshanks.”
Wallace gave a non-committal grunt and swung his gaze away from his second-in-command. He moved forward then, to the wall’s edge, tracking the ‘Battle Hammer’s’ slow progress up the slope.
“Yer brother will suffer for this,” he said, his voice a low, threatening rumble. “In this life or the next … he will pay.”
A chill slithered down Gavina’s spine. Wallace was intimidating at the best of times—and terrifying when riled. She wasn’t about to cross him, yet she’d caught a glimpse of what it was like to be the man’s enemy.