Highland Warlord - Amy Jarecki Page 0,63
and Hew.
In the wee hours, a blanket of silence fell over the city. The wind was louder, the river rushed more clearly, even the sparks from the braziers crackled with crisp clarity. James had spent this time atop Carlisle’s wall-walk learning and listening. After the vigils bell, the only other guards posted were five at the postern and a dozen at the main gates, not to mention all the sentry patrolling the grounds.
Rounding the corner, he waved to the postern gate guards as he had done on every turn.
A few paces on, Davy inclined his head toward Ailish’s tower. “We’re but a stone’s throw from her, and yet we may as well be marching around Edinburgh Castle’s wall-walk.”
“Wheesht,” James thwacked the man’s shoulder. “Enough of your naysaying. We’ve naught but to bide our time and when the opportunity presents itself, we’ll act swiftly.”
“Just remember, you told Torquil to meet you at the monastery in a fortnight—seven days hence, mind you.”
“I do not need your reminder. Be patient, my man.”
“Patient?” Davy raised his voice, then hissed and glanced over his shoulder. Resuming a heated whisper, he leaned nearer. “I’ve held my tongue long enough. When have you ever shown a lick of patience? You returned to Douglas, pulled together a ragged army, unleashed your ire as if you were possessed by Satan, and now me ma is dead along with half the villagers.”
Sickly bile churned in James’ gut. He should have waited before he retaliated against Clifford. And afterward, he should have posted fifty men around the perimeter of Douglas. He also should have taken Ailish back to Lincluden Priory and demanded that the prioress give the lass sanctuary.
Damnation, the litany of “should-haves” was growing longer by the day.
“Mark me, I will face Sir Henry Percy sooner than later. As long as I am breathing, no man will plunder my lands or murder those under my protection and live.” Stopping, James grabbed his friend’s shoulders. “Not a day goes by when I do not lament over your mother’s death—all our kin’s deaths. Know that she will be avenged. Know my purpose is not for myself but for the kingdom we must fight to set free from tyranny.”
Davy swept his arms in an arc, making James release his grip. “I ken why it happened. I just cannot understand why we do not just storm into the tower, seize Her Ladyship and ride like hellfire. We’d be in Selkirk by nightfall.”
“Because when we do, I wish for no one to be hurt—or worse captured and tortured to death. Not you, not Lady Ailish, and not Caelan and the others. Mind you, I haven’t been marching around these walls for a sennight with my mind in a muddle. Did ye ken tower guard changes twice per day with the lauds and the compline bells? And our best chance to escape this shite-infested hole is in the wee hours via the postern gate.”
“I’ll alert Caelan come morn—tell him of your plan. We ought to act on the morrow.”
“Nay.”
“I beg your pardon? We are solving nothing here and the longer we remain, the more precarious our situation. Sooner or later, some bastard will peg you as the Black Doug—”
“Enough! I will decide when the time is right.”
“By the bloody saints, there’s no talking sense into you.”
James ground his back molars. Why could Davy not realize he was acting responsibly, mayhap for the first time in his life.
“It might pay you to know I’ve struck up a wee friendship with the postern tower’s night guardsman.”
Davy gave him a shove. “Why the hell didn’t ye say as much in the first place?”
“I hadn’t come around to it yet. Dammit all, you gave me a bout of melancholy with the mention of Percy’s raid on Douglas.” James stopped again. “Ye may bleat as bitter as you like, but we will have our vengeance. On that, I promise upon the graves of all the innocents who have lost their lives on account of this mindless war.”
Together, they carried out their duties in silence for the remainder of the night. When they were relieved of their posts, darkness still hung in the sky, though the cobalt blue of dawn on the horizon promised the sun would soon rise. After Davy headed for his bunk, James skirted along the inner bailey wall until he reached the postern tower. And as he neared, he sensed Lady Ailish’s presence as if her soul were a beacon calling to him.
He’d kept his distance until now.