Eleyne was dressed and poring over one of the account ledgers when Isobel found her way to her great- grandmother’s solar. She hesitated, as though unsure of her welcome, then as Eleyne looked up and dropping her pen rubbed her cramped fingers, she ran to Eleyne and hugged her. ‘Are you very angry with me?’
‘Angry?’ Eleyne asked her in astonishment.
‘For crowning him. For making an exhibition of myself. For loving him?’ Isobel sank to the floor in front of the old lady and clasped her hands tightly.
Eleyne smiled. ‘How could I be angry? I’m very, very proud of you, my darling. It took enormous courage to put the crown on Robert’s head before the whole world.’
‘Robert told me you were there.’
‘Yes. I was there.’
‘And I never saw you. I’m sorry.’
‘You had other things on your mind.’ Eleyne took the young woman’s hands in her own, and held them, palm up, on her knee. ‘You had the magic of the stone in your fingers that day. With the blessing of the ancient gods of Scotland, and that of our Blessed Lord, Robert will succeed.’
There was a sudden tension in the room.
‘You really believe in the ancient gods?’
‘Oh yes, they still have power. I have always believed in them. I was brought up to see them in the Welsh mountains. My first husband tried to make me believe they were wicked and sinful; he taught me the beauty of the church’s teachings. But they’re still there, the old gods. And when we call upon them, they answer.’
‘And they support Robert?’
Eleyne nodded slowly. ‘I believe so.’
‘I’m going to go after him.’ Isobel’s voice dropped suddenly to a whisper. ‘They don’t want me here. Elizabeth hates me. Nigel says Robert has mustered a further band of men from the mountains here and as soon as they are ready to follow him, I am going with them.’
Eleyne shook her head. ‘Isobel, he doesn’t want you with him, my dear. You add to his worries…’
‘He needs me, great-grandmama.’ Isobel stuck out her chin stubbornly. ‘Please, don’t try to stop me. I shan’t tell the others, I shall just slip away when the time is right. I shan’t get in his way. I’m not stupid. I know he doesn’t need any distractions, but I shall be there if he needs me. He is going to find Lord Pembroke and defeat him. This will be the most important battle of his life, grandmama.’
Eleyne nodded again. ‘I shan’t prevent you going, Isobel. I’d have done the same in your place. Perhaps…’ She paused. ‘Perhaps if I had gone with Alexander to the Western Isles he would not have died. Who knows?’ She gazed across the table, lost in a dream.
Isobel glanced up at her, still holding her grandmother’s cold hands, then she followed the old woman’s gaze and stared. A man was standing by the wall watching them: a tall, handsome man in his early fifties, his rich blue mantle caught on his shoulder by a gold brooch. His hair, red-gold and streaked with grey, was encircled by a golden coronet. She gasped. It was the same gold crown with which she had crowned Robert King of Scots. Her face white, Isobel scrambled to her feet. She was shaking.
Eleyne blinked several times, then she turned back to the young woman. One look at Isobel’s face told her what she wanted to know. Alexander had been in the room. ‘You saw him?’ she whispered.
Isobel was staring at the place the man had been standing. For a moment he had remained, his eyes on hers, then he had faded from sight.
‘Who was it?’ Isobel gasped. She crossed herself quickly with a shaking hand.
So this child too could see him clearly. What else had she inherited, this great-grand-daughter of hers? Could she see the future too? Eleyne shivered. ‘He is someone who blesses our cause, my dear. The man who once recognised Robert’s grandfather as his heir.’
‘King Alexander?’ Isobel whispered. ‘Oh, grandmama! He was wearing the crown – the crown I put on Robert’s head.’
Eleyne sighed. Sweet Jesus, why could she not see him? Why would he not show himself to her? Was her belief not strong enough? All she had seen was a shadow; a patch of darkness against the wall.
‘He wore that often. The Bishop of Glasgow kept it hidden when the wars started, to preserve it from Edward.’ She pulled herself to her feet with a groan and groped for her stick. ‘Isobel, my dear, I know I don’t have to tell you to keep silent about what you have seen. There are people who have seen him – Kirsty is one of them – but he’s my secret.’ She forced herself to smile. ‘I don’t want panic to break out in the castle.’
‘Even though he’s here to give us hope?’
‘Even though he supports us and will help us.’ Leaning heavily on her stick, Eleyne went to Isobel and hugged her. ‘Leave me now. Let me rest. We’ll talk again later.’ She moved painfully towards her chair. Then she stopped. ‘Promise me one thing, my darling. Don’t leave without saying goodbye.’
‘I promise.’
Eleyne held back her tears until the door had closed, then she fell back in her chair, letting them roll freely down her cheeks. ‘
XIV
It was ten days before the last group of men were mustered from the mountains and braes of Mar, and assembled in the courtyard at Kildrummy. The night before they were due to march south, towards Perth, Isobel came to say goodbye to Eleyne. ‘We’re leaving as soon as the first light touches the strath. Before the castle is awake. May I take your blessing to Robert?’
‘Of course.’ Eleyne touched the young woman’s face.
‘And… his… King Alexander’s?’
‘If you think it right. Robert should know that the shades of his ancestors are watching over him.’
‘And you will pray for us. To your old gods.’
‘To the one god and all the gods.’ Eleyne smiled. ‘Bless you, Isobel. Bring Robert some happiness. I shall take care of his family here, and we’ll be waiting for him when his battles are won.’
XV
Robert did not let her remain with him, but it was many days before Isobel returned to Kildrummy. And when she did it was with news of a disaster. At the sight of the anxious faces awaiting her in the great hall, she dissolved into tears and they heard the story of Robert’s defeat.
‘He sent me away the night before the battle. Two of James Stewart’s men were to escort me back here, but I made them turn back to him. I couldn’t leave him, I couldn’t.’ She began to cry again.
‘What happened?’ Eleyne asked at last in the silence of the great hall. She raised a thin beringed hand to her own shoulder, caressing it slightly, almost as though it covered someone else’s hand.
As Isobel seemed unable to speak, one of the two men who had ridden back with her took up the story. ‘They were defeated, my lady. Near Methven. Terribly defeated. The king’s army was massacred. The survivors are scattered.’
‘And my husband?’ Elizabeth whispered.
‘And Christopher?’ Kirsty added, her face white.
The man shrugged. ‘As far as we know the king wasn’t injured. We met men from the battlefield, who said it was his own men who dragged him away in the end to save his life. I don’t know about Sir Christopher, my lady. Most of the men we saw were from Lord Pembroke’s army. They are everywhere, burning villages and farms, slaughtering the people they find.’ He passed a weary hand across his face.
