choices, and he is now dead while ye sit in his place, in his hall, eating his food.'
Suddenly the king laughed. 'Fiona Hay, what am I to do with ye?'
'That, my liege, is what I would know.'
'I must think upon it,' he said. 'Ye have my word that no harm will come to ye, yer bairns, or yer servants, however.'
'I thank ye,' Fiona answered him. 'Will ye spend the night within my walls, sir? I will have the guest chambers made ready for ye and yer men. 'Twill not take long.'
'Aye, I will,' James Stewart said. 'I am tired of the outdoors, and welcome the warmth of yer castle, lady.'
'Ye will excuse me, then,' Fiona replied, 'while my servant and I make ready for ye. Roderick will remain to serve ye, and Ian will play his pipes for yer amusement, my liege.' She arose and moved from the hall, Nelly in her wake.
'A spirited mare,' one of the king's companions, Duncan Cummings, said. 'Have ye decided her fate? Will ye choose her a new husband?'
'As I told the lady,' the king responded shrewdly, 'I have not decided yet. I know this lady from old, and she is not an easy woman. She has perhaps too independent a spirit. My uncle of Atholl thinks her too clever by far. I believe he may be right.'
The morning was gray and chilly as James Stewart descended into the hall of Nairns Craig. A warm meal was ready to be served. The king and his three companions were pleased with the freshly cooked food. Their hostess sat by the fire, her children playing about her. It made a pretty picture, the king thought, and she had deliberately calculated it, it was certain. Finally, when the food had been cleared from the table, the king called to Fiona.
'Come, madam,' he said in a stern voice. 'I have made my decision as to what to do with ye and yer children.'
Fiona rose. She was dressed this morning, he noted, in a most practical fashion: a heavy wool skirt, a fine shirt, and a wool shawl. Bringing her children with her, she came to stand before him, then curtsied. 'My lord, I am ready for yer judgment. I can but pray ye will be merciful for the sake of my three young bairns.' Her eyes were lowered.
She was a minx, the king thought. Angus was right about her. 'Madam, I have no choice in what I must do. Yer husband broke his oath of fealty to me when he took up arms against me. I canna punish him, for he is dead, but if I don't punish ye, I will appear to be a weak king. Ye have one hour in which to pack what belongings ye can, and then ye will leave Nairns Craig, which I will burn as the MacDonalds burned my town of Inverness. Ye may take nothing but what ye can carry yerselves. Do ye understand?'
'I want my horses,' Fiona said coldly.
'Ye are in no position to make bargains with me, lady,' he snapped.
'My lord, ye will not appear weak if ye offer the lady Fiona her horses,' Duncan Cummings said. 'Ye are burning her home and the bulk of her possessions. She is widowed, her bairns orphaned. A tiny modicum of mercy would not be taken amiss. Indeed, ye would be thought a just king for this show of leniency toward a helpless woman whose ungrateful husband rose in rebellion against ye. The church, I am certain, would approve yer actions.' He nodded at James Stewart.
'Aye!' his two companions agreed in unison.
Fiona kept her eyes lowered. She fell to her knees before the king in a gesture of submission. Would he refuse her? she wondered, truly frightened. She desperately needed those horses; Holy Mother, let him say aye!
'Very well, madam,' the king finally agreed. 'Ye may have yer horses, but yer cattle and yer sheep are forfeit along with the rest of yer goods and chattel but that which ye can carry.'
'Oh, thank ye, my lord!' Fiona cried. Catching his hand, she kissed it gratefully, scrambling to her feet as she did so.
'One hour, madam,' he said sternly.
She curtsied, then slowly withdrew from the hall, the children following behind her. The four men watching her go were impressed with her dignity. She had accepted the punishment upon her husband's family honorably. So many wives of the defeated howled and fussed.
Ian was waiting for her outside the hall. With a nod he took Johanna from her and signaled to Alastair and Mary to follow him. Fiona hurried to her own apartment, where Nelly and Roderick awaited her.
'We have the horses!' she said triumphantly.
''I'll ride his lordship's stallion,' Roderick Dhu said. 'Ian will take my animal; Nelly, the white mare; and ye, the gray gelding. Young Nairn will have his pony. I took the two beasts we will use for pack animals down into the forest behind the castle this morning. They are fully loaded with the items ye and Nelly packed early yesterday.'
'I've packed plenty of food from the kitchens,' Nelly said briskly.
'We'll not have to exist on oatcakes forever. I've cheese, bread, and apples that Ian and I gathered from the orchard, salted meat, and a fat goose I roasted this day!' she finished with a grin.
'I don't know what I would do without ye two,' Fiona said gratefully. “I could not do this without ye. When we are safe at Hay Tower, ye are free to leave me for Brae should ye choose. I can ask no more of ye than ye have already given me.' Fiona took the hand of each servant and squeezed. 'Thank ye.'
'We'll not leave ye, lady,' Nelly said in a determined voice.
'Ye have not seen my wee tower,' Fiona said with a small laugh. 'After Brae and Scone and Nairns Craig, it will seem a verra poor place.'
Roderick Dhu patted her shoulder. 'Lady, we will survive together. I would not leave young Nairn as I did not leave his father.'
Fiona felt the first twinge of guilt in many years at Roderick Dhu's words. Like everyone else, he believed Alastair to be Colin MacDonald's son and heir. She wondered if she would ever be able to tell her child the truth, or if, perhaps, it would be better left unsaid.
'We will take the horses through the inner passage that opens out into the forest,' Roderick Dhu said.
'Where is the entry?' Fiona asked him, surprised.
'In the stables, lady. When the passage was first excavated, it was thought better that it open into the stables rather than into the castle itself. That way, should an enemy discover it, that enemy could not enter the castle directly. Before I left with my lord, Ian and I inspected the passage carefully and swept it free of debris from creatures. Ian has kept it during my absence. Also, I oiled the lock and the hinges on the door at the end of the passage that will open out into the forest.'
Fiona nodded. 'Ye have prepared well.'
“We canna ride our beasts through the passageway, as the ceiling is but a wee bit above my head,' Roderick Dhu explained. 'Let us go then, for Ian will be waiting for us with the bairns.'
The two women donned warm wool cloaks over their garments. Fiona looked about the rooms where she had lived with Colin MacDonald. But for the children, it almost seemed a dream now. She followed Nelly and her husband from the apartment, dry-eyed. She had no time for weeping now. She had to think of the children.
They crossed to the stables. The courtyard was quiet, as the king had not yet allowed his soldiery in to loot Nairns Craig before he fired it. The horses were saddled and waiting, as were Ian and the three little ones. Roderick Dhu went to the back of the stables and opened a door. Lighting a torch, he showed Fiona the passageway, which slanted downward like a ramp.
'It goes beneath the walls and down the hillside,' he explained to her. 'We will have to carry torches to see the way. I hope the bairns are not fearful, for 'twill be darker than night.'
