Chapter 03
Edinburgh Castle
- My lord! - the captain of Roy MacCalister's guard approached looking distressed. - I have news from the front and it's not good.
Roy raised his gaze from the map that he analyzed on the huge table of the great hall. With a frowning gaze he turned his blue eyes in the direction of his trusted man.
- Say it once and for all so I can get my mind back on that damn siege! - he said exasperatedly.
- Well, Alistair's new army commander has intensified the siege and now we can't get out to get supplies.
- New commander? - Roy asked in an astonished voice.
- Yes, my lord. - said the man. - According to our sources, Alistair returned to Dunhill leaving a woman in her place. Her name is Bree and she has caused panic in the men who leave the castle and try to cross the siege.
- What's it like?
- Men say she looks like a ghost and always comes when they least expect it. - the man sighed. - She seems to be trying to enter the fortress and some men have said that she has come close to finding the passage on the east side.
Roy held his breath and passed both hands through his blond hair.
- Make sure you're taking Alistair back to Dunhill. He must have a good reason for retiring so suddenly. - Roy took a break. - Intensify the guard on the east side and try not to attract attention. If this Bree is as smart as you mentioned, she may well be suspicious of the amount of men concentrated in that area.
- Yes, sir! Yes, sir! - the man turned around to get out, but he was interrupted by Roy's voice.
- Blake, get a messenger ready to go to Inverness. - said Roy. - I haven't heard from there in a while and I need to write the Ravenna.
- Excuse me, my lord! With these matters that I bring to you, I have forgotten that, ma'am, you wrote to him.
Blake put his hand inside the robe he was wearing and pulled out a letter giving it to his master. Roy smiled assuming it would be better news than the one he had heard and opened the letter without any courtesy. Soon the smile collapsed on his face and he let out a growl.
- Damn it!
- What happened, my lord? Is that bad news?
- Bad? That's terrible news! - Roy hit his fist against the wooden table. - That bastard Brice decided to marry Alistair in an attempt to undermine my plans to get English support.
- But the only nobles who are descended from an English lineage are the MacBride girls. - he said. - Perhaps my lady can get your daughter chosen, since the oldest is dead and the youngest has already been stained.
Blake took a break.
- That would be good for you and also for my lady to get her title again.
- Yes, I thought the same when I read about the union with that coward Loch, but Alistair challenged his father and chose that brat from Aideen as his bride.
- Why worry, my lord? - Blake asked with a tone of relief in his voice. - As soon as he finds out that the girl has already been touched and is no longer pure, meeting Alistair as we know her, he will make a point of returning her. That's just a matter of time.
Roy walked from side to side, squirming words in an ancient language.
- This has already happened, but that imbecile refused to annul the marriage and only out of hatred to Ravenna did he decide not to give up Aideen. - Roy let out a dreadful roar that made Blake swallow dry. - That bastard's always one step ahead of me.
Roy breathed exasperatedly and leaned his huge hands on the table. He was a very scary man. That's how your men would describe him. He was tall, muscular and full of scars on his arms, legs and face. Among the women he looked disgusting and was not at all kind. He liked to take them by force and through the villages he passed through until he reached Edinburgh, he caused panic among young people. His blue eyes on the glacier made him even more frightening.
- Blake, send men to bring Aideen to me. - he said. - They may be mercenaries, but make it clear that I will pay very well and that she should not be touched.
- What do you mean by bringing her here alive?
- I'll finish what I started two years earlier. - he smiled coldly. - That wretch will give me an heir and I'll get Phillipe's support.
- If she's not capable of that? We have very little time, my lord! - Blake said. - After all, if she didn't give you a child two years ago, how do you think she can generate it now?
Roy aimed the window in front of him.
- I don't care if she's capable or not. - he fired. - Even without that, I'm sure Phillipe won't let anything happen to his bastard daughter.
- The redhead is Phillipe's daughter? Therefore, we must prevent this union from being established as soon as possible. - Blake said exasperated. - Alistair will be possessed when he finds that out. He had
