Exiles in Time (The After Cilmeri Series) (7 page)

Callum came to a halt on the opposite
side of the table from Falkes’s seat. He didn’t put his heels
together or bow but only said, “Thank you for your
hospitality.”

Falkes looked up at Callum and
frowned. “Who are you?”

James had watched Callum approach the
dais with bright eyes, and now a look of delight crossed his face.
He leapt to his feet and came closer. “My Lord Falkes, may I
introduce to you the Lord Callum, Earl of Shrewsbury and King
David’s personal representative to the nation of
Scotland.”

Falkes had good control because his
mouth opened only slightly—and then he was on his feet, bowing. “I
apologize, my lord. I did not know who you were. Please—” He
gestured to the seat next to him that Kirby had just
vacated.

Callum had purposely waited until the
bishop left before coming to talk to Falkes. His words were for
Falkes’s ears alone. While David had entrusted these negotiations
to Kirby, Callum wasn’t going to trust him with anything else. And
certainly not with tidbits of David’s history that nobody else
needed to know.

Still grinning, James made his way
back to his seat at the far end of the table.

Falkes waited until Callum sat before
sitting himself, and then he straightened his shoulders. With
another bow of his head, he said, “I apologize for not greeting you
earlier. I did not know that King David had sent a personal
representative of your stature with the company. Bishop Kirby never
mentioned that you were here. I would have made a place of honor
for you at the high table.” Falkes’s face flushed. He was very
angry, but not at Callum.

“
I don’t offend easily, and
my role is not Kirby’s,” Callum said. “I was content with where I
sat. The beer was just as good.”

Falkes allowed himself a wisp of a
smile, but he still had a ‘v’ of concern between his brows.
“Nonetheless, I ask your forgiveness.” Falkes cleared his throat.
“Please give my greetings to the king when you see him
next.”

Callum was inordinately pleased, now
that it came to it, that Kirby had snubbed him so profoundly.
Because he’d slighted Callum publically, without a commensurate
response on Callum’s part, Kirby had given Callum power over him.
There might come a time when Callum could take advantage of Kirby’s
pettiness.

“
King David speaks well of
you. He sent me with a specific message for your ears alone,”
Callum said to Falkes.

Falkes was sitting so upright he could
have had a steel rod up his spine. “I’m sure I have done nothing to
earn the king’s attention.”

His response told Callum that Falkes
truly didn’t know who David was and how he knew him. “You are loyal
to him, are you not?” Callum said.

“
Of course!” Falkes half
rose from his seat. “What is this? Who do you take me
for?”

“
I take you for a man who
serves his king with honor,” Callum said, willing to appease him
now that he had Falkes where he wanted him. It was really too bad
David couldn’t be here to witness this.

Falkes sat back, mollified. “I have
seen with my own eyes what England has suffered these years without
a strong hand to guide her. It would be anarchy up here if not for
a few good men who hold the north for the crown.”

Callum studied Falkes a moment before
he enlightened him: “King David asks for confirmation of your
loyalty because the last time you and he met, it was under less
than ideal circumstances. He wanted to assure himself that you bear
him no grudge, as he bears none for you.”

Falkes went very still. “I-I’m not
sure I understand. What could I have done to arouse King David’s
ire? I would remember if I’d met him.”

“
He asked that I prod your
memory,” Callum said. “Nearly four years ago, you encountered a
young Welshman and his companion along Hadrian’s Wall. The year
before, his mother had rescued your nephew, Thomas, who’d been
captured by Scottish marauders. King David spent some hours in the
cell at the back of your stables.”

David had
so
wanted to be here to
see Falkes’s reaction to this news, and Falkes didn’t disappoint.
“I didn’t-I didn’t—” Falkes’s face drained of all color and he
swallowed hard.

“
The King understands that
you meant no disrespect and acknowledges that he didn’t tell you at
the time that he was the Prince of Wales,” Callum said.

Falkes was already recovering from the
shock of Callum’s revelation, and acceptance of his new reality
wasn’t far behind. “I must tell you that I would not have treated
him better had I known his true identity.” Falkes paused. “And yet,
even with the history between us, he leaves me as castellan of
Carlisle?”

“
He has first-hand
knowledge of how vigilantly you patrol the north for him,” Callum
said. “Do you pledge to continue with your task?”

Falkes gave a sharp jerk of his head.
“Yes.”

Callum was pleased to see no
hesitation in Falkes’s manner. “King David wanted you to know who
he was before you answered his call to come to the Tower of London
at midsummer.”

“
The Tower—what did you
say?” said Falkes.

“
King David is summoning
all his castellans and his sheriffs to him,” Callum said. “He met
many when he journeyed across England before Christmas, but he
wants to consult with you all at the same time, to discuss your
views and opinions on the needs of his country.”

Falkes swallowed down whatever
objections he had been about to voice. “I will be
there.”

“
Good.” Callum rose to his
feet. “Please bring your nephew with you when you come.”

Falkes clenched his teeth. “Of
course.”

Callum had been about to leave, but
the ferocity in Falkes’s face had him sitting down again. “The King
has no plans to make Thomas hostage to your good behavior, if that
is what you fear.”

It had been. If David were to go that
route, it certainly wouldn’t be without precedent. In the past, it
was common practice for a king or lord to hold a man’s loved ones
hostage to ensure that a lord obeyed him in all things. More than
one Welsh son had lost his life when his father had found the
king’s commands untenable.

Falkes leaned forward. “Your news
disturbs me. You tell me that King David holds no grudge against
me, but I remember him. I remember that my men hunted him through
the countryside. One of them wounded his companion. How can he
forgive that? If I come to London, he will have my
head.”

“
Is that the man King David
is?” Callum said. “You’ve had an ear to the ground since he took
the throne. That’s what your spies tell you of his
character?”

“
William de Valence has
fled to France,” said Falkes. “He feared the king’s
wrath.”

“
Valence plotted against
King David’s life,” Callum said. “He’s lucky not to be in the Tower
of London with the rest of his co-conspirators—or without his head.
The King has forgiven far worse crimes than yours since he took the
throne of England. Unlike Valence, you were only doing what you saw
as your duty. He knows it.”

Falkes sat back in his chair. “What of
Scotland?”

“
What of it?” Callum
said.

“
Bishop Kirby tells me that
King David seeks a peaceful answer to the question of succession
and does not put forth his own claim to the throne. Kirby says that
King David does not seek it.”

“
That’s true. He has no
desire for the crown of Scotland on his head,” Callum
said.

Falkes started to scoff his disbelief
again but then stopped himself. “You are right that I have no
evidence or reason to disbelieve my king. I am loyal to the crown
of England. I am loyal to King David if it is my loyalty he
wants.”

“
He wants it,” Callum said.
“That is as he hoped.”

Falkes reached for his cup of wine,
though his hand shook as he grasped the stem, and he did not
attempt to bring the cup to his mouth. “Margaret.”

“
Excuse me?”

“
The woman, Margaret, who
rescued Thomas. She is the Queen of Wales, then?”

“
Indeed. She is King
David’s mother,” Callum said.

Falkes put his head in his
hands as the delayed realization hit him. Callum could hardly blame
him. It was a lot to take in. Then Falkes dropped his hands. He
jerked his chin as if to say
okay, moving
on
. “While I should have known that he was
more than he said, God protected him from my hand. If you say that
King David forgives my treatment of him, I believe you.” Falkes
scooted back his chair and stood. He bowed low. “Please tell the
king that I will come to London at midsummer.”

Callum stood to match him. “He will be
pleased to see you.”

“
Uncle?”

Callum and Falkes turned to see a
teenager approaching. He wore a surcoat with two doves on
it.

Falkes held out his hand to the boy.
“Thomas, this is Lord Callum, Earl of Shrewsbury. King David sent
him to greet both of us.”

“
My lord.” Thomas bowed.
“You have honored Carlisle with your presence.”

Falkes made an impatient gesture with
his hand, though Thomas’s greeting had been very professionally
done. “Did you want something?” said Falkes.

“
Just to tell you that
Bishop Kirby has retired for the evening,” Thomas said.

Falkes nodded.

“
I will retire as well.”
Callum lifted a hand to Falkes and then stepped off the dais.
Thinking it was time to find Samuel again, he headed down the
length of the hall towards the great doors.

Thomas fell into step beside Callum.
“I heard what you said to my uncle.”

Callum glanced at him, surprised. “Did
you really? I didn’t see you nearby and your uncle and I weren’t
speaking loudly.”

“
Robbie Bruce and I sat
together a few seats down from my uncle. You didn’t see me because
I had my back to him. But I have good hearing.”

“
So you know who King David
is?” Callum said.

Thomas shot Callum a grin tinged with
satisfaction. “I knew all along he wasn’t a simple
merchant.”

“
He has a message for you
too,” Callum said.

Thomas glanced up, his eyes glinting.
Callum could see why David wanted to be remembered to him. Anyone
who had the audacity to set Carlisle’s stables on fire as a
diversion in order to free David and Ieuan from their
captivity—against his uncle’s express wishes—was worth a second
look.

“
King David says, ‘thank
you’.”

“
I was glad he got away.”
Thomas grinned again, but then his smile faded and his face fell.
“You didn’t say anything to my uncle about the manner of the king’s
escape, did you?”

They’d reached the door to the hall.
Before answering, Callum allowed the guard to open the door and let
them pass through it. Once at the bottom of the exterior steps,
Callum pulled Thomas to one side. “Your uncle still doesn’t know
who set fire to the stables and freed his prisoners?”

“
No. And I’d prefer he
never knew,” Thomas said.

“
Your uncle might thank you
now,” Callum said.

Thomas looked back towards the hall.
“He might.” Then he shivered. “I’d be afraid to tell him
though.”

“
Then tell him this,”
Callum said. “Tell him that he has nothing to fear from King
David.”

Chapter Three

Callum

S
amuel pushed back his hood and straightened in his saddle. He
used his shield like an umbrella to protect himself from the rain
and turned this way and that, surveying their surroundings. “This
doesn’t feel right.” His gaze went to Callum and then to Liam, who
rode on Callum’s other side.

Liam nodded his agreement. “It’s too
quiet. Where are the birds and the animals? It’s raining, but it
often rains here. It should affect them little.”

While much of Scotland had been
denuded of trees, cut down for firewood and prevented from growing
back by free roaming cattle and sheep, this was one place where the
trees enclosed the road. More trees covered the hills that rose up
on either side of the road, marking the border between lowland and
highland Scotland.

Callum hunched over his horse, tugging
his cloak closer against the rain. The clouds had come in the
moment they’d crossed the border into Scotland. They’d spent last
night in Glasgow and were headed today for Stirling Castle, one of
the ancient royal seats of the Scottish crown, twenty miles away as
the crow flies, though longer as they were taking it. One of the
Guardians, William Fraser, Bishop of St. Andrews, had so far
managed to keep the castle out of the hands of both Balliol and
Bruce, for the good of Scotland. All of Scotland’s Guardians, along
with its Parliament, were to gather there in a few days’
time.

Stirling Castle sat at the mouth of
the Firth of Forth and was the closest royal castle to the
Highlands, which stretched north from the road they were presently
on, all the way to the North Sea. In the last six months, Callum
had come to understand some of the difficulties involved in ruling
Wales, a small country with many petty princes and lords. Though
England was larger and richer, it was actually less complicated
politically. Scotland, however, was another story entirely. Few
kings had ever managed to rule the entire country. Dozens of clans
held their own lands, ruled them as mini-kingdoms, and fought among
themselves with little interference from the king, as long as the
fighting didn’t overflow into another lord’s domains.