Read Online Amanda Scott - [Border Trilogy Two 02] by Border Lass - Free Book Online Page B

did the Governor say in his customary, soft-spoken way, “What news have you brought me?”
    “None of any use, my lord,” Simon admitted. “I’d hoped my father might persuade her. But apparently, the princess told her she can legally refuse to marry.”
    “Isabel really
must
learn not to meddle,” Fife said. “She begins to annoy me. But I will deal with her, and you must deal with your sister. You do support me in this endeavor, do you not?”
    “I do, sir,” Simon assured him.
    “It is important that I develop strong connections in the Borders, in particular with those who control fortresses there. I want to persuade such men that it behooves them to make clear their staunch loyalty to me.”
    “I should think, sir, that now that you have the Earl of Douglas in your camp, the rest of the Border lords will submit quickly.”
    “Don’t be a fool,” Fife said testily. “Archie the Grim is a Douglas first. Whilst he’s the best of that scurrilous lot and knows Scotland needs my strong hand to guide it, he is hardly in my camp. At present, he believes I’m the best man to rule, so he supports me as Governor. But he will do so only until he disagrees with me.”
    “Surely, my lord—”
    “The Douglas power that has long irritated us has weakened since the death of the second earl, and I mean to see it grow weaker yet. It does this country no good constantly to be at the mercy of factions that thirst for war instead of peace.”
    “I agree, sir, but I do not understand how that makes marrying my sister to Sir Harald Boyd so important to us.”
    “I reward my supporters well, Simon, as you know and will continue to know for as long as you do support me. But your father supports no one.”
    “He believes that remaining neutral protects our land, and so it has, sir.”
    “He succeeds only in irritating everyone thereby, on both sides,” Fife said grimly. “Your family owns a large estate, and it will do him good to provide your sister with a proper dowry, including a sizeable piece of land. Having earned his spurs, Boyd is entitled to such, and he will be loyal to me.”
    Simon nodded, wondering if Fife had forgotten that he, Simon, was heir to that land. Fife could easily have granted the new knight land from his own holdings or those of the Crown, which now amounted to the same thing. Such holdings had steadily and considerably multiplied over the past several years.
    As if reading his thoughts, Fife added, “I’ll see you generously rewarded, of course, when you succeed your father.”
    The cynical voice that lived in Simon’s head muttered that since Fife was acquiring land as fast as he could, to think he would give up any when he could force someone else to do so
had
been foolish. Still, as heir to Elishaw, Simon’s attitude toward sharing even a piece of it with Boyd was not enthusiastic.
    “I’ll expect to hear soon that you have forced your sister’s submission,” Fife said. “I have already told Boyd that he can expect the marriage negotiations to proceed quickly, so do
not
disappoint me, Simon.”
    “No, sir. It shall be as you desire.”
    Furious with his sister, Simon decided as he left Abbots’ House that he had no choice now but to force the issue.

Chapter 4
    T he henchman who had beckoned to Garth led him through the crowd to stables near the western monastic buildings, where knights and noblemen had stabled or penned their horses.
    Although the crowd in the park had barely thinned, many men were shouting for mounts. At his guide’s urging, Garth grabbed a passing gillie and gave him a coin to fetch his horse. “Make haste, lad, and I’ll have another for you.”
    “Aye, sir. I ken fine that the Douglas be riding.”
    Finding his guide still at his side, Garth said, “Do you take me to his lordship, or should I go alone?”
    “We’ll do neither, an it please ye, sir,” the man said quietly. “He aims to discover ye as if by chance.”
    Garth nodded, his curiosity urging