Read Online Rivals for the Crown by Kathleen Givens - Free Book Online Page B

search for Davey, but for being accused of murder and being banished from King Alexander's court, where for years he had been such a favourite . Few remembered the injustice of that accusation, for Lachlan Ross had not been murdered but killed in a fight that Lachlan had instigated with Gannon. Gannon's lack of remorse and his fierce refusal to apologize for killing the king's cousin had led to his banishment. And fewer remembered why Gannon had come to court to confront Lachlan: the brutal battering Lachlan had given Nell that had almost killed her. But Nell, and Liam, who had loved Nell even then, remembered, and that was enough for Gannon.
    "But it wasn't yer da's name this time, Rory. It was yers."
    "Mine?"
    "Aye. What the hell is this I hear about ye, lad? A blood feud? They're calling for yer death."
    "I told ye he would have heard," Kieran said. "Everyone has."
    Two men approached them on the narrow pathway, looking intently at Rory. "MacGannon," one said to the other. As they came abreast, the man bumped Rory's shoulder hard, but kept walking. Rory looked after them.
    "Do ye ken them?" Liam asked.
    "No."
    Liam swore. "We'll talk on it, but not here. Delay, that's what I was saying. There's enough confusion here to have made ye wait no matter who ye are. We have no queen, no king. Every decision, no matter how small, seems to need half a day and twenty men to discuss it. Fortunately one of the lads kent I was yer uncle and came to get me, otherwise we'd be waiting for a meeting of the Guardians."
    "So obviously ye've heard about the Maid's death?"
    "Aye, and sent word to yer parents. Ye no doubt passed my messenger going west on yer way east. Let's get ye inside."
    Rory nodded his agreement and followed Liam through the next gatehouse and into Stirling's inner ward. The rain increased again. There would not be a spot on him that wasn't wet through, Rory thought, but at least they'd been given entry, and eventually they'd be dry. They left their horses in the stables with a groom, then followed Liam across the courtyard, up a flight of stairs, and through a tall wooden door. Once inside, they pulled the hoods from their heads. Walls built of stone were replacing the wooden ones, but that was hardly surprising. Rory had never been to Stirling without seeing some part of it under construction. The latest work was only partly finished and looked as though it had been stopped abruptly.
    "Aye," Liam said, following their gaze. "Who kens when this will all be done now? Or if the new king will ever come here." He nodded to the guards, who looked at Rory and Kieran without expression. Liam led them around a corner and up another flight of stairs. "I dinna ken if Stirling will remain. I've heard it's to be abandoned and heard it's to be enlarged."
    "But it's the gateway to the Highlands," Rory said. "It's too important to be left unmanned."
    "Ye ken that and I ken that, but do John Balliol or Robert Bruce?"
    "So ye think it'll be one of them?" Kieran asked.
    "Who else?" Liam answered. "No one is going to let one of the bastards, royal bastards though they are, become king. And who
    else has put in a claim? Erik of Norway? D'ye think the Scots will go under the yoke of Norway after all we did to free ourselves from the Norsemen, and that only twenty-some years ago? The whole of Scotland lived in fear that summer. There's many a village or family that no longer exists, but I hardly need tell the two of ye that, do I? Think it's been forgotten? Erik's too weak to push his claim, and that's good for all of us."
    "What of Edward of England's claim?" Rory asked.
    Liam put a finger to his lips. They climbed the next set of stairs in silence.
    "Here we are," Liam said, throwing open a door and ushering them inside a large, well-appointed room, comfortably furnished with chairs and a box bed in the corner. A table stood against the far wall with bottles of wine and ale.
    "We can talk here, but quietly. And we willna say anything of