Chapter Seventeen
The king embraced Elizabeth with her father by her side. “I’m pleased with you, but you must be cleverer,” he whispered in her ear. “And get me more information.” He pulled back and gave her an expectant look. Fear knotted inside her as she forced a nod. The king sighed. “I am not pleased with Bruce. I cannot say I’m surprised he speaks still with Wallace, but I’m not pleased. I wish to have him truly in my fold.” The king’s voice was contemplative. Then he bellowed, “Come!” and turned from his horse he had dismounted and his knights whom were still mounted, except for the king’s personal guard. Elizabeth had no choice but to fall behind her father, two of the king’s guards, and the king.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat as she walked, and her mind spun, seeking answers. The king knew Robert was in contact with Wallace because Robert had allowed it, but Robert’s plan had failed. Her father had remained here with his guards, and Robert had not been able to make any moves. What would Edward do to Robert? She feared the answer.
As they entered the keep, Robert came down the stairs with Gloucester close on his heels, weapon drawn as if he guarded Robert. Her husband’s gaze met hers for one brief moment, but what she saw there made her want to cry out with fright. His dark eyes showed the tortured dullness of disbelief as he stared at her, and then his gaze passed over her to the king and her father.
“Your Majesty,” Robert said, stopping in front of Edward to bow. As he righted himself, she saw that his eyes, his face, now revealed nothing. Whatever he was feeling, whatever he knew, was hidden behind a mask.
Edward stared at Robert with the look of a parent angered by his child. Elizabeth clutched her skirts, fear battering her so hard she trembled. What would the king do now that he believed Robert was in contact with Wallace? The king waved a hand and said in a cold voice, “Guard him.”
The guards filed past Elizabeth and her father and grasped either side of Robert’s arms. He didn’t fight them, and his only response was a quirk of his eyebrows and a single question. “How have I offended ye?”
The king chuckled and appeared suddenly almost jovial. Elizabeth tensed. She had seen Edward go from anger to glee and return to anger in a breath, and it was not pleasant. And now he bared his teeth, as a predator to its prey, signaling just how volatile his mood was.
“You have been false and wicked,” Edward said, and pressed his lips into a hard line. “I know you are in contact with Wallace, but he is not in Dunfermline as you believe. I just fought Wallace well away from there. Damn the devil, for he escaped—this time. I’m ahead of you, Robert, always. When will you learn this?”
Elizabeth’s breath caught at the news. Robert’s gaze came to her, full of loathing. This is feigned, she told herself. He was trying to make it appear as if he believed she had somehow betrayed him, in an effort to protect her.
Robert’s eyes narrowed upon the king. “Ye planted Elizabeth in my bed to try to gain information from me,” he said, his voice controlled but hard.
“No,” the king lied. “I gave you my goddaughter because I esteem you, and I want peace between the two of us. You are lucky that I did. She loves you now.”
“Ha!” Robert said, the word dripping derisiveness.
It was a plot, but Robert was so convincing that her heart ached and worry clawed at her.
The king sighed. “Relinquish this hopeless battle,” he said and waved the guards off. The king walked to Robert and flung an arm over his shoulders. “My boy, I knew you would not submit easily, but I forgive you, Robert, I do.”
Elizabeth wanted to weep for Robert. The king belittled him every time he called Robert my boy, and her husband had no choice but to endure it, to endure all of this. She prayed they could soon flee the king and her father.
“You must put thoughts of rebellion behind you. Your man Angus is captured, and he and your men are at my mercy now. Mercy that I will only be inclined to show if you do as you said you would and truly join me in bringing the north to their knees. Of course, you can continue to try to plot and defy me, but I will be compelled to kill all your men I now hold prisoner.”
My God! Shock flew through Elizabeth. Robert was well trapped now. And if Angus was captured what had happened to Lillianna?
The walls around Robert pressed in on him. His heart thudded in his ears, the harsh sound broken only when he inhaled. “I had to try,” he said, pleased with the matter-of-fact tone of his voice. “I could nae simply submit. That was nae worthy of the Bruce name.”
“Of course not!” the king agreed with gusto. “I would have been disappointed had you done anything else, truth be told.” He clasped Robert on the shoulder, and it took all his restraint not to throw Edward’s hand off him. “I have always had great esteem for you. You, more than any of the others who bear your name and your claim to the throne, remind me of myself. I would raise you high in the kingdoms I reign over if you will but aid me.”
A long path to freedom stretched out before Robert. He could see the gnarled roots that crossed it and would make him stumble, the snakes slithering that would try to strike, the hidden holes where he would fall and have to pick himself up. His gaze was drawn to Elizabeth, and he blinked in surprise. He had not realized her father had drawn her to his side, but he had, and his hand rested upon her elbow. Was she plotting with her father and the king? Or was she loyal to Robert? He still did not know.
“What say you, Robert? I will have an answer this day and then deeds to show me proof that your words are true.”
Being false was like swallowing poison, yet he had to gulp it down and pray he lived, pray it did not deform him so greatly that he and others he knew and trusted, those who counted on him, would no longer recognize him. “How high will ye raise me?” he heard himself ask.
Elizabeth’s hiss of breath penetrated his concentration, but he did not look at her. He could not allow her to distract him any longer, whether it had been intentional or not.
“How does the Governor of Scotland sound?” Edward asked in a jovial tone.
The words grated in Robert’s ears. They sounded like subjugation. Still, he smiled. “Are ye nae ahead of yerself?”
“For now,” Edward said with a chuckle. “But together we will get there, yes?”
Robert counted to twenty in his head and determined that was just long enough to make it appear he had contemplated everything. He allowed his shoulders to drop and his head to fall forward a bit. He had defeated enough men to know the look of one humbled. “Aye,” he mumbled.
“Excellent! Let us walk alone, Robert. I need fresh air, and I would discuss strategy for defeating the north.”
Robert nodded and started to turn away when Elizabeth’s hand came to his arm. Her touch burned him to his soul. There was a wall between them now, and he could not afford to scale it, not until he was certain of the truth, maybe not even then. “Robert—”
He peeled her fingers from his forearm, aching with the touch of his skin to hers. “I will have yer things removed from my chambers to yer own,” he said, his chest twisting with her stricken look. He wanted to take back the words, but he knew his own weakness. He needed space; he needed answers that he had no notion how to get.
His hands fisted at his side. “A wife’s purpose is to have faith in her husband always,” he said, forcing the words out between clenched teeth. He studied her, saw her flinch, but still, still he did not know, could not discern her honesty. It so enraged him that he could do no more than turn on his heel and stride from the room. But the look of utter devastation on her face went with him. It dug into his mind and burrowed there. Was it possible to feign such desolation? He had to think only of his ploy to trick the king into believing his own submission was real. It was possible, and the knowledge was like a boulder in his gut, dragging him under a murky surface where he felt he would surely drown.
Elizabeth’s father led her into the solar by the elbow and shut the door. She knew this instinctually, but she did not see it. She did not see her surroundings at all; in fact the only thing she saw was Robert’s face. He looked at her as if she had betrayed him, but why? Why would he now think such a thing? Why would he be doubting her? She clutched at her stomach, kneading her fingers into the knots of pain, but they would not loosen. They seemed to grow inside her, taking on a life of their own as she stood there. Robert’s men were captured, was Lillianna? She pressed her lips together on asking her father. She’d first see what Robert had learned.
“Here,” he said gruffly, bringing her focus to him. He held a full glass of wine out to her. “You look as if you may faint.”
She felt as if she might. She grasped the goblet with a shaking hand but managed to hold on to it and bring it to her lips. She drank several gulps of wine until it was gone. The warm liquid slid down her throat and through her belly, and seemed to settle the roiling waves there. She tilted the goblet again, drank the rest, and held it out to her father to pour her more.
Chuckling, he took the goblet. “Normally, I’d say to steady yourself, but I think a little fortification will do you good tonight. It is vexing that Bruce believes you betrayed him to me, but you can overcome this.” Her father squeezed her shoulder. “I have faith in you. You have gained my forgiveness for your long-ago deed and you have my trust once more.”
She could do no more than stare at her father, so absorbed in his quest for power that he failed to see the truth of what lay between them—nothing. How she would have once rejoiced to hear such words from him, but now his words merely enraged her.
She forced a smile, in hopes that she would appear genuine. “I’m pleased I have your forgiveness and trust. I have longed for both of these things.”
He nodded, a look of supreme satisfaction on his face. “I must tell you, I was unsure at first if I could truly count upon you. And when I learned I could, I had to still use you, my dear.”
Elizabeth felt sick. She swallowed and asked, “What made you decide you could trust me?”
Her father cocked his head. “Grace intercepted a note that Gwendolyn was trying to get to Bruce, warning him of your continued loyalty to me and the king.”
Elizabeth’s breath froze in her lungs. “What note? When was this? And why would Grace give you anything?”
“Tsk, Elizabeth. So many questions,” he said with a small smile. “You have been so curious and keen. I’d think you would have realized by now that I trust no one fully.”
“Grace is your spy?” Elizabeth guessed, shock spiraling through her.
“Yes,” he laughed. “And Gwendolyn, too, but she’s half-Scot so I knew well not to trust her totally, and she proved me correct when she tried to warn Bruce that you were conspiring against him with Edward and me.” He scowled. “I should have known not to trust that wench at all. She was always so eager in bed, but then I’d always find her at my door if ever the king came to speak to me. She must have overheard me.” Elizabeth’s heart thudded heavily, and her mind felt numb with all the deception that surrounded her and Robert. Her father was despicable. He chuckled, clearly pleased with himself. “Luckily, I had set Grace to spy on Gwendolyn, and I keep Gwendolyn because she has proven useful to lead me to others whom I cannot trust. Though, I did consider killing her when she wrote the note trying to reveal you as a conspirator. I think the lass may be besotted with Bruce.”
Elizabeth’s mind reeled with the revelations. She had to tell Robert of Gwendolyn; she had to warn him. Her father patted her shoulder before dropping his hand away. “Elizabeth, if we can control Bruce, if you can persuade him to be true to the king, he will rise far with your aid and you will become a very powerful woman. You would like that, would you not?”
But Elizabeth cared nothing for power. She simply wanted freedom and Robert’s love. Yet, she knew Robert needed power to liberate his people. She nodded, playing her part and hoping it would not be long before Robert returned to her and she could feel his arms around her and be reassured that he had simply been playing his role in this game of deception.