Alpin genuinely had no idea. In fact, the entire situation had him baffled. Earlier that day, an army approached from the south, a fairly large army that his men identified as English and, suddenly, he found himself under siege. His men barely had time to secure the outer gatehouse when the army swarmed and siege engines were brought forth. A bombardment worthy of the Crusades took place after that, with flaming projectiles and men scaling walls. When it had become clear that the army would breach the inner ward, Alpin and a few of his men had dressed as women and hid in the kitchens. He didn’t even know what had happened to those men.
At the moment, he was only concerned for himself.
Something very bad was happening.
“Sassenach?” Alpin spit out. “I dunna understand any of this. Who are ye? What have ye done?”
Cole leaned in to him. “My name is Cole de Velt,” he said quietly. “My father is Ajax de Velt, Baron Blackadder and lord of Pelinom Castle. Surely you have heard of him.”
A gleam of recognition came to Alpin’s eye. “De Velt?” he repeated. “Not The Dark Lord?”
“The same.”
The light of understanding was beginning to flame for Alpin. “God’s Teeth, MacEacharn… ye’re no’ Scots?”
“I am not Scots.”
“A de Velt?”
“Aye, I am a de Velt.”
Two years of being a spy to the royal Scots court was just revealed and things began to come clear for Alpin Canmore. He looked at Addax and Essien, understanding they were in on it, too. He began to realize just how much trouble he was in and he instinctively stepped back and away from Cole, but he was being held firmly so he had nowhere to go. Then he looked beyond Cole to the gatehouse and he could see his men being put on poles.
Those screams were something that cut him to the bone.
“God,” he muttered, looking at Cole with utter fear in his expression. “What do ye want from me? Why are ye doing this?”
Cole didn’t answer him. He turned for the gatehouse and jerked his head at Addax and Essien, who followed him from the inner ward, dragging Alpin past his own men who were being impaled. His men, seeing him, screamed for help if they were able, begging Alpin to save them.
But Alpin couldn’t even save himself.
In the end, it was too much for him to take. He lowered his head and wept as Addax and Essien dragged him back to the de Velt encampment and tied him to a post. Alpin was certain he was going to be burned alive but, oddly enough, they left him there with Essien as his guard. No flames, no death.
At least, not yet.
As Alpin Canmore listened to the cries of agony from his men, Cole and Addax returned to the bedlam that was happening at Fountainhall. They found Jax standing on the fringe, watching the activity, but not actively participating. He was simply overseeing everything with the ease of a man overseeing something far simpler, like the harvest of his crops or the training of his men. It was all business to him and Jax held an expression that suggested he wasn’t troubled by any of it.
He’d done this kind of thing before.
Next to him stood a commander he’d had with him for many years. Atreus le Velle had been at Jax’s side during the entire conquest of the Welsh Marches those years ago, and he had been at Jax’s side when he conquered Pelinom Castle. He’d known Jax since childhood and had simply never left him, not even to pursue personal gain or adventure. An innate sense of loyalty kept him with Jax, a friendship that was deeper than most.
Atreus was looking at the carnage going on with the same bland expression Jax had.
“We have him, Papa,” Cole said as he walked up on the pair. “He’s back in camp with Essien as guard. Addax and Essien captured him quite ably.”
Jax and Atreus turned to him. “He is unharmed?” Jax asked.
Cole nodded. “Not a scratch,” he said. “Shall I take him straight to The Keld?”
Jax pondered that question for a moment. He’d gone through a lot of trouble today simply to rush his captive off to another man’s castle. “Tomorrow,” he finally said. “I intend to interrogate the man myself tonight. I realize that the Alastor de Bourne is involved in this situation more than I am, but I am still part of it. We are under threat, too, and we are much closer to the Scots army should they decide to march, so I want to know what this Alpin Canmore knows. If I must protect myself, then I want to know when hell is coming before de Bourne and The Marshal have their way with him. There may be nothing left by the time they are finished.”
“You know everything I know to this point,” Cole said, lowering his voice. “You know everything I’ve been gathering over the past two years. Unfortunately, my position next to the king only gave me partial information. There were certain things I did not know that Canmore can hopefully provide. But what we know is this – the Scots, supported by the Norse Earls of Orkney and Shetland, intend to invade England and Alpin Canmore has been sending missives to the House of de Bourne on behalf of William the Lion, as the descendants of the Kings of Northumbria, because the Scots want de Bourne to join their rebellion. They need a strong house inside of Northumberland if they are to succeed.”
“But de Bourne has refused them.”
“He has, but William the Lion does not yet know that,” Cole stressed. “As far as I know, de Bourne has not yet sent a reply to his offer. He sent word to The Marshal first. Therefore, if the Scots army comes… when they come… Pelinom is in their path.”
Jax nodded patiently. “I understand that,” he said. “That is why The Marshal gave me permission to send a message to the Scots and the Earls of Orkney on behalf of all of England in the form of my army. I have shown them what will happen should they carry out this scheme. But what I want to know is when. When do they plan on coming?”
Cole lifted his eyebrows. “That is why we have captured Alpin,” he said. “That is the only thing we do not know – the time for such things. We do not know when and we do not know from where. For all we know, the Norsemen will come in through Berwick tomorrow. They can bring their longships down the River Tweed and destroy a great deal. This is what Alpin must tell us, Papa. I’m sure he knows.”
Jax simply nodded, returning his attention to an entirely new row of impaled men going up along the western side of the road. Most were already dead, but they were going up nonetheless. Cole turned to watch the poles go up, his thoughts shifting from the prisoner they’d captured to the dirty deeds his father was engaging in. The Scots weren’t going down without a fight. They’d resisted as much as they could, but the de Velt army was too big and quickly overwhelmed any struggle. The Scots were, therefore, being as noisy as they could, bellowing and screaming as they were put on poles.
It made for a loud and disturbing chorus.
“I’ve not had to use tactics like this since before you were born, Cole,” Jax said as if reading Cole’s thoughts. “Something that was a means to an end, as this is. Your mother… she is not happy about what I am doing this day. But, as I told her, it is necessary.”
Cole looked at him. “Never did I question your tactics,” he said. “You need not explain yourself to me. I understand completely why you must do this.”
Jax glanced at him. “Then explain it to me,” he said, a warm glimmer in his eyes. “Tell me why I have done this, lad.”