Armstrong sniffed sharply and straightened up, tilting his head slightly as his pale brown eyes swivelled to meet Bruce’s. His lips pursed into a pout as though he were tasting something sour in his mouth.
“This doesna sit right,” he growled, looking straight at Bruce. “On the face o’ it, it’s straightforward enough, an’ at any ither time I’d say nothin’ an’ just accept what ye’re askin’ o’ us … I’ll no’ dispute your right to be here as your father’s spokesman. But there are things happenin’ here, circumstances naebody could hae foreseen, that winna let me agree to what ye want—no’ without direct instructions frae his lordship in person. Gin ye had that, a letter o’ some kind, I wouldna hae a choice. But that’s no’ the case, and so—”
“I understand, Sir John,” Bruce said, cutting in before the old knight could deny his request outright. “I was aware of that lack when I set out to come here, trusting your goodwill in recognizing my duty to my father. But I came straight from Writtle by way of Berwick at King Edward’s direct request and had no time to meet in person with my father in Carlisle. In truth, though, I have no idea of what you mean by what you have just said. ‘Circumstances nobody could have foreseen’? Explain that to me, if you will. What are these
‘circumstances’ and how do they affect my request on my father’s behalf?”
The old knight nodded judiciously. “It’s no’ easy to explain, Earl Robert, but I can see I need to try, so I’ll start by remindin’ ye in the first place o’ what you’re askin’ o’ us. You’re here in Scotland upo’ King Edward’s business and for King Edward’s ends, and that’s fine. You and your faither are both liegemen to Edward and your duty’s clear—your faither is to bide at his task in Carlisle and you’re to obey the King’s edict to tak Douglas Castle and put it to the torch, then tak the Lady Douglas back wi’ ye in custody to Edward’s court. To that end you’re to raise your men o’ Carrick to your bidding an’ use them to do what ye must. An’ as Earl o’ Carrick, that’s your right an’ they’re your folk. Naebody can argue wi’ that.
“On the ither hand, though, we here are a’ Annandale folk and our earl, your faither, is the only man who can command the like obedience frae us. Maist o’ the time, that’s straightforward, but there are times, an’ nae man can foretell them, when things winna line up the way they should, and that’s what we have here … ”
Bruce gritted his teeth, waiting for the old chief to come to the point.
“Ye’ll hae heard about what happened in Lanark, I jalouse, wi’ the sheriff. ”
“In Lanark? No.” Bruce sat up straighter, suddenly more alert. “That would be Hazelrig. The sheriff. What has he done?”
“We don’t know … No’ yet. But he’s deid, murdert by a Scot, they say, and there’s hell to pay up there.”
“Sweet Jesus! Murdered, did you say?”
“No, I said he was deid. It’s the English who say he was murdert.”
“And was he? Is it true? Who did it?”
The old knight shook his head. “We canna say for sure, except for the fact that he’s deid. But it’s true, like enough. He was hellbent on hangin’ Will Wallace, a forester livin’ as an outlaw in Selkirk Forest, and the word we heard is that he took Wallace’s wife an’ bairn and they wis killed while in his custody. Next thing onybody knew, Hazelrig was deid, too. Some say Wallace went right into Lanark and killed him in his ain court while he was playin’ the judge there, but I doubt that’s the way o’ it. There would hae been too many guards around for that to happen easily. Others say he went lookin’ for Wallace in the Forest and was found shot fu’ o’ arrows wi’ a’ his men. An’ Wallace is kent to be an archer, i’ the English style, so that’s mair likely true than the other tale, it seems to me.”
“Good God … So where’s this Wallace now?”
“Your guess would be as good as mine, Lord Carrick. He’s disappeared. Some say he’s out now wi’ the Lord o’ Douglas, but I canna swear to that. Wherever he is, though, he’s set the whole o’ southern Scotland heavin’ like a pot o’ boilin’ porridge, and the English are runnin’ mad everywhere, searchin’ for him. It’s an ill time for the folk around here.”
“I see … That makes things … difficult for you. I can see that. And that’s the source of these circumstances you spoke of?”