Highland Vengeance

Chapter 41

Long ago, Epona taught me that three was a sacred number. The goddess comes in threes: maiden, mother, and crone. There were nine of us at the coven. And there were nine covens in the land, though I did not know where the others were. I’d spent six years in Ynes Verleath, though it had barely felt like six months. And I’d had three husbands. With the addition of Fleance in my life, I had a third child to love.

In the days ahead, more threes came to be of importance.

Six years. The length of time that passed since Banquo rode from Cawdor. Also, the number of years that had passed since I saw Macbeth in the flesh. And the numbers of years it had been since I’d seen my own daughter.

And another three.

Three wars.

The war at sea that I had foreseen came to pass the spring Banquo had ridden off to war. Duncan’s ships—not the king himself—were soundly defeated by Thorfinn’s armada. Rognevald went down with his ship, and the king’s force returned south. Once the country was stirred, it did not rest.

Two years later, as the Morrigu had predicted, Duncan built up a new army made of mercenaries from Ireland. Misunderstanding Thorfinn’s close relationship with Echmarcach, Lord of the Isles, Duncan solicited the lord’s help to land his army on the west coast. This time, Thorfinn and young King Magnus, who had come to live with Thorfinn, met the mercenaries at sea. Banquo, under Macbeth’s directive, went with an army and destroyed the troops who managed to make landfall. A second defeat still did not deter Duncan.

It took Duncan two more years to devise a plan to crush the north. In the sixth year of his reign, on one very dull and inauspicious evening, the last and most important three was born.

“Mum,” Lulach called as he and Fleance sat with their tutor, both boys trying hard not to learn Latin as I had once done, much to their tutor’s consternation. “I think Fleance and I would both learn better if we had a mug of honeyed herbs.”

“Oh, aye. Lulach is right. Please, Corbie?” Fleance echoed.

I grinned. At some point over the years, I had made a small pot of the same honeyed herb drink Gillacoemgain favored to soothe my own loneliness. Banquo had been gone for years. For fear of Lulach’s and Fleance’s safety in time of war, I had not gone south to see Crearwy or Madelaine. The entire country had held its breath waiting to see what would happen next. I waited, grew herbs, raised my boys, and brewed honeyed herbs which Lulach had loved from the first moment. Fleance? Well, any excuse to take a break from learning Latin was appreciated.

I went to the fire where I had a small pot warming beside the cauldron. When I glanced into the large cauldron, I saw a ripple on the surface. Slowing, I paused and looked within. The water pitched and boiled then I saw blood. Unbidden, I heard the raven’s wings, and the dark spirit awoke within me.

Look. Look!

I saw the king’s ships travel up the east coast. A battle ensued near Aberdeen. In the north, I saw another battle take place in the rough waters between Caithness and Orkney. To the south, I saw Duncan’s golden armor shining as he crossed boldly, under the mantle of peace, into the northern districts, a massive English army headed by Earl Siward of Northumbria not far behind him.

Gasping, I pulled myself back before I fell into the fire.

“Mum,” Lulach called, rushing to me.

I stared wide-eyed at the flames.

Fleance took me by one arm, Lulach by the other.

“What is it?” Fleance asked.

“My lady?” Tira called, rushing across the room.

“Tell Standish to ready riders at once. I… Bring me my parchment and ink. I must send messages, and quickly.”

“Yes, my lady,” Tira said then rushed off.

“Mum, what did you see?” Lulach whispered.

I stared at him, looking from Lulach to Fleance. “My boys… War is upon us again.”

* * *

I wrote first to Thorfinn and Banquo who were together at Thurso, telling them what I had foreseen. Then, begrudgingly, I wrote to Macbeth. Over the years we had entered into a formal relationship. Macbeth treated me like any other constituent in the north, and I was settled with it—for now. He never came to Cawdor. He never asked anything of me. I sought no rumor of him. It was done.

But now, Duncan was coming for us as I had always warned he would. If we were going to survive, we would need to find a way to navigate, not just our enemies, but one another.

As I was taking Macbeth’s note to the messenger waiting in the yard, Tavis rode through the gates of Cawdor.

“Tavis?”

“Gruoch, thank goodness. I must speak to you at once.”

“Is it Madelaine? Or Uald?”

Tavis shook his head. “All are fine. All of them. But I have a message.”

“Here. For Inverness,” I said, handing my note to the rider who quickly headed out.

“Come inside,” I told Tavis, motioning for a groom to come take his horse.

Fleance and Lulach had given up on the Latin and were talking about my news with intense seriousness when I returned to the hall with Tavis.

Tavis slowed when he saw them. “Is that Lulach? The dark-haired boy?”

I nodded.

“He looks like you, and I see his father in his face as well.”

I had grown used to the comment and used to pretending it didn’t still hurt. “Thank you.”

“The other boy?”

“Fleance of Lochaber.”

“Ah,” Tavis said, his brow arching. He said nothing more, but he didn’t have to. I knew Tavis was Madelaine’s closest confidant. No doubt he’d been told something.

“Lulach, ask the kitchen maids for ale and food for our guest,” I said then bid Tavis to sit.

Lulach nodded then he and Fleance ran off to the kitchen. Together, always together. Thora, who was heavily pregnant—surprising me with a litter of puppies so late in her years—was dozing by the fire. She, like me, had prolonged her life due to her time at Ynes Verleath. But still, she was no young dog anymore. She lifted her head and looked to see where the boys were going. Determining it was too much work to follow them, she looked back at me. Spotting Tavis, however, she rose and slowly came to him.

“Thora,” he said, petting her head. “How round you are,” he said with a chuckle.

Satisfied she’d made her own greeting, Thora went back to her comfortable spot by the fire.

“I saw a rider leave as I approached. He was moving quickly,” Tavis said.

I nodded. “I’ve just sent riders to Thurso and Inverness.”

“I, too, come with news. Duncan is putting it out that he will tour the north this spring, as you no doubt already know. But money is flowing everywhere, and there is a rumor of an army amassing in Northumbria. The southern lords, those loyal to Duncan, have been called to Edinburgh for a meeting…including Fife.”

“They cannot think Fife and Madelaine are truly loyal to Duncan.”

“Indeed not. Queen Suthen expressly invited Madelaine to Edinburgh for the spring season. But Uald arrived at the castle the very next day—if you can imagine such a thing—telling Madelaine to return to the coven at once, that she was in danger.”

I swallowed hard. They would take Madelaine as a hostage, a valuable bargaining piece to use against Fife or me.

“Has she gone? Is she safe?”

He nodded. “She left at once. I saw her and Uald safely there then I rode here as Madelaine asked me to.”

“Here you are, sir,” Lulach said, returning with a tankard. Fleance carried a plate with bread, meat, and cheese.

Tavis reached out and ruffled Lulach’s hair.

“Boys, this is Tavis. He is a close friend of our family.”

“I remember you when you were no larger than a loaf of bread,” he told Lulach. “And you, young man, I hear your father is a fine Thane and a good commander,” he told Fleance.

“Thank you, sir,” Fleance said, setting down the plate.

Lulach smiled at Tavis but this his brow furrowed, and he gave Tavis a questioning look. “Is my Aunt Madelaine well?”

Tavis looked at me then back at Lulach. “She is safe.”

Lulach nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. I studied my son. For years, I had seen that glimmer of the otherworld in him. I ached for Banquo to be with me, to advise me on what to do. Lulach was a lord, but the mark on his brow said he was much more. How was I to raise such a child? And now that Duncan and Suthen had two sons of their own, Malcolm and Donalbane, Lulach’s claim to the throne was not as strong as it once had been.

Tavis took a long drink of his ale then said, “I will stay here with you if that’s all right. And if not, you must take it up with Madelaine, who insisted.”

“She does know I have an army at my disposal, doesn’t she?”

Tavis chuckled. “Indeed she does. I half suspect she told me to stay here for my own protection.”

“You are always welcome.”

Tavis wrapped his arm around me and gave me a squeeze. “Little Corbie,” he said with a smile.

This, of course, made Lulach and Fleance laugh.

“Laugh again, and I’ll call your tutor back. Or, you can go upstairs to your chamber where you can see all the commotion from your window. It’s going to get very busy around here soon.”

Lulach and Fleance looked at one another then turned and raced away. This time, Thora could not resist, and she trotted along behind them.

“The king will ride north,” Tavis said stoically.

The third time, he will come to my bloody fields like the soldier he should be. There he will meet my champion.

“Yes,” I said, picking up my mug of honeyed herbs.

Tavis clicked his mug against mine. “When the king is dead, long live the queen,” he said then winked at me.

I took a sip of my drink then smirked.

It was time to get ready. The final three had come, and when it was done, my world would turn to right again.

Or so I hoped.