“Any sign of the Douglas warriors yet?” she called to them.
Whether Old Garrett delivered her message or not, her brothers were bound to hear of her plight eventually and come. The only question was whether they would arrive before she was forced to surrender.
“You shouldn’t be up here,” the younger of the two guards said. “’Tis too dangerous. Their arrows can reach this far.”
“You’re here,” she said, and held out her hand for him to help her climb out onto the roof.
Her breath caught as she looked about her. Hundreds of warriors surrounded her castle. Inside the keep, she had been able to pretend the threat was not so grave. But up here she had a clear view of the enemy she faced, and she felt like a doe cornered by dogs.
She had not truly feared for her personal safety until this moment. After all, she was sister-in-law to the queen. Her brother was one of the most powerful men in Scotland. But as she surveyed the armed warriors encircling her home, she understood that a man who would attack her castle in spite of her high connections was not bound by the constraints that would normally protect her.
Her attention was drawn repeatedly to one Hume warrior who sat motionless astride a great black steed. She could not make out his features from this distance. Surely, he could not see her any more clearly than she saw him, yet she felt his gaze piercing her like a shard of ice.
“Is that Wedderburn?” she asked the guard, though she knew in her bones it was.
“Aye, that’s the Beast himself.”
“Do ye believe we can expect mercy from him?” she asked.
“From Wedderburn?” The guard’s expression was grim. “I fear not, m’lady.”
“Then we must hold out as long as we can.” She thought of her daughters and shuddered.
“I pray that your brothers arrive soon,” the guard said.
Alison, too, prayed for deliverance. But she was losing faith that it would come from her brothers.
***
David watched as his archers shot another round of arrows over the walls. How much longer would the damned woman hold out before she gave in to the inevitable? He had hoped to take possession of the castle peaceably, but she did not appear to have the sense to open the gate.
“Shall we set the arrows aflame and burn them out?” one of the younger warriors asked.
“This castle will soon be mine. I don’t intend to destroy it,” David snapped. “We’ll wait them out.”
David stared in disbelief as the figure of a woman appeared on top of the roof of the keep, her wine-red gown flapping in the wind like a banner against the gray stone.
“Halt your arrows!” he shouted, raising his hand.
She was making herself a bloody target, standing up there in that gown. No one but the lady of the castle herself would be dressed in such finery. What kind of fool was she to draw attention to herself when arrows were flying?
He had lost all patience with the Lady of Blackadder. It was time to force her hand.
***
“I’m not hungry.” Alison waved away the bowl of watery broth, though the smell made her stomach growl. She could not recall when she had last eaten.
She watched the rest of her household hungrily spoon their broth, then lift their bowls to their mouths and tilt their heads back so as not to miss a single drop. Which was worse, to condemn the men to a slow death by starvation or to a quick death by the sword? She could not bear to think of what the women might suffer. And so, each morning, she told herself she would wait one more day for her brothers. But they had not come.
One of the servant’s babes began crying again, and that was the last straw. She could not bear it anymore. One more day, one more hour, what did it matter? Her message had not reached her brothers, and the Douglases would not come to save them.
She gripped the table as she stood up and waited for the lightheadedness to pass.
“We shall surrender,” she announced to her household. “May God and Laird Wedderburn have mercy on us.”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The walls reverberated with a pounding like thunder. Shouts and screams erupted in the hall. Beatrix and Margaret flung themselves at Alison and clutched at her skirts, wailing.