The Knight (17 page)

At the important Bruce victory of the Battle of Brander in the prologue (also featured in
The Ranger
), Douglas and his archers were given credit for climbing above the lying-in-wait MacDougalls to ambush the ambushers. Later, James, Randolph, Robbie Boyd, and Edward Bruce led the war in the Borders, eventually waging attacks deep into the English countryside.

James’s loyalty and achievements on the battlefield were rewarded, and the house of Douglas did indeed rise to dizzying heights. So high, in fact, that a hundred years after James’s death, the now Earls of Douglas had become a threat to the crown, leading to the murders of both the sixth earl in 1440 at the infamous “Black Dinner” (which served as inspiration for the Red Wedding in George R. R. Martin’s
A Storm of Swords
) and the eighth earl by King James II himself in 1452.

It is interesting that for such a famous man little is known of his wife, although given the time period, it seems likely that he had one. He is said to have had at least two sons—Archibald the Grim and another who fell at the battle of Halidon Hill in 1333. The genealogical charts and clan histories aren’t much help, but a couple mention a wife named Joan or Joanna.

Given his importance and position in Bruce’s retinue, I thought it odd that Bruce didn’t offer him a sister, as he seemed to do for many of his other close cohorts including Neil Campbell, Hugh Ross, Christopher Seton, and Alexander Fraser. Walter Stewart, James’s kinsman, who is also a young, important knight in Bruce’s retinue, ends up married to the king’s daughter.

It got me wondering why. As most marriages at the time were political alliances and dynastically motivated, presumably if James’s wife had been the daughter of an important nobleman it would have been noted. But maybe she wasn’t “important”? What if James married for other reasons? Thus, the inspiration for the marshal’s daughter. I also liked the idea of tying her to the infamous Douglas Larder episode and the local man, Thomas Dicson (Dickson), the hereditary castellan of Castle Douglas, who lost his life helping James on that auspicious Palm Sunday.

The Douglas Larder, which either happened on Palm Sunday 1307 or 1308 (I have it as the latter here and in
The Viper
), is the first and best known of three attacks by James Douglas to oust Lord Robert Clifford’s English garrison from his castle, all using the trickery and psychological warfare for which James became famous. The peril of holding the Douglas Castle would eventually earn it the moniker of “Castle Dangerous,” immortalized in the fictional account of Sir James’s third attack by Sir Walter Scott in
Tales of My Landlord
.

This third attack is what I have recounted in
The Knight
with the garrison tempted from behind the safety of their walls by the peasants carrying hay, and the English captain who died with a letter from his sweetheart, who promised to marry him if he could hold the castle for a year. James was allegedly moved by the letter and permitted the prisoners to return to England, after which he reputedly destroyed the castle to prevent the English from garrisoning it later—an important part of the Bruce warfare that continued the scorched earth policy of William Wallace.

The feud between Clifford and Douglas would last for a century. You can read more about Clifford, Boyd, and Douglas in
The Raider
.

The account of the trickery involved in taking of Linlithgow Castle with the help of the local man “Binny” is also taken up by Sir Walter Scott in his
Tales of a Grandfather
, as is James’s taking of Roxburgh Castle, which will be featured in book #11 of the Highland Guard Series. There is some disagreement as to the date of the fall of Linlithgow, though some historians claim it happened as late as 1313.

The English held about forty Scottish castles in 1311, of which nine or so were taken back by Bruce during this time, many by Douglas or Randolph.

James’s rivalry with Randolph was legendary. After Randolph’s defection to the English, which was featured in
The Hawk
, James captured him and brought him back into the fold. Whether the rivalry was a friendly one, I can only speculate, but it seems probable. The two men are so often mentioned together, and indeed in the Act of Settlement of 1318, Moray (Randolph) is appointed regent in the event of Bruce’s death, with Douglas named as the successor in the event of Moray’s death.

There is also some disagreement about when Sir James was knighted, with some historians saying that it wasn’t until the eve of Bannockburn in 1314, which seems way too late in James’s military career. It could be that at Bannockburn he was actually made a “knight banneret,” elevated from knight bachelor, which basically meant that he could lead men under his own banner in war.

In
The Knight
, when James offers to follow Bruce into death, I am alluding to a future event that would become one of his most famous deeds. On his deathbed, Bruce asked James to carry his heart to the Holy Land. The loyal James of course agreed, wearing the king’s heart in a casket around his neck. Unfortunately James was killed in dramatic fashion in a siege before he could fulfill his quest. Bruce’s heart and James’s bones were returned to Scotland, the former to be interred at Melrose and the latter at St. Bride’s Chapel in Douglas.

It’s always fun when I come across physical description tidbits, and the lack of scars on James’s face is one of them.

As always, you can find pictures of some of the places mentioned in
The Knight
and more information on my website:
www.monicamccarty.com

Don’t miss the other books in Monica’s
New York Times
&
USA Today
bestselling Highland Guard Series!

THE CHIEF

THE HAWK

THE RANGER

THE VIPER

THE SAINT

THE RECRUIT

THE HUNTER

THE RAIDER
(coming February 2014) [link]

***

Please continue on to read an excerpt from the next book in Monica’s bestselling Highland Guard series…

After consolidating his gains against the enemy English, King Robert the Bruce of Scotland sends his best soldiers to fortify the lawless borders. These legendary warriors of the Highland Guard let nothing come before king and country—except the calling of their heart.

Of all Bruce’s elite warriors, Robert “Raider” Boyd is the most formidable. A true patriot whose bare hands are a deadly weapon, Robbie is the fiercest enforcer of the Guard. His hatred of the English has been honed to a razor sharp edge. But vengeance proves bittersweet when his enemy’s beautiful sister falls into his hands and he finds himself fighting temptation—a battle he badly wants to lose.

Lady Rosalin Clifford barely recognizes the rebel prisoner she saved from execution six years ago. Though her girlish ideals for fairness have matured into a passion for justice, Rosalin believes she betrayed her brother when she helped this dangerous man escape. Now, her traitorous act has as come back to haunt her. But she can’t deny the longing this tormented warrior ignites in her, or deny the passion that turns sworn enemies into lovers. But is the gentle love of a true English Rose enough to free Scotland’s most brutal warrior from a path of vengeance—before it’s too late?

An Excerpt from Prologue…

Kildrummy Castle, Scottish Highlands, October 1306

Killed
? Rosalin nearly choked on a bit of beef.

“Are you all right?” her brother asked, leaning over to pat her on the back.

After a burst of coughing, she took a sip of sweetened wine and nodded. “I’m fine.” Seeing his concern, she managed a smile. “Really. I’m sorry, for the disturbance. You were saying something about the prisoners?”

Her attempt at nonchalance didn’t fool him. He frowned. He’d been speaking in a low voice to her guardian, Sir Humphrey, on his other side, and the conversation obviously hadn’t been meant for her ears. She blinked up at him innocently, but Robert, the first Baron de Clifford, hadn’t become one of the most important commanders in the war against the rebel Scots because of his rank and handsome face―although he certainly possessed both. Nay, he’d risen so high in King Edward’s estimation because he was smart, loyal, and determined. He was also one of the greatest knights in England, and she was fiercely proud of him.

Even if he was entirely too perceptive.

“An unfortunate accident, that is all. Part of the wall collapsed when the prisoners were dismantling it. Two of the rebels were crushed by the stone and killed.”

Her heart jumped to her throat and a small cry of distress escaped before she could help it.
Oh God, please don’t let it be him
!

Aware of her brother’s watchful gaze, she attempted to cover her too-concerned reaction with a maidenly, “That’s horrible!”

He studied her a little longer, and then patted her hand. “Do not let it distress you.”

But she was distressed. Deeply distressed. Although she certainly couldn’t tell her brother why. If he learned about her fascination with one of the rebel prisoners, he would send her back to London on the first ship, as he’d threatened to do when she’d arrived unexpectedly a week ago with her new guardian, Sir Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford.

“
Christ’s Cross, Rosalin! This is the last place in Christendom suitable for a young girl
.”

But the opportunity to see Cliff had been too tempting to resist. With her in London and her brother fighting the Scottish rebels in the North, it had been nearly two years since she’d seen him, and she missed him desperately. He, Maud (Cliff's wife of eight years), and the children were all the family she had left, and if she had to venture into Hades to see them, she would. Maud would have made the journey with Rosalin and the earl’s party, but she'd just discovered she was with child again.

“I don’t understand why the wall is being dismantled in the first place,” Rosalin said. “I thought we won the war?”

Her distraction worked. Cliff loved nothing more than to talk about England’s great victory. Robert Bruce’s bid for the crown had failed. The outlaw king had been forced to flee Scotland, and the English were now occupying most of Scotland’s important castles, including this one, the former stronghold of the Scottish Earls of Mar.

“We did. Robert Bruce’s short-lived rebellion is at an end. He might have escaped the noose set for him at Dunaverty Castle, but he won’t find refuge in the Western Isles for long. Our fleet will find him.” He shrugged. “Even if they don’t, he only has a handful of men left under his command.”

She lowered her voice to a whisper. “But aren’t they Highlanders?”

Her brother laughed and tweaked her nose. Though sixteen―nearly seventeen―was much too old for tweaking, she didn’t mind. She knew just how fortunate she was to have a brother who cared for her so deeply. Not many fourteen-year-old boys would have bothered themselves with a four-year-old sister on the death of their parents, but Cliff had always watched out for her. Even when they were both made wards of the king, he always made sure she knew she was not alone. If he sometimes acted like more of an overprotective father than a brother, she didn’t mind. To her, he was both.

“They aren’t bogeymen, little one. Or super men, no matter what you might hear at court. They might fight like barbarians, but when they meet the steel of an English knight’s sword, their blood runs as red as any other.”

As she wasn’t supposed to be watching the prisoners, she refrained from asking why they were kept so heavily guarded then.

Her brother turned back to Sir Humphrey, and Rosalin bided her time, waiting for the long midday meal to come to an end before racing up to her chamber in the Snow Tower.

Usually she delayed her return to her chamber as long as possible. Cliff had permitted her to stay in Scotland at Kildrummy only under the condition that she keep to her room except for during meals and chapel (he didn’t want there to be any chance of her coming into contact with one of them), and the small chamber had begun to feel like a prison. (When she protested that it wasn’t fair, the other ladies in Sir Humphrey’s party weren’t being confined, he replied that the other ladies were not his sixteen-year-old sister!) But right now all she could think about was the window that looked over the courtyard and shield-shaped curtain wall. The same curtain wall that had collapsed and killed the two prisoners.

Her heart raced as fast as her feet, as she climbed the seven—seven!—flights of stairs to the top level of the luxurious tower. The Scots might be “rebellious barbarians,” but they certainly knew how to build castles, which was one of the reasons King Edward was so anxious to have Kildrummy destroyed. The “Hammer of the Scots,” as King Edward was known, was making sure no other rebels could use the formidable stronghold as a refuge in the future.

Bright sunlight filled the room as she drew open the heavy door of the lord’s chamber and tore past the enormous wooden bed, the half-unpacked trunks carrying her belongings, and the small table that held a pitcher and basin for washing. Heart now in her throat, she knelt on the bench under the window, leaned on the thick stone sill, and peered through the fine glazed window to the courtyard below.

She knew it was wrong, and her brother would be furious to discover her fascination with the rebel prisoner, but she couldn’t help it. There was something about him that stood out. And it wasn’t just his formidable size or his handsome face, although she had to admit that was what had attracted her initially. Nay, he was… kind. And noble. Even if he was a rebel. How many times had she watched him take the blame (and thus the punishment) for one of the weaker men? Or shoulder more than his share of the work?

He couldn’t be
…

She refused to finish the thought and scanned the cobble courtyard and wall area between the southeast tower and newly constructed Gatehouse where the prisoners were working.