The servant rose to her feet.
‘Lord Edric, are you not forgetting something?’ she shouted. ‘What about my Lady Giselle?’ Everyone in the hall turned to look. ‘Will you not plead for her release, she is yours to protect by oath?’
Giselle de Villers looked up in horror at her servant, and then over at Edric, who had frozen in his exit from the hall. His lips curled in disgust and fear.
‘What are you ranting about, old woman,’ shouted Banan, from across the room. His jaw sported a bruise the size of an apple.
‘Agnes sit down. Be quiet,’ hissed the lass, but she was ignored. The old woman’s blood was up, and there seemed to be no stopping her. She turned to Banan.
‘Lord Edric was betrothed to my Lady Giselle de Villers. It is their wedding day. He must take her with him. He must keep her safe, for he swore a vow.’
Lyall peeled himself away from the wall where he had been leaning and took several long strides towards Edric. He grabbed him roughly by the scruff of the neck.
‘Is this true? Is this lass your betrothed?’
‘That wench is nothing to me. I care nothing for her, and I did not agree to the marriage.’
‘Marriage? Are you betrothed, or wed already?’ snarled Lyall.
‘Not wed, for it was to be today that I was to be dragged before the altar. It was my father’s arrangement and, now he is gone, I want none of it and I’ll not honour it. I just want to go, please.’
‘If the lass can’t have a wedding at least she can have a bedding,’ said Banan smugly, coming alongside Lyall.
Lyall shot him a look that could kill and turned back to Edric. ‘So you would leave her here and scurry away like a coward?’
Giselle de Villers rose to her feet. ‘Please, let him go. I would not go with this pitiful excuse of a man, even if he wanted me to.’
‘See,’ spat Edric, ‘she’s a shrewish little bitch. Keep her, hold her for ransom for her father is Guy De Villers, Baron of Ravensworth, and he’s filthy rich, with vast lands in the south.’
The girl gasped. Her betrothed had done the opposite of protecting her. He had let slip that she was a valuable hostage who could be ransomed for a high price.
Lyall shoved Edric hard in the shoulder, making him stagger backwards. He bore down on him and grabbed a handful of his tunic. ‘Listen to me, you fat toad, you can’t abandon her. Will you not fight for her? Is there no honour in you?
‘Fight. I’ll not fight. I don’t want her, and I’ll not have her,’ screeched Edric, tearing himself free of Lyall’s grasp and, before anyone could stop him, running headlong from the hall.
‘Leaves more for the rest of us,’ said Banan, coming alongside Lyall and looking over at Giselle ominously, like a crow about to tear a worm from the grass.
Lyall narrowed his eyes. ‘You’ll not touch her,’ he said, with menace.
‘Oh, I’ll do so much more than touch her, Buchanan. I’ll spread her open under me and make her my whore.’
Rage took Lyall and, in an instant, he had Banan by the throat. The two men wrestled each other for supremacy before rolling over a table and landing, with a crash, at the feet of Lord Douglas. Strong hands grabbed hold of Lyall and tore him off the other man.
Owen hissed into his ear. ‘Stop, it’s not worth it over a woman. He will seek vengeance for this slight. You know who his father is. Don’t be a fool, Lyall.’
‘Hold Buchanan,’ shouted Lord Douglas. ‘Don’t kill Banan just yet, though I know you have long wanted to.’ He pulled Lyall aside and spoke quietly. ‘You saved me from an axe today, and I owe you a debt.’
‘There is no debt, Lord,’ said Lyall, chest heaving in anger.
‘I say there is, and I will reward you twofold. I am gifting you some land, in the north, at Corryvreckan. It is not rich, it is wild and desolate, mostly bogs and moors, but it is land, and a man makes his wealth through land. It is yours if you want it and can hold it. My reward includes this advice. Let this go. Take any other girl here, but let MacGregor have the red-head.’
‘No, Lord, I cannot, in all honour, do that.’
‘Honour? Have we not fought enough battles for you to have overcome your precious honour by now, Lyall Buchanan? Have I not told you that you must kill that side of you to become the warrior you were always meant to be, to do the task the King has set for us? Banan’s father has the ear of the King, he is a powerful man at court. Don’t make enemies of powerful men unless you want to lose your head.’
‘He’s an animal. I’ll not let him have the lass.’
‘I’ll own he likes to revenge himself on the English in all manner of ways, but, just for this one night, let him have her until his lust is spent, and then, tomorrow, if she still takes your fancy, I will gift her to you. You can indulge your pleasure and when you get bored, ransom the lass for a great price. Maybe send her back with a Scot in her belly, and her rich father can have two for the price of one, eh.’