A Kingdom's Cost, a Historical Novel of Scotland Read Online Free

push him into the middle of the square. All struggling to get
closer to the great scaffold towering ahead of them, people talked and yelled
over each other. From the middle of the crowd, all he could see were heads, and
shoulders and a mounted knight and to one side the gray walls of St. Bartholomew's
Hospital.
    James squirmed and elbowed his way through
the press. A man cursed at him, but James gave him a glare. He grunted in
satisfaction when the man ducked his head. James would have felt even better if
he could have hit him. Clinching his fists, James shoved his way through.
    Finally, near the front of the crowd, with
his shoulder he rammed a workman who was laughing as he munched on an apple. The
man yelled, stumbling back, and swung around, fists raised, but he backed off
muttering about noble bullyboys. Over the noise, the bells of the city tolled. They
rang from every direction.
    Then James saw Sir William Wallace on the
scaffold.
    Blood ran down Wallace's face and into his
red beard. His nude body dripped with sweat and splatters of dung, his legs
running with gore from being dragged behind horses on the way here. The rope to
hang him draped from his neck over the upright in the middle of the scaffold. One
each side of him was a man-at-arms in glittering mail with the red and gold of
the Plantagenet kings. Each gripped an arm. Wallace's hands were lashed behind
his back. Clustered nearby were knights and high lords in their silken peacock
colors.
    One man in a black tunic and breeches stood
alone, thick arms crossed over his heavy chest. Next to him, a brazier held
dancing flames that sent up a finger of smoke.
    A long line of pikesmen in mail jacks held
back the crowd, commanded by a tall knight mounted on a snorting charger. On
his shield was the leopard of King Edward.
    When the bells finally ceased, the man in
purple velvet stepped forward to the edge of the scaffold and read the sentence
of the traitor, William Wallace, to die, hanged, drawn, his heart to be cut out
whilst he yet lived and burned, and then his body quartered and beheaded. His
head to be placed over the gate of London Tower.
    "No," James whispered. Around him,
the crowd began to scream and shout. Obscenities and taunts filled the air.
    A stone sailed out of the crowd over the
heads of the pikesmen. James groaned when it smashed into Wallace's stomach. He
stumbled but the men-at-arms kept him erect and dragged him to the center of
the platform. The man in black checked the noose, adjusting the knot slightly
to the side. He walked to the gibbet and grabbed the end of the rope. He walked
slowing, nodding to the crowd. He began to pull, hand over hand, until the rope
was taut. The noose around Wallace's neck stretched, and he went onto his
tiptoes. The executioner strained and struggled to raise him. Wallace was a big
man. A man-at-arms joined to help, leaning backwards as he pulled.
    Wallace's feet lifted from the ground,
swinging. Heart pounding, James clinched his fists. Please, by all the saints,
let him die fast.
    Screams and shouts of "Give it to 'em"
deafened him. The executioner looped the rope to a stanchion and walked around Wallace
slowly, nodding. When he got back, he loosened the rope. Wallace thumped onto
to the boards of the scaffold. A man-at-arms picked up a bucket of water and
dashed it into Wallace's face. He rolled over, groaning, loud in the momentary
silence; the crowd cheered wildly. Whistles and catcalls went up.
    The executioner pointed to the rope, and
the man-at-arms began to pull it. Wallace's feet scrabbled for purchase against
the wet boards as he was hauled upright. The executioner picked up a knife from
a table.
    Once more, the men-at-arms grabbed
Wallace's arms, bracing themselves. The executioner reached for Wallace's
crotch and grabbed him.
    James' chest heaved with a gasp. Máter Déi... Máter Déi... Máter Déi... His eyes throat
burned and scalding bile filled his mouth. He swallowed, his stomach lurching,
and he