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

whirled. Desperate, he shoved
between a man and a woman behind him.
    The man laughed. "Too weak-kneed to
watch?"
    James' elbow slammed hard into the man's
belly. He shoved his way further into the crowd. Another cheer went up around
him. Shouts of glee echoed across the city.
    Merciful God,
get me out of here before I kill someone . He couldn't bring that down on the bishop. Even more
desperately, he pushed and shoved, not caring whom he elbowed to get through. Finally,
he stumbled out of the crowd.
    A scream echoed off the walls, soon drowned
in shouts and howls of joy.
    James' stomach heaved again. Bracing his
hand on a wall, he hunched as he spewed vomit onto the cobbles.
    His face burned, but he knew it was the
fever of despair.
    He drew his arm across his mouth and then
leaned his back against the wall. The
devil take them. The devil take them all.
    He took a deep breath and straightened. He
had to get to the manse where Bishop Lamberton and their party were lodged. The
bishop would be furious at his having gone missing. Being yelled at by the man
who'd been a second father to him seemed like a drink of cool water. He lifted
his chin and started back up the slope. Thanks be to St. Bride, King Edward had
refused his own homage when the bishop had presented him. He had no tie to this
horrible place, except for the people they'd killed.
    He wanted to go home. All he really wanted
was to go home. Or to kill the men who had stolen it. He'd get back what they'd
stolen somehow. He shuddered. There was no getting back the lives they had
stolen.
    James wound his way through the busy
streets. Apparently, some hadn't bothered with the execution. Traffic bunched
around carts in the narrow intersections; green mold climbed up the brick
walls. Garbage squashed underfoot, the stink rising as the day warmed with the
climbing sun. Beggars lurked in the alleys crying for alms. James dropped his
hand on his dirk, sorry he'd left his sword in his room. But if he’d had it, he
might have used it back there.
    He turned into a side street where the
houses were finer, tall and freshly whitewashed. Upper windows were open and
the sound of people enjoying the day drifted down. Women wearing bright dresses
passed him, each one accompanied by a maid and man-at-arms as they bargained
with peddlers, gossiped or ordered their servants about. James went through a
gate set in a dressed-stone wall.
    Inside, he closed the polished front door behind
him. Leaning back, he took a deep breath and shut his eyes for a moment. He
would bear it. Let them say William, Lord of Douglas begat a son who could bear
what he must.
    "Squire James," a voice piped. The
only page the bishop had brought to London with them bounced down the stairs,
full of energy as always. He came to a stop, staring.
    "What, Giles?"
    "His Excellency has been asking for
you."
    James gnawed his lip. He could make an
excuse and clean himself up, but he wasn't going to lie to the bishop. He never
had and wouldn't start. He nodded. "Where is he?"
    "In his chamber." The lad frowned.
"He looks in a stew."
    "How else would he be this day?"
    Giles looked like he might cry so James
patted his shoulder in passing. Giles wasn't so much younger than he'd been in
Paris, but seemed so much more of a child than he'd ever been. At the end of
the long hall, he knocked and awaited permission to enter the bishop's
precisely arranged chamber.
    The bishop, thin, dark hair lightly streaked
at the sides with gray, sat at a table, a calfskin folder open in front of him.
He closed it with a snap. "So."
    James bowed. "You sought me, my lord?"
    Lamberton rose to his considerable height,
though James was taller since he'd gotten his full growth. He racked James with
a look. Chewing a lip with a guilty pang, James held Lamberton's glance. The
bishop, even at so great an age as forty, was handsome in a hawk-faced way and
dressed in his usual blackish purple and fine lace, suiting a bishop.
    The bishop inclined his head and