Page 26 of Highland Flame

“Aye. Your Scottish king was by far the worst. He not only led the raid but stayed at Lanercost for three days causing havoc. He threw out the vessels of the temple, imprisoned the canons, and ransacked the church. He demolished holy relics, stole jewels, and plundered the treasury. He left this place pretty much destroyed.”

“I’m sorry,” said Cam, knowing how awful war could be. “But ye refer to David as my king, but yet ye are also Scottish.”

“My mother was English,” said the monk. “I think of myself more as English than Scottish.”

They continued to walk. “Then ye are only half-Scot, too?” Cam asked Yvaine.

“Nay,” she answered. “Keithen and I were from our faither’s second marriage.”

“So, Brathair Gillies is really yer half-brathair.”

“Aye, but he is our family, and family is all that matters. Especially since my parents are no longer alive.” She looked down to the little girl in her arms when she said it, making Cam remain quiet.

“Yvaine, let me carry her,” said Cam.

“Nay,” she answered stubbornly.

“Shhh,” the monk told them with a finger to his lips. “The cloisters are where our brothers sometimes meditate, reflect, pray, or read. We need to be quiet.”

Cam could see that Avianca was getting heavy for Yvaine. Without asking again, he reached out and took the child from her, receiving a dirty look from her in return.

“Lanercost Priory is a lot larger than I expected,” said Cam softly.

“It once had a tannery, but that is no longer in use because of the destruction,” said Gillies. “We do have a brewhouse and granary which we use, but they are both still not fully functional.”

“Ye are self-sufficient with growin’ yer own food as well, I see,” said Cam, looking out to the orchard and crops growing in the fields.

“We are.”

“How about livestock?” he asked. “I saw chickens and a few sheep but no’ much more.”

“At one time, we had cattle and pigs as well, but not at this time,” Gillies explained.

“What do ye do for meat?” he asked. “At the MacKeefe Clan in the Highlands, we slaughter some of our cattle and other livestock to have food for the winter.”

“They dinna eat meat,” Yvaine told him, making Cam’s stomach lurch just to hear it.

“No meat?” he asked. “Really?”

“We have ponds with fish that we do eat,” said the monk. “However, our sheep are only for the wool, and the chickens for the eggs. We have a few milk cows, but we do not eat their flesh.”

“Wonderful,” Cam commented under his breath, wondering what Nash and North were going to say when they heard this. He felt sorry for them in a way since this was his punishment, yet they would suffer as well.

“Did I see vineyards, too?” asked Yvaine.

“Aye. The brotherhood makes our own wine,” Gillies told them proudly.

“How many people live here?” asked Cam curiously.

“Right now, we have forty. That includes the monks, lay brothers, and half a dozen nuns. Of course, there are more here when we house travelers or those who are on pilgrimage.”

“There seems to be a lot of work that is required here,” commented Cam.

The monk smiled. “We all pitch in, and there is no idle moment day or night. You see, there are eight canonical hours as well, called matins, lauds, prime, terce, sext, none, vespers and compline.”

“What does that mean?” asked Cam, the words sex and none ringing in his ears.

“He is speakin’ of the times that are required for prayer,” Yvaine explained.