Page 80 of Highland Flame

“I’d hate to think what the king will do, once he hears from me what is really going on at this priory. Or the bishop. I am friends with them both, you do realize.” Lord Clifton’s words were an obvious threat.

“Nay, please don’t,” begged the monk. “I didn’t know all this when I agreed to let them stay here. Please, don’t say a thing.”

Lord Clifton dismounted his steed and walked over to Cam. “I suppose I could be persuaded. That is, if the girl is returned to me without any trouble.”

“Nay!” shouted Cam and Yvaine together, holding on tightly to Avianca. The little girl started crying, gripping on to Yvaine’s leg.

“Who is the mother of the child, anyway?” asked the lord.

“Her mother was a whore who died,” the monk told him.

“A whore?” The border lord took great interest in this story. “Scottish or English?”

“Scottish, of course,” answered Cam in a low voice. “I wouldna be caught dead lyin’ with a Sassenach.”

“I don’t blame you.” Lord Clifton actually smiled. “I’ve always taken a liking to the Scottish over the English as well. They make the best lovers.”

“You can have the girl,” said Brother Gillies. “Take her. Just don’t say a word about any of this to anyone or it will ruin me. Please.”

“Brathair!” snapped Yvaine. “What has happened to ye since ye’ve been here? I hardly ken ye anymore.”

“Why do ye even want the child?” asked Cam. “Excuse me for sayin’, but ye are too old to raise such a young daughter.”

“True,” said the man. “However, I made a mistake many years ago that I still regret to this very day. I think this will help me ease my weary mind. Come with me, Child.”

When he motioned for his guard to collect Avianca, Cam’s eyes settled on the man’s ring he wore on his index finger. It was a gold ring with circles and a boar in the middle. It had a bright blue, square stone. He knew this ring. He knew it well. His heart skipped a beat, and it felt as if he were reliving his past.

“Cam, dinna let him take her,” begged Yvaine, trying to hold the girl back.

Cam released his daughter, letting the guards take her. He stood silent as they loaded the crying girl into the wagon. He was unable to even move to do anything to stop it.

“God’s eyes, Cam, what’s the matter with ye?” growled Gavin, hurrying to his side with Nash and North on his heels.

“Do ye need us to stop him?” Nash went for his sword.

“Nay!” said Cam, holding up his hand. “Dinna draw yer weapons. I dinna want any further trouble. I will handle this by myself.”

“Then for God’s sake, do somethin’ quickly,” begged Yvaine. “They are about to ride away with her. We canna lose Avianca again.”

Cam walked over to the border lord who had just mounted his horse. “Ye had a bastard son once. A son born from a Scottish whore, didna ye?” he asked the man.

Lord Clifton froze, looking down at him from atop the horse. “Why would you say such a thing?”

“I ask ye, because I believe it to be true.”

“Who told you this?” asked the man suspiciously.

“No one had to tell me. I know it because I recognize yer ring, my lord. I’ve seen it before. When I was naught but a child.” He heard Yvaine gasp from behind him, knowing what he meant.

“I don’t understand. What are you saying?” Lord Clifton sat with his back as straight as a board, looking very uncomfortable now.

“Ye see, I am a bastard. My mathair was a Scottish whore,” Cam told him. “I was raised in brothels.”

“So, then you’ve probably seen me in the Scottish brothels. It’s no secret. I told you I’ve been there before. Still, your accusation of me siring a whore’s bastard is false and has nothing to do with me.”

“On the contrary, my lord, I think it has everythin’ to do with ye.” Cam’s whole life was about to change, and a little voice inside him urged him to stay quiet. But he couldn’t. His daughter was about to be taken from him and he would say anything right now if he thought it would help him to keep her. “Ye want a Scottish orphan birthed from a whore because ye once had a child from the same, isna that right? Ye regret leavin’ him behind, and ye think this will ease yer guilt.”

“Is this right, my lord?” asked Brother Gillies, shaking his head. “You have a Scottish bastard?”

“What is he saying my lord?” asked one of his guards.

“It can’t be true,” said another.

“Nay,” answered Lord Clifton with no emotion at all on his face. “You are mistaken. I never had a child with a Scottish whore. I am an English lord, and have two daughters, but no son at all, I am sorry to say.”

The man denied it, but something told Cam that he just didn’t want to admit it in front of everyone. Cam knew that ring, because he’d once worn it himself. He no longer cared what anyone thought. He would take any measure to save his daughter. Besides, if Yvaine could tell her secret to a courtyard filled with people, then his secret would be told to all as well.

“I dinna think I’m wrong, my lord,” said Cam. “As a matter of fact, I ken I am right.”

“Nay. You are mistaken.” Lord Clifton turned a full circle on his horse. “Besides, I just met you. How could you possibly think you know anything about my past?”

“I ken, because my faither once had a ring just like yers before he walked out of my mathair’s life forever. I am his son, the child he never kent. I am yer bastard son, my lord. The one ye abandoned when ye left my mathair, after promisin’ to marry her.”

The border lord didn’t say a word. He and Cam stood there staring at each other.

Cam finally spoke. “Why dinna ye get off the horse and we can discuss this matter further?”