LORD OF DUNKEATHE Read Free

Uncle Fergus, that would mean several days they wouldn't be in Glencleith, eating their own stores. Her uncle would be someone else's guest rather than an overly generous host.
    "All right, Uncle," she said. "You've convinced me I should at least go and see this paragon of a Norman."
    Uncle Fergus hugged her, fairly beaming. "That's my beauty! And if he doesn't pick you, he's a fool and not worthy of you anyway."
    Riona wasn't nearly so sure of that, and it might be a little embarrassing for her to find herself being compared to other women and no doubt found lacking, but if going to Dunkeathe made Kenneth and Uncle Fergus happy, and saved them some money, surely she could endure a bit of discomfort.
    "WHAT DID I TELL YOU, Riona, eh?" Uncle Fergus cried as their cart came over the ridge of a hill a few days later.
    Beyond lay a river valley, and standing to the east of the river was Castle Dunkeathe, a massive feat of masonry and engineering that had to impress anyone who saw it.
    Around it, other, much smaller buildings comprised a sizable village, and there were farmsteads along the road leading to it, as well as fields of barley and oats, and meadows for grazing sheep
    and cows. The hills around the valley were wooded and Riona supposed the overlord and his friends hunted there with their hounds and hawks.
    It made quite a contrast to Glencleith, which had some of the poorest, most rock-strewn land in the country.
    "Did I no' say it was quite a fortress?"
    "Aye, you did, and aye, it is," Riona murmured as she studied the huge edifice that had been years in the making.
    Two thick stone walls and a dry moat comprised the outer defences . Towers had been constructed along the walls to watch the road and the river and the hills beyond. The gatehouse was like a small castle itself and dwarfed the wagons passing under the wooden portcullis.
    She couldn't begin to fathom how much stone and mortar it had taken to construct it, or how many men, or the cost. Sir Nicholas must have been paid very well by King Alexander, and with more than the ground this castle stood upon.
    He must have an army of servants as well as soldiers and archers, too. There were times it was difficult to keep things running smoothly on her uncle's small estate, so she could only imagine some of the difficulties the lord of Dunkeathe must encounter. But then, he would have a steward and others to help him.
    Perhaps the rumours of Sir Nicholas's prowess in battle and tournaments weren't exaggerations, after all. If he came from the humble beginnings her uncle claimed he did, he certainly had achieved a great deal, if one measured success by wealth and this fortress alone.
    "We're not the only ones who came in answer to the news of his search for a bride," Uncle Fergus noted, nodding at the other carts and wagons already on the road ahead of them.
    Several of these vehicles were richly decorated and accompanied by guards. Other men, cloaked and riding beautiful horses decked in colourful accoutrements, rode with them, and Riona assumed these were noblemen. More wagons held casks of what was likely wine or ale, and baskets or sacks of foodstuffs— enough to feed a multitude by the looks of it.
    Just how many women was Sir Nicholas expecting?
    Riona tried not to think about that, or compare those people and their wagons to her uncle's rickety cart and their old gray horse. She wouldn't worry about her dress, or her uncle's Scots attire.
    "King Alexander must have been very pleased with Sir Nicholas's service," she said as they approached the mighty gatehouse.
    "Aye, I heard he was vital in putting down the last rebellion," Uncle Fergus replied. "And he's bonny to look at, so they say," he
    reminded her with a wink. "Brawand rich ant/handsome—that's rare."
    At the gatehouse, two armed soldiers stepped into the road, blocking the way. Both wore chain mail with black tunics over top, and carried spears as well as swords sheathed at their waist. Several soldiers