The Viper Read Free Page A

only the most powerful king in Christendom, Edward of England, but also her husband.
    John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, hailed from one of the most powerful families in Scotland who were the Bruces' fiercest rivals and foes. That rivalry had turned deadly a few weeks ago when Robert had stabbed her husband's cousin, the Lord of Badenoch, before the high altar of Greyfriars Monastery in Dumfries.
    Even now her husband was in England demanding justice for his cousin's death from King Edward. Buchan despised Bruce and would rather see Edward as his master than Robert Bruce on the throne. He wouldn't listen to reason. The good of Scotland paled in the force of his hatred.
    By doing this, her husband would never forgive her. He would consider her duty a betrayal. It would be the end of their marriage--such as it was.
    But the MacDuffs held the hereditary right to enthrone Scotland's kings, and without one some would question the validity of the ceremony. As it was, Robert's claim to the throne would be contested by many of the important noblemen in Scotland, including her husband. To establish the legitimacy of his kingship among the rest, Bruce would need all the symbolism and adherence to tradition that he could find.
    Even then it would be a challenge. Robert was in for a long, difficult struggle. His cause was anything but certain. Bella did not delude herself: in doing this, in aligning herself so publicly with Bruce, her future would be uncertain as well. She would be branded a rebel by the English king who claimed Scotland as his dominion.
    If Robert lost, if he failed to gather enough support from Scotland's nobles, he would stand no chance against Edward. And defying Edward Plantagenet was a grave risk indeed.
    Bella had looked to her mother for guidance. Though her mother had recently married one of Bruce's men, she would not be asking Bella to crown Robert for that alone. Like Bella, her mother wanted to see Scotland freed from English tyranny, and both believed that Robert Bruce was the man to see it done. Her mother's conviction in Bruce's cause was just as strong as her own. Edward Plantagenet had tightened his iron fist around the neck of Scotland, and Robert Bruce was its last breath. If anyone could do this, he could.
    She had to take the risk. In many ways this was the moment she'd been waiting for throughout her entire life. A chance to do something truly important. A chance to stand up for what she believed in. Duty, loyalty, putting her needs behind the good of her family and Scotland. These weren't mere words or ideals, but something real. Something worth fighting for.
    Duty had kept her by her husband's side for so long, but Buchan had never earned her loyalty. For the sake of their daughter she'd weathered his storm of jealous rage, suspicion, and obsessive lust.
    To protect her daughter she might have had second thoughts, had her husband not mentioned that he was considering betrothing the twelve-year-old Joan, named after her grandmother, to one of his cronies, a man four times her age.
    Bella would die before she let that happen.
    Once her mother had assured her that Joan would be able to come with her, Bella had agreed.
    But seeing the man he'd sent for her, she wondered what she'd gotten herself into. If Lachlan MacRuairi was the sort of man Robert was relying on, the rebellion was doomed before it had begun.
    How much had he had to pay him? She doubted there was an amount high enough to ensure the loyalty of a brigand like MacRuairi.
    MacRuairi folded his arms across his chest, an impatient gesture made threatening by the massive size of his arms. Muscles like that could be earned only on a battlefield. Many battlefields.
    "Is there a problem?"
    "I was expecting ..." She glanced into the darkness behind him, hoping to see a party of shiny, mail-clad knights rush out of the shadows.
    His eyes narrowed to slits, almost as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.
    "Where are the rest of the men?" she finished