Free Conquer the Night by Heather Graham Page A

and English blood was common among them as well. The Scotland they now so passionately loved as one country had formed from native tribes that had come long before Christianity, just as it had also formed in more recent years with the addition of more would-be conquerors, invaders—and neighbors.
    â€œYou’ve been riding the fortress?” Ragnor asked.
    â€œAye, we’re secure.”
    â€œI’ve seen to the men, and the servants here, the injured, the priest. We’ve seven wounded, three dead,” Ragnor said. “The wounded are in the priest’s house, just by the outer wall.”
    â€œAye, I went by and spoke briefly with one of the women tending the wounded.”
    â€œThe dead are down in the vault in shelves, the cold will keep them, as we should have time for Christian services later. The defenders lost five only, with another ten suffering severe wounds, five minor injuries. The servants have sworn allegiance, acknowledging that their fate will be swift and irrevocable if they betray us in any way. In all, the bloodshed has been light for this victory, and it is a tremendous victory.”
    â€œAye, but Darrow was not here—he deserted the castle.”
    â€œHe didn’t know we were coming; he answered to his overlord.”
    â€œAye, but still …”
    â€œArryn, God knows, we’re all aware of how badly you want to kill Darrow. But though he has slipped through our fingers, we’ve still seized an important castle, and no matter how fierce Edward’s rages and those of his men, this is our country. We don’t want it to become a rotting graveyard, not by our own hands. There is something within Scotland that Edward himself doesn’t see. His armies may be well trained, powerful, and numerous, but victory over a countryside is in more than the armies.”
    â€œOh?”
    â€œArryn, this castle had an English lord before, but I don’t think that ever made the people here English. I think that the majority of them wanted us to seize the fortress. Perhaps they did not feel so when the old lord was alive, but they do now. The old lord might have been an Englishman, but he knew that this castle was Scottish, that Scottish law was ingrained in the people.”
    â€œLet’s hope,” Arryn said. “I don’t want to diminish what our men have done here, but what real victory have we actually taken? If Edward were to come now with his army, we would have to abandon this place. We don’t begin to equal his might. He remains a threat, and he remains a power. And God help us, but it’s true: Scotland is a land of different factions, and too often our own nobles are concerned with what they will gain individually, rather than with the good of the country. That’s our true weakness against the English king. Our richest and most powerful nobles have aspirations to be king, and so they vacillate like branches in the wind rather than cast their fates against Edward. If we continue to fight in the name of a weak and powerless Scottish king, I fear that we fight for nothing,” Arryn said, and shook his head. “Even Roger, who is a member of his clan, knows that is truth. Balliol bowed down before Edward, renouncing his claim to Scotland. Such a man is not a rallying point for warriors!
    â€œWe fight for Scotland, and not for a king, and we fight because we have no choice. What else is there? Edward has given everything he touches to English lords, and the English lords take everything Scottish, including our wives, daughters, and lives. What men can live with so little honor? What man can look to a man to whom he owes homage and not demand that his wife and daughters be given dignity? Ah, but that sounds noble, doesn’t it?”
    â€œAye, of course—” Ragnor began, frowning.
    â€œYet it’s not even honor that drives us on, I’m afraid,” Arryn said. “If we don’t fight, we fall