Kate Sedley - The Green Man

Somewhat to my surprise, Albany complied, letting the mask swing from his fingers by its ties. John Tullo would have followed suit, but Davey’s hand shot out and clutched the groom’s wrist, preventing him.

The duke smiled sadly at me.

‘Roger, I’m sorry about this. I had hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. And if all had gone to plan, it wouldn’t have been. If my brother’s army had been defeated in battle by the Sassenachs and Edinburgh conquered by force of arms, James taken prisoner or, even better, killed, then, by now, I would have been accepted as King of Scotland. Unfortunately — ’ he shrugged — ‘these plans were thwarted by my uncles’ totally unlooked-for decision to rid the country of James’s gaggle of disreputable favourites at Lauder Bridge. Oh, don’t think I blame them! It was retribution well deserved and long overdue. But the moment, from my point of view, could not have been more ill-chosen. My brother is a prisoner, but not of the English. And one of my countrymen’s conditions — indeed, the chief one — for a peaceful settlement is his restoration to his throne.’

‘So?’ I croaked.

He smiled again with even greater regret. ‘So, I must look for non-human aid in order to achieve my ambition. I must sacrifice to the Green Man, symbol of change and renewal.’

‘Sacrifice?’ I could barely get the word out. My lips felt so stiff they would barely function.

The duke nodded. ‘Just as Mithras cut the throat of the bull, just as Christ gave his own life on the Cross, so all gods need blood before they can bring about change. The Green Man also.’

‘He’s n — not a god,’ I managed to stutter. ‘He’s nothing but a symbol of fertility.’

The rest of the little group made a hissing sound and I saw hands move to dagger hilts. Donald and Murdo took a step nearer, but Albany flung out his arms.

‘No!’ he cried imperatively. ‘Remember, he must be killed with his own knife or the sacrifice is invalid.’

The two squires fell back, but I could hear their heavy breathing and sense the blood-lust that was now consuming each and every one of the six.

It was like a dream — a nightmare! I couldn’t really believe that this sort of nonsense was happening in the modern world. This was the fifteenth century. Surely no one had faith in the pagan rituals of our distant ancestors any more? Not in western Europe, anyway. What happened in distant, heathen lands, beyond the perimeters of the Christian world, far beyond Muscovy and the realms of Prester John, that was anybody’s guess. But this was Scotland and the year was 1482.

Who was I trying to fool? Witchcraft and sorcery were still practised in every remote village and hamlet in England. Hadn’t I seen the signs and symbols often enough on my travels, but chosen to ignore them, even going so far, on occasions, as to pretend to myself that I had misinterpreted them? And if in England, why not in Scotland, a country even less civilized than its neighbour? And I suddenly recollected that the Earl of Mar, amongst whose servants Donald, Murdo, Davey and the other two were numbered, had been accused of sorcery. Wrongly, many claimed, but now I felt certain it had been the truth.

Anger again possessed me. I glared at Albany.

‘Is this what you brought me from England for?’ I demanded, finding my voice and almost shouting at him. ‘Is this why you particularly asked King Edward for me to accompany you? All that talk about wanting me for a bodyguard because you feared for your life, of trusting me when you could trust nobody else, was just one great lie?’ I drew a deep breath and rapped out, ‘Answer me!’

Albany threw out his hands. ‘Roger, my friend — ’ the hypocrisy of that word made me want to spit — ‘if anyone else would have done, you must believe me when I say that only desperation would have induced me to put your life at risk. Three years ago, you helped me when I was a friendless outlaw from my brother’s court. I appreciate that more than you will ever know.’

‘This a strange way to show your appreciation,’ I snarled. ‘And why me?’

Again he spread his hands.

‘But isn’t it obvious?’ His voice was now soft, persuasive, almost soothing. As he went on talking, I found myself beginning to relax in spite of the stone swags pressing into my back and the loss of feeling in my hands and feet. After a little while, my senses began to swim and the candle flames grew in size, dazzling me with their brightness. ‘You are one of us,’ he was saying. ‘You have the “sight”. You are a part of that world of the Elf Queen beneath the Eildon Hills; a part of the Lord of the Wild Hunt’s kingdom beneath Glastonbury Tor. You are at one with Thomas the Rhymer and the monk Collen who bearded Gwyn ap Nud in his lair. Your blood will be spilt to make me king and your name will never be forgotten by us, the Brotherhood of the Green Man. You will be remembered and honoured by us for generations to come. I shall …’

I don’t know what caused it — perhaps I shifted my position and all the agony of my bound limbs returned in a rush — but suddenly I was back in the real world, the candle flames no more than that, the men before me just fools dressed up in stupid masks that wouldn’t scare a schoolboy on All Hallows’ Night, and Albany spouting enough ill-informed nonsense to make a cat laugh. The trouble being, of course, that there was no cat and I was feeling very far from laughing.

My expression must have altered, for Albany sensed at once that the trance-like state into which I was being lulled had lost its magic. The spell was broken. He turned furiously to the others, a command hovering on his lips, so I instinctively played for time. I don’t know what I hoped to gain from a few extra minutes of life, but while I still had breath, there might yet be a gleam of hope.

‘Tell me why Mistress Sinclair had to die,’ I yelled. ‘Tell me the truth!’ Having, for the moment, diverted their attention, I moderated my tone. ‘And don’t pretend she plotted her husband’s murder with some mysterious lover. I’ve proved to my own satisfaction that that was a lie; a clever plot thought up by your friend, Rab Sinclair, and his housekeeper — something that you knew all along, my lord duke!’ I put as much contempt as, in the circumstances, I could muster into the last three words.

Albany, however, was indifferent to what I, or anyone else for that matter, thought of him. I could see it in the arrogant set of his head and shoulders and the scorn in his voice as he answered me.

‘Aline had to die. She had discovered Rab’s involvement with the cult of the Green Man during her recent visit here, to her aunt. Exactly how, Rab didn’t know. Perhaps something her aunt had said, or a chance remark from a stranger. Maybe she had had her suspicions for some while and had at last received confirmation of them.’ He shrugged. ‘Who knows? And, frankly, my dear Roger, who cares? The unfortunate fact is that Aline was a pious little soul with, like so many of her sort, a mind closed against all other forms of worship. Christianity breeds such people and, unhappily, the Church fosters and encourages their narrow-mindedness. Now we — ’ he turned and made a sweeping gesture that embraced his coterie of followers — ‘we tolerate men of all religions, faiths and creeds.’

‘You call human sacrifice toleration?’

Albany frowned, pained.

‘Not human sacrifice, Roger,’ he protested. ‘The shedding of blood for renewal of the spirit or, as in this case, to bring about needful change. It is my destiny to be King of Scotland. Scotland needs me.’

‘You’re mad,’ I said with conviction, but I knew, even as I spoke, that no one would ever be able to prove it. In all respects but one, he was as sane as I was, and furthermore he was a prince of the royal blood, related by his descent from John of Gaunt to most of the reigning houses of Europe. Whatever he did, he would be protected. How he would explain my disappearance, I wasn’t sure. There was a good chance that the Duke of Gloucester would eventually notice my absence and enquire after me, but by that time it would probably be too late to discover my remains and, in any case, Albany would head them off with some specious explanation. I might on occasions have my uses, but when all was said and done, I was nothing more than a common peasant, not to be weighed in the balance against someone of noble birth.