Insurrection: Renegade [02] Read Online Free PDF

support of your order is well known. We became suspects by association.’ Donough scowled. ‘And doubtless it presented the excuse Ulster has been looking for to remove us from Glenarm for good. Under the lordship of the Bruce family we have been protected all these years, while our countrymen were driven into the west by English invaders. I was one of only a handful of men who retained his lands. Of course Ulster wants me gone. But I say God help him and all his kind when our countrymen rise to take back what is theirs. Trouble grows in the south for de Burgh and his kin from what I hear. There are rumours of rebellion. Of war.’ He thumped his fist on the table. ‘A day of reckoning is coming. Mark my words.’
    ‘Richard de Burgh was an ally of your family for years, Sir Robert,’ remarked the younger monk. ‘We know too of your allegiance to King Edward. How can we be sure where your loyalties lie in this matter?’
    ‘Those allegiances are three years dead. They ended the day I joined the insurrection led by William Wallace.’ Robert leaned forward, holding the monk with his gaze. ‘Both our countries have suffered under the English king’s dominion. If you know where the staff is, I can help you keep it from him.’ As the young man glanced at Murtough, Robert caught a flicker of hope in his face. He seized on it. ‘In Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain it is written that Brutus of Troy, who founded these islands, had certain relics in his possession. On his death, his sons carved up the land between them into what would become England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland, each taking one of the four relics to symbolise his new authority.’
    ‘I am aware of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s works,’ Murtough cut in.
    Robert continued, undeterred by the monk’s tone. ‘According to a vision of the prophet Merlin, whose words Monmouth claimed to be translating, this division began Britain’s descent into chaos. Merlin foretold that these relics would need to be gathered again under one ruler to prevent the land’s final ruin. Both Utherpendragon and his son, King Arthur, came close to succeeding, but never fully achieved this. When Edward conquered Wales he discovered a lost prophecy that named the four treasures. For England, Curtana, the Sword of Mercy. For Wales, the Crown of Arthur, believed to be the diadem worn by Brutus himself. For Scotland . . .’
    Here, Robert faltered, his thoughts filling with the bitter image of a block of stone in the belly of a wagon, careening down a dusty track. He was riding furiously in its wake, shield held high. Around him rode other men, blades in their hands and victory in their faces. All bore the same shield as him: blood red with a dragon rearing, fire-wreathed, in the centre. Shamefully, he had played his own part that day, in taking that most precious of relics to Edward.
    ‘For Scotland,’ he finished, ‘the Stone of Destiny, upon which all our kings have been crowned.’
    ‘We have heard of King Edward’s conquests,’ said the younger monk gravely. ‘We know he has taken these treasures for his shrine at Westminster. Only the staff of our founder evades him.’
    ‘Then you know how much he wants this last relic. How he will stop at nothing to get it.’
    ‘And what about you, Earl Robert?’ said Murtough, his eyes glittery in the candlelight. As he took a draught of wine, some of the liquid dribbled through the cleft in his lip. ‘Do you believe in Merlin’s prophecy?’
    ‘It does not matter what I believe. What matters is that the king’s subjects and many of his men believe. They fight for it, bleed and die for it. They are the sword that enabled him to conquer Wales. Now Scotland. The belief that they are saving Britain from ruin adds fire to their conviction. Edward conquers not just with might, but with the power of prophecy. He will make himself a new Brutus, a new Arthur. And all Britain will bend before him.’
    ‘If you had the staff,