Chapter 10

The walk up to the castle was a silent one. What was there to say? The princes certainly felt they had nothing to apologise for. Both of them were too deep in worry for their English friends to care. Jail was one sentence, but the brothers hoped it wouldn't be worse. Especially since they'd been caught harbouring royalty and, if what the one policeman had said were true, if taken into Scottish custody would be charged with treason. And the punishment for that was far worse than a few years behind jail. Neither Scot could look each other in the eye with this thought.

Donald was especially close to tears. He and Bill had seen the bushes rustling and Bill had leapt up ready to welcome his twin back with open arms. Instead Bill was greeted by a hard boot and handcuffs. Donald had done his best to prize the men off him, but his ribs were still tender. Shortly afterwards, Calum and some noblemen had arrived and demanded to know the whereabouts of Douglas' location. Donald and Bill could only watch from opposite ends of their camp till the others arrived. And of course, finding out Donald was a prince has certainly sapped his spirits. Donald remembered the look in Bill's eyes. Confusion, hurt, betrayal.

The walk though the castle grounds was not as silent. But it was worse, because the silence was broken by whispering. Gossip, and Douglas thought he heard one woman snigger with a comment about the humiliation the Scottish princes had brought on themselves.

Maggie greeted her sons at the door, her arms folded. There was no anger or hatred in her eyes. Just cold, hard disappointment. Both twins had to look at the floor, for it was the most welcoming place to look right now. They waited for their berating, but none came. Just stony silence. A crow cawed loudly from one of the turrets.

"Inside" Maggie said at last, and the princes did as they were told, feeling like toddlers who had just been scolded for playing in the mud.

"So ye thought campin' out in tae woods would be a good enough hidin' spot?" Maggie frowned "The woods close tae the castle? Ye had long enough to escape did ye not"

"Donald was hurt" Douglas said quietly, still refusing to meet his parent's eyes. "We couldn't have gone far"

"Ye wouldn't have been hurt if ye just stayed put like we told ye too!" Calum made a noise of exclamation.

"Or if it hadnea been stormy" Donald muttered, remembering how the lightning had caused the tree to fall. The image of the bees coming to his rescue flashed across his mind "How did ye find us?"

"Ironically those little friends of yours gave ye away" Calum levelled his gaze between them "Couple o' Englishmen came to the castle and said they'd tracked tae 'bees' near the woods, and asked if we'd seen them. We said nae - an' that we were worried about our missin' sons and they offered to help look for ye two as well. Ye being all in one place was nae coincidence was it?"

"Nae" Donald's fists clenched "They helped us. A tree fell on me – thats' why we couldnae move fer weeks. Those two helped me - where are they?"

Maggie and Calum looked at each other. There was a mix of emotions on their face. On the one hand, the bees were sought after thieves, and had been caught harbouring missing royalty. This was treason, and the gallows wouldn't be far behind. However, if it was true that they had helped the princes, they owed them a personal thank you. But what did it matter when it was only circumstance – the bees would have been caught regardless and the Scots were intent on running away anyway. Now both were where they belonged in the eyes of the law, and the princes still had an important duty to attend to.

"Get washed you too and come fer dinner in the hall. Heather and Gavina have been informed of yer return, and ye shall be wed tomorrow"

Both princes began to protest immediately, but their mother shut them off quickly by demanding the instructions.

"The last two months are inconsequential" Maggie continued, turning away from them and beginning to head up the stairs towards her room "Ye two shall be wed by this time tomorrow"

Douglas towelled his hair dry and sat down on his bed with a heavy sigh. It seemed so odd to be back in his room, with all of his things. The prince crossed the room to his drawers, where a drawing he'd done as a child was still propped up on a board. It was an amateurish blob version of him and Donald standing in a meadow, smiling. A weird black thing at the bottom of the page was probably child Douglas' impression of the dip. It always made Douglas smile – not for the penmanship, but because he could still feel the happiness radiating from that picture. A droplet landed on top of blob Donald's face, and Douglas hastened to return it to the desk unless it was ruined.

Donald was being an unusually long time in the bathroom. His brother didn't blame him; Donald had, in some ways, a lot more to lose. Douglas felt guilty for not protecting Ben when he'd realised something was amiss, but he knew deep down that capture at that point was inevitable. The prince stroked the wooden post of his bed, before leaning on it to stare out the window. The full moon shone bright and imposing, the stars next to it twinkling mischievously. Only a few days ago they had all sat under those stars together around a campfire. The last two and three quarter months (which they'd found to be exact) had been some of the happiness since childhood. They didn't need riches or crowns to be happy. The company was enough. Douglas recounted the events before their capture, replotting it in his head so that they'd all be safe. He blushed as he remembered how he'd almost kissed Ben. Why he wasn't sure. A spur of the moment perhaps, maybe because the Brummie had opened up to him. Douglas remembered going fishing, and the mulberries. Douglas loved the mulberries. His hand involuntarily strayed up to the spot on his chin where Ben had touched to wipe away some of the mulberry juice. Oh yes, if Douglas couldn't change any of the other events, he wished he could have kissed the bee.

Oh yes, he had a lot to think about, and Donald was still occupied so he decided to go to the stables. Skye would be a little comfort, thought Douglas. He hadn't seen her for too long. The moon lit the path down to the stables, and Glen nickered with surprise to see the prince. Douglas rubbed his nose fondly.

"Not Donnie man, he'll be down soon"

The ebony Clydesdale nickered as if to say 'thank goodness'. Douglas moved around to a stall further behind, and found his bay mare with her head buried in a bag of feed. She was distinctly larger than the last time he'd left her, and Douglas remembered telling Ben how he wouldn't be around to overfeed her. But Skye was loved by the children of the clan, and often snuck treats from them till Douglas stopped her. The prince rolled his eyes, and softly called her name. The mare's head shot up and once and she plodded over, her ears pricked.

"Hello lassie" Douglas smiled, rubbing her face, scratching her ears and patting her neck in all her favourite places. Skye certainly looked happy to see him back, and she pushed her nose against her rider's palm, demanding attention.

"It's been a rough few weeks" Douglas said out loud, possibly to his mare, as he hugged nose softly "Ah know ye'll understand why we did it"

"Well then, I hope you won't mind telling me"

Both Douglas and his mount turned their head to the right to see Finlay O'Sullivan enter the stable, a broom in his hand.

"Finlay!" Douglas grinned, for he had missed his Irish tongued friend.

"Ol' Finlay's got your secrets covered" His dark eyes glimmered from under his cap "What was all o' this about two bees? You two chose harvesting honey over your fiancé?"

"Nae" The prince chuckled, but it was a sad sound "Couple of laddies from Birmingham" and before he knew what he was doing, Douglas had told the stable hand everything. And Finlay listened, occasionally rubbing the back of his neck.

"So whit de ye think we should do now?" Douglas said, feeling all but defeated.

"If those two men mean that much to you, I'd say follow your heart"

"But whit does that mean?"

"You won't know until you listen" Finlay's bronze lips twitched into a brief smile "Also there's something ye should know about Skye" He pointed to the mare "No doubt that's escaped your notice?"

"Those kids have overdone it with the carrots haven't they?"

"Maybe a little" The stable hand chuckled "But that's not all. Remember how Old Jack broke out of the stables a few months ago?"

"Ah told that story to Ben" Douglas began to laugh, but it trailed off as he remembered how much he was missing him.

"Douglas, Skye's pregnant. Congratulations!"

"Hey man" Douglas patted his brother's shoulder gently. Donald didn't flinch. His fists were balled tightly in his lap, and he was running a small piece of brown fabric between his fingers. Douglas thought it looked similar to the material Bill's waist coat had been made of, but he decided not to ask about it.

"Wanna talk about it man?" Douglas gulped. Donald shrugged, so Douglas tried a different topic to get his brother's attention.

"Skye's pregnant" Donald's head jerked a little, and he looked interested for a moment, then he drooped again. Douglas gave up. He didn't feel like talking much either, but it would have been better than the ongoing silence.

"Ah'll no let the gallows get em" Donald spoke out of the blue, his eyes fixed hard on the window. The piece of fabric in his hands fell to the floor "Dougie ah swear this isnae the end"

Douglas thought his brother was being overly optimistic for the situation, but his heart was hoping the same thing.