Exiles in Time (The After Cilmeri Series) by Sarah Woodbury

was really too bad
David couldn’t be here to witness this.
    Falkes sat back, mollified. “I have
seen with my own eyes what England has suffered these years without
a strong hand to guide her. It would be anarchy up here if not for
a few good men who hold the north for the crown.”
    Callum studied Falkes a moment before
he enlightened him: “King David asks for confirmation of your
loyalty because the last time you and he met, it was under less
than ideal circumstances. He wanted to assure himself that you bear
him no grudge, as he bears none for you.”
    Falkes went very still. “I-I’m not
sure I understand. What could I have done to arouse King David’s
ire? I would remember if I’d met him.”
    “ He asked that I prod your
memory,” Callum said. “Nearly four years ago, you encountered a
young Welshman and his companion along Hadrian’s Wall. The year
before, his mother had rescued your nephew, Thomas, who’d been
captured by Scottish marauders. King David spent some hours in the
cell at the back of your stables.”
    David had so wanted to be here to
see Falkes’s reaction to this news, and Falkes didn’t disappoint.
“I didn’t-I didn’t—” Falkes’s face drained of all color and he
swallowed hard.
    “ The King understands that
you meant no disrespect and acknowledges that he didn’t tell you at
the time that he was the Prince of Wales,” Callum said.
    Falkes was already recovering from the
shock of Callum’s revelation, and acceptance of his new reality
wasn’t far behind. “I must tell you that I would not have treated
him better had I known his true identity.” Falkes paused. “And yet,
even with the history between us, he leaves me as castellan of
Carlisle?”
    “ He has first-hand
knowledge of how vigilantly you patrol the north for him,” Callum
said. “Do you pledge to continue with your task?”
    Falkes gave a sharp jerk of his head.
“Yes.”
    Callum was pleased to see no
hesitation in Falkes’s manner. “King David wanted you to know who
he was before you answered his call to come to the Tower of London
at midsummer.”
    “ The Tower—what did you
say?” said Falkes.
    “ King David is summoning
all his castellans and his sheriffs to him,” Callum said. “He met
many when he journeyed across England before Christmas, but he
wants to consult with you all at the same time, to discuss your
views and opinions on the needs of his country.”
    Falkes swallowed down whatever
objections he had been about to voice. “I will be
there.”
    “ Good.” Callum rose to his
feet. “Please bring your nephew with you when you come.”
    Falkes clenched his teeth. “Of
course.”
    Callum had been about to leave, but
the ferocity in Falkes’s face had him sitting down again. “The King
has no plans to make Thomas hostage to your good behavior, if that
is what you fear.”
    It had been. If David were to go that
route, it certainly wouldn’t be without precedent. In the past, it
was common practice for a king or lord to hold a man’s loved ones
hostage to ensure that a lord obeyed him in all things. More than
one Welsh son had lost his life when his father had found the
king’s commands untenable.
    Falkes leaned forward. “Your news
disturbs me. You tell me that King David holds no grudge against
me, but I remember him. I remember that my men hunted him through
the countryside. One of them wounded his companion. How can he
forgive that? If I come to London, he will have my
head.”
    “ Is that the man King David
is?” Callum said. “You’ve had an ear to the ground since he took
the throne. That’s what your spies tell you of his
character?”
    “ William de Valence has
fled to France,” said Falkes. “He feared the king’s
wrath.”
    “ Valence plotted against
King David’s life,” Callum said. “He’s lucky not to be in the Tower
of London with the rest of his co-conspirators—or without his head.
The King has forgiven far worse crimes than yours since he took