Son of the Morning

These papers were yet another account of his exploits, where he had searched out a band of raiders and destroyed them, leaving no man alive. Niall had evidently gone to a great deal of trouble to protect his stronghold, dealing swiftly and harshly with any threat. This was another sticking point: if he were royal, he would have a title, and legal claim to his stronghold. The Gaelic papers, however, called him a renegade, a man who had taken by force a remote castle in the westernHighlands , and held it without title or deed, without anything except the power of his sword. Could a royal be a renegade, and if he had indeed been outcast from the family to such an extent that his name had been stricken from all records,

would or could Robert the Bruce have tolerated such insolence within his own borders?

The Gaelic papers would probably be more enlightening, but her brain simply couldn’t absorb any more of it that night. Putting aside the French papers, she thumbed through until she found the pages in Old English.

Again, the name almost jumped off the page at her: Black Niall, a Scots warrior so bold and ruthless he was feared throughout theHighlands . His stronghold, Creag Dhu, was never breached, except once by "alayde who entered bye wicked trickery." Grace felt a tiny spurt of amusement when she read that, for of course a woman couldn’t have accomplished the seemingly impossible without using "wicked trickery."

"She fooled you, didn’t she," she murmured to Niall, almost smiling as she imagined his disbelief, his outrage at finding his castle’s protection breached by a lone woman. He would have been in an absolute fury, the kind! that had the castle guards hiding from him Grace stopped her thoughts, grimacing as she realized her imagination had kicked in again. She might dream about him, he might seem so real that sometimes she thought she could turn her head and actually see him standing there, but in ; reality he had turned to dust a good six centuries before she’d ever been born. Reading on, she found that Black Niall had captured the woman, so the "layde’s" trickery had gained her nothing, except his attention, and perhaps that was what she had wanted. The papers didn’t indicate what he had done with her after capturing her. Bedded her, probably, Grace thought. He’d been a lusty man, ill suited formonkhood . Another account began: "Black Niall, theMacRobert -" and Grace sat upright as all the tumblers clicked into place.NielRobertsoune – son of Robert, and a great warrior in an order renowned for its warriors. NiallMacRobert again, son of Robert, and a warrior so great his stronghold was never breached, save by that unnamed enterprising lady. "A Scot of Royalblude " … son of Robert… son ofRobert the Bruce?

Electrified, she quickly checked the dates, only to sag back in disappointment. She could only guess at Black Niall’s age, since she knew neither hisbirthdate nor the date he had died, but he had been a grown man when the Order had been condemned in 1307. King Robert I ofScotland , the most famous Bruce, had been too young to be Black Niall’s father. Quickly Grace rechecked her notes on the chronology ofScotland ‘s royal line. Robert the Bruce’s father, the Earl of Carrick, had also been named Robert.

Was Black Niallbrother to Robert the Bruce? How? The Bruce’s four brothers, Edward, Nigel, Thomas, and Alexander, had been well documented as they fought with their brother and king to push the English out ofScotland . The only way Niall could be connected, but left in obscurity, would be if he were illegitimate.

"That’s it," Grace breathed, sitting back. The ramifications, the possibilities, made sitting still impossible. She jumped up and began pacing the confines of her small room as detail after detail fell into place to complete the puzzle. A bastard half-brother, in medieval times, wouldn’t have been that unusual or even that important – unless the legitimate heir happened to be aiming for a throne.Scotland had always been different from the rest ofEurope in the way it looked at kinship, and while Niall’sbastardy would normally have put him beyond the pale, inScotland the crown had been up for grabs by the one who wielded the most power. The Bruce had been an undeniably powerful warrior and foe, but Niall’s skills in warfare had been legendary. His very existence would have been a threat to Robert.

The wonder was that he hadn’t been murdered, to remove that threat. The fact that he hadn’t suggested that he had been held in some affection. Then, too, he had joined the Templars, so perhaps his ambitions had been churchly rather than political. Not remembering what she’d already read about Black Niall, he hadn’t been the churchly sort at all. So why had he been a Templar? Adventure, wealth? She could see where the promise of both might have lured Black Niall to the Order, but overall his nature seemed far too fierce and earthy for him to accept the restrictions.

Whatever his reasons for becoming a Templar, his doing so had been convenient for the future King of Scotland. The Bruce wouldn’t have had to worry about a monk gaining the crown, because his vows of chastity would have precluded heirs to the throne.

His chastity had ended with the destruction of the Order, Grace thought, if she had translated some of the passages correctly. The references to sexual activity hadn’t been explicit, but fairly plain for all that. However Niall had honored his vows while a Templar, after the Order had been destroyed he had embraced life – and women – to the fullest. He still would not have been a threat to the throne, because as an ex-Templar he would have shunned exposure.

But it explained so much – why Niall had been able to take Creag Dhu and hold it without interference from the King, even why the Bruce had been the one European monarch who had not only not enforced the papal death sentence against the Templars, but whose country had become a sanctuary of sorts for the hunted men. Robert had refused to sign his half-brother’s death sentence. It even explained why Niall had been chosen as Guardian; theTempleMasters had known his lineage, known he and the Treasure would be safer inScotland than anywhere else in the world.