"
"Nay, mother," appealed Kenric, stepping forward. "In mercy I beg you,
charge not my brother with so terrible a mission. Withdraw it, I beseech
you, for you know not what you do in thus exposing Alpin to both danger
and dishonour. For if he take vengeance by stealth, then is his
treachery as evil as that of the murderer whom he would punish. If he
challenge this man to mortal combat, then most surely he will be slain,
for Roderic, as I have seen, is most powerful of arm, and it is his
heart's desire that he should slay my brother, whose death he has
already planned. If you would indeed have this man die, then I entreat
you let me, and not Alpin, fulfill your behest. Alpin is now our
rightful king, and his life is of more value than mine."
Now while Kenric was thus speaking his mother remained in Alpin's arms,
with her head upon his shoulder. And when Alpin drew away his arm that
she might answer Kenric face to face, she turned not round, but sank
down at Alpin's feet, and it was seen that she was in a swoon.
So Alpin carried her away in his strong arms to her chamber, where the
women of the castle tended her. But for three long days and nights she
lay on her couch in a strange sickness that none could understand. For
those three days she was unconscious, speaking never a word.
CHAPTER VII. THE ARROW OF SUMMONS.
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