them!"
"Yet you so worked it that it was they who gave you the mormaorship! Or seemed to."
"To be sure. It was ... advisable. So now they are committed. To me. Before many witnesses. And will be more so before we are finished. A man, or a mormaor...or a king, must use the tools that come to his hand."
"A king...?" she whispered.
* * *
Next day they set off up Glen More with a much enlarged company—for MacBeth insisted that the three thanes accompanied them, with some of their people. Moray was a vast area, the largest mortuath in the land, and it was out of the question to visit even any major portion of it. But certain key districts and thanedoms they could show themselves in, with advantage.
They rode up the north shore of long Loch Ness, Urquhart's own thanedom, this, requiring no attention. But at the far loch-head, at Kilchumin, they entered the territory of the Thane of Lochaber, a highly important individual of mixed loyalties, whose west coast sea-lochs were much at the mercy of raiding Vikings and Islesmen. MacBeth felt that here was a man who would quickly perceive where his best interests lay.
In the morning they moved on up the River Oich to Loch Oich, still in the mighty Glen More, halfway up the side of which they reached Invergarry, where Ewan of Lochaber had his dun. As MacBeth had anticipated, this youngish and somewhat harassed noble was more than happy to accept the Earl Thorfinn's half-brother as lord—since it ought to ensure him relief from the Orkneymen's raids, at least. If he could translate the situation into actual protection by Thorfinn, then many of his problems would be solved. For the Viking presence in the Hebrides and the West Highland coastal regions was as comprehensive as it was terrible—and of all the Viking pirates, jarls and raiders, Thorfinn was the chief. MacBeth was not a little amused, privately, over how much he was using his half-brother's name and reputation as lever in this business—but was in no least doubt that Thorfinn would do exactly the same in similar circumstances.
Turning back north-eastwards they took the south side of Loch Ness, then southwards, climbing now, up into and over the heather moors of Meallmore and down beyond into Strath-dearn, they proceeded to the pine-forest country of Badenoch, where the Thane of Rothiemurchus was important.
At length, satisfied, MacBeth turned away due eastwards for the Laigh, the low-lying, fertile plain near the coast, heart of the province and its most populous area. He had little fear for his reception there, where his family's influence was still strong. Moreover Thorfinn's base of Torfness was so situated on the coast thereof as to menace, if need be, most of that rich and pleasant land. It would be a bold thane or chieftain indeed who rejected Thorfinn's brother in the Laigh.
Out of the Highlands of Braemoray they came down to Elgin, the ecclesiastical centre of Moravia, a most holy place supporting no fewer than four castles and six churches. Here the aged senior bishop, Congal, now almost blind, actually wept on MacBeth's shoulder. He had christened him, after all. There was little need for any demonstration or angling for support here. Only the one more call now, he told Gruoch—Forres. For Nairn, a little further to the west, was Cawdor's town, and could be omitted meantime.
Forres, a dozen miles west of Elgin, near the head of the Laigh was the traditional capital of Moravia, where the great bay of Findhorn came close to the foothills of Braemoray. Here, after the fall of the Pictish monarchy at Inverness, the royal power of the Scots had been established, and a large Pictish fort transformed into a straggling palace of sorts. Here so much had happened in the story of the North that the chroniclers and sennachies for once had not required to invent and romanticise. Here great battles had been fought, great treacheries hatched, evil spells cast, notable feats performed not only in arms but in poetry,
"Yet you so worked it that it was they who gave you the mormaorship! Or seemed to."
"To be sure. It was ... advisable. So now they are committed. To me. Before many witnesses. And will be more so before we are finished. A man, or a mormaor...or a king, must use the tools that come to his hand."
"A king...?" she whispered.
* * *
Next day they set off up Glen More with a much enlarged company—for MacBeth insisted that the three thanes accompanied them, with some of their people. Moray was a vast area, the largest mortuath in the land, and it was out of the question to visit even any major portion of it. But certain key districts and thanedoms they could show themselves in, with advantage.
They rode up the north shore of long Loch Ness, Urquhart's own thanedom, this, requiring no attention. But at the far loch-head, at Kilchumin, they entered the territory of the Thane of Lochaber, a highly important individual of mixed loyalties, whose west coast sea-lochs were much at the mercy of raiding Vikings and Islesmen. MacBeth felt that here was a man who would quickly perceive where his best interests lay.
In the morning they moved on up the River Oich to Loch Oich, still in the mighty Glen More, halfway up the side of which they reached Invergarry, where Ewan of Lochaber had his dun. As MacBeth had anticipated, this youngish and somewhat harassed noble was more than happy to accept the Earl Thorfinn's half-brother as lord—since it ought to ensure him relief from the Orkneymen's raids, at least. If he could translate the situation into actual protection by Thorfinn, then many of his problems would be solved. For the Viking presence in the Hebrides and the West Highland coastal regions was as comprehensive as it was terrible—and of all the Viking pirates, jarls and raiders, Thorfinn was the chief. MacBeth was not a little amused, privately, over how much he was using his half-brother's name and reputation as lever in this business—but was in no least doubt that Thorfinn would do exactly the same in similar circumstances.
Turning back north-eastwards they took the south side of Loch Ness, then southwards, climbing now, up into and over the heather moors of Meallmore and down beyond into Strath-dearn, they proceeded to the pine-forest country of Badenoch, where the Thane of Rothiemurchus was important.
At length, satisfied, MacBeth turned away due eastwards for the Laigh, the low-lying, fertile plain near the coast, heart of the province and its most populous area. He had little fear for his reception there, where his family's influence was still strong. Moreover Thorfinn's base of Torfness was so situated on the coast thereof as to menace, if need be, most of that rich and pleasant land. It would be a bold thane or chieftain indeed who rejected Thorfinn's brother in the Laigh.
Out of the Highlands of Braemoray they came down to Elgin, the ecclesiastical centre of Moravia, a most holy place supporting no fewer than four castles and six churches. Here the aged senior bishop, Congal, now almost blind, actually wept on MacBeth's shoulder. He had christened him, after all. There was little need for any demonstration or angling for support here. Only the one more call now, he told Gruoch—Forres. For Nairn, a little further to the west, was Cawdor's town, and could be omitted meantime.
Forres, a dozen miles west of Elgin, near the head of the Laigh was the traditional capital of Moravia, where the great bay of Findhorn came close to the foothills of Braemoray. Here, after the fall of the Pictish monarchy at Inverness, the royal power of the Scots had been established, and a large Pictish fort transformed into a straggling palace of sorts. Here so much had happened in the story of the North that the chroniclers and sennachies for once had not required to invent and romanticise. Here great battles had been fought, great treacheries hatched, evil spells cast, notable feats performed not only in arms but in poetry,
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