31. Andrew

A NDREW Whitehall Palace, London, 8th July 1613

N ORTHAMPTON, IN HIS HABITUAL black, had been watching me now for some minutes with sympathy.

We were again waiting in the small room where the king kept his books and his writing things, and where the diamond-paned windows were letting in light of an uncertain quality.

I had been summoned to court for the first time since my return, so I was wearing my livery, but I was finding it hard to get comfortable. Neither my livery nor I had changed our size, and yet my clothes felt as though they no longer fit, nor did I feel that they became me well. The gold seemed somehow tarnished and the scarlet not so bright.

As I fidgeted to get the collar settled right, Northampton told me, ‘I don't think he will behead you just yet, but he is angry. And rightly so. How could you disobey your orders?'

I could stand in silence against most things, but a false charge wasn't one of them. ‘I disobeyed nothing. My warrant said I was to bring Sir David "hither", which I took to mean that I should bring him to where the king was,' I told him. ‘And the king was then at Greenwich.'

‘But you did not bring him to the king.'

I pointed out that it was not my place to navigate the marital arrangements of the king. ‘The queen wished to see Sir David. I cannot refuse the queen.'

The king's voice, speaking from behind us, said, ‘In faith, I can appreciate your problem.'

As he entered, both Northampton and I knelt. He bade us rise. He outwardly looked pleasant, but his eyes held fire, like coals banked deep and waiting to be fanned to flame. Northampton had been right. The king was angry.

‘I myself do find it very difficult,' he told me, ‘to refuse the queen.'Tis why Sir David Moray is at home in Scotland now, and not in the Tower awaiting his trial.' His smile was tight. ‘But then, the queen does have it in her mind that he is of no use to our enquiries, and the queen is often right. It is a shame he could not stay in London, but the council did not think Sir David worthy of a place within Prince Charles's chamber. They were convinced he'd been a poor advisor to Prince Henry.'

I suspected that the council had been more convinced the king would think ill of them if they showed Sir David any favour, but I did not say so. I'd caught only an edge of the darkness Sir David described at the court that had taken the life of the prince, and I could not have said whether King James had truthfully played any part in it, but it seemed more and more likely to me that those close to him had, and there was often truth in that old saying that to know a man's companions was to know the man.

The king said, ‘He was always filling my son's head with wild thoughts, and turning him against me.'Tis much better that I choose more wisely for my younger son. Our choices, Logan, can have unforeseen effects.'

And there it was, the phrase I'd Seen. No threat to me, although he plainly was displeased.

‘The queen,' he said, ‘has made one more demand of me. It touches you.'

‘Your Majesty?'

‘She asks that I dismiss you from my service.'

I'd not heard that right. ‘Your Majesty?'

‘Apparently, her stables grow so large she has need of another stable master to attend her business there. Sir William Moray, my old friend, whose judgement I'll allow is better than his brother's, recommended you.' The king, still irritated with this new turn of events, presented me with this as though there were no choice involved on my part. Which, of course, there wasn't. ‘You may give your livery tomorrow to my lord Northampton, when you start your service to the queen. The lease upon your house will stand as long as you do serve her. I do thank you, Logan, for your time. And for the Garron you delivered to me. It will suit me well for my next hunt.'

And that was all. I was dismissed.

Five years, five bullets and a sword slash, countless miles ridden in all weathers, men who'd cursed me, men who'd praised me, and a lad who'd left his home in Leith to follow me.

I was no longer a King's Messenger.

I'd lost my father's legacy, and gained my own.

And finally, I felt free.