by Angus Donald
Then they began.
Wulfstan wasted no time. He charged at Rix with a wild yell and began to batter at the taller man with a welter of hard blows, wildly swinging with his strong right arm, and battering his opponent with powerful cuts at his head and shoulders. Rix fended off the attack with ease, blocking with his sword and letting the blows slide off his shield, slowly retreating before the fury of his foe. Wulfstan, I could see, was not unused to the sword: someone had instilled the rudiments in him and he would have made a decent if not particularly skilful manat-arms. I had trained worse men than him for Robin, and he had a passion, too, a rage in him that gave force to his sword cuts — he was fighting for his honour, for his family lands, and he knew in his heart that his cause was just.
But he was no match for Rix.
In the middle of a storm of blows from Wulfstan, the tall man’s long blade lanced out over the top of Wulfstan’s shield and plunged deep into the top of his opponent’s left shoulder. It was like the strike of an adder: fast, precise, deadly. Blood spurted red from the wound and Wulfstan fell back with a cry of rage and pain. His shield sagged, his torn shoulder muscles unable to support its weight. Then Rix struck again, once more on his opponent’s left side, the shield side, his sword flickering out almost delicately to carve a bloody furrow in Wulfstan’s cheekbone.
The blond farmer charged once more, red droplets flying from his face into the clear air; a howling surge of fury and desperation and blurring, hacking sword, but Rix merely blocked, dodged, ducked a blow, stepped forward and back-swung gracefully, chopping into the meat of his opponent’s bare right forearm. Wulfstan screamed and staggered back. He could barely hold up his shield with his left, and his sword arm now had a chunk of purple flesh flapping from it. He could no longer either attack his foe or properly defend himself and it was only a matter of time before blood loss pulled him down. He was a dead man — and he knew it. Every man watching knew it too.
A more merciful opponent would have finished him then, but Rix seemed to have no compassion in his lanky black soul. The next few minutes were excruciating, as Rix circled Wulfstan inflicting minor cut after minor cut. He slashed at his calves and drew a spray of blood, sliced into his side, into his right thigh, and carved a furrow on the right side of his face to match the one on the left side, this time taking the eye along with it. He was slowly cutting his opponent apart. Very slowly chopping the life from him.
The crowd had been cheering the display, whooping and applauding the first blood, but gradually the noise died away to a few scattered shouts as Rix played with Wulfstan as a cat plays with a wounded mouse. The Saxon could no longer protect himself, staggering about the square, weak with loss of blood, sword and shield held in drooping blood-slicked hands, and all the while Rix danced in and struck, each time leaving the man weaker and more gory, but disdaining to make the killing blow.
My stomach was sickened by this display. I have seen much of battle and death but this slow draining of a man’s courage and life force, mocking his pain and making sport with his pride, was too much for me. I looked over at Prince John, hoping that he would stop this cruel exhibition, but he sat there grinning, pointing and clearly sharing a joke with Sir Ralph Murdac, who was standing at his side.
The Saxon was by now on his knees in the centre of the list; he had dropped both sword and shield and he knelt there passively, head hanging low, beard dripping blood, as Rix took two steps in and sliced off an ear. Wulfstan made a low bellowing noise of pain and frustration but he barely moved except to rock to one side when the ear was lopped. He merely waited like a bullock for the release of death.
I had had enough.
I stepped over the ropes, and drew my sword.
‘Hey! You there, Rix, or whatever your name is. He is finished. Let him be,’ I said, striding into the centre of the square with my sword in hand.
It was an idiotic thing to do, and went against all the plans and stratagems that I had so carefully made. And, given his prowess with a sword, it was quite possibly suicidal, too. But I could not stand there and watch him torture a brave warrior any longer. So much for my being a cold-hot man.
Rix turned to face me, his beautiful blood-washed sword in hand. His smile broadened. ‘You have a proper weapon this time, boy, I see,’ he said in good French. ‘Not some child’s musical toy.’
Although he had insulted my much loved and very much missed vielle, I was pleased to note that he still bore the circular red mark from its strings around his neck. I lifted my blade and saluted him. ‘This time I do — and it is this weapon that will cut short your miserable life, you soulless, night-skulking man-butcher.’
‘No,’ shouted a harsh voice. ‘No, I will not have it! I will not have my men brawling with each other over a trivial matter such as this.’ Prince John had seen fit to take part in the dispute. ‘You sir, Dale — you will not interfere with my justice. This very morning you swore an oath to be my faithful vassal — have you proved to be an oath-breaker so soon? I command you to withdraw from the list. Now. And you, Rix: that is enough. You have done well, but you are dismissed. Let Milo deal with him.’
Rix shot me a malevolent glare. ‘We will try this matter another time,’ he said before wiping the gorgeous sword carelessly on his yellow tunic hem, sheathing it, turning his back on me, walking away and stepping long-legged over the rope to disappear into the crowd.
‘You’re damned right we will, you murdering bastard,’ I muttered, sheathing my own weapon. I walked back to the ropes, but I could not help myself from turning as I reached them. As I watched, the giant form of Milo padded over to the kneeling, blood-drenched Wulfstan, and with one seemingly effortless wrench of his meaty hands quickly snapped the man’s neck and sent him instantly to the next, and I most earnestly pray, better world.
Perhaps as a punishment for my unruly behaviour, Prince John decided that I should become a tax collector. With a shameless disregard for truth, decency and knightly honour that stole the very breath from my lungs, the Prince announced that he would take it upon himself to begin collecting the taxes to pay for King Richard’s ransom. He gathered a score of knights in the main courtyard of the middle bailey and harangued us for an hour about the fate of his poor brother, kept in chains in Germany, and exhorted us to hear no excuses, listen to no lies, to search every croft and cot diligently, and spare no one in gathering funds for the enormous ransom that doubtless would soon be demanded for his dear brother’s release. The ransom silver, Prince John informed us with a perfectly straight face, would be kept safely here in Nottingham Castle, under his watchful eye, until the time was right to release our beloved sovereign. This drew one or two sniggers from the assembled knights, but their merriment was quickly quelled by Sir Ralph Murdac’s cold blue eye searching for culprits in the throng. He stood beside his master like a faithful hound, in his shadow, shoulder wedged up high, and surveyed the crowd of fighting men in the courtyard for signs of disloyalty. Naturally his eye alighted on me. I gave him a big, toothy grin. And a lascivious wink.
No one in that packed bailey believed for a heartbeat that Prince John had any intention of handing over the silver once it was collected. And that was fine; we were all his loyal men, and we would all share in his future good fortune, if, Heaven forbid, something fatal were to befall good King Richard.
And so I became a tax collector, which was, I can heartily assure you, one of the most distasteful labours that I have ever undertaken.
A few days later, we cantered out of Nottingham: myself, a big sergeant and six mounted men-at-arms and a rat-like priest called Stephen. I had dispatched Hanno on some errand the day before and did not expect him back for several days. Father Stephen carried the parchment rolls in his saddlebags; the long lists therein recorded the wealth of every single hovel, cottage, farmstead and church in the manor of Mansfield, the area we had been assigned to gather revenue from that day. Other parties of knights and men-at-arms had been dispatched to various manors, towns, d
istricts and villages for the same purpose, and there had been much discussion and some complaints when the assignments had been handed out by Sir Ralph Murdac. Some men had demanded larger areas, others had whined that the manors in their allotted sector were too poor to be worth much. It was clear that many of the knights who had flocked to Prince John’s banner were privately reckoning how much they could squeeze from the places they were taxing, and just how much they could get away with keeping for themselves. To swear allegiance to Prince John, I realized with a sinking heart, was to receive a licence to plunder.
England had made itself especially beautiful on that April morning as I rode north through Sherwood at the head of the column of eight men. The sun smiled down on us in a kindly manner, the sky was a deep untarnished azure, bright new green leaves rustled in the slight breeze, bluebells carpeted the shady ground beneath the tall trees, jays swooped among the branches and wood pigeons carolled sweetly to us as we passed. I glimpsed a hump-backed boar through the thick forest undergrowth, rooting for last year’s acorns; and a slender fallow deer, just standing and staring at us with its enormous eyes, and I was instantly transported to happier days, hunting with Robin and his outlawed men in these parts; days full of ale and laughter and comradeship and the excitement of the chase.
As we rode through villages, scattering piglets, chickens and geese before the hooves of our horses, I could see the peasants planting onions and leeks in the little plots of land outside their cottages, and peas and beans in the big communal fields outside the village. These were the men and women who worked, who supported the whole kingdom on their sturdy backs. My family had once been like them, and though I had risen to become a fighting man, I always reserved a loyalty for them, and a respect for their endurance and quiet courage. I knew these good people, I had grown up around them, as one of them. These were the folk whose sweat and toil would create the silver that one day, I prayed, would bring King Richard safely home.
We stopped at noon at an alehouse, and while my men ate bread and cheese and sucked down the local ale at a rough table in the sunshine outside the house, I spoke to them about our mission, and told them what I expected from them when we reached the manor of Mansfield.
‘We are not going there to loot,’ I said sternly to a gathering of big, violent men in iron-ringed coats with sharp swords strapped to their waists. ‘We are not going there to steal. We are going there to collect the rightful taxes that are due, and not a penny more.’
There was some grumbling and muttering at this. I waited patiently for silence and then continued:
‘Most especially we are not going to rape, or abuse, or kill anyone. Do I make myself clear?’
‘Begging your pardon, sir, but what is to be our share of the take?’ asked the sergeant, a fat man, grey at the temples and scarred from battle.
‘We do not share in what you call “the take”. Do you not receive a daily wage of two pennies from Prince John, a recompense for service to your lord? That is your share of the take. That is the money you are being paid to perform this labour. I want you all to understand this. Every coin that we raise will go to Nottingham. Father Stephen has the amounts that we are to collect listed on his rolls; we will collect them, with firmness and fairness, and deliver every penny to the account-keepers in the castle.’
There was an outbreak of tumult, angry men hammering pewter mugs on the tabletop and shouting at me. I had not made any new friends with my little speech. The priest, our lettered clerk, looked at me with his darting, rodent eyes; then he looked away quickly. I would find no support there.
‘So what do you get out of this, eh?’ said the sergeant. He was red in the face and waving his finger underneath my nose. ‘Kindly tell me — and the lads here — what your share will be. More than the few extra pennies we might have scraped up, I’ll be bound.’
I grabbed his finger in my left hand and his wrist in my right, and twisted, bending the digit back against the joint. He gave a high-pitched animal scream of pain that shocked the noisy table into silence. I leaned into him so that our faces were only inches apart.
‘When you address me, Sergeant, you call me “sir”. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ he said, and I could see that his fat face was greasy with pain-sweat.
‘Yes what?’ I demanded, and gave his finger joint a sharp twist. He howled again but managed to squeal: ‘Yes, sir! Yes, sir!’
‘Not a penny of this tax money will stick to my fingers — nor to yours. Is that understood?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Fine,’ I said, and released him. ‘Now, all of you, get mounted. This respite is over; we’re riding out.’
The mood in our little cavalcade after that was as sour as a bucket of week-old milk that someone has pissed in. I rode at the head of the column, with the sergeant riding immediately behind me, nursing his twisted finger and shooting me looks of molten hatred. I suspected that I was the least popular captain in England that afternoon — but I did not care. I did not believe they would try to murder me, and risk incurring the wrath of Prince John. And if they did not like me, well, I could live with that. The most worrying thing was that I could hear the echoes of Robin’s voice in my ear saying, Interesting — once again you turn to violence, Alan; inflicting pain to impose your will. I’ll make a real man of you yet!
I began to sing loudly to myself as I rode, chiefly to drive the sound of Robin’s laughter from my head.
Chapter Thirteen
Our first stop that afternoon was at a church serving a tiny hamlet about three miles south of Mansfield. The old priest protested when I sent in the men-at-arms to strip the altar of a pair of golden candlesticks and a wide silver plate, but he desisted when Father Stephen informed him that we were collecting for the ransom of the King. Whether he believed us or not, he was not foolish enough to question eight armed men.
One of the soldiers suggested that we might take a burning torch to the soles of the old priest’s feet to see if he had any more silver hidden away but, with a sigh, I said no and explained again the rules of our mission that day. No robbery, no abuse, no rape, no murder. The message finally seemed to sink in then, and we were in and out of the church in less than half an hour, having taken everything of value that we could see.
Our next stop was the manor of Mansfield. It was a royal manor, set in a bowl of countryside on the western edge of Sherwood Forest, much irrigated by rivers, and held by a mutton-headed steward called Geoffrey who had lost a foot fighting for Richard in France during the interminable wars between the Duke of Aquitaine and the late King Henry.
Geoffrey was happy to pay up the three shillings and eight pence that Father Stephen demanded of him and, as the day was drawing on, he offered us accommodation for the night to spare us the fifteen-mile ride back to Nottingham. We spent the rest of the afternoon collecting money from the village, which went without incident — except that one old woman claimed she had no coin and we were forced to accept a scrawny and ancient cockerel instead. Then we returned to the manor house and presented the bird to Geoffrey’s cook, as recompense for our bed and board.
Geoffrey provided the men with a small barrel of ale, several loaves of bread and a big pot of frumenty, a cracked-wheat porridge flavoured with cabbage, leeks and chervil, and allowed them to take their ease in the stables. And while the men relaxed with a pair of dice and the remains of the ale, Father Stephen and I repaired to the hall to eat a tough chicken stew and drink wine with the steward.
The meal was served by a pretty girl of about fourteen years, I would have guessed, blonde and blue-eyed, like an angel. She reminded me a little of my lovely Goody in her looks, though she did not have Goody’s alarming fire and passion. But she brought the food swiftly and served it neatly, and busied herself unobtrusively tidying up the table when we had eaten. I saw Father Stephen watching her movements with his dark little eyes and wondered how seriously he took his vows of chastity.
After the meal, I asked th
e steward for news of the area and he told me two things that were of much interest to me. Firstly, the notorious outlaw Robin Hood had been very active in the area in recent weeks, robbing churches and churchmen as they passed through Sherwood Forest. Robin had even attacked a large manor over towards Chesterfield that belonged to Sir Ralph Murdac, robbed it, driven off the livestock and burnt it to the ground. I reflected that my lord had not been idle while I was in Germany, and he had clearly not forgotten his code of vengeance: Murdac had burnt his castle at Kirkton, so Robin was paying him back in kind.
But, according to Geoffrey, the locals had worse to fear than the depredations of ruthless outlaws. Stories abounded of a black witch, a hideous crone with strange demonic powers, who had been seen by a number of people as far afield as Derby and Sheffield. It was said that she could turn a man to stone with one look from her terrible eyes; that she could curse a pregnant woman’s unborn child; and that the Devil visited her every night and they fornicated in a foul and unnatural manner beneath the stars, the witch crying aloud in her ecstasy in a Satanic tongue. Father Stephen crossed himself hurriedly, and the steward followed his example as he ended his tale. Clearly the Hag of Hallamshire had not been idle either while I was away. I recalled Elise’s words to me in the winter, when she passed on the warning from the wise woman Brigid, and felt an unfamiliar prickle of unease at the base of my spine. I crossed myself, too.