The King Is Dead

by Griff Hosker

  "They seem a little keen to get to us, Alfraed. What say we discourage them."

  "You mean charge them?"

  "It is not a solid line and we are. If we hit those who eager to die then the others may fall back. Besides it will give the Earl the opportunity to bring the rest of the army across."

  "Aye. Forward and stay together!"

  William rode behind me. I had John to my left and Rolf to my right. Wulfric was to the left of John. I kicked on and we began to trot. I saw that the French had come in conroi. There were fifteen charging us but they were coming in a mass.

  "Charge!" I leaned forward with my sword and our line hurtled towards the French. We struck the five who led the attempt to dislodge us from our bridgehead. Wulfric was the first to strike a blow. His mighty axe took the head of the knight whose spear struck John's shield. My sword hacked into the thigh of a second knight who jerked his reins around as blood spurted. Rolf, Karl and Godfrey were each on huge destrier and the palfreys they met were no match. The eight survivors turned to race back to the rest of the advancing horsemen.

  "Back to the bridge."

  As we headed back I saw that Norman knights were flooding across. My archers waited in a thin line ready to release if the French came too close. We did not gallop back. There was no need. We wheeled around in a line and stood between the French and my archers. Dick shouted, "Release!"

  He knew the range better than any and twenty five arrows hit the advancing French. He kept it up until I shouted. "Hold! They are falling back. We waste arrows."

  The French had halted and were withdrawing beyond arrow range. The Earl and the Count joined me followed by the King and Stephen of Blois. "That was smartly done."

  I pointed to the knot of knights who were gathered at the van of the French. "I think they will soon be ready to talk."

  He nodded and turned to his father. "The four of us perhaps?"

  He nodded. "Cleveland, you stay here and organise the defence just in case they try something underhand."

  I watched them approach the six French horsemen. "Dick target those Frenchmen!"

  "Already done, my lord."

  I turned to William, "Are you hurt at all?"

  "No, they came nowhere near me."

  "And you John?"

  "Are all Frenchmen this easy, my lord?"

  "No, we were lucky and we had discipline. When we fight them tomorrow you will see."

  William asked, "Is this not over? Why do they talk?"

  "They talk so that the French will take some honour and the King will threaten. Whatever the outcome tomorrow we begin with the advantage. We chased them from the bridge and from the field. When they come at us tomorrow they will remember that. When they see the wolf banner they will feel fear. Tomorrow they will try to get at you, my son. You will have to defend yourself."

  "John did this, he held the standard, and I will do it too. I will not let down the wolf banner."

  I heard raised voices but I could not make out the words. More importantly no one tried to make any attempt to unsheathe a weapon. Dick and his archers were ready. Eventually the King returned. I could see the smiles on their faces. It had gone better for us than the French. I waited for them to speak. The King laughed, "They are afraid of you Cleveland! They call you a wolf!"

  "Perhaps that is my standard, your majesty."

  "No it is you. They talk of your hands as being as fast as lightning."

  The Earl of Gloucester nodded, "They asked us to quit the field and go home to Normandy saying that this was France. "My father pointed out that this castle was Norman until rebels took it. They kept talking of the beast who did not fight with honour!"

  "Me?"

  "They are afraid of you."

  The King said, "We attack at dawn. Let them worry that the wolf will come in the night and attack them. On the morrow we assault them and we use the Earl of Cleveland as the bait."

  As we rode back to the bridge Wulfric said, "I like not the word 'bait' my lord."

  "I think he means he will use us to frighten the French. Wherever we are placed they will put their strongest warriors. That means the King can attack anywhere else and know that we will have the advantage. It matters not whom we fight."

  Wulfric nodded and then smiled, "And whoever they send will be their best knights and men at arms! More treasure for us!"

  He was ever the optimist! Dick and his men scoured the field for arrows which had not found their mark and could be reused. Arrows were like gold.

  The Earl of Gloucester ensured that we had plenty of sentries. The men of Blois had done little and they drew the duty by large fires which lit up the land between the lines. The King held a counsel of war. "Thanks to the Earl of Cleveland and the Swabians we now have four fewer knights with which to contend and there are twenty men at arms who will not fight. The advantage is a small one but it is better than what we had. Tomorrow I will put the Earl of Cleveland and the Swabians on the left of our line. Anjou will be to his right. I will hold the centre and Blois the right. I want them to think that we attack his two flanks. They will put their best warriors on their right to face Cleveland. We put fuel on this fire by advancing our two flanks and holding back our centre. As soon as the flanks are engaged they hold. It is then that I will drive forward in the centre."

  It was a good plan. Stephen of Blois and myself would have to bear the brunt of the fighting but I knew that their best warriors and knights would face us. We would have our left flank protected by Le Loir. The King would be in a position to drive through the centre. We had a river to our left and although that flank would be secure it would restrict our movements. I sought out the Count of Anjou as we left the counsel. "My lord, you will need to restrain your men. When the King attacks there will be a temptation to follow but we must hold."

  "I will wait for your signal."

  "I will use my standard. When it waves three times back and forth then we attack. I intend to use my archers to discomfort the enemy."

  "Are you not afraid that a large weight rests upon your shoulders?"

  I shook my head, "If I did not relish the opportunity I would stay in Stockton and hunt. We will have to fight tomorrow come what may. I am confident that my men and I can face whatever the French throw at us."

  "Do you not fear for your son?"

  "If Wulfric had not trained him well then I would be worried but he is like John and Leofric my other two squires. He has good, quick hands, strong mail and the heart of a lion. I worry not."

  "And one day I will ride to war with Henry and Geoffrey behind me. I, too, will have to ensure that they are well trained. I may need you and your bear then too, Alfraed."

  That would not be a chore for me.

  We camped with the Swabians. We would be fighting together the next day. It was no criticism of the rest of the Angevin soldiers but the Swabians were the best. I was pleased to see that Wulfric and the men at arms all got on well with each other. That was important. I sat with Rolf, his knights and the squires as we discussed what we might do. Raymond of Nancy and Guy of Chinon, two of the young Angevin knights I had trained wandered over to our fire.

  "We wish we were fighting with you tomorrow, Earl."

  "You will be."

  Guy shook his head, "No, my lord, we mean beneath your standard. There the fighting will be the hottest and the glory the greatest."

  Karl spat some gristle into the fire, "There is damned little glory in hacking for your life on a field which is so packed that you can barely swing your sword." He pointed to the ground before us. "There is little enough room there as it is. We will hard by the river with nowhere to go. That will not be glory. It will be last man standing."

  Godfrey laughed, "And that, of course, will be us."

  "You will have your chance, Sir Guy. Stay close to the Count and fight as you did at the tourney; fight as one. That brings victory. At the end of the day that is the best sort of glory; to have fought with you brothers and protected each other'
s back. There is no finer feeling."

  Chapter 10

  We were awake well before dawn. William and John helped me to dress silently. I was deep in thought. I was under no illusions; the King had given us the most difficult and dangerous of tasks. We would have to bear the brunt of the French attack and our men would need to exercise great self control. The best French knights would come to get at me. I was the King's Champion. They would get the greatest of glory by killing me or capturing my standard. That meant all around me were in danger. My conroi was the first into the battle line. We led our horses to our appointed place. Behind us Dick and the archers buried pointed stakes into the ground. We would be able to negotiate through them if we had to retreat but a charging enemy would have to slow down. It gave protection to my archers. When enemy horses closed with them they would be able to pick and choose their targets. If we were felled they would survive. I saw the archers laying spare bundles of arrows where they could easily reach them.

  I turned to the men at arms, "We are not far from the French. Do not worry for when we spur our horses it will be for a short distance. Let the French tire their horses coming to us. Dick and his archers will rain death upon the enemy. We will be a solid line, the French will not. Watch for my standard; William will signal when we attack, or if things go awry when we retreat."

  Wulfric nodded, "Do not fear, my lord, we will all take much treasure and ransom this day. As for me I spied a fine grey which looks big enough for me. I shall have it!" He pointed to the French lines and I saw the horse he meant. It was a fine war horse.

  They were in good spirits. I stood with Rolf, Karl and Godfrey. "Well Earl, it is some time since we rode boot to boot."

  "And I know that we will triumph, Godfrey. Had we Sir Edward and Sir Guy de la Cheppe then we could ride through their ranks alone!"

  Godfrey nodded, "Then four will have to suffice to hold this line and turn the battle."

  I pointed to the men at arms. "You should be pleased with your men at arms. They look to be doughty warriors."

  "We are, if the Count had given us more coin then we could have hired more. There are many willing swords back in Swabia."

  One of the King's knights, Sir Richard of Berkhamstead galloped towards us. "My lord the King asks if you are ready. The scouts report that the French are stirring."

  "We will be ready."

  He turned and galloped off. In the distance I heard the sound of horns and trumpets as the French camp began to organise. I hoped for a cloudy morning. I did not relish fighting with the sun in our eyes. If the French had any sense they would attack as soon as the sun lit our lines while the ground was still hard from the night's chill and the low sun would make life hard for us.

  "Mount!"

  Hunter had been stamping and snorting; he was eager for the start. Raven and Snowman, my squires' new war horses had yet to fight in a major battle but they had been schooled well by Wulfric, John and William. They would only get better from now on. I envied them. They had had the destrier since they had been colts. They would form a lifelong bond. My three horses had all been trained by another.

  As the sun rose I saw the banners arrayed before us. I saw that there were no royal banners nor any sign that the French King had a representative on the field. King Louis was a cunning foe. If they lost he could distance himself from the defeat. Rolf was next to me. I pointed to the castle to the right. It had banners arrayed but was silent. "If I were their leader I would wait until we were pinned by their attack and then launch a flank attack at Blois."

  "And we are grateful that you are not a rebel, Alfraed for you have a clever mind."

  I laughed. I knew that my enemies liked to call me a Greek as though it was an insult. I was half Greek and it was the education I had had in Constantinople which had given me the strategic skills I had. "I think today it will be our quick hands and stout hearts which will carry the day."

  When the sun rose a little more I saw the French line forming. As the King had predicted they had echeloned their line, much as Alexander the Great had done at Issus, so that they would strike us with their heaviest men and knights first. It was an obvious ploy. The French could count banners and they could see that there were but two banners on our left while the centre was covered by them. By turning our flank they could trap the King between the castle and the bridge.

  "Lances!"

  John brought me my lance. We would not have the opportunity to replace broken shafts and he had chosen the best from the ones we had brought. The head had been sharpened at the same time as my sword and the point would, if I hit correctly, pierce mail. I had begun to fit small rings of wood around the spear, half way down, to make the punch easier and to stop the shaft sliding through our fingers. I had noticed Rolf and the Swabians examining them. I suspected that when the battle was over they would ask me to show them how to make them. It was the small improvements we made which gave us the advantage in this deadly game we played.

  There was enough light now to see our line. Unlike the French we were not echeloned. Stephen of Blois anchored the right. Beyond Karl I saw the men of Anjou. Count Geoffrey had his eight leading knights around him. Which one, I wondered, was the man who was poisoning Count Geoffrey.

  The French trumpet sounded three times and there was a mighty cheer. The French began to move towards us. Dick and his archers knew the range. The French were four hundred paces from us and that was too great for them; they would not waste their precious arrows. We would have to hold until they were less than two hundred paces before we began our counter charge. It would enable Dick and his archers to disrupt the enemy. I counted twenty banners coming towards us. That meant twenty knights and their squires. We had almost equal numbers but our men at arms did not have either the horses or the armour of the French who came towards us. They would have the advantage.

  "Steady!"

  The French spurred on to the trot. Our attack needed to be judged well. I wanted us to be knee to knee and moving forward. We would not have the speed of the French but I did not want us to lose formation.

  Dick shouted, "Release!" All twenty five archers were with him. The crossbows formed a thin screen in the centre and to the right of our line. The archers were not aiming for we stood before them. They were covering an area with steel tipped death. Two horses were struck and pitched their riders over their heads. They would be lucky to survive the hooves of the ones who followed. More importantly it broke up their line. Two knights were also hit but the strikes were not mortal. The closer they came to us the more effective would be Dick and his bow men.

  "Walk!"

  We moved forward. I saw the French lower their lances. They were about to charge. "Spurs!" In the time it had taken us to cover fifty paces three more horses were brought down along with two more knights.

  We thundered together. I lowered my lance and held it slightly back. It gave a Frenchman the first opportunity to strike but my blow would be more powerful. I saw that the knight who was going for the glory of killing the Earl with the wolf standard had a red surcoat with small yellow birds. He had a fine war horse but he was not knee to knee with the two knights next to him. I could feel Rolf's leg on one side and John on the other. I also saw that his lance was wavering. We would strike lance to lance. Whoever had the hand and the eye would win. I began to punch. I glimpsed his lance head as it came towards my helmet. I had to hold my nerve and focus on the man before me. I ignored his lance head and punched at his chest. His lance head glanced off the side of my helmet. He had aimed too high. God guided my hand for I felt it tear through his ventail and into his throat. He began to tumble to the side and I released my lance; I did not want to be pulled down by his dying body.

  Our formation came to my aid for Rolf speared the man who tried to attack my now defenceless right side. I drew my sword. John was being attacked by two knights. I stood in my stirrups and, leaning across brought my sword sideways at the knight's helmet. It was a powerful blow and he fell to the ground.
I turned, just in time to see the spear held by the man at arms come sliding towards me. I pulled back and swung my sword backhand. The man at arms had no coif and my sword bit into the back of his neck as he galloped by. He was dead almost instantly as I broke his neck.

  "William signal, hold!"

  I did not want us to advance too far. Our line was no longer continuous and the King wanted the French sucked into our flank. I saw wave after wave of arrows flying over our heads as Dick and his archers moved up to close with the enemy. Now the steel tipped arrows tore through mail. It was only shields and helmets which could stop them. The ones who suffered were the French men at arms they were not as well protected as the knights.

  A knight with a yellow surcoat covered in small red axes charged at me. He was wielding an axe. The only warrior I feared with an axe was Wulfric who was, even now, laying about him with his favourite weapon. The knight with the axe swung hard towards my head. I shifted sideways as I struck and my blade bit into the haft of the axe. They held together. The knight tried to pull away. When he did so the weight of the axe exaggerated his movement. The axe head flew back. I plunged my sword beneath his arm into the space where there was no mail. I saw the tip emerge from his back. I twisted and pulled. The knight slumped to the ground.

  We were not having it all our own way. The three Swabian knights had drawn the attention of six French knights and men at arms. I turned Hunter's head and spurred him. He leapt. We crashed into the side of a man at arms. The Frenchman's arms flailed as he tried to keep his balance and I brought my sword sideways across his back. Even as he fell I saw a spear emerge through Godfrey's neck. His arms fell back and he began to fall from his horse. Karl roared a challenge and stabbed Godrey's killer in the neck. He and Rolf were almost berserk as they fought to avenge their comrade. Their anger made them impervious to hurt but a dismounted man at arms ran towards Karl's back with a spear. He did not see me as I swung my sword and took his head in one blow.

  Then I heard the sound of the King's trumpet. He had sounded the charge. The Swabian's berserk attack had cleared a space around us and I shouted, "Fall back to our line and reform!"