David almost laughed at what a difference half an hour could make. It wasn’t that he wanted or needed the obeisance, but after being tossed around for two days by people who didn’t respect him at all, it was nice to finally be treated like a human being. “Rise, gentlemen,” he said. “Why do you guard this bridge so assiduously?”
The men rose to their feet, shuffling a bit, and then John answered, “Lord Ieuan sent us word that Valence’s men might try to use our bridge to cross the Thames, now that the bridge down in Windsor is gone. But we haven’t seen or heard anyone so far other than you.”
David just managed not to gape at the man. He’d been gone less than a week, but clearly bad things had been happening in his absence. Struggling to keep the dismay off his face and not openly curse, he made a very painful, and yet sure, guess. “Valence has Windsor surrounded?”
“Yes, my lord,” John said. “You didn’t know?”
“Where is Lord Ieuan now?” David said, not answering the man’s question.
“He hoped to surround Valence’s forces himself by today, but only if he had the men,” John said. “We have not seen or heard from him since this morning.”
“Sire, where are your men?” A younger man than the first stepped forward. “Tom Longman, my lord.” He ducked his head as he introduced himself. Given that he was taller than David, his surname suited him. “Word was that you’d gone to Ireland.”
“I never made it,” David said, flatly. “And I am alone, as you can see.”
All of the villagers swallowed hard. “Sire, if there’s anything we can do—” John said.
David held up a hand to stop him from speaking. He needed to think. He already missed Callum’s guidance and hadn’t realized until this moment how much he’d come to depend on it. He could almost hear his friend’s voice in his ear, telling him to determine the facts first, and then objectively examine his available options. Finding creative solutions to huge problems was something Callum had been particularly good at. “Windsor is surrounded, you say?”
The men nodded vigorously.
“How many men does Valence have?”
“Some say two thousand, my lord,” Tom said.
David eyed him. “You can count?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“And Lord Ieuan? How many does he have?”
“Fewer,” Tom said. “I don’t know how many. And they say that only a hundred defend Windsor.”
“Windsor town is burning. You can smell it from here.” John gestured towards the south, and now that David was paying attention, he could smell the smoke. His stomach knotted, and suddenly he wasn’t hungry any more.
“The queen is there—” Tom cut himself off and looked down at his feet.
“Thank you, Tom,” David said. “I assumed it.”
“Valence hasn’t taken the town or the castle, yet,” John said, trying to comfort him. “They’ve held out a night and a day so far.”
“It’s only been a night and a day since the assault began? That’s all?”
John and Tom nodded together.
That was far better than David had feared. It seemed he and Valence had made the same decision—each to confront the other—but had just missed each other going in opposite directions. He wondered if Valence knew yet that he wasn’t at Windsor or that he’d gone to Ireland and might even now be laying siege to Valence’s own castle. It was a lesser prize, certainly, and if Valence could take Windsor, he would gladly make that exchange.
“So we have a little time, perhaps,” David said. “You’re telling me that the defenders destroyed Windsor’s bridge across the Thames?”
Another nod. “Your sister’s husband, Lord Math, defends,” John said.
“And the moat is full of water?”
“It worked perfectly, my lord.” Tom grinned. “My brother and I helped build the sluice gates.”
During this discussion, they’d remained standing on the eastern side of the bridge, but now John remembered himself. “Please come into Maidenhead, sire. There you can refresh yourself.”
“Thank you.” David walked with the men onto the bridge. “I do need food. But even more, I need men.”
“We have few,” Tom said. “All the rest who could fight went with Lord Ieuan. None of us are soldiers, but still we do his bidding.”
“England has always relied upon its people to fight for her in times of need,” David said, sounding pompous even to himself. “Does anyone in the village possess a horse?”
A man who stayed in the back of the group lifted a hand. He was nearly as large as Tom and twice as wide. “I do, my lord. Lord Ieuan instructed me to send him word at once if Valence came for this bridge.”
“You, if I may make a guess, are the village blacksmith,” David said.
“Yes, my lord. Rob Lincoln is the name. Many a horse needs a new shoe by the time he reaches Maidenhead from London.”
“All right. You three come with me.” David pointed to John, Tom, and Rob. “The rest should stay and guard the bridge as before. We’ll send you a few more men to help.”
They entered Maidenhead, which like Windsor consisted of houses and shops clustered on both sides of the main road. The normally busy wharf was quiet now that night had fallen. A village green sat to the south of the London road, and John led David to his house just off of it. No wall surrounded the town, which meant that if Valence’s men chose to approach from this side of the Thames River, the villagers could do nothing to stop them. At the same time, there would be no reason for Valence to come here unless, as John had said, he wanted to use the bridge.
They entered John’s house. Even at this late hour, the family was up and the smell of baking came from the back of the house. “Emma!” John raised his voice and a teenage girl came into the room through the door opposite the main one.
“Yes, Father?”
“We have a noble guest,” John said, without naming David. “We must eat and then go.”
The girl smiled and curtseyed, her eyes on Tom instead of David or her father. “Yes, Father.”
John gestured to a table with six chairs around it that took up the center of the room. A fireplace was set into the right hand wall, with a low fire burning in it. The chimney appeared to work better than most since smoke wasn’t choking the room. David sat, and even though he indicated that the others should sit too, none of them took a chair at the table. Sitting in the presence of the king just wasn’t done.
David had wanted to be recognized, but three minutes into life in the Middle Ages, he’d already had it with the formality of his position. “Sit!”
Eyes bulging, John sat, and then Tom did too. Rob bowed. “My lord, I dare not. I know who made those chairs, and I will break one if I sit in it.”
David laughed and waved a hand in acceptance at Rob, who leaned against the frame of the door with his arms folded across his chest. “Two things: I need to know the current location of Ieuan and his men,” David said, “and I need to know what is happening in Windsor. Who in Windsor, other than you three, knows how to ride?”
The three men in the room looked at one another. “No one,” John said. “Tom and Rob do, of course, as you say, but all the other men with that knowledge have gone, and there weren’t many to begin with. Some of the farmer boys might …” John’s voice trailed off.
“I know how to ride.” The girl, Emma, had returned to the room, this time with a tray containing bread and beer.
Carbohydrates for dinner were better than no dinner at all. David resigned himself to leaving the table unsatisfied, but then he sighed in relief at the sight of the tureen of soup with steam rising from it in the hands of a second girl who’d entered the room after the first.
“You can’t.” Tom’s eyes were fixed on Emma.
“Is she speaking the truth?” David said.
“A little daredevil, isn’t she?” John said. “But—”
“If I go, none of the enemy will think anything of it,” Emma said. “I’m
a girl. I’m the one who should go.”
David took a long drink of beer, which had never been his favorite (he preferred mead), and then a sip of soup. He closed his eyes, glad to have something in his stomach again. Then he got back to work. “If she can find Ieuan, I need her.”
“It isn’t safe,” Tom said.
“And it’s safe staying here if Valence’s men come?” Emma said. “What will his men do to me if he catches us sitting here doing nothing?”
Tom ground his teeth.
John appeared caught between Tom and his daughter, and appealed to David. “Sire—”
The pitcher that held the beer Emma had been pouring into Tom’s cup crashed to the floor. She whipped around, her color high and beer frothing at her feet. “Sire!” She gaped at David, and then gave a deep curtsey.
“Rise, Emma,” David said.
She came forward, ending up on her knees beside his chair, making David deeply uncomfortable. “Please. I can find Lord Ieuan. Let me go.”
John nodded. “She’s capable, Tom.”
“Then give me leave to go with her,” Tom said.
“We have only one horse,” Rob said.
“I’ll take old farmer Blidworth’s. She’s a nag, but sturdy. We’ll cover more ground with two and find Lord Ieuan all the sooner.”
John looked at David, who shrugged. He honestly didn’t care how he got news of Ieuan, and the news of his arrival to Ieuan, only that the communication occurred—and the sooner the better. “Meanwhile, we’ll gather a second army here,” David said.
“How’s that, sire?” John said. “We have no more men.”
“We need bodies, not men,” David said. “Valence cannot maintain a siege if attacked from both the castle and from behind. He will know that and raise the white flag. We just need to put on a show. Every person who can walk, of whatever age, should gather on the green as soon as possible.”
Emma’s eyes lit as she rose to her feet. “I’ll tell Mum to get ready!”
John was aghast. “You already took Emma. You mean to use the rest of the women too? To arm them?”
David beamed at him. “That’s an excellent idea.” He clapped a hand on John’s shoulder. “I’m so glad you thought of it!”
The five miles—less—between Maidenhead and Windsor would take two hours of walking on a flat, well-used road. The night was cool but dry, and the villagers got on board with David’s plan almost before David asked for their help. A few protested, like John, that the women shouldn’t be involved. David could understand their reluctance, but he was impatient with it too. He’d stood by helplessly while Lili had given birth to Arthur, and he’d lived with Anna most of his life. He had Meg for a mom. Women were a lot tougher than these men gave them credit for.
Several of the more able-bodied older men set off immediately to gather as many other people as they could from outlying towns, such as South Ellington and Cookham. David stood on the Maidenhead green, watching the villagers come in, making sure each had a weapon of some kind, even if only a broom, and the makings of a torch. He aimed to depart as close to midnight as he could, which meant they should reach the outskirts of Windsor by three in the morning. David didn’t know if Valence would be continuing the assault throughout the night to press what he saw as his advantage before Windsor’s reinforcements arrived. He had to know that they would come; it was only a matter of time.
“Ho there! What news of Windsor?”
David spun towards the voice. He would have recognized it anywhere, even with it having settled into a lower register over the last few months. “William!” David raised a hand and hastened towards the bridge across the Thames. He shouldered his way through the men guarding it, who gave way the best they could in the tight space. He reached the end to find Maidenhead’s villagers holding the Norman youth off with the same pikes and axes they’d pointed at David a few hours earlier.
“Put up,” David said, pressing on a pike himself to get the villager to lower it. “He’s a friend.”
William de Bohun dismounted and dropped to one knee in front of David. “Sire.”
“Rarely have I been so glad to see anyone in my life.” David grasped William’s upper arms and lifted him to his feet. “How many men have you brought me?”
“Some five hundred. It was all I could gather on short notice.” He leaned in. “Between you and me, most of them barely know the hilt from the point of a sword.”
David shook William’s shoulder. “It is no matter. I need men more than fighters. You should see what we’re doing here.” He led William from the bridge towards the center of the village, which torches lit up like it was day.
William stopped on the edge of the grass. “What is this?”
David spread his arms wide, laughing. “My army!”
“But—”
“Windsor is under attack and has been since yesterday evening,” David said.
“I saw from a distance,” William said. “I have no idea how Valence managed to progress so far so quickly. When I went for help two days ago, he was entrenched at Winchester.”
“I know nothing about that,” David said. “Nor do I know where Ieuan and his men are, but we must relieve the defenders, by any means necessary, before Valence breaks through Windsor’s defenses.”
“But the women—” William was struggling with the sight of mothers and daughters in their husbands’ and sons’ spare breeches and coats.
“I have no intention of having them fight, if that is what worries you,” David said. “I have no intention of leading anyone into battle today. Whether or not women are capable of fighting is something we can argue about another day. Right now, I need bodies, as many as I can find.”
William blinked, and then began to nod. “You mean to deceive Valence into thinking you have more men than you have.”
“That is exactly what I intend.” If his trip to the twenty-first century had taught David anything, it was to take advantage of the power he had been handed to change the world. There, he’d been treated like a valuable but semi-inanimate object, to be passed around for whatever information anyone could get out of him. Otherwise, his thoughts, opinions, and contributions had been ignored. He was a twenty-year-old kid, to be humored, at best. At worst, it had been implied, even if not said, that he was to leave the thinking to the grown-ups.
Well, screw that.
Now a shout came from the other side of the village. William de Bohun leapt in front of David, his sword out.
“Sire!” It was Tom.
“It’s okay, William.” David nudged the boy’s arm. “He’s a friend too.” At the green, David caught the bridle of Tom’s horse as he dismounted. “Where’s Emma?”
“Safe with Lord Ieuan,” Tom said. “He agreed that I should return on the better horse without her.”
David didn’t ask how long it had taken Tom to persuade Emma that he should return alone. David had believed her when she’d said that she was the superior rider. It wasn’t David’s problem, however. Tom and Emma were going to have to work that out between them.
“How far away is Lord Ieuan and how many men does he have?” David said.
“He marches with over a thousand strong,” Tom said. “Lord Ieuan asked me to tell you that he would be grateful if we met him at St. Leonard’s Hill as soon as possible.”
Ieuan had named a spot that in the modern world was adjacent to the Windsor Legoland (David knew this through Callum). Rather than mention it, David raised a hand, calling his new captains to him.
“This will put us to the west of Valence’s main force, is that right?” David said to Tom.
“Lord Ieuan says so,” Tom said.
William made a fist and slammed it into his palm. “We will crush him, once and for all.”
David narrowed his eyes at the young man. “Do other barons of your acquaintance share your animosity towards Valence?”
“The day you banished Valence was a day of celebration among my father’s peers,” Will
iam said. “Didn’t you realize? I know of nobody who doesn’t want to see him hang.”
Chapter Twenty-five
September, 1289
Lili
When Anna thrust a piece of bread wrapped around slices of cheese and meat at her, Lili just stared at it, too tired even to know what was in her hand.
“What is this?”
“It’s called a sandwich. You need to eat it,” Anna said.
Lili looked at the food dubiously. She’d seen Dafydd eat something like this—wolf it down in four or five bites, in fact—on many occasions, but to her, each of the different components, the buttered bread, the cheese, and the meat, should be eaten separately.
“Is Arthur awake yet?” she said between bites.
Anna shook her head. “Perhaps this will turn into a long stretch. It’s nearly dawn and he’s been asleep since midnight.”
“That’s when he usually nurses the most.” If she spent more than two hours away from Arthur, Lili felt the tether that connected her to him stretching tighter and tugging on her. Since the attack began, Anna, Bronwen, or one of the maidservants had come to get her whenever Arthur needed to eat. It had kept her connected to him, but the strain of being apart from him so much had long since grown wearing. She wanted nothing more than to lie in bed and snuggle him against her chest.
One of the other archers appeared behind Anna. “My queen,” he said.
Lili gestured that he should speak, preparing herself for the latest bad news he was bringing. “What is it?”
“Our stock of arrows is all but depleted.”
Anna gasped in dismay, but Lili nodded and dismissed the archer. She’d been expecting to hear that since the sun had gone down. They were all thankful that Windsor had been prepared for an assault to the degree that it had been, but they hadn’t been prepared enough, not for what Valence was throwing at them.
“We’ve been in a lull since midnight,” Anna said. “The bowyer and fletcher are working overtime. All is not lost.”
“I know,” Lili said. “I haven’t given up hope.”
Castaways in Time (The After Cilmeri Series) Page 23