The Archer's Gold: Medieval Military fiction: A Novel about Wars, Knights, Pirates, and Crusaders in The Years of the Feudal Middle Ages of William Marshall ... (The Company of English Archers Book 7)

by Martin Archer

  "They brought me here to give me to whoever would agree to pay the Pope and lead the barons against John," she said bitterly.

  "He'll have me killed, John will, when he finds out how the barons intend to use me. It's a wonder he hasn't done it already, isn't it?"

  "My God, what are Mathilde and I to do now? the lady suddenly wails. Where can we go? I almost wish my horrible cousins were still alive. At least then I might have a chance."

  @@@@@

  After Isabel goes outside to piss again and then upstairs to sleep, my lieutenants and I stay up half the night talking and drinking ale and listening to the boys snore and talk in their sleep. It's the first time we've had together to sit down and talk about Oakhampton.

  "Oakhampton's location is very good for us since it's like Launceston - it sits astride the only road into Cornwall. We should keep it if we can," said Henry thoughtfully.

  Then he took a big sip of ale and continued.

  "If we don't hold Oakhampton, the Earl of Devon will surely try to take it now that Courtenay and his knights are gone - and Devon's already our biggest threat. His holding Oakhampton instead of Courtney will cut us off from the rest of England and make him much stronger to boot."

  Then he added softly to no one in particular.

  "We either need to keep Devon from getting Oakhampton or end his threat once and for all by killing him and all his heirs."

  When Henry finished a somewhat drunk Thomas pompously repeated what we all already know.

  "Oakhampton sits between the east and west forks of the River Ock. It was obviously built to protect the main transportation corridor into Devon and Cornwall, the old Roman road which crosses the fords that occur before the two channels come together to form one deeper river."

  "There's no doubt about it. Whoever decided to build the castle here knew what he was about, that's for sure. That's why Henry's right - we can't let Oakhampton get into Devon's hands."

  After a lot more ale drinking and talking there is a coming together of our minds and no doubt about it - we want to hold this castle both to keep it out of the hands of the Earl of Devon and keep the road to England open, and to provide both an early warning of an invasion and a powerful blocking force if one occurs.

  Besides, if we have Oakhampton we can use the Dartmoor moors for training our Marines and to graze our horses.

  "We could even station our Horse Marines here - they'd play merry hell with any would-be invader if we hold the castle," Henry suggests.

  After a while the conversation turns back to the unfortunate girl who is the king's annulled and unused wife.

  "She's right about needing protection and having no future. Married or unmarried, when John finds out what the barons are up to he's likely kill her if only to stop the barons from trying to use her to overthrow him to put whoever she marries on the throne."

  "You're right. Damn; she's well and truly in big trouble isn't she? I feel sorry for her."

  "Aye, and probably the oldest virgin in England not in a nunnery."

  "Virgins in a nunnery?" snorts my brother Thomas with a priestly wheeze. "That'll be the day. Most of the nunneries I ever visited are like brothels for the monks and priests and any visitor with enough coins."

  "Mmm," I offered. "Maybe we can help Isabel and help ourselves at the same time by keeping Oakhampton."

  Then I told them what I was thinking. Thomas laughed uproariously when I finished.

  "I could do that; yes I could." Everyone else smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

  "Well then, in for a pence in for a pound; let's give it a go."

  Chapter Nine

  It is late the next morning before Thomas and I finally have an opportunity to seek out Isabel and speak privately with her about our plan. She is quite anxious to hear the latest news about the barons so it comes first; it's clear she's afraid some of them may have survived.

  "So far things seem to be working out most nicely for us, Lady Isabel. Raymond's outriders, he's the sergeant in charge of our horsemen, and all the Horse Marines rode out right after dawn to search in every direction for signs of an enemy or a survivor."

  "The big news is that none our riders have returned with a report so it is highly unlikely there are any immediate threats to your safety." Or ours for that matter.

  Then I get to the heart of the matter.

  "You were right last night, Lady Isabel, when you said that the king is likely to have you killed because he won't want to risk having the barons try to kill him to put your new husband on the throne. So we have an idea for you to consider - we want you to marry Lord Courtenay after all."

  "But I can't. He's dead."

  "Well, yes, Courtenay is dead and rightly so, of course," I answer with a twinkle in my eye.

  "But only you and the two of us and a few other people know that. So it's quite possible that Bishop Thomas here married you two yesterday before Courtenay sailed off to join the crusade."

  "Indeed Bishop Thomas is quite sure he married you two last week and I clearly recall that Courtenay sold Oakhampton to me in order to raise the coins needed to pay for his transportation and maintain him and his men while they are in the Holy Land. I even have a parchment to prove it."

  Then Thomas chimed in to help me explain.

  "On parchment the church records would show you to be married to a baron who is no threat to the king because he will be gone from England for years. That means, of course, that your cousins can't marry you off."

  "It also means the barons can't put you on the throne if the king dies because you gave up any claim to still be the king's wife when you married Courtenay."

  "Is that really possible?"

  "It is if a bishop of the church such as myself says he married you to Courtenay a couple of days before he sailed on his crusade and it's recorded in the registry of the local parish."

  "But what will happen to me and Mathilde?"

  "Why you'll live here, of course, for so long as you like. The good Lord Courtney was such a fine and caring husband that he made provisions for you in your marriage contract and in the contract selling Oakhampton."

  "And if you ever do find a man you want to marry you can announce you received word of Courtenay's honorable death and marry him. Lots of crusaders die in the Holy Land. It's rather expected of them, isn't it?"

  "But what about the men who survived the battle? They know he's dead. They'll talk and everyone will know there was no marriage and no sale of the castle and its lands?"

  I hasten to assure her that the survivors will not be a problem.

  "The survivors of the battle shouldn't be a problem, Lady Isabel. None of the northern lords survived and their men couldn't possibly have recognized a dead Courtenay. After all, they'd just arrived from the north and had barely seen him when he was alive - if they thought they'd seen him dead they were obviously mistaken."

  "Anyhow," Thomas interrupted me to add, " it doesn't matter even if a couple of Courtenay's men did see him dead and recognized him - because in a few days they'll all be helping our men row out to the Holy Land on one of our galleys. It will be years before they get back, if they ever do. It seems a good way for them to pay for the trouble they caused."

  "Mon Dieu," she said incredulously after staring blankly at us for a moment, "I'm saved." And with that, and to the astonishment of a file of Marines who are marching by, she began crying and gave us both big hugs and kisses.

  @@@@@

  Thomas laboured for two days preparing all the various parchment letters and documents, particularly the letter explaining things to King John. Indeed he used up so many parchments drafting the letter to the king that he had to send a galloper to Launceston to fetch more of them. I read it and it certainly convinces me.

  "This is what the king will want to hear so he'll believe it," Thomas said as he handed the finished parchment to me so I could read it out loud to everyone at the supper table that night. I'll have it delivered to the chancellor when Peter and I g
et to London with the boys."

  He didn't pass it around because neither Peter nor Henry can read and Lady Isabel also may not be learned.

  What Thomas hands me to read out to everyone is a letter to the king from the Bishop of Cornwall. It informs the king of the good news that there has been a successful and decisive battle in Devon between King John's supporters led by Lord Courtenay and the Earl of Cornwall and a force of northern barons seeking to raise support for a rising against the king.

  Basically it says that God is clearly on the King's side because the northern barons were killed when their anger caused them to attack the newly married Courtenay after he reaffirmed his support for King John and was just about to begin his trip to the Holy Land to join the Fourth Crusade.

  It goes on to explain that it was also clearly God's will that the barons attacked Lord Courtenay and his men when the king's strong supporter, the Earl of Cornwall was visiting Oakhampton with his men and could help Courtenay defeat them.

  The Earl was present, thanks to God's unwavering support for the king, to witness Courtenay's marriage to Isabella of Gloucester and buy Oakhampton Castle. Courtenay sold the castle and its lands, of course, so he'd have enough money to get to the Holy Land and maintain himself and his men there after he did.

  "Yes, that should do it quite nicely," Thomas announces with a great deal of pride and satisfaction and a big sip of ale when I finish reading out the parchment and begin rolling it up.

  "It tells King John and his chancellor what they'll want to hear," he explains.

  "And who's to say otherwise - if anyone asks to talk to the survivors of the barons' force we'll have to sadly inform him that they have been made into galley slaves for their trouble and are busy at the moment rowing on one of our galleys somewhere in the Holy Land."

  Everyone looks and smiles at everyone else and nods their satisfaction. Then I read out loud the sales contract for the castle and the marriage contract between Isabel and Courtenay.

  When I finished reading the contracts Thomas put a bowl of newly mixed ink and a quill on the table and we all made our marks on them as witnesses, and on several duplicate copies as well.

  Chapter Ten

  Oakhampton is busy this morning. Henry is riding to Restormel with the Horse Marines and our wagons and prisoners. He'll stay there and be in charge of our forces in Cornwall while Thomas and I are away.

  And we will be away from Cornwall for a while. In an hour or so Thomas, Peter, the boys, and one of the Marine companies will be marching for Hathersage and London.

  I myself will be staying here with the second company of Marines and most of the outriders to guard Oakhampton in case more of the northern barons arrive or the Earl of Devon hears about Courtney's death and shows up to try and claim the place.

  From now on we'll always keep a strong force here. Probably Raymond and his Horse Marines; Raymond's wife will like being in a castle with a noble lady while he's off riding about. I wonder if they have castles where his wife came from. She told him they have dragons there so they must have castles to hide in.

  At the moment Raymond and his men are convoying the prisoners to Cornwall and carrying a message telling Harold's second, the man in charge of our ships and sailors when Harold's not available, what to do with them.

  Raymond's message also directs Harold's man to send two of our galleys in London to meet Thomas and his party.

  The galleys are to bring Thomas and the boys and our company of walking Marines back to Cornwall, load the prisoners if they have not already been shipped out to the Holy Land on an earlier galley, and then carry Thomas and Peter on to Rome to deliver the prayer coins from last season's travelers to the Pope.

  Thomas and I discussed his trip to Rome in some detail; he wants Peter to know the delivery process so Peter can take his place when he is not available.

  Two hours later and the boys and all my lieutenants and their men are off and gone. Oakhampton feels somewhat deserted and empty even though I've got an entire company of Marine archers camped inside the castle's walls.

  @@@@@

  Supper that evening with Lady Isabel is a quiet and simple affair. A cold spell has arrived and brought a chilling rain so we have a small fire at one end of the great hall's fireplace to warm us. At the moment it is casting flickering shadows on the walls as we eat our joints of mutton and drink our bowls of ale.

  "How long do you think you will be here, Earl William? Or should I call you Captain William?"

  "Please call me William, Lady Isabel."

  "And to answer your question, I'm not sure how long it will be. Certainly I will not be leaving until Raymond and his horsemen return with this year's horses from Hathersage and London. Then I'll go to Restormel and spend some time my, uh, family before I sail on to Cyprus before the weather gets bad."

  "But don't you expect your horsemen back from Cornwall tomorrow?"

  "Yes, of course. Raymond should be back from delivering the prisoners tomorrow. But then he and his men will ride on the very next day to Hathersage Castle and London to get our new horses. It will take him several weeks at the very least to fetch them and bring them back."

  "Will you tell me about your women and children? Thanks to you, I'm once again very interested in life again, I truly am. How did you meet them?"

  @@@@@

  It took quite a while because of all her questions and the complexities of having three women in my life. But when Isabel finally touched me gently on the shoulder and said good night she certainly knew more about my personal life than anyone except Thomas - and in some very personal areas about the sisters quite a bit more. She's a nice person.

  It happened when I'd just gotten back from pissing and was burrowing down into the linen and furs on the string bed the servants had set up for me in the great hall. That's when I heard the quiet footsteps padding down the stone staircase and moving towards me.

  The light from the flickering fire was so dim that until she spoke I couldn't even make out who it was. But I knew as soon as I heard the footsteps.

  "Will you move over and let me in so we can talk some more? The stones are cold on my feet you know."

  "Lady you should not be here. What will your maid think?"

  "Silly man. This is the first time I've ever had a chance to be alone with a man in my whole life. Who do you think encouraged me to come back so we could talk some more?"

  My mind was racing as she pulled back the covers and slid in next to me. Is this dangerous or does it even matter now that she's married to Courtenay and we hold this place?

  The only thing she said for quite some time after that was an initial quiet whisper into my ear - "please don't hurt me; I've never been with a man before." And then, after a pause, she added "Mathilde said I should tell you."

  We spent the next hour or so kissing and petting and exploring each other as if we were dogs in heat. It was exquisite agony to explore her and guide her.

  Finally, just when I thought I couldn't stand it any longer, she pulled me over on top of her and helped me guide my dingle deep into her with a deep sigh. I thought I heard her murmur "finally" but perhaps it was just my wishful thinking.

  I could hardly control myself at first. It was both wonderful and quite embarrassing. But after my initial burst of enthusiasm we settle down and enjoy great pleasures together - sometimes forceful and demanding, other times slow and sensuous.

  Her skin is so smooth and she is delicious and responsive, it's as if a weir has burst and we explore each other in every possible way.

  It wasn't until much later when I seemed to be daydreaming about when I was a little boy that she got up. That brought me out of my dream and I watched as she used a stick to fish a warm wet rag out of a fire-blackened iron pot of hot water sitting on the hot fireplace ashes. Where did that come from?

  "Where did that pot and rag come from?"

  "Mathilde put it on the fire for me while we were touching each other. She said I'm supposed to wipe you
off with a warm rag if we stop touching each other for a while because it will make you feel good and taste good. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" Mathilde came in here and did what?

  "We were doing quite a bit more than touching each other, you know."

  "Of course I know," she whispered into my ear as she nibbled on it. "But Mathilde says I'm never to say the word 'fucking.' She told me only men are allowed to use it except in private. Isn't that what we were doing?"

  "Well yes we were. Mmm. What else did Mathilde tell you?"

  Chapter XI

  Thomas and I and the boys ride at the head of the Marines as they march through the unguarded city gates and enter London on a cool and foggy morning in early June. The city's crowded streets become even more crowded as people hear our walking drum and come out to watch as we march past.

  Yes, Thomas is a bishop and can talk Latin and scribe - but he insists everyone call him Thomas unless we are with outsiders. Strange isn't it? Probably it's because we're all archers and he was an archer once.

  What the Londoners see is a narrow two abreast column of longbow-carrying Marines with their supply wagons clattering over the cobblestones behind them. They're then followed by Raymond and about forty of Raymond's Horse Marines each leading his riding and supply horses.

  We only stop once so the Marines can piss or shite on the street. Then it's straight march to the docks and on to the galleys waiting for us at the wharf near the stable that provides our horses each year.

  Raymond and some of his Horse Marines are with us as we enter London. They had turned around after they delivered our prisoners to Cornwall and caught up with us on the road.

  They're here take the horses we buy in London back to Cornwall while the rest of us row back home to Cornwall on the galleys that we expect to find waiting for us at the dock near the stables.

  As I look back over my shoulder I can see the Marines marching behind us are both happy and proud as they walk in step to the drum and gawk at the people and big buildings along our route.