Return of the Knight

by Griff Hosker

  “The Queen, Countess and the Maid await you in the Great Hall, lord. I will see to Dragon.”

  I was bloody and I was sweaty. I stank of horse. In a perfect world I would have washed and changed. I was meeting the Queen who, along with her husband, Henry, had presided over the largest Empire since Charlemagne. As the Templar had shown we did not live in a perfect world. I slipped the mail from my hands and removed my cloak before I entered the hall. A servant waited. There was a bowl of water and a cloth. I used the water to wash some of the blood from my surcoat. I wondered, idly, if I should change the blue of my surcoat to red! It would make the blood less easy to see.

  “The Queen is waiting, Sir Thomas.”

  I nodded and he opened the door. The Queen was seated at the head of the table. There was food laid upon it. They had been eating. Even though she was the oldest woman I had ever seen, she was almost eighty, you could still see her beauty. When she had been young she had been described as perpulchra, more than beautiful and I could see it now. She had outlived all of her children save John Lackland and Queen Eleanor of Castile. She had held together an Empire after her husband had died. I felt honoured to be in her presence.

  I dropped to a knee, “Your majesty.”

  “Rise, Sir Thomas, and sit by me.”

  There was a gap between her and the Duchess. The Duchess put her hand on mine, “You did what you said you would. I am indebted to you.”

  The Maid asked, “Are your men all safe?”

  I shook my head, “Three fell but we killed the traitorous Templars.”

  Queen Eleanor said, “Give Sir Thomas wine. He has need of it. We will talk of this tomorrow. I know warriors. If they dwell on such deaths it makes them both sad and morose.”

  “Thank you, your majesty. I need this.” I lifted the goblet, “To the beautiful ladies.”

  The Queen laughed, “You are a throwback, my lord. Now men appear chivalrous but they are not. You alone show how a true knight should behave. I knew your grandfather and great grandfather you know. Your great grandfather saved my life on more than one occasion.” She shook her head, “As I recall we were pursued through a forest by Geoffrey Duke of Anjou. Your great grandfather saw me safely to Henry. I could never repay him the debt I owed him. And your grandfather was as a northern rock for my husband. He kept the Scots at bay. It is good to see that they have returned in you.”

  “I fear your son would not agree with that, your majesty.”

  “My son has made many mistakes but I fear that I must support him.”

  It felt as though the world was falling from beneath my feet. Had my men died in vain?

  She saw my face. “I love my grandson, Arthur, as I love my granddaughter Eleanor but Arthur has made his bed with the French. My husband and I disagreed about many things but that was not one. That is why the Duchess and her daughter are here.”

  “Then John does not seek her.”

  “King John might seek her but it would be to protect her.” I did not believe that but I kept silent. “You do not afford my son his title?”

  “No, for he is not the true King. King Richard wished Arthur to be King.”

  “And on his death bed he recanted.”

  I shook my head, “That seems a little too convenient for me.”

  The Queen laughed, “You are as obstinate as the Warlord was! If I were my son I would fear you. You are like the English mastiff. When it gets its teeth into something it does not let go. Let us say that tonight we are all friends. We owe you and your men a great debt. You shall be rewarded.” Fótr returned. He bowed and sat next to the Maid. The Queen said, “And now that the young Viking has returned we will eat and I will tell you the tales of your grandfather and great grandfather that you may not have heard. Even if you have then you must indulge me for I am an old woman and talking of the past makes me young again.”

  She had lost none of her wit and she told a good tale. I had heard most of the stories before but I laughed and I smiled.

  “And what of your aunt, Ruth, was it? Does she live still?”

  “Yes, your majesty, but she speaks of great hardship in England thanks to your son’s tyranny.”

  “I thought that William Marshal would be as the Warlord and guide the King but it seems not. Still he is the best of the barons in England. You should seek him out, Sir Thomas. I will give you a letter of introduction.”

  “I have met him already, majesty.”

  “Then the letter will tell him of your better qualities. Gratitude does not appear to be one of them!”

  “Sorry your majesty, it has been a long journey.”

  “Aye, we shall speak in the morning.”

  Fótr took me to the room which had been prepared for me. A servant hovered close by. “My lord, the Queen thought you might wish your surcoat to be cleaned.”

  Fótr helped me to take it off. I removed the sealed letter first. “Thank you.” Once in the room I said, “Fótr, bring that light closer. I would read this missive.”

  As he brought it over he asked, “Where did you get it, lord?”

  “It was on the Templar.” I had also taken the Templar tokens from around their necks. I used my dagger to slit open the seal. Before I did so I examined it. It was the seal of de Ferrers. Here was a tale!

  These knights serve God and they are on a mission from me. I command whoever reads this letter to offer all assistance to them. They will take the Maid of Brittany into my protective custody. Further, if you bring me the head of the traitor, Sir Thomas of La Flèche or any of his men, you will receive gold.

  Sir Robert de Ferrers, Lord of Leicester.

  I handed it to Fótr to read. He shook his head. “Then it was not the French as we thought.”

  “No Fótr, I may have misjudged Philip and, perhaps, King John. I fear the de Ferrers family sees an opportunity to gain power through marriage. I am just happy, now that they are safely ensconced in this castle. It would take an army to take it. The one thing de Ferrers does not have is an army capable of taking on the mother of the King. The death of our three men may not have been in vain.”

  We prepared for bed. Fótr had a pallet by the door. He blew out the candle and, as we lay in the dark said, “Lord, who will decide on the husband for Eleanor, Maid of Brittany?”

  I did not answer at first. Fótr had a simple upbringing. His family had lived deep in the forests of Sweden and he had not experienced court. I knew the reason for his question and he was in for a disappointment.

  “I fear that would be her mother and also, King John. We have saved her from de Ferrers and the King of France but that means she is delivered into the hands of a cruel and ruthless man. He will decide whom she marries, perhaps even if she marries.”

  “He cannot deny her a husband, lord!”

  “I fear he can. An unmarried Breton heiress is as useful as a dead one. Her hope lies in Arthur. If we can rescue him from the clutches of King Philip and restore him to the Breton Dukedom then who knows. I know what is in your heart, Fótr. Do not get your hopes up. They would be shattered.”

  He was silent. I do not think he slept much. He and the Maid had become close during the journey. Fate could be cruel.

  We buried my men the next day. We buried them in their mail, with sword and helm. The priest who performed the service did not know them but we did. Long after the priest and the ladies had departed we remained there. Each of us had different memories of the three of them but the deaths were a stark reminder to us all of the parlous nature of our lives.

  The Queen and the Duchess left us alone for the morning but, in the afternoon, we were summoned into their presence. The Queen smiled, “You are in better humour this day, great grandson of the Warlord?”

  “I am, your majesty and I apologise for my comments. I will gladly take a letter of introduction to William Marshal.”

  “Good.” She waved a hand and a servant materialized with the letter. It was sealed. She handed it to me. Another servant appeared with a chest
. “In here I have two rewards for you. One is coin. If you are anything like your sires that will mean little to you but the other may be of more use.” She opened the chest and took out a parchment. “This gives you the manor of Whorlton. It lies close to Northallerton. It belonged to Robert de Meynell. He rebelled against my son Richard and my son gave me the manor. Until you came I had forgotten it. This one is not owned by the Palatinate. Only the King can take it from you and I have written to my son to tell him of my gift to you. So long as you do not rebel against him then you have a home in England. I cannot return Stockton to you but Whorlton has a castle and it is a start.”

  I bowed. “I thank your majesty.”

  “And now I will retire. It is the time of day I like to take a nap and all of this excitement has wearied me. Stay here for the Duchess wishes a word.”

  When the Queen and her entourage left there were just the four of us in the room. The Duchess opened a small chest. “I feel that this in inadequate bearing in mind what you have done but it is a reward for your services.” I saw that it was filled with coins.

  “Thank you but you need not reward me for I know that life will be hard for the two of you.”

  She laughed, “Ever the chivalrous knight. Do not worry. We have coin enough.”

  I nodded and looked around. “I did not show this to the Queen for fear of… well let us say that there may be others close to the Dowager who might work for your enemies.”

  “The French?”

  I handed her the letter, “There are other enemies, my lady, and some are closer to home.”

  “De Ferrers! I knew he had ambition but…” She looked at me. “What will you do with this letter?”

  “I will keep it. It may prove useful. We still have to return to La Flèche. I fear there will be men looking for us.”

  Eleanor said, somewhat fearfully, “You will return north soon, my lord?”

  I nodded. “The longer we stay here the more chance our enemies have to cut us off. I am now three men down. The French seek me, King John hunts me and now, it appears, de Ferrers has Templars looking for me.”

  “You could stay here! This castle is safe.”

  “I would bring danger and, besides, I have a family and people at home.” I looked pointedly at Fótr, “Besides, my lady, the sooner we leave you the sooner you can get on with your life. You are the Maid of Brittany and one day you may be Duchess.”

  Her hand went to her mouth and she ran from the room. Duchess Constance said, “You are wise, Sir Thomas but I fear you have broken her heart.” She looked at Fótr, “If she were an ordinary lady, Fótr, then you and she could be as one. As it is I fear that you are both doomed to pine in vain. Your lord is right. It cannot be.”

  My squire nodded. In that moment he appeared to have grown a hand span, “But so long as I breathe and she has no husband then I can dream. My ancestors believed in something called, wyrd. You would call it Fate. There were three sisters who wove webs to trap men. Since we became Christian we no longer believe in such legends but I am not so certain. My lord discovered me, by accident and I have never regretted following him. When he met his lady, she was betrothed to another yet he married her and they have a family. Until they put you in a grave then you know not what might happen. Tell her that I will not give up.”

  The Duchess put her hand on his, “If this were my choice to make then I would say be wed and live. For if you did then my daughter would have a life. I am Duchess and it seems I have spent the last ten years clinging on to the title for my son. I will tell her but I fear that your love is doomed.”

  We waited two days to allow the horses to recover. We had spare horses now. We had captured six and we had the three from our dead comrades. I intended to ride home in one day and change horses. I would not risk an inn or a camp. I feared a knife in the night.

  The three ladies came to see us off. Eleanor the Maid was red eyed. Fótr looked at her stoically. The Duchess smiled and kissed us both on the cheek. She handed Edward a beautiful dagger in a finely made scabbard. “Here, my defender, this is for you. You may be born common but there is nobility in your heart.”

  I could see that Edward was touched.

  The Queen said, “I doubt that I will see you again, Sir Knight but you have reminded an old lady of her youth. It is good to know that chivalry still rides.”

  “And I am honoured to have met you and to have served you. Farewell!”

  Fótr put his hands together to help me climb into the saddle. Before he could mount his own horse, the Maid ran to him and kissed him hard on the lips. She said not a word but pressed something into his hand. She turned and walked defiantly back to her mother. Stunned Fótr mounted Flame and I led my men out before anything else untoward happened.

  As we left the castle Edward asked, “So, my lord, what is the plan?”

  That was a good question. I had spent half the night trying to wrack my brains for an answer which would get us home. The de Ferrers would now know that their plan had failed and they would seek their letter. They would be hunting me. The arrival of the Duchess and the Maid in Mirebeau would now be common knowledge. The fact that I had taken them there would also be widespread. The French would want the Duchess but they would also want me. King John might not wish harm to the Duchess but he would do all that he could to capture me. I had thwarted him too often for him to allow me to slip through his fingers.

  We will head north and cross the rivers Vienne and the Loire where they combine between Saumur and Chinon. It is thirty miles to the rivers. That way we cross in daylight and get some miles north before we are forced to rest.”

  Robert of La Flèche nodded, “There is a bridge over the Vienne, lord but the Loire is over five hundred paces wide there and it flows swiftly.”

  “And there is an island. We have spare horses. We put the mail on the spare horses and we swim them across. Our enemies can watch all of the bridges. They cannot watch the whole river.” I shrugged, “We can try.”

  Edward laughed, “Aye sir. It is never dull following your banner.”

  The Road Home

  Chapter 17

  When we passed the site of the ambush I saw that the heads and the bodies were gone. There were others out there still hunting us. David and his archers had filtered through the woods and ensured that we were free from ambush. The horses were well rested and we made good time. We swapped horses after fifteen miles. We would swap again when we reached the rivers. We ate when we stopped for the horses. We watered the horses and then ourselves. They were our hope. If they lasted then we would get home. We hit trouble when we neared the bridge over the Vienne. It was not a wide river but the bridge was old and made of wood. Worse, it was guarded. There were just four men there but they wore the livery of Anjou. Sir Guy was not with us and the men knew nothing of us. We sheltered in the trees to decide what to do. Our options were clear. We could wait until dark and either slip over the bridge or, if it was guarded and barred, ford the river. The problem with that was that we would have to cross the more dangerous Loire in the dark. The second was to try to bluff our way across.

  I gave orders and sent four archers ahead of us. We rode down towards the bridge. There was no way of disguising our numbers. We had too many horses. But we had cloaks covering our surcoats and we carried no banners. As we rode down the road I saw that were neither towers nor defences at the bridge. There was a small castle at Candes, just a thousand paces from the bridge. I guessed that the sentries came from there. I did not recognise the standard which fluttered from the castle. They would see us and we would need to be across the bridge as quickly as we could.

  The four men there stood with crossed spears. They were barring our route. From the castle I heard a horn. We had been seen. I looked at the sergeant at arms, “We would cross this bridge.”

  “I am sorry my lord but we have orders not to allow any armed men across in either direction.” He pointed to the castle. “The baron will be here shortly you may ask him for
permission.”

  I nodded, “Sergeant we will cross and if you try to stop us then you will die. I do not wish to harm you but my business is urgent.”

  They turned their spears to face me. All of a sudden four arrows flew from the side and landed at the men’s feet. David of Wales’ voice barked, “Drop your weapons and allow his lordship to pass or you have the next arrows in your bodies!”

  The sergeant was no fool and the weapons were dropped and the men parted. I waved the men and horses through. “Ride.” I leaned down to the sergeant and said, “A wise move. Advise your baron that if he pursues us he does so at his peril.”

  He caught sight of my surcoat beneath my grey cloak, “You are the Gryphon!” He crossed himself. “Are you a ghost? We thought you dead!”

  I heard hooves and David of Wales shouted, “My lord!”

  “I am not dead! Pass on my message for your baron’s sake!”

  I galloped across followed by my archers. The bridge reverberated to the sound of our hooves. Robert had led the men along the south bank of the Loire. He took them half a mile upstream to where an island split the river unevenly in two. As we approached I shouted, “Take them across!”

  We would now have to risk the river in mail. The first part, which led to the island, was just a hundred paces across and I could see the sand beneath the water for the last forty paces. It was a risk worth taking. We forded the river. The water came up to our horses’ necks briefly but then we were on the sand and made the other bank. We reached the shelter of the trees on the island unscathed and we turned to watch the southern river bank. The baron led ten mounted men to the bank. We were well hidden. I saw them looking for us. Eventually they descended the bank. Our hoofprints were clearly visible.

  “David. Kill four horses!”

  “Aye lord.” His archers took aim and the eight arrows flew to kill four of the horses. One was the knight’s and a second his squire. Shaking their fists, they all clambered back up the bank.

  “Time to take off our mail. David, keep watch while we do so.”