Knight of the Empress

by Griff Hosker

  Their leader had drawn his men up with his men at arms on one side and his knights on the other. The men at arms were closer to the castle. In the middle were a mass of the wild men as Edward had called them. There were ten knights and twenty men at arms. The bulk of his men were the eighty Scots wielding a variety of weapons. I suddenly remembered my father's men talking about Hastings and how the Norman army had pretended to retreat making the fyrd charge after them. That would have to be our ploy.

  I turned. "Dick, Wulfric I am going to entice the wild men on to you. Dismount the men at arms and present a wall of spears. Dick, have your archers behind the men at arms. We will charge and then retreat as though we are fearful. Squires you will charge the left of the line; closest to the castle. You will come back around the archers and form an echeloned line behind them. Knights you follow me. We charge and when we use our lances we stop and I will yell, 'fall back we are beaten!'" I smiled, "I will not mean it." I had our spare lances and spears jammed into the ground on either side of the men at arms.

  I formed the squires and knights into a solid line so that the men at arms could dismount unseen and have their horses led behind them. I heard the Scots banging their shields and shouting to us. I guessed that they were insulting us in some way, shape or form. As we lined up I said, "Keep your formation and when you retreat, gallop as though the devil himself was after you."

  I spurred Scout and we began to move forward. We held our lances aloft. It was easier that way. "Trot!" As we moved towards them I saw the knights ahead in conference. They were wondering what we were doing. Were we going to be so foolish as to attack a large warband with just a handful of knights? The mass of men before us were now banging their shields even harder and chanting something. I could not make out their words. ""Canter!" We were now a hundred paces from them and I lowered my lance as I yelled, "Charge!"

  I could see that they were laughing at us. There were nine of us charging at eighty warriors. I pulled back my arm and I saw my target. He was a huge half naked warrior with a war hammer. He was already whirling it over his head. I would have to time this right or Scout would be struck. I pulled back my arm and, standing in my stirrups leaned forward as I punched my lance into the middle of the warrior. I twisted as I pulled it out and shouted, "Fall back. We are beaten!"

  The weight of our horses and the hole we had made with our nine lances allowed us to turn in two different directions. The knights might have seen what we were doing but the wild men just saw us running. We had killed or wounded a tenth of their men and I suppose those we had struck had been the leaders. They yelled something and ran after us. It was why I had told my men to gallop hard. We were in danger of being caught. The wild men saw knights running from them. They had the blood lust coursing through their veins and they lost control. They charged after us screaming their war cries.

  I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the knights had yet to move. That was a mistake on the part of the knights. Some of the less disciplined men at arms had followed their fellows. The enemy leader had had his force of horsemen split. The ones who charged came, not in a line, but in a disorganised mob. We turned and formed two lines on the flanks of our dismounted men at arms. Dick and his archers loosed flight after flight over the heads of the men at arms and their hedge of spears. Half of them had found a target. Having run the gauntlet of goose feathered death they ran into the twenty lances and spears of my dismounted men at arms. Dick and the archers were able to release their arrows at point blank range. They were so close that I saw one arrow enter a Scot's head and come out at the back.

  Finally the knights and the men at arms who had remained behind charged. I worried about the squires but I had to concentrate on the line of knights charging us. We had all replaced our lances but our mounts were not as fresh as the Scots. We moved forward. I saw arrows being loosed over us as some of Dick's archers made life difficult for the knights. As I lowered my lance and aimed for the knight with the green and yellow shield I heard a cheer from my left. I had no idea what it meant. I kept my eyes on the knight. I saw his lance wavering. It told me that he was not using his own cantle for support and that he had not done this too often. It gave me confidence. When we were twenty paces apart I stood up and then squatted down as I punched forward. His lance went into the fresh air above my head. Mine ripped and tore into his stomach. The lance was broken as he fell from his mount. As I drew my sword I risked a glance to the left. Sir Guy was leading his men at arms to aid the squires.

  I turned back and it was just in time for a sword came down towards me. I barely parried the blow. The edge struck my hand. If it were not for the mail gloves then I would have lost my hand and with it, my life. This was a powerful knight. I took him by surprise when I wheeled Scout around, presenting him my back. He had already started his turn and I saw that we were shield to shield. I punched with my shield as I brought my sword overhand. He reeled. As I readied myself for a second blow he jerked his horse around. His surviving knights and his men at arms were fleeing north. They had baulked at the wall of spears and the rain of arrows. He spurred his horse and he joined them. We had the field.

  My own men at arms were dismounted and there was no way that our weary horses could follow. I had to content myself with holding the ground before Sir Guy's castle. Some of the men with axes and hammers had almost gone berserk. We surrounded them with a wall of spears and my archers filled their bodies with arrows. When the last body stopped twitching my men gave a huge cheer. Against the odds we had won.

  I took off my helmet and surveyed the field. We had not escaped unscathed. I saw that, although Sir Guy's intervention had been timely, Alan lay dead, transfixed by a spear. Tristan was nursing a wound and I saw blood pouring from Harold's head. As I looked around I saw Sir Mark's horse dragging his dead body around the field, his foot still in the stirrup. There were four dead men at arms but the cost had been lower than we might have hoped. Four of the knights who had tried to ravage my land lay dead, ten of their men at arms and fifty of their wild men would not return north.

  "Dick, take the archers and follow them until they are beyond our land. Return to Sir Geoffrey's manor."

  "Aye, my lord." He paused. "This was a great victory. Men will talk of this for many a year."

  I pointed to Alan's body, "But not all." He nodded sadly. "Wulfric, see to the wounded."

  Sir Guy came over to me and clasped my arm, "I wondered what you intended when you fled. That was masterly."

  I shrugged, "Duke William did the same at Hastings. We were lucky. Had the enemy been more disciplined we would have lost. Thank you for your intervention."

  "Your squires fought bravely. I am sorry for your loss."

  "Alan died a warrior." I nodded towards the enemy dead. "Have your men strip the bodies of valuables and then burn them. If we leave them then it will attract carrion." He nodded and strode off, "Edward, lay out our dead and we shall bury them with honour."

  I summoned Ralph, one of the two remaining men at arms from Normanby. "Your lord is dead, would you take him home to bury or will you bury him here with the other dead?"

  Ralph was as surly as his master had been. "We will take him home."

  I nodded. I could understand that. "Has he children?"

  He shook his head, "He was unmarried."

  "Then I will write to the King and the Bishop and inform them of the loss of the lord of the manor of Normanby."

  "His cousin is lord of Guisborough."

  "He does not gain the manor by right. That is for the King to decide and not his cousin. I leave you to command his men until a new lord is appointed." The remaining men of Normanby trudged home with their dead. They shared not in the spoils of war.

  Sir Guy insisted that the nights and squires use his hall. He was the eldest of us and I could not refuse. In my heart I wished to share the open fields with my men but we had been saved by his prompt action. We divided the spoils of war although they all deferred to me expecting, no doubt, th
at I would have kept the lion's share. We each gained a horse from the fray. One of the swords was given to Tristan for his bravery and a second to Harold. His head wound had not been as serious as it had looked although Wulfric's stitches would leave a wicked looking scar down one cheek.

  "I hope that this has dampened the enthusiasm of the Scots for their raids but it may not. We needs must be vigilant. We cannot rely on Normanby any longer. Until the King appoints new lords to Hartness and Normanby we will have to rely on our own resources for the defence of the valley."

  Sir Guy looked at Sir Geoffrey, "I believe I will try to hire more men at arms. But your son fought well. He could be a knight as could Tristan here."

  Sir Richard said, "I would have my son become more experienced before he is knighted. Edward's squire, Alan, was a brave warrior and he fell. It will not harm my son to become more skilled."

  "And I feel the same. My son has time to improve. It is a pity so many young knights took the cross. I would rather have a knight who brings his own men at arms. My people are becoming more prosperous. With more taxes we can employ more warriors; if they are there to be hired." He was right. A good knight was more valuable than a pile of gold.

  We left the next day. Each day we kept the fyrd armed was a day less for them to work in their fields. News came to us, later on, that other parts of the border, including the castle at Barnard had suffered privations at the hands of Gospatric's men. We had suffered less than the others but it was still too much. Sir Richard and his men stayed an extra day at Stockton. He wished to speak with Wulfstan about the best way to train his son. "Your mason, William, would he work for me?"

  I laughed, "He works for coin but aye he would work for you. He is keen to work in the valley. He likes it here and his family is settled in the town."

  "It has grown much. I was last here five years ago and it was barely a hamlet."

  "Do not be a stranger. We are close neighbours. Your wife seems to have got on well with Faren and Adela in our absence."

  "She is high born and she misses speaking with ladies of quality."

  I glanced at Wulfstan's impassive face. He was proud that Faren, who we had bought as a slave, had become a lady of quality. After they had gone I noticed that the castle seemed a little emptier. With men and horses to heal and armour to repair I was kept busy for the next few days. It was Wulfstan who took me to one side. "I think you need to speak with Edward. He is brooding over Alan's death. He thinks he did not train the youth well enough."

  "That is nonsense. I was to blame for putting him in such danger."

  "No Alfraed, that is how a man becomes a warrior. Speak with him."

  Wulfstan was right. Edward was one of my knights and I owed it to him to watch over him just as he protected me. I went to the town to visit with Alf. My mail glove, which had saved my hand needed repair. He turned it over in his hand. "I can have this ready in three days my lord."

  "That quickly?"

  He nodded, "Would that we could repair men as quickly eh, my lord?"

  He was correct and I decided to do something about Edward. Aiden had now come to live at my new castle. He had his two boys whom he was training to look after the hawks and his other animals. John son of Godwin and Leofric son of Tan were fine boys and they proved to be almost as skilled with animals as Aiden. I decided to use the new hawks as an excuse to go with Edward and talk with him. Harold was still recovering from his wound and it would seem natural.

  John was the bigger of the boys and he had the honour of carrying the cadge. As he had never done this before we just went down the river a mile or two to the woods close to the Hart Burn. It was a new experience for the boys. I decided to hunt a little before I brought up Alan's death. The two hawks were fine birds. "Aiden, have you named them yet?"

  "No my lord, they are your birds. I just trained them. Besides I think it is better if they name themselves. That way they will answer quicker."

  "Name themselves?"

  "Aye my lord, the way Scout did. He has sharp ears and eyes and is a good scout. Let us see what they do when they hunt." We left the horses tied to a tree at the top of the steep bank. I took the first hawk from the cadge. He had sharp eyes and he stared at me. I had known, in Byzantium, some nobles who would have got rid of such a bird. I liked its insolence; it was showing that it too was a warrior. Its beak gave it the look of a Roman Emperor. I searched for prey and saw a dove which suddenly darted from the trees across the river. I lifted my arm and the hawk followed the fast moving bird. It rose, almost lazily, and then swooped imperiously down to snatch the dove in its talons. Aiden whistled to fetch it back. I was impressed with the way it dropped the dead bird at his feet and allowed him to place it back on the cadge. He gave it a morsel as a reward.

  "Caesar. He is Caesar!"

  Aiden had never heard of Caesar but when I told him that he was a Roman Emperor who conquered Britain he was impressed. "It is a good name." He handed me the second bird. "Now this one is different to Caesar. She is slightly smaller, my lord, but do not let her size fool you. She is a good hunter."

  We made our way to the river. This hawk kept watching all around her. She was curious. A duck suddenly took fright and flew along the river, keeping very low. I let the hawk go. This would be a harder kill for the duck kept moving from side to side and was very low over the water. The bird flew under trees so that the hawk could not get above it. The hawk seemed to lose interest and rose high above the river. They were almost lost from view. I wondered at Aiden's words. This bird did not seem as good as Caesar. The duck flew in a straighter line and the hawk dived, almost vertically. The shock was so great that it broke the duck's neck in an instant. She brought the dead bird back to Aiden.

  Even Aiden was impressed. I watched as she tore into the titbit Aiden had just given her and I nodded my approval, "She is a killer! But she is regal. I shall call her Sheba!"

  Edward had begun to smile as he had watched the hawk working her prey. As we moved up the slope, going slowly for the cadge was not easy to manoeuvre, I brought up Alan. "You still grieve for your squire?"

  His face fell, "I am sorry, my lord, I did not know it showed."

  "Edward you are one of the most honest men I know. You cannot disguise your hurt nor should you. But you must temper that with the knowledge that we are all warriors and none of us is invincible." I held up my right hand. "I came within a sword thrust of losing my right hand and if that had happened then the Scot would have finished me. I was spared. Alan was not."

  "Perhaps I did not train him well enough."

  Perhaps. I think you did but you may be right. That means that you do a better job with your next squire."

  "Next squire?"

  "The Scots and other predators will not go away Edward and we need knights. So long as the Holy Land and its riches are a lure we will find it hard, in the poor north, to recruit knights. Perforce we must make our own."

  We had reached our horses and we mounted. We rode along the ridge towards Stockton. The top of the tower could just be seen in the distance. "You are right my lord and, perhaps, I should take wife too. I am not getting any younger and I envy Wulfstan his son. He has a youth he can train from an early age to be a knight. Much as you were."

  I said nothing but he was right and perhaps this was my father's way of telling me to marry Adela and begin my own family.

  Deciding upon the need for a squire and finding one were two different matters but Edward was happier and he threw himself into the life of the manor. We had stopped one Scottish incursion but there would be another. The three of us took it in turns to take some men north each day and patrol the northern approaches and look for signs of newcomers. It honed the skills of all of our men and made them all better scouts. The days we did not ride north we trained. There were youths who were on the cusp of becoming archers and we had others, men at arms, who sought employment. Not all were suitable and Wulfric weeded out the ones he thought would be a liability. Men at arms were expen
sive and although the two manors were doing well there was a limit to the number we could hire.

  I had had another expense too. With the sessions, the taxes and the correspondence I had to write I needed a clerk. I had little enough time to myself. Adela did it for a while and it drew us closer and softened the barriers I had erected between us. It was Osric who came up with the solution. Leofric the Moneyer had a son who could not only read but write quite well. He had thought to train as a priest but a dalliance with a maid, before I hired Leofric, put paid to that ambition. His carnal desires would get in the way of his religious duties. Osric brought him to Stockton when he heard I needed a clerk.

  "My Lord Alfraed, this is John son of Leofric. He is an ambitious young man and would be your clerk if you would have him."

  The young man looked presentable enough. He had soft hands. He obviously did not help his father overmuch and I wondered what he had been doing. "Tell me, John son of Leofric, how do you occupy your days?" He looked up at me in shock at the directness of my question. "If you work for me then you must know that I speak my mind and do not suffer fools gladly." I smiled at Osric, "I was brought up that way. If you do not like my bluntness then I suggest you go back to doing whatever you have been doing."

  He nodded, "I help my father. I have nimble fingers and I help him make the dies for the coins. He needs a regular supply. When I do not do that then I sometimes teach some of the children who wish it, how to read."

  "They are good answers and are testament to good character. Osric here says you are ambitious. What do you wish?"