“You are going to be broke by the time we reach Whitby,” Gavan came up behind him, fussing with a gauntlet. “You must learn to deny her once in a while.”
Richmond puckered his lips wryly. “Think not to lecture me,” he told him. “I seem to recall you having difficulty denying your wife anything.”
Gavan returned the wry expression, although there was a defensive attitude with it. “This is not about me. This is about you, and you are spoiling Arissa. She’s going to expect this from you for the rest of your life.”
Richmond just shook his head, watching Arissa giggle happily as the merchant, a thin woman with bad skin, held up a lovely blue surcoat against her to see if it would fit. Arissa took the surcoat and, with Emma’s approving nod, rushed over to Richmond as he stood in the street with Gavan. Her lovely features were alight with joy.
“Richmond, look,” she held up the surcoat. “What do you think? This woman has all manner of coats that are already sewn. She says that she sells a great number of them because they are already made. Have you ever seen such a thing?”
Richmond shook his head. “Alas, I have not,” he said. “May I point out that you already have plenty of fabric to make your own coats with?”
Her face fell slightly and she looked at the surcoat, made from a lovely and billowing Perse fabric. It was very fine.
“But these are already made,” she insisted. “This one will fit me. Do you not like it?”
Richmond looked at her, a smile playing on his lips. Then he looked at Gavan, who simply lifted his eyebrows. After a moment, Richmond returned his attention to Arissa’s hopeful expression. He couldn’t deny her and they all knew it.
“I like it,” he told her, conceding complete and utter defeat. “Get what you will.”
Arissa was back to smiling brightly. With a giggle of joy, she rushed back into the shop and began having the shop keeper remove several more surcoats that were hanging on nails. As Richmond stood there, ignoring Gavan’s smirks, something suddenly hit him on the back of his armored legs.
It was not a hard hit, but enough to get his attention. Hand on the hilt of his broadsword, he turned to see a young girl picking herself up out of the dirt. She was a filthy little urchin, with tangled red curls and freckles on her nose. Richmond peered down at the child as Gavan, having heard the knock against Richmond’s armor, reached down and grasped the child by the arm.
“Here, now,” he all but shoved her away from Richmond. “Watch where you are going.”
The little girl tripped when Gavan firmly directed her away and ended up on the ground again, this time falling on a rock. She immediately started wailing as she came away with a cut knee. That brought a cavalry charge of more children pouring out of the shadows and doorways around them. There had to be a dozen or more, all rushing in the child’s direction.
“Oy!” a boy around ten years rushed to the child’s side, pulling her up off the street and noticing her bloody knee. Rather than cower from the two enormous knights, he actually grew angry. “Did ye have tae hurt her, then?”
Gavan looked rather surprised at the challenge. “I did not hurt her,” he said. “She fell and scraped her knee. Moreover, she ran into us first. She should be more careful next time.”
The boy with the matted blond hair and extremely dirty body did not back down as more children gathered behind him in mute support. There was strength in numbers. The weeping little girl was absorbed by the group as they pulled her back into a protective huddle.
“She couldna have hurt ye,” the boy sounded very much as if he was scolding Gavan. “Ye didna have tae bloody her!”
By this time, Arissa heard the commotion and exited the merchant’s stall to see what was going on. She saw Richmond and Gavan squaring off against a gang of small children, the eldest of which could not have been more than ten or eleven years old. In the middle of the group, a little red-haired girl wept loudly.
“Richmond?” Arissa positioned herself between Richmond and Gavan, her focus on the suspicious children. “What is going on?”
Richmond shook his head. “I am not quite sure,” he admitted casually. “But I believe we are being threatened.”
Arissa’s brow furrowed as she looked between Richmond and the children. “What happened?”
He shrugged. “A child ran in to me,” he said. “You can hear her crying. When Gavan tried to remove her, she fell and hit her knee on a rock. Now these children think we have brutalized her.”
Arissa looked at Gavan. “What did you do to her?”
Gavan put up his hands as if he truly had no idea. “I did not do anything to her,” he insisted. “She was on the ground so I pulled her up and directed her away from Richmond. And then she fell.”
Arissa looked displeased. “Gavan, I have seen you when you go in defense of Richmond,” she said. “Did you truly just direct her away? Or did you push her?”
Gavan looked at Arissa as if insulted by the question. Then he rolled his eyes and stepped away, unwilling to get into a verbal battle with her. “I did not shove her,” he said, walking away.
Arissa scowled at the man before returning her attention to the children. In truth, Richmond did not seem to know how to react to a gang of youths accusing him of injuring one of their own so he thought it best to say nothing. He did not want to start anything that might bring out the adults, or worse, other knights. He was not looking for a fight in any case and did not want to waste his time. Therefore, he focused on Arissa.
“If you are thinking of making a purchase, go and make your selection,” he told her. “We have a few more miles to travel before setting up camp and I do not want to be setting up in the dark.”
Arissa nodded, though she was still eyeing the children. The boy who had defended the little girl so stringently was still standing in front of the group, his fists balled, as if preparing to do battle. She focused on the young lad.
“Is the little girl your sister?” she asked kindly.
The boy looked at the lovely young woman who was not a whole lot bigger than he was. He appeared confused by the question at first but eventually shook his head. “No,” he said. “She dunna have a brother.”
Arissa smiled at the lad. “You make a very good brother. You are very brave to protect her.”
The child scratched his head, looking at the group behind him as if his courage was suddenly waning and he was looking to them for support. Then he looked back at Arissa.
“He did push her,” he insisted, though it was without force.
Arissa nodded patiently. “If he did, I am sure he did not mean to,” she said. “I am sorry if your friend was hurt.”
“Is he yer husband, lady?”
Arissa shook her head, pointing to Richmond instead. “He is.”
The boy, and the children behind him, looked at the enormous man. “Does he beat ye, then?” the boy asked, incredulous.
Arissa laughed. “Of course not,” she said. “Why would he?”
“Because he’s a big ‘un.”
Arissa was still smiling, shaking her head. “He’s very sweet and very kind,” she told him. “Now, tell me; where are your parents?”
The boy shrugged. “We dunna have ‘un,” he said, kicking at the dirt and glancing to the group behind him. “We.... well, we take care o’ each other.”
Arissa understood somewhat. “Which is why you defended the little girl.”
“Aye.”
At this point, the little girl’s weeping could no longer be heard and the gaggle of children began to disband. It would seem that the crisis was over and they were losing interest in what was going on. As they started to wander away, Arissa called out to them.
“Wait,” she said. “Please.... wait.”
The boy, and most of the group, came to a halt. Then she turned to Richmond. “Give them a few coins,” she whispered.
He was surprised by her request. “What?” he asked, as if he hadn’t heard her correctly. “A few coins....?”
Arissa held out her hand to him. “Please,” she hissed. “Look at them, Richmond; they are filthy and starving. Show them the same generosity you show me and give them a few coins so they can at least buy something to eat.”
He eyed her, displeased, but did as she asked. Reaching in to his tunic, he pulled forth his purse and plopped five coins into her palm. Arissa went to the boy with the matted blond hair and extended her hand.
“For you,” she said. “Please buy something to eat for your friends.”
The child took the coins from her, awed. He stared at the pences in his palm as if he could hardly believe what he was seeing. Then, he grinned brightly, displaying green and crooked teeth.
“Thanks, lady!”
He dashed off, calling to the children, and they all swarmed around him. As he excitedly showed off the coins he had been given and pointed back to Arissa and Richmond, Arissa stood there and grinned. Richmond came up behind her.
“Very generous, my lady,” he said, winking at her when she turned to look at him. “Now, if you do not mind, it is time to make your purchases so we can get out of this town before I go broke.”
With a giggle, Arissa turned back to the merchant stall and the amazing pre-made surcoats. Emma was standing just inside the stall, still holding on to the blue Perse coat, having just watched the happenstance with the children. Arissa and Emma were just beginning to engage in conversation when Richmond heard a shout.
He turned to see Gavan heading towards him with something in his hand. “Our messenger has caught up to us,” Gavan told him as he approached. “We have a reply from Henry.”
Richmond’s attention was diverted from Arissa spending all of his money as he went to Gavan and accepted a worn leather pouch that was sealed with an iron pin.
“That was fast work,” Richmond replied as he opened the pouch. “From Lambourn to London, and then to Whitby in less than two weeks.”
“Indeed.”
Richmond dug into the pouch and pulled out the first of two missives stuck inside. “I wonder what Henry has to say to all of this,” he muttered, eyeing the first missive that had his name on it. Then he pulled out the second and noted that it was for his eyes only. He put that one back in the pouch as he focused on the first. “I can only hope he does not order us to turn around and head back for London.”
“Why?”
“Because it would not be very safe for Arissa there, not with all of the turmoil surrounding the king right now, and I am not entirely sure how I could deny the king’s orders without revealing our little secret,” he replied as he popped the wax seal and unrolled the fine vellum. His gaze digested the words for a few moments before he started to read.
“Sir Richmond le Bec
Dated this tenth day of December, Year of Our Lord Fourteen Hundred and Two
Richmond,
We have received your missive regarding the removal of your ward from Lambourn Castle and We approve. Continue to Whitby Abbey with all due haste, whereupon your ward shall begin her sentence with the sisterhood. When you have accomplished this task, you will return to London with all due haste. We have need of you.
Tasked the Day of Days,
Your Lord and Sovereign, Henry.....”
Richmond looked up from the missive. “So we return to London once Arissa is charged to Whitby,” he muttered, lowering the missive as he began to roll it up again. His movements were slow and pensive. “It is as I had hoped.”
“You do not seem pleased.”
Richmond shrugged. “I do not suppose we could take another few weeks before I have to leave her.”
Gavan sighed faintly, glancing up at Arissa and Emma in the distance as they bartered for the garments. “Nay,” he said quietly. “Richmond, I realize this is difficult for you, but the sooner you leave her and attend Henry, the sooner you can return for her. That is what you want most of all, is it not?”
Richmond tucked the missive back in the pouch, noting the second one and remembering that he was instructed to read it alone.
“It is,” he nodded, though he was still feeling depressed. “I still do not like the idea of leaving her with strangers. More than that, I do not want her to be away from me.”
“It is necessary for now. You know that. You and Henry have a great deal of business to discuss and it is better to get it over with.”
Richmond could only nod again. Then he pulled out the second smaller missive and gestured to Gavan with it.
“Hurry the women along,” he instructed. “Whatever they want, buy it for them. Let us depart this berg sooner rather than later. I am eager to get the men settled in for the night.”
Gavan broke away from him and headed for Arissa and Emma, who saw him coming and hastened to wind up their bartering. Richmond watched for a moment as Gavan came upon them and evidently told them to hurry, because he could hear Arissa scolding him.
With a grin, Richmond broke the seal on the second missive and read the short note, also from Henry. This news was regarding Gavan’s wife and was far more devastating, like a blow to his gut, and Richmond struggled quickly to recover.
He made sure there were no tears in his eyes when Gavan returned with the women a short time later.
Fifteen
Richmond’s encampment had been set up about three miles north of Pickering in a vale of trees with a large brook running through it, enough so that his men were able to wash and cook with plenty of water.
In spite of the fact that it was December in the north, the skies were remarkably clear and the land fairly dry. It was, however, very cold. Richmond had his men spread out and set up a perimeter, setting watch shifts and security, as several of his men set up his tent and stoked two viziers into a nice, warm blaze.
Arissa and Emma had huddled around one of them while the tents went up, until Emma grew bored and began to speak of the winter blooms she had seen. She began to speak of pomades and oils, pulling Arissa into her excitement, and soon the two of them were out of the tent in search of the elusive winter blooms. That was fairly normal behavior for Arissa. Unbeknownst to Richmond, they wandered away from camp.
But his clues came soon enough. Richmond heard a chorus of screams, faint and muffled against the damp trees, and he knew without a doubt the screams came from Arissa; he would know her voice anywhere. He had just located Gavan amongst the soldiers and was preparing to deliver the contents of the second missive when the air had been pierced by the unmistakable sounds of terror. Deterred from his dreaded task, both he and Gavan had been jolted into action.
Within seconds, the entire camp was a boiling cauldron of men and armor, determined to seek out and protect the two women from the impending threat. The five soldiers that had been left in charge of the young ladies' safety suddenly found themselves stripped of their arms and corralled into a tight group. Guarded by ten soldiers of Richmond's personal choosing, hope for a relatively painless future was not guaranteed as Henry's most powerful knight discovered their failings.
Richmond and Gavan were already mounted, tearing into the thicket of trees to the south of the wagon, the very last place the two ladies had been seen and assuming it was a logical location to begin. But several feet into the undergrowth, it was obvious the destriers could go no further in the heavy foliage. Dismounting, swords were unsheathed as both knights and several dozen soldiers charged headlong into the dense, wet leafage.
Heart pounding, Richmond was not given ample time to work himself up into a good panic; within moments, he found himself gazing upon a black and blond head from where the ladies sat, perched on a large moldering rock. Beside them, a vaguely familiar figure clad in rags sat happily and several feet away, a cluster of children were hovered intently over a small fire.
Richmond could see that the women weren't in any danger and his anxiety transformed into simmering anger. Pushing through a bank of heavy brush that he practically tore to shreds with his force and size, he jabbed an armor-clad finger at the two figures on th
e rock.
"What goes on here?" he boomed.
Arissa started violently, leaping up from the rock in surprise. Emma, her eyes wide with shock, stared at Richmond and Gavan as if the Devil had suddenly made an appearance; covered with exposed swords and weapons, the picture was terrifying.
"We.... we came into the trees looking for flowers," Arissa stammered. "The children found us and are preparing a special treat in our honor."
Richmond stared at the overall picture a moment; seventeen very frightened, very cold children gazed back at him as if he were pure evil. On a small fire built into the mucky earth, five small fish were cooking on spits and Richmond sheathed his sword, moving to grasp Arissa by the arm.
"'Twas foolish to venture into the trees without an escort," he growled. "I would expect more of a show of intelligence from you, my lady. You are fully aware of the dangers that lurk about."
Arissa winced at the brutal grip on her arm. "Release me, Richmond, you are hurting me," she said with as much force as she could muster. His grip immediately lessened, but he did not let go of her and she attempted to pull free. He did not budge. "Let go of me, Richmond. I demand it."
"You do not make demands," he flipped up his visor, his eyes like ice as his gaze moved from the frightened children to Emma. He gestured at her with his free hand. "Take her, Hage. Tie her to the wagon if she cannot show more wisdom than to venture out into the forest without the proper attendants."
As Gavan moved for Emma, Arissa could see that the situation was rapidly deteriorating. Since she could not match Richmond's anger, and his fury was quite correct for wandering away from the campsite, she decided to play to his sympathies instead. As she had proven abundantly in the past, a little honey against the hard facade of Richmond le Bec could work wonders.
"Richmond, may I speak with you a moment before you haul Emma and I away like a pair of criminals?" she asked politely.
He eyed her. "When we return to camp, I will expect a full explanation. You may speak to your heart's content at that time."
Timeless Tales of Honor Page 65