Henry II (The Anarchy Book 13)

by Griff Hosker

  His expression showed that he debated questioning me but then reality set in. he nodded. “Yes lord.”

  “Mount, we ride again!”

  When we stopped for the last time I saw that the ladies were suffering. Their excitement at the chase had been replaced by the pain of the saddle. Eleanor delicately chewed on a piece of cured ham and sipped water as she approached me. “You and your man have not stopped for a night and a day. Are you not weary?”

  “Yes, your majesty but we are warriors. We can keep going.” I patted the rump of the new horse I would be riding. “I am not certain about the horses but we shall see. We have less than fifteen miles to go.” I hung my shield from the cantle. So far it had been luggage. Soon it would be my defence.

  She noticed my action. “And that brings increased danger even closer does it not, Earl?”

  “It does and that is when a tired horse can bring disaster. Let us hope that God smiles on this venture.”

  “And you do not?”

  “Let us say, majesty, that I advised the Duke that a little more discretion would be advisable.”

  She laughed, “He is a young man and I can imagine how that conversation ended.” Her face became serious. “I fear that it is I who have precipitated this flight. Henry wants sons. England needs sons. I believe that I have sons within me but I am no longer a young woman. We must start a family sooner rather than later. If we delayed, then who knows.”

  “You are the same age as Henry’s mother was when she married his father. She managed to give the Count three boys.”

  “Then I shall give the Duke four!” She put her hand on mine. “If Henry had not had you to call upon then we would not have attempted this. You should blame yourself, Earl. Henry believes there is nothing that you cannot do!”

  “I wish I had the same faith. Come we ride!” I turned to the women and guards. “This is the last leg. We may be attacked. Stay close and stay close by our mounts. Do not leave the road. We have friends ahead but also, I fear, many enemies.” I nudged my horse closer to Raymond. “Keep closer to us this time. If we are attacked, then release the horse and ride to the left of the Queen. Use your body as her armour.”

  “Aye lord.”

  We were approaching Illeaiae. I knew that presented danger. It may only have been a banneret who lived there with a small number of men but if the riders from Paris had reached the manor then that would increase the danger. As we approached to within three miles of the castle my hope was that the riders who had ridden all night would need rest. They would have spoken with the knight who would have told them what he had seen. They would either be taking rest or they would be in the woods. If it was the latter, then they were as good as dead. If the former, then we would be in a hard place for Geoffrey and his men would also be waiting and there might be two sets of enemies.

  We were seen from the castle walls when we were half a mile from it. I heard a horn and saw a flurry of activity from the gate. “We are seen Raymond.”

  “Aye lord.” He let go of the reins of the spare horse.

  I slapped it on the rump and it leapt ahead of us. Raymond dropped back and I spurred my horse. I smacked the Queen’s horse too as I drew close. “Now we ride hard.” I shouted over my shoulder. “Keep going until we reach the forest. It is a mile or two ahead!”

  As we passed the castle I saw that the gate was open and there was activity within. There were horses. The men we had seen had been resting. We had the time it took for them to saddle their horses and then they would be upon us. The villagers were up and about but the riderless horse galloping through made them stop and stare. As our cavalcade galloped through they took shelter. I hoped that natural curiosity would make them return to the centre and speak of what they had seen. The few moments it would delay our pursuers might be all that we needed.

  As we crested the rise between the trees, the riderless horse stopped. I spied the forest just a short way ahead. I began to wonder if I had been wrong about Geoffrey for we were within half a mile of the forest and he had not appeared. We were two hundred paces from the eaves when the two bands of horsemen galloped from cover. They came from our left and our right. They meant to cut us off. I recognised Geoffrey. They would reach us before we made the trees. Dick and his archers would come to our aid but would they be in time?

  Geoffrey was on the side where I rode. “Raymond, take them to safety. I will deal with the Count!”

  “Aye lord!”

  The Queen shouted something but it was lost as I urged my tiring horse towards Geoffrey and the ten knights who followed him and his squire. I reached down and pulled up my shield. I was riding at a steady pace for that was all that my horse could manage. The Count of Nantes and his knights were hurtling towards us. I drew my sword. If I could take the head of the hydra, then the bachelor knights would leave. Geoffrey was their paymaster. Without him there was nothing.

  I saw him turn his horse’s head to avoid me. I mirrored his turn. His squire spurred his horse and galloped at me. He stood in his saddle and swung at my shield with his sword. I held it up and took the blow. I was already turning to reach Geoffrey but he was passing me. His horse was fresher and the miles had told on my mount. Two of the knights who followed Geoffrey spurred their horses as they sought the opportunity to kill the Warlord of the North. Suddenly they were pitched from their saddles as Dick’s archers began to release.

  The Duke’s brother was half a horse’s length from me. I spurred my horse for one last effort. I glanced to my right and saw no sign of the Queen. Two of her women were still galloping towards the forest but, alarmingly, there was no sign of her knights and men at arms. I put them from my mind as I raced towards Geoffrey. My eye was caught by the sight of the men racing from the castle. It was then I saw the Queen’s escort. They had joined them and, further to the east I saw banners. King Louis had sent more men. The ride had been a long and a hard one. I had pushed my weary mount too far and the depression in the ground caught her out. Her head went down. I knew I was going to fall. I kicked my feet from my stirrups and held my right hand with my sword behind me. As I flew through the air I held my shield as tightly as I could. I hit the ground hard but the shield broke my fall. I was winded and I lay there for a moment. A voice inside told me to rise.

  I used my sword to push myself up. Geoffrey had turned his horse and was now heading east. I turned as I heard hooves behind me. I just managed to turn and block the sword of the Count’s squire as he swung it. My arm shivered but the squire had not had a good grip on the sword and it fell from his hand. I picked it up and put it in my left hand. I ran for the forest. I could hear the voices of my men urging me to run. The forest was still two hundred paces from me and it is never easy running in spurs.

  I heard hooves behind me but resisted the temptation to turn. I did not want to suffer the same fate as my horse. Suddenly Ralph of Nottingham appeared from the forest. He was riding one horse and held the reins of another. He shouted, “Behind you, lord! Turn.”

  As I turned I saw two of the riders from the castle riding towards me. Behind them I saw three others who had been struck by arrows but two remained. They rode one behind the other. I knelt for the leading rider had a spear. As he stabbed down I swung with my sword at the legs of his horse. My sword bit into the horse’s legs and was then dragged from my hand. His spear knocked me to the ground.

  The second rider adjusted his approach. I rolled out of the way of his spear and took the squire’s sword from my left hand. As he turned to charge me again I ran at him. It took him by surprise. I punched at the horse’s head with my shield and then swept the sword blindly in a wide arc. I felt it strike his head as I was knocked to the ground.

  When I rose I saw Ralph above me. “Here, lord! Your horse!”

  “My sword!”

  I ran back to pick up the sword with the pommel stone of Harold Godwinson. Two more riders galloped towards us.

  “My lord!”

  I had just reached the horse and
was hauling myself into the saddle when the four arrows plunged into the two riders and knocked them from their saddles. Ralph held his shield above my head as I mounted. I kicked the horse in the flanks and we headed towards the forest. It went from light to dark as we entered the safer confines of the forest. Wilfred and Will Red Legs were there.

  “The Queen?”

  Sir Richard and James have taken her and her ladies through the forest but they have weary horses.”

  I nodded, “And there are riders from King Louis approaching.”

  The four archers Dick had sent with Wilfred mounted. Wilfred said, “Dick has the rest of the men ready to delay the enemy. Follow me, my lord. Stay close to Ralph. We have a safe route for us to reach him.”

  I saw that my men had placed cords and ropes at knee height between the trees. Behind us our pursuers were heading into the forest. We did not gallop but picked our way through the maze. The wisdom of Wilfred’s plan became evident when we heard a crash and a cry as the first of those following hit a rope.

  “Now we can ride lord. The rest is clear.”

  We turned and headed through the forest towards the road. I could hear hooves thundering. I heard the sound of battle but I saw nothing. The forest was so dark that it was like peering into fog. My line of archers appeared from the ground, or so it seemed.

  Aelric grinned at me, “Cutting it fine again eh lord? We will cover your retreat and then rejoin you.” The four archers who had followed us dismounted and one of them led their horses away.

  We picked our way through the trees towards the lightness that was the road. Dick was there with the rest of my archers. I saw him release an arrow and then turn. He grinned too. My men were all pleased to see me, it seemed. “You have given my men plenty of targets to aim at. I hope we have brought enough arrows.”

  I nodded, “Raymond?”

  Dick frowned. “He had a wound and I sent him with the Queen. Oswald is waiting with fresh horses further down the road.”

  “It will take time to mount.” He nodded. “There were twenty men sent last night to reinforce the garrison. The Queen’s escort has joined them. I think we could have dealt with those but King Louis has sent riders to recapture the queen. This will be a hard fight. Hold them here as long as you can. Wilfred, bring the men at arms and we will make a stand at the edge of the forest. Dick, when you can hold them no longer do not risk your archers but flee. Bring them around and wait for them when they emerge from the forest. You can release over our heads.”

  “Aye lord.”

  Wilfred kicked his horse and we galloped down the road. Dick’s archers’ arrows still fell on any of the enemy who tried to use the road. The French leader would have to use men in the trees to winkle them out. That would take time. Dick was buying me the time I needed to delay the enemy.

  Wilfred led us to Oswald who stood with the exhausted horses which the Queen and her women had ridden. Raymond lay on the ground and Oswald was fastening a bandage around his leg.

  “Is it bad, Raymond?”

  “No lord. It was a spear thrust. It was the tip only went into my flesh. There was blood but it is not serious.”

  I saw that Alain of Auxerre and Alan son of Alan of Osmotherley also had wounds. I knew not how serious. “Come let us ride.”

  As we rode through the last half mile of the forest I worked out what we had to do. The Queen and her ladies would not be as fast as those who pursued us. My archers could hold them up but only for so long. We would need to buy them some time. It was as we emerged that I remembered the ruins of the Roman mansio. There, we could hold them up. As we neared it I said, “We will wait for them here. We make a shield wall until Dick and his archers rejoin us.”

  We reined in behind the ruined walls. “Raymond, you and the wounded will be horse holders.”

  “Aye lord.”

  With twenty-three of us we could have three ranks and that would fill the gap across the road and between the ruins. We did not have spears and so we would have to use a tactic we had practised but never used. I was in the front rank with Wilfred and the most experienced of my men at arms. Our shields touched the floor. Those behind held their shields angled so that they covered our chests and heads. The rear rank held their shields into the backs of the second ranks.

  “Today we use swords. Keep them behind the shields until my command. When I give it we all step forward with our left feet, present our shields and stab forward as one. Those in the second rank will need to be strong with their shields for they may well have spears.”

  Wilfred’s stentorian tones were reassuring in their calmness. “You heard the Warlord. Rafe you are in the centre of the second rank, you take charge of them.”

  “Aye, sergeant!”

  I saw the first of Dick’s archers as they peeled from the northern side of the woods. They rode as though they were fleeing but they would ride a large circle and come behind us. I saw more from the south. Sadly, I saw that they led four horses. Four of my archers would not return to England.

  “They will come soon. Listen for my commands. When I say break, we get to our horses and run. We have a Queen to protect. The sooner she is in Rouen the sooner we can get back to England and end this war!”

  They were men of Stockton and, no matter where they had been born, they were now Englishmen. They cheered and banged their hilts against their shields.

  I saw the Franks appear from the woods. Some came down the road and some from the forest. They began to swarm towards us. I heard a horn and they stopped. Whoever led them know that I commanded. He would not rush. I had a reputation and, in the past, many others had been reckless and paid the price. They formed up in three lines. If the second and third were the equal of the first, then there were forty-eight men. I saw banners. They marked the twelve knights. I could only see mail but the men we had seen the previous night had no mail. I guessed that the third line would be those with the weakest armour.

  They began to trot towards us. The front rank all had spears. Their slow gait suited us for it would allow Dick and his archers to get around the rear of us. The buildings and the horses would disguise them to some extent. It would be the archers who would save us. Twenty-three men could not hold out for long against forty-eight. Even as I looked I saw more French emerging from the forest. The odds were stacked against us and it would be the steel tipped arrows of my archers which would discourage their ardour.

  Had I been standing with any other men I might have been worried by the wall of steel which headed towards us. But this was my retinue. My men would stand. There might be fear but the knowledge that they stood shoulder to shoulder with their brothers in arms would make up for that. I saw that my opponent had made one mistake. His line would overlap the ruins. The ones on the flanks would have to ride around. My three horse guards would be in danger but, by then, I hoped that Dick and his archers would be in place.

  The ground shook when they were a hundred and fifty paces from us and the leader lowered his lance and spurred his horse. The line leapt forward. In their eagerness to get at us they had left slight gaps between the riders. They would travel quicker but not have the same impact.

  “Rear rank brace!”

  The eight men at the rear would have to make sure that they held. We would have to bear the brunt of the weight of the horseflesh and metal. I knew that horses would baulk at running into men, unless they had been trained to do so. They were not war horses.

  When they were fifty paces from us their leader shouted, “For God and King Louis!”

  Even as I prepared to give the command I saw the rider next to the leader preparing his horse. He would try to either jump his mount or made it rear at us. That was a danger. Timing would be all. When they were ten paces from us I shouted, “Forward!”

  As one man the front two ranks stepped forward. It was a buttock clenching moment. I could feel the hot breath of the horses and smell the sweat as the mighty beasts loomed up. Saliva spattered us and the ground shook. Seven sw
ords rammed forward at the five horses which faced us. The horse which had been reared clattered his hooves against our shields. I heard Peter Strong Arm give a grunt of pain. The hoof had hurt him. His strike was true and his sword plunged into the chest of the horse which had struck him. A horse to my right stopped suddenly. It would not ride over a man. The surprised knight flew out of the saddle and sailed over our heads. I heard his screams as he was butchered by those behind. My sword found the eye of a horse. The blade drove into his brain and he stopped, dead at my feet. I pulled out the sword and brought it across the leader’s head as he tried to struggle to his feet. It ripped through his ventail and into his throat. The bright blood sprayed those behind.

  We now had two dead horses before us and three dead warriors. It was as solid as a curtain wall. There was confusion behind. I worried about our flanks until I heard Dick’s calm voice, “Release!” The collective thrum of the bow strings made the very air hum. The whistle of the flights sounded like birds but the effect as arrows tore into the French knights was astounding. Dick’s archers had released at forty paces range. That close to an enemy my men’s war bows made every arrow deadly.

  The second rank attempted to close with us. They tried to make their horses clamber over the dead men and mounts. They were slippery with blood. It pained us to do so but we used our swords on the horses. We could not reach the men. The horses would pay the price. We slashed and stabbed at their heads and chests. We were now fighting as individuals from behind our wall of shields. A warrior would step out and his sword would dart at a target before stepping back into the safety of the shields. Wilfred brought his sword sideways into the side of the nearest horse’s neck. I knew that he wished he could use the war hammer which hung from his back but in a shield wall we all needed the same weapons.

  As he moved backwards I saw my chance and, using my shield to keep the horse’s teeth from biting me, I swung my sword at the leg of the man at arms whose shield was held high to protect himself from the arrows. My blade jarred on the bone and he fell screaming with his life blood spurting. I took refuge behind the walls once more.