by Griff Hosker
Judith looked at the Empress and shook her head, "My lady is he always this cheerful?"
Laughing, the Empress Matilda said, "He is always this honest and that is what I love about him. It is refreshing after the false smiles of the court. Fear not ladies. These men will ensure we reach safety. Of that I have no doubt."
I was remarkably accurate with my forecast and Aiden and Dick returned three days later to tell us that they had seen the castle of Bar in the distance and, more importantly, that they had met the Count's knights who were watching for us. As we headed west I rode with my knights and we discussed what we would do after Bar.
"Sir Guy, will you be halting at La Cheppe or continuing west?"
"My heart tells me to follow you to Caen but I will speak with my uncle first." He shrugged, "Whether I like it or not I live in the Empire. And we are so close to the French border that I fear my uncle and I may have to accept the over lordship of Lothair of Supplinburg even if we are unhappy about the fact."
"And Rolf, what of you three?"
"We and our men serve the Empress." He laughed, "We are her army."
"I think she needs to recruit more."
"As you know, Alfraed there is a world of difference between hiring swords and finding worthy men. You were more than lucky with Edward here."
"I know. So the question we need to answer is, which route do we take after La Cheppe?"
We rode in silence. I saw, in the distance, the sturdy castle which promised us safety and security for the first time in many days. Sir Guy said, "I would suggest a ride north west to Rheims and then a dash to Normandy."
It was a good suggestion. Rolf said, "I agree but you should know that Rheims is part of the land ruled by the Count of Aachen. We dare not risk the town."
"Then, Sir Guy, I will have to take the advice of your uncle. It seems that we have three routes to safety and all are dangerous." I slowed Scout down, "Do not let the Empress know of our fears. It can do her no good."
Edward said, "I admire the three of them. They have not complained and they have not slowed us down. I have fought alongside men who have whined more!"
Rolf nodded, "I hope she finds a good husband now. She has been used as a pawn already. It is time she made her own choices."
The Count looked relieved to see his nephew. He was a courteous old knight and he bowed and scraped to the Empress. With no daughters of his own it was obvious to me that he had transferred that affection to the young Empress. While she and her ladies were taken to a bed for the first time since we had left Worms, the Count took me to one side.
"I fear, Baron Alfraed, that a net is closing upon the Empress. She is valuable. The Count of Flanders is considering taking her to be his bride. He would then have a claim to both England and the Empire. So many of the counts of the Empire desire her that it is terrifying." He looked, for the first time since I had known him, worried.
"Do we bring danger by our presence?"
There was a flicker across his face which showed he was worried and then he said, "Of course not."
I smiled. He still reminded me of my father. "Fear not Count, we will stay no longer than we have to and I will not endanger Sir Guy anymore. He can remain at La Cheppe."
I saw the relief on the old knight's face. He had a sense of honour and he had been torn. He clasped my arm, "You are an honourable knight. My nephew could do worse than emulate you." he put his arm around my shoulders as he led me to his hall. "My sons told me of your skill as a leader. King Henry is lucky to have you."
I shrugged, "The safety of the Empress is my only concern."
He shook his head, "I do not envy you the next part of your journey. No matter which way you go there will be danger."
"The question I ask you, Count, is where will be the least danger for us?"
"Avoid Rheims. The Count of Aachen has yet to extend his hand. He is powerful and he is an ally of the Count of Flanders. It would not surprise if he did not capture the Empress merely to give her to Charles. It would increase his power. He has no desire to be Emperor but he would influence whoever holds that office."
I nodded, "Then we go south and risk Louis."
"It would have been my suggestion too. If you do survive then this will have been the most remarkable of journeys."
Chapter 5
We left the Count and the safety of his castle two days later. We had dallied there longer than I would have liked but we needed horses shoeing and armour repairing. From what the Count had said the latter part of our journey would be much harder than the former. Sir Guy would leave us at La Cheppe. It was the Empress who forbade him to follow us.
"Sir Guy, you and your men have done more than enough. I would not have you risk your lands. The Baron and my Swabians will be enough. If not then it is God's will that I be taken and forced to marry another." I felt a thrill as she smiled at me when she spoke those words. She believed that we would survive and that she trusted me. I hoped I would justify her faith.
We stayed one night in La Cheppe and Sir Guy escorted us north to the junction of the French and Imperial borders. He had found a place which was far from the nearest French castle. "I feel I have let you down, my lady."
She had smiled and handed him a pouch. "Here is a token of my esteem. Buy knights and men at arms. I am no longer the Empress but I would have the Empire protected by knights such as you."
Once we left Sir Guy I felt almost naked. We had lost ten good warriors and we were heading into unknown territory; the land of the French. The Empress and her ladies still rode horses but the need for a disguise was gone. They travelled as ladies. We had managed to get them three side saddles and that made life much easier. If we met the French then there was a chance that her Imperial status might help us.
The land through which we passed had more open spaces where we could be seen from a greater distance. At those times we kept the archers closer. Although we had not exhausted their supply of arrows we could not be profligate with them. I wanted Dick within earshot should we be attacked.
Our aim was Rouen. It was Norman and it had good defences. We would be safe when we reached its solid walls. We had over sixty miles of France to traverse. Although I intended to avoid any castles and towns the road did not help us. We would have to camp once more and to keep a good guard at night. We stayed well to the south of the road to Cambrai and Flanders. I began to believe that we might make it unobserved. The weather helped us for it was dull and drizzly which hid us from view. It was as we passed Laon, late one afternoon that we were spotted. The rain deserted us and the sun shone down upon us, glinting from our armour and our weapons. We had travelled as far from the borders of France and the enemies in the Empire as we could but had we gone any further north then we would have risked running into the men of Flanders.
A column of men left the castle and the town. They headed towards us.
"Do we run, my lord?"
I shook my head, "No Edward, there is little point. Our horses are tired and they will be fresher. Empress, we shall have to rely upon your charms."
"You have done what you can, Baron. Now we shall see what the daughter of Henry can do."
It was a column of twenty men. Four knights and sixteen men at arms. Although we outnumbered them I knew that there were far more within an angry shout of us. I smiled. The leader did not.
"Why do you cross the land of the Baron of Laon without permission?"
"Our mission is peaceful. We are here to escort the Empress Matilda who is returning to her father following the funeral of her husband the Emperor."
The knight looked suspicious. The Empress said, "I am sorry that we did not do your master the courtesy of visiting with him but I am still grieving for my dead husband and I would not be good company. And besides we are keen to get to Caen as quickly as possible."
Her smile was enchanting and the knight was forced to give a bow of apology, "I am sorry Empress for your loss. I am certain that you would be more comfortable in the
castle than risking bandits ahead."
She smiled once more. "We can be twenty miles closer by nightfall and that means we may be just a day away from a reunion with my father. It is worth the risk."
I suddenly spied an opportunity for confusion, "Besides, the wagons with the Empress' servants and treasure are half a day behind. We would not impose such a large number on you. Better that they camp with us."
I saw an amused smile on the Empress' face. The knight nodded. "My lord, the Baron, will be disappointed but I shall tell him of your decision."
He rode back to the castle. We carried on west, apparently in a relaxed manner. When the knights were beyond earshot I said, urgently, "As soon as we are out of sight I want everyone to ride as fast as possible. Dick and Aiden ride ahead and find somewhere to camp which can be defended."
As my two men rode off the Empress asked, "What was the purpose of the ruse?"
"To sow confusion. They will, of course investigate wagons laden with treasure as well as to ascertain if there are more men than we have. Once they find we have lied they will follow us with all speed. I wish to be as far away from here as I can and in somewhere we can defend. We will be outnumbered and if they choose to take you they would be able to do so on the road."
We trotted quickly down the road. "Can your men find somewhere in a land which is unknown to them?"
"They are both woodsmen and have a good eye for such things. If there is such a place then they will find it."
When night fell I was beginning to doubt my men and then Aiden appeared from nowhere. "Follow me, my lord." We left the road and rode through a break in the trees. It was barely wide enough for two abreast.
"Ralph, cover our tracks and disguise where we left the road."
We clambered up a small bank through some bushes and then through more trees There was Dick in the middle of an open area. "It looks like, at some time in the past, it was a settlement, lord. There are the burnt out remains of huts. It was all that we could find."
"And it will do. Put up shelters for the women. Aiden put some traps near to the road. I would be warned of visitors in the night."
My men were past masters at setting up a camp quickly and even Rolf and his Swabians were impressed. We did not light a fire. I apologised to the ladies. "I am sorry that there is no fire but I would not alert others to our presence. We will be seen eventually but I would rather it was as late as possible."
"Do not apologise, Baron; you are doing what you must to protect us." We ate the remains of our dried and salted food. The water from a nearby stream was all that we had to wash it down. To make matters worse it was a cold night and hot food would have made sleeping easier. The skies had remained clear after the sun in the afternoon and we were all chilled to the bone. I took the first watch with five of my archers. Sir Edward would take the second. We had found that a two hour watch was the best for us. It kept us alert and gave us enough rest to continue. I stood with my cloak wrapped around my shoulders and head. I leaned against a tree and peered east towards Laon. As she had before the Empress joined me.
"You should be getting your rest, my lady."
"I cannot sleep. I fear the meeting today has set in motion ideas that I find unattractive."
"But why? We are close to Normandy and have to endure just a day or so more of danger."
"It is the danger when I reach Normandy that I fear. My father will wish me married again."
"Is that not your choice?"
She laughed and covered her mouth immediately. "I wish it were my choice but it is not. The King needs an heir. I am his only legitimate child. He will find some noble lord who is acceptable to him and he will pray that his seed takes."
It was a depressing thought. I wondered now about my wisdom in marrying Adela. I was happy with her but how much happier would I have been with Matilda? Fate has an unhappy knack of giving with one hand and tearing away with another. I realised I had been silent for a long time when she said, "You were lucky to be able to choose your Adela and she was even luckier to have you."
She put her hand on mine and squeezed it slightly.
"Surely there could be a compromise. There must be someone whom you would like who would be acceptable to the king."
She paused and then said, "You mean someone like you?" Shaking her head she went on, "Whoever marries me must have a lineage at least as old as mine. Even someone whom my father likes would not be acceptable if his antecedents were not from a noble line. Perhaps I should have entered a nunnery."
"That would have been the worst thing you could have done."
I was aware that she was still holding my hand and who knows what we might have said had not Margaret appeared, "Come, my lady. You need your sleep." I wondered what Margaret thought of it all. She was a clever woman and she could make inferences from our posture and our tone.
When the Empress left my mind was in as much of a turmoil as hers had been. I wished she had not spoken to me. Now I had dark recesses of my mind filled with doubts. That was not a good thing in a leader of men.
I had the sentries wake us before dawn. It had not been a comfortable night's sleep and I wanted to push on as quickly as we could. My hopes for a peaceful journey were shattered when both Griff of Gwent and Aiden rode in; one from the east and one from the west. They both reported the same thing. There were two conroi of Frenchmen converging on us. I had to think quickly. This time I could not use three valuable men at arms to guard the Empress. "Aiden, you and Roger of Lincoln are to watch the spare horses and the ladies. Keep them safe."
They both nodded.
I shouted, "Lances! Dick, you and the archers keep the men to the east from our backs. Rolf, Edward we will charge these Frenchmen who try to stop us."
The Empress asked, "Should we not try to talk with them?"
"If they did talk then it would be to delay us. We charge them and then ride for Rouen. We do not stop again. These two bands are only the first. The word will be in Flanders and in the Ils de France and every knight who wants your treasure will be upon us. It is my decision!"
As the men grabbed lances we formed up in lines of five. The five knights would lead followed by the men at arms. The squires would follow the ladies and the horses. I could trust Harold to organise them. We trotted forward. Scout had been a good choice but this time, I knew, we would be against warhorses and the French would have the advantage. Our only advantage lay merely in our skill and our bond. We were brothers and we had a just cause; the Empress. God would be on our side.
We trotted forward. I could see the gonfanon before I saw the warriors. I spied a glimmer of hope. They were waiting for us. They hoped, I suspected, that we would vacillate and they would catch us between their two forces. Even before we saw them I worked out what had occurred. They had searched the road and missed us. They had to have known we were somewhere on the road and they had tried to trap us. They had split their forces and that gave us a chance. As we crested the rise I saw them. There were, from the banners, ten knights and thirty men at arms. It was a formidable force. With another band following on we had one chance to defeat them and one chance only. We had to spill their knights and send their men at arms packing. My archers would catch us up and, with a head start; we had a slight hope of escape.
"We do this for the Empress! Let us show these Frenchmen that they are no match for the Knights of the Empress!"
My father and Wulfstan had both told me that, sometimes, words were worth a hundred extra men. So it proved.
I watched as the French hurriedly tried to form a line. It was not easy. They were two hundred paces from us. I spurred Scout and he leapt forward. The others matched my speed but I was still the tip of the arrow. I kept the lance high. It was more comfortable that way. The French line was ragged. They were not knee to knee. We had done this so many times that it was second nature to us.
"Charge!"
We were a hundred paces from them and they had not even started to move. Our appearance had s
tartled them. They tried to move forward but they had warhorses and they took time to move to charge speed. I lowered my lance and aimed for the knight with the dark blue shield and the single fleur de lys. He panicked and I saw it in his horse; he could not decide which way to attack me. I had decided before I had seen him. I would attack lance to lance across his cantle. His vacillation meant that his lance was still coming down when mine struck him squarely below his ventail. My sharpened lance tore into his chest and threw him from his saddle. I hit him with such force that my last lance shattered. I pulled back my arm and swung the stump like a club. It smashed into the head of his standard bearer who fell to the ground. Standing in my stirrup I pulled my arm back and hurled the stump into the men at arms before me. It also allowed me to draw my sword and, as I sat down once more I swung my sword across my body and struck a man at arms on the side of his helmet. Stunned, he fell to the road.
Before me were the crossbows which had yet to be organised. They were so close that they could not release. We tore through them swinging our swords to the left and right of our horses' heads. Those with helmets died as easily as those without for our blows were delivered with great force. When there was no one in front of me; I reined in. Turning I saw that we had demolished the French band. Riders were fleeing to the north and south leaving the road west clear of our enemies. I was as out of breath as was Scout. I was unscathed. How had we managed to destroy such a well armed force? I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks.
Edward and Rolf rode next to me and raised their helmets. Rolf was laughing. "I am glad I never faced you in a tourney Englishman. I have never seen a lump of wood wielded so well!"
"Save your thanks until my archers arrive. Change horses!"
When Aiden and the horse holders arrived, with the ladies, we all changed to fresher horses. The spares we had accumulated might prove to be the difference between success and abject failure. "Catch the horses of the dead French too."
The Empress was wide eyed, "Baron Alfraed! Does my father know how you fight?"