by Eagle Lady
Roydon backed up a step, his face a dark, stubborn mask. “No, find yourself some other noble to appreciate your favour.” Despite his anger the earl realised he had gone too far.
The king’s face went deathly pale, even his lips lost their colour as they stretched over his teeth in barely controlled rage. “The terms of the agreement specifically ask for you, the earl of Eagle Rock,” Henry’s words came out in a low growl. “And I will have that alliance.”
Roydon made an effort to placate the king; truly he had not meant to speak such words. “I beg your pardon, Sire. I did not…”
“Silence!” The king looked intently at Roydon for a moment, cold anger and displeasure blazing from his eyes and then he turned and strode to the dais, taking his seat once again. Every inch the king, Henry stared down at his vassal.
“In consideration of your past service and loyalty, I will forget your words as those of a fool spoken in anger.” King Henry spoke coldly, his anger now subservient to his sense of kingship. “Give me one good reason why you refuse my command to marry this foreign princess?”
Roydon returned the king’s cold stare, his face expressionless, but inside both his heart and his mind were in turmoil. What could he say? There existed no reasonable excuse for his refusal. Indeed, in the king’s eyes, as in every other sane person’s, he should be thanking him for the great honour such a marriage entailed. But could he tell his liege that he waited for a woman that he had met but once ten years ago. The great earl of Eagle Rock would be the laughing stock of the court, of the whole country.
Roydon remained stubbornly silent. He would not betray his eagle lady again by marrying another. Not when they had a son together. Not when he somehow felt so close to her again after so many years.
“You still refuse my command, Mountroi?”
Roydon nodded firmly, noting the return to the stilted formality of the address. “Ask anything else of me, Sire.” The earl went down on one knee again. “My life if it pleases you but…”
“I ask for what I need, what your country needs, nothing more nothing less, and this I will get.” Henry’s voice rose strong and determined. “Either you accede to my wishes or I will take from you that which you most value.”
“You would take my children from me?” Roydon rose to his feet in alarm.
“Do not be a fool, my lord. I will take your title and your lands. The next earl of Eagle Rock can marry the princess.” Henry softened his voice at the pain that ripped across his subject’s face. “I do not want to do this, Eagle, but you leave me no choice.”
Roydon clenched his fists at his sides in impotent anger. This could not be happening again. Once again he would have to choose between his lady and his home, his mountain; their mountain. “You cannot do this.”
The king rose abruptly from his chair, his momentary sympathy forgotten in a new rush of anger at the earl’s challenge. “You forget yourself, my lord, and to whom you speak!” Henry descended a step until he stood eye to eye with Roydon. “I am your king and I will be obeyed, or you will suffer the consequences. Do I make myself clear?”
The earl remained obstinately silent.
“Answer me, damn you!” Henry shouted in the earl’s face.
The action brought Roydon out of his furious turmoil. “I hear you, Sire.” The anger seemed to drained out of him. He just felt tired, discouraged.
Not so the king’s rage, that carried him across the room towards the doors. “Guards!”
The four bodyguards, which had been standing just outside, made haste to enter and close the doors behind them.
“Take the Earl of Eagle Rock and confine him in the River Tower until he comes to his senses.”
His sovereign’s emphasis on his title was not lost on Roydon as he turned to face his liege.
“His lordship is under arrest, Sire?” The blatant disbelief in the guard’s voice, as he dared to question the king, caused the latter’s anger to diffuse somewhat, even going so far as to reply to the man.
“He is not under arrest, merely is he to be detained, incommunicado, until I order otherwise.”
The slight hesitation in the soldier’s step as he made his way to his lord’s side raised conflicting emotions in Roydon. He felt strangely pleased when the man wavered in his duty to execute the king’s order to arrest him, but at the moment the guard’s loyalty should rightly be to his king and to no other. “If you even hesitate to do as your king commands, I will take a sword to you myself.” The earl’s voice, sharp and cold convinced the man of his obligation.
“If you will come with me, my lord?” the soldier’s voice was firm now. Then the man looked uncertainly at the king. “Do I take his sword, Your Majesty?” he asked, not at all sure that he could actually disarm the nobleman.
“That will not be necessary. Will it, my lord?” Henry raised an eyebrow at his vassal, who had just proven his loyalty by chastising the very man ordered to arrest him for vacillating in his duty.
“No, Sire.”
The king nodded, satisfied with that reply at least. “Take him away! Do not take too long to decide, Mountroi. At the moment I do not have a lot of patience left.”
Chapter Eight
Sir Stephan arrived at the earl’s chambers to find two of their men-at-arms on guard duty outside. “Sir Ivan and the boy?”
“They are inside, sir.” One of the men replied and then seeing the knight’s worried expression, “Are we expecting trouble, Sir Stefan?”
“I don’t know,” Stefan didn’t know what to expect any more. “Just keep alert and let me know if you see anything unusual.”
Stefan stepped into the apartments allocated to the earl, to find Sir Ivan and Aguilus waiting anxiously.
“Where is Father, Uncle Stefan? Has he seen the king? When is he…?” The boy’s questions dried up when he looked up into Stefan’s face.
“What is it Sir Stefan? Is something wrong?” Sir Ivan went so far as to clutch Stefan’s arm.
“I don’t know what is happening.” Stefan shook his head in weary frustration. “The earl has just been arrested and taken to the River Tower.”
“My father has been arrested?” Aguilus looked in incomprehension at Sir Stefan. “Father is an earl, no one can arrest him.”
“The king can, and has!”
“But why, Sir Stefan?” Ivan sounded as confused as the squire.
“I don’t know,” repeated Stefan. “The earl gained immediate admittance to the king, and then a moment later everybody come out except the king and the earl. Even the bodyguards came out a short time after that.”
“Our men?”
Stefan nodded grimly. “They were the ones that an hour or so later escorted the earl to his confinement in the River Tower.”
“Uncle Stefan, is father going to be alright?” Aguilus asked quietly, a slight tremor in his voice.
“Of course, Aguilus.” Stefan modulated his voice to sound only mildly irritated, they were scaring the boy. “This is only a misunderstanding, it will all be sorted out tomorrow,” he paused for a moment as if thinking. “What your father needs right now is a change of clothes so that he can remove his armour and heavy travel clothes. Do you think you could get it for me to take to him?”
“Yes, sir, of course.” Aguilus jumped up and went into the inner sleeping chamber where their chests had been delivered earlier.
“Sir Stefan?” Ivan did not need to voice his fears.
“It’s not as bad as it seems, Ivan. I was in the ante-chamber when he came out. The first thing he did was to signal me to stay back, so I did not approach him. He still had his sword, and surprisingly enough he ordered two of the four guards that escorted him to return to their post to guard the king.”
“If he gave orders, then he couldn’t be under arrest, surely.” Ivan’s face brightened. “Maybe he was just being escorted somewhere?”
“I followed him to the River Tower. When I asked to see him, the soldiers told me that the earl was detained and wa
s to remain incommunicado by the king’s order.”
“Is ‘incommunicado’ bad?” a small voice asked from the direction of the bed chamber.
“No Aguilus it just means that no one can speak to him or communicate with him until the king orders otherwise.”
“But why, Sir Stefan? Father has done nothing wrong.”
“I don’t know, but I aim to find out.” Stefan took the bundle of clothes that Aguilus held out to him. “Only the earl and the king know what happened in that room, so one of them will have tell me,” the grim determination stamped on Stefan’s face, echoed in his voice. “Stay here and keep a low profile. I will return as soon as possible.”
Sir Ivan nodded worriedly but said nothing. Before he had not liked coming to court, now he positively hated it.
<><><>
The soldiers that garrisoned the River Tower were not from the Royal Bodyguard, so Sir Stefan had to go carefully. “Sergeant, I came by this afternoon.”
“I remember, sir, but I still can’t let you see his lordship.” The soldier eased his lean frame back against the main door to the tower, an apologetic look crossed his heavily bearded face. “I would like to help but I have my orders, sir.”
“I understand.” Stefan proffered the bundle of clothes. “Can you at least give him a change of clothes? The earl still wears his armour.”
“That I can certainly do,” taking the bundle and seeing the knight’s concerned countenance, he volunteered gruffly. “His lordship is fine, sir. He has a comfortable cell…chamber and is not strictly under arrest, merely detained.”
“Thank you, sergeant. Maybe you could let him know that his son is well?”
The soldier shook his head reluctantly. “Sorry, sir, we are not allowed to speak to him. Now I must ask you to leave.”
A moment later Stefan found himself staring at the closed door of the River Tower. He felt it imperative that he find out what had happened. Roydon must have really overstepped the line for the king to have locked him up. Could it be that his request for this son to be acknowledged as his heir had been refused? Stefan knew all about his friend’s temper, but surely he would not lose it with the king? But that could not be the reason. The terse command that had been waiting for them at the gate preceded the earl’s meeting with the king.
Sir Stefan shook his head as he made his way back to the ante-room to the audience chamber. If he could not speak with Roydon then that only left the king with knowledge of the reason for the earl’s arrest.
Arriving in the chamber, he found it empty. A passing courtier informed him that the king would be granting audiences again the following morning.
Stefan made his way back to their chambers. Rafe, the leader of the men-at-arms, met him outside the door. “Is the earl under arrest, Sir Stefan? There are all kinds of rumours going around.” The worry and anxiety in the soldier’s voice pulled the knight from his own troubled thoughts.
“He has been arrested by the king, yes.” Sir Stefan held up a hand to forestall the next question. “And no, I do not know why,” impotent irritation suffused his voice. “What I want you to do is to keep the men together and out of trouble. We do not need any incidents to inflame the situation.”
“I understand, sir. There will be no problems.”
“Good man. Just maintain the guard here,” Stefan nodded at the two men who guarded the earl’s quarters. “I will let you know if I discover anything else.”
“Thank you, sir.” Rafe watched as a preoccupied Sir Stefan disappeared inside the earl’s chambers.
Both Sir Ivan and Aguilus jumped to their feet at Stefan’s entrance. They awaited his return seated in front of the fireplace in the inner bedchamber. The expectant expressions on their faces disappeared the moment they saw the knight.
Dropping wearily into the chair vacated by the squire, Stefan shook his head at them. “They won’t allow me near Sir Roydon and the king is not granting any more audiences today. There is not much else I can do tonight,” he rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I will try to get an audience with the king tomorrow.”
Seeing the telling gesture, Sir Ivan realized that the knight still wore the travelling clothes and protective gear in which they had arrived this morning. “You must be exhausted, sir. Let me help you remove your armour. Aguilus, wine for Sir Stefan,” he added as he started to unbuckled the knight’s breastplate.
Stefan gratefully accepted the help. Even though he only wore half armour and chainmail chausses, the thick quilted gambeson felt both itchy and uncomfortable.
“Aguilus, finish helping Sir Stefan.” Ivan, who had changed earlier into a more comfortable hose and tunic, took charge of the situation. “I will go and find a servant and arrange for a bath and food to be brought.”
“That is my duty, Sir Ivan. I am sorry, I should have seen to it before now,” the boy made for the door.
“Sir Ivan will see to it, Aguilus.” Stefan’s sharp command brooked no argument and the boy turned in time to see the concerned look that passed between the men.
A barely perceived nod from Ivan confirmed that he understood why the earl’s son could not be allowed unescorted outside their chambers. Until they discovered the reason for Lord Roydon’s imprisonment Aguilus would remain under their protection at all times. The young knight buckled on his sword belt and sheathed his weapon before leaving the chamber.
“Are we in danger, Uncle Stefan?” Aguilus used the more informal mode of address; somehow he needed the comfort of family right now, even if it was fictitious. “Is my father in danger?” The squire’s voice sounded muffled as he bent to remove the knight’s steel-linked chausses.
“No, Aguilus,” Sir Stefan tried to be honest. “I don’t think so, but we must be careful until we find out what your father has been accused of.”
“Father has done nothing wrong!” the boy’s voice rose in agitation. “I’ll go to the king and tell him so myself.” The angry, determined look on his face so matched the earl’s expression on occasion, that Stefan had to smile in spite of himself.
“I know, son. Your father is absolutely loyal to the king and Henry knows this. He will never hurt him.” Stefan hoped he was right. “Either the earl lost his temper and angered the king or there has been a misunderstanding. I will be sure to find out tomorrow.”
<><><>
The next evening found the two knights and the squire in exactly the same situation. They had been unable to glean any information as to the reason for the earl’s detention, except the wild rumours that circulated throughout the Tower. From treason, to attempted regicide, to blatant disobedience, the gossip mongers were really having a field day, especially as the king did not pronounce himself on the subject.
Most of those present in the Tower supported the earl, or at least were holding their council, until Henry should proclaim himself on the matter. The detractors were few and these only the men who envied the earl his power and position
Sir Stefan’s anxiety grew by the moment. He had attempted to see the earl again with no success and his bid to reach the king had similarly failed. He had been granted an audience, as was his right as a knight of the realm, but in two weeks’ time. Stefan could not wait that long.
“We could get him out.” Ivan leaned forward in his chair, his voice low, willing to do anything for his lord.
“Bite your tongue, Ivan!” Sir Stefan’s sharp exclamation silenced the young man. “You speak treason.” Not that he had not thought of it himself, he grimaced uncomfortably. This afternoon he had found himself watching the River Tower, looking for flaws and escape routes.
Stefan looked across at Aguilus, who had finally fallen asleep on the earl’s bed. He softened his voice, conscious of the look of alarm on Ivan’s face. “That is not an option,” he paused significantly, “at least not at the moment.”
Ivan did not reply, he merely nodded, perfectly willing to follow his superior’s ruling. The young knight knew that Sir Stefan would do all in his power to find a solution to t
he earl’s predicament. In the dim candle light he saw the look of intense determination that dawned in the older man’s eyes.
“One way or another I will get to the king tomorrow.” Sir Stefan spoke eventually. “If I cannot get an audience, I will waylay him when he is walking or riding, but I will get to speak to him.”
“Getting close to His Majesty without leave can be dangerous, Sir Stefan.”
“I know, but there is no other option. We need to find out what is going on.” When Ivan nodded, Stefan leaned forward, his face grim. “If something goes wrong tomorrow I want you to take the boy and our men and make for Earl Reinhart’s Holding in the north. Tell him what is happening. He will see to the protection of his grand-daughters.”
Stefan turned once again to look at the sleeping boy, an expression of pain and regret in his eyes. “Aguilus, on the other hand…” The knight looked quickly away from the achingly familiar face. The boy had crept into his heart in the short time he had known him; his innocent spontaneity, his willingness to do his best and his quiet courage had captivated him. If this problem escalated the boy would be left alone and unprotected.
“God forbid that anything happens to his lordship or to you, sir, but know that I will always be there for the boy. I will keep him safe; do not doubt it for a moment.” Sir Ivan spoke earnestly, his heart in his eyes. “The day that Aguilus arrived at Eagle Rock, Lord Roydon introduced us as family. I will never forget that moment or the honour that my lord bestowed on me. As his son, Aguilus will always have my protection and my loyalty.”
“You are a good man, Ivan,” Sir Stefan laid his hand on the young knight’s shoulder. “There is no other that I would have by my side at this moment. We are family, never doubt that either.”