by Angus Donald
‘By the Baptist’s bleeding bunions, that was good work last night, youngster,’ said Little John, jerking my thoughts back to the present. ‘I couldn’t have done it better myself.’ I’m ashamed to say that I blushed at that point and could find nothing to say. May the Lord forgive my pride, but I knew I had behaved well. Unlike Robin, John rarely gave out compliments and, as he was Robin’s master-of-arms, and my combat-teacher, his praise meant a great deal to me.
‘Come on, Alan, enough dramatic silence. You aren’t performing a chanson now. Tell us about the murderous plots of Sir Ralph Murdac,’ said Robin, fixing me sternly with his gaze. ‘I thought he was still hiding up in the gloomy wilds of Scotland, no offence, Sir James.’ The Scotsman scowled but said nothing.
Until a few days ago, I had thought Murdac was in Scotland, too. After the battle of Linden Lea, in which Robin had defeated Murdac’s forces, the evil little man had fled to the safety of relatives north of the border. As well as escaping from Robin’s vengeance, Murdac believed that King Richard was seeking to bring him to account for a large quantity of tax silver that the erstwhile High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire had raised, ostensibly for the expedition to Outremer. Instead of passing it on to the Royal treasury, Murdac had kept the money he had squeezed from the peasants to himself, and his guilty conscience had caused him to flee from Richard’s wrath. Clearly he still had a large amount of silver left, otherwise he could not afford to offer a hundred pounds of the precious metal for Robin’s life.
‘Well, he’s back,’ I said, ‘and he’s after your heart’s blood.’ And I settled down and began to tell my tale: ‘I had completed our business in Winchester, Oxford and London,’ I said. ‘And all had gone smoothly, so I rode north to Nottingham to deliver your gifts to Prince John...’
King Richard’s younger brother had prospered since his father’s death, being showered with lands and titles by his older sibling - already Lord of Ireland, he had been given the counties of Derby and Nottingham and made master of Lancaster, Gloucester and Marlborough and wide lands in Wales. The Prince received me in the great hall at the royal castle of Nottingham, but without much royal grace. I was very tired from travelling, soaked through from a cloud-burst, and much splashed by road-mud, but Prince John insisted on seeing me immediately. And I could do nothing but obey. He had been told that I carried a gift for him and, like a greedy child, he wanted it immediately. So I attended him in the great hall, wet through and chilled to the bone - a sorry sight in front of the dozen or so richly dressed courtiers and royal cronies present - and handed over Robin’s gift. It was a magnificent matched pair of hunting falcons that I had bought in London on Robin’s instructions. They were exquisite birds, tall with wide mottled wings and creamy breasts speckled with black; elegant curved beaks of a light blue hue turning to black at the cruel tip, and hooded in soft red Spanish leather, adorned with silver bells. I was particularly pleased to have persuaded the falconer in London to part with them, although it had taken a large quantity of my master’s silver to strike the deal. I also gave Prince John Robin’s letter, which I knew wished him well and contained the usual platitudes from a fellow magnate and powerful neighbour - Robin’s main castle of Kirkton was, of course, less than forty miles north of Nottingham, and some of the other manors he held were even closer.
Prince John, a young man of less than medium height, with dark red curly hair and a thick-built body, adored the falcons. He was very fond of hunting and he crooned over the birds like a mother over a newborn baby. The letter he merely glanced at, and then handed to the man standing next to him: a tall, well-built knight, poorly-dressed for royal company but wearing a fine sword, and with a distinctive lock of white hair sprouting over the centre of his forehead from a russet thatch. He stared at me and I noticed another curious feature of the man: he had the eyes of a fox - hazel, but starred and splintered and with a feral gleam that I did not like at all. ‘What am I supposed to do with this?’ the fox-knight said in Norman French, his voice deep and slow. He looked down at the letter in his big hands.
‘Oh, of course, that’s no good to you,’ said the Prince, with a trace of a sneer, in the same language. He snatched the letter back. ‘Mally, you really must learn to read one of these days.’ Prince John turned to his right and passed the letter to a short, dark-haired man dressed entirely in black who was standing on his other side to him, and slightly behind, with his face buried in a small jewel-encrusted prayer book. ‘It’s from your old sparring partner, the so-called Earl of Locksley,’ the Prince said, handing over the parchment. He had a harsh, high voice that always seemed to contain a full measure of contempt for the world. The dark man put down the book, took the letter, stared directly at me with his icy blue eyes for few moments - his face quite expressionless - then he began to read.
It took me a couple of heartbeats to recognise him but then, with a shock, I realised that I was looking at Sir Ralph Murdac, the former High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire: the man who had ordered the death of my father; the man who had, in a stinking dungeon in Winchester last summer, tortured me in the most humiliating way; and the man whose death I craved more than any other. My hand was on the handle of my poniard and, for a moment, I considered simply stepping over to him and plunging the blade hilt-deep into his belly. But reason reasserted itself, thank God. I was a guest at the court of a royal prince. There were dozens of witnesses in the room. If I slaughtered Murdac in front of all these people, as deeply satisfying as that would be, I’d be hanging from a gibbet by nightfall.
Murdac lifted his eyes from the letter. He gave me another long, long look. ‘Make him sing something,’ he said to the Prince in the soft, lisping French voice that I knew so well. Prince John was oblivious of me: making little clucking noises and stroking the soft, leopard-pattered breast feathers of one of the falcons. ‘It says here that this muddy wretch is Robert of Locksley’s personal trouvère,’ continued Murdac in a louder tone. ‘Get him to sing us something, sire, to entertain us all.’ He looked around the gathering of courtiers and there was a ripple of sycophantic agreement. The big man with the lock of white hair smiled gleefully, sensing my discomfort at the suggestion and showing big, pointed yellow teeth.
‘What?’ said Prince John. ‘Oh. Good idea. Yes, sing us something, boy.’
I stood before them dripping, cold, exhausted, without my vielle or any instrument, secretly contemplating bloody murder, and this royal idiot wanted me to sing?
‘My lord prince, I am rather wet - if I might have leave to retire and change ...’
‘Don’t make excuses, boy,’ interrupted Murdac, his pale eyes glinting with malice. ‘His Highness has commanded you to sing. So sing up, boy, sing up!’ He clapped his hands together once, and gave me a thin, venomous smile.
I stared at him, my brain almost exploding with blood-curdling hatred. He was thinner than he had been the last time I saw him, with more lines on his face, but more richly dressed too, in thick black silk trimmed with sable, and around his neck hung a gold chain at the end of which dangled an enormous ruby. I knew that jewel well. My knuckles were white, my clenched fist just inches from the hilt of my dagger, and I don’t believe I have ever been closer to throwing my life away. But then I realised that I didn’t just want his death, I didn’t want to strike him down now, here, at the cost of my own neck - I wanted to humiliate him first, as he was humiliating me, as he had humiliated me before in that stinking dungeon. I wanted him to beg my pardon for killing my father, beseech forgiveness for torturing me and murdering my friends ... so I unclenched my fists and folded my twitching hands behind my back. And I began to sing.
I don’t remember what I sang, truly I do not, perhaps one of the dozen or so cansos that I had written by then and knew by heart. My tired old brain has rubbed out the memory; shame can sometimes do that. After the first song, they made me sing another, although my teeth were chattering so hard that I’m sure nobody could make out the words; and then another. Finally, Prince John seemed to
tire of this cruel game and he dismissed me. I bowed low, my cheeks flushed with rage and mortification, and the Prince reached into his purse, groped about for a moment, and then tossed a couple of silver pennies on the floor in front of me. The foxy man laughed out loud. It was a calculated insult. Trouvères might well expect to receive discreet gifts from satisfied lords, but to throw the money on the floor, as if rewarding a tumbler for turning somersaults, or some beggarly street musician, was worse than a slap in the face.
I bowed a second time and, ignoring the money glinting in the dirty rushes at my feet, amid the discarded animal bones, the dog hair and ancient grime of the hall floor, I turned my back on my three tormentors and walked out of the hall.
‘What an extraordinary fellow!’ I heard Prince John croaking loudly in his harsh voice at I approached the great oak doors. ‘Did you see that? He turned his back on me. I ought to have him flogged.’
‘He’s from serf stock, you know,’ said Murdac loudly. ‘No breeding, no manners.’ I stumbled slightly over the threshold, longing to be out of earshot. ‘An outlaw too,’ the little shit-weasel continued. ‘That was before he was pardoned by your royal brother. I had him in the cells once for his misdeeds but the slippery villain wriggled out of there somehow. Escaped ...’
And I was through the door, and out into the huge courtyard of Nottingham castle. My legs were faltering beneath me and I found a stone mounting block to sit upon and, under scowling leaden skies, I slumped down and closed my eyes, hoping to wipe the shame and embarrassment from my mind. I concentrated on images of Sir Ralph Murdac begging for his life, tied to the rack, bloody and screaming for mercy, and was just beginning to feel slightly better when I heard the patter of running feet and opened my eyes to see a poorly dressed servant boy standing before me, panting and holding out one hand with the palm flat. On his palm were three greasy-looking silver pennies.
‘Sir, be-be-begging your pardon, sir, but this is your silver,’ said the boy.
For a moment I wondered if this was some fresh humiliation, dreamt up by Murdac and his new royal master. Then I looked again at the servant boy, at his earnest face and shabby clothes, his outstretched hand trembling slightly, and I knew it could not be. He was a fairly good-looking lad, about 11 or so, well-made and tall for his age, with light brown hair and brown eyes. I stared at him for a few moments and then said brusquely: ‘You keep it, boy.’
He looked distressed. ‘But, sir, it is your money. The prince gave it to you. A roy-roy-royal gift.’
‘I do not care to receive it,’ I said shortly. And then, realising that my public shaming had not been his fault, and that there was no reason to be unkind to him, I smiled: ‘Buy yourself something in the market, a pie or two, or get yourself a good new knife ...’ He looked doubtful and I wondered if he was perhaps slow in the head, but suddenly I did not have the patience for him any longer and so I sat back on my stone block, closed my eyes and returned to my dark thoughts.
‘Please excuse my im-impertinence, sir,’ said the boy, breaking in on a delightful reverie in which Murdac was dangling by his thumbs over a pit filled with snakes. I opened my eyes; the boy was still there, but his hands were by his sides and the silver, I noticed, had disappeared. ‘If you will forgive me asking, sir, but did His Royal Highness say that you served the Earl of Locksley? The one the people call Robin Hood?’ His face was glowing with a strange excitement and he seemed to have wrested control over his stammer.
‘It is true, I do serve the Earl; I have that honour,’ I said, smiling again. I knew the boy’s type, and had met youngsters like him all over the country. He had heard the songs and legends about Robin Hood and his band of desperadoes and was entranced by the romance of the stories: a happy band of brothers, dining in woodland glades, sleeping under the stars, and running rings around the officers of the law. I could have told him a few tales of my own that would have changed his opinion of Robin, about bloody human sacrifice, and bold-faced theft and extortion, and the mutilation of enemies but, as usual, I refrained.
‘I would beg for the honour...’ the boy said and swallowed, ‘... of serving him. And I have news that con-con-concerns him.’
‘What news?’ I said.
‘Sir Ralph Murdac means to see your master dead.’
‘There is nothing new in that, boy - Sir Ralph and Robin of Sherwood have been enemies since before you were born,’ I said dismissively, and I closed my eyes again.
‘But Sir Ralph has made it known that he will give a hundred pounds of fine German silver for any man who kills him, and brings in his head,’ the boy said.
My eyes flashed open. I was stunned, speechless: I had no idea that Murdac had that amount of money to give away for one man’s death. ‘Where did you hear this?’ I asked.
‘I over-overheard Sir Ralph tell the captain of the castle guard to pass the message of the reward to his men.’ The boy looked at me anxiously. ‘If you give this information to the Earl, perhaps he will look favourably upon me and take me into his service,’ he said. His eyes were pleading.
I looked at him again, perhaps he wasn’t so slack-witted after all; and a bold idea began to grow in my head, a way to test the mettle of this boy, give myself some satisfaction, right a wrong, and strike at Ralph Murdac’s pride into the bargain.
‘What is your name, boy?’ I asked.
‘William, sir,’ he replied.
‘And you are employed here as a servant,’ I said.
‘Yes, sir. I work in the kitchens - but on feast days sometimes I am allowed to serve in the great hall.’
‘Do you truly wish to serve Robert of Locksley?’ I asked.
‘Yes, sir, I will serve him right well; I will serve him as a man of his kind deserves to be served. I swear by Our Lady Mary the Mother of God.’
‘If you wish to serve Robin, first you must serve me. Will you do that? And later, in a few months, you may be allowed join my master on the Great Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. That privilege carries with it the promise of Salvation, and exemption from all your sins. Would you like that?’ The boy nodded so fast and furiously, I feared he might break his neck.
‘But, William, and this is very important, you must not tell a soul that you are serving my lord Locksley until it is time to leave the castle to join your master. Can you do that?’
‘Yes, sir. I am new here at Nottingham, and all alone in the world, I have no friends or family to talk to.’ He looked down at his shoes. ‘My father was fou-foully murdered, sir, by thieves, and my mother died of grief soon afterwards.’ He was snivelling slightly and I felt sorry for the poor lad. I knew what it was to have no one.
‘Nevertheless, you may feel the urge to tell someone that you secretly serve the famous Robin Hood. It’s a natural urge. But, just remember, if you tell anyone about your service, you will never be allowed to join him. Is that clear?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘There is one more thing; you might think of it as a test of your loyalty to Robin. A proof that you truly wish to serve him faithfully.’
‘Tell me what it is, sir, I will do anything.’
‘There is an object, a jewel of great price that rightfully belongs to Robin’s lady Marie-Anne. But Sir Ralph Murdac has stolen it. He wears this jewel around his neck every day - have you seen it? It is a great red ruby - I want you to help me reclaim it for its rightful owner.’
He didn’t even blink at the thought of daylight robbery, but agreed immediately, working his head as vigorously as before; and I knew he was going to fit in fine with Robin’s men. So I put my arm around William’s shoulder and quietly explained to him what we were going to do and how it would be done.
I stayed in Nottingham for two more days, but not at the castle. I could not bear to remain there, where I might be called back into the presence of Prince John for another round of musical humiliation. I stayed instead at the house of an old friend, Albert, a crony from my days as a snot-nosed street-thief, when I would cut away the purses of ric
h merchants and rely on the thickness of the market crowds to hide me as I made my escape. Albert was an honest man now, and married; he lived in a one-room hovel in the poorest part of the old English borough of Nottingham. So he knew better than to ask about the job I was planning; he knew I was up to no good but he was content to tolerate my presence in his home for the friendship we had enjoyed in the past - and for the silver penny that I had promised him when my business was over.
On the morning of the second day, William came to Albert’s house and told me that Sir Ralph Murdac was looking at rings in the street of the goldsmiths in the northern part of the town.
‘But he is not alone, sir,’ said William, looking worried. ‘He has two men-at-arms with him.’