The Agents of William Marshal Volume II: A Medieval Romance Bundle

by Kathryn Le Veque

  He was a man with a great deal on his mind.

  “And now you wish to marry his prisoner,” he said. Then, he looked at Caius. “Do not misunderstand me. I do not want to see the woman married to Marius, either. No one but Covington does. My only concern is for his reaction and how he will take it out on those around him, Alice included. I do not care about myself, of course, but I worry for Alice.”

  The man was selfless in his fears and Caius shared his fears, but only to a certain extent. Though he admired Alice, his concern over her was Emelisse. Still, he didn’t want to see anything terrible happen to Alice.

  “How were you going to handle her escape, then?” he said. “We had always planned to send Lady Emelisse away once we got her free of Winterhold, so I fail to see how my marrying her is any different. You will simply tell de Wrenville that she escaped and we have all gone looking for her. That is all he ever need know. He does not need to know that you were aware of my plans to marry her.”

  Hallam nodded, finally accepting that the tale of Lady Emelisse’s escape was the best thing to tell Covington. “He will accept her escape, but only for so long,” he said. “At some point, he will send out his own men to look for her, me included.”

  “When that time comes, she will be Lady d’Avignon and I will tell him myself.”

  Hallam remained propped against the wall, staring at his feet, reconciling himself to the situation. Truth be told, it was the best possible outcome for Lady Emelisse, but he wondered if Caius had thought this situation through. He was taking a wife after only knowing her for just a day, purely to keep her out of Marius’ hands. Hallam wasn’t sure that was the right reason, but on the other hand, there was something in the way he looked at Emelisse that suggested it wasn’t simply an impulsive move. There was something there, perhaps the same expression he had when he looked at Alice.

  Emotions were involved.

  He looked at Emelisse.

  “Then I will congratulate you, my lady,” he said. “I wish you and Sir Caius well on your new life together.”

  Emelisse, who had remained silent through the entire exchange, smiled timidly. She had learned a great deal during the brief conversation, including the relationship between Hallam and Lady de Wrenville. She hadn’t known about it or even suspected, but then again, her mind had been on other things. She felt very sorry for Hallam and Lady de Wrenville.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Sir Hallam… you and Lady de Wrenville have both been so kind to me. Please… do not let anything happen to her. Even if she does not want to leave her husband, staying with him is not worth risking her life. If you send her to me, I will gladly take care of her, for the rest of her life if necessary. I am sure Caius would not mind, either.”

  Hallam wasn’t sure what to say. He looked between Caius and Emelisse, seeing that Caius had a hint of a smirk on his face. Exactly what a man wants when he’s first married, Hallam thought. But he didn’t say what he was thinking. He could see that in spite of everything she’d been through, Emelisse had not lost her genial spirit. She was still willing to be kind to the wife of a man who had destroyed her entire life.

  “You are very gracious, my lady,” he said with quiet sincerity. “I hope it will not come to that.”

  “But you will watch out for her, won’t you?”

  “I will. I promise. And… and please know that I am very sorry for what has happened. I was following my lord’s orders.”

  Emelisse smiled at the man. “I know,” she said. “I do not blame you. But… but my father’s corpse. Will you find it and send it to Whitchurch? Please?”

  Hallam looked at Caius because he wasn’t sure how much he should say. Since he’d been privy to the situation since the beginning, he opted for all of it. Lady Emelisse was still under the belief that her father’s body was unaccounted for when that was not the case at all.

  Hallam knew the truth.

  “My lady, what I am about to tell you may be harsh, but it is the truth and I feel that it is important you should know,” he said. “When your father died, his body was thrown into Winterhold’s moat. That is common practice with de Wrenville. However, when Sir Caius and Wolverhampton arrived, I had my men fish it out. De Wrenville knows that much, but he does not know that I took it to the vault and hid it. It is down with a few other bodies of de Wrenville’s enemies simply so he will not go looking for it. He has threatened to dismember it and send it back to you and your brother if your brother did not surrender the keep, but that will not happen so long as I have control over it.”

  Emelisse had to take a deep breath, struggling with her composure at the revelation. “Then I thank you,” she said. “Do you think he will send my father back to us in pieces when he hears of my escape?”

  Hallam shook his head, but it was more in an undecided manner. “He does not know we have found the body,” he said. “He still believes we are searching for it. I will keep that up as long as I can, at least until I can take your father out of Winterhold without anyone knowing. Until then, I will keep him as safe as I can.”

  Emelisse sighed heavily, knowing that was the best she could hope for under the circumstances.

  “Thank you,” she said softly. “You are good man, Hallam Chadlington. I shall not forget that.”

  Hallam smiled, but there was little warmth to it. He was still thinking of Alice, and his own neck, when it came to Covington. He couldn’t get away from him like Caius and Emelisse could.

  “Thank you, my lady,” he said. With nothing more to say, he looked at Caius. “I think you have already deduced that within the de Wrenville army, there are two factions – those loyal to me alone and those loyal to Covington. My loyalists are few, but they are strong. The men that are here at Hawkstone will obey my commands, of course, but they are filled with greed. Long ago, Covington promised these men a piece of Hawkstone when it falls, which is why they have remained here. The ones camping in the bailey have bloodlust. They cannot wait to get their hands on Caspian, so it is best that the keep remains locked up tight until your return. You do intend to return here at some point, don’t you? Hawkstone will belong to you.”

  Caius nodded. “I will return with my army from Richmond, but until I do, I am going to disobey The Marshal’s directive and move his army into Hawkstone to keep de Wrenville away from it.”

  Hallam shook his head. “I would not do that,” he said. “He still has a good-sized army. If he sees you move Pembroke troops into Hawkstone, it will provoke him. As the saying goes, you do not want to poke the bear. Leave well enough alone. As long as he thinks we are still negotiating for the keep, he will keep his army at bay. Hopefully long enough for you to return with your army from Richmond.”

  Caius understood. “Sage advice,” he said. He looked at the knights standing around. “While we are gone, make sure the men in the keep remain there so no one is the wiser. Max, you need to return to Winterhold and take charge of the Pembroke army in my stead and wait for The Marshal’s reply. Morgan, you will ride to Richmond as fast as you can and mobilize my men – and only my men. Leave The Marshal’s men behind to man the outpost and bring my army to Hawkstone swiftly. There is no time to delay. Kevin, I want you to return to Winterhold with Sir Hallam. You will confirm his explanation that the lady has escaped, and Morgan and I have gone searching for her. Once that has happened, go with Maxton and the army. Remain with them. Young William… you will come with me. I may have need of you.”

  As William nodded firmly, prideful that he was the only one who had been asked to accompany Caius, Morgan stepped forward.

  “Cai,” he said, his young face serious. “It may be two weeks or more before I return with your army. What are you going to do meanwhile?”

  Caius looked at Emelisse. “Take my wife to Wolverhampton,” he said. “I will explain to Edward what has occurred and try to coerce him into joining me against de Wrenville. I have a feeling it would take very little provocation for him to agree.”

  With the situa
tion clear, and the men with their missions, there was little to do now but execute them. Caius looked at Emelisse, who smiled at him timidly. There was so very much at stake for both of them. William was already starting to run off, to retrieve the horses, but Maxton grabbed him by the neck as he tried to leave. He kept his grip on the strong but squirrely squire as he faced the group.

  “You cannot leave through the gatehouse,” he said. “There are about one hundred angry Winterhold men waiting just outside, angry that we chased them from the bailey. If you ride through them, they will see you leave together and Hallam’s story of the lady’s escape would be for naught.”

  Caius nodded. “I realize that,” he said, looking to Emelisse. “Is there a postern gate we can depart from?”

  She nodded. “It is behind the keep, in the kitchen yard,” she said. “It leads to a path that either goes to the main road or down to a wooded area next to the brook.”

  Caius looked at the others. “Has anyone seen it? Is it heavily guarded?”

  It was Kevin who spoke up. “I saw it,” he said. “I pulled Winterhold men away from it, so it is not guarded now, but you can see it from the road and from the area where Winterhold has set up an encampment. You would have to take the path to the wooded area immediately to avoid being seen.”

  “Can we get the horses through it?”

  “The lady’s palfrey could make it,” Kevin said. “But your warhorse is too big. You’ll have to go through the gatehouse.”

  The plans were cast. Caius sent William to bring the lady’s palfrey to the gatehouse while Caius would take both his horse and William’s spirited animal through the gatehouse and meet them around behind.

  Everyone began to move.

  Caius remained with Emelisse until William returned with her palfrey, still with her satchel from Lady de Wrenville tied to the saddle. Caius then turned the lady over to the squire and as the two of them made their way to the postern gate, Caius hurried to the stableyard, or the remains of it, where the big horses were tethered and eating anything they could get their floppy horse lips on. As he mounted his steed and began to lead William’s skittish beast towards the gatehouse, near the postern gate, something ominous was brewing.

  William was feeling particularly important.

  He had been entrusted with a very important task, one of leading the lady to safety. He had been on the periphery of the entire situation since riding north with his father, and he had been very excited when Caius had offered to let him squire. That wasn’t an offer that came frequently, for in his world, only the most worthy were able to apprentice with a great knight, and Caius was one of the greatest, according to his father.

  William wanted to be one of the greatest, too.

  In truth, he knew that he could be a little wild, but he was always obedient where it counted. He was strong, intelligent, and well educated. He had also seen a few battles as a result of his position at Kenilworth Castle. Since Kenilworth was loyal to the Crown, it seemed that anytime there were any skirmishes, Kenilworth and her great master knights we’re always called forth, at least locally.

  William was no slouch with a sword.

  In fact, he was often used to help train other squires because he was so good with a sword. Other than a whip-smart mind and the ability to make illicit money, that seemed to be where his great talents lay, something that filled his father with pride. In fact, for his most recent birthday, his father had a sword commissioned for him, a weapon that Edward called The Eye. The Eye of the Wolfe was William’s weapon, something that his two older brothers greatly envied because they had not yet earned their weapon from their father. William sword wasn’t the biggest blade he had ever seen, but it was beautifully made, exquisitely weighted, and gorgeously forged.

  It was the weapon of a champion.

  Even now, he wore the sword at his side proudly. Usually, squires were not armed, but in William’s case he insisted on wearing it and, so far, no one had demanded he remove it, although the master nights at Kenilworth would not let him wear it on a regular basis. He was only allowed to wear it on special occasions, during practice, or sometimes even during a feast because although he was young, the master knights knew that William had enough common sense to know when to use the sword and when not to use it. Their brilliant, wild, gambling squire was strangely trusted more than most when it came to a weapon.

  Even now, the beautiful sword hung on his right side in a sheath that had been specifically commissioned for it. As William led Emelisse and her horse through the kitchen yard and towards the iron-fortified postern gate, he was on alert. One hand was on the horse and the other hand was on the hilt of his sword.

  As young as he was, he knew what was at stake.

  As they neared the gate, no one seemed to be around, so William quickly picked up his pace, yanking the gate open. As he stepped through, a Winterhold soldier abruptly appeared on the other side.

  They were both startled to see one another. William dropped the horse’s reins and unsheathed his sword just as the Winterhold soldier let out a shout. Panicked, William knew that shout would bring others and the lady’s escape would be thwarted. Therefore, he did the only thing he could do – he brought his sword up in a flash, goring the man straight through the belly.

  But he knew that wasn’t enough, for the man could still live a short while and tell his friends what he had seen. Therefore, as the soldier fell to his knees and pitched forward, William brought his sword up against the man’s neck and nearly cut his head off.

  The soldier was dead before he hit the ground.

  As the body of the Winterhold soldier rolled down the slope and into some heavy foliage below, William watched with wide eyes as Emelisse rushed up behind him. Having seen what happened, she put her hand on the young man’s shoulder.

  “Not to worry,” she said calmly, quietly. “You did what you had to do. He would have alerted everyone. Now, come along. Caius will meet us down by the brook.”

  She had to tug on William a couple of times to get him moving. He was still in shock at what had happened, at what he had done, but he knew her words were correct.

  He’d had no choice.

  He’d just killed a man with surprising ease.

  William tried not to still look shaken when they met up with Caius several minutes later down by the brook, and Emelisse told Caius what had happened and how bravely William had defended her. She told the story with great flourish, praising the young squire’s quick and decisive actions. Somehow, hearing the story from her perspective didn’t make him feel so bad. In fact, he felt rather heroic with his first kill. He would never forget the look of approval in Caius’ expression.

  And then he puked.

  He would never forget the laughter, either.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Whitchurch

  Because of the incident with the soldier, and in knowing his body would be found at some point, Caius, Emelisse, and William rode swiftly northward to the small village of Whitchurch.

  As Emelisse had indicated, their destination was quite close and took them under an hour. After the snowstorm the night before, the roads were muddy with big, dirty snowdrifts at the road’s edge. Even so, the roads weren’t completely impassable, and they were able to make good time as they entered the village through the southern end.

  They were met with more dirty snowdrifts that were piled up against the houses. People were out and about, going about their business, as mothers yelled at their children to scoop the snow away so the doorways would be clear. As they watched with some amusement, boys would get their ears boxed when they refused to obey their mothers. They would rather play in the snow than sweep it away.

  Whitchurch was surprisingly large for a village and they passed through a big residential district with timber-framed homes and wattle walls before they managed to make it into the center of the city where there were several merchant stalls open for business. The first thing they came to was a man selling meatballs on a
stick. He cooked them over an open flame and the tantalizing smells filled the air.

  When Caius saw Emelisse and William looking at the cooking meat longingly, he reined the horses to a halt and dismounted.

  “De Wolfe,” he said. “Take the horses and find a livery. Hide them well should Winterhold men come to town. We will not be long, but I do not want to take any chances. Tuck them away and return to me. I will be at that large church over there.”

  He was pointing northward, where a red-stoned church rose up out of the ground, big and fortress-looking and imposing. William nodded and gathered the horses, but not before passing another wistful glance at the roasting meatballs.

  Realizing the lad was hungry, and also in need of a reward since saving the lady from the Winterhold soldier, Caius went to the vendor, paid him a pence, and got two sticks of meatballs for the squire, who gratefully wolfed them down as he walked away with the horses. He watched him go before turning to Emelisse.

  “And for you, my lady?” he said. “Meatballs?”

  She nodded firmly. “Meatballs.”

  As it turned out, she was famished. Caius paid for five sticks of meatballs, three for him and two for her. She very nearly finished one before they’d even left the stall, so he purchased a meat pie she could hold in her hand, and as they walked across the avenue to the church on the other side, she stuffed the rest of the meatballs into her mouth and went to work on the pie. It was beef in cinnamon gravy and by the time they reached the doors of the church, the entire thing was in her mouth.

  Caius fought off a grin.

  “Mind that it does not all come back up again,” he said. “Do you want to sit down and let your food settle before we proceed?”

  Her mouth was so full that she could hardly chew and he started laughing. She was trying very hard not to laugh because the food in her mouth might come dribbling out all over. She finally had to turn away from him as he chuckled, chewing her food and swallowing what was in her mouth. She ended up wiping her lips with the corner of her sleeve because she had nothing else to wipe it with.