Several great houses had brought their smithies with them and the acrid smell of soft steel filled the air, as did the smoke from the anvil fires. Men were in groups, fixing weapons, tightening up armor, or simply discussing strategy for the upcoming event. David and his men passed through these groups, stopping to speak with a knight on occasion, until they reached the de Lohr tents, manned by de Lohr soldiers.
As David entered the large tent and went for his array of weaponry, which had been carefully placed in a wooden rack by one of his men, the tent flap opened behind him and young Darren, Christopher’s squire, entered. David had a morning star in his hand, inspecting it, as he turned around to see who had entered behind him. He smiled when he saw the anxious young man.
“He will be fine, Darren,” he said. “Five broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder, but no further damage than that. Since he will not be competing in the rest of the games, you will pack up his possessions and take them back over to the apartments. Where did they take the remains of his horse?”
Darren threw a thumb back over his shoulder. “To the southern side of the encampment, my lord,” he said. “I have already taken the tack off of the horse. It was truly unfortunate – Boron was an excellent steed.”
David nodded. “He was,” he said. “My brother will feel his loss. Since my brother will be out of action for some time, however, I would like for you to squire for me for the upcoming mass competition.”
Darren’s eyes widened at the honor. “It would be my pleasure, my lord,” he said. “But Walter and Arthur de Edwin already squire for you. What of them?”
David put the morning star back into the rack. “You will simply work alongside them,” he said. “They are very good, but they are also very young. You are nearly a knight yourself, Darren. This mass competition could prove to be vicious, so I would have you along with the de Edwin brothers on the outskirts of the field in case I need assistance. Will you do this?”
Darren nodded eagerly. “Aye, my lord,” he said, turning swiftly for the tent opening. “I will return Sir Christopher’s possessions to his apartment and quickly return.”
David nodded, picking up a pole axe to inspect the shaft. “Please do,” he said. “Meanwhile, send Walter and Arthur in here. I must start preparing.”
Darren nodded quickly and moved to leave the tent but he ended up plowing into a big body who was just coming in. Darren was a large boy at seventeen years of age and he bounced off of the man, sending the man sideways into the tent wall. The squire reached out to grab him so he wouldn’t fall all the way through.
“Forgive me, my lord,” Darren said, mortified. “I did not see you until it was too late.”
Brickley let the squire steady him. “Not to worry,” he said. “No damage done.”
Glad to hear he didn’t injure the man, and eager to be gone, Darren bolted from the tent as David now looked curiously at Brickley. He wasn’t exactly sure why the man had come to visit him but he suspected. A lovely blonde-haired reason. Quietly, he put the pole axe back in the wooden stand. He was prepared.
“The games are not over yet,” he told Brickley, thinking he was giving him an answer before the man even asked the question. “I will give her back her favor when everything is over. It is still safe and undamaged. I told you I would take care of it and I have.”
Brickley shook his head; he looked particularly strained, and not simply because a young man had plowed into him. He rubbed at his chest where Darren’s shoulder had rammed him.
“That is not why I have come,” he said. “Have you seen Lady Emilie?”
David’s brow furrowed, puzzled by the question. “Not recently,” he said. “I have just returned from tending to my brother. He was injured in the joust, you know.”
Brickley nodded. “I know,” he said. “I saw what happened. How does he fare?”
“Well enough. He will recover.”
Again, Brickley nodded shortly. “That is good to know,” he said. “But I have not come about the favor or your brother’s health. Emilie is missing and Lord Lyle has sent me to ask you if you have seen her.”
David’s eyebrows flew up in surprise. “Missing?”
“Aye.”
Now David scowled as if confused and dubious. “What do you mean by this?” he demanded. “Missing how? Has she simply wandered off or do you suspect worse?”
Brickley sighed heavily, obviously distressed. “After your brother was removed from the field, Lady Emilie and Lady Nathalie went to find food,” he said. “Lady Nathalie returned to her father to say that Lady Emilie had been cornered by the Sheriff of Nottingham near the food vendors. She sent Nathalie away to find help. By the time we returned to the area where Nathalie last saw her sister, everything was in an uproar. Witnesses told us that Emilie had hit Fitz Walter in the face and took off running. The last anyone saw of her she was heading into the tent city. I thought she might have come to you.”
Now David had the full picture and he was greatly concerned. “Nay, she did not,” he said, already moving for the tent exit. “If she did, I have not seen her. Damnation… I cannot believe Ralph cornered her. I can only imagine what he said to force her into defending herself.”
Brickley was following David as they emerged into the sunshine. “Fitz Walter has been hunting for her for the past half-hour,” he said. “I have run into his men and so has Lord Lyle. In fact, they are gathered near our encampment, thinking she will make an appearance there. Lyle has sent me to you, David. He asks that you find her and keep her from the sheriff’s wrath. Fitz Walter will want his vengeance against her blow.”
David’s jaw was ticking. “He’ll get nothing but the steel of my sword if he tries,” David growled. “Of all the young women in the lists, Ralph chose Emilie to contact? I do not know how… wait… Jesus, I think I know why. God in Heaven, I do. He must have seen her give me her favor. He has gone after my brother and my brother’s wife, and I fully expected him to come after me. But he has gone after Emilie instead because he saw that I carry her favor.”
Brickley could see that David was blaming himself for the circumstances. Truth be told, Brickley blamed David, too, but he wouldn’t say that, at least not at the moment. He needed David’s help and insulting him wouldn’t make the man want to help in any way. Still, David was taking the situation very personally. Brickley could hear it in his tone. It was that tone, and that personal behavior, that had Brickley’s jealousy rising. Now, he couldn’t help what was coming out of his mouth.
“She should have carried my favor from the beginning so the prince would not single her out as a de Lohr follower,” he said before he could stop himself. “If Ralph is out to hurt those associated with the House of de Lohr, why did you take her favor? You should have thought of her safety first and kept her far from politics she has nothing to do with.”
David’s jaw ticked, hearing a jealous rebuke in Brickley’s voice. The problem was that the man was absolutely right. David could not refute him. He felt guilty enough about it and Brickley’s envious posturing wasn’t helping. It was, however, feeding a jealousy in David he never knew he had. It was quite surprisingly, actually. He’d never been jealous over a woman in his life, but now….
“It is done,” he snapped quietly. “I cannot change it. But I can find her, which is something you have evidently been unable to accomplish. Where have you searched?”
Brickley didn’t like the implication but, he supposed in hindsight, that he deserved it. He had made the first jab, after all. But he had more sense than to try to argue with the man again because more arguing would not find Emilie. Therefore, he swallowed his pride, as much as he could, and answered David’s question.
“We have searched the main areas,” he said, pointing to the tents that seemed to be more clustered around an open area near the center of the city. “Lyle took men to the south side and I was going to head into the town.”
David looked around, seeing the creek and the trees that lined the northern
part of the encampment. “You take the eastern end of the encampment and I will take the northern area and that northern section of the town,” he said, gesturing towards the castle. “Mayhap she is hiding in the city somewhere. Have Ralph and his men combed the city yet?”
Brickley nodded. “From what I could see, they have swept in the direction of the castle.”
David shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked town that bordered the field and the tent city. “Very well,” he said. “I will mobilize my men. We shall meet back here shortly before the mass competition.”
Brickley’s gaze lingered on him. “You are fighting in the mass, are you not?”
David glanced at him. “I am,” he said. “But I must find Lady Emilie before I do, so there is no time to waste. Tell Lord Lyle I will be back here in an hour or sooner if I happen to find the lady sooner.”
With that, they parted. David went to find his squires and several soldiers, gathering about fifteen of them and instructing them to spread out and look for Lady Emilie Hampton. The men didn’t really know what she looked like so they were instructed to be discreet in their search and only call her name when Fitz Walter men weren’t about. That was a great sense of urgency imparted upon them by David, who was truly concerned for the woman. He knew he wasn’t getting the whole story about Emilie’s encounter with Fitz Walter but he did know Ralph and he knew, without question, that the man would not give up hunting for Emilie. Already, the man had a jump on him.
David had to find her first.
So the group spread out and began looking for a blond woman in a rich red surcoat, the last thing David remembered seeing her wear. Part of her hair had been styled upward, leaving curls cascading down her shoulders and back, and he had tried to describe Emilie’s astounding beauty without sounding besotted. It was a tricky game. He thought he had succeeded because he didn’t get any odd looks or smirks from his men. When the men disbursed, he headed for the north side of the encampment and the creek.
He wasn’t sure what, exactly, drew him to the creek that flowed along the edge of the town and dumped out into the river, but there was a lot of growth surrounding it and it seemed to him like a logical place to hide if one was trying to avoid detection. There were growths of heavy reeds and grass lining the creek and as he approached, he could see where men had washed clothing or even themselves. The latrines for the encampment were set further downstream, thankfully, so the water at this point was relatively clean.
David walked along the creek, peering into the reeds, looking on the opposite side to see if there were any wet footprints or anything else that would indicate someone had come out of the creek. All the while, he kept abreast on what was going on around him, spying soldiers wearing John’s dark tunics now and again, and he caught on fairly quickly to the fact that they were watching him. In fact, several of them were. Once he’d come out of his tent and headed to the creek, the eyes of John and Ralph’s men were upon him. Where David went, so went they lady.
But David remained cool. They knew what he was looking for but he wouldn’t acknowledge the fact that he was being watched. He began to wonder what would happen should he come across Emilie, wherever she might be, and he was sorely regretting not having brought his sword with him, for once he found her, he was going to have to fight off John and Ralph’s men to keep her.
It would be a battle to the death.
The day was starting to cloud over a bit and he glanced up, noticing the increase of dark clouds in the sky. They were passing in front of the sun now and again, and he was coming to suspect there might be rain in the near future. The mass competition would go on rain or shine, and he didn’t particularly mind fighting it out in the rain. But he wouldn’t fight, couldn’t fight, if Emilie wasn’t found before he had to compete. He just wouldn’t be able to concentrate. Time was passing quickly.
He had to find her.
There was a sturdy stone bridge towards several yards down from him, one that allowed a wide avenue to pass over. David continued down the side of the creek, studying the ground, trying to determine if he saw shoe prints that were small and dainty, as a woman’s would be. As he drew near the bridge, he caught sight of three of Ralph’s men about forty feet away, lingering over at an intersection of the wide bridge avenue and a smaller road. There were a few businesses there and they lingered, pretending to be enjoying a casual conversation when what they were really doing was watching every move David made, waiting to pounce. David eyed them but made it look as if he wasn’t.
The game was on.
David came to a particularly heavy cluster of grass, one that could have very well hid a woman who was tucked down in the water. He didn’t want to be obvious but he didn’t have much choice in calling Emilie’s name; if she was hiding in the grass, he couldn’t see her and perhaps she couldn’t even see him. He crossed his arms casually and began to whistle, all the while strolling casually by the grass.
“Emilie?” he hissed when he wasn’t whistling. “Emilie, are you there?”
No answer. Still whistling, still strolling, he made his way to the water’s edge and crouched down, pretending to wash his hands. He happened to look over at the stone bridge as he did so, catching sight of a scrap of red fabric and two feet coming from beneath the bridge. Startled, his heart beating with excitement and with some apprehension, he stood up and sauntered over to the bridge, going down to the water’s edge again and crouching down to wash his hands all over again. As he splashed water on his face, he bent low, peering underneath the bridge.
“Emilie?” he hissed. “Emilie, ’tis David!”
The feet moved and so did the fabric. Suddenly, Emilie’s pale and frightened face appeared, nearly upside down as she was bent over to look at him, and her big brown eyes gazed at him with a huge amount of surprise and relief.
“David!” she sobbed, her eyes filling with a lake of tears. “Oh, David….”
She broke down in tears and David continued splashing water on his face, simply to make some noise so big ears wouldn’t hear her. “’Tis all right, lass,” he assured her quietly. “I am here. Nothing terrible will happen to you now. But listen to me carefully – be quiet and remain there. It is critical that you obey me. Can you do this?”
Emilie was wiping at her eyes, struggling to compose herself. “Aye,” she said, fear in her voice. “But why? Why can’t I come out now? I am freezing and wet and I swear to you that my hands are blue. Can’t I please come out?”
David shook off his hands and wiped off the water dripping from his face. “Not yet,” he told her, his tone soft. “The prince’s men are all around, watching me, waiting for me to find you. I will not pull you out of there until I have a contingent of men to protect you. Stay there, stay out of sight, and I will be back shortly.”
Emilie nodded her head, utter trust in her expression. “As you say.”
He winked at her. “Good lass,” he murmured. “All will be well, I swear it. I will not let harm come to you. Do you believe me?”
“I do.”
“Good.”
With that, David watched her pull herself out of view, tucking herself well underneath the bridge, which surely must have been a very uncomfortable experience. He stood up, shaking the water off his hands, as he casually made his way away from the creek, glancing at the prince’s soldiers over by the intersection to see that they were still watching him. He pretended not to notice as he headed back into the encampment, moving for the de Lohr tents.
There were a few soldiers still there, packing up Christopher’s possessions under Darren’s instruction, but everything came to a halt when David sent the remaining six soldiers out to find those who had gone in search of Emilie. David kept watching the stone bridge somewhat anxiously, watching for any sign that John’s soldiers may have been too curious about it, but the bridge remained uninteresting as people continued to pass over it, going about their business.
All David could think about was getting to Emilie, but he was tha
nkful that he at least knew where she was now. That helped his anxiety somewhat. Soon enough, the soldiers he had sent out returned with the men David had sent in search of Emilie and, with a quick explanation as to what David had discovered, he led sixteen heavily armed soldiers, including Edward and Leeton, over to the bridge where he got down into the water and pulled Emilie out from underneath the bridge himself.
Carrying the wet, freezing, and shivering woman up onto the shore, he kept her in his arms, surrounded by his armed men, all the way back to the de Lohr tents.
Ralph heard, very shortly, about David de Lohr extracting a wet young woman out from beneath a stone bridge but he wisely made no move to go after her. He knew that David wouldn’t turn her over to him, anyway. But it didn’t matter much; soon enough, David de Lohr would be in the midst of a mass competition where anything could happen and, if Ralph had anything to say about it, anything would. David was his intended target all along; he had simply tried to use the woman to get at him. That hadn’t really worked, for now David had her and she was protected by heavily armed men, but Ralph wasn’t concerned, not in the least.
One de Lohr was down and there was one more to go. Ralph made sure that Dennis de la Londe received that message as the two sides of the mass competition began to assemble a short time later. While Dennis would take ten marks and Lady de Lohr for the fall of Christopher de Lohr, the price for David was even higher. As good as Christopher was as a knight, and he was the best England had to offer, David held a slight edge over his brother in hand to hand combat simply because he was so unpredictable. He would fight dirty when the situation called for it, and that made him particularly dangerous.
As the peal of the trumpets called the fans to the lists to watch the great mass competition, the two sides took to the field.
The bloodiest game of all was about to begin.
CHAPTER NINE
The de Lohr Dynasty: Medieval Legends: A Medieval Romance Collection Page 121