Hans didn’t move. “We are the Lady’s guard. She rules here.”
The brute spat in Hans’ face. “I will fuck you in the ass before this is done.” He and the other four Alemannians turned to head back the way they had come.
When they were gone, Trudi called from the balcony. “Well done, Hans.” She turned to the crowd that had formed in the square below. “The Alemannians have come to usurp Duc Odilo’s rule. They’ve already quit the war, leaving the battlefield to my husband to fight alone against the Franks. Theudebald has only one purpose here. He has come to kill my husband’s heir and me. He is here to murder your future Duc. We will stand against him until my husband returns.”
She scanned the crowd. They appeared uncertain.
“Give Theudebald no aid, no shelter, no food. The man is godless, a rapist, and a murderer. Go and hide your daughters, your wealth, and your stores. A monster walks among us.”
Ten minutes later Theudebald arrived in the market below Trudi’s balcony. He had a hundred men with him. They marched into the square, displacing the growing crowd. Her guards no longer patrolled outside. Trudi had called them in, telling Hans to lock the gate and fortify it from the inside.
While Trudi watched, Theudebald sauntered to the center of the market. Fear of the upcoming battle seized her by the throat. To calm herself, she remembered the conversation she had with Kovrat on that same balcony as they planned the palace’s defense.
“We can’t withstand so many, Kovrat.”
“He’ll lose four to one storming the palace.”
“It will still be close.”
“Better to fight him than let him starve you.”
“We can store enough to outlast a siege.”
“Enough to feed your guard? How many days will they last?
“We just have to last until Odilo returns.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
Trudi’s stomach had lurched at the thought. If Odilo died, nothing would stop Theudebald. But Kovrat had believed she was more vulnerable to a blockade. He had trained the men on a series of maneuvers to defend the palace, saying that battle would better serve her. “Men can’t fight if they’re starving,” he said.
Trudi would have to settle this now while her men were still fresh. She stood to face him from the balcony.
“My lady Hiltrude,” Theudebald bowed. He eyed the crowd around him. “What is this foolishness? I’m here as your protector, the protector of all Regensburg. Why have your men denied me entrance?”
“Why aren’t you fighting with Odilo?”
“I’m here at his request to guard the city against your brother Carloman’s treachery.”
“Liar! Your place is with Odilo, unless you’ve already capitulated.”
That jibe seemed to strike a chord. Theudebald’s face turned red. She pressed on. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’ve already been defeated. Carloman bested you and you’ve come here to take out your revenge on me.”
Theudebald again eyed the growing crowd around him. “You have me wrong, milady. I only have your interests at heart. Open your gates.”
“Open them yourself.”
Theudebald seemed to assess risk of such an assault. “I have no need. I can just wait here for you to open them. How long before your food stores run low? A few days? A week?”
She needed to goad him into attacking. “Rapist.”
Theudebald actually smiled at the charge. “What is the saying? ‘Ravaged women share the blame; their bodies be forever stained.’” He lifted his voice so that it carried to the crowd. “Tell me, Hiltrude, daughter of Charles, whose babe do you carry? Did you really think we were so stupid to believe your child is Odilo’s? There are so many other suspects, aren’t there? Prince Aistulf, the Lombard swordsman, a French knight who followed you to the gates of Regensburg, and a rogue outlaw who kidnapped you. Are we to assume you remained pure for all this time?”
“Odilo was my first love and my last. Your lies shame your own family. You shame the people of Bavaria.”
“You shame us!” His shout carried the market. “Your family is a blight on Bavaria.”
Trudi frowned. He wasn’t taking the bait. “You’re weak, Theudebald. It took less than a day for my father to best you on the battlefield. Have you forgotten how he stripped you naked and paraded you through the streets? How long did it take Carloman to beat you? You boasted that you would best both my brothers, but you couldn’t even beat one. I’ll bet he made you kiss the cross. Did you kneel before him and place your hands in his?”
She could see the fury in Theudebald’s face from her balcony.
“You’re nothing but an oath breaker, a murderer, and a rapist. You’re weak and unskilled in battle. And even now, with all these men, you’re afraid of me, a woman large with child. Go back to Alemannia, Theudebald. We only welcome strong men here in Bavaria.”
“If you don’t come willfully, bitch, I will tear down your palace stone by stone.”
Trudi took the sword from one of her guards and lifted it, shoulder high in challenge. “Come and try, Aleman! You couldn’t take this palace with ten times as many men. I fight for Bavaria. I fight for its future Duc. And you will die trying to take this palace.”
Theudebald spat on the ground. “Not before I cut that child from your belly.” He signaled to his men.
The forward line of his army rushed the palace only to find it strongly barricaded. While those nearest to the door tried to force it, the rest crowded around it, waiting to storm the building. Trudi stepped back from the balcony to make room for her archers and found a vantage point at a nearby arrow slit. The bowmen stepped forward and with methodical precision rained bolts down on their attackers. At first those nearest the door didn’t recognize the threat, but, as their compatriots fell, shouts filled the square and panic began to spread.
Theudebald waded into the crowd shouting orders to retreat and began pulling his men back away from the market. But he was too slow to maintain order. Dozens died around him and the rest started to run.
A horn sounded and the doors to the palace flew open. Hans led Trudi’s guard into the marketplace in a structured charge. Two lines waded into what was left of Theudebald’s men, making short work of the melee. When the slaughter was complete Theudebald was nowhere to be found.
Trudi returned to the balcony. Theudebald had underestimated her. Clearly, he had expected to find only a token guard at the palace. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“Collect their weapons,” she called from the balcony to Hans. “And ready the men for a counter-attack.”
It took most of an hour for Theudebald to return. When he did, his men came prepared with shields, a battering ram, and archers of their own. Trudi again moved to her arrow slit to watch the battle unfold while her archers advanced to the balcony. Two of them fell dead before they could release an arrow as enemy archers on the ground fired into the balcony. Her remaining archers scrambled for cover. From that point forward, bowmen on both sides played a cat and mouse game of harassment.
Without archers to hinder them, Theudebald’s men advanced on the palace. Two lines of Alemannians carried the battering ram forward, swinging it at the end of their approach and smashing it into the door. On the third try, the doors suddenly swung open throwing them off-balance. A column of Trudi’s guard stepped forward and its spears decimated the attack. The battering ram lay in the doorway preventing a structured advance, but it also made it impossible for Hans to shut the gate. Theudebald’s men swarmed into the corridor, abandoning their shields for hand-to-hand combat.
At first, Trudi’s guard fought them to a stalemate. The corridor was too narrow for numbers to be much of an advantage. At a signal from Hans, they began to fall back before the invaders, fighting a structured retreat to slow the attackers’ pace. By the time Theudebald’s men reached the interior courtyard of the palace, Trudi’s archers had taken new positions on the upper floor landings and targeted their slaughter on the troo
ps below. The attackers fell in droves. One or two raised a shield above their heads to ward off the onslaught of arrows, but this left them vulnerable to the guards on the ground. They turned to run, but the press of attackers behind them effectively cut off any avenue of retreat.
A desperate surge by the attackers pushed Hans’ men deep into the courtyard. A number of Trudi’s guardsmen fell to the ground, leaving an opening to the stairwell. A stream of attackers made for the stairs but was challenged by her personal guard. Using spears, they forced her attackers back down the steps.
Neither side seemed to gain advantage. Bodies of the wounded and dead lay in heaps of flesh throughout the interior courtyard, making it difficult to move. The fighting became desperate, a bloody and intimate struggle of swords, knives, hands, and teeth.
Trudi sent the last of her personal guard into the fray, keeping a sword for herself in case they failed. Her men roared battle cries as they streamed down the stairs. The guards in the courtyard took up the cry and together they beat the attackers back into the corridor. The tide tipped in their favor. With a massive shout, they pushed Theudebald’s men out through the corridor, and out the palace door into the courtyard. A forward column beat back the attack while a second group drew the battering ram inside the gate. A horn blew and the forward column retreated back through the gate. They closed the door and reinforced it with wooden beams.
Theudebald had no one left to fight. He stood facing the door until one of Trudi’s archers hazarded a shot in his direction. He made an obscene gesture towards Trudi’s balcony and then called for a retreat.
Trudi waited until the man was out of sight before returning to her room. She sank into her chair with relief. They had won the day. But how much of a dent had they put in Theudebald’s army? He would likely return in the morning to start the attack all over again. Hans appeared in the doorway and after thanking him, Trudi ordered him to see to their wounded.
✽✽✽
Overnight, the palace became part barracks, part dining hall, and part hospital. Trudi used Odilo’s room as a makeshift command center. They had lost twenty men in the day’s assault. More than seventy Alemannians lay dead in the interior courtyard. Trudi ordered them all to be dumped outside the palace, like a human shield wall outside the door. She wanted Theudebald to see how many he lost each day.
Hans rejoined her to sketch out the plans for the expected attack in the morning. “In addition to the attack on the main entrance, they’ll try to gain access to the balconies using ladders and grappling hooks. We must be ready to repel them. I’ve shuttered the second-floor balconies and put men on the roof with boulders and oil to discourage attack.”
“What about the city nobles still in Regensburg?”
“Theudebald’s men have cut us off from the rest of the city. We weren’t even able to get a message out to your husband. Each household left behind has a small contingent of soldiers to protect their families, but it’s unlikely that they’ll rise to your defense. They’re too disorganized to rally in defense of the palace.”
“What of the troops Odilo left behind to guard the fort?”
Hans shrugged. “We have to assume they stand with Theudebald.”
“I can’t believe they would let an Alemannian walk in here and seize their royal family without a fight.”
“When it comes to our ruling family, we Bavarians have had little stability. Death has followed death in a never-ending succession of heirs. You can’t blame people for waiting to see who will survive before proclaiming their loyalty.”
“And I thought there was hope for my son.”
“Ah, but there is.” Hans’s face brightened. “It’s the one thing that can bring us together. But if he’s never born?” Hans shrugged again. “It will be hard to fight for an empty chair.”
“Let’s hope for our sake the local nobles come to my aid. Otherwise, it will be a long day tomorrow.”
✽✽✽
As the morning cast a myriad of shadows inside the fortress, Trudi climbed the stairs to her balcony on the third floor to discover what kind of attack Theudebald planned to mount against her. She moved slowly, fearing another contraction to her belly. The randomness and severity of the attacks had left her exhausted and fearful of any kind of exertion that might trigger another.
She didn’t have to wait long for Theudebald. He rode into the square leading over five hundred soldiers. At a sign from him, they broke into two columns and surrounded the palace compound.
When his men had come to a halt, Theudebald addressed Trudi in a voice that carried throughout the square. “We Alemannians and Bavarians are cousins by blood. I will waste no more of it on a Frankish bastard, milady. In a few days, you and your guard will have a choice. You can either starve or open the door. Either way, that bastard in your belly will die by my hand.”
Trudi stood to face him. “Once again, you are the coward, Theudebald. You’re too weak to take the palace with strength. We have prepared for you, rapist. We have stores enough to feed our men for weeks to come. And you don’t have weeks, do you? Once the battle with Carloman is done, Odilo will return and your little revolt will be over. You’re finished Theudebald. You just haven’t figured it out yet.”
Theudebald spat on the ground and turned to address a captain. His voice was loud enough to carry the square. “No one goes into the palace or comes out, unless they bring out the Duchesse…either dead or in chains.” He turned his horse away and cantered out of the square.
Having already rationed their food stores, there was little for Trudi to do in response to the blockade. Hans changed the guards every four hours to keep the men fresh and forbade all strong drink; he didn’t want the men filling their stagnant hours with mead and ale.
After four days, however, there was food spoilage in one of the smoked meat stores. It forced Trudi to cut rations, much to the dismay of her guard. When she tried to cut her own rations, however, Hans reprimanded her, saying his men wouldn’t hear of her sharing in on their sacrifice. “You must maintain the young Duc’s strength, Milady.”
Begrudgingly, she agreed. Without a healthy baby, her future would be lost. And she had reasons to be worried as the pains in her stomach didn’t disappear.
She had her doctor examine her and could see by his face he was worried.
“It’s too soon to deliver, milady. You must hold out for several more weeks. I suggest you remain in bed for the duration of your condition.”
“I’ll take more rest but can’t be restricted to bed. Theudebald is too impatient to wait in siege. He’ll attack and we must be ready.”
“If you’re not careful, milady, you’ll give Theudebald exactly what he wants. ‘A dead child.’”
Trudi nodded. “I’ll try to stay abed.”
And she did. She used the bed in Odilo’s chambers – their command center – to preside over the palace’s defense during the day and retired to her own chambers on the third floor to sleep at night. She overruled Eta’s objections to this arrangement, knowing in her heart that Theudebald would attack. Two days later, the Alemannian proved her right.
Chapter Thirty-six
The Road to Regensburg
Pippin had travelled light and slept little catching up with Childebrand and his army. He and his small cohort of men had left Paris at a hellish pace, stopping only to rest their mounts and to sleep. Even so, several of their horses grew lame from the exertion. He pushed onward, leaving behind those who were stranded rather than slow the party down.
He had set aside all thoughts of Bertrada. She had distracted him long enough. She was safe. That was all that he needed to know. He had a battle to fight and a rebellion to quash.
The countryside rolled by in a blur. They travelled east from the easy, sloping hillsides in Neustria to the low country of the Loire valley. They skirted the Vosges Mountains by heading south to Strasbourg. Pippin took his party north on the Old Roman Road east and south again towards the broad valley near Canstatt.
There, Pippin’s party was forced to slow due to the number of refugees on the road fleeing the devastation of a fire in the east. A never-ending stream of destitution filled the road. Families in pitiful conditions, still covered in soot, scowled at Pippin as if he were to blame for their plight.
Once they reached the Danube, Pippin left the Roman road to follow the path of the river east towards Ingolstat. This was the most pleasant part of the journey. The weather was unshakably cool with bright blue skies and endless sunshine. Although Arnot begged him, Pippin refused to ease their pace. He had received reports that Carloman’s army had suffered from its battle with Theudebald and was being hounded by Odilo along the southern banks of the Danube.
One of Childebrand’s scouts found them in route and guided them to the army’s encampment outside Ingolstat. They arrived at dusk, covered in ten days’ worth of dust and sweat. Pippin laughed out loud as he crested the hill overlooking his army’s encampment. Childebrand had raised more than eight thousand men, substantially more than Carloman had brought to the battle.
Pippin greeted Childebrand with a bear hug. “How did you recruit so many?”
“Gold has a way of solving most problems.”
“We’re going to need every one of them.” Pippin said. “Odilo has a much larger army than we anticipated.”
Childebrand nodded. “They’re camped by the River Lech. Our scouts saw them cross the Danube a day ago. It’s not yet clear where Carloman is. Last report we had, he defeated Theudebald and then his army disappeared.”
“If we find Odilo, we’ll find Carloman. He won’t be far.”
Childebrand shook his head. “Theudebald weakened him. Carloman may be on the run. We have to consider that we may have to fight Odilo alone.”
Pippin shook his head. “Carloman started this war. He’s not going to let me fight it for him.”
Wheel of the Fates: Book Two of the Carolingian Chronicles Page 34