Poisonous Plots Read online

  We did not have second sight. We just followed the trail and hoped that we would catch the killers before they reached France. What we could not know was that one of them had injured his horse when he had stepped off the trail. They did not deliberately slow down but the slower horse naturally made them all keep to the same pace. As far as they knew they were safe. And so, unbeknown to me, we were catching them. We just had to believe that God would smile on us and help us. I had to hope the knight needed his men and would not abandon them.

  We had been galloping through a wood and we burst out into a moonlit open area. Dick was at the fore with James. James shouted, “I see them, lord!”

  Their white surcoats and cloaks with the red cross made them stand out. James’ cry made the last sergeant, the one with the lame horse turn. He shouted something and stopped. He hefted his shield around to his front and he stood in the middle of the road. Roger of Bath shouted, “Leave him to me, lord! Go around him!”

  The Templar would be a fine warrior. He had fought Seljuks and other enemies. He would not be easy to kill but Roger of Bath was my warrior. He would prevail. As soon as the sergeant stopped his horse the animal’s injury worsened. He should have kept moving. The four of us swept by him. His horse could not move easily. The four men we were chasing now had no one to slow them but they knew they were being pursued. They kept glancing over their shoulders. Had they concentrated on watching the road and their horses they might have evaded us. We heard the clash of steel behind us. I watched as one of the sergeants, turning to see how close we were, went too far to the left and his horse clattered into the ditch. He regained the road but he was paces behind his comrades. They slowed. They were brothers in arms who had fought together over years. They had lost one man. They would not abandon another.

  From that moment they were doomed. We were like fishermen who were hauling in a heavy catch. They drew closer to us with each step. Our horses were lathered and I could see, in the moonlight as we closed with them, that so were they. They had to stop and fight us when the knight’s horse put a foreleg in the ditch. The rider was almost thrown but he was a good horseman and kept his saddle. They wheeled to face us. Dick leapt from his horse. They did not know we had an archer with us. The four Templars were just eighty paces from us. Dick could hit them with his eyes closed.

  The three of us kept riding. I shouted, “Yield and you shall have fair trial!”

  “God will be our judge!”

  Dick’s first arrow struck a sergeant at arms in the back. He tumbled from his saddle. His second killed the knight’s horse. As Bertran of Clairvaux was thrown from his mount Robert Mortimer showed his skill by switching his attack from the left to the right of the Templar. His sword bit into the neck of the sergeant at arms. Dick’s third arrow hit the last sergeant at arms in the thigh. James galloped at him and struck him hard across the chest. He fell from his horse and James leapt to the ground to secure him.

  There was just Bertran of Clairvaux left and he shouted, “Face me man to man, Warlord! You owe me that! You have killed the four sword brothers I fought alongside for ten years. Give me the chance to die like a man.”

  I knew that I should have ignored his plea and slain him but I was too honourable for my own good and I reined in and dismounted. He had the advantage for he had a shield. I held my sword in a two-handed grip. I did not fear tricks for Dick was watching. The Templar had landed well but he must have hurt his leg. He was limping slightly. I dared not underestimate this killer. He had an open helmet. He had lowered his ventail and I saw that his beard was flecked with white. He was not a young man. His face was dark. He had lived in the east for a long time. I held my sword above me.

  “You are a hard man to kill, Warlord.” I said nothing but I wondered at his words. “Each time we thought you dead, you managed to survive. We should have hired assassins. Now I shall end the threat to our order. God’s will shall prevail! We do his work and not the work of petty kings and warlords! Your archer will kill me when I end your life but I thank you for this chance to die well.”

  I took another two steps towards him. “I can see that my son was right. You are an order of self-serving killers.”

  “William of Aqua Bella is also lucky to be alive. How can you look at your son when he married a Jewess, a whore?”

  It was an old trick. He was trying to goad me and it gave me confidence. He was afraid I might win. He suddenly lunged at me. He swung his sword in a wide sweep as he punched at me with his shield. I did the only thing I could, I spun away. Even so the flat of his sword smashed across my back. The edge tore through my surcoat and into my mail. I forced the pain from my mind and used both hands to bring my sword into his back. I felt it jar against his spine and he gave a grunt. I had hurt him.

  He turned to face me. “You are old but you still have skills old man.”

  I could not waste breath on speech. He tried to step towards me and his face showed the pain that resulted. My blow had hurt him. I lifted my sword to strike at his head and, as he raised his shield to block the blow, I switched it to a sweep. He blocked it with his sword but my sword rasped along the side of his mail.

  “You are hurt, Templar. Surrender for this can only end one way.”

  “Surrender and what then? My life is over no matter what I do and the knowledge I have will die with me. I go to God knowing that I have served him. You just serve a bastard bloodline!” He tied to swing his sword overhand at my head. His wound meant that his shield was not as tight to his body as it should have been and I lunged forward. I realised later this movement was deliberate. He knew he could not win and sought a quick death. My sword went into his throat. He smiled as it sank into his mouth and came out of the back of his head. I tore my sword to the side and he died. One Templar threat was ended. How many more remained?

  “We will examine the belongings of these five when we reach Rouen. I am anxious to see how Roger fared.” The others slung the bodies on the backs of the three fit horses and we headed back down the road.

  We found Roger binding a wound on his leg. He had had no opportunity to don mail. “Is it a bad one, Roger?”

  “No lord. He was a proper warrior. He had a clean blade and the wound will heal.”

  “How is his horse?”

  “It is not badly hurt but it will slow us down.”

  “James take off its saddle.”

  I dismounted and hefted the dead sergeant alongside another of his companions. It was as we rode that I pieced together a story from what I had learned so far. They were riding hard but the five of them had been together since they had fought in the Holy Land. Their mission in France had brought them great riches. I had no doubt that the four sergeants would have been promised the chance to become knights. Bertran of Clairvaux trusted the four men more than any other men, including his brother knights. We headed back down the road to Rouen. It took us much longer to get back. Our horses were weary. We were met, half way to the castle, by a column of mailed men led by Richard D’Avranches.

  He nodded his satisfaction. “You found the Templars.”

  “We did.” I had not detected a heartbeat in William’s neck yet I hoped that I was wrong. “William FitzEmpress and his knight?”

  “They are both dead.”

  To have died so young and with a life so unfulfilled was truly a tragedy. I was silent all the way back to Rouen. I said to Dick, as I dismounted, “Search the bodies and bring anything you find interesting to my chamber.”

  Henry and Maud awaited me in the Great Hall. The Empress looked smaller than when I had spoken to her before discovering the body. It was a hard blow to bear. She had but one son left. I said simply, “The killers are dead.”

  Henry shook his head and his eyes held mine. “No man killed my brother. The Templar spies are dead. My brother died of a broken heart caused by the refusal of the Archbishop of Canterbury to allow his wedding.”

  It was a lie. “And Roger de Tanqueray?”

  The King shrugge
d, “He ate some bad fish.”

  I saw Maud’s eyes pleading with me to let the matter rest. I could not. “But why, Your Majesty?”

  “Firstly, Alfraed, it weakens the position of Thomas Becket. When I send my message to the Pope I will cite the Archbishop as the cause of William’s death. Secondly, I intend to hide the bodies. The fish in Rouen’s moat will feast on flesh. The Templars will disappear. We will await whoever comes to seek for them. At the very least it will begin to unnerve King Louis. Thus far his plots have been hidden. He will wonder what we know. We will have time to find other Templars. From this moment any Templar found in my lands will be questioned.”

  This was the act of a hard and ruthless king. He had to be admired. “And that may well bring questions from the Master of the order.”

  The King shrugged, “He is in Acre but I have no doubt that whoever commands the Templars in France will do as you suggest. I wish to draw him out so that I can give him my ultimatum!”

  I shook my head, “Poison is an assassin’s trick. I had thought a knight would have used a sword. You will have to have your food and wine tasted, majesty.”

  He smiled, “Have you not noticed, Alfraed, that I am never the first to partake of either food or drink? Men think me a poor eater. I am just a careful one.”

  Maud had been silent, “What I cannot understand is why the order would wish to kill my son. I thought they served God.”

  I shook my head, “I am sorry, my lady, my son told me that many men of the order have been sent there to serve as a punishment for a crime. One knight was sent to do penance for seven years. He had killed a bishop. They also believe that serving God puts them above temporal rules and laws. They are fanatics.”

  Henry came over and put his arm around me, “I thank you for trying to save my brother and for avenging his death. Once more, I am in your debt.”

  I caught Maud’s eye, “You owe me nothing, majesty. What I do, I do out of love and duty. I am honoured to serve you.” Maud gave the slightest of nods. I saw the sun rising in the east. A new day was dawning. “I must go to see my men. Roger of Bath was wounded.”

  It was not quite a lie but I did need to speak with Dick. He and the others were at the stables. They had the belongings of the Templars laid out. Sir Richard D’Avranches was there too. “Now that you have done with them, before dawn we must do the King’s bidding. The mail on their bodies will take them to the bottom of the moat.”

  His men shifted the bodies and we looked at what we had found. The five men had full purses. The one called Bertran had a particularly full one. All of the coins bore the head of Louis. They were French. All of them bore the seal which marked them as Templars but Bertran of Clairvaux also bore another seal. Robert Mortimer recognised it.

  “Earl, I know this. It is the seal of Osny. That is a manor on the other side of the Vexin. This Bertran has been granted a manor by the French King.”

  “Give me the seals. I know not how I will use them but having them gives us knowledge. Share the coins our between the four of you. All of you earned it.”

  Roger of Bath said, “But lord, I am just a man at arms! You are all knights.”

  “We all shared the same risks. Let us share the same rewards.”

  I sat with the King and we spoke of William. It was when the servant brought us more wine that a thought which had been drifting around my head came to the fore. “Charles, the servant who brought the food to the King’s brother, where is he?”

  “Guillaume? In the servant’s quarters. Why lord?”

  “He was the last man to see William. I would speak with him.”

  “I will fetch him.” He made to go.

  “Before you bring him what do you know of him? He seemed young to be a servant here.”

  Charles nodded. “He was a servant here before. He left just before Lord William went to Vernon. The Steward decided to dismiss him. We were all surprised when he returned with Lord William and the Templars.”

  Henry and I had the same thought. I said, “The spy who sent news to Vernon, it is this Guillaume and he is the one who poisoned your brother!”

  Henry shouted, “Guards, go with Charles and arrest Guillame the servant.” As they ran off he said, “At last we have a chance to find who is the paymaster for these spies.”

  “And it explains much. If they were all drinking from the same jug of wine how could the Templars avoid poisoning?”

  Henry stood and looked at his own goblet. “The poison was in the goblet. What made you ask the question?”

  “I know not. It was just a thought. I know not whence it came.”

  Just then there was the sound of shouting from the stairs. We heard feet running and then there was more noise in the distance and finally a scream followed by a loud crack. Some time later a sheepish looking Captain of the Guard appeared. “I am sorry, Your Majesty. He must have heard us coming and he ran. He was slippery. He stuck a knife in old Charles and was up the stairs before we knew. He threw himself from the parapet.”

  Henry was angry and the captain was dismissed. When we searched the spy’s room we found French gold pieces and clothes which belonged to a knight and not a servant. We also found Templar tokens. How many more spies were there?

  Chapter 8

  William’s oathsworn returned as soon as Robert Mortimer took command of his new castle. William had been buried. The four of them were angry. I think that they were angry that they had not been at William’s side when he had died. King Henry handled them well.

  “The four of you were oathsworn and were faithful to my brother. Richard le Breton, Reginald Fitzurse, Hugh de Morville, William de Tracey I ask you to become my oathsworn. What say you?”

  They nodded but Richard le Breton said, “King Henry, give us leave to kill Archbishop Becket for he has surely killed our lord.”

  The King smiled. It was a cruel smile, “At the moment Thomas Becket is safe. He is protected by the Pope, the Church and holy robes. It will not always be thus. Let us bide our time. Revenge is best served cold. He will think we have forgotten this heinous act. We have not.” They proved to be prophetic words.

  I took my leave of Maud, privately. Her ill health had returned. She held my hands with hers; they were thin, blue veined and skeletal. She said nothing but, as she looked into my eyes, tears coursed down her cheeks. They were tears for her son and for our lost love. No words were spoken for none were needed. We parted and my heart was heavy.

  We travelled first to Le Mans where King Henry warned the seneschal of the French plots. We went thence to Tours. He told the seneschal of Touraine the same. While we were there the King and I surveyed the border. As we rode along the disputed border I begged leave to travel to La Flèche. It was but fifty miles away. The King agreed but with the proviso that I would not stay long. He had plans for me. I took all of my men. I needed to arrange for William of Kingston to sail to Rouen and to pick me up. I would return to England. It would, perforce be a brief stay but I would make the most of my time with my son and his family. They were all that I had left.

  When we reached the castle, I found Sir Leofric in the process of writing a letter to me. “This is a most propitious meeting, my lord. I was about to put to paper that which should be spoken. Come to my chamber.”

  Dick, James and Leofric’s son, Alfraed, accompanied us. Once we were seated he explained. “My merchants travel this land. They are successful and the manor prospers. When they travel they keep their eyes and ears open. I asked them to keep watch for Templars. Jean de Gruchy who sells wine recently visited Pontigny.” I started and Sir Leofric nodded, “Aye, lord, it was the home of Thomas Becket. The Archbishop has a fondness for wine. Jean sold him two barrels. He said that while he was there he noticed French guards watching over the prelate but also two Templar knights. One was Bertran de Clairvaux and the other Raymond de Gisors.”

  Dick said, “Gisors is not far from Vernon, lord.”

  “Aye and what are Templars doing conspiring with
the Archbishop? The King needs to hear this. Sir Leofric I need a ship to be at Rouen. If it can be William of Kingston then so much the better but, if not, then any ship.”

  The King was hunting when we reached Tours. He was a clever King. He was able to observe and listen to his knights. They thought the hunting was a pleasurable pastime. The King saw it as a way to hear unguarded comments. He knew not which knights had been suborned. This was a way to discover that.

  When he returned he was keen to hear my news. My face told him that it was of some import. He nodded sagely. “Now we know why Becket fled here and why he has yet to return to England. This news of another Templar worries me. When we leave I will go to the Chateau Galliard. I will make a statement. I intend to make the castle the strongest in the whole of the land. If Louis wants the Vexin then he will have to make his men bleed on Galliard’s walls.”

  I nodded, “A good idea but it will take some time.”

  He smiled, “And as I will have to be there to supervise it then King Louis will worry himself that I intend to ride the short way to Paris and take his palace from him. With at least one of his Templar spies gone he will now be worried. Hitherto he has made all the moves and we have responded. Now it is we who move the pieces in this game. He will learn that I am more than capable of hanging on to my thrones and threatening his.”

  I was impressed with my son. He was even cleverer than his grandfather.

  “And I have a task for you.” My heart sank. “Do not worry you will go home. I wish you to find and bring to justice Richard de Vernon. You and your son can find him for me.”

  I was relieved. “That I will do and gladly, majesty. I will bring him to Rouen when he is in my hands.”

  “There is no rush. Enjoy your family and let him rot awhile in your cells. We will just finish our work here. Blois is a problem and I would visit with Count Theobald of Blois.”

  “I thought we were at peace.”

  “So did I. It was bad enough when Louis married the late Count Theobald’s sister but now I hear that his sons Theobald and Henry are to marry two of Louis’ daughters by Eleanor. King Louis spins a web of which a giant spider would be proud. Their mother was not consulted!”