The King Is Dead Read online

  "Are you certain, my lord?" He nodded towards the two young squires. "They are young."

  "And this is how they will learn. I trust them Dick, as I trust you. Begin whenever you wish."

  We donned our helmets, mounted our horses and pulled our shields around. "You two flank me. Your job is to watch my rear." We moved to the edge of the trees. Two arrows flew and the men roasting the deer fell. A third turned as they fell and he too was struck. A fourth cutting wood managed a shout before he was killed. An outlaw appeared at the door and he was also struck. There was silence and then I heard shouts within the hall. Silence followed and then I heard shouts and screams as they tried to escape at the rear. The clash of metal made me fear for John but I had to trust him.

  "Ready? They will emerge in a moment and try to flush out the archers."

  Sure enough the door flew open and the outlaws, using shields, rushed towards the trees. Dick and his archers released their arrows but the shields were effective. "Now!"

  Our three horses burst from the trees. I recognised the leader. He wore mail. He held a long sword and had a small kite shield. His men ran before him and two were cut down by arrows. I went for the leader, William of Lucker would be the best warrior and I had to face him. One of the outlaws ran towards Scout. Although not a warhorse he had learned how to react. I pulled right and up on the reins and his hooves came up and clattered into the outlaw. There was a sickening crunch as his head was smashed. His falling body dropped before William of Lucker who had to stop suddenly. He hurled his spear at me and I ducked. Perhaps he was not used to fighting knights or he was just rusty. Whatever the reason his reactions were slow and as I brought my sword across his body his shield did not cover enough of his chest. My sword sliced through mail links. A smear of blood tinged the edge. I pulled Scout's reins and brought my blade backhand across the back of his shoulders. This time my sword bit deeper. He had not maintained his mail. There was rust and the links broke. My blade bit into his neck. Blood spurted. He slumped to the ground.

  I saw that my two squires had acquitted themselves well. Four dead outlaws lay before them. My archers had laid down their bows and finished the attack with swords. Five outlaws knelt with their hands before them. They had surrendered; they had had enough. "Leofric, find John and see if they need help."

  I dismounted. William of Lucker was still alive. He laughed as I knelt next to him. "When you were younger I had the chance to slay you. Had my aim been better then my spear would have found your back and I would still be alive."

  I could not remember the incident but I did not doubt his words. Dying men rarely lie. "That may be. It was not my turn to die. Today it is yours."

  He coughed and dark blood dribbled from the edge of his mouth. "How did you find me?"

  I would not lie to a dying man but I could hide some of the truth from him. "You were betrayed."

  I saw his eyes narrow as he tried to work out who might have done so. Ralph of Beal was too inconsequential and he nodded and said, "That damned Frenchman, Senonches. I knew I could not trust him. Gospatric vouched for him but I knew. And Comyn's lies did not help! I told him the new Bishop was suspicious." He closed his eyes and I thought him dead. Suddenly he opened them. "I beg a favour, lord. Have me buried in the church in Lucker. I would be with..." And then he died.

  I stood. I would do as he asked. He had given me valuable information. Suddenly Leofric came racing around the side of the old Danish hall. "My lord, you must come quickly! John has been wounded. There is much blood!"

  Chapter 4

  Aelric had tied a rag around the top of John's leg to stop the bleeding. I could see that he had a deep wound. "I have stopped the blood flowing, my lord, but he passed out."

  Edgar was my healer and he was seven miles away. Dick had followed me. "I want a wooden litter made. Leofric find any horses you can. William, see if the outlaws had anything hot to eat or drink. Soup would be good."

  When they had gone I said, "Aelric, I will go with my squires and return to Norham. Take the dead outlaw, William of Lucker, and bury him at Lucker."

  He looked at me as though I was mad.

  "I know he is an outlaw but he asked me with his dying breath and I did not refuse him. I feel honour bound to do as he asked."

  "Aye, my lord, but you are too honourable. A promise to an outlaw means nothing."

  "I know. Meet me in Norham with the prisoners. I will let the lord of Norham pass judgement." He nodded. "And bring any treasure they have here. There should be much."

  William had found a pot of thin soup. It was hot. "William, while we fit the litter to the horses you try to get some of that into him."

  "But he is unconscious!"

  "Rafe will hold his head and nose. When that is done you must release the cloth and let some blood come out of his wound and then tighten it again." He looked at me in horror. "John needs you William. He has stood by you these many years. Today you stand by him."

  He said, "Aye, my lord."

  Leofric and Dick brought two of the palfreys they had found in the stable. With Long Tom to help we were able to tie the litter between the horses. "Leofric go and fetch our horses. We must get to Norham before it is too late." As he went I said to Dick, "I have given instructions to Aelric. I wish you travel to Lucker find out all you can from the outlaws. I want to know how they came to be in their position."

  "Aye, my lord. Lucker?"

  "I was asked by one who was once a knight to have him buried at his home."

  "We would leave him for the foxes."

  "As should I. I am sorry but it is the way I was brought up. It is in my nature."

  "And that is why you are our lord and we follow you."

  When Leofric returned he brought Aelric with him. "My lord, we have found chests of coins. There are three smaller ones but these two are larger."

  "Tie them on either side of John's horse. Long Tom, Rafe, help my son and Leofric to lift John on to the litter. When it is done tie him to it." As they did so I looked up at the sky. It was summer and we would still have a few hours of daylight. I hoped that Edgar had returned to Norham and was not out hunting for us. If he was not there then it would be I who would have to heal my squire.

  "We will see you in Norham on the morrow."

  "Should we not have some men with you, my lord."

  I looked at Leofric and William, "No, Dick, I am safe with these two."

  We set off north eastwards. We would have made better time but we stopped every mile or so to loosen and then tighten the bandage. It was almost dark as we approached Norham. "Norham, it is the Earl of Cleveland! Open the gates!"

  Light flooded across the bridge as the gate was opened. Wulfric stood there with Roger of Norham. "We thought you lost my lord!"

  "Get Edgar! John is hurt!"

  Wulfric yelled, "Edgar! Get here!"

  We clattered across the bridge. John breathed still but he was pale. He had lost much blood.

  "Sir Roger, do you have a healer?"

  "No my lord, just a young priest."

  "Then send for him. If Edgar cannot save him we may need the priest." I saw William and Leofric exchange a look. "We must be prepared for the worst but let us pray for the best." They both nodded. "You two did well today. As did John. Wulfric's work has paid off."

  Untying the litter we carried my squire into the warrior hall where a fire blazed and there were rush lights. The warriors within parted as we laid the litter on the table. Edgar appeared. He had a few instruments he had collected over the years. "We will need boiling water my lord and fire."

  "See to it, Brian."

  He shook his head when he saw the wound. The priest stood at his shoulder and made the sign of the cross. Edgar looked at him, "Father can you do aught?"

  "I can pray, and I can help."

  A pan of boiling water was brought. Edgar took a clean piece of cloth and held it in the water. Lifting it he drained most of the water from it and then wiped the wound. John was still in t
he place my father's oathsworn had called the Otherworld, the land between life and death. "The bandage has saved him but the wound is deep." I saw him wrestling with the decision. John could be a lord one day. He would be a knight. If Edgar got this wrong he would be crippled.

  I put my hand on his shoulder. "I trust you and if John could speak he would tell you to try. With God's help my squire will be saved."

  Edgar nodded, "Then I will sew him." He took some gut from his bag and dropped it and a needle into the pan of water." He looked at the men surrounding him. "This would be easier, my lord, if we did not have prying eyes and men crowded around."

  Wulfric barked, "You heard the healer! Go and clean your weapons!"

  The men scurried away. Edgar looked at me. I nodded, "Come, we will let Edgar and the priest minister to John. We can do nothing here save make our healer uncomfortable."

  Roger of Norham said, "Alan, fetch us food and wine. We will use my hall."

  We left the warrior hall and crossed the bailey to the small hall which Roger used. I saw that Leofric and William were still worried about their friend. "Go and fetch the chests. We will examine them."

  William said, "But they are heavy."

  Shaking my head I said, "Then you will become stronger by carrying them."

  Wulfric chuckled. "They are growing, my lord, but sometimes young William forgets he is a squire and thinks he is your child still."

  "That child killed two men today. I do not mind the occasional lapse." I turned to Roger. "Did you find anything?"

  "A few campfires which showed where they had been."

  "Aye, we had more success; we found their main camp. There is an old Danish hall south of here."

  "Etal?"

  "That may be it. William of Lucker had been using it. He was once a knight who rebelled. He was in the pay of Gospatric and the Scots or so you would believe from his dying words. He had been extracting money from the villages. You might do well to ride around them when this is over." I told him of Ralph of Beal and what I had learned. I had just finished when William and Leofric returned with the chests and Alan with the food and wine.

  "Come we will eat while I discover what has happened to my knights."

  "But the chests..."

  "Will still be there when we have eaten. Eat."

  Roger poured me a goblet of wine. "They both sent messengers to say that they were pursuing men back to the Scottish borders." He told me where my two knights had gone. They were both sensible and would not risk their men.

  "So King David and Gospatric are becoming devious. They use unrest and discord rather than direct rebellion."

  Roger nodded,. "This begins to make sense. We have had less taxes of late. Now I know why. These men sent by our enemies are sucking the blood from our people."

  "You need more men at arms and horses. Your people should see you as their protector and not their tax man. They will happily pay if they feel they are being watched over."

  "But I have not the coin!"

  I had finished my food. "Then let us see what the outlaws had gathered."

  We went to the boxes. They were both locked. I had failed to search William of Lucker for his keys. Wulfric went for his war axe and had them open in two strokes. Inside I saw a mass of coins. William went to put his hands within. I said, "Hold. Let us examine them before we sort them." Casting my eyes over them I saw that they were mainly small coins such as ordinary folk had. There were clipped coins and half coins; there were silver and there were copper but, gleaming at us were some golden coins. "Gather all the gold coins and put them on Sir Roger's table. I will sort them."

  I left the four of them to pick out the coins. As they passed them I put them in piles. I looked at the face on each one. It soon became obvious that there were three distinct groups. The largest were the ones bearing the face of Louis the Pious. The second that of King David. The third was almost the same size as that of King David but it showed not one ruler but a number; they were all from the Empire. I doubted that the Empire bothered to pay William of Lucker for his trouble but someone with connections to the Empire had. It also suggested that William of Lucker had been the spider in the centre of a web. The question was, to where did it stretch?

  I went to the two chests. Now that the larger coins had been taken they were both half empty. "Here, Sir Roger, is the coin to pay for your men at arms. There is little chance of us returning this to the people from whom it was taken. Better that you tax them less and then use this coin to pay for more men."

  He nodded, "That is you order, my lord?"

  "It is. I will have it confirmed by the Bishop when I return thence."

  My squires helped him to sort the clipped and chipped coins. It was a fine haul. The outlaws had been organised. I wondered why William of Lucker had not spent it? I had many questions for the surviving outlaws. I nodded to Wulfric, "Come we will see how Edgar fares."

  It was dark night when we crossed the bailey. My men stood around and stopped talking as we passed. "How is young John, my lord?"

  "We will soon discover, Brian."

  When we entered the hall I saw that the priest was using holy water to make the sign of the cross on John's forehead. I feared the worst. Had he died? Edgar was washing his hands in the now cooled boiling water. I put my hand on his shoulder. "You have done your best."

  He nodded. He pointed to the stitches. There were many of them for John's thigh had been laid open to the bone. "It is fortunate that it was on the front. Had it been at the side then he would have bled to death. He may live but he is weak. It is now out of my hands and up to God and Father James."

  Father James smiled, "You are lucky to have such a healer. I have learned much this night. I have seen those with wounds such as this either lose the leg or die. I will try to copy this archer. He has skill."

  "Edgar go and get food. I will watch John with Wulfric for a while."

  We sat by the fire and listened to the deep and reassuring breathing of my squire. After a while Wulfric broke the silence. "The King should invade Scotland and teach them a lesson once and for all, my lord. Our men at arms, archers and knights are superior to anything we have seen or met."

  "I know Wulfric but you fail to see the bigger picture." I had brought three coins from the horde. I held them in my palm. "This Scottish coin I do not worry about. As you say we have the beating of King David and his wild men. They are like the biting of the midges, annoying. It is these two which worry me more. Where in the Empire do the coins come from? Why is King Louis trying to draw the King to his northern border?"

  Wulfric stared into the fire. He suddenly turned on me, "He is going to attack in Normandy!"

  "I do not think that he will do that. I think that he and Flanders will ferment rebellion. The Norman lords are not as loyal as those in England. Many see themselves as the Duke of Normandy. France and Flanders care not for if there were to be rebellion then they would sweep in and defeat the weakened victor."

  "We should tell the King."

  "Let us gather all the intelligence we can and then I will speak with the Bishop of Durham and the Archbishop of York. Both are wise men. I will take their counsel first."

  My squires agreed to take it in turns to watch over John with Edgar. I retired although I did not think that sleep would come. I had much to occupy my mind. I was loyal to the King but I had another loyalty to Matilda and her son Henry. Anjou was vulnerable. Since the King of France had betrothed his son to Eleanor of Aquitaine there was danger to Anjou from the south. The Count of Anjou had grown in recent years but he would still struggle to resist an attack on his borders. The thought which finally sent me to sleep was that I would go to Normandy in the autumn. First I would settle the border and my own land and then I would seek counsel. What I had learned could not be committed to parchment. That was too risky. I would take the evidence with me.

  When I awoke I was relieved to see that John was awake, weak, but awake. "I am sorry, my lord, I failed to protect mys
elf with my shield. I saw that my foes had no armour and thought I could not be hurt."

  Edgar snorted, "Even without mail an enemy can strike your legs. You need a longer mail shirt and leggings. If you fight as a knight then you should be armed as a knight."

  I nodded, "Edgar is right. All of you are now more than ceremonial squires. You fight and you need better protection. When we return to Stockton, Alf will make you better mail."

  Dick and the archers returned soon after we woke. He had his men hold the outlaws in the stable while he reported to me.

  "Of the six of them, my lord, two are not to be trusted. The other four are younger. Their families were killed by raiding Scots five years since and William of Lucker took them in."

  "You say we could use them?"

  He nodded, "My Lord Norham needs archers. The four have skill and good hearts. They can use bows. I saw their arms. They are like young oaks. They remind me of Harold." He took a deep breath. "It is what I believe, my lord."

  "And I trust you. You have done well. Fetch them to me."

  While he went I sought Sir Roger and explained what I intended. "You trust your archer's judgement?"

  "He was an outlaw and he has never let me down. I trust him." We went to his hall and awaited Dick.

  I had Wulfric stand close by as the six were brought in. "You are all guilty of being outlaws. The punishment for such a crime is clearly laid down. What say you?"

  I saw the two who were beyond redemption. While the other four looked shocked and hung their heads the other two shouted, "It was not us, my lord. We were led by others. Sir William said he would harm us if we did not obey his orders."

  I nodded, "Then you can tell me from whence he obtained his gold and his commands."

  One of them said, "Gold, my lord? We saw no gold."

  I smiled, "And you did not see any other giving orders."

  "No my lord, we just did as Sir William ordered and robbed merchants."

  "Then you do not deserve death." I saw the relief on their faces. "Wulfric, take them away. Have their thumbs removed and their noses split. Let all the world know that these were outlaws."