The saga continues...
A Mother, a
Manipulator, a Murderess.
Agnes Foxe sat silently
on a chair beside her husbands bed. The Thrang of Rudston was dying,
she knew he was, he had become increasingly ill with stomach cramps
over the last half year.
Exactly the same period
of time that she had been lacing his wine with poison. Just a little
here and little there, enough for the drunken oaf to slowly
deteriorate. Her twin sons Benedict and Luke sat opposite her on
chairs placed at the other side of the bed. The boys were soon to
turn sixteen years of age and were her pride and joy, Benedict, the
elder by 30 minutes, would make an excellent thrang when the time
came. Too young at present, he would have to wait a further two
years, and those fools of the thrang host, her husbands most faithful
knights, would debate who should be ward until that time.
What they didn't know
was that she would be the boys ward and in effect would be the de
facto thrang. Of course they would argue and grumble, but in the end
would have no choice but to accept, she was after all the thrang's
widow. She had to stop herself smiling, widow...it sounded so good.
The younger twin, if her plans came to pass, would also find himself
a thrang too, not of Rudston, but there were lots of dominions in
Yolare ripe for the taking, especially along the Eastern side.
Her brother Ralph was
the Thrang of Wheeldale, further up the coast and the two dominions
combined would be by far the most powerful force in the land. Her
father had betrothed her to join together the two families. The
Foxe's in the South and the Lytton's in the North. Sadly her father
had died of the plague soon after the wedding, she had loved him
dearly and even forgave him for marrying her off to this pig!
But Agnes had schemed
well, even the two boys sat opposite were not the sons of of the
dying thrang, he didn't know of course, not that he took any interest
in them. She had seduced Andrew Daye, one of her husband's thrang
host soon after arriving at Rudston and it was he who was the father.
Ironically, he had no idea either.
But Andrew was a very
useful ally, trusted by her husband and high ranking in the host, she
would need all his help and influence to achieve the position which
she believed was hers by right, ward of the future thrang.
Eventually of course the handsome and exciting Andrew would have to
be disposed of, but for now he still had a purpose to serve... for
now!
* * * * * * * * * *
A Taxing Problem.
Richard Pierrot watched
the column move away down the Knapton Road, like a huge snake as it
slithered here and there, searching for good footing in the fast
melting snow. It was another glorious Spring day, At last this
terrible Winter is surely now over, he thought. Looking around he
noticed the house roofs were now virtually clear of snow, where
before only tops of walls could be seen, the snow was now in decline
and the countryside was once again beginning to show its normal
features, that had been hidden for so long under a white blanket.
He had no spare supplies
to give to Owen and Guy, times were hard for everyone, but his mind
had been mulling over how he may be of help to the two young men. The
snake was now almost out of view and he returned to his hall. He
would gather his host and tell them of his idea and seek their views,
after all a good thrang always consulted and rarely ever took a
decision that would risk men's lives, without first listening to
those very men.
One day later, Guy and
Owen with the column in tow, turned South East, leaving the road to
Knapton. The convoy would strike out across country before crossing
into dominion of the Thrang of Knapton. They would still be passing
through his dominion of course, and it would take another full day
before they entered the dominion belonging to Owen's father. Both
hoped their passage would be peaceful and unseen other than by the
odd farmer or two. By leaving the road prior to entering Lovell's
dominion they hoped to remain undetected by scouts and spies.
They were wrong!
At that very moment
Godfrey Lovell was learning from spies that they had left Burn Howe
the previous day and were indeed heading South toward Knapton. He
dismissed the news bearer and smiled to himself. He knew they would
be unlikely to actually pass through the town and take the road to
Egton Low Moor, but just in case, he would leave a small garrison
here to block entry to Knapton. He would take the rest of his force
North East, as that was the obvious route the runts of Thorngarth and
Egton would take, in an attempt to slip through his dominion unseen.
He had also learned that
the escort had been increased by men of Thorngarth, no matter, the
Egton men were simply shepherds with spears and longbows, no threat
to his better trained men. If it came to a fight, which he very much
doubted, his men would have little trouble crushing this invading
army. He smiled again, yes invading army, it justified anything that
happened out there in the snow. He had simply been defending his
dominion from an unprovoked attack! Right was on his side no matter
what happened. The day was getting better by the minute. He went off
to look for Luke Brann his banner bearer, who should have the troops
ready to move immediately. He would ride his horse, but sadly the
snow prevented his host being able to charge into any battle that
might ensue, simply too dangerous for man and horse in the melting
snow. No they would have to dismount if needed and fight on foot.
Guy saw them first. He
halted the column and rode a few paces forward, Owen beside him. He
pointed to a line of moving shapes far in the distance, directly in
their path.
'I am hoping that is a
herd of cows, but somehow I doubt it.' At that moment, sunlight
reflected off metal being carried by the tiny black dots.
'Not unless they are
armed with bills and spears.' replied Owen. 'It seems Lovell was
expecting us and intent on blocking our route, damn him!'
'That force is similar
in size to our own,' said Guy, leaning over the neck of his horse and
peering into the distance. 'If it comes to a fight we will at least
be evenly matched.'
'A fight!' Owen looked
shocked, 'He wouldn't dare to attack us surely?'
'Why not? We are in his
dominion with a large number of armed men, he would claim to be in
the right and was simply defending his land. Though I believe he will
avoid battle and just demand a portion of our supply train as payment
for a free passage.'
'That makes him no
better than a common thief or robber! Owen was furious, 'These
supplies are for my father's people to survive, he is having none of
it.'
'Well we will find out
soon enough,' said Guy, ' two horsemen have left the group and are
heading this way. I suggest we ride forward to err...greet them.'
Owen and Guy rode
forward to a low stone wall, its top now free of snow but the sides
still hidden in a drift. Godfrey Lovell and Luke Bann sat upon their
horses at the other side of the wall.
'I am Godfrey Lovell,
Thrang of Knapton.' Godfrey swung an arm in a sweeping gesture about
him. 'Why have you brought an army into my dominion?'
'It is hardly and army,
my lord. Just an escort for a cargo of food and fodder that is to be
delivered to the Thrang of Egton Low Moor.' replied Guy. 'In a few
hours we will be out of your dominion.'
'Ah, you must be the son
of Walter de Cobham, you look very much like him, from what I
remember. It is a number of years since I last saw him. Did he send
you here with this invasion force?' Godfrey nodded in the direction
of the column, now stationary.
'My lord, the words
almost choked Owen, we are not invading your land, merely passing
through a small part of it to allow us a speedy journey to my home.
My father's people are starving as are what remains of our sheep, we
are in desperate need of these supplies, which accounts for our
haste.'
'You must be Wadham's
runt,' sneered Godfrey, looking Owen up and down. 'I would have
thought your father and his miserable little dominion hardly
warranted such an effort.'
Owen's hand moved to the
handle of his sword, but before he could say or do anything, Luke
Brann moved closer to the wall, his hand also resting on his sword.
'Not a very good idea
young sir,' Luke said quietly, for you would be dead before that fine
sword of yours left its scabbard.'
Godfrey shook his head
in mock disdain, 'Oh dear, first you bring an invading army into my
dominion and then you threaten to draw your sword on its thrang. Now
I may be mistaken, but so far your actions appear to be, shall we
say, less than peaceful.'
'My lord,' Guy spoke up
before the situation worsened any further. 'We have explained our
reason for being here, why the escort, not an army is with us, and
you have insulted my companion, his family and his people. You have
brought a force out here with the intention of intercepting us and
preventing our progress, you must have a reason for going to all that
trouble. So sir, what is it you actually want?'
'That is what I like to
hear, a man who understands the position in which we find ourselves.
The problem is, and the reason I have had to travel out here, is to
collect the taxes due for transiting my dominion. The last two
Winters have been harsh, why my people too are starving and a little
of what you are carrying would greatly help them in their need.'
Guy had expected this
and if the demand was reasonable, he would convince Owen to part with
a small part of the load to allow them a trouble free passage out of
Lovell's dominion.
'Exactly what would be
the cost of this tax my lord?' he asked.
'I am not a greedy man,'
Lovell gave an unconvincing smile, 'so I think a payment of three out
of every five mules a fair price, for entering my lands with armed
men and threatening violence on my person.'
Even Guy was shocked at
the price Lovell was demanding, he wasn't prepared to pay such a
high cost, never mind Owen!
'That my lord would make
our journey pointless, with the majority of the supplies never to
reach their intended destination.' Guy kept his voice low and
controlled, his eyes never leaving those of Godfrey Lovell. 'The
price is too high and you must lower it substantially if a deal is to
be struck.'
'What if I refuse to
lower my demand?' Lovell replied, though he was becoming increasingly
wary of this boy, who may just be confident enough to challenge him
and his assembled force.
Guy looked at Owen, the
latter gave the merest of nods, no words were needed.
'Then my lord, we will
forced to push our way through both you and your assembled troops, by
force of arms if necessary. These supplies will get through!'
Godfrey was taken aback
by the young man's words. He had intended to drop his price to two
out of every five mules, which he thought they would grudgingly
accept to continue their journey, he had badly underestimated the
determination of de Cobham's boy. Damn him! He could not drop the
price now after that threat, it would be seen as weakness on his part
and that could not be allowed to happen. The boy would probably
demand that he accept just one in five! Lovell cursed under his
breath, he had now backed himself into a corner in which he would
have to give battle, something he had not intended. The forces were
fairly evenly matched in numbers of men, but surely his troops were
better trained and more experienced than the contingent from Egton,
though he knew the men of Thorngarth would be the equal of his own.
Godfrey let nothing of
his worried thoughts show on his face.
'Your heads will be the
only items delivered to Egton Low Moor, they will not eat a grain of
the wheat that you carry and when this snow clears, I shall march
into that wretched little dominion and put Wadham to the sword! Your
path is blocked, I will await your attempt to clear it.' he almost
spat the words out before he and his banner bearer trotted off back to
their own troops.
Guy and Owen silently
watched them go, each contemplating their first ever taste of action,
then they too turned their mounts and moved off to form up their men
for battle.
* * * * * * * * *
* * *
