Northern Knight (20 page)

"We need to put our spear points in their backs.  I know our horses are tired but so are the enemy.  We push harder.  If they reach the high mountains then we will have the devil of a job to shift them."

They looked unhappy for their horses were valuable to them but they obeyed.  We had been tasked as the vanguard and with that honour went responsibility. As we neared the foothills we began to catch glimpses of the black shadow which oozed west. Most of our scouts had returned to the main body for we were now on the same road.  This was a better road and looked to have been made by the Romans although it was in a poor state of repair. Ralph of Wales and Griff of Gwent were the two scouts who dogged their trail. The other scouts reported that the rear of the column, the stragglers, was spread out well behind the main body.

Despite my need for speed we still had to halt every hour, dismount and rest the horses for a short time.  I was lucky; Scout was a strong horse but Sir Geoffrey and Sir Guiscard's mounts were struggling. I made a decision. "We will divide our conroi in two. Sir Geoffrey, you command the half of the vanguard whose horses are struggling.  I will take Sir Edward, Sir Harold and Sir Tristan with me.  I will keep all of the archers and half of the men at arms.  Rest your animals for at least an hour and then follow."

Sir Richard protested, "We can go further.  Our horses have some life in them yet."

"But if you push them then they will not. I intend to ride hard, attack their stragglers and make them halt. They will be as tired.  When you join us then you and the others can attack for your mounts will be fresher." It was not a matter for discussion and Sir Richard knew it.  They would obey.  I was their lord.

Once the slower beasts were left behind we made much better time and we actually cantered down the road. We came upon the first of the stragglers after we had passed through a small gaggle of huts.  Perhaps the Welsh had looted them and been delayed; I know not but the result was that they died.  As we came through we saw thirty more of them struggling up the road.  They were not a rearguard.  These were the weaker warriors. As soon as we saw them we charged. It was not a charge in the true sense of the word but we hit them hard and they fell.  Even my archers used their swords as we swept through them like a whirlwind and when we had passed over them their bodies littered the road. We knew that the main body could not be far away and our sudden success had spurred our ambition.  We had a chance to halt them sooner rather than later.

The road was rising and I saw rocks and clumps of scrubby growth on the sides of the poor land. There was heather and there was gorse.  We had to keep to the paths.  That slowed us down more than our tired animals. The actual rearguard was now less than a mile away.  Before them were the last of the stragglers. As soon as we appeared I heard a wail of despair from those who were the closest.  The rearguard ran.  I could see the skyline ahead.  That was where they would make for. It was somewhere they could defend and we could not attack.  We had done all that we could and could no further.  Had the Earl and the army been with us then we would have had a chance to destroy them all.

"Dick, be ready to dismount.  They will halt soon and we cannot charge uphill.  We will take these warriors at the rear and wait for Sir Geoffrey and the rest of our men." I would have to rely, as always, on my own men.

"Aye, my lord."

"One last push!"

We spurred on our weary mounts and they lumbered and laboured up the slope. The Welsh before us were as tired as our horses and so we gained on them. There were fewer this time for some found our blades gave their legs extra power and they joined the rearguard. When the first arrows flew from behind the rocks then I knew we had come too far.  Sir Tristan was slightly ahead of us and he and his horse were showered with arrows.  His horse fell dead. Sir Harold kicked hard and leapt up the slope while the rest of us held shields before us and began to back out of range.  Dick and his archers were already stringing bows to reply to the unseen archers.

Tristan had been wounded but he still stood his ground defiantly. He raised his good arm and, with his foot in the stirrup of Harold's horse, he clambered on his back.

"Fall back!" I began to back Scout down the slope.  I kept facing the hill side to watch for danger. Harold and Tristan were a tempting target for Welsh warriors who had been fleeing for almost a day before us.  Now was their chance to turn the tables and wreak revenge on knights. Dick and his archers were now keeping down the heads of the Welsh archers and I thought we had escaped further losses when two Welsh warriors rose from behind a bush and ran towards Harold, Tristan and the weary horse. I thought we were all too far away to help when Leofric suddenly spurred his horse up the slope.  As his mount knocked one to the ground he swung his sword and took the second in the neck.  He wisely turned to the right so that he could use his shield to protect himself.  The three arrows which came his way were taken on his shield and Dick's archers sent a flurry of flights toward the ridge.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Tristan, Harold and Leofric returned safely and unscathed. They had been lucky.

"Wulfric, see to Sir Tristan. The rest of you dismount and prepare to be attacked."

If I was Gruffudd I would have used that moment to charge us.  He could easily see how few we were and here, on this rock strewn, gorse filled slope our horses would be of no use for they were exhausted. I waited and I watched.  "Well done, Leofric, that was bravely done."

"Sir Harold is my friend, my lord, and he was brave too.  I could not allow him and Sir Tristan to be butchered."

The man who had been knocked to the ground by Leofric's horse staggered to his feet to be pierced by two arrows. He fell dead. We stood, a huddle of knights and men at arms, with our archers behind us.  We could do no more.  The Earl had let us down.  He had asked us to find the Welsh army and we had succeeded.  He had taken the easy victory of capturing their camp and their supplies.  We had been left exposed.  It was a lesson I would learn and I would risk neither my men nor myself again.

"Where is the Earl, my lord? If the Welsh choose to charge us then we cannot stand here nor can we run."

If Leofric could see the danger then why could not the Earl. "I know not but we shall sell our lives dearly and, besides, we have the rest of the conroi on the way. They will be here shortly."

Sir Edward shook his head, "Let us hope they do not find just our bones."

"Let us prepare to receive them." We had found a piece of ground which was flat and had a slight dip before it.  It was little enough but we would use it. If the Welsh came they would have to climb to reach us. I prayed that they were as tired as we were.

Miraculously the Welsh did not come immediately. When they did come they did not bring their horses, which was a blessing, and they came in a mob, hurtling down the slope towards us. Those two factors saved us. We presented a solid wall of spears.  Behind me our banners bravely fluttered.  Our archers were tightly tucked behind the squires. As the Welsh charged us, expecting, no doubt to sweep us off this hill side, my archers released their arrows.  They had to conserve their arrows for we had left the bulk of them at Chester with our war horses. Even so they managed to fell a large number of the enemy.  Others overran themselves and I saw at least two tumble and crash into the rocks which littered the side of the slope. The arrows, the falls, their headlong charge all contributed to a thinning of those who ran headlong on to our spears. We were able to despatch the first eight easily. Then it became harder.

The next warriors down the slope threw themselves at us.  Their bodies broke as did our spears and they crashed into our shields.  If Wulfric and the men at arms had not braced their bodies behind ours then we might have been knocked to the ground and slaughtered. As it was things became desperate. I drew my sword just in time to slice across the chest of a warrior. Edward also stabbed a Welshman as spears were passed to the men at arms behind us and their points became a thin barrier before us.

Dick and his archers loosed their remaining arrows and then dropped their bows, took out their short swords and joined the fray. I fended off an axe with my shield, dropped to my knee and thrust upwards at a mailed man at arms. The first to reach us had been the lighter men without armour.  Now we faced Welshmen who had mail, shields, helmets and long swords. Even as I knelt I saw a double handed sword swing towards the head of Harold who was fending off two spearmen. I gave a wild and hopeful strike at him. It was not a full blow but it succeeded in tearing through the tendons behind his knees.  His sword fell from his hands as his support went.  Tristan smashed in his head with the edge of his shield. This could not go on.  We were encircled. 

Then I heard, "Baron, it is Sir Geoffrey and the rest of our men!"

They might have been charging uphill but the reinforcements were mounted and held lances.  The Welsh at the rear who were attacking Dick and his archers fell to a man.

"Hold them!" I punched forward with my shield as I stabbed blindly into the mass of men before me.  My sword sank into something soft. I twisted as I turned and a man fell dead. My knights and squires took heart and we held. As my conroi flooded around the side of the Welsh, they began to fall back up the slope to the safety of the ridge. My men had ridden hard and their horses could go no further.

"Withdraw down the hill.  Take our wounded and our dead with us!"

We had been hurt.  There were more dead Welsh lying for the buzzards and the foxes but we had taken too many wounds for my liking. This had been the nearest we had come to a defeat and none of it was our fault.  We had been betrayed and I was angry.

As Wulfric dressed the wounds of those who had suffered Sir Geoffrey dismounted.  "I am sorry we waited so long, my lord."

"It was not your fault.  I should have disobeyed my orders.  The Earl has abandoned us. We will wait until dark and withdraw back to Chester."

Sir Richard shook his head, "You cannot do that, Baron, the Earl expects you to keep the Welsh within sight."

"And I have done so.  We found these more than a day ago.  Where is the Earl?"

Just then we heard the sound of trumpets.  John son of Godwin pointed to the north and shouted, "It is the Earl's banner! He has come!"

As we watched we saw the rest of the army galloping along the high ground from the north and the east.  With banners flying they fell upon the flank of the dispirited and exhausted Welsh of Gruffudd ap Cynan. Half of the men of Gwynedd were still struggling up the slope while the other half had their attention upon us. It was slaughter on a massive scale. I took off my helmet.  We would fight no more that day.

"There my lord, the Earl came!"

"Yes Sir Guy," I pointed to the six bodies laid in a line, "but he came too late for those."

We looked at the straggle of bodies which lay on the slope before us.  Those men had died far from their homes and would reap no reward.  All that they had was a cold and bare grave on a remote Cheshire hillside. I felt my anger, like bile, rise in my throat.

We waited at the bottom of the hill for the Earl to join us. He took some time to come and we buried our dead and said our farewells. My men at arms stripped the Welsh dead of the little they had about them and we waited for the Earl. He eventually made his way down to us.  He beamed at us as though the whole thing had been well planned by him.

"What valiant knights are the men of the Valley! I knew I could rely on you!"

We all bowed but I could see that he realised how displeased I was.  He turned to point to the ridge.  "We destroyed this warband and now we will go and demand reparations from the Welsh on Anglesey.  Baron, you have done well. Take your conroi back to Chester and await us there. We will reward all who took part in this glorious campaign!" He turned and rode up the slope. Like his father he dismissed us easily.  It showed our true worth.

My knights all looked at me, expectantly. I had to become their leader once more and put my own anger behind me.  "We have a hard ride ahead of us if we are to be at Chester before dark but at least we sleep in a bed this night."

My men could tell how angry I was and none, save Edward, approached me.  He was the only one who could do so.  Had Wulfstan been there then he would have done so but he was back on the Tees. We had ridden north for some miles when he nudged his horse closer to mine and spoke quietly to me. "The Earl of Gloucester is the King's son, my lord, and you cannot upset him. We survived well and have gained great honour once more."

"We lost men because of him and his tardiness."

"He is our master and we obey. Can I speak openly, Baron?"

"Of course! I am no tyrant."

"You were brought up well by your father but did he not tell you of his service with the Varangians?"

"Aye he did and I know what you are going to say.  They were used by the Emperors." He nodded, "The difference was that they swore fealty to the Emperor and they defended just the Emperor just as my father, when he was a Housecarl, protected the King."

"And the Earl is his representative."

I shook my head, "The King tasked me to protect the Tees, not the land adjacent to that of the Earl. We were making life easier for the Earl and leaving my lands unguarded."

For the first time Edward looked thoughtful, "You mean the King might not have sanctioned this?"

"I mean that we have left our home undefended.  We were the only conroi summoned.  I think we are being used to strengthen the hand of the Earl. There will be a rat race soon.  Rolf told me that.  Many people will seek to become the ruler of this land when the King dies."

"But you wanted the Earl to become the next king!"

"I did but…"

"You need to be careful, Baron."

I laughed sardonically, "I was brought up in Constantinople and I knew how to put on two faces at once.  I do not like it and I thought when I came here I could be honest.  Patently as I cannot I will prepare a face to meet the other faces."

He shook his head, "I was a hired blade for many years until you saved me, Baron.  I know there are some injustices you have to accept. The Earl is part of a tide against which you cannot stand."

We made Chester just after dark and I was in no mood to camp again in the pestilential swamps by the river.  We stayed inside the walls.  I drank far more then was good for me and had to be put to bed by both Edward and Harold. The Earl did not return for two more days by which time I had recovered some of my composure.

The army arrived back with horses laden beneath ransom and coins.  The Earl had punished the men of Gwynedd for their impudence.  The Earl was greeted like a conquering hero and the bile came once more into my mouth. They had destroyed an army weakened and exhausted by my men.  I believed now that he had deliberately delayed in order to ensure complete victory for himself.

He smiled at me as he entered but it was not the warm smile of a friend; it was the cold smile of a conqueror. This must have been the look his grandfather had adopted.  He too had been a ruthless man.  Perhaps this land needed such ruthlessness. One of his household knights told us that there would be a celebratory feast that night but the Earl wished to see me in private before the rest of the knights joined us. I idly wondered if he had rested us to allow us to perform another task for him. I was summoned to his quarters.  He sat behind a huge table with piles of coins and documents upon it.  He dismissed his clerks, priests, officials and knights so that we were alone.

He leaned back and stretched, "Alfraed you and your men ensured our victory the other day and I wish to thank you for that." I nodded and he frowned, "That is all?  You nod like some obsequious Greek?"

I realised that he must be trying to upset me by calling me a Greek but I did not react. "I know what my men did, my lord.  You and I have fought alongside each other before and we have always won." I paused, "This time I thought that I might lose."

"It worked out well, Alfraed.  We reached the Welsh in time did we not?"

I sighed. Despite what I had said to Edward I could not keep my counsel. "If I had known what you had planned, my lord, I could have acted differently and the result would have been the same save that my men would still be alive."

"No, Baron, there you are wrong.  Your men needed to die because that drew the enemy on and weakened them so that we might win. And we did win." He waved an arm at the coins. "It is like a game of chess.  Sometimes we sacrifice a pawn to make a capture. You lost none of your knights did you?"

"My men are as important to me as my knights."

"You cannot believe that."

"It was the way my father brought me up." I genuinely believed that.  It was the reason so many of my father's men had followed him to England.  He had made them as important as any general or strategos.

I saw that I had confused him. He did not understand this care and my sincere concern. "Then I am sorry for you.  Your life will be much harder if you worry about every archer and warrior who fights for you."

"Perhaps, my lord, but we cannot change our nature."

"You are right there, Alfraed." He stood.  "I will have your conroi's share of the ransom sent to you on the morrow.  The campaign here is over and I daresay you will wish to return home?"

"Thank you, my lord."

With that I was dismissed.  That night the way he viewed me changed and it would be many years before it returned to what it had been. He laughed and joked with those he had led to defeat the Welsh and we were left like lepers on the edge of the feast. We left after we had collected our war horses and loaded our sumpters with the weapons and the coins we had won. We headed north back to the land where I could be what I wished to be; a northern knight.

We reached my lands when they were at their best.  The fields were filled with growing crops and the hillsides were dotted with young animals. I quickly forgot the way I had nearly been betrayed and I threw myself into the running of my lands and my estates.  I determined to make life for all of my people from the knights to the villeins, as good as it could be. The summer fayre we held was the grandest anyone had ever seen in this part of the country.  I held a tourney and presented a golden hawk to the winner. I did not take part. I wanted my knights and squires to be rewarded and I wanted to watch them.  They all fought well but Sir Richard proved the best and he won the hawk.  His son and Harold both did well but their time would come. When the old became weaker they would become the strength we would use.

We also held an archery competition and, surprisingly it was not Dick who won but Ralph of Sherwood. Dick took the defeat magnanimously and did not begrudge the young archer his silver arrow. The festivities lasted two days.

My council met two days after that and when I entered the hall where they held the meeting I was applauded. The meeting was filled with suggestions for other ways of drawing visitors and new trades into the burgeoning town. All of the burghers had done well from the Fayre we had held.  Alf asked me if I was out of pocket for he and the others would recompense me.

I laughed and shook my head, "I did this for my people, Alf. If I wanted to do it for gain I would have taxed the stalls and the entrance to the tourney.  Do you not know me yet?"

Alf was crestfallen, "I am sorry my lord, it is just… you are right to chastise us.  We should all trust you." He glared at Ethelred whose mercenary nature had obviously made him mistrust my motives.

We held a short session later in the summer and then I enjoyed myself and spent a week hunting. It had been some time since I had indulged myself and it felt good to ride my lands without armour in the company of my squires, Aiden and Wulfstan. Life was worthwhile once more.

When the Church was ready to be consecrated the Bishop sent his personal representative to do so and I felt that, at last, civilisation had reached my lands. I think that summer, in the year of Our Lord eleven twenty seven, was one of the most contented I could remember.  After the close encounter with death in Wales the world seemed better somehow. We all appreciated the beautiful sunrises and glorious sunsets. The food we ate tasted richer and our land seemed more precious. A brush with death always made the world seem sweeter. Our success led to more men at arms and archers seeking to serve me.  After I had filled my ranks I sent the others to my other knights and they improved their own retinues. The world I ruled was a better one.

The black cloud on my horizon was that Athelstan, one of my father's oathsworn, was ill.  He had the coughing sickness.  There were just three left from my father's retinue and with Wulfstan aging as well as Osric I worried over each of them.  They were as close to me as my family.  I decided I would need to spend more time with the three of them while I could.

And then the raiders came from the west. This was not an invasion of Scots lords who wished to increase their lands.  This was not a rebellion of men who wanted power.  This was a raid by an army of brigands and outlaws who had come from beyond the sea to raid the fertile valley filled, if one believed the troubadours, with streets paved with gold. Our success meant that stories were told of us.  As with all stories they were exaggerated as they were spread.  By the time they reached the western isles, and Orkney as well as Ireland they spoke of my valley as though it was the Holy Land.  We were close enough to all of them for them to make a short sea crossing and then follow the line of the wall through half deserted lands before descending like wolves into my valley. They came with enough men to destroy us.  The army who arrived had heard of our success against the Welsh and the Scots; they believed they would defeat us.

It was Sir Hugh Manningham, Lord of Hexham who told me of their arrival.  A rider galloped into my castle with a horse so lathered with sweat that it looked almost white. "My lord of Hexham sent me.  There is a large band of warriors; Irish and Vikings, and they are heading for your valley. There are almost a thousand of them."

"How do you know?"

"We captured one and after we broke him he told us.  We lost some men as did the men of Carlisle but these are a swiftly moving band and they skirt the castles. The last we heard they were this side of the castle at Barnard ravaging the high farms. I stopped to warn the Bishop and he has called out his fyrd."

"Thank your lord."

After he had gone I sent riders to warn my knights.  We had little time to waste. John, my steward, asked me, "Why did not the lords of Hexham and Carlisle come to our aid rather than sending a message?"

"There are too many in the warband.  If they attacked with their small conroi then they might risk losing all of their men and then their lands. Besides they now guard the north against the Scots.  Do you not think that the Scots would take advantage if the knights there headed south?"

"Is that not true of us too, my lord?"

"No for with all of the estates close by we can present an army of almost two hundred; more if we call upon the fyrd."

"But the harvest!"

"Do not worry, John, I will not call upon the fyrd.  What I need to do is to find them first but you need to prepare for hard times.  Have the supplies in the castle and the town replenished.  If we have to we will sit behind our walls."

"But if we do that then they will rampage through the valley!"

"I know and we shall not do that unless all goes against us and we fail.  Now go!"

I took out the map of the valley. I hoped that Sir Guy and Sir Geoffrey had not yet been reached by these barbarians.  Although they were the closest to the line of attack they were both stronger than they had been but not strong enough to withstand a thousand barbarians. If the enemy were close to Barnard then they could be at Gainford within a few days. I wondered if the Bishop might send men and then dismissed the idea.  He would want all of his men protecting the Palatinate. If the raiders destroyed us then they could take their time and capture the riches of the Palatinate. This would be a task for me and my men. This time it would be me making the decisions and not the Earl of Gloucester.  I found myself relishing the prospect.

The knights arrived in swift succession. Wulfstan had hurt his leg hunting wild boar and could not come.  Of that I was glad for I knew that he was now too old to fight the fast battles we would expect and, if we failed, he might be able to save my family.   Edward and Harold were the first of my knights to arrive, being the closest. They had brought all of their men and emptied their manors.  Both knew that a sudden summons from me was an indication of danger. Sir Richard and Sir Tristan brought most of their men but they had left some to guard their family.  I understood that.  Sir Guiscard and Sir Raymond now had the largest retinues and they arrived last.  I held a council of war for we would ride west to meet with our remaining knights.