The Archer's Gold: Medieval Military fiction: A Novel about Wars, Knights, Pirates, and Crusaders in The Years of the Feudal Middle Ages of William Marshall ... (The Company of English Archers Book 7) (9 page)

       At the moment Raymond and his men are convoying the prisoners to Cornwall and carrying a message telling Harold's second, the man in charge of our ships and sailors when Harold's not available, what to do with them. 

       Raymond's message also directs Harold's man to send two of our galleys in London to meet Thomas and his party. 

       The galleys are to bring Thomas and the boys and our company of walking Marines back to Cornwall, load the prisoners if they have not already been shipped out to the Holy Land on an earlier galley, and then carry Thomas and Peter on to Rome to deliver the prayer coins from last season's travelers to the Pope. 

       Thomas and I discussed his trip to Rome in some detail; he wants Peter to know the delivery process so Peter can take his place when he is not available.

       Two hours later and the boys and all my lieutenants and their men are off and gone.  Oakhampton feels somewhat deserted and empty even though I've got an entire company of Marine archers camped inside the castle's walls.

@@@@@

       Supper that evening with Lady Isabel is a quiet and simple affair.  A cold spell has arrived and brought a chilling rain so we have a small fire at one end of the great hall's fireplace to warm us.  At the moment it is casting flickering shadows on the walls as we eat our joints of mutton and drink our bowls of ale. 

       "How long do you think you will be here, Earl William?   Or should I call you Captain William?"

       "Please call me William, Lady Isabel." 

       "And to answer your question, I'm not sure how long it will be.  Certainly I will not be leaving until Raymond and his horsemen return with this year's horses from Hathersage and London.  Then I'll go to Restormel and spend some time my, uh, family before I sail on to Cyprus before the weather gets bad."

       "But don't you expect your horsemen back from Cornwall tomorrow?"

       "Yes, of course. Raymond should be back from delivering the prisoners tomorrow.  But then he and his men will ride on the very next day to Hathersage Castle and London to get our new horses.  It will take him several weeks at the very least to fetch them and bring them back."

       "Will you tell me about your women and children?  Thanks to you, I'm once again very interested in life again, I truly am.  How did you meet them?" 

@@@@@

       It took quite a while because of all her questions and the complexities of having three women in my life.  But when Isabel finally touched me gently on the shoulder and said good night she certainly knew more about my personal life than anyone except Thomas - and in some very personal areas about the sisters quite a bit more.  She's a nice person.

       It happened when I'd just gotten back from pissing and was burrowing down into the linen and furs on the string bed the servants had set up for me in the great hall.  That's when I heard the quiet footsteps padding down the stone staircase and moving towards me.

      The light from the flickering fire was so dim that until she spoke I couldn't even make out who it was.  But I knew as soon as I heard the footsteps.

       "Will you move over and let me in so we can talk some more?  The stones are cold on my feet you know."

       "Lady you should not be here.  What will your maid think?"

       "Silly man.  This is the first time I've ever had a chance to be alone with a man in my whole life.  Who do you think encouraged me to come back so we could talk some more?" 

       My mind was racing as she pulled back the covers and slid in next to me. 
Is this dangerous or does it even matter now that she's married to Courtenay and we hold this place?

      
The only thing she said for quite some time after that was an initial quiet whisper into my ear -
"please don't hurt me; I've never been with a man before." And then, after a pause, she added "Mathilde said I should tell you."

      We spent the next hour or so kissing and petting and exploring each other as if we were dogs in heat.  It was exquisite agony to explore her and guide her.

       Finally, just when I thought I couldn't stand it any longer, she pulled me over on top of her and helped me guide my dingle deep into her with a deep sigh. 
I thought I heard her murmur "finally" but perhaps it was just my wishful thinking.   

       I could hardly control myself at first.  It was both wonderful and quite embarrassing.  But after my initial burst of enthusiasm we settle down and enjoy great pleasures together - sometimes forceful and demanding, other times slow and sensuous. 

       Her skin is so smooth and she is delicious and responsive, it's as if a weir has burst and we explore each other in every possible way.

       It wasn't until much later when I seemed to be daydreaming about when I was a little boy that she got up.  That brought me out of my dream and I watched as she used a stick to fish a warm wet rag out of a fire-blackened iron pot of hot water sitting on the hot fireplace ashes. 
Where did that come from?

      
"Where did that pot and rag come from?"

      
"Mathilde put it on the fire for me while we were touching each other.  She said I'm supposed to wipe you off with a warm rag if we stop touching each other for a while because it will make you feel good and taste good.  Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" 
Mathilde came in here and did what?

       "We were doing quite a bit more than touching each other, you know."

       "Of course I know," she whispered into my ear as she nibbled on it. "But Mathilde says I'm never to say the word 'fucking.'  She told me only men are allowed to use it except in private.  Isn't that what we were doing?"

       "Well yes we were.  Mmm. What else did Mathilde tell you?"

                                 Chapter XI

       Thomas and I and the boys ride at the head of the Marines as they march through the unguarded city gates and enter London on a cool and foggy morning in early June. The city's crowded streets become even more crowded as people hear our walking drum and come out to watch as we march past. 

      
Yes, Thomas is a bishop and can talk Latin and scribe - but he insists everyone call him Thomas unless we are with outsiders.  Strange isn't it?  Probably it's because we're all archers and he was an archer once.

       What the Londoners see is a narrow two abreast column of longbow-carrying Marines with their supply wagons clattering over the cobblestones behind them.  They're then followed by Raymond and about forty of Raymond's Horse Marines each leading his riding and supply horses. 

       We only stop once so the Marines can piss or shite on the street.  Then it's straight march to the docks and on to the galleys waiting for us at the wharf near the stable that provides our horses each year. 

       Raymond and some of his Horse Marines are with us as we enter London.  They had turned around after they delivered our prisoners to Cornwall and caught up with us on the road. 

       They're here take the horses we buy in London back to Cornwall while the rest of us row back home to Cornwall on the galleys that we expect to find waiting for us at the dock near the stables.

      As I look back over my shoulder I can see the Marines marching behind us are both happy and proud as they walk in step to the drum and gawk at the people and big buildings along our route. 

       Many of the Marines and boys are obviously in awe of London's size and its crowded and bustling streets.  They have never been here before, unlike me who was born here and George and three of the older boys who came for King John's coronation.

       Our Marines are particularly happy because they've been told they'll be receiving a two pence advance on their annual pay and given an evening of liberty to spend them. 

       The walking Marines will be given their two pence and liberty as soon as the supply wagons are unloaded and their weapons are safely on board the galleys that will carry us back to Cornwall; the Horse Marines will be given their two pence when they reach the stable near the dock that is holding the horses we're buying this year. 

       Either way our Marines undoubtedly excited about the future and rightly so - in a few hours each of them will have two copper pennies he can use to get himself properly drunk tonight and hire an alley woman. 

       They're not the only ones pleased to be here in London.  I'm happy too because I'm going to try to find my mother and, if she's still alive, ask her to come with me to Cornwall where I can better care for her. 

       But first I have to carry the coins for the Marines to the galleys and see that they are properly distributed.  I'll be handing out the Marines' coins one galley at a time so I can be there to make sure each Marine actually gets his two. 

       I'll be watching the coin payments before I go to where my mother sells chestnuts from her barrow cart because we trust our sergeants but also keep close watch on them to make sure they do what they are supposed to do. 

       Making sure the coins our men earn do not end up in someone else's purse is important - we have very few rules with a death penalty if they are broken; stealing from a fellow archer is one of them. 

       Murder and cowardice are the others.  Rape and torture are not looked upon kindly either. 

       On the other hand, William and Thomas are not big on torturing to get confessions and the death penalty for felonies the way most nobles are - they say confessions from torture are meaningless and it's a better punishment for everyone including us if a convicted man rows as a galley slave until he dies.

@@@@@

       London is so large and so crowded that once we enter the city it takes us a good part of the day to march to the dock near the stables where our horses and recruits are gathered. 

       The two galleys we expected have arrived. When we reach them we find that space on the dock is in such short supply, and so expensive, that one of our galleys, the one captained by Rolf, is moored against the dock and the second, Galen's, is tied alongside the first. 

       Mooring in such a way saves money.  It also slows down the unloading of our horses and wagons because everything for Galen's galley has to pass over the deck of Rolf's to get to it. 

       While I'm supervising the unloading and handing out two pence to each Marine, Thomas will take the boys to the stable both to hand out two pence to each of the Horse Marines and to arrange for Freddy, the stable master, to send one of his ostlers to Windsor carrying Thomas's "good news" letter to the king.

       Taking the boys to the stables and to see and understand our horse buying process is one of the two main reasons they came with us. 

       The other reason, of course, is for the boys to see and better understand the English countryside.  They need to know about because that's where we recruit our archers and where an enemy might pass or have to be fought. 

       I can see they are enjoying the ride.  They're going to have sore arses and many a tale to tell each other and the younger boys when they get back to Cornwall

       Thomas and I have already decided that when we are finished with our chores we'll meet at the White Horse for some chops and onions and some of the alewife's wonderful brew that smells like juniper berries. 

       It's been a long trip and I'm sure we're both more than ready for a taste.  The boys, of course, will have to content themselves with bowls of watered ale and being kept well away from the tavern's well-poxed whores. 

      
It's a pity Andrew Brewer didn't know to stop here to learn the secret of the juniper brew before he went back out to Cyprus.
      

       The sun is going down and a fog is rolling in by the time the Marines finish unloading of their equipment and line up to get their liberty coins - and the crews of the two galleys crew look on somewhat jealously even though they themselves had received similar liberty coins from their sergeant captains when they first arrived. 

       Every Marine accepts his two pence although some of them grumble quietly to each other about not being allowed to carry a knife ashore to protect themselves.  They particularly don't like that they will be searched by their sergeants to make sure they aren't carrying a weapon.

       For the most part, however, the men are boisterous and telling each other what they are going to do and forming in little groups of men to do it together. 

      
Of course they are; the Marines are young and full of themselves and some of them have never been in a proper tavern or met a whore.  There is no doubt about it - this part of the dock area is going to lively tonight - that's why they've been forbidden to take their knives ashore.

       Finally, I'm done - the Marines have their liberty coins and I'm off to walk to the White Horse Tavern to meet Thomas and the boys.  I need something to eat and a drink, I truly do.  I dread tomorrow but I'll never forgive myself if I don't at least try to find my mum after all these years.

@@@@@