Chapter Eight #2
Tay nodded. “I was, my lord,” he said. “Would you permit me to speak first on the matter?”
St. Denis nodded. “I wish you would,” he said. “What happened yesterday? I was told she ran off.”
Tay glanced at Ming Tang, and then Aamir, before continuing. “It is not as it sounds,” he said. “I was told that you had requested I not… chase her from Blackchurch. I suppose that is being kind about it.”
St. Denis snorted. “Kind, indeed,” he said.
“But let us be truthful, Tay. I know you do not believe women should be warriors. In fact, I agree with you, which is why I depend on you to weed out the women who do not have the courage to live a man’s life.
I have never questioned you on that. But in Lady Athdara’s case, I simply requested that you give the woman a fair chance without trying to humiliate or terrify her. ”
Tay nodded, seeing Ming Tang smirk out of the corner of his eye. “In my defense, I did indeed acquiesce to your wishes,” he said. “I did not harass or intimidate her. In fact, I used her as an example to the others in an exercise yesterday morning. A test of endurance.”
“How did you accomplish this test?”
“Two men face one another, each striking the other in turn until one of them surrenders,” Tay said.
“I have done it a hundred times before. The purpose is to test the determination and endurance of the recruits, as you know. I chose the lady to face off against me, and we drew straws. I went first.”
St. Denis visibly winced. “What did you do to her?”
Tay shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “I swung my club at her knees, but she jumped over it. My turn was over, and it was her turn to swing at me. Cleverly, she swung at my manhood to disable me.”
“Did she?”
“She did.”
Somewhere back in the chamber, Aamir burst into soft laughter, but Tay didn’t turn around to look at him. He was focused on St. Denis, who closed his eyes in horror at the thought of a club plowing into a man’s testicles.
“Christ,” he muttered. “How ghastly. But if she disabled you, why did she run?”
Tay shrugged. “As she explained it to me, she could not stomach what she had done,” he said.
“My lord, I have been gone since yesterday evening because I tracked the lady down and convinced her to return. I knew you would think I had chased her away, so based on that, she has agreed to return to prove that I did not chase her off. She ran of her own accord. And… I spoke to her at length, my lord. I believe we have a problem.”
St. Denis was quite interested in what his Leviathan had to say. “Oh?” he said. “What problem?”
Tay wasn’t quite sure where to start. “She told me that her father was your friend,” he said. “In fact, she told me the whole story. Did she tell you why, exactly, she has come here?”
St. Denis nodded. “Aye,” he said, somewhat subdued. “She wants to regain the duchy of Toxandria from her uncle, who murdered her father and brother in order to steal it.”
Tay nodded. “Indeed, she wants to regain it,” he said. “But her expectations… Did she reveal them to you?”
St. Denis reflected on the conversation he’d had with her. “She said that she wanted to learn to fight and to command men,” he said. “It is her intention to raise an army to avenge her father.”
“But did she tell you how she intends to do it?”
St. Denis shook his head. “We did not discuss it,” he said.
“To be truthful, when she arrived here, she was upset and exhausted. She told me she wanted to train, and I agreed. I have waived the usual fee for her training because she is my old friend’s daughter, but we did not discuss how she intends to exact her revenge.
Why are you asking, Tay? Did she ask if Blackchurch would help her raise an army? ”
Tay waggled his head back and forth. “Nay, nothing like that,” he said. “She understands that we do not take sides in political battles, but she has a problem. She intends to hire a mercenary army with the promise of riches once Breda Castle and Toxandria belong to her.”
“Why is that a problem?”
“Because she does not consider that she might not regain her ancestral home,” Tay said plainly.
“She believes it will be a simple thing to promise mercenaries money. She does not consider what will happen if they fail at their objective and there is no way to pay the mercenaries. My lord, her views are na?ve and foolish. She is going to get herself killed, or worse.”
St. Denis sighed faintly, digesting what Tay was telling him.
“I should have suspected that,” he muttered.
“I suppose I was blinded by the news that her father was killed and she wanted help in avenging his death. I should have asked what her plans were, but alas, I did not. I simply agreed to train her.”
Tay lifted his big shoulders. “Train her for what?” he said. “Disappointment? Death? She has no money and no means other than determination and big dreams.”
St. Denis eyed him with some regret. “So this will be a futile effort,” he said. “This is my mistake, Tay. For that, I apologize. You did what I should have done—you got to the heart of what she is intending.”
“Mayhap so, but I thought you should know.”
“And I do,” St. Denis said softly. Then he scratched his head in a feeble gesture.
“But I cannot go back on my word to her. Her father saved my life in battle. I owe him whatever I can provide for him. But I also cannot allow his daughter to march so willingly towards her death, for all of her noble intentions, so I am in a difficult position.”
Tay watched the man for a moment, hesitant to say what was on his mind, but he’d come this far. He was going to finish it.
“I have an idea, if you will,” he said. “May I?”
St. Denis nodded eagerly. “I wish you would.”
Tay planted his bulk in the nearest chair.
“She cannot train five years here only to face the ultimate defeat when she tries to raise an army,” he said.
“Truthfully, I do not even know if five years will teach her all she needs to know. What she needs takes years of discipline and training and experience. I was thinking that, mayhap, we can simply train her personally. Me, Ming Tang, Aamir, Kristian, Fox, and the rest of the trainers. We can do concentrated instruction and teach her what we can, simply so she understands what she is facing. Mayhap she won’t be ready to take the field, but at least she will understand the basics of what she intends to face. ”
St. Denis was listening intently. “But why?” he said. “If she is not going to take the field, why train her at all?”
“Because if we do not, she’ll go find someone who will,” Tay said. “Someone who takes advantage of her or trains her improperly. One way or the other, she is determined to fight for her father’s legacy. It would be better if we helped her, since her father was your friend.”
St. Denis still didn’t understand. “But we would be wasting our time,” he said. “It seems to me that training her would simply encourage her na?ve dreams.”
Tay held up a hand for patience. “I am coming to that,” he said. “My lord, you said that her father saved your life in battle.”
St. Denis nodded firmly. “He did,” he said. “In a battle against his sons in the Vexin many years ago.”
“But there were other warlords in that battle,” Tay said. “Warlords fighting with you. Warlords from Flanders or Burgundy, men who not only know you, but know her father.”
St. Denis’ brow furrowed as he considered Tay’s words. “There were others,” he said. “I can think of several.”
“Men who were allied with the Duke of Toxandria?”
“Of course.”
“Men who might still feel loyalty to him, even now?”
St. Denis’ eyes widened as he realized what Tay was driving at. “Of course,” he hissed. “Men allied with Anton de Ghent who may not know what has happened to him.”
Tay could see the light of understanding in the man’s eyes.
“They may not know that his brother murdered him and stole his duchy,” he said.
“Men who might be very willing to help his daughter regain the duchy because it is the right thing to do. Men who value an alliance and friendship with Toxandria with Lady Athdara in command. Men, like you, who feel loyalty and brotherhood with Anton de Ghent and would be willing to go to battle for him, to avenge a terrible wrong. At least if we train her, she’ll not go making the request looking like a fool.
She’ll know of fighting and strategy and warfare.
She’ll be an intelligent representative for the duke’s legacy. ”
St. Denis loved the idea. “There are several men that I can think of,” he said. “Anton was well liked. Tay, you and the others train the woman. I will send the necessary missives to men who fought alongside us those years ago. I will find someone to help her regain that duchy.”
Tay was feeling much better than he had when he first entered the chamber. St. Denis clearly understood now what was at stake. Who was at stake.
It was Athdara’s life.
“Excellent idea, my lord,” he said. “I am going to remove her from the group of recruits and house her in the village. I will speak with the other trainers, and we will set up a regimen that suits the lady’s particular needs.”
St. Denis was already moving back to the table that contained parchment and his writing kit, among other things. He began rifling through the rolls and rolls of parchment in stacks, clearly looking for something.
“I am glad you brought this to my attention,” he said. “I feel foolish that I did not press her more about her intentions, but now that we know what they are, we will help her more than she can imagine.”
“Indeed, my lord.”
St. Denis found what he was looking for and yanked it out of the pile, rolling it open. “Since you have discovered all of this and have evidently started a rapport with the lady, I will make her your ward,” he said. “Make sure she is housed and clothed, trained and well tended.”
Tay hadn’t been expecting that level of responsibility and wasn’t sure he wanted it. “But, my lord, I—”