Chapter Eleven #4
So they waited, watching, as the rider drew close. Jax moved forward to intercept the messenger as the man pulled his frothing steed to a halt, kicking up dirt and rocks from the road.
“Well?” Jax demanded. “Did you speak with de Lohr?”
The messenger nodded. “I did, my lord,” he replied, struggling to calm his excited horse. “He says he will see you, alone and unarmed, at the gatehouse of Lioncross. He says that you must come now.”
It wasn’t the answer Jax had expected. He had fully expected denial and disappointment. His surprised showed.
“Truly?” he asked, incredulous. “He said he would grant me audience?”
Again, the messenger nodded. “Indeed, my lord.”
“What did he say, exactly?”
The messenger didn’t hesitate. “He asked me to state my business and I did,” he replied. “He wanted to know why you had brought so many men if you did not mean to engage him and I assured him that your intentions were peaceful.”
“Did he seem reluctant?”
“He did, my lord.”
“But even so, he agreed to see me?”
“He did, my lord.”
Jax turned to look at his sons, astonishment evident on his face.
He had frankly been prepared to spend a few days at Lioncross at the very least, begging de Lohr to give him a few moments of his time, so this immediate agreement was something of a shock.
He was so used to being alienated that a concurrence like this had him stumped, but not stumped enough so that he lost his ability to think.
He could think very well and, after a moment’s pause, he dismounted his horse.
As his sons watched, the armor started coming off, per de Lohr’s instructions.
“Father, should we accompany you?” Julian asked, concerned. “May we at least escort you closer to the castle?”
Jax shook his head as he pulled off his tunic.
The mail coat was next and he bent over, deftly pulling it over his big body.
His hair, which had always been shoulder-length, was gathered at the nape of his neck by a strip of leather and he smoothed the loose pieces of hair back and tightened up the leather tie.
“Nay,” he said flatly. “De Lohr said that he wants to see me alone and unarmed, and that is exactly what he is going to get. If he sees you escorting me, he might think I am disobeying his terms and refuse to see me. And I very much want to see the man.”
Cole and Julian eyed each other with concern but didn’t reply.
Their father was determined to do as the Earl of Hereford instructed because he didn’t want to appear threatening or disobedient in any way.
In fact, as Jax removed his mail and weapons, there was an excitement to his manner that neither man had ever seen.
It was very clear how serious he was taking all of this.
De Lohr was willing to see him! When the last piece of chain mail was handed over to the soldiers who were collecting the man’s armor, he began stripping the armor off of his horse.
Pieces of armor came off the warhorse, including the chain mail near the chest and on the flanks, and the heavily armored saddle eventually came off, too, leaving the horse in his bridle only.
Jax didn’t care. Every piece of armor was removed from both him and his horse, and he vaulted onto the beast’s back, gathering the reins.
“I will proceed alone,” he instructed the men around him, including his sons.
“You will remain here. I do not know how long this will take, so it is my suggestion that you make camp here. Do not wander into the town and do not go about stealing anything. Everyone will remain within the perimeter of the camp and behave properly. You will wait patiently for my return.”
Cole’s brow furrowed. “But what if you do not return, Father?” he wanted to know. “What will you have us do?”
Jax’s looked over his right shoulder towards the bastion in the distance.
“Give me at least two days,” he said. “If you do not see me returned in two days, then send a messenger to inquire on my status. If you receive no answer or are not given a satisfactory reply, then we will assume that something has happened to me and you, Cole, will demand to speak to de Lohr personally. If he denies you audience or tells you something you do not wish to hear, then you have my permission to lay siege to Lioncross and destroy her. All of her. However, the Earl of Hereford has a reputation for fairness and honestly, so I do not think the man will move against me. I have faith that I will return to you. But if I do not, then you have your orders.”
Cole was satisfied with the directive. Reining his horse over to where his father was, he extended a mailed hand to the man. Jax took it and held it tightly.
“Godspeed, Father,” he said. “We will be waiting for word.”
Jax squeezed the man’s hand and let it go, reining his charger in the direction of Lioncross.
As the beast picked up into a thundering canter, de Velt’s army watched the man ride away, each soldier with thoughts on de Lohr, victory, Wales, and the future.
No one had certainty of any of those choices.
The next move was de Lohr’s.