Chapter Three #3
Maxton frowned. “But surely the king has enough guards of the body,” he said. “You do not need us to protect the king.”
“Nay, not protect,” William said. “But you think like assassins because you are assassins. It will take men like you to find whoever Lothar managed to send and prevent them from completing their mission. Every dirty act you’ve ever committed, and every brutal thought you’ve ever entertained, has created a skill set in you that no one else has.
Do you understand me, Loxbeare? You must find these men before they can get to the king.
That is why you have been ransomed – this is a job that only you can do. ”
Now, Maxton did, indeed, understand everything and the entire situation made perfect sense.
All of it. He looked at Kress and Achilles, seeing the same understanding in their eyes.
Their purpose was made clear now and, not strangely, Maxton felt some relief.
When he’d thought he’d been brought here to be interrogated about the pope’s offer, the meeting turned out to be something altogether different.
In fact, now that the truth was known, he felt some enthusiasm for the task.
This was different from what he was usually called upon to do and there was some relish in that challenge.
Assassins finding assassins…
“You are correct,” he said after a moment.
“This is a job that only we can do. And you are also correct in that whoever the Holy Father managed to coerce into this task is probably already in England. I am surprised they have not yet made an attempt on the king, in fact. Have you made John’s commanders aware of this threat? ”
William shook his head. “Nay,” he said, “but after this meeting, Windsor is my destination. John has just arrived from Winchester and he is expecting to see me. So before this night is out, John and his men shall know of this threat. And they shall also know that we have the best men for the job to prevent it.”
Maxton agreed with him with a slight nod of his head; he could feel his confidence surging, the taste of a deadly game upon his tongue.
It was a familiar flavor. But he knew a great deal of this game and it was important he speak of it to William.
The man had to understand, too, that this was no ordinary task.
The stakes were too high.
“I must stress that John must do nothing differently,” he said.
“If he does anything out of the ordinary, or goes into hiding, whoever the Holy Father has sent will know that something is amiss – he will realize that John knows of the plot. Therefore, in order to catch these men, we need to draw them out, and we can only do that if John maintains his usual schedule.”
William was nodding before Maxton finished speaking. “I am aware,” he said. “I will ensure that the king does nothing differently, but you must come up with some manner of plan to catch these assassins, Loxbeare. You simply cannot prowl London hoping to run into them at some point.”
Maxton smiled thinly. “Unfortunately, that is part of the job,” he said. “We will, indeed, be combing London for information, but it will be for the purpose of formulating a plan. And we will need a base in London, somewhere to stay while we work.”
William waved a hand. “Not to worry,” he said.
“You may stay at Farringdon House, near Aldersgate. It is a home that belonged to my mother, and my wife hates it because it is more fortress than home, so my men and my allies stay there when they are in London. It is place of knights and everyone knows it. You have use of it and whatever else you need.”
Maxton glanced at his clothing. “I fear we need decent weapons and clothing,” he said. “We cannot go on a hunt looking like paupers.”
William nodded sharply. “Gart shall get you everything you need,” he said. Then, he pointed a finger at Maxton. “But there is no time to waste. Get what you need and be quick about it. John is in London because he has called a meeting of his marcher lords, and I intend to be part of that meeting.”
“Marcher lords?” Maxton repeated. “Is there trouble in Wales, then? Is that what has been happening since we have been in The Levant?”
William shook his head. “Nothing so dramatic,” he said.
“John has a surprisingly good relationship with the Welsh, but there are the usual things to discuss. It is a country always on the brink of rebellion, so he has called for his marcher lords. Christopher and David de Lohr shall be there, as well as the Lords of the Trilaterals, the de Laras. They should all be converging on London as we speak.”
A flicker of recognition crossed Maxton’s features. “The de Lohr brothers will be here?”
“I take it you know them?”
Maxton thought on the two men he’d known for twenty years or more, men who were essential for the control of the country.
He’d fought with them, and killed for them, and had been allied with them for a very long time.
But their relationship hadn’t always been a good one.
Maxton had a love/hate relationship with Christopher even in the best of times, and when the men had all served in The Levant together, Christopher and David had taken the path of glory at Richard’s side while Maxton and Kress and Achilles had found themselves embroiled in the dirty dealings of the Christian commanders.
Perhaps, there was a part of Maxton that had resented the de Lohr brothers and their righteous path to glory, and there had been contention between them because of it.
But the truth was that Maxton’s contention with Christopher, in particular, had old roots, indeed.
The noble and honorable Christopher compared to the sly and ruthless Maxton.
Maxton had watched Christopher soak up the adulation at times while Maxton remained in the shadows, doing the dirty work.
He was still doing the dirty work.
“Aye, I know them,” he finally said. “Do Christopher and David know of this plot against John?”
William shook his head. “No one does,” he said. “But I intend to tell them. They are trustworthy. And we may need their assistance, so it is better if they know.”
Maxton couldn’t disagree with him, but he had a point to make.
“Tell them if you must, but I will not tolerate any interference from them. Chris was Richard’s champion and he may feel as if his greatness is needed in this situation as well.
You will tell him that it is not. For what I must do, I do not need a de Lohr. ”
There was some animosity as he spoke, cluing William in on the fact that although Maxton knew Christopher, there was evidently no love lost there.
But he wouldn’t ask about it; he didn’t care, anyway.
He was more focused on Loxbeare and ensuring the man had his full confidence to do the job tasked to him.
“De Lohr will not interfere,” he assured him. “In any case, I shall return to Farringdon in a day or two, and I shall expect to hear of your plan for the king. Is this clear?”
Maxton took him at his word when it came to de Lohr, making it easier for him to return his focus to the task ahead of him. “It is, my lord.”
There was respect in his tone, not missed by William. “Excellent,” he said. “Now that you have your duty, you will excuse me to go about mine.”
Without another word, he excused himself and headed out of the tavern with his men in tow, leaving Maxton, Gart, Kress, and Achilles still seated at the table.
It was true that a hint of shock still lingered among them, and perhaps the slightest bit of intimidation of the job ahead of them.
It was an extremely important one, perhaps more important than anything they’d ever done. But they would not fail.
They could not.
“Well?” Maxton said, breaking the silence. “It seems we have a task to complete.”
Gart, who had remained largely silent and observant throughout the conversation with William, could hear the confidence in Maxton’s tone and it was both surprising and pleasing.
The man he’d just spent the past few months with had lacked that tone in his voice; even Kress had commented about it.
Max was quiet during our months in captivity, and when he did speak, he was oddly philosophical.
If Gart hadn’t known any better, he would think that Maxton was beginning to question everything he’d ever known, his very existence, in fact.
Gart had witnessed the change in the man, but in just a short conversation with William Marshal, Gart didn’t sense that change from Maxton any longer.
That confidence was much more like the man he knew.
Perhaps it was because the man had a purpose now, or perhaps it was because he was feeling useful again.
Months in captivity could damage a man’s soul, but Maxton was strong.
Perhaps, all of the quietness had been his way of dealing with the situation and nothing more.
It didn’t seem to matter now, whatever the reason, because Gart could see glimmers of the Maxton he knew before him.
A man who would get the job done or die trying.
He hoped it didn’t come to that.