Chapter Six #3
Katiana had no idea what to say to that.
They were into a conversation that had her bewildered and edgy.
Thankfully, they were precluded from further conversation when the serving wench arrived bearing great trenchers of steaming food.
Behind her, another woman brought a small iron pot, also steaming, and set it on the table.
There was a fish and fruit pie, stuffed eggs that had been battered and fried, copious amounts of roasted pork, and plenty of bread and butter.
Katiana dug into it with gusto, trying to keep the mood light with a subject that could have, and should have, sent her running. She didn’t think he was doing it to upset her or hurt her, but if he kept it up, that was certainly where it was going to end up.
And Katiana didn’t want it to.
“This looks delicious,” she said, deliberately changing the subject. “How fortunate you must be to come here often and eat food like this.”
Titus was spooning out some of the pork, which had come in the pot. “It is very good,” he said, eyeing her as if knowing exactly what she was doing. “But I cannot tell my mother that it is sometimes better than the food she serves at Berwick.”
Katiana chuckled. “Do you spend much time at Berwick these days?”
He shook his head as he ripped up the loaf of bread, handing her the soft middle. “Not as much as I would like,” he said. “Though I was in the north earlier in the month.”
“Oh?” she said curiously, taking the bread. “To visit?”
“To compete.”
“Compete at what?”
“A tourney,” he said, dipping his bread into the pork gravy and taking a big bite. “There was a big tournament at Middlesbrough.”
“Did you win?”
He stopped chewing and looked at her as if she’d just said something shocking. “Of course I did,” he said. “Did you think I would not?”
“I think you would succeed in anything you attempted.”
He resumed chewing, now with a grin. “You would be correct,” he said. “But the truth is that with three older brothers, I must succeed at everything I do because my brothers are great men, men that I admire and look up to. I do not want them to be ashamed of me.”
Katiana was listening seriously. “I’m sure they would never be ashamed of you,” she said. “But what, exactly, are you doing these days? You mentioned that you spend your time between Pembroke and Berwick. Do you not serve your father?”
Titus had a ready answer for the question.
He always did because he certainly couldn’t tell her the truth—I’m a spy and an agent for the Executioner Knights.
He couldn’t tell her that he played a dangerous game, pretending to be a simple, noble knight when what he really did was covert and sometimes sly.
He couldn’t tell her that he was about to involve himself in a situation that was probably the most dangerous he’d ever faced.
Nay, he couldn’t tell her any of that.
But he had an answer.
“I do serve my father,” he said. “But I have also been the eyes and ears of the de Wolfe empire when it comes to the warlords who are opposed to the king. I’ve been with de Valence at Pembroke Castle most recently. There is a good deal going on in this country, and my family must be abreast of it.”
She was listening with interest. “That is important work,” she said. “Where will you go from here?”
“Back to Pembroke,” he said, mouth full as he shoved more food into it.
“To stay?”
“For the time being.”
Katiana picked up a piece of bread and scooped up some butter with her knife. “Do you enjoy being in Wales?” she said. “I hear that it can be a violent place.”
“You’ve never been there?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never been anywhere,” she said with regret. “My aunt was hoping to visit Paris in the fall, but we will probably not go. She tends to speak of things and never do them, so I suppose I shall be stuck here.”
“Would you like to go to Paris?”
“Someday, I would.”
“Anywhere else?”
She finished buttering her bread. “Mayhap,” she said. “But I would not know where to go.”
He swallowed his food and took a big swig of wine. “There are many places to go,” he said. “Paris, Avignon, Madrid, Barcelona… many wonderful places in this world.”
“And you have been to there?”
He nodded. “My father thinks that all young man must see important cities at least once in their lifetime,” he said.
“After we finished fostering, he sent us on a journey that took us to several great places. But my mother’s father lived in Bergen, a city of Northmen.
My brothers and I visited there when we were younger. ”
“Did you like it?”
Titus shrugged. “It was very cold,” he said. “And we took a great longship across the sea, which was rough. I was sick for months, it seemed.”
She smiled as she chewed her buttered bread. “But you survived.”
“I did.”
“I envy you, having traveled out of England.”
“Don’t,” he said, before taking a big swallow of wine. “I was very happy to be home.”
“And you intend to do great things here, is that it?”
Titus’ gaze lingered on her before he went in for another bite. “It is,” he said. “Given my birth order, I must make my own way. I want to serve well and earn the attention of men who can reward me for a job well done.”
She cocked her head. “That has a mercenary sound to it.”
He shook his head. “I did not mean it that way,” he said. “I simply meant that I intend to be rewarded.”
“Or you must marry well,” Katiana said before she could stop herself.
Realizing her mistake in bringing up marriage again, like a fool, she poured him more wine from the pitcher and quickly changed the subject.
“I think you’ll do very well. As you have said, you succeed at everything you try.
But surely your father has an outpost that you can take command of.
I’ve heard the de Wolfe empire has dozens of castles.
There must be one lonely tower, somewhere, crying out for a competent commander. ”
He nodded his thanks as she filled his cup, his hands full of bread and pork.
“There are a few, that is true,” he said.
“I was at Wark Castle for a time, a smaller castle right on the border, and every day was a day that we were on alert. That kind of command becomes exhausting because you can never relax. I’m not sure I want to be that vigilant for the rest of my life. ”
She was cutting up her eggs, relieved he hadn’t focused on the marriage comment. “Then what do you want to do?”
He paused, thinking. “I want to inspire men,” he said.
“My grandfather was a great leader of men, and I should want to do what he did. I want to train them and teach them. I want them to understand their responsibilities to king and country, but also to themselves and their people. In battle, I am one sword, and a formidable one at that. But as a commander and a trainer of men, I am a thousand swords on the field of battle. I can do more and accomplish more in that way than I ever could alone. The nature of men is not a good one, but with help, they can understand their purpose. They can do good in the world.”
Katiana had stopped eating, listening to him as he spoke. “Some men might say that you sound as if you want to be an emperor and control those around you,” she said. “But I see altruism. You want to accomplish good things, and you want to share that belief.”
He nodded. “Exactly,” he said, pointing his knife at her. “You understand that.”
She resumed eating her egg. “I do,” she said. “I think it is a generous attitude. But how can you accomplish such things if you are one of many in the de Wolfe empire? I do not mean to diminish you, of course, but surely you would have a plan?”
His eyes twinkled as he looked at her. “I always have a plan,” he said. “But if I tell you, you must not tell anyone.”
“I told you that I would never betray your confidence.”
“I have had two offers of a position within guilds of excellent reputation,” he said. “I am considering both of them.”
“Oh?” she said, interested. “What guilds are these?”
He was in the process of piling pork and gravy on top of his bread and butter.
“Kenilworth Castle is one,” he said. “The master knights of Kenilworth are the best trainers of knights in the world. Kenilworth has vacillated between a Crown property and a baronial property, going back and forth with owners, but through it all, the master knights have remained. They are a core unto themselves, and they continue to train men. That is where I trained in my youth for two years, right before I was knighted. I was offered a position to train men there, and it remains an open invitation.”
Katiana was duly impressed. “What a great and noble calling,” she said. “Will you accept?”
Titus shrugged. “My father does not think it is good enough for me,” he said. “I am a de Wolfe, after all. He feels my calling is something more.”
“What more?”
Titus shook his head slowly. “I am not certain,” he said. “But something greater than a trainer, clearly.”
“What is your second offer?”
He smirked. “If my father looks down upon the Kenilworth offer, then you can imagine that he would absolutely shun an offer from the Blackchurch Guild.”
Her brow furrowed. “Blackchurch,” she muttered thoughtfully. “I think I have heard the name. What is it?”
“Only the most elite training ground for warriors and assassins in the entire world,” Titus said proudly.
“Kenilworth trains noble knights to do noble deeds. But Blackchurch… they train a man to do anything and everything. The education is without limit. I’ve heard they even have pirates teaching men to think like a pirate.
Men who pass the training there become the greatest warriors in the world, mercenaries, or knights for kings and lords, spies and assassins—anything at all.
Men who pass the test are the most sought after in the world. ”
“How fascinating,” she said. “But how do they know about you? How did you receive the offer?”