Chapter Fourteen #3
“Nay, it does not,” Titus said. “But I wanted to give you some information on what has transpired and why. To your point, Katiana does not have a good relationship with her father. She has an even worse relationship with her brother, who is her father’s heir.
Simply put, Ansel de Edington is a vile beast of a man.
You can ask Uncle Blayth, for Ansel fostered at Roxburgh and was sent home because of his horrific behavior.
Among other things, he used to beat his sister.
With Katiana’s father dying or already dead, that leaves Ansel as her guardian.
The man hates the House of de Wolfe and will undoubtedly deny my request to marry her.
More than that, he will probably kill her before he would allow her to marry me.
So… I married her without permission from her father or brother.
And I would do it again a thousand times over. ”
Patrick listened to the concise, rather defensive explanation with a heavy heart.
Not because Titus had done something wrong, but because the situation was so dire.
It was a tragic thing all the way around, it seemed.
However, he immediately recognized the de Edington name because it reminded him of the encounter with Ansel de Edington at Thornton Tower not long ago.
The knight who burned the bodies of his enemy when he’d been told not to.
But they’d get into that later.
“Come inside,” he said quietly, putting a hand on Titus’ shoulder. “Let me digest what you’ve told me and we’ll speak on it later. Meanwhile, you have a message from de Lohr, and I want to hear it.”
Titus nodded, somewhat relieved that he wasn’t going to get into a big argument with his father right away about his surprise marriage and the circumstances surrounding it.
Titus adored his father and was loath to upset him in any way, and truthfully, he’d been dreading telling the man what had happened. But it couldn’t be helped.
As he’d told his father, he didn’t regret a thing.
Following his father through the smaller gatehouse and into the bailey of mighty Berwick Castle, Titus realized that it was very good to be home again.
He only hoped that he could keep that feeling.
*
“So Lancaster and Warwick have run amuck and executed Gaveston. Is that the crux of the situation?”
The question came from Patrick, and Titus nodded his head.
“Aye, Papa,” he said. “You know there has been a great deal of activity going on here in the north. Lancaster was chasing Edward, and Pembroke was chasing Gaveston. I was in Middlesbrough with Ronan in May, keeping my ears open as to the movements. As I said, Pembroke captured Gaveston but gave his word that he would be protected. That nothing would happen to him. That wasn’t good enough for Lancaster, who abducted Gaveston from Pembroke’s custody.
They took him to Warwick, and after some kind of farce trial, he was executed.
De Lohr says to tell you that he is going to side with Edward because he cannot stomach Lancaster’s betrayal.
We do not want to live in a world where Lancaster is lord and master. It would be a disaster.”
Patrick knew that. God help him, he knew all that and more.
He turned away from his son, processing what he’d been told and the implications therein.
Thomas of Lancaster had always been a greedy bastard.
He held five earldoms alone, making him the richest and most powerful single lord in England.
Of course, the House of de Wolfe held most of Northumbria, making them the most powerful family in the north, but Thomas was spread out throughout England.
He’d always been ambitious, but this went beyond what Patrick thought he was capable of.
This went beyond everything.
Glancing up, he looked at the men around him.
They were in his solar at Berwick, a mighty chamber where many important things had been decided.
The walls fairly reeked with power. In addition to Bowen and Peter, Titus and Magnus were there, two of his four sons, men who were deeply entrenched in the politics of England.
Magnus had been the king’s personal protector for years before passing that position to Denys de Winter when he married.
Magnus knew, probably better than Titus did, what Lancaster’s actions meant.
Also present were Rian, Espen, and Krister, who had been called in from the patrols they’d been on.
It was usual at Berwick for the knights to ride patrol because of the volatility of their location on the Scots borders.
Krister had been almost to Northwood when he’d been summoned back.
He’d ridden hard and now stood near the lancet windows that overlooked the bailey, listening to something quite shocking.
They all were. Berwick’s solar was full of powerful knights, listening to something that could quite easily change the course of England.
“How long ago did this happen?” Patrick finally asked.
“Sometime in the middle of June,” Titus said. “A few weeks now, at least.”
Patrick grunted. “Long enough for the news to have spread,” he said. “It must be spreading everywhere by now. Where is Edward?”
Titus shook his head. “I do not know,” he said. “The last I heard, he was in York.”
Patrick thought hard on that. The entire situation with the king and the rebelling warlords had been put on a tilt, sliding in the king’s favor as far as he was concerned. There was no world in which he would capitulate to Thomas of Lancaster, and he knew his brothers felt the same.
He looked to Bowen and Peter.
“Bowen, I want you to ride to Castle Questing and tell Scott what you have heard,” he said.
“Tell Scott that all commanders should be summoned to Questing for a war council, and I will bring Titus and Magnus with me. Peter, you will ride to my brother, Thomas, and inform him of what you have heard. Tell him to ride for Questing before the week is out and bring his garrison commanders with him.”
“What about Uncle Troy and Uncle Blayth and Uncle Eddie?” Titus wanted to know. “Will you not tell them, too?”
Patrick nodded, looking to his remaining knights. “Rian, head for Troy’s demesne,” he said. “Espen, you will go to Roxburgh and Krister, to Northwood Castle. The Earl of Teviot isn’t part of the de Wolfe empire, but he must be told. Tell all of them to head to Castle Questing within the week.”
“And then what?” Titus asked. “Will we take a stand and side with Edward?”
Patrick’s attention turned to Magnus, who had been close to the king, once. “If Edward is still in York, I will send him word to come to Berwick for safe haven,” he said. “Will you go to him with this message?”
Magnus nodded. “I will.”
“If he is not in York, find out where he has gone,” Patrick said. “Tell him that Berwick is with him. We will support Morgen de Lohr and Lioncross Abbey.”
That was a shocking declaration without support from his brothers. Magnus looked at Titus, who gazed back at his brother with some apprehension. Things were changing rapidly in the north.
Things were changing rapidly all around.
“Good knights, you have your orders,” Patrick commanded quietly. “Depart swiftly and deliver the news. Return as quickly as you can.”
Without hesitation, the five knights headed out.
The wheels were in motion, and Patrick seemed fueled by it.
The man was in his seventh decade, but he was ageless when he was in the midst of something important.
He was power personified, focused and sharp.
When the knights were gone, Patrick turned to Titus.
“I have no doubt that Scott and Tommy will agree with me,” he said quietly.
“There is no possibility that they will support Lancaster and Warwick, and, I suspect, we will not be able to remain neutral for much longer. Titus, when you return to de Lohr, I want you to stop at Norwich Castle first and inform de Winter of our situation.”
Titus nodded, but hesitantly. “I was ordered to remain here, with you,” he said. “I am not returning to de Lohr for quite some time, I think. He wanted me to remain in the north and observe what is happening here.”
Patrick grunted. “I see,” he said. “I suppose my command will not supersede his?”
“It will not, my lord.”
Patrick pursed his lips wryly. “I command thousands, but my own son will not listen to me,” he muttered, watching Titus grin.
“Very well. Stay with me. I will send someone else to de Winter. But now that we have discussed the issue with Gaveston, we will move on to your sudden marriage. Honestly, Titus, you could have knocked me down with a feather.”
Magnus lit up with a smile. “And me,” he said, putting his arm around Titus’ shoulders. “Well done, old man. I’m very happy for you.”
Titus grinned at his brother, the brother that he was the closest to in both age and relationship. “Thank you,” he said. “It was very sudden, I don’t deny it, but it was right. Nothing has ever been so right.”
As the brothers hugged, Patrick sat down behind his cluttered table. “Right or wrong, Titus, you have a problem,” he said wearily. “Of course I cannot berate you for doing it. I did the same thing, long ago.”
Titus looked at his father. “And Poppy was irate?”
Poppy was what the de Wolfe grandchildren called William de Wolfe, now gone these several years. But he was much loved, still, and they always spoke of him as if he were in the next room.
“Irate? He was,” Patrick said. “Irate because your mother was a postulate and committed to the church. But those were the same bastards who were trying to kill her. I married her because I loved her, but also because I wanted to put her under de Wolfe protection. Poppy was very angry at me, and when I insulted his honor, Uncle Kieran slapped me.”
Both Titus and Magnus looked at him in astonishment. “Uncle Kieran?” Titus gasped. “That giant man?”
“That giant man.”
“Did he send you through the wall?”