Chapter Six
Brencis wasn’t a happy traveler.
Riding in the wagon hurt her belly, and her mother wouldn’t let her walk with the soldiers, so she was very upset about the entire situation.
Trenton could hear her weeping, complaining to her mother, and he could hear Lysabel’s soft, gentle tone, trying to calm her child.
But Brencis wouldn’t be soothed. They were barely a day out of Stretford, and already, it was a long journey.
As Trenton and Dewi plodded along, Trenton couldn’t help but notice that his horse seemed distracted.
Usually, the big black warhorse was the first one on an escort, refusing to let any other horse get in front of him, but over the past few hours, the horse seemed to want to slow down, or turn around even, and Trenton couldn’t figure out why the horse was behaving in such a way.
Twice, he’d had to slap the horse on his big neck to force him to stop swinging his head around, as if he were trying to turn about.
Dewi could be a quirky creature even in the best of times, but this was something beyond what he normally did.
As Trenton tried to figure out his fickle beast, Markus rode off to his right astride a leggy gray stallion.
The knight had formed the escort party perfectly and since their discussion in the solar, he’d been completely cooperative.
Obedient to a fault, even. Trenton wasn’t sure he trusted the man, but he didn’t make his mistrust obvious.
He simply kept an eye on him. If he had any questions or commands, they were immediately relayed to Markus, who ensured they were carried out. His efficiency was beyond question.
Trenton had quickly discovered that Markus was the only knight Benoit had.
The rest of the men were simply soldiers.
There were several sergeants, men who seemed rather rough around the edges, and then the rank and file soldiers, and Trenton had no idea where Benoit obtained those men.
From what Trenton had seen, they were barely one level above animals themselves, uneducated and unrefined men, but they did what Markus ordered them to do and that was all Trenton cared about.
Still, he couldn’t help but think that a man was often defined by the men who served him, and with the exception of Markus, Benoit’s soldiers were most definitely a reflection of their ugly, brutal master.
And this is what Lysabel had been exposed to all of these years.
He’d only spoken briefly to her last night during the feast, as she’d only stopped by to supervise the meal in the midst of her packing.
And in the darkness of the early morning, he’d loaded her and her daughters into a wagon because he thought that would be easier for them to ride in, and they set out on the road north.
The wagon bed was covered with straw and then a layer of blankets for comfort, and there were pillows to ease their ride as well, so it wasn’t completely uncomfortable, but Brencis was having a difficult time with it.
It was into the afternoon now and Trenton could still hear her grumbling and, on occasion, wailing.
Finally, he decided to go back and have a look for himself.
Maybe he could help soothe the savage beastie.
Brencis was miserable and didn’t care who knew it.
When Trenton approached the wagon as it lurched along the road and undoubtedly hit every hole in its path, he could see that Cynethryn was hanging over the side of the wagon, appearing utterly bored and unhappy, while Brencis sat across her mother’s lap as Lysabel tried to soothe her.
As soon as she saw Trenton approach, however, she seemed to come alive.
As he came near the wagon, she practically launched herself from her mother’s lap and rushed to the side of the wagon.
“Can I ride with you?” she begged. “I do not want to ride in the wagon any longer! It makes my belly hurt!”
She was nearly falling out of the wagon in her haste, so he reined Dewi next to the moving wagon, trying to keep her from spilling out and hurting herself.
Lysabel was also grabbing at her, getting a good grip on her skirt, but Brencis didn’t seem to care.
She was far more interested in Dewi as the big horse came close.
As her mother and Trenton tried to keep her from falling, she reached out with both arms to pet Dewi on his shiny black neck.
“Beautiful Dewi,” she crooned. “You are my friend. I have missed you!”
Dewi was muzzled so there was no chance of him snapping at the child, but he twisted his big neck so that his muzzle was rubbing up against her.
In fact, he seemed very interested in her, and her attention, and it began to occur to Trenton that perhaps the reason why his horse had been so distracted was because his treat-giver had been wailing and upset.
Dewi was a smart animal and had quite a memory.
Even so, Trenton was somewhat surprised to realize that Dewi was about as interested in Brencis as Brencis was in Dewi.
“Cissy,” Lysabel tugged on her daughter’s skirt. “Sit down. You may not ride with Sir Trenton.”
But Brencis wasn’t going to give up. She tried to put her arms around Dewi’s neck even though they wouldn’t go even half the way around.
“I love him,” she crooned, kissing the horse’s neck and laying her cheek on his soft fur. “He loves me, too. Can I please ride with you, Sir Trenton? Please?”
Trenton didn’t think it was a very good idea, considering how violent and sometimes skittish the horse could be. But he was coming to feel some sympathy for the little girl who was so in love with horses.
“He is not a riding horse, my lady,” he said. “He is bred for battle, and can be difficult at times. I would hate for you to be hurt.”
Brencis was stroking the horse between the eyes, running her fingers through the mane between his ears.
“He will not hurt me,” she said confidently. “He wants me to ride with you.”
Trenton cocked an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“It is.”
“How do you know?”
She looked at him seriously. “He has told me so.”
Trenton simply nodded his head, glancing at Lysabel, who was looking rather apologetic. “I am sorry she has been such a nuisance,” she said. “She has not traveled well this entire trip. Praise God it will not be a long one.”
Trenton fought off a grin. “The village of Cirencester is up ahead,” he said. “I was thinking that we should find you and your daughters lodging for the night. I believe Lady Brencis could use the rest after a rough first day.”
Lysabel nodded in complete agreement. “That would be appreciated,” she said. “I think all three of us can use the rest. Although I love my daughter dearly, I am close to strangling her simply to quiet her.”
As Brencis looked at her mother and frowned, Trenton’s grin broke through. “Then I shall send men ahead to seek proper lodging,” he said. “Have no fear, Lady de Wilde. You shall have peace this night.”
With that, he tried to spur Dewi forward, but the horse was far too interested in Brencis, who was still petting and hugging him.
In fact, Lysabel had to pull her daughter away from the warhorse so Trenton could move him forward, and even then, Dewi made his unhappiness known.
Suspecting the horse simply wanted more pears from the hands of a besotted little girl gave him limited patience with the beast, and he both spurred him forward and smacked him on the rump when he didn’t want to obey.
Trenton was starting to think he had two disobedient children on his hands – the horse and Brencis.
Unhappy Dewi, and unhappy Trenton, sent Markus and another soldier on ahead to Cirencester to scout lodgings for the women as Trenton rode the rest of the way into the village astride a warhorse that was getting quite worked up about having no pears.
He tossed his head and foam from his lips splattered from his muzzle.
Overhead, clouds were starting to roll in and Trenton was coming to think that there would be summer rain soon, so his decision to find shelter sooner rather than later was a sound one.
Cirencester was a dirty little village that was quite overpopulated.
Arriving on the outskirts, Trenton could see that poverty was fairly rife.
It was August, so it was a warm month, and half-naked children ran in the gutters, chasing each other, as dogs barked alongside, while the stench from the gutters themselves filled the air to the point of making Trenton’s eyes water.
It smelled like a cesspool.
Heading deeper into town, Trenton kept an eye out for Markus, hoping the man had found something that was at least tolerable.
Given the state of the village, he wasn’t at all sure that would happen.
Amongst the wattle and daub huts, some of them held together by nothing more than twigs and mud, Trenton eventually spied a fairly large livery and thought it might be a good place for the escort to bed down for the night, providing it was close enough to the lodging for the ladies.
Trenton turned to the nearest soldier and pointed off towards the livery, and the man understood the command and began to pass the word back through the troops.
Bedding down in a livery wasn’t an unusual thing for groups of men, because taverns were expensive and not designed to accommodate masses of men, so Trenton headed for the livery to pay the livery master a few coins for the privilege.
The men were beginning to move into the livery yard when he caught sight of Markus, heading back in his direction.
“Well?” Trenton reined his horse to a halt. “What have you discovered?”