Chapter Seventeen #2
No one could disagree. As Cortez opened his mouth to continue, the front door to the tavern opened and two very large, very well armed knights entered.
In fact, they were knights of the highest order, bearing Coverdale tunics and weighed down with a myriad of war implements.
One was very tall and one was very broad about the shoulders.
They looked rather out of place in the filth and levity of the tavern, with people eating and laughing around them.
They looked like they were about to step onto a battlefield.
The pair stood by the door as they evidently scouted out a place to sit.
Cortez and his knights noticed the duo right away.
Cortez’s gaze lingered on them for a moment until, suddenly, a light of recognition came to his eye.
He appeared rather surprised. Abruptly, he stood up and made his way over to the knights.
Back at his table, Drake, James, and Oliver stood up, hands on the hilt of their swords.
If there was going to be trouble, then they would be ready.
But trouble wasn’t what Cortez intended. Standing a few feet away from the pair, he spoke rather loudly.
“Who let you two into this town?” he said, rather menacingly. “There are laws against your kind, you know.”
The knights whirled around, features full of suspicion, but when they saw Cortez standing there, big smiles became evident. The shorter man even laughed aloud, a happy sort of crow. They rushed the man, grabbing Cortez’s outstretched hand in greeting.
“De Bretagne!” Keir St. Héver, the shortest of the pair, gasped. “God’s Teeth, is it really you? I can hardly believe my eyes!”
Cortez was so happy to see his old friend that he embraced him. Next to St. Héver, Michael of Pembury, an enormous mountain of a man, clapped Cortez on the shoulder so hard that he nearly knocked him over.
“As gentle and tender as always, Pembury,” Cortez grunted, eyeing the man with the bright blue eyes. “I thought it was you two when you entered because no one is as ugly as St. Héver and no one is as tall as Pembury. What are you doing here?”
Keir was still grinning like a fool, very happy to see the man he had fostered with many years ago.
A very handsome man in spite of Cortez’s comment, and very blond, Keir had been Cortez’s closest friend, once, until time and separation had cooled those bonds.
But the link was still there, unbreakable as always.
The last time he had seen him had been at Helene’s funeral.
He continued to hold on to Cortez’s hand as he spoke.
“We are on business for Coverdale,” he told him. “I have two hundred men camping on the outskirts of town but I wanted a roof over my head tonight. I see that this place is crowded, unfortunately. Where are you staying?”
Cortez was leading them back over to his table. “Here,” he said. “I have all four rooms but you and Pembury can surely have one. My knights can double up.”
Keir was grateful. “My thanks, my friend,” he said. “You have saved me a good deal of effort.”
They reached the table as Drake stole two chairs from another table and pulled them up for Keir and Michael. Keir thanked the man, acknowledging the others around the table.
“So you still travel with this motley crew, do you?” he teased. “De Winter, St. John, and de Lohr. Christ, Cortez, haven’t you learned to keep better company?”
Cortez grinned as everyone sat down and more cups for wine were produced. “Evidently not,” he said, eyeing St. Héver as the man poured himself a healthy measure of wine. “I kept company with you, didn’t I?”
Everyone snorted at St. Héver’s expense, but Keir didn’t mind in the least. He clapped Cortez on the back.
“Tell me what you are doing in Penrith, Cortez,” he said. “Will you have time to come to Pendragon Castle and meet my wife? I would like you to.”
Cortez’s eyes glimmered warmly. “You have taken a wife?” he asked with satisfaction. “I am thrilled to hear that, my friend, truly.”
He didn’t touch on the reasons why he was thrilled, the dark reasons that all men in this tight circle knew.
Keir’s first wife and two children had been murdered in a siege a few years ago and the man had been emotionally destroyed as a result.
Upon hearing of the tragedy, Helene had encouraged Cortez to travel north to comfort the man, to Pendragon Castle where Keir was the garrison commander for Baron Coverdale, which he had.
He had stayed for two months, watching St. Héver slowly die inside.
It had been terrible to watch. Now, to hear that he had married again was something of a massive relief.
Keir wasn’t totally oblivious to what Cortez was thinking. He sighed happily, gazing upon his friend with more joy than Cortez had ever seen in him.
“I married a couple of years ago,” he told him. “I have a son who is a little over a year old and my wife is expecting again. Chloe is a remarkable woman, Cortez. I should like you to meet her.”
Cortez nodded, truly delighted for his friend. “As I would like to meet her also,” he replied. “But not this trip. I am traveling with my wife and we are simply passing through Penrith on our journey north.”
Keir’s smile faded and he took on a rather startled expression. In fact, he glanced at Pembury to see that the man mirrored his surprise.
“Your wife?” Keir repeated. “You have married again?”
Cortez nodded, seeing the stunned look in Keir’s eyes. He reached out and gave the man’s arm a squeeze.
“You and I both suffered great losses, my friend,” he said quietly. “You lost your wife and I lost Helene. But, like you, I have married again and I could not be happier. She is with me, in fact. She is upstairs with her daughter as we speak.”
Keir’s eyebrows lifted. “You are traveling with a child?”
Cortez nodded and poured himself more wine. “Let me explain, since I see that I have only succeeded in confusing you with my ramblings,” he grinned. “You remember Rob Edlington, of course.”
Keir nodded. “Of course,” he said. “Rob fought with us at Falkirk. He also fell there. We lost many good men that day.”
Cortez continued. “I never told anyone this because there was really no need, but I was with Rob when he was injured,” he said, lowering his voice.
“Edlington knew he was dying and asked me to take care of his wife. I fulfilled his wish. I married Edlington’s widow.
But you also recall that we were unable to recover Edlington’s body.
This is something that has haunted his wife so she asked me to return to Falkirk to bring Edlington back for a proper burial.
Because it means so much to her, I have complied.
We are therefore on a great quest to find Rob Edlington and bring him back to Corfe Castle so he can be properly buried.
That is why I cannot take the time to go out of our way to meet your wife.
It would throw us off our time schedule and it is my hope to find Edlington’s body before winter sets in.
If it does before we can get to it, we will have to wait for the spring thaw and I do not wish to remain in Scotland that long. Time is of the essence.”
It was quite an amazing story, as evidenced by St. Héver and Pembury’s expressions. The two Coverdale knights looked at each other, perhaps in disbelief, before returning their attention to Cortez.
“You are going to find his corpse?” Keir repeated. Then, he shook his head. “Cortez, you know as well as I do that it will be an impossible task. We lost many men under the mud of that field. It was horrible stuff. How in God’s name do you expect to locate Edlington’s corpse?”
Cortez tried not to become defensive at the question. “I was the last person to see Edlington,” he said. “I know where I left him. We have brought shovels with us and we will dig test holes in the area until we find something.”
Keir wasn’t trying to be critical, or talk him out of it, but it was truly an outlandish quest. “It will be very difficult,” he said. “What if you do not find him?”
Cortez shrugged, toying with his wine cup.
“My wife is aware that we may not,” he said, then looked at Keir again.
The black eyes were serious and sad at the same time.
“It means so much to her. I cannot let her suffer this angst without doing something about it. Besides, if I had dragged Edlington’s body out of the battlefield, we would not be on this quest in the first place.
She would have had something to bury and all would be well.
So, you see, it is my fault that we are here in the first place. ”
Keir studied him a moment. “You are blaming yourself for something that could not be helped at the time.”
Cortez lifted his big shoulders in a vague gesture. “Mayhap,” he said. “But I intend to rectify it. So now you know why we are here.”
Keir glanced at the knights around the table, knights that were loyal to Cortez no matter what. All the while, his mind was mulling over what he’d been told. He glanced at Pembury to see if he could discern the man’s thoughts but he could not. Taking a deep drink of his wine, he smacked his lips.
“How many men have you brought with you?” he asked.
Cortez threw a thumb in the direction of the street outside, the last place he had seen most of his men. “Twenty-five foot soldiers and five knights,” he said. “I did not want to bring too many men because that often attracts trouble, so I brought a small party. So far, it has worked out well.”
“Five knights?” Keir looked around, only counting four. “Where is the fifth?”
“I left Andres at Coven Castle with my father when we stopped there a few days ago.”