Chapter Seven
“You look no worse for the wear,” Cassius said as he exited the cottage, bent over so he wouldn’t strike his head on the doorway. “I take it the enemy has fled?”
It was dawn on the morning after the night battle at Edenthorpe and Cassius opened the door to a parade of knights. Rhori and Bose were there along with Darian and one of his junior knights, along with about one hundred heavily armed Doncaster men.
“Of course they have fled,” Rhori said imperiously. “With the threat of a du Bois in command, they turned tail and ran like the cowards they are. Some of them are probably in Scotland by now.”
Cassius grinned. “Good lad,” he said. “We could see the battle from here. No slight against your ability, Rhori, but it never looked like they had a genuine chance of breaching the castle.”
“They did not,” Darian said, dismounting his horse and pushing past Rhori. “They harried the gatehouse mostly, but the walls are too tall. Where is Lady Dacia?”
Cassius threw a thumb over his shoulder. “In the cottage,” he said. As Darian went to check on Dacia, Cassius went over to Rhori. “I am sorry this wasn’t a true test of your command ability. I shall try to throw a more worthy enemy your way the next time.”
By now, Bose had dismounted his steed and had joined them. Rhori slithered off his horse, holding on to the jumpy animal as he faced Cassius.
“This enemy may be quite worthy,” Rhori said, lowering his voice. “We noticed something strange.”
Cassius’ eyebrows lifted. “What?”
“The yellow shield with the black lion,” Bose muttered. “Three-point shield on some of the tunics, though they tried to cover it up. Still, we were able to see them. A lion with bloody paws, Cass.”
Cassius stared at him a moment before cocking his head in confusion. “Yellow shield with the bloody black lion?” he repeated. “Here?”
“Here.”
“That’s Marcil Clabecq.”
“It is.”
Now, Cassius’ eyes widened. “He and his men were with Edward at Falkirk,” he said. “Are you telling me that professional Flemish mercenaries were part of that attack last night?”
Both Bose and Rhori nodded. “This may be more than simple harassment by an unhappy neighbor,” Rhori said, keeping his voice low. “Clabecq goes where the money is, so Baron Hagg must be paying him a fortune.”
Cassius shook his head in disbelief. “I had no idea the man had that kind of money,” he said. Then he paused as if a thought had just occurred to him. “Or mayhap he does not. Mayhap Clabecq was promised part of the spoils. That would be quite an incentive.”
Rhori nodded. “Quite,” he agreed. “The party last night rode all around the castle, stopping at the barbican, at the postern gate, and at the gatehouse, but they never really did much of anything other than ride in circles, launch a few arrows, and look around. Look around, Cass.”
Cassius knew exactly what he was driving at. “Studying her weaknesses,” he said. Everything they were saying made sense. “So Hagg has hired himself Flemish mercenaries and they are studying Edenthorpe for her weaknesses.”
“That would be my guess,” Rhori said. “And if they take Edenthorpe, the spoils would be immense.”
That was a very true statement. Suddenly, a little raid wasn’t so little any longer. “Did you tell de Lohr your suspicions?” Cassius asked.
Rhori shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “The man has seen one siege since he took command of Edenthorpe. Only one. While he wasn’t terribly rattled, he was somewhat overly concerned given how few antagonists there really were.
He spent most of his time reporting to Doncaster, who was sending the majordomo for information every few minutes.
We wanted to give you our observations before speaking to Darian or to Doncaster.
Something like this cannot be treated lightly. ”
Cassius shook his head. “Not at all,” he said. “With Clabecq involved, the stakes have grown considerably. In fact, Clabecq was with Edward when he took Caerlaverock Castle in Scotland a couple of years ago. We were all there. We saw how Edward used them like a hammer to break down Caerlaverock.”
Bose and Rhori nodded gravely. “Did you have much contact with Marcil Clabecq, Cass?” Rhori asked.
Cassius shook his head. “Not directly,” he said.
“Like you two, I was with Edward the entire time trying to make sure the man didn’t get himself killed.
My focus was on Edward, not his allies or the Flemish scum he’d hired.
They raided Caerlaverock heavily once it was breached and I heard that they also raided the Scottish countryside before they took a cog out of Edinburgh for home. ”
Rhori shook his head at the despicable nature of the mercenaries. “’Tis a good thing they did not go south into de Wolfe territory,” he said. “I have a feeling that your father and uncles would have made short work of that group.”
Cassius grinned. “They would have chewed up those Flemish bastards and spit them out,” he said. But his grin quickly faded. “And now they’re here, sizing up Edenthorpe.”
“Old Cuffy needs to be told, Cass,” Bose said. “He carries a big, lazy army and they could be in for a good deal of trouble.”
Cassius knew that. “The problem is that they’ve never had trouble here,” he said what they all knew.
“Darian is a fine knight, but it’s very possible he’s become complacent.
The Doncaster army has contributed to some of Edward’s campaigns, but that was a while ago.
If Flemish mercenaries really are here and Edenthorpe is their target, then they must be prepared. ”
Bose opened his mouth to reply, but Dacia and Darian chose that moment to quit the cottage. Darian was carrying Dacia’s big leather satchel containing all of her herbs and potions, and she was giving the man orders as she walked.
“… and then I want to see Emmeric to see what he has for a parasite,” she was saying. “I’m convinced that Old Timeo’s wife has a worm of some kind. Mayhap the physic has something to kill it. I would like to go into the village today.”
She walked right by Cassius without acknowledging the man. Not that he had expected her to, for ever since their conversation last night, there hadn’t been another word spoken between them.
But Cassius wasn’t going to let it bother him.
In fact, he was perturbed at himself for giving a damn in the first place.
He’d had the rest of the night to stew about the situation and by morning, he was fairly cooked with regret.
He’d met a young woman whom he felt sorry for and had tried to help.
Or was it more than that? Truthfully, he wasn’t sure and perhaps that perturbed him the most – because he didn’t know why he really did it when it was none of his business.
He thought maybe his ego had gotten the better of him and he thought he could make a difference to a rather isolated young woman when, in fact, she clearly didn’t want any help. She didn’t want or need his opinion.
It would be the last time he tried to do something kind for someone.
He was done.
As Dacia made her way out to the palfrey that had been brought around from the stable yard of the cottage, Argos suddenly bolted out of the cottage, past Cassius, and headed straight for Dacia.
She was almost to her palfrey when Argos butted up against her legs, wagging his tail so hard that he kept smacking her with his tail.
She came to a halt as if uncertain what to do with the dog when Cassius emitted a whistle so piercing that the horses jumped.
“Argos!” he boomed. “To me!”
The dog may have been big and silly, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew when his master was calling him. With a final lick to Dacia’s hand, he loped over to Cassius, who turned for the stable yard where his warhorse had been housed last night.
He didn’t give Dacia another look.
“We return to Edenthorpe, tell Doncaster what we suspect, and leave it at that,” he said to Rhori and Bose, pushing the woman from his mind. “And then we get out of here. We are not staying any longer than necessary. Mount up. I shall meet you in a moment.”
As Rhori and Bose headed off to gather their horses, Cassius made his way into the stable yard where the warhorse he called Old Man await him.
A husky Belgian charger, the animal was as red as a stormy sunrise and built for battle.
His saddle was in the small barn, in a pile of hay, and he quickly put the tack on his horse as Argos wandered around nearby.
He knew the dog was looking for a meal, which was something he could find for him at Edenthorpe.
But once the dog was fed and Doncaster knew that there were Flemish mercenaries involved in Hagg’s presence last night, they were departing Edenthorpe.
Hopefully forever.
The ride back to the castle was uneventful.
The gatehouse opened wide for the returning knights and sealed up quickly once they passed through.
Cassius took Old Man and Argos into the stables where he made sure both animals were well-fed and the horse bedded down, at least temporarily.
He left Argos with the horse, knowing the dog wouldn’t wander far away from the steed he was familiar with, as he joined up with Rhori and Bose once more.
Darian, who had just stabled his blond beast, emerged from the opposite end of the livery and headed in their direction.
“Well?” Rhori said, eyeing the approach of Darian. “Do we tell him now and let him tell Doncaster?”
“That might be best, Cass,” Bose put in. “If we remain to tell Doncaster as you suggested, there is no telling when we will be able to leave.”
It would have been easy for Cassius to agree to that with his need to get out of Edenthorpe.
That feeling grew worse when he saw Dacia emerge from the stable, carrying her leather satchel, heading for the keep.
She was covered in her customary veils, glancing in his direction before quickly looking away when he happened to look over at her.
That was enough to disgust Cassius completely.