Chapter Twelve
Stafford Castle
They were waiting for them.
The morning they had left Birmingham, Thor had drafted a missive to be sent to Stafford Castle announcing his approach.
He was clear in the missive about who he was and what he was, and he was clear that he was returning with his new wife, the former Lady de Tosni.
He sent the missive ahead with a swift messenger from among his escort, a very young man, skinny and spry, riding a skittish horse that probably ran faster than a bolt of lightning.
Therefore, by the time they reached Stafford Castle toward sunset, the entire house and hold was waiting for them in the bailey.
Thor had never been to Stafford Castle before, so it was a new experience for him.
Not only was this an unfamiliar castle, but it was now his holding.
There was something infinitely satisfying about riding through the gatehouse of his very own castle.
He glanced at his fellow knights, men who had been with him for years, and he could see the approval in their eyes.
He felt puffed up like a peacock.
But that was tempered by his concern for Caledonia’s reaction to returning to a castle that she had presided over in theory, yet a place that held no fond memories for her.
She had mentioned that all of her children had been born at Stafford Castle because Robert had insisted on it, so in that respect there was some sentimentality attached, but that was all.
Nothing more. Thor made sure to ride next to her carriage as they came in through the gatehouse because he wanted her to know that he was with her.
He would always be with her. He wanted her to know that he was thinking about her even as he entered his new property.
This was an important moment for her, too.
Stafford Castle was a large but unspectacular fortress.
The stone castle sat on a tall motte in the center of a vast village-and-castle complex and was built in the shape of a cloverleaf.
It had four big towers on all four corners with a small bailey in the middle of it.
But even if the fortress on the hill wasn’t too terribly impressive, the complex of Stafford Castle as a whole was.
The entire campus, with the motte in the middle of it, was surrounded by a moat encircling another bailey that included stables and outbuildings.
There was a wall that surrounded the moat and butted up against that wall, and a village spread out toward the south.
Interestingly enough, the village seemed to be one big fortified facility of cottages, businesses, and outbuildings that were directly related to the castle.
However, the wall built around the castle proper was stone while the one built around the village was made of wood.
Giant logs that had been harvested from local forests were rammed into the ground, with the tops of them carved into a sharp point.
Anyone trying to mount the wall could very easily impale themselves on the point, which was good for defense.
In all, Stafford was built for protection and had been well designed.
Thor found it all quite fascinating.
As his party entered the upper bailey at the top of the motte, he could quickly see that it was too small to hold the hundreds of men he had brought with him from London, so he had Truett take the bulk of the escort back to the lower bailey, where there was more room for them to assemble.
Thor remained with about twenty men from his escort, his remaining knights, and the carriage.
As the bulk of the army cleared out, he happened to notice the messenger he had sent with the announcement of his approach.
The young man was hovering near the gatehouse at first, but quickly rushed to blend in with the royal army when it entered the compound.
He didn’t think much of it until the soldier approached him and tried to get his attention.
“My lord?” the young soldier called. “Lord Tamworth?”
Thor heard him. He’d just dismounted his horse, perhaps a little wearily, and he removed his helm before answering.
“What is it?” he said.
The young soldier seemed nervous. His eyes kept shifting around, looking at the gathering Stafford soldiers, but also at three knights who had just emerged from the keep. They’d been on the roof of the structure, watching Thor and his party enter, but now they were in the bailey.
The messenger was mostly focused on the knights.
“They are not happy you are here, my lord,” the young soldier whispered.
“They have opened Stafford to you, but the knight in command—he calls himself Cristano de Lucera—has said that he requires proof you are the Earl of Tamworth and Stafford. He says that marrying de Tosni’s widow is not enough for him and, if you do not prove it to him, he will order you out. ”
Thor’s expression cooled. “Did you hear him say that?”
The young soldier shook his head. “Nay, my lord,” he said.
“But I have been confined to the gatehouse and heard those men speaking of it. The other two knights who serve de Lucera have the same family name, but they are known as Adan and Benedicto. Be careful of them, my lord—the rumor is that even if you can prove that you are the new earl, they will try to kill you.”
“Have you been threatened at all?”
“Nay, my lord, but they forced me to stay at the gatehouse. I could not wander.”
“Do we know anything more about these knights?”
“Only that they rule Stafford as if it is their own private domain. Everyone says so.”
Thor nodded as if it meant nothing to him.
His manner was completely unruffled at such critical news.
Truthfully, he wasn’t at all surprised, given that the knights had had the run of Stafford since Robert died.
As he feared, they viewed the castle as their own private kingdom.
God only knew what they’d stolen from the Stafford coffers.
Holding out a hand to tell the young soldier not to move, he casually went over to the carriage and leaned inside.
“Stay here,” he commanded softly. “Do not move until I tell you to. Do you understand?”
Caledonia didn’t know why he was being so mysterious, but she didn’t like it. It made her more nervous than she already was. But she nodded without hesitation.
“Of course, angel,” she said. “We will remain here.”
Thor winked at her and moved to the remaining escort, muttering something to the sergeant, who immediately nodded and then moved to the next man, muttering something to him as well. Whispers began going through the ranks of royal soldiers as Thor reached Darius and Clayne at the end of the escort.
“Do you see the knights who came from the keep?” Thor asked in a casual manner.
Darius and Clayne nodded. “Aye,” Darius said. “Why?”
“Because I am told that the two younger knights will attempt to kill me,” Thor said. “Send someone for True and bring him, and about a hundred men, back here immediately. Meanwhile, you two will disarm the two younger knights. I will take the older one. Show no mercy.”
Darius and Clayne understood their assignment.
They began to head up through the escort, aiming for the three knights who were standing about twenty feet away.
There were Stafford men on the battlements and in the gatehouse, but there were more royal troops in the bailey.
Thor moved up on one side of the carriage while Darius and Clayne moved up on the other.
Together, the trio headed toward the three knights who were watching the incoming party through critical eyes.
“Who is Cristano de Lucera?” Thor asked.
Two of the knights looked to the third, an older man with face like leather. He didn’t seem even moderately respectful of Thor as he looked him up and down, like he was inspecting a side of beef.
“I am,” he said, refusing to address him as “my lord.” “Are you de Reyne?”
Thor didn’t answer. He walked right up to the man and punched him squarely in the face with a ham-sized fist. Meanwhile, Darius made short work of Adan. Benedicto, a bigger man, put up more of a fight with Clayne. But it was a short fight.
Clayne was called Bully for a reason.
With the two younger knights subdued, Thor stood over Cristano.
“I am Thor de Reyne, the Earl of Tamworth and Stafford,” he told the half-conscious man. “I understand that you intend to throw me from my property if you are not convinced it is mine. Therefore, let me convince you.”
With that, he reached down and grabbed de Lucera by the front of his tunic. He dragged the bleeding man back across the bailey, straight to the carriage where Caledonia and Nicola had watched the confrontation. They were looking at Thor with big, startled eyes as he pulled his victim up to the cab.
“Sweetheart,” he addressed Caledonia calmly. “There is a satchel under your seat. My satchel. Will you please find it and open it?”
Caledonia quickly did as he asked. She knew he’d kept a leather satchel in the cab, unwilling to put it in the provisions wagon where the knights usually kept their possessions, so she found it under her feet and pulled it forth, untying the straps at the top.
“Thank you,” Thor said, giving de Lucera a brutal shake when the man tried to weakly push him away. “Now, inside you will find several pieces of folded vellum, but I am looking for the one with the royal seal on it. It is rolled. Will you please pull it forth?”
Caledonia rummaged around in it, as quickly as she could, with Nicola helping her. In fact, it was Nicola who found the scroll with the royal seal and handed it out the window to her brother.
Thor took it and dropped de Lucera back into the dirt.