Chapter Ten #2
“I have sent a missive to Davyss de Winter,” he said.
“He and his brother are at their castle of Wintercroft, outside of London. I have told him to bring his army to me and once he arrives, his orders will be to march to Isenhall and raze her. I am finished with the Lords of Thunder and their disloyalty. I am finished with the fact that they have turned de Moray into a traitor and de Lohr into a weak-willed man. This entire situation starts, and ends, with them. De Moray will never convince them to swear fealty and, I am quite sure, Chad de Lohr has delivered their cousin to them, safely, to put her under their protection. Therefore, now is the time to strike. They suffered heavy casualties at Evesham and I will not wait for them to regain strength. If I am going to destroy them, then I must do it now. De Winter will have orders to raze Isenhall to the ground.”
De Serreaux had to admit that he wasn’t surprised by the orders.
He was, however, wary of them. “De Winter has a connection to the House of de Shera, too, Your Grace,” he reminded the king.
“You know that de Montfort was Davyss’ godfather and Davyss and Gallus de Shera are the best of friends.
Why would you send de Winter to destroy his dear friend?
He could very well turn on you, pull de Lohr and de Moray into the rebellion, and then you would be facing your worst nightmare – the armies of de Moray, de Lohr, de Winter, and de Shera as they move against you.
It is a battle you could not win, Your Grace. I beg you to reconsider.”
Henry moved away from de Serreaux, back over to a large oak table in the center of the chamber that was cluttered with the remnants of a meal.
Several maps were scattered about as Henry’s courtiers and advisors lingered in the shadows, listening to everything that was being said.
They’d learned long ago not to speak unless spoken to, so at this point, the conversation was purely between Henry and de Serreaux, but others were listening, preparing to give their opinion when the king asked.
But Henry would not ask them, at least not yet. Their edgy patience would have to endure. Henry pulled up a chair, sitting heavily at the table.
“My son, Edward, has gone to summon Davyss,” he said as if he hadn’t heard de Serreaux’s plea.
“My son agrees with me. We must wipe out de Shera once and for all. Once they are broken, whatever hold they have over de Lohr and de Moray and de Winter will also be broken. Moreover, this is a test for de Winter – I know he has been extremely unhappy about what happened to Simon at Evesham. He has made no secret of it. He even tried to buy de Montfort’s head from Roger Mortimer.
Therefore, if Davyss expects my favor at this point, then he is going to have to prove himself. ”
De Serreaux knew Davyss; he liked the man and considered him a friend.
He’d fought with him many times. Now, he was starting to feel the torn sense of loyalties that Henry had been speaking about all along.
He was feeling it about Davyss. Hearing Henry speak of Davyss in such an ominous fashion was disheartening as well as frightening.
“So that is what the situation has come down to, Your Grace?” he asked. “A test of de Winter’s loyalty?”
“Mayhap.”
“But what about de Lohr and de Moray. Will you test their loyalty, also?”
Henry looked at de Serreaux, a glimmer in his dark eyes.
“This will be a test for all of them,” he said.
“I intend to be with de Winter when he marches on Isenhall. It will be much more difficult to disobey me if I am present, watching his every move. But once we reach Isenhall, who will de Lohr and de Moray stand with? Will they side with de Winter to raze Isenhall or will they stand against their dear friend? Either way, I break their bond and destroy what loyalties they have to each other. This is not only a battle against the Lords of Thunder, Torran – this is a battle to break their love for each other.”
It was a sad and pathetic goal, one de Serreaux didn’t agree with in the least. He didn’t agree with what de Lohr had done as far as disobeying Henry’s order about the de Shera girl, but what Henry was planning for those four Houses was astonishingly wicked.
It was also dishonorable as far as he was concerned.
It was something that caused his respect for his king to waver.
“What happens if de Lohr and de Moray refuse to side with de Winter, Your Grace?” he asked, feeling sick even as he asked it. “Worse yet, what if de Winter refuses to raze Isenhall? What then?”
Henry’s dark eyes took on something deep and evil, something that suggested the vengeance he had felt since Evesham had somehow poisoned everything about him.
Now, it was a matter of weeding out those who weren’t completely loyal to him and to hell with the bonds of brothers-in-arms, or even the strength of families.
In this instance, the only loyalty Henry wanted to see was loyalty to the crown.
Loyal to him and him alone.
“If de Winter refuses to raze Isenhall and de Lohr and de Moray are with him, then I will raise such an army as England has never seen,” Henry hissed.
“I will march on Canterbury and Isenhall, Lioncross Abbey and Ravendark, and finally to Norwich and Thetford where the de Winters have their seat. I will confiscate everything and destroy those who oppose me. Is this in any way unclear, Torran?”
Torran could only see death and destruction on a vast scale, a horribly demoralizing thing. But his answer was the only answer he could give. He had little choice.
“It is clear, Your Grace.”
Henry smiled thinly. “Do not worry about your incompetence, Torran,” he said, turning back to the table and the myriad of things strewn across it.
It was obvious that he was dismissing the knight.
“Mayhap your ineptness at gaining the de Shera girl will have a greater good. Mayhap it will finally be the catalyst to the destruction of the Lords of Thunder.”
By that time, Henry had turned away from him completely and Torran knew he was dismissed. He’d been through countless audiences with the king and knew when their time was finished.
Without another word, he turned on his heel and quit the chamber, which was a massive meeting room in the maze that constituted Westminster Palace.
He could smell the stench from the River Thames as he walked, putting as much distance as he could between himself and the man who was out to destroy the lives of countless people.
There didn’t even seem to be any logic to it; it was, pure and simple, vengeance.
All Henry cared about was punishment.
The man is mad, Torran thought. Perhaps that’s what captivity had done to him.
Perhaps it had made him mad. Even as Torran headed out of the palace, to the stables where his horse was tethered, he could only think of one thing – this situation was far bigger than simply abducting the de Shera girl.
That was a very tiny part of the larger picture.
It was a massive honeycomb of vengeance versus anger, of good versus evil, and all of it was bleeding out from Henry’s warped mind.
That such a man had power over men of honor like de Lohr and de Moray and de Winter simply wasn’t right.
None of it was right.
Later that night, de Serreaux, leader of Henry’s Guard of Six, had a flash of conscience and sent a missive of his own back to the very man who had caused him to fail at his mission with the de Shera girl.
He knew where Chad de Lohr had gone; there was no great mystery as far as he was concerned, but the situation was so much more complex than Torran had believed it to be.
He and Chad were friends; at least, they had been before the incident at Canterbury.
But even that slugfest wasn’t enough to turn Torran sour against Chad.
He had done what he had to do, and so had Chad. It was purely duty.
Now, the situation was no longer a matter of holding the de Shera girl hostage. It was a matter of vengeance against the entire de Shera family and all those associated with them, including men who had proven themselves loyal to Henry time and time again.
Now, Henry’s desire to punish everyone associated with Simon was taking on shape and form that went well beyond the scope of something as simple as revenge.
There was a hint of madness there but if not madness, surely, there was something wicked behind it.
It wouldn’t be right not to warn Chad of what was happening.
The missive was heading to Isenhall before dawn.