Chapter Thirteen #3
Moving down the street, Chad soon caught sight of a small livery with a bevy of heavy wagons stationed around it, men off-loading them and moving sacks of grain into the small barn-like structure.
Chad made his way to the livery and, finding the man in charge, paid him handsomely to have the horse put back in a stall and fed.
With the horse tended, he took his saddlebags and his sword with him as he led Alessandria from the livery yard and into the busy street beyond.
“Now,” he said. “It has been a long time since I have been here, but I do believe there are merchants down the avenue towards the Cook’s Gate. It is that big gate down there at the end of the street.”
Alessandria peered down the bustling avenue, shielding her eyes from the sun. “That big gatehouse down there?”
“That is the one.”
“Did they name it for the street, then?”
“I believe so.”
She was curious about everything and he liked that about her.
Having spent so much of her life in a cloister, Alessandria was a bright woman and wanted to learn about everything now that she’d had a taste of life outside of the priory.
Chad loved that he was the one who had the privilege of showing her the joys of life, educating her about the world around them.
They embarked down the street, seeking a merchant who would have fabric for new garments, but since it was the street of cooks as well, they immediately came across three food stalls, all of them sharing a common beehive-style oven, that produced variations of bread and other delights.
The smells of baking bread and yeast filled the air and, like invisible fingers, reeled customers in with enticing scents. Chad and Alessandria were no exception.
The first cook stall was more of a baker with a vast variety of bread.
He had sweet and dense flat cakes which, Alessandria discovered, were heavenly.
Made from flour, honey, cloves and saffron, they were delicious and decadent, and Chad ended up purchasing a half-dozen of them.
As Alessandria pushed them eagerly into her mouth, one after the other, the next cook stall lured them in with a cake made of honey and ginger and cinnamon that was actually more bread than cake.
Alessandria loved the smell and Chad ended up buying some of that as well.
On and on it went, down the avenue, stopping at each stall to see what wares or delicacies were offered.
A man had a trained black bird, a raven he said, that would pick almonds up from a bowl and walk them over to drop them in Alessandria’s palm, which thrilled her.
Further down the lane they came across a woman who used a loom to knit colorful woolen shawls, and Chad bought Alessandria one.
It was warm, and lovely, and she draped it around her shoulders as they continued on their way.
In fact, the journey on the Street of the Cooks and Merchants turned into less of a hunt for fabric and more of a general inspection of the street and its vendors in general.
There was a man who imported scented oils and incense, and Chad bought her several items simply because she had liked the smells.
They stopped to watch a silversmith work a small piece of silver against his metal anvil, watching as he formed it into the shape of an earbob and then added a yellow stone to it. It was all quite fascinating.
The sights and sounds and smells of everything had them enchanted, transported far away from a world of battles and wicked kings.
As they lost themselves in a carefree world, Chad held Alessandria by the elbow or the arm, sometimes even the hand, stealing kisses from her when he thought no one was looking.
At first, she pretended to reject his advances, perhaps embarrassed that he was trying to kiss her in public, but soon enough she gave in to his flirtation and allowed him a kiss or two.
Perhaps even more than that. All Chad knew was that he was swept up in something he couldn’t control, something that made him as giddy as a young squire.
Everything about Alessandria had him enraptured and happily so.
He couldn’t focus on anything else. In fact, they were near the Cook’s Gate, playing another round of kiss-stealing, when he happened to glance up at a group of men coming through the gate.
Then, the games stopped.
Chad recognized the men, unfortunately, and he recognized one in particular – Luc Summerlin, the very man he had slashed whilst freeing Henry from de Montfort’s captivity.
Summerlin had been Henry’s primary jailor, a powerful knight from a fine Norfolk family.
Chad had hardly given the man any thought since that day but here Summerlin was, as big as life, and heading in to Coventry with a host of other seasoned knights with him.
And Chad was quite alone.
He flew into self-protection mode. Grasping Alessandria by the arm, he quickly pulled her out of the avenue and back behind a heavily-laden merchant stall.
When she looked at him, alarmed at his actions, he simply held a finger to his lips to indicate silence.
Frightened, she obeyed, allowing him to push her back against the wall of the merchant stall and into the shadows while he kept out of sight, watching Summerlin and his group move down the avenue.
Chad kept his eye on the big, red-haired knight astride the battle-scarred roan steed.
He wouldn’t have minded running in to the man had he not been with Alessandria, but the fact was that he was far more concerned for her than he was for himself.
He didn’t want to find himself overwhelmed by Summerlin and his men, leaving Alessandria alone and vulnerable.
There was no knowing what they would do to her.
Now was not the time to face Luc Summerlin.
Being that the man had served de Montfort, Chad seriously wondered if he was heading to Isenhall to visit the Lords of Thunder and it seemed to Chad that departing from Coventry immediately would be the better part of valor for both him and Alessandria.
He didn’t want to chance running in to Summerlin again.
He had to return to Isenhall to take the lady to safety, and also to relay to Gallus and his brothers what he had seen.
They would want to know if Summerlin was around.
The man had an aura about him, fiercer and more powerful than most.
Chad knew the Lords of Thunder would want to know.
Therefore, he kept Alessandria close at hand as he watched Summerlin move down the Street of the Cooks and Merchants, disappearing off to the northwest. When the man was gone, Chad took that as his opportunity to race back to the livery for his horse.
He had packages in one arm and Alessandria in the other as they moved very swiftly back to the livery where his fat horse was, once again, pulled away from a meal of grains.
Lifting Alessandria up into the saddle, Chad settled his saddlebags and packages before swinging himself up into the saddle behind. Alessandria held on tightly as he spurred the animal out into the avenue beyond, fleeing Coventry the way they had come.
Fortunately, they never saw Summerlin as they galloped from the town, making their way back to Isenhall in excellent time. Thundering through the gatehouse, Chad was relieved to see Gallus and Maximus and Tiberius in the ward, all three men saddled up and preparing to depart.
Chad had no idea where the men were going until Gallus dismounted his horse, went straight to Chad’s animal, and pulled Alessandria off.
He led her back to the keep and Chad could see that he was mildly scolding her.
Her head was down and she seemed to be cowering.
Leaving Alessandria off at the steps leading into the keep, her head bowed contritely as she made her way inside, Gallus then proceeded back to Chad. And he did not look pleased.
Gallus wasn’t nearly as concerned about the news of Luc Summerlin’s appearance in Coventry as he was about Chad sneaking Alessandria out of Isenhall without an escort.
Chad tried to explain himself but the truth was that there was nothing he could say to explain what he’d done.
Finally, he simply gave up and let Gallus berate him.
Not surprisingly, Alessandria was much more closely watched after that.
And so was Chad.