Chapter Eight
Westminster Palace
“With every door covered by household soldiers, and several knights dressed as guests prowling the hall, the king should be well protected,” Aidric said. “If anyone can think of any issues or gaps in our plan, now is the time to speak.”
He was standing with the rest of the Guard of Six, with the exception of Stefan, in Westminster Hall, a vast chamber with a high ceiling that tended to be cold and drafty and dirty, but at the moment, it was full of servants and knights preparing for the coming feast.
And that included security.
Even though it was just past dawn, most of the people in the hall had been awake for hours in anticipation of the feast. It would be the biggest, most prestigious event of the year, welcoming a king back to his people, and everything had to be perfect.
Aidric knew that, as did the rest of the Guard of Six, so they’d been going over every doorway, every entry point, every stairwell, to ensure the king was safe.
Tonight, there would be allies as well as those who could go either way—enemy or ally—and it was the job of the Guard of Six to make sure everything was covered.
“I think we have done everything possible to ensure Edward’s safety,” Britt said, looking around the busy hall.
“Edward is going to sit at the dais and that is an area of the hall that is easy to guard. Nothing coming in from behind us except for the one door we can use if Edward needs to make a fast exit.”
“I will cover that,” Gerard said. “While the rest of you are mostly visible, I prefer to remain in the shadows. I can watch the room better that way while the rest of you are watching the dais.”
“Good,” Aidric said. “Orion, you will work with Gerard.”
Orion frowned. “Me?” he said. “Why me? Manny may want to stay in the shadows, but I do not.”
“And you shall not,” Aidric said, cocking an eyebrow at the man.
“You will be the liaison between the guards at all of the doorways and report everything back to Gerard. Those doors must be watched. And I also want you to arrange for soldiers to monitor the yard as well. We will have guests all over this place tonight, so we must have eyes and ears everywhere to ensure there are no conflicts, no threats. Understood?”
Orion nodded, placated now that he had more of an important role to fulfill.
In fact, he went to inspect all of the doors, doors he knew well, but now he needed another look at them to ensure the security of the chamber.
Gerard headed back to the door behind the dais, literally a secret door built into a wooden screen that opened into a passageway under the hall.
That left Aidric with Britt, Dirk, and Bennet and they began to discuss the guest list as they knew it.
Since the Guard of Six hadn’t been in charge of the announcements that went out to every earl, baron, and bishop in England, they could only speculate about the guest list for the most part.
The courtier in charge of those announcements was a man who had traveled with Edward and hadn’t been in England in two years, so they were still speculating who would be in attendance.
No marcher lords, yes to archbishops, and after that, it was anyone’s guess.
It would prove an interesting evening.
As Britt and Dirk wandered off—something about extra security at the only gatehouse that would be admitting guests for the evening—Stefan entered the hall.
He passed Britt and Dirk as they were heading out, but he didn’t seem to notice them.
He was focused on Aidric, who was relaying the information about a former Guard of Six member, Kent de Poyer.
Kent was married to Bennet’s eldest daughter, making them in-laws, and Bennet’s daughter had just given birth to Kent’s second child.
It was a casual conversation, very different from the one they’d so recently had about security and the feast, and when Stefan joined them, Aidric raised his voice in greeting.
“We have already been over the security of the room for tonight,” he said. “Come with me—we shall walk the room and I will go over it with you.”
He was speaking loudly, as they all did when speaking to Stefan. He was a de Lohr, a man with the knighthood in his very veins, grandson of the Earl of Hereford and Worcester. Stefan was very big, and very strong, and very skilled, but he had an Achilles’ heel that they were all aware of:
The man was going deaf.
Stefan had a condition that was slowly robbing him of his hearing and for a knight whose vocation and training was battle, for him to be unable to hear commands issued was a detriment, indeed.
It was also dangerous and potentially deadly.
Henry knew this and, upon the request of Stefan’s father, he took him into the Guard of Six and gave him a prestigious post and a purpose.
Stefan was grateful for the opportunity and perhaps the most diligent knight in the circle because he had the most to prove.
Once his hearing left him completely, he would be useless and he knew it.
Stefan de Lohr was on borrowed time.
“I will review tonight’s security with you later,” he told Aidric. “Right now, I need you to come with me. It is important.”
Aidric didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary. “As you wish,” he said. “Where are we going?”
Stefan simply shook his head. “I will tell you,” he said. “Let us go. Where is Gerard?”
Aidric pointed behind him, at the rear entrance of the hall. “Back there.”
Stefan headed in that direction, going behind the wooden screen that was there, and Aidric and Bennet could hear faint voices.
When Stefan returned, it was with Gerard, and they picked up Aidric as they headed for the main entry of Westminster Hall.
Before he went, however, Aidric glanced at Bennet and waggled his eyebrows at Stefan’s mysterious behavior, but he dutifully followed him and Gerard.
They headed out into the ward; the main gatehouse wasn’t far off, but they had to cross a couple of yards, and pass by Westminster Abbey, to get to it.
By the time they reached the second yard, the one to the north of the abbey, Aidric reached out and grasped Stefan’s arm.
“Why the great secrecy?” he said. “What is amiss?”
Stefan slowed down but didn’t stop altogether. He kept walking, with Aidric slightly behind him and Gerard off to his left.
“A great deal, I’m afraid,” he said. “You are aware that my youngest brother is an Executioner Knight, are you not?”
Aidric nodded. “I know Perrin,” he said. “He and your father are both involved in the Executioner Knights along with several of your cousins. Why?”
“Because Perrin is here,” Stefan said. “He has come with information.”
That had Aidric’s interest right away. He didn’t ask any more questions, mostly because they were out in the open, with men around, and men had big ears sometimes.
He didn’t want their conversation to be overheard.
Therefore, he continued to follow Stefan until they reached the main gatehouse.
Off to the left, Aidric could see Britt and Dirk speaking with the gatehouse commander, and Aidric whistled between his teeth, catching their attention.
When they looked in his direction, he waved them over.
Meanwhile, Stefan entered the three-story gatehouse, followed by Gerard.
Britt and Dirk went up after them, with Aidric bringing up the rear.
The gatehouse was a big, smelly, dank place with slippery stairs and multiple chambers over the portcullis.
The stairwells were narrow and tight, and given the size of Aidric and the rest of them, moving in that small space wasn’t easy, but they reached the second floor without much trouble.
Stefan was leading the way and he took them straight into a small chamber that faced the City of London.
They could see Charing Road in front of them, connected to The Strand and Fleet Street beyond.
At this time of day, all of the roads were full of people—and given the fact that there was to be a great feast tonight, the avenue leading to the gatehouse was already full of soldiers.
Aidric was the last one in the chamber, noticing a compact, powerful man in the room. He had been sitting in front of the hearth, which had a small fire in it, but when he saw the men entering the room, he quickly stood up.
Perrin de Lohr had made an appearance.
Almost all of the de Lohr men were big and blond, with the occasional redhead, but Perrin was different.
His hair was dark, something only a few de Lohrs throughout the centuries had possessed, but he definitely had the family good looks.
Gerard was the first one to approach him, smiling as he greeted him.
Given the fact that Gerard had been essentially thrown out of the Executioner Knights, his oddly affectionate greeting of Perrin was unexpected.
They embraced like long-lost brothers while the others stood back and watched the usually emotionless Gerard display a measure of warmth until he realized he was being observed.
Then, he stepped away from Perrin so he wouldn’t be the center of attention.
Now, the focus was only on Perrin.
“You men know my brother,” Stefan said. “He has come to tell us something of vital importance that must not leave this chamber. Lives depend on it.”
That had Dirk closing the chamber door and throwing the bolt. Perrin waited until the panel was secure before speaking.
“As you all know, my father is in command of the Executioner Knights,” he said quietly.
“Chadwick de Lohr is carrying on the tradition that has been in place since the days of my great-uncle, Christopher de Lohr, the first Earl of Hereford and Worcester. My great-grandfather, and Stefan’s great-grandfather, was David de Lohr, the Earl of Canterbury, a title my grandfather, Daniel, now carries. ”