Hoodsman: Courtesans and Exiles

by Smith, Skye

  Raynar suddenly had acute cramps in his legs and slid to the floor and started rubbing his calf muscles and pulling his toes towards him. Gesa was trying to wipe up the sticky mess he had made. Bertha was still kneeling up and laughing so hard that she had tears in her eyes.

  "Look how little it is now," Bertha giggled.

  "No, you must never say that. For this practice he is Philippe, a proud king. Never say it is small, ever. Always tell him how big he is. Believe me in this." Gesa began to laugh. "Repeat after me. 'Oh Philippe, you are so large'." The laughter had become infectious, and the two women were leaning on each other trying to catch their breath.

  "Oh, Bertha, that is what is so frustrating about men. Just when you are starting to feel aroused yourself, and you are feeling the heat and want more, and then spurt, spurt, spurt, he is finished and he either starts snoring, or he rolls off you, and farts and then runs to have a pee."

  "I don't believe you," replied Bertha suddenly not laughing. "Why would any woman agree to him being satisfied, while she is not?"

  There was silence. "Well, most women finish themselves off while he snores," replied Gesa.

  "But that is so unfair."

  "Repeat after me." Gesa made a little girl's voice, "Oh Philippe your are so large." Gesa sputtered as they both started laughing again. "Just remember that the less he spurts inside you, the less chance you have of being with child."

  Raynar opened his eyes and stared at the girl. "Gesa, she will be the wife of a king, and her first duty is to bear him an heir, and quickly."

  "Don't be a fool, Bertha," retorted Gesa, "once you are with child you will be closeted and your life will become a drudgery. Your only chance of enjoying Paris and its court, is to delay child birth."

  "Foolishness," said Raynar. "Philippe is not an old man. He is as young as you. Young men recover quickly and spurt much. You will bear him a son on the wedding night plus nine month."

  "Trust me, Bertha." Gesa kissed Bertha's cheek. "I have much yet to teach you. I can get you this herb... well, I will get you some first and then show you how to use it."

  * * * * *

  The next few days were busy for Gesa. Bertha already knew much French, though not high French, while Gesa knew none and had to work very hard to learn at least some. Then she had her courtesan tutoring with Claire and Count Robert, and then 'practice' sessions with Robert. She, Bertha, and Raynar then practiced with blades under the instruction of the master.

  After all of this, she then had to privately instructed Bertha in some of the courtesan skills, and 'practice' using Raynar. Then she had to attend Bertha as her lady during the evening's meal and entertainment, under the watchful eye of Gertrude and her other ladies with their endless suggestions and corrections.

  She would not have been able to keep all her roles separate, if it had not been for Bertha. The two young women were quickly becoming fast friends due to the sharing of their ribald secrets. They excluded the other ladies, including Bertha's sisters, from their tight company because they feared a slip of the tongue. And tight company they became. The weapons master mentioned often how well they worked together in the sparring matches. Raynar praised them using similar words but for a very different type of sparring.

  This day Claire had not just shown Gesa some additional ways of pleasing men, but she had also shown Robert their equivalents for pleasing women. Once Claire had withdrawn from the room, Robert and Gesa both reached heights of pleasure that neither had thought possible.

  When Robert's time with her ran out, he could barely move from the bed. They dressed and walked arm in arm down the corridor to the room where Gesa was expected for weapons practice. Their arms, shoulders, and legs all touched as they walked, as if they were tied to each other.

  Raynar was walking towards them, and he stopped short and watched them come closer. Both of their faces were healthy and happy. Their cheeks were blushed and their eyes clear and radiant. He had to remind himself that Robert was over forty, for he looked so young. It made him joyous to see them together, and yet he had other feelings as well. Envy and jealousy for sure, but there was more. A sick feeling in the pit of his stomach because they were falling in love, and that was the one thing that neither of them should do.

  Gesa kissed Robert sweetly when she left them, and hardly noticed Raynar. Robert whispered, "I will never be able to show you my gratitude for your bringing her to Brugge, Raynar."

  "Hold your gratitude, Robert, for I fear for Gesa's heart when you must part company. And part you must. Your wife will demand it."

  Robert sighed. He knew the truth of the words, but was hiding from them as long as he could. "Thank you also for that treatise from Cluny. It was prophetic timing, for just this morning an edict has arrived from Paris but originating from Rome.

  Gregorian Rome is well displeased with the recent widespread use of harrowing as a weapon of battle, and with the misuse of church and monastic influence as a weapon of ruling. It does not mention William, nor his campaigns in England, Brittany, and Maine, but then it does not need to. On the strength of Rome's edict, the archbishops have decreed a Truce and a Peace of God so that nobles can gather in safety for Philippe’s wedding."

  "So does this mean," asked Raynar, "that the wedding will include a conference of dukes and counts with the main topic being what to do about William of Normandy?"

  "That is a safe assumption. Philippe’s father lost so much power and holdings to his dukes and counts, mostly to William, that Philippe is a puppet to their whims until he can take them back. I have agreed to cede him Corbie as Bertha's dowry." He waited for the reaction to this news of import, and when it did not come he remembered that this man was English and would not know about Corbie.

  "Philippe’s father once held all of the land between Paris and the fortress of Montreuil-sur-Mer on the coast of the Manche. This gave him wealth from the trade in the Manche, and split the northern counties from the southern. When he lost Corbie to Flanders, Paris was no longer connected to the coast. The king quickly became a weakling."

  "So by ceding it back to Philippe, you not only reconnect Paris to the coast, but also have a French buffer between Flanders and Normandy."

  "Philippe’s side of the agreement is that he keeps a strong garrison and fleet at Montreuil to dissuade the Normans from taking complete control of the Manche." Robert smiled. "I could not have held Corbie against Normandy in any case, but I did not let Philippe’s agents know that."

  "You will have to show me these places on a map to have it make sense to me."

  "Montreuil," said Robert, "is south of Boulogne. If the garrison is strengthened it will keep William apart from Count Eustace. Eustace has always wanted a port in England facing Boulogne. In '67 he tried to take Dover and for a few years he was punished by William, but now they are making amends. It would be good to have them separated again.

  "William is not a fool. When he hears of Bertha's dowry, he will act. He could move quickly to take Montreuil before it is garrisoned," said Raynar.

  "It already has garrison enough to defend its walls, and its walls are significant. Besides, William is still near Scotland, and if he does cross to Normandy, he has more pressing problems in Maine. Philippe will have time enough to at least double the garrison, which means that instead of being for defense only, they become dangerous. Add a few longships to protect the traders, and the port will flourish and become wealthy again. Better still, it will all be wealth lost to Normandy and Boulogne."

  "Robert, if you do not need me for a few days, I should go to Oudenburg and arrange for bowmen and horses for the trip to Paris. What will they need for provisions?"

  "Dry rations for a few days, no more. I am still the new count, so the procession to Paris will serve as an inspection tour of my holdings, so every night we will be welcomed and provided for."

  * * * * *

  * * * * *

  The Hoodsman - Courtesans and Exiles by Skye Smith

  Chapter 18 - Ships
from Scotland in Oudenburg in September 1072

  Oudenburg was busy, very busy. What with the rules that most ships' crews were to wait at Oudenburg and not in Brugge, and now with Brugge's northern channel to the sea closed until it could be dredged again, the population of the burg had more than tripled.

  Longhouses were being thrown up outside the burg walls to provide roofs for crews. The businesses from Brugge and from Blankenburg on the north channel, which were reliant on the custom of crews and on the provisioning of ships, were setting up shops both inside and outside the walls.

  In sharp contrast to the riot of activity in Oudenburg, Brugge was becoming serene, sedate, and sophisticated. Count Robert was proving to be a ruler with an administrator's mind. Moving the seamen away from the wealth of Brugge was such a simple solution to keeping Brugge a peaceful capital of wealth while not overloading its ability to provide.

  There was now a garrison of bowmen in residence in the towers of Plassendale that controlled the river's ships channel. Two of Hereward’s old longships had finished their refits, and took turns patrolling the sea mouth of the river. Hereward had commissioned four of the local offshore fishing boats to act as pilots for the trade ships, so as to show them the safest ways through the shifting silt bars no matter the tide.

  The port office in the base of the largest tower in Plassendale was continuously busy, and Hereward spent most of his days close by. There were new longhouses that served as barracks for his bowmen, and one that he used for his own purposes, which meant that Roas could stay close by while he worked.

  The longhouses still looked more like stables than houses, but they did have the beginnings of walls under the thatch roofs, so they were in use already despite some lack of comforts. The priority had been to provide shelter from the coming fall weather. Comfort could be added during the winter when the port traffic calmed and the ships were grounded, and when land bound crews could be put to useful work finishing walls and making furniture.

  Organizing the bowmen for Robert was simplicity itself. The crew of the Anske would escort him to Paris. Raynar sent a handful of men out to secure the horses they would need, and to commission colorful tunics that the men could wear over their armoured brynjas to make them look less like unkempt sea raiders. With that work delegated he spent his own time visiting with Roas and Hereward, and staring out from the top of the tower across the low fen land and the braids of channels.

  So it was that Raynar was standing on the dock when Edgar Aetheling and Cospatrick of Bamburgh first stepped foot in Flanders. He had traveled many a mile with Edgar and had been a part of his household for many a month back in '68. He could say the same for Cospatrick, but with an important difference. Edgar was a trusted friend whereas he had never trusted Cospatrick.

  They arrived on two cogs. The larger one was completely dependant on sails. It had been chartered in Scotland. The smaller one belonging to Cospatrick, had both sail and oars, and was rigged similar to the Anske. Arriving with them were many of the English noble lords who had taken refuge in Scotland. Correction, they were still nobles, but no longer lords, for on their exile their English estates had been honored to Normans.

  Edgar could not believe his eyes when he saw Raynar waiting for him on the dock. He leaped over the gunnels and down onto the dock and made straight for him. One of the port guards yelled for him to stop, but went back to his duties once he recognized Raynar. They walked together towards the tower, where he would need to register his arrival and as they walked he made a brief report of his own news.

  "Malcolm of Scotland has made a treaty with the Conqueror," Edgar explained, "for he was worried that the Normans would harrow the south of Scotland. William demanded that in return Malcolm could no longer harbour English exiles, especially not me."

  Edgar shrugged as if it had been expected. "We had a choice of places to flee to. Denmark, Flanders, even Byzantium. Many had lands or kin in Denmark, and it was an obvious choice for them. The rest of us decided there was more opportunity in Flanders now that Robert the Frisian is the Count here."

  "And Cospatrick?" asked Raynar. "He was William's earl of the north, not an exile. How does he come to be in your company?"

  "Ah, Cospatrick was playing both sides against each other, while he tried to create his own kingdom based in Bamburgh. He was going to call it by its historic name of Bernicia. It was a good plan since everyone expected Malcolm and William to slaughter each other, as Malcolm and Odo had done earlier this year. What he did not expect was for Malcolm to bend his knee to William, nor for William to have Waltheof with him."

  "You have lost me. What difference could Waltheof make?"

  "Ahh," replied Edgar, "the families of Waltheof and of Cospatrick have been in a blood feud for two generations over their own claims to Bamburgh. The folk of Bernicia would have held Bamburgh against William for years, for William had no claim to the place.

  William was canny. He told them that his only interest was to support Waltheof's true claim to the place. The folk accepted the explanation that this was simply a continuation of the feud between the clans of Cospatrick and Waltheof. It was safer for them to chose Waltheof, so they did and Cospatrick had to flee."

  "Was there slaughter? His wife was kind to us when we sought refuge there."

  "No slaughter to speak of," replied Edgar. "He took his family and what treasure he could sneak out of Bamburgh and they sailed for Scotland. He has come here looking for ships to commission as raiders to go with him back to Bamburgh and secure more of his treasure."

  Raynar looked around. They had left the crowd of men and no one was in earshot. "How is Margaret? I have heard many things, none of them good. Has she stepped up to being a queen and a wife and a mother, or has she been beaten into it?"

  "What can I say, Raynar?" replied Edgar. "Malcolm is a pig, but he is the King of Scotland. He had a prior claim to her from a childhood betrothal. My family needed sanctuary from the Normans, and she accepted her duty. She did not want it, but that is the nature of duty. She puts up with his company by throwing herself at the role of mother."

  "All of this I would know from talking to any of the men with you," Raynar complained. "You are her brother. Tell me the truth, not the pretence."

  "Sometimes I fear she will take her own life. To Malcolm she is like a prize horse that he coveted and that he now owns, so he can ride her anytime he wants, and flaunt her to other men. More and more she is turning to prayer and holy men to find meaning in her unhappy life. My safe residence in Scotland was the main reason she agreed to the marriage, and now that is gone, so I fear she will be more morose now than before."

  "And if he was killed?" said Raynar quietly.

  "Worse. Duncan, his eldest son by his first wife, has been taken by William to ensure the treaty. If Malcolm dies, the Normans will take the son to Scotland and claim the throne on his behalf. They, and other Scots with claims, will not want Margaret and her bairn to muddy the succession. If that happens, then Margaret's children will meet with fatal accidents, in the way of Normans and the widows they prey on."

  "How can I help her Edgar? You must have some ideas." Raynar held him back by the arm to force him to answer.

  "Leave her be, Raynar. Her future is set. You no longer have a part in it," Edgar told him and then continued with the news of his mother Agatha and his other sister Cristina, and of their life in Scotland.

  One of the other nobles from the ship lumbered up to them and stole their privacy. "Hey you, stop and talk. The dock workers say you are Raynar. If so, then you are holding something for me. Something I left in Peterburgh Abbey five years past."

  "That may be," countered Raynar, "but this is not the place to discuss it. Tomorrow morning come to the castle at Oudenburg with some proof of your identity and I will check the scrolls for your name."

  The man went florid. "Listen, you sniveling peasant. I've waited five years and traveled across the sea to make my claim. I want what is mine now. Come, let us away to
Oudenburg now." He grabbed Raynar roughly by the arm and swung him around to face him.

  "Oye!" came a call from above in the tower. "Do you want me to shoot him for you, Raynar?"

  The noble looked up to the tower and saw arrows aimed at him, and let go of Raynar's arm.

  "No, hold your arrows," replied Raynar. "He has agreed to meet me in Oudenburg tomorrow morning."

  The noble backed away grumbling, "Tomorrow, then."

  "So Edgar," said Raynar quietly, "how many on your ship have come to collect their treasure from me?"

  "Everyone. They all had treasure stored with monks. They all hope that theirs is included in the hoard that you have brought to Flanders."

  "But I have the takings from only one abbey."

  "They can hope, can't they? With coin, they can make their way to Constantinople and join the guard there. There is nothing for them in England any more."

  "You have not asked about your own treasure from Peterburgh," said Raynar.

  "I left only coins there."

  Raynar laughed at the understatement. "A great number of coins."

  "We had news that Hereward used them to fund the revolt at Ely and to hold William in the south. That is why Malcolm attacked and chased Odo into England. We assured him that William had more pressing problems than the Scottish border. William moves his armies quickly. Malcolm woke up one day to find himself trapped between Odo and William."

  "In truth, the revolt at Ely paid for itself. Most of your coin was used to buy seed corn and breeding stock for the folk of the Danelaw." Raynar saw Edgar smile. "There is still a third left. I left it in Spalding in case things went badly for the folk again this winter, and they again needed seedcorn in the spring."