Castles, Knights, and Chivalry: 4 Medieval Romance Novels

by Ruth Kaufman

  “Hythe, let’s go before we go down with the ship,” called out the Lord Warden. “Kill the damned pirate already and let’s be on our way.”

  “With pleasure,” said Garrett, raising his sword for the final blow.

  “Garrett, please don’t!” He heard Echo’s voice from behind him, begging him to let her father live. As horrible a man as the Cap’n was, and though he hated him more than anything for killing his brother, the man was still Echo’s father and the only real family she had. He hesitated.

  “Nay!” Echo shouted, and rushed to her father and laid her body atop his. “I can’t let you do it. Garrett, please don’t kill him.”

  “What’s this all about?” shouted the Lord Warden. “Lady Echo, what are you doing?”

  She looked to the Lord Warden and said the only words she knew that were actually true. Unfortunately, they were also the same words that would take her away from Garrett and probably end her life as well.

  “I can’t let Garrett kill him, Lord Warden. Because you see – this pirate is my father!”

  Chapter 18

  The Lord Warden’s ship was docked in Hythe, but only long enough for him to load his horses and collect the rest of his entourage. Garrett watched as the Lord Warden’s men hauled the pirate prisoners they’d managed to capture toward his ship, to bring back to his castle in Dover for trial.

  There were only five who’d survived, as most the crew had been killed. Sadly, Garrett had lost most his men as well. The only ones to survive had been Sir Dwight, Sir Jacob and two of his sailors, Silas and Blaise. Thankfully, Blaise had managed to hide Edgar from harm in the ship’s hold, since some of the pirates had boarded his ship as well.

  Garrett held his son in one arm, his bloodied blade at his side. His shoulder was bloodied as well, as he had taken a nasty blow. Blaise and Silas stood at his side, as well as his two knights.

  “You all did a wonderful job tonight, thank you,” he said. They didn’t answer and neither did he expect them to. The victory was bittersweet at the loss of so many men. And now to make matters worse, Echo had been taken prisoner as well.

  “We finally got the bloody cutthroats, thanks to you,” said the Lord Warden joining him on the dock.

  The prisoners passed in front of them one by one, hands tied behind their backs. Echo had her hands tied as well, and passed with her head down at the end of the line.

  “Mommy, where are you going?” asked little Edgar as she passed. She stopped and raised her eyes to him, and it about tore Garrett’s heart right from his chest.

  “I’m sorry you have to see me like this, sweetie,” she told him. “But just mind your father like I told you before.”

  “I will,” he answered. “And when you get back we can all go on another outing together.”

  Garrett winced at those words, his pain in his shoulder nothing close to the dagger that just stabbed him in the heart.

  “Take Edgar,” Garrett said to Blaise. He sheathed his sword, and walked up to Echo. He then took his dagger from his weapon belt, cutting the ropes that bound her.

  “What are you doing, Hythe?” snapped the Lord Warden. “She is a prisoner.”

  “She is my wife,” he answered, raising her chin and kissing her on the lips. Echo doubled over then, and holding her stomach, vomited, just missing his feet.

  “I’ve never seen her react like that to one of his kisses,” mumbled Sir Jacob.

  “What’s wrong with you, Echo?” asked Garrett. “I’ve never known you to get sick from the sea though you have been through much today. I suppose that is taking its toll on you.”

  He turned to the Lord Warden. “Set her free,” he demanded.

  “I can’t. She is a pirate and will be hanged with the rest.”

  “She’s not a pirate. She is my wife.”

  “I’m sorry, Baron Garrett, but I heard it from her own mouth,” said the Lord Warden. “There’s naught I can do. I have to carry out the law and punishment of criminals.”

  “But as Baron of the Cinque Ports, that is my duty in Hythe to do as I see fit.”

  “True, but the capture was at sea, so ’tis my jurisdiction. Besides, you married a pirate. I am sorry, Hythe, but you need to meet me in Dover in three days time where you will be tried as well. Out of respect, you can come on your own accord, but please don’t prove me wrong in my judgment by making me hunt you down.”

  “Nay!” protested Echo. “He didn’t know I was a pirate when he married me.”

  “Is that true, Hythe?”

  Garrett looked at Echo and then to his son in Blaise’s arms. He could get a pardon easily by lying to the man. But he was through with lying. If Echo had to go to trial, then so would he.

  “Nay,” he said. “I knew when I married her she was a pirate. I am sorry to have deceived you earlier, but I have fallen in love with this woman. I will stand by her side until the very end.”

  The Lord Warden nodded slowly. Then Echo vomited again, and held on to Garrett to keep from falling over.

  “Garrett,” she said, “I didn’t tell you before because I was so confused, but I need to tell you – that I love you, too.” She cringed and doubled over, and Garrett put both arms around her.

  “What’s the matter, sweetie? Why are you sick?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t felt this way since I was pregnant with Edgar.”

  “Take her away and let’s set sail.” The Lord Warden waved a hand to his man, and Echo was pulled from his arms. “Sorry, Hythe, but you know that there is no pardon for pirates. And ’tis customary to have them hanged.”

  The man walked away, and Garrett watched as Echo, still doubled over, looked back to him with eyes of hope. He saw her vomit once more and suddenly he knew what was wrong with her. This was a last ray of sun in a pitch black night.

  “Lord Warden, wait!” he cried, following after the man. “You can’t hang Echo after all.”

  “Why not?” he grumbled, not bothering to turn around.

  “You can’t hang my wife – because she is pregnant.”

  Garrett sat in front of the fire of the great hall with Sir Jacob and Sir Dwight. ’Twas a sad night at his manor, and there was plenty of mourning from the wives and families of the men he’d lost today. Echo’s necklace in one hand, a bottle of rum in the other, Garrett felt worse than he ever had even while in the dungeon at Shrewsbury Castle and near death.

  Of course, the dungeon was probably exactly where he would end up when this was all over. But at least he’d saved Echo from going to the gallows. A woman, pirate or nay, could not be hanged when she was with child. He was sure ’twas the cause of her sickness, and he thanked the heavens they had been vigorous in their love making. Because of this, at least for now, it had saved her life.

  Still, she was being held prisoner at Dover Castle, as the Lord Warden said he needed to decide what to do with her.

  “’Twas not your fault,” said Sir Jacob. “Every man who went to his death today chose to help you of his own free will.”

  “Aye,” said Garrett, feeling the effects of the rum, “but it doesn’t make it any easier. They died in the line of duty and helped to free the channel of pirates. Though that was their job, their families are now the ones to suffer.”

  “What is going to happen to you, my lord?” asked Sir Dwight.

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “But when I am gone, please make sure you take Edgar to be raised by my sister, Abbey, in Devonshire at Blake Castle. Echo will be imprisoned until after the baby is born. Even if she is pardoned, which is unlikely, I am not sure she would be allowed to raise Edgar since he is of half noble blood. I may need you to take the new baby to Abbey as well.”

  “I will, my lord.”

  “Milord,” said Lady Eirian joining them, “please let me tend to your wounded shoulder before you bleed to death.”

  “I don’t care about bleeding to death right now,” he answered.

  “Then let her tend to it before you soil any more of
the rushes,” said Sir Jacob. “After all, I am going to be the one to have to deal with it on the morrow.”

  “Fine,” he said. “Do what you must.”

  Lady Eirian tended to his wound, and Garrett winced from the pain and took another swig of rum. He’d consumed half the bottle and already felt his head swarming. He thought of Echo and how drinking the whole bottle wouldn’t have even made her falter. He held her necklace in his hand, and only wished she were here with it.

  “Isn’t that Lady Echo’s necklace?” asked Lady Eirian, spying it in his hand.

  “Aye.”

  “I am surprised she took it off. It meant so much to her. She said it was given to her by her father, Captain Powell, but I had no idea he was a – oh, I am sorry my lord.”

  “Captain Powell?” he asked. “That is the first I’ve heard his name.” Garrett wracked his brain. Why did that name seem so familiar?

  “Aye, she said something about that necklace holding her future and her father telling her never to take it off.”

  “Powell,” he repeated. Then he almost dropped the bottle when he realized where he’d heard that name before.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Sir Jacob.

  “Ap Powell,” said Garrett. “That means son of Powell in the Welsh language, doesn’t it?” he asked the Welshwoman.

  “Aye,” she said. “But her father’s name is Powell ap Llyr.

  “But I know an ap Powell. Madoc ap Powell. Or at least that’s what he thought his name was even though he was really a Blake.”

  “It must be the rum talking,” said Sir Jacob to the other knight. “Because he is making no sense whatsoever.”

  “Nay! I remember now,” shouted Garrett. “I remember Madoc’s addled story. It had something to do with a ring. A ring with the crest of the Blake family upon it. And if I am not mistaken . . . I seem to recall something about him having a sister. A twin sister.”

  “Definitely the rum talking,” said Sir Dwight, nodding his head.

  Garrett looked to his hand again, and knew that somehow this necklace held the secret. He turned around and slammed it against the trestle table, causing Lady Eirian to jump. Then he turned back and threw it against the hard stone of the hearth. The sound of metal against stone was heard and then the rolling noise of a circular object as something was released from the necklace and rolled, settling under the rushes.

  “My lord?” asked Lady Eirian. “Did I say something to displease you?”

  “On the contrary,” he said, rushing toward the fire and searching with his fingers under the rushes for the object. When he touched something metal, he clasped his hand around it and held it up to the firelight. It was a small ring. He looked closer and saw the etching of the eagle that symbolized the crest of the Blake family engraved upon it. “Lady Eirian, I am so happy that I could kiss you!” He jumped up and turned toward her and she stepped back with a gasp and held her hands over her heart.

  “No more rum for him,” said Sir Jacob. “I really don’t think he can handle his liquor.”

  “You fools, don’t you see?” Garrett said, holding up the ring that had been hidden, embedded into the circular necklace edgewise all these years.

  “I see,” said Sir Jacob, “but I do not think we are . . . the fools.”

  Garrett’s heart raced with excitement. Everything made so much sense now.

  “Echo is not a pirate, she is a lady and this proves it.”

  “How does a ring prove that?” asked Sir Dwight.

  “No time to explain,” said Garrett. “I need to get to the docks. I have only three days before the trial. And I only hope ’twill be enough time to get a message to Lord Corbett of Devonshire.”

  The knights looked at each other and shook their heads. Then Sir Jacob took the bottle of rum and hid it from Garrett’s sight.

  Chapter 19

  Garrett sat nervously in St. James’s church where the Lord Warden’s court was to take place. Dover Castle was close by, but this is where the man held his trials. The Lord Warden sat on a cloth-covered chair atop the dais, and Garrett could see the pirate prisoners being brought out before them.

  It didn’t sit right with him to see pirates in church, but then again, he didn’t belong here any more than they did. He held the ring clasped tightly in his hand, his eyes checking constantly to the door of the church for Lord Corbett. He’d sent word by way of the fastest ship he could find to Devonshire three days ago. But he knew ’twas almost impossible to make the trip from Hythe and around the tip of Cornwall and back again in time.

  The five pirates now stood in front of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Their hands were still tied behind their backs. Echo’s father glared at Garrett over his shoulder.

  Then Echo was brought forth, her body washed and hair combed, and in a new gown, courtesy of the Lord Warden himself. She stood at the end of the line of pirates, right next to her father. She looked tired and pale. Though a pale face was sought after by the nobility, she had always had a ruddy complexion, being kissed by the sun from her life on the sea.

  “Baron Hythe, step forward as well,” called out the man. Garrett joined the line of prisoners, and stood next to Echo. She smiled at him, but he could see her weariness and the smile did not reach her eyes.

  “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “’Twill be all right, I promise.”

  “No talking in my court, Hythe,” the Lord Warden told him. “Now ’tis my duty as granted the authority by the Crown itself, that I punish the criminals as I see fit. And as five of you are pirates, I see no other option than to sentence you to death by hanging.”

  Echo gasped, and Garrett laid a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her.

  “As for you, Lady Echo, or should I say Pirate Echo, I cannot sentence you as of now because you are pregnant. But after the baby is born, you once again will be required to come before me.”

  “Lord Warden, if I may?” asked Garrett.

  “What is it Baron Hythe?”

  “I would like to present evidence that Lady Echo is indeed a lady and not a pirate as accused.”

  “Marrying you does not make her a lady. Especially since you are about to lose your lands and title. Now, as for your sentence –”

  “Please, sir,” said Garrett, “if I may approach you and show you this?” He held up the ring.

  He saw Echo’s father’s eyes open wide, and he mumbled something that Garrett couldn’t decipher.

  “Approach the dais,” grumbled the Lord Warden, “and I warn you Hythe, this better be good.”

  “’Tis a ring,” he said, holding it up for all the occupants of the church to see. “A baby ring with the crest of the Blake family from Devonshire upon it.”

  “Make your point, Hythe.”

  “This was tied to Echo’s wrist as a baby when she and her twin brother were stolen at birth from the late Lady of Steepleton at Blake Castle. Captain Powell raised Echo as his own daughter when in fact ’tis all a lie.”

  Gasps went up from the onlookers, people mumbling to each other from the crowd watching the trial in the church. Garrett felt the breeze blow in the front doors as they opened, but didn’t turn around.

  “Is this true?” Lord Warden looked to Echo as he spoke.

  She had fear in her eyes and shook her head slightly at Garrett. He knew she thought it was naught but another of his lies to try to help her.

  “She doesn’t know about it,” said Garrett. “Her father hid the ring by mounting it in her necklace and never told her. I believe he was going to use it as proof of nobility when he sold her son. That is right, isn’t it Captain Powell?” he asked. “And that had something to do with the fact you were looking for her brother, Madoc ap Powell.”

  “No consorting with the prisoners, Hythe. Now can someone please tell me what this is all about?”

  “I can tell you,” came a deep voice from the back of the room. Garrett turned to see Lord Corbett of Devonshire approaching the dais, his long cape billowing behind
him. Sir Madoc and Lady Wren waited at the back of the room.

  “Lord Corbett of Devonshire?” asked the Lord Warden squinting and then standing to greet him. “I haven’t seen you in years. I was very close with your father before he died. We fought together more than once for King Edward.”

  “What is going on?” Echo’s faint voice called out, and her eyes filled with confusion.

  “May I?” Lord Corbett nodded to the Lord Warden.

  “By all means,” he said. “I would like to understand this whole blame thing myself.”

  Lord Corbett walked over to Garrett and collected the ring. Then he unsheathed his sword.

  The crowd became restless.

  “Lord Corbett, no weapons in the church if you please,” warned Lord Warden.

  “’Tis for visual purposes only, I assure you, Lord Warden.”

  “Then proceed.”

  Garrett noticed the rest of Lord Corbett’s entourage entering the back of the church. He was happy to see his sister, Abbey, was among them. Since Abbey was pregnant, he hadn’t known if she’d be able to travel. Then he saw the bundle in her arms, realizing the baby was already born. He also noticed that Blaise stood there holding Edgar, with Sir Dwight and Sir Jacob at his side.

  “When I was but a child,” Corbett told the court, “the sorcerer, Orrick, engraved four interlocking small rings upon this sword, which at the time was my father’s.”

  He held up the sword for everyone to see. Four small interlocking circles in a vertical pattern were engraved just beneath the hilt.

  “What is this all about?” Echo whispered to Garrett. “And who are these people?”

  “Just wait, you’ll see,” he whispered back, standing next to her and holding her hand.

  “These rings,” continued Corbett, “were to symbolize me and my three siblings. However, I thought them to be dead. But then I found my sister, Wren, who’d disappeared at the age of three. Wren, please join me.”

  Echo watched in utter confusion as a dark-haired woman a little older than herself walked past and smiled at her. She joined her brother up at the dais. The man named Lord Corbett continued.