Earl

by Griff Hosker

  The two of them hurried off as Leofric began to oil my mail. “Your son did well today my lord. He never flinched. His sword was not needed but it was ever ready.”

  “And I am grateful that you watch over him.”

  “Sir Hugh did it for us when we were beginning. Your son is younger than we were but he has great courage.” He worked in silence and then asked, “We fight again tomorrow, my lord?”

  “We may but I hope not.” I did not need the warmed ale to sleep but I was grateful for it. As I lay on the ground I saw John lie across the entrance to the tent. If anyone came in the night he would be the first to know.

  I woke myself. I had trained myself to wake up at a particular time. My three squires all rose as I did. “Get back to sleep. I need you not.” The three of them gratefully snuggled into their blankets. It was a cold, cold night.

  I wrapped my cloak around me and join my men by the edge of the camp. Aiden waited. We said not a word for none was necessary. He led us through the undergrowth and down the river bank. The ten ships lay in two long lines in the middle of a shrinking river. Leaving Dick and the archers to make their way across the mud I went with Wulfric and his men carrying the rafts they had constructed earlier. They were small but each was covered in kindling and firewood. When we were far enough upstream we walked to the water and placed the rafts in the river. The current was fast for the tide was still on the ebb. Using his flint, Wulfric set fire to the kindling which covered the rafts and then the ten tiny boats were pushed into the river.

  We hurried back to Dick and the archers. I hoped that with so few on each ship there would be panic when the fire rafts headed for them. The ebbing tide meant that the river was narrow. There was nowhere safe for the ships to go. They would find it hard to fend off the rafts and if they did they would merely fend them into another drekar. Dick and his archers would pick off any that they saw.

  We heard the cries from the watch on the ships when the rafts were spied. I saw the men on the two rearmost ships begin to hack their anchors in an attempt to flee for they were the closest to the danger. Two of the crew fell to Dick’s arrows. A pale hand tried to saw through the rope from the protection of the strakes on the ship. One of the ship’s anchors was severed and it leapt down the river like a greyhound released. The man who tried to man the steering board fell to an arrow and the rear of the drekar slewed around; the bow must have grounded. The stern struck the next boat and its dragon prow became entangled with the sheets on another. The river became blocked by the three ships. All of them cut their anchors and the floating dam drifted down toward the others.

  All of us had become so engrossed in the tableau before us that we had forgotten the fire rafts. Now fully ablaze five of them struck the stricken three drekar. Fire is a sailor’s worst enemy and with good reason. The fire licked around the drekar and then whooshed up the bone dry ropes which led to the sail. The three ships began to burn. When their crew tried to douse the flames an arrow would hurl them into the river. Two of the drekar which were closest to the mouth of the estuary managed to raise their sails and hurry away from the fiery floating inferno which sailed down the river. With five ships afire and the other rafts still drifting down stream there was no escape. We heard the cries as the crews were burned alive. I watched as two ship’s boys leapt in the sea and attempted to swim towards the two remaining long ships. In my heart I prayed that they would make it. I saw that the current was too strong and flailing arms which disappeared beneath the waters told me that they were drowned.

  As we returned to the camp I saw the Earl and the rest of the knights watching the drekar slowly sink beneath the river. Sir Edward nodded and pointed towards the castle in the distance. “Well that should give them something to think about.”

  I nodded, “It should indeed.”

  I managed to get an hour of sleep before I was woken by the sound of a horn. My squires were up before I was and while John ran to see what was amiss the other two held out my hauberk for me to don. John came back and said, “It is the Irish and the Norse, my lord, they are coming from the castle.”

  I had expected a reaction. From the walls of the walled town they would have seen the fire the night before and now, as daylight illuminated the river they would have seen that their means of escape was gone. They would be angry and they would assume that they had before them just the men of the Earl of Chester. My banners were hidden and our horses and camp were below the bank. We now had the element of surprise. The Earl of Chester had only fifteen archers and ten crossbows. We now had treble that number and it was they who would break the back of this mailed mass of marauding men.

  By the time I was dressed in full armour the Earl had gathered his knights and they were mounted. “Sir Edward, keep our men hidden. John, stay with William and keep my banner here. Leofric you shall come with me.”

  I mounted Star and joined the Earl. I could see, in the distance, the lines of Irish and Norse as they emerged from the walls of the wooden town. It would take them some time to form the boar’s head wedge I knew they would adopt.

  “Well Alfraed, what do you suggest? Do we charge them?”

  “We do not need to do that. We now have archers aplenty. If we line up your knights and men at arms it will appear like a thin line which they will easily break. We put our archers behind us where they are hidden and I will send Sir Edward and my men to the west. They can attack their flank.”

  He nodded, “I like the plan.” As he formed his men I sent Leofric to give Dick and Sir Edward their instructions. John and William joined me. “Keep my standard furled until I give the command.”

  “Aye my lord.”

  I saw that they formed a double wedge. Two warbands of Norse formed the horns and the Irish the head. They began beating their shields and chanting as they descended. I looked along the line and saw that the Earl had just ten knights and thirty men at arms. It must have looked like a perilously small number to the two hundred enemies who descended the slope intent upon revenge. Their ships were precious to them.

  Dick and the archers appeared behind us. The Earl’s crossbowmen took up a position on our right flank. Archers could release their arrows over us. Dick said, “Ready when you command my lord!”

  The order to release would be mine. I knew my archers and knew their range. The others might not be as good and so I had to allow for that. I would give the order when they were two hundred paces from us. They would not charge until they were fifty paces. In those one hundred and fifty paces they would have to endure over three hundred arrows and bolts.

  This was a well led band for their shields were locked. They would need a charge of lances to halt them. With just forty odd of us we would have a difficult task but I knew that Sir Edward would be attacking their flank with the best warriors in the whole of the north.

  “Release!”

  The sky darkened as the arrows flew. The crossbows were more effective than normal for the Norse raised their shields to protect themselves from the descending arrows and the flatter trajectory of the crossbows tore through mail and into bodies. As the slaughter continued I turned to Ranulf. “They are your men, my lord. It is your order we wait.”

  He nodded. When the Norse were a hundred paces from us he said, “Charge!”

  We would not be hitting the Norse line at much more than a trot but our long lances would strike their leading warriors before they could strike at our horses. The bolts and the arrows meant that the wedges were not solid and there were gaps. The Earl struck the leading Viking but there was a gap before me and my lance punched into the shoulder of a warrior who was not expecting the blow. As he fell backwards he broke the head from the lance and I threw the now useless wood like a javelin high into the air. It clattered amongst those at the rear.

  Pulling back on Star’s reins my stallion reared and smashed his hooves at the warriors before him. It afforded me the time to draw my sword. As he descended he crushed the knee of a Viking who fell screaming to the ground
. As I spurred him on, he trampled the man to death. The death had made the others recoil and I swung my sword at warriors who were just looking to protect themselves from my horse. My sword struck the neck of a Viking who was too slow to raise his sword. I was now through the armoured Vikings and into the wild men of Ireland.

  I heard a wail from my left and, glancing up, saw Sir Edward leading my knights and men at arms sweeping towards the enemy flank intent on causing as much damage as they could. I could not help feeling proud at the immaculately straight line they maintained. As I swept my sword at a distracted Irish warrior I heard the clash and crack of wood on metal and flesh. The screams of the dying mixed with the thunder of hooves and the exultant shouts of my men. Warriors can stand and suffer great casualties so long as they know they have a retreat. The unexpected attack from the flank meant that they were cut off from the safety of Preston’s walls and the Irish broke. They ran in the only direction they could, the river.

  Ranulf shouted, “Follow them!”

  It was a good decision. Sir Edward and my men could finish off the Vikings but the Irish had to be destroyed before they disappeared into the woods and forests of the land to the north of Chester. We had enough brigands and bandits of our own without adding foreign foes too. I reined in Star a little for he would run until his heart gave out and we were catching the Irishmen. Had they had more sense they would have turned to make it hard for us but they did not. Unprotected backs were hacked, slashed and stabbed as we made a path of bodies to the river. A dozen or so managed to make the river and they threw themselves in. The tide had turned and they flailed in the water. Gradually they slipped beneath the black water. I saw four of them struggle ashore on the other side. The Earl of Chester reined in and spoke to one of his knights. They would scour the land for the last survivors.

  We walked our horses back to the battlefield. As we approached Preston I saw Wulfric leave the gates of the town. He rode directly to us. I could see that something was amiss from his face. He bowed his head and spoke to us both, “My lords, they have slaughtered every man woman and child in the town. There are none left alive. They have even killed the cats and the dogs.” He shook his head and I could hear, in his voice, that he was close to breaking.

  I turned and saw the last ten Vikings standing back to back and chanting their death song. I turned Star and rode towards them. “Dick, fetch the archers and the crossbowmen.”

  Their leader shouted at me in Saxon. “Come from your horses, Normans, and fight us man to man. We will die but we will go to Valhalla!”

  “You are nithings! You killed women and children. You deserve nothing!”

  “That was the Irish!” He seemed indignant as though it was nothing to do with them.

  “Then in the next life choose your allies better.” I turned to Dick, who had arrayed his men in a half circle around one side. Crossbow bolts which missed their target could travel for long distances. My voice was cold as I shouted, “Kill them!”

  My archers were at such a close range that the Vikings had no defence. When they held their shields up the bolts from the crossbows punched through mail. Their leader was the last to die. His body was covered in arrows and as he opened his mouth to curse me a bolt smashed through the opening and he fell dead.

  We had suffered. Many were wounded. Our horses had suffered too and we camped at Preston for a week to recover and to bury the dead villagers. The Earl of Chester decided to burn the old town down. “I will have a new castle built and this one will be of stone. My squire served me well and I will knight him. This will be his manor.”

  I saw the looks on the faces of the other squires when the news was announced. It gave all of them the hope that they, too, would be elevated through an act of bravery. The move was a clever one. Even as we left, at the end of seven long days, the men of the Earl of Chester were beginning to build the castle. The heads of the last four Irishmen would adorn the gatehouse when it was finished. It would not be a finished castle but its new bones rose like a phoenix from the blackened remains of the charnel house which had been Preston. It would become stronger and the raiders would not have such an easy time of it the next time they came.

  We headed north to make sure that Sir Gilbert and the men of the north had scoured the land for the last of the raiders. We would head home. I would see my family again. This time I would not need to leave so soon and, possibly, I might be at home when my wife gave birth.

  Part 2

  The War Within

  Chapter 13

  As we passed the scene of the battle of the Lune we saw the blackened remains of the bonfires used to burn the bodies. In future years the crops would be good from the bones and ash of the dead raiders. Some good would, at least, come from their raid. I was still angry at the slaughter of Preston. It is easy to be critical in hindsight but the Earl of Chester should have erected a stone castle before now. The temporary one his squire would erect was a start but that was all. It took two days to reach Carlisle. We stopped at Kendal and spent some time with the baron.

  “I am grateful, my lord, for the advice you gave my son. He is young but I now have high hopes for him.”

  “He is a fine knight.” I spread my arm to the north and west. “What of the people here? Do they have Viking blood?”

  “They do. Many were slain when King William scoured the north but there are many hidden valleys and caves. They survived but they are ever suspicious of us. Between Carlisle and here there is little hospitality.”

  “It is dangerous?”

  “No, my lord. They are not so foolish as to attack us but they harbour legends and stories of heroes who will come to save them.”

  I was intrigued, “Who are these heroes?”

  “They speak of a King Coel and his warlord, Lann, who drove the Saxons from this land and then disappeared beneath a cave in Wales. It is said they sleep there with Merlin the wizard and one day will rise from the dead to reclaim this land.”

  “You are Christian; you cannot believe such legends, surely?”

  “It matters not if I believe it or not they do. They are Christian but they have some pagan beliefs. They speak of wolf warriors who prowl at night and can change into wolves.”

  “You have wolves here; perhaps they mistake them for warriors.”

  “King William appointed a young lord of the manor at Coniston in the north west of the land. It was said wolves howled and he and his five men at arms and squires were found dead.”

  “They were killed by wolves?”

  “No, my lord, by blades, and my father found footprints there but even though he searched for weeks no trace of their killers was ever found. He hanged five local men but it did no good.” I cocked my head quizzically, “The hangmen were found dead and the wolves were heard again. I leave that lake to the locals. We have had no trouble since.”

  As we rode north the next day I pondered his words. I did not believe the story of the men who could change into wolves. This was the work of men who could make the sound of a wolf. If I ruled this land I would hunt them down and end the threat. This was not my land and I had problems enough at home.

  We did notice the land warming as we neared Carlisle. In the ten days we had been away spring had decided to erupt. It was a good sign. We were not destined to get home soon, however. In the short time we had been away the Scots had decided to make raids in the absence of Sir Gilbert. With so many of his household knights fallen he begged me to stay until he had finished the castle. I sympathised with him. The Baron of Kendal had shown me that the hold on this side of the land was tenuous. We stayed in the castle and I had my knights take their conroi north of the river to intimidate the Scots. I gave orders that they were not to attack unless they were attacked first. However any stray animals were to be collected and brought back.

  The stay gave me the chance to help Sir Gilbert divide the profits from the attack. The Vikings always carried their treasure with them and we had a fine collection of gold and silver arm ba
nds as well as many precious jewels. The mail was always useful if only to be melted down and reused. With the treasure form Preston all of my knights, men at arms and archers were much richer. Even John son of Leofric would be happy. I was also keen for the horses to recover. We had treated them harshly and the spring growth allowed them to recover some of their vigour.

  Sir Tristan was the one who engaged the Scots. While patrolling close to Booths Castle he was challenged by a young Scottish knight to single combat. It was a mistake for Tristan had been trained by both Edward and Wulfric. He returned with him and his warhorse while his squire went for ransom.

  I took the opportunity of speaking with the young man, who was a cousin of Walter Comyn, the man who had placed a price upon my head. Sir Robert Comyn was a fiery youth who hated the Normans and wanted the traditional lands of Scotland to be ruled by King David. Even so we managed to speak for he respected me and my name.

  “The land you claim was English. King William conquered it and I have read that in the time before the Romans it belonged to what is now England.”

  “It does not matter we held it before the Bastard came and we will take it again.”

  I could see that he would not be persuaded and so I spoke with him of the politics of the land of Scotland. “Does the King have support from all his lords?”

  His eyes narrowed, “Are you trying to get me to be disloyal, my lord?”

  I shook my head, “I have no doubt that you are loyal to your king. I can see that you are a true patriot. I am thinking of others who covet the throne.”

  He relaxed a little. “There are some. It is said the De Brus family who have lands in England and Scotland has ambitions to be the ruling clan. And then there is the Balliol family. They have some claims to the throne.” He shook his head, “Not very strong ones but…”

  “Sir Barnard is a friend of your cousin is he not?”

  The young man was naïve and did not see beneath the question. “He is a different branch of the family.”