King Henry's Champion

by Griff Hosker

  I took a further step forward. “I will fight him here and now.” I drew my sword, “Phillip de Waller, you are a murderer and a foresworn knight. You hide behind a black helmet and black mail. Come and fight me and we will end this blood feud!”

  The helmet was removed and the coif thrown back. “You are right, Greek. This ends today; here before your King. Today I will avenge my family’s honour and we fight to the death!” He drew his sword and waved it in the air. The rebels all cheered.

  Chapter 19

  The King said quietly, “You do not need to do this.”

  I shook my head, “I do. They are very clever, your majesty. If I refuse then our men lose heart and they gain strength. I have to fight and I have to win.” I turned, “John, my shield!”

  I was pleased that I had had my sword sharpened as well as my short sword. Some knights used a dagger; I preferred the short sword.”

  John brought me my shield. As he handed it to me he said, quietly, “My lord, Wulfric said remember the assassin and the wolf’s bane. He saw something shining wet on the black knight’s blade. It may be poisoned.”

  I glanced over and saw that the blade was, indeed, wet. Had I not been told I might not have seen it. Even the slightest of wounds from wolfsbane would mean that I would die.

  This was no tournament. There were no heralds, no stands and no favours. The four leaders stepped well back out of the way of flailing swords. We walked up to each other and the combat began as soon as we were within the length of a sword.

  I knew where his first blow would be struck. He would aim for my shoulder. I now knew that my enemies had heard of the wound and the potential weakness. What he did not know was that I had strengthened my shoulder, increased the protection on my shield and used the salve on the elbow. Knowing where he would strike meant I could anticipate the blow and use that against him. I lifted my shield slightly as he approached so that the top was level with the plate covering the shoulder. I then stepped forward with my right foot. It enabled me to stab forward. His swing had opened his body.

  The strike on my shoulder and shield was delivered with all the force that this young knight could muster. The shield however did its job. My left side felt as though a tree had fallen upon it but the padding had worked. My sword, in contrast, had not been stopped by his shield. The blow was so quick that it struck his stomach. His eyes widened as he felt the strike. He had quick reactions and he turned his body back. The tip of my sword penetrated his surcoat, black mail links and was stopped by his gambeson. His move meant the sword slid along his body but it tore the mail links as it did so.

  He was off balance now and had to step back on his right leg. I used my right shoulder to push into him. He was not expecting that for he believed my left side to be weak. I flexed my knee as I did so and he staggered backwards. His arms flailed as he struggled to keep his balance. The only chance I had to avoid the dripping poison on the black knight’s blade was to make him be defensive. I brought my sword backhanded towards his gaping middle. He had quick reactions and, as he tried to regain his balance, he blocked my sword with his. They rasped together. His blade held mine and they slid together. He managed to brace himself with his right foot and our faces were close together.

  I nodded to the blades. “Now there is wolf’s bane on them both. Let us see whom God favours!” I pushed him and he sprang back. I saw the look of horror on his face. If either blade touched flesh then the knight it touched was as good as dead.

  He was warier now and circled me. I saw that my first strike had torn his mail. The hauberk hung down a little on his right side. I feinted towards his face. Now that he knew my sword was poisoned too he brought his own blade up quickly to counter. I changed direction and stabbed forward towards the weakened mail. When I struck his stomach I pushed to my right. Again he sprang back but I saw his hauberk was now badly damaged. The sword had not hurt him but it had further weakened his mail. The whole hem hung below his surcoat.

  He brought his sword over in a high arc. He intended to strike my shoulder again. All of his power was in the strike. I dropped to my left knee and thrust my sword up and forward. His own momentum drove his body on to the blade. His sword hit my shield and shoulder but I saw the grimace on his face as my sword entered his body. He pulled back and I saw blood on my blade.

  “And now you are dead. It is your poison. You know how it works: slowly. By tomorrow morning you will be dead. I could walk away now and still have won. You are a dead man walking!”

  I was goading him and it worked. He roared and raced at me. He was trying to end this before the wound I had caused weakened him. He swung at my head this time. I blocked with my shield. He braced himself for the strike which never came. As I lifted my shield and took the blow I spun on my left leg and brought the edge of my blade across his back. It ripped through his surcoat and into his mail links. His gambeson prevented any further penetration but his hauberk was wrecked. The right side now threatened to trip him. He had little movement as half of his hauberk was hanging around his right foot.

  He was young and he was fitter. He was faster yet his wound and his damaged hauberk had handed the advantage to me. He kicked the edge of his trailing hauberk away from his right foot so that he was balanced. I saw the blood on the ground. It was his blood. I saw that there were puddles; he was bleeding heavily. I used a long blow brought from over my right shoulder. He was not certain if I was feinting or not and he blocked it with his shield. He brought his own sword around but it was a weak hit on my shield.

  “I end this now, Waller. I will give you the quick death that you do not deserve.”

  I feinted towards his weakened mail with a thrust and he brought both his sword and shield to block me. I changed the thrust to a sweep and brought it up and across his neck. I felt it bite into the mail coif and knock his head backwards. Here there was neither a surcoat nor a gambeson to give protection and the links were severed. The sword sawed across his throat. The bright red blood spurted as it ripped though his artery. It sprayed high and there was a cheer from the men of Normandy and a groan from the rebels. I stood and watched as his body toppled over.

  Raising my sword I yelled, “Long live King Henry!”

  I was lucky that day. I sensed a movement as a black shape levelled and loosed a crossbow bolt at me. I barely had time to raise my shield to protect my head. The bolt hit my shield so hard that it knocked me back. I heard howls of protest from behind me. I raised my head above my shield and saw Waller’s sergeant at arms as he was struck by two arrows. He fell dead.

  I sheathed my sword and picked up Waller’s blade. I strode towards Montfort, “There is no honour amongst any of your men. I threw the sword at his feet. The blade is poisoned with wolf’s bane.” I pointed to the dead sergeant, “He tried to murder me. Perhaps I should use the poisoned blade and end this rebellion now!”

  The two of them recoiled. Behind me I heard a quiet commanding voice, it was the King. “Come, my champion. Do not lower yourself to their level. If they have any honour they will keep their word and withdraw.” He pointed a finger at them, “But I now know them for what they are! Godless men whose word means nothing! You and your army are traitors and cowards!”

  We strode back to our lines. I saw that Wulfric had brought up a dozen archers and their bows were ready to launch an arrow storm if any more treachery was attempted. Every knight and man at arms banged his shield and chanted, “Alfraed!”

  The King said quietly, in my ear, “Do not take so many risks. My country will need you. When I am gone it is you and my son who will protect and keep England safe until my grandson can take the throne.”

  The leaders all patted me on the back as I passed. They meant well but I ached all over. Count Geoffrey’s voice was in my ear, “That was magnificent. How did you know about the poison?”

  “Wulfric spotted it on his blade and we knew from the assassin that they all carried it. I made sure that some was on my blade. I ran my sword down his.”
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  The Count shook his head, “Combat is one thing but that is the act of an evil mind.”

  King Henry said, “Amen to that. And now we prepare for an attack.”

  “Will they not withdraw? It was a trial by combat.” The Count was still a little naïve and his face showed his incredulity.

  I shook my head, “The combat was a ploy to kill me. I have no doubt that the two leaders knew of the poison. You heard the cheering. I do not encourage it but I am a talisman and that is dangerous for if you take away the talisman you take away the heart.”

  “The Earl is right, Count Geoffrey. I have created something which is a double edged sword. The presence of the Earl gives heart to our army and hope to our cause. His death would cause the opposite.”

  We had reached the castle and my squires were waiting. I took off my baldric. “The blade is poisoned John. Do not let it touch you. Use mail mittens and clean every trace from it.”

  “Aye my lord.”

  When he and my other squires had left us I said, “We know where Montfort will attack. He will come for me. He saw, before, that you were in the castle your majesty and he will have to get through your army to get to you.”

  Count Geoffrey said, “Then you must wait in the castle too, Earl.”

  “And if we do then the message to our men is that I am afraid and that fear will infect them. No, I must be in the front rank with my banner held high for all to see. But that gives us some hope for if I am in the centre then it means their flanks will be weaker. We can draw them in and they will push on hard.”

  I could see that the Count was not convinced, “I cannot see that working.”

  I smiled, “A long time ago it worked. Hannibal and his Carthaginians defeated a much larger Roman army at Cannae. They drew them in, encircled them and slaughtered the army. We just need to pull them back to the base of the castle walls where our archers and crossbows can kill with impunity and the men on the flanks can surround and slaughter them.”

  The King nodded, “I have heard of this battle. The plan is a good one and, I think, involves the least risk for you will be close to the walls. It is, however, a dangerous manoeuvre.”

  “It is. I need knights who obey orders. If I had my knights from home I would be confident.”

  The Count said, “But you have not and this day my knights shall be yours. You have trained us and this will be our test. Let us hope we do better than when we tilted against your squires.”

  We spent the rest of the day preparing. I strapped on my cleaned sword and the King went around all the leaders to tell them what our plan was. The enemy had still not come by night fall and that enabled us to make the ground through which they would travel muddy by pouring pail after pail of river water upon it and then pig fat was smeared on the stakes so that they could not be removed and the rest laid in slippery puddles on the already muddy ground.

  As our men prepared the ground I stripped completely so that salve could be applied to my shoulder. Leofric said, “It is badly bruised my lord.”

  “He had a powerful stroke, but it held.”

  He put a bandage around it. There was no wound but the bandage would add protection. That night I slept soundly for I was exhausted. I was no longer the young man who could fight all day and not feel it. I felt it.

  We rose and ate well before dawn. It was a cold night. When I rose I felt every blow from the previous day. William and Leofric rubbed the salve on my back and my damaged arm. It helped. Our sentries had reported movement in the night and we knew they were preparing an attack. I led our meagre force to the edge of the stakes. Each of us had a spear. Many of the knights had wondered at this for they deemed it not to be noble. The King had overruled their objections. “The Earl is right; it means we strike the first blow before they can close with us.”

  I had Wulfric and Roger on either side of me with John behind. The Count and the Angevin knights were to my right. The knights of Dreux were to my left. They had demanded the honour of fighting those who had taken their home. The sun came up. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the castle bathed in golden light. The King looked to have a corona about his head and I saw that, close by him were William and Leofric. They would be as safe as any that day. Glancing to the east I saw that there was a low mist which hung around the ground. It had been exceptionally cold the previous night. Montfort and his leaders would think that the mist would aid them. It would do the opposite. They would not see the slippery, treacherous ground beneath their feet.

  There was a voice from the gatehouse, “Your majesty! They come!”

  The King shouted, “Then let us be about our business! Today we fight for England! God be with us!”

  Montfort was no fool. He had seen through our plan to disrupt his horses and so his men came on foot. They had not, however, brought spears and that gave us hope. The men at arms behind our knights all held a long ash spear. Their deadly heads would dart forward through the gaps and strike at faces. There is nothing like facing the prospect of losing an eye to make a knight wary.

  I had no worries about my two men at arms but I said, for the benefit of the others, “Make sure your shields protect the man to your left as well as you.” I was reassured by the clatter of shields as they touched.

  The mist made the enemy who came at us indistinct. They were blackened shadows. It did not daunt those of us in the front rank. We were all experienced. Sir Richard had laid an area of fifty paces from us with stakes. Behind us the archers and crossbow men could see over our heads and beyond the mist. They began to loose. The bang of the crossbows was followed by the snap of the bow. Soon there were more snaps than bags. I heard arrows and bolts crack into shields and helmets. They would have to come closer before the missiles could do serious damage. When I saw two men at arms fall with arrows in their faces I knew they had been released by my archers. They were deadly. When they were ten paces from the edge of the stakes the arrows and bolts claimed more victims and the knights and men at arms who advanced closed ranks and raised shields.

  The first ones who entered the maze of wood hurried. It was a mistake. They slipped and fell. Those behind tripped and stumbled over them. The arrows began to fall and skewer the backs of mailed men who flailed in the mud. Had we had more archers then we might have held them there but we had a handful and soon the weight and press of men forced their way closer to us.

  “Spears!”

  We presented our spears and a second row appeared over our backs. I saw that the ones who approached us were the rebel men at arms. Montfort was saving his knights for the moment they had weakened us. The stakes, however, meant that they could not come at us in one solid mass. With men slipping and sliding they were becoming frustrated. They wasted energy and they lost their heads. The first to reach us struck the line closest to the Count and his men. Their spears jabbed forward. Each spear found flesh. Those who were not killed lay bleeding in the mud; disappearing beneath the mist. It was as though the earth had swallowed them up.

  And then the enemy struck our part of the line. I was aware of my standard being waved above me. It drew the enemy to me like bees to a flower. I held my spear overhand and thrust it forward. The man at arm’s war cry became a scream of pain as the spear head was rammed into his open mouth. The man next to him sliced down at my spear and severed it. He was despatched, for his pains, by Roger. A man had to watch his enemies closely in such a confined space. I jabbed the broken haft at the man at arms trying to get at Wulfric. The blow knocked off his helmet and stunned him. Wulfric’s axe swung down and we were all showered in blood, bone and brains.

  The enemy had managed to get more men to close with us while we had been seeing off their first attack. I hurled the now useless and broken spear into the air. I drew my short sword. Soon there would be a press of men and I would not be able to wield my better, longer weapon.

  It was a wall of blades which approached us but we still had the spears above our shoulders. I held my short sword low. If I raised my arm
I risked being stabbed underneath. The first man at arms who came had a spear thrust into his eye socket. His falling body prevented the man next to him from raising his sword. I thrust up, blindly. I found flesh and I twisted as I pushed up. My hand felt the warmth of his body and I pulled out the blade. It was covered in entrails and he fell writhing to the ground.

  The ground before us was covered in bodies but I saw men at arms in our frontline. The sheer weight of numbers was telling. We had lost knights. Rebel knights now appeared behind the men at arms. Montfort was gambling that we were weakening. The spears which had protected us were now gone. They had done their job but they either lay broken or in the bodies of the men before us. There was too great a press of men to resupply us. I sheathed my short sword and drew my long sword. The bodies before us meant we could now swing our blades. We could fight as we had been trained.

  This time I raised my weapon. The man at arms who came at me had a mail hauberk. A blow to the body would not be a killing blow and that was what I needed. I watched his sword and waited for him to strike. My hand was held behind my body. As he struck I stepped forward to place my left foot on the body before me. I blocked the sword with my shield and stabbed forward towards his head. The resting left leg gave me a more secure platform and my sword went into his face and out of the back of his head. I twisted it away and stepped back.

  The knight behind almost tore the body from his path so eager was he to get at me. “You may have defeated that arrogant crusader but now a real warrior will end your life!”

  I had learned that saying nothing in reply actually enraged enemies and so I remained silent. He had a war axe and he swung it at me. He was going for what he perceived to be my weak arm. Stepping forward again I turned my shield slightly. My sudden movements threw off his aim and instead of striking my shield‘s face it slid down the side. I brought my own sword diagonally to strike at his neck. He hurriedly brought up his shield. I had learned to do two things at once and I punched my shield at him. I hit the back of his hand and I hit it hard. He had mail mittens but I knew I had numbed him. I brought my sword over again before he had time to react and, once more, he blocked it on his shield but he was going backwards. His feet caught on the sword belt of a dead man at arms and he fell. With his arms open I lunged forward to stab into his unprotected groin.