But the responsibility of her was something of a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. Unlike Gerard and the king, he didn’t think in a two-dimensional fashion. Sean thought beyond the obvious to the improbable, to the obscure, and to the logical. He wasn’t thinking a day ahead or even a week ahead; he was thinking far ahead of that. It meant he wasn’t going to return Christin to her father because he had a plan, but he needed her cooperation to accomplish it.
He had an idea on how to end this once and for all.
Making sure Christin was covered up, Sean spurred the horse onward, followed by about a hundred royal troops, all of them thundering their way out of Norwich and heading for Bishop’s Lynn.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Caius could hardly believe what he’d just seen.
He’d been out of sight when Sean had approached a group of royal soldiers holding Christin hostage and he’d seen, clearly, when one burly bastard had hit Christin on the side of the head, rendering her unconscious. Greatly concerned, he continued to watch while Sean carried Christin out through the postern gate, followed by a collection of soldiers.
All of it had happened so quickly.
Now, they were gone.
The man who had struck Christin was still standing there, holding his bloodied gut, and when he turned around, Caius recognized him. Gerard d’Athee. The king’s bodyguard, a man that didn’t have Sean’s intelligence, but he had his strength. He was purely an animal.
Caius sank back against the wall of the chapel, watching as Gerard headed back to the keep, holding his bloodied wound. When the man disappeared into the keep, Caius came out of hiding, coming to realize what had just happened – the king and Gerard d’Athee have concocted a scheme to abduct Christin from Norwich and take her north to FitzRoy to be married.
That’s what Sean had told him.
Apparently, in the wake of the wounded Gerard, Sean had been tasked with carrying out the man’s duties.
But Caius knew he couldn’t let him get far, even if it was Sean. Turning for the gatehouse, he began to run. He was a very tall man, taller than everyone around him, and he was also big and strong, which meant men naturally moved out of his way. Those who didn’t were shoved aside as he raced towards The Marshal’s encampment.
“Cai!”
The shout came from behind him and he slowed to see Kevin running up behind him.
“Cai, what’s wrong?” Kevin demanded. “Why are you running.”
Caius stopped long enough to grab Kevin by the shoulder. “Christin has been abducted,” he said. “The king’s men, including your brother, have taken her out of the castle through the postern gate.”
“What?” Kevin hissed. “How do you know this?”
“Because I saw it,” Caius snapped. “I want you to go to the stables and find Sherry. He should be there. Tell him to get to The Marshal’s tent immediately because, clearly, something must be done to help her. And if you see Maxton or Kress or anyone else, tell them to get over to The Marshal’s tent as well.”
Kevin appeared a bit shocked, but he didn’t ask any further questions. He did as he was told, dashing off towards the stables as Caius picked up speed again and charged into The Marshal’s tent.
William wasn’t there.
Frustrated and apprehensive, he rushed over to the de Lohr tent only to find Christopher and David sitting, quite calmly, over some cold beef and wine. They both looked at Caius in surprise but before they could speak, Caius stated his business.
“My lord, we have a problem,” Caius said to Christopher. “The king has abducted your daughter. Even now, she is being taken out of Norwich.”
Christopher was on his feet, an expression of disbelief on his face. “What’s this?” he demanded. “How do you know?”
“I saw it happen,” Caius said. “I’m not sure how the situation evolved, but Gerard d’Athee and about a dozen royal soldiers had your daughter captured by the keep. I was speaking to Sean at the time and we heard screaming. Sean approached Gerard while I stayed to the shadows and it was clear that Gerard was wounded. As I watched, Sean took your daughter and spirited her out of the castle through the postern gate.”
That didn’t clear up the situation much for Christopher. “Sean?” he repeated. “And royal troops?”
Caius nodded, frustrated because it was clear that Christopher had no idea what he was talking about. “My lord, listen to me,” Caius said. “Clearly, you have not been told that John has set his sights on your daughter. He wants her for his bastard son, Robert Fitzroy.”
Christopher’s eyes widened. “I know that,” he snapped. “Christ, are you telling me… oh, my God… then she didn’t discourage him last night, after all.”
“My lord?”
Christopher waved him off. “No time to explain,” he said. “I must go after her immediately.”
He and David were already running for the tent flap, bursting through only to see William, Maxton, Kress, and Peter heading in his direction. William saw them, and the panic on their faces, and he pointed to their tent.
“Inside,” he commanded. “Now.”
“Like hell,” Christopher growled. “I must go and…”
William cut him off, physically putting his hands on the man and shoving him back into the tent. “Chris, inside,” he said again. “Go.”
With little choice, Christopher and David fell back into the tent, with William following. Caius, Peter, Maxton, and Kress were behind them, all of them crowding in.
“William, he has my daughter,” Christopher raged. “I must go after her.”
William shook his head. “Nay,” he said evenly. “You will remain here, with me, and we shall confront John about this immediately. I will send Caius and Maxton after her along with fifty of my men, but you… you stay with me, Chris. We must deal with John on his level.”
“I do not want to deal with John!” Christopher boomed. “Sean took her, for Christ’s sake. Why doesn’t he just bring her back?”
William gazed at him steadily. “You know why.”
Christopher’s jaw began to work but he didn’t explode, saying things that others should not hear. He knew Sean was an agent for The Marshal and he knew how hard the man had worked to gain the monarch’s trust, meaning he had to carry out the king’s wishes no matter what the cost to his friends or comrades. Christin would be considered collateral damage to the greater scheme of things.
But Christopher wasn’t going to let that happen.
“I want my daughter back,” he growled. “I’ll kill Sean if he gets in my way.”
William sighed heavily. “Chris…”
But Christopher waved him off sharply. “I have every right to regain her,” he said. “If Sean wants to fight me, that is his choice, but I will show no mercy. We are talking about my daughter, William. My child, my blood.”
“I know.”
“I am going to get her back and then I shall make John sorry he ever considered her for this outrageous scheme. I am going to make him pay.”
William knew he had a wildfire on his hands. An angry Christopher, with thousands of men at his disposal, was never a good thing. He looked over his shoulder to Caius. “You and Maxton get mounted,” he said quickly. “Kress, you go with them. You will get the soldiers mounted while Caius and Maxton prepare their mounts. Hurry, now; there is no time to waste. And for pity’s sake, find Sherry and Peter and Kevin. I have need of them.”
As Caius, Maxton, and Kress headed for the tent flap, Kevin burst in.
“Sherry has gone after Christin,” he said. “I tried to stop him, but he would not listen.”
Everybody was scattering. William was trying to keep Christopher and David calm while the tent cleared out of everyone else, all of them racing to their mounts to follow Alexander. Not one man was going to let him face this alone, for the brotherhood of William Marshal’s agents was strong.
The Executioner Knights’ brotherhood was even stronger.
Especially since the
y were dealing with the Lord of the Shadows, who would not give up his prize easily.
God, William prayed silently as he realized how badly the situation was veering out of control, Sean, please keep that woman safe!
Anything else guaranteed that half of England would go to war against the king.
Ashdown.
It had been a long time since Alexander had thought of his home, the place where he’d been born. As he prepared his horse for the ride into the village, he found himself thinking of Ashdown and of his father, Phillip. Truth be told, he hadn’t thought of either in years, but that had mostly been because he’d spent the first several years after his brothers’ deaths torturing himself over what happened, what could have been, and what he should have done differently.
As he’d told Christin, his younger brothers had been his responsibility.
Andrew and Adam had been so full of life. That’s what they called it, anyway, but the reality was that they were full of arrogance, bravery, and recklessness. Alexander couldn’t even count the times he’d had to rein that pair in, like a pair of wild horses. Usually, it was Adam who would lead and Andrew who would follow, and they had been so very excited to go on the great quest with Richard. They had only been two years younger than Alexander, but their maturity had been far more lacking than his.
But it was a maturity that quickly developed once the hardships of the journey to The Levant began to take their toll. The travel, the lack of food, of water, and the harsh elements had forced the twins to quickly grow up. It had been a rude awakening for all of them, and once they’d actually reached The Levant, they might as well have traveled to the moon. Nothing was as they had expected and the pair had difficulty adjusting. Alexander had helped them as best he could, but he was having his own difficulties.
He blamed himself for not paying more attention to them.
Odd how his feelings towards Christin had brought back so many memories of his brothers and his father, or perhaps not so odd considering that’s the last time he really allowed himself to feel love. He loved his friends, of course, but love for family was something different.
Or love for a woman.
Alexander never thought he would ever return to Ashdown, but now that he was planning on taking a wife, he would have to reconsider. He was his father’s heir, after all, and Christin deserved a home of her own. She was a great lady who deserved everything he could provide for her. It seemed strange to him to even think that considering he was the one who always wandered, the one who was the loner. He worked alone, he traveled alone, because he liked it.
But he was alone no more, soon to be domesticated.
And it didn’t bother him one bit.
But first, he had some obstacles to overcome, not the least of which was a very powerful warlord by the name of Christopher de Lohr. After he took Christin to the inn by the cathedral, his next move would be to tell Christopher what had happened, and why. He snorted softly, leaning on the horse as he realized he felt like a giddy young squire with his first love, terrified of the girl’s father.
He didn’t think he had it in him.
“Sherry?”
Alexander was tucked back in a stall, but his head came up when he heard his name. “I am here.”
Kevin appeared. Alexander was about to turn back to the horse when he caught a glimpse of the expression on the man’s face. He took a second look at the strained countenance.
“What’s the matter with you?” he asked.
“You must come,” Kevin said. “Caius said that the king has abducted Lady Christin and you must come to The Marshal’s encampment immediately.”
Alexander blinked as if he didn’t understand the statement. “Abducted her?” he repeated. “But I was just with her. Not fifteen minutes ago.”
Kevin shook his head. “Caius saw the entire event,” he said. “He said my brother spirited her out from the postern gate. Please, Sherry, you must come.”
Alexander suddenly rushed him, grabbing him by the arms. It was clear that whatever confusion he had was instantly cleared up, like the sun bursting through the clouds.
“Sean took her?” he demanded. “Caius saw Sean?”
Kevin could see the panic and rage in the man’s eyes, unusual for Alexander, who was always the consummately controlled knight.
“Aye,” he said. “He saw my brother taking her from the postern gate along with several of the king’s men. That is all I know, I swear it. You must go to William, Sherry.”
Going to William wasn’t what Alexander had in mind. The singular thought he had was the fact that Sean had taken Christin out of Norwich. Sean had warned them of the king’s plan and they’d concocted their own counter-plan because of it, but it was clear that either their plan hadn’t worked or Sean had been planning on taking Christin out of Norwich all along. Perhaps he’d only pretended to work with them to lower their guard.
But Alexander didn’t truly believe that. At least, he hoped it wasn’t the case. When it came to Sean de Lara, nothing was for certain. Yet he knew one thing; he wasn’t going to William. He wasn’t going to take the chance that The Marshal would somehow prevent him from going after Christin.
He was going after her and he’d kill anyone who tried to stop him, de Lara included.
Bishop’s Lynn, Sean had said. FitzRoy had a manse in Bishop’s Lynn.
That’s where he was going.
Without another word, Alexander turned to his horse, who was fully prepared at that point. Alexander had his sword on the animal, sheathed, as well as his saddlebags. He was ready to go.
And go, he would.
As Kevin called after him, trying to stop him, Alexander thundered out of the stable, heading out of Norwich Castle.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
William had managed to talk Christopher out of riding after his daughter immediately, but things weren’t well with him.
Not in the least.
Caius, Kevin, Maxton, Kress, and Bric had mounted up and taken off after Alexander, who had less than an hour’s head start on them. Sending five heavily-armed and seasoned knights after Alexander, and Sean and Christin, was the only way to keep Christopher and David from starting an all-out war, at least at the moment. With Peter surprisingly siding with The Marshal and begging his father to be calm, they managed to convince Christopher to remain at Norwich and confront the king. Retrieving Christin was only part of the problem.
The larger issue was, in fact, John.
He had to be stopped.
Therefore, Christopher agreed to confront the king on his actions, but it was going to be on his terms. While William went into the keep to arrange the meeting with the monarch, Christopher had roused his entire contingent of one hundred heavily-armed de Lohr men into the keep of Norwich, prompting the king’s soldiers who happened to be in the keep to confront them. The great hall of Norwich saw bloody action as Christopher’s men easily dispatched the royal guard.
Unfortunately, that hadn’t been part of the plan.
William had sought out Old Daveigh before seeing the king, and they had been in Old Daveigh’s solar when they heard the clash. Shocked, they emerged into the great hall as the de Lohr men were trampling the king’s guard.
Old Daveigh’s first reaction was to summon his own men to beat back the de Lohr troops, but William prevented him from doing so because he knew it would be a bloodbath. William didn’t want allies going after each other even though what Christopher did could be considered quite hostile. Truth be told, Old Daveigh understood. He backed off and let William deal with it.
Fortunately, William wasn’t too late. By the time he got up to the king’s chamber, the door was open and Christopher was standing a few feet away from John with his enormous broadsword in his hand. The king’s personal guard were poised and ready to strike, and David and Peter were poised also. It threatened to be one hell of a battle as William rushed into the room, hoping he could prevent regicide.
“De Lohr, back away,” Will
iam commanded, moving to put himself between John and Christopher. “Do it now before this turns into chaos.”
Christopher was singularly focused on John. He didn’t even move when William commanded him to. He only moved when William put himself in front of John and then Christopher was forced to look at him. Even then, he didn’t step back until David tugged him.
The look in his eyes was positively deadly.
When William was certain Christopher wasn’t going to charge, he turned to John.
“Your grace, we are aware of your plans for Christin de Lohr,” he said evenly. “We are also aware that you have put those plans into action. I can only deter de Lohr for so long before he will overwhelm me and snap your neck, so now would be a very good time to tell him why you did this and assure him that his daughter will not be harmed in any way. I would also suggest you send a messenger to catch up to de Lara to tell him to release Christin to my men, who happen to be following. Do these things and there will be no bloodshed. Fail to comply and I cannot protect you. I am not sure I want to.”
John was sitting in a comfortable chair, looking at William quite casually. There was no sense of urgency in his features, as if he didn’t have a dozen armed men around him.
He was arrogant, and confident, that way.
“I will not send a messenger after de Lara,” he said frankly. “This is a great opportunity for Lady Christin. Surely de Lohr can see that. My son is a titled lord and when he marries Christin, he shall be the Duke of Dersingham. His daughter will be a duchess. All you had to do was ask me calmly and I would have told you the truth.”
Behind William, Christopher’s features twisted with disgust. “The Duchess of Dersingham?” he repeated as if it were the most distasteful thing he’d ever heard. “I would rather see her married to a pauper than titled and married to your bastard. But you knew that; otherwise, you would not have abducted her.”
The Agents of William Marshal Volume II: A Medieval Romance Bundle Page 21
