Blaze of Silver (24 page)

Will fell silent though his eyes still burned fierce and bright. Richard's expression, however, was unaltered and when he spoke, his voice had a steely rasp. “Will you swear on the life of your red horse that what you say is true?” He made Will face him directly. “Will you swear?”

Will felt as if the king had struck him. He had lost his father and his brother in the cause of the king. He had broken Hosanna in the cause of the king. Everything he did was in the cause of the king. To be doubted by the king was intolerable.

“Swear, Will, swear,” Richard's voice commanded him.

Will sank back onto the pallet, completely deflated. The king had certainly changed. Once, Richard could have judged a man's character with only a look. Now he demanded oaths and weighed up the word of a knight with whom he had fought in the field against the word of an enemy he scarcely knew.

And Will resisted. He could not—would not—swear on Hosanna's life. Even if the horse still had a life to swear on which Will, in his heart, scarcely dared to believe, it would be entirely wrong. Worse than wrong. If the king could not believe him without an oath, the trust between them was at an end. He tried to find some form of words that would not be insulting but gave up.
“I will not swear on Hosanna's life,” he said dully. “I will not swear to you. I will not swear at all. If we are reduced to oaths of loyalty, then there is no loyalty left.” He put his head in his hands.

There was a short silence, then, “How like your father you look now,” Richard observed, sitting down beside Will and taking his hands from his face. The king's eyes had lost their glacial gray and now shone green and quizzical. It took Will a moment to adjust. “I miss him, you know,” Richard said.

Will could hardly think straight. He sat with his jaw half-open. Richard studied his fingernails. Only slowly did Will begin to understand that he had passed some kind of test. Richard allowed him time to close his mouth before touching him lightly on the shoulder. “In times like these men swear oaths easily,” he said. “I have found it better to depend on the man who won't swear.” Relief flooded Will's entire body. He put his hand between the king's cool palms and, looking up, found that they understood each other very well.

They spoke at length and when Richard finally got up to leave, Will begged that he would guard himself with vigilance. “From what you say, I should be safe until the queen's silver arrives,” Richard replied, trying to reassure.

But Will could not be content with that. “There may be others here in the Old Man's pay. Try and keep Hal with you, sire,” he pleaded. “He would die defending you, and Elric, too.”

“If they can be spared from that red horse.” Richard gave a faint smile.

Will shook his head, trying to hide his overwhelming distress. “I saw Hal from the window earlier,” he said. “I think Hosanna is beyond human care now.”

“Oh?” said Richard. “Before I came up here, he was still worth saving. That boy—Elric, is that his name?—well, he is quite clear that Hosanna is going home. He tells the horse so all the time, and Hosanna won't want to disappoint him.”

“Hosanna would have been happy to die for you, too,” Will said when he could trust himself to speak, and Richard did not laugh at such a thought. He was not a sentimental man, but he knew something of the bond that could grow between a knight and his destrier. He half envied Will his attachment. Sometimes the king thought that the only thing to which he was truly attached was war. On a sudden impulse, he walked swiftly over to Will and embraced him with the embrace of a father. Then, just as quickly, he left him.

The day dragged on and now Will allowed himself to rest. Hosanna would pull through. Richard knew everything and Richard believed him. Hal would foil the Assassin's knife and the king was clever. When the door next opened, it would be to announce that they were all on their way home. That night, Will slept. In his dreams, Ellie was riding Sacramenta. They were just about to meet. Ellie was smiling. Then Will was shaken awake by a terrible clattering.

At first he thought it was just the rest of the ransom rolling in and he paced up and down, anxious for reassurance that Hal was alert at his post by Richard's side. But the wagoners also brought news that they shouted out with glee. Richard's lands were under fierce attack
from the king of France. The queen had brought with her not only the ransom silver but long lists of knights openly in revolt against their absent lord. At once the wagoners found themselves surrounded by cheering imperial soldiers and Richard's powerlessness was openly mocked. He would need to get home quickly, they catcalled, or he would find he had no home to go to. Will kicked his door with impotent fury.

It was not until midmorning that, without any ceremony at all, he was hauled out and frog-marched, still barefoot and filthy, along dark corridors reeking of damp. This was not the release he had hoped for. Then the dark gave way to light and he found himself being hurried right into the middle of the great hall. Will blinked, almost blinded by the flickering of hundreds of candles. With no time to collect himself, he was being stared at by a great and distinguished gathering, all crammed close together on benches, their fine furs and silks shimmering as wax dripped from above their heads. A public gallery had been erected at one end, for the emperor liked his subjects to witness his justice, and people from the town had flocked in, men and women jostling for space.

Will was bewildered by the sea of faces. Some of the people he recognized. Most he did not, but through them all he focused on only three. Directly in front of him were Richard, the emperor, and Amal. He was so relieved to see the king still alive that he did not need to see anybody else, not even Queen Eleanor, who sat directly behind her son. All her seventy-two years were written over her face but still she sat upright.

The emperor raised a hand and the company fell
silent except for a continuous murmur from the public gallery. Will's chest tightened. Was this Richard's moment of freedom? He could not tell. Added to that, the emperor was much younger than Will expected. Dressed in green velvet, with the imperial crown balanced precariously on his head, he sat nervously on an ornate throne set on a dais between two pillars. Amal hovered behind him looking sickly. Life at the imperial court, with its rich food and bawdy jokes, did not suit an old spy used to the harder life of the Syrian mountains. He was more emaciated than ever and his bright tunic only accentuated the depression rooted in his face. Richard sat below the dais and Will was comforted to see that Hal was at his shoulder.

It was soon clear that this was no joyful scene of reunion and freedom but a trial, and to his alarm Will found himself the defendant. Yet even as two soldiers stationed themselves on either side, his alarm diminished. Will could not see the king's face but Richard seemed to be sitting easily, his legs splayed out. Occasionally he addressed his mother and her expression too was encouraging. If the king and Queen Eleanor were relaxed, Will need not worry.

The emperor began to speak and the translators took deep breaths for the emperor spoke quickly and in German, to stamp his authority. The charge against Will was treason, both against his king and against the imperial majesty. Will had conspired with his friend Kamil, so the emperor declared in tones that were entirely reasonable, to steal Richard's ransom and thus to prevent the emperor from doing his Christian duty and releasing a holy and respected crusader. He could not, naturally,
release Richard with the ransom unpaid since that would send out a signal that the empire was weak and the emperor's reputation would be sullied. With regret, therefore, without the ransom entrusted to William de Granville, Earl of Ravensgarth, he must keep Richard locked up.

Will looked at the king but Richard said nothing.

A man unknown to Will was summoned to speak in his defense. Will signaled that he would defend himself. The request was denied. The defender did not even look at his client but puffed out his chest. Will was just a young knight, he said, easily led astray. The fact that he was here now, having come voluntarily to throw himself on the mercy of the king and the emperor, should speak in his favor. He would not be treacherous again.

Will surged forward, restrained only by the soldiers. Surely Richard would speak up? But still Richard said nothing. Will clenched his fists and tried to keep his temper under control.
There must be some reason for the king's silence
, he thought.
He will speak soon
. He could see Hal tense.

Now Amal was summoned to bolster the case for the prosecution. “I wish everybody to see that this is a fair trial,” the emperor said again and again. “We do not condemn without evidence.”

With his perfect German, Amal was the perfect witness. He spun his tale in sorrow, not anger, and he told it so well that the audience was moved almost to tears. They stared with hostile eyes at Will. How shocking, they muttered, for a knight to be seduced by the lures of a false Saracen friend and the promise of easy money. What price Christian chivalry now? They shook their
heads even as they licked their lips like prowling foxes scenting blood. Amal warmed to his theme, his crackling voice bleeding Kamil's reputation dry. The audience shuffled their feet. Some called out “Shame!” others something worse. Richard shifted slightly. When he had finished, Amal bowed his head and slid back behind the throne.

The emperor cleared his throat. “It is a dreadful thing,” he said, and the French interpreter relayed his words in a voice scratchy as a quill, “that a crusader hero like Richard should not be able to return in triumph to his own lands. How much it pains me to see him still confined. Yet the terms of the ransom that King Richard himself agreed to, a ransom which was to make up for all the king's shortcomings, have not been honored. What can an emperor do in such circumstances? If there has been wrongdoing, somebody must be punished. That is the law.” He coughed.

Now
, Will thought,
now Richard will stand up and this charade will be over
.

But still nothing. Only Hal was on his feet, staring wildly from Richard to Will to Richard and clasping his sword. He too could not believe what was going on. A groan began to swell through the crowd. They knew what was coming next and it made them rustle their cloaks in anticipation.

The emperor flapped his hands until the swell died down. He sank his head into his chest as if he was debating. Then he sighed and began again. “This knight's betrayal,” he gestured in the direction of Will, “has been terrible indeed. But,” he paused for effect, “I have decided, in my own way, to be merciful.” Will
held his breath. “I have decided that Richard, Duke of Aquitaine and King of England, should not be required to remain here until more wagons of silver can be gathered and delivered.” To Will's surprise, Richard's expression did not change. “I ask for only two things in exchange for his freedom,” the emperor continued. “He must swear allegiance to me”—at this Richard looked genuinely surprised and horrified, and Queen Eleanor leaned forward and spoke quickly to him, which the emperor pretended not to notice—“and he must oversee the punishment of this wicked knight, William de Granville, Earl of Ravensgarth, who, despite his youth, must pay the heaviest price for his treachery. That is my decision. Freedom for the king and death for the knight. It is simple and, I believe, fair. Does King Richard agree?”

Will lurched backward. He had eyes only for Richard now. It was clear what had happened. Despite all Will had said, the king had struck a deal with the emperor, a deal in which each would get what they craved most: the emperor Richard's homage and the legal execution of the only knight who knew of his hideous pact with the Old Man, and Richard the ability once again to exercise his kingship in more than name. The logic was as perfect as it was deadly.

At last Richard got up and walked heavily toward Will. In his face Will read his fate. Half of the king's mind was weeping for a young man who had been more loyal than any son. He did truly love and respect him. But the rest wept only for his benighted kingdom and his wounded lands, consolidated so carefully and now pulled apart like a sheep mauled by wolves. Will
could follow the king's thoughts as if they were his own. Richard's subjects had given all they had for the ransom. If they did not get their king in return—and soon—the spring fields of England and France would be speckled not with wildflowers but with blood, and the dull rattle of sword against sword would drown out the cries of newborn lambs. It was clear to Will that to avoid this Richard would have sold his own mother, and Will was hardly that. There had been no better bargaining tool than the information Will had provided and it was this that had sealed his fate. He was to die a traitor's death to save both his king and the imperial honor.

At first, a sense of appalled horror and indignation engulfed him. Will's whole self revolted against such a calculation. He wanted to cry out and denounce a king who would condone such black injustice. But when Richard approached and looked Will fearlessly in the eye, not begging, not apologizing, but simply regarding him as an equal, a different feeling entirely overtook him. Though the king did not speak, Will knew he was being asked to understand the dilemma and to weigh up the situation dispassionately. Richard was asking his most trusted knight for the greatest sacrifice he could ever make. Will's life for a king's freedom. Will's life for a kingdom's safety. Will's life for the good of countless others who were defenseless without their lord and crying out for peace. Will's life could deliver all that.

Richard's eyes were hard as flint, but below them, the edges of his mouth were creased. Will could not take his eyes from those creases. They called to him. They told him that the king could not do what he needed to do on
his own. Richard might not beg but he needed Will as he had needed nobody else. At that moment, Will held the king in the palm of his hand.