Housecarl (19 page)

My friend’s face fell.  He
meant well and said little but when he did speak he frequently said
the wrong thing.  “Sorry Osgar.  I meant nothing by
it.”

I saw Osgar relent. 
Baiting Ridley was like shooting fish in a barrel and he patted the
gentle giant on the back. “Never mind Ridley we now have enough
coin to buy a barrel the next time we visit a town.”

Our discussions were ended by
the arrival of my uncle. He dismounted and joined us by the
fire.  We had saved him some of the meat and he gratefully
gnawed on a bone.  I noticed the pained expression on his face
and I knew what caused it.  His leg had been worsening of late
and the cold, high mountains made it ache even more.  I threw
my wolf skin cloak over his leg and he nodded his gratitude. “Well
we will be out of these mountains soon. And for that I am
glad.”

I looked up in surprise. 
“We do not follow Gruffyd?”

Aethelward shook his head. “He
is clever and slippery nephew.  He has chosen a route which
only lightly armed men can follow.  The Earl is sending the
horse and the archers to pursue him and we go to Rhuddlan.”

We were partly disappointed for
we had wanted to finish what we had started but Rhuddlan meant
comfort, food and ale.

The guards we had left at the
fort looked disappointed as the army hove into view.  The
scouts and horsemen had returned to the main body to tell the Earl
that the Welsh were ensconced in their rocky crags and an assault
was a waste of time.  The empty saddles testified to the fact
that they had tried. The Earl Harold was annoyed with his failure
to destroy the Welsh wasp. He was also annoyed with his brother for
not following the fleeing king closer after he had fled although he
did not say that to Earl Tostig.  Tostig took his portion of
the army back to Jorvik leaving us with the same force we had had
the first time we had fought Gruffyd.

I was invited to join the Earl,
Sweyn and Aethelward as we celebrated high summer.  There was
little joy at the meal.” We will stay here this time for I want
Gruffyd to suffer in the mountains.  We will make him come to
us!”

Aethelward leaned back to
stretch his lame leg.  “The problem we have is that the
Housecarls are too ponderous to strike at such a mobile force as
the Welsh.” I could see Sweyn bridle at the implied criticism. “I
mean no disrespect Sweyn you know that.  I was a Housecarl and
I know the value of that rock but sometimes the rock moves too
slowly or the enemy evaporates before it, like fog on a spring
morning. You need to have some lighter armed warriors who can force
the issue or,” he looked at Harold, “knights on horses such as the
Normans use.”

“That is something I think we
can aspire to but we would need to train the men to do that. 
It would not happen overnight.” He suddenly looked at me. 
“Aelfraed how long did you train to be a Housecarl?”

“Uncle began my training when I
was seven.”

Aethelward shook his head, “That
was training to be a warrior you began your training as a Housecarl
when you were twelve.”

“So more than seven years to
become an accomplished Housecarl.” I felt myself redden at the
compliment.  “We would need seven years to be able to have a
knight ready for war and I do no t think that the Welsh and the
Scots will wait seven years.”

“You could go to Duke William
and see how they do it?  Perhaps ask for some advice.”

Harold shook his head.  “No
I think the Duke has his eyes on England’s throne.  I have
heard it said that the Norman churchmen brought over by King Edward
are here to prepare the ground for the Duke’s arrival.”

I leaned forwards eagerly. 
“We would fight the Normans?”

Harold smiled indulgently, “I
don’t think it would come to that , the Witenagemot would have to
invite him to be king and if they did that then a war would be
pointless.”

“He might invade.”

“Aelfraed he has horses, how
would he transport an army that was big enough to defeat us? 
No he would either be invited or he would not be a king.”

My uncle had been playing with
the pieces of the chess set which was on the table.  “I would
not be too sure my lord.  Duke William’s ancestors came from
the north in ships. I am n o expert in ships  but , it seems
to me that if they could get enough ships then they could
invade.”

The words of Aethelward made
Earl Harold think. “Perhaps I need to discover if he could invade
using ships.  I know the Danes still use ships for war but
they do not have horses.”

Sweyn slurped the last of his
ale and then put it on the table.  “That still does not solve
the problem of Gruffyd though. How d o we get to him?”

Suddenly my uncle sat bolt
upright holding a chess piece in his fingers. “If this was a chess
game and we wanted to get the king which piece would we attack, if
his knights and the bishop were protecting him and h is rook?”

Harold and Sweyn looked
befuddled.  Perhaps because I knew my uncle better than they
did and perhaps because I had played chess against him so many
times, the answer was obvious to me.”

“The Queen!”

“Precisely nephew.”

The Welsh Queen was Ealdgyth and
was the sister of Edwin of Mercia .  She and her daughter ,
Nest , were obviously not with the king and I wondered where they
were.  Harold suddenly became interested. “So if we use her to
bait a trap…”

“That and offer a reward for the
head of Gruffyd.”

“Would his men betray him?”

“I do not know but h e has
deserted them twice before and failed to stand up to you. 
Perhaps he might but if we hold his wife and child then that just
may stir him into action.”

Sweyn belched, “But where in the
Almighty’s name is she?  She isn’t with him and she isn’t
here.  She could be anywhere.”

The thought suddenly came to me
and I blurted it out.  “S ain t Asaph, with the monks.”

When I said it I felt foolish
for the three men just stared at me but I discovered that they were
staring because the answer was so obvious and yet they had failed
to make the connection. “Well done Aelfraed.  Of course that
is where she would be, close to the court and yet safe. We will
ride there on the morrow.”

I felt so proud when Aethelward
came over to me and put his arm around my shoulders, “That was well
done Aelfraed.  I think today I saw the boy become a man.”

As the one with the idea I was
included in the party which headed for the monastery the next
morning. There were twenty of us mounted on all the horses that
were not being used by the scouts.  Although we did not wear
our mail we had our weapons with us and there could be no doubt
that we were belligerent.

Brother Aidan came to greet
us.  He looked from the Earl to Aethelward to me and gave a
slight smile as he bowed. “I am afraid you will find no one here to
fight my lord.”

“You know who I am then
friar?”

“We all know the Earl Harold.
How can we be of service? ” Here he looked directly at my
uncle.  “As you no doubt know the monastery is poor, save for
cheese and honey.”

I think he meant to insult
Aethelward and myself as he had l known me when I was still a child
but I was now older and had killed men.  The friar’s insults
meant nothing to me.

“We seek Queen Ealdgyth.”

A look of annoyance flashed
across the monk’s face and I could see the dilemma he faced. 
Should he lie to us or brazen it out and defy us.  I knew that
there were almost a thousand monks in the complex and they would
fight if they had to. Harold could also be devious and he smiled
disarmingly before the friar could lie. “I know that she is within
your walls and I come to offer her my protection for he brother has
now been made Earl of Mercia.” He leaned forward to emphasise his
next words. “And I appointed him. he would wish for me to look
after his sister.”

“And if she were within these
walls would she not be safe here?”

Harold inclined his head, “I
think the lady herself should make that judgement not you friar
for, after all, you are a man of the cloth and not a man of the
world.”

I saw the monk become angry and
he opened his mouth a s though to argue but then thought better of
it and returned the Earl’s smile. “I will ask the lady but if she
prefers to stay here…?”

“Then I would have to persuade
her.” The threat was subtle. It was in his tone and his words for
his hand was upon his sword. When the monk re-entered the monastery
Harold turned to Aethelward. “This is more than a mere monk, this
man dabbles in politics.”

“I think you are right my lord.”
We cooled our heels for over an hour until eventually the door
opened once more and Brother Aidan stood there with Queen Ealdgyth.
She was not as beautiful as the Earl’s lady, Edith, but she had an
attraction about her which stirred the loins. Her dark eyes were
framed by her dark hair which gave her a sultry look.  She
enhanced the look by lowering her eyelids as she looked up at Earl
Harold. I knew he was smitten when he leapt from his horse and
dropped to one knee.  “My lady I am here on behalf of your
brother to offer you protection .”

She smiled demurely and took his
proffered hand. “And why would I need protection my lord?”

“These are parlous times. 
Your husband has lost another battle.” I saw the pained look on
Brother Aidan’s face at the word, ‘another.’ “And who knows when he
will be able to return here.  No doubts the monks here mean
well but I am sure that my Housecarls can afford you better
protection and I promise you, my lady, that when your husband sues
for peace I shall return you to him unharmed. I swear it here in
these holy grounds where the Saint himself lies interred.”

It was a clever move from Harold
to make such an oath.  Any oath would be binding but his
wording had been the key to his trick, Gruffyd would have to sue
for peace and I could not see that happening.  Ealdgyth was
torn but I could se e that she too was attracted to the Earl. 
The small child with her, her daughter Nest, clung to her mother’s
skirts and the Queen looked down at the child and then at the
Earl.  “Under those conditions I submit myself to your
protection.” She turned to Brother Aidan. “Thank you for the
sanctuary you offered. I will go with the Earl.”

“Are you certain majesty? 
You will be safe here I can assure you of that. No matter how many
men are sent to get you, you would be protected.”

I saw Harold’s face harden and
his hand slip to his sword. “Be careful what you promise
priest.”

He turned to face the
Earl.  “I am a man of God and I do not fear the sword.”

The Queen came between
them.  “No father, I go of my own volition and I would not
wish harm to come to you.”

The Earl pre-empted any further
discussion by mounting the Queen on one of the spare horses we had
brought.  Nest was placed behind her mother. I watched Brother
Aidan as we left and I could see the anger.  I hoped that the
oath Harold had sworn would not be broken. 

That evening I saw a different
side to Earl Harold for he became the gallant, the would be suitor
to the Queen.  It felt unseemly to me for he had a wife ,
Edith; I knew that they had not married in the church but they had
children and the Queen herself had a husband.  I did not know
what was going on in his mind.  Years later I discovered the
truth that the Queen was distantly related to King Edward and Earl
Harold was strengthening his claim to the throne.  I also
believe that he did find her attractive and the feeling appeared to
be mutual.  The feast that Earl Harold gave was as magnificent
as could be expected this close to a war but it was aimed to show
him off at his best.  I have to admit that he was a fine
looking man.  I was never a Catamite but had I been one then
the Earl would have been someone who would have attracted me and
women found him even more attractive. That evening he was as
amusing and funny as I have ever heard.  It is said that the
way to a man’s heart is through his stomach but the way to a
woman’s heart is through her laugh.  The feast proved to me
that, for a woman, at least, that was true. I was sat across from
them next to Ulf and Sweyn and I saw the accidental touching of the
hands and the simpering looks they exchanged. When the Queen’s
servant took Nest to bed I saw Harold flash a knowing look at Sweyn
who immediately stood. “Thank you my lord for such a magnificent
feast and now I think it is time for us to retire.”

The older men knew what the
statement meant but the younger ones like Wolf looked disappointed
that the feast was ending.  Of course it was not for we
retired to the warrior hall to continue drinking whilst the Earl
and the Queen slipped away.  I believe that was the night that
Harold fathered his first child with the Welsh Queen. .

The next few days were the
courtship of the Queen. Earl Harold took her hunting, he composed
songs and poems for her and he played with Nest. I found it
distasteful. I was wandering around the grounds of the palace and I
thought I was alone until I happened to overhear a conversation
between the Earl and m y uncle who were on the other side of Yew
hedge. Once again I conveniently forgot the words of Nanna advising
me not to eavesdrop .

“But my lord the Queen is
married and there is the Lady Edith.”

“Do not lecture me Aethelward of
Medelai! What I do, I do for the kingdom.  Never forget that
or forget who you are.”

“I speak to you as a friend for
I know what it is that drives you. It is not just England it is the
fact that she is a beautiful woman and you yearn for such women. I
remember…”

“And that is why I forgive such
familiarity but do not press or I may forget old alliances. 
Advise me on military matters and not on matters of the heart or of
politics.”