Page 21 of Unconquered

"This is madness," muttered May as she followed Eada into the deserted village.

Eada cautiously entered the little cottage and, after assuring herself that there was no one inside, turned her attention to the constantly complaining May.

"We need supplies.

On the morrow we will reach London, and I am sure that there will be very little for us there."

"How do you know there is anything for us here? The soldiers have already crawled all over this village, taking all they could lay their hands on."

"I know, but they do not always know where to look.

They take only what is right in front of their eyes.

Sometimes, as with the animals, they even lose some of their bounty in their eagerness to grab all of it at once.

I am confident that Ivo, Godwin, and Brun will find something hiding in the wood; and they know how to catch pigs, chickens, and sheep."

"At least Godwin and Brun have a Norman at their side.

I cannot feel it is safe for us to be beyond the camp without a Norman with us."

"May, everyone knows who we are.

Did you not hear the guards greet us by name as we walked out of the camp?"

"They were men even I recognized.

That does not mean that every Norman knows we belong to Sir Drogo."

Eada suspected May was right, but she was not about to admit it.

They were taking a chance wandering around the village with no guard, but she could not wait any longer for Drogo or one of his men to return to camp.

The sun was already setting and soon it would be too dark to glean anything from whatever the soldiers had left behind.

Their supplies were growing dangerously low.

She could not ignore this opportunity to replenish them.

"The faster we find what we need, the faster we can return to camp," she said and smiled when May muttered under her breath but began to search the cottage.

It was almost dark by the time they left the village.

Eada felt torn between guilt over stealing from the people who had fled the village and delight in how much she had found.

She prayed that the villagers had had the foresight to take enough supplies with them to hold off starvation through the winter.

With the land in such turmoil, they would have a chance to help themselves to the bounty of the forests and streams without fear of reprisal from the new lords of the land.

She clung to that thought to comfort the guilt she could not fully repress.

A soft cry of alarm from May pulled her from her thoughts and alerted her to trouble.

Eada looked ahead and cursed.

Between them and the camp stood Sir Guy and the two men who had survived the attack on Tancred and Unwin.

Even as he started to move toward them, she set her bounty beneath a tree, silently commanded May to do the same, and ran.

She was pleased to see that May had no trouble keeping up with her.

As she ran, Eada searched for some place to hide or to turn so that she could get around Sir Guy and head back to the camp.

They were staying out of Sir Guy's reach for the moment, but they were also getting farther and farther away from safety and she knew that could prove to be a fatal error.

For what felt like hours, Eada and May ran from their enemies.

No matter how often they darted and turned, however, they could not get back on the path that led to the camp.

Eada could outrun any man, but May did not have her stamina.

As they hid behind a tiny cottage and struggled to catch their breath, she realized that May would soon be too exhausted to flee.

The woman's breath was coming in fast, rasping gasps and the short rests they could steal from time to time were no longer enough.

"I think you should stay here, May," she whispered, peering around the corner of the house and keeping a close watch on the three men searching for them.

"No.

I will not leave you." May's voice was little more than a croak and it shook badly, revealing how weak the woman was.

"You will soon leave me anyway, for you are close to collapsing."

"I just need to catch my breath." May frowned at Eada.

"I do not understand why you are still so strong."

"I have always been able to run fast and for a long way." Eada scowled at the men who were drawing closer to their hiding place.

"I had never considered it a very useful skill until now."

"Are they coming?"

"They are still a few houses away.

I want you to stay here, May.

You are so weary that you will probably not get more than a few steps before you stumble and fall.

That will get us both captured."

"But—"

"No, listen to me.

I will run when they draw near and pull them after me.

It will probably take them a few minutes to realize that you are no longer with me.

I want you to sneak back toward the camp.

That may actually give us a chance."

May bit her lip as she considered Eada's plan.

"Are you sure you can stay out of their grasp?"

"Yes, unless fate decides otherwise.

If I can just keep running, these fools will all be heaps upon the ground before I even begin to tire." She winked at the uncertain May, then nudged her in the direction of the camp. “Go.”

Before May could offer any more arguments, Eada darted back out into the road.

An immediate cry went up from Sir Guy and his men, and she took them on a merry chase, trying to keep them from seeing that May was not with her and giving May a chance to get back to the camp and find help.

Eada was chuckling over a particularly clever move that had put her behind Sir Guy's friends when a scream put an abrupt end to her amusement.

She realized, even as she began to turn around, that only two men had been chasing her for the last few moments.

A sense of helplessness swept over her as she saw Sir Guy holding a knife to May's throat.

"Did you think you could fool me?" he demanded as he moved closer, dragging a terrified May along with him.

"Let her go," Eada said.

"She is nothing to you."

"She is something to you, though, is she not? Enough to make you stop running and allow yourself to be captured."

"And what do you think capturing me will bring you?"

"Drogo de Toulon."

"Do you really think he will walk into your arms just to save his Saxon whore?" The way Sir Guy just smiled as he stopped right in front of her while his two friends moved to stand behind her chilled her blood.

"You are more than that to the fool.

He has made the mistake of letting others see that and thus putting a weapon in their hands."

"Only you would use a woman as a weapon." She cried out in pain as, in one swift move, he pushed May aside and backhanded Eada across the face.

Eada studied him through the tears of pain stinging her eyes and felt a deep fear chill her heart.

Even in the faint light of the moon she could see the glitter of madness in his eyes.

He blamed all his woes on Drogo, refusing to face his own weaknesses and mistakes.

There would be no reasoning with the man.

"Charles," he ordered the thinner of the two men with him, "I want you to go to Sir Drogo and tell him that I hold his woman.

He is to come to this village, alone and unarmed, and hand himself to me.

Peter, help me tie these two whores up."

Eada watched the man called Charles head back to the camp as she and May were roughly bound together.

This time she had not just put herself in danger, but May and Drogo as well.

Even the thought that her voices had said Sir Guy would die before seeing London was not enough to comfort her.

Those voices had never told her if Drogo would live or die.

She cried out in pain as Sir Guy pushed her and May down onto the ground.

He stood over them, grinning as she tried to right herself and May; finally, awkwardly, she propped their bound bodies against the side of a cottage.

Anger seeped through her fear.

There was no reason for this.

No crimes had been committed against the man other than the ones he imagined in his twisted mind.

"Drogo will kill you," she said, glaring at Sir Guy, then leaning away from him when he crouched in front of her.

He grabbed her chin in a tight hold and forced her to face him.

"Drogo will run to try to save you.

That is his way.

I should have recognized that weakness in him before.

I might have won my battle with him before he disgraced me."

"You disgraced yourself.

Drogo was not the one that made you hide in those trees with murder on your mind.

If you suffer now, your suffering is all of your own making."

"No.

It is Drogo de Toulon's fault," he screamed as he leapt to his feet.

"He has always made me look the fool.

He is the one who has turned my own family against me.

Now, after all these years, I can finally make him pay for the insults he has done me."

Eada said nothing, for nothing she might say would make any difference.

The man's own words confirmed his madness.

Her fate was in Drogo's hands.

She prayed he could think of a way to save them both.

Drogo stared at Charles, his fists at his side, clenching and unclenching as he fought the urge to beat the skinny, long faced man.

"Tell Sir Guy that I will come."

"I think he meant for you to return with me," Charles said, the squeak in his voice revealing his nervousness.

"As you wish."

"Wait!" Charles pointed to the sword at Drogo's waist.

"You are to come unarmed."

"Of course, Sir Guy would never invite a fair fight," he murmured.

As Drogo slowly removed his sword, he drew closer to a furious Serle.

He had only a moment to tell his men what he wanted them to do.

His head bowed, he used the removal of his sword to hide the fact that he talked to Serle.

"I leave it to you to get me free of this trap," he whispered, daring one quick glance at his man to see Serle nod in understanding.

"Use the two Saxon boys if you need to.

The more men you have, the better the chance that you can stop this madman without injury to Eada or me."

"A quick attack and swift disarming or death is what is needed," Serle murmured, lowering his head to hide his face as he answered.

He accepted the sword Drogo handed him and raised his head to glare at Charles.

"I am ready," Drogo said, and he walked past Charles and headed toward the village.

"They will all pay dearly for this, lad," Serle called after Drogo and smiled coldly when Charles looked his way.

Drogo silently laughed as Charles quickened his pace, hurrying to get away from Serle.

It did not surprise him that the men Sir Guy gathered around him were as cowardly as he was.

His own helplessness angered him, but he did not really fear the man he was about to face.

Sir Guy was fool enough to think that he had won, and that would give Serle and his men the chance to come up behind him.

A sharp taste of fear stung the back of his throat when he saw Eada and May tied and sitting at a grinning Sir Guy's feet.

It was quickly replaced by rage.

As he drew nearer, he could see the dark stain of blood at the corner of Eada's lip and knew Sir Guy had struck her.

It took all his willpower not to leap at the man.

"Your cowardice is only surpassed by your stupidity," Drogo said in a tight, cold voice and he calmly eyed the sword Sir Guy suddenly held at his throat.

"Your life now sits on the tip of my sword, Sir Drogo," he said.

"I would be wary of spitting out too many insults."

"Oh, you are certainly able to kill me now, but have you given any thought to what will happen when you do?"

"What more can happen to me? I have been cast aside by my own family, shunned as a disgrace.

There is no hope of gain for all the fighting I have done.

Even my fellow knights turn away from me, treating me as little more than dirt upon their boots."

"But you are alive.

I can promise you that if you kill me and the women, you will not live out the night." He noticed a sudden sheen of sweat appear on Sir Guy's upper lip and realized that the man was not as confident of victory as he tried to appear.

"My men hold a greater loyalty than any of the dogs you have sniffing at your heels.

They will hunt down the man who has my blood upon his hands.

There is no place in all of England or in France where you will be safe."

"Shut your mouth!" Guy screamed.

Drogo easily dodged the wild swing of Sir Guy's sword, but before he could move to disarm the man, Sir Guy's two friends grabbed hold of him.

He fought to free himself of their grasp until Sir Guy placed the tip of his sword at Eada's throat.

Enraged by his own inability to help her, he grew still and glared at Sir Guy.

"Let the women go," he said in as calm a voice as he could muster.

"They gain you nothing.

It will only blacken your name more when it is known that you killed two helpless women."

"This whore of yours is far from helpless," Sir Guy drawled and roughly kicked Eada, smiling coldly at the way Drogo jerked in his friends' hold.

Drogo stared at him, aching to kill the man.

He prayed that his men would act soon, but resisted the urge to look for some sign of them.

Forcing back all his fury, he tried to get Sir Guy to move his sword away from Eada.

"This will not regain you your uncle's favor," he said and breathed an inner sigh of relief when Sir Guy stepped past Eada to focus his attention on Drogo.

"My uncle never favored me.

He favored my mother.

Now even that bond has been severed, and you cut it."

Eada watched Drogo, wondering why he was bothering to talk to this madman.

Nothing he could say could save them.

The waiting to die was beginning to be too much.

Just as she considered telling Drogo to just try to kill this fool who was blaming him for every small wrong he had suffered, she felt a faint tug on the ropes that bound her and May.

She grit her teeth against the urge to look and see who was trying to save her.

"Eada," May whispered.

"Hush.

We must not pull Sir Guy's attention our way."

"What a clever woman," whispered a voice to their right that she recognized as Brun's.

"I should not worry too much.

That fool is holding himself enthralled by his litany of woes, and his men are too busy trying to hold Drogo."

Trying to keep her lips as still as possible so none of Guy's men could see that she was speaking, she asked, "Where are the others?"

"Do not look."

"We will not.”

"Serle is but a step away from Sir Guy; and Tancred, Unwin, and Garnier are very close to bumping into the two fools holding Drogo.

This will soon be over.

There, you are freed; but do not move until you know it is safe."

That moment came but a heartbeat later.

Drogo's men sprung upon Sir Guy and his friends so swiftly and fiercely that they had no chance to flee or defend themselves.

With Brun's help, she and May moved out of the reach of the men.

Eada rubbed her wrists as she saw Drogo step over to Sir Guy, who was locked tightly in Serle's grasp.

"I am going to give you a chance to die with some scrap of honor," Drogo said as he accepted his sword from Unwin and, once Serle released Sir Guy, handed his enemy his weapon.

"It is more than you deserve, but I feel I owe it to Lord Bergeron."

Eada did not want to watch, but she found herself unable to look away as a coldly furious Drogo began to fight with a terrified Sir Guy.

A desperate need to live was all that kept Sir Guy alive for the few minutes he managed to successfully defend himself against Drogo.

There was no hope of his winning, however, and he knew it.

His skill with a sword was no match for Drogo's.

Eada winced as Sir Guy screamed, his life ending with one clean stab to the heart.

"Are you hurt?" Drogo asked as, after wiping his sword clean on Sir Guy's jupon, he turned to face Eada.

"He struck you," he murmured as he stepped closer and wiped the blood from her lip.

"I am fine," she said, hoping the anger she could feel in him was the remainder of what he had felt for Sir Guy and not aimed at her.

"Why were you here—alone?"

"Because I am a witless fool?" She was relieved when he laughed.

"We will discuss the truth of that later," he drawled and touched a gentle kiss to her mouth before turning his attention to the two men who had ridden with Sir Guy.

Eada spared a brief smile for Brun when he stood beside her.

Obviously, Drogo's men had recognized his worth and were willing to include him in their number.

That promised a good future for Brun and she was glad.

He would serve Drogo well.

She winced as Drogo's two captives cried for mercy even as Tancred and Unwin led them away.

William would not be merciful.

It might have been better if Drogo's men had killed them, but she forced all concern for them from her mind.

They had earned their punishment.

She was sure this was not the only crime they had committed, and since they had ridden with Sir Guy for a long time, she knew they had the blood of innocents on their hands.

When Drogo put Sir Guy's body on his horse, she walked over to him.

"What are you going to do with him?" she asked.

"Give his body to his uncle.

Lord Bergeron did not deserve the shame this fool brought to his name, but Sir Guy is his blood and he will want to bury him properly."

"Of course.

If it is all right with you, perhaps Brun can walk May and me back to camp.

I was able to find some food and would like to collect it.

I set it aside when Sir Guy began to chase us."

"It was my fault that he caught us," May said quietly as she joined them.

"I could not run as fast as Eada."

"I have an idea of how fast and how far Eada can run, May.

I would not feel shamed by your inability to keep pace with her." He looked at Eada and then nodded.

"Brun and Serle will take you back to camp.

I will see you after I have spoken to Lord Bergeron and William."

Eada watched him ride away and sighed.

She was going to have to suffer a scolding about leaving camp without a guard, but she decided it was a small price to pay for her life.

In the end, her error in judgment had brought only good.

They had all survived and the threat of Sir Guy was gone forever.

As she walked toward the supplies she had collected, she wondered idly if she could get Drogo to see it all in such a pleasant light.

Drogo fought to hide his disgust as he watched Sir Guy's friends hanged.

Their punishment was long overdue, but he had always considered hanging a brutal death, slow and horrifying to watch.

A clean cut with a sword would have been a far more merciful death.

He tried to console himself with the reminder that these two men had never shown anyone mercy.

The moment it was over, he turned to a grim-faced Lord Bergeron, who had stood silently at his side throughout the hasty judgment and the executions.

"I am sorry, my lord," he said.

"You did what you had to.

My nephew would not have hesitated to kill you and the two women."

"In truth, I was not asking pardon for his death.

I am sorry that you may suffer in some way for his crimes.

You do not deserve that."

Lord Bergeron grimaced and glanced toward William, who sat with his closest friends and family.

"It will cost me, but not too dearly.

It was clear a long time ago that most men simply pitied me my relation with the young fool.

The most I will suffer from is my sister's grief; but that, too, is long past due."

"You did more than many men would have to try to save her from that."

"Your woman is unhurt?"

"Only a bruise."

"Good.

I am not one of those who sees all Saxons as the enemy, and I think you have gathered a fine group who will serve you well in the years ahead." He clasped Drogo on the shoulder.

"Because all my nephew's interest has been in you, it has allowed me the chance to watch you closely, especially during this campaign.

Will you accept a word of advice from an older and, hopefully, wiser man?"

"Of course, my lord."

"We will be in London on the morrow, and I have no doubt that William has won this war.

You will be faced with many choices, my young knight.

Weigh them carefully.

When you reach for something, be sure it is what you truly need.

Do not forget that you could live a long life, and what youth and ambition demand now could turn to cold dross in the years ahead.

Regrets are a torture to live with."

Drogo nodded but frowned as soon as the man left.

He was not sure what Lord Bergeron had been trying to say.

As he walked to join Tancred and the others where they waited with the horses, he tried to shrug aside the man's confusing words and realized that they would not be dismissed so easily.

It was not until he vowed to look more closely at them later that they ceased to plague his thoughts.

"I am glad that we were not asked to watch the hanging," Tancred said as Drogo reached them and they all began to mount their horses.

"I wish I had been so fortunate," murmured Drogo as they rode back to camp, "but I was the one who brought them to William for punishment.

It was my duty to see it carried out."

"Hanging has always turned my stomach," agreed Serle, "but I can think of few others who deserved it more.

They were always in the thick of it when the innocents were killed or brutalized."

"And I found myself struggling to remember that."

"There is one thing I should like to speak about before we reach London and it is forgotten or you are kept too busy to consider it."

"And what is that, Serle?" Drogo smiled, for his old friend looked very serious.

"It is about Brun.

I know you do not know what, if anything, you will receive as a reward from William.

I have faith that it will be a demesne of some size.

Even if the gift is but a small holding, you will need men at your side to hold it, for there are certain to be troubled days ahead.

I believe you should carefully consider accepting Brun as one of your men-at-arms."

"You think he is that good and that he will be loyal?"

"Yes.

The boy is no fool.

He knows the Saxons have lost, and he has sworn fealty to you.

He would serve you well and he is already an able warrior."

"He is that," agreed Tancred and Unwin and Garnier nodded.

"Then I will do as you advise," said Drogo.

"Take the youth into your care, Serle, and hone his skills.

I just pray that I will gain a holding worthy of such soldiers."

Eada quickly swallowed the piece of apple in her mouth and smiled at Drogo when he entered the tent.

His raised eyebrows told her that she had not completely succeeded in hiding her feelings of guilt.

He helped himself to one of her apples and sat down next to her before the fire.

The way he watched her as he ate the crisp, tart fruit made her uneasy.

"Have Sir Guy's friends been punished?" she asked in an attempt to ease the building tension between them, a tension she began to suspect was all on her side.

"They were judged and hanged."

"Oh." She grimaced, knowing that they were deserving of their fate, but hating such brutal judgments.

When Drogo said nothing else, she finally snapped, "If you are intending to chastise me, I wish you would hurry and do so."

Drogo laughed and shook his head.

"At first I wanted to—badly.

Now it does not seem so important.

I can only hope that you remember how close death came, not only to you but to May as well."

"And you," she whispered and shuddered.

"I was not very concerned about myself.

Sir Guy was so sure that I would walk blindly to my death that he did not ask me to swear to anything in an attempt to protect himself, only that I face him alone and unarmed.

He thought that I would walk to him like a lamb to the slaughter.

I had not realized that the man thought of me as such a weak fool."

"The man saw honor, bravery, honesty, kindness, and all such fine qualities as weaknesses.

If someone thinks you are weak, if he has nothing but contempt for all that you hold dear, then he will begin to see you as a witless fool.

He only feared you when you had a sword in your hand and I think that is why he hated you so deeply.

If you were the witless fool he believed you were, then his fear of facing you, sword to sword, must have constantly enraged him."

Drogo stared at her for a moment then slowly smiled.

"At times, Eada, the way you can see into people's hearts so clearly is truly frightening."

She returned his smile and heartily wished he spoke the truth.

At times she did seem able to see into people's hearts and minds, but that skill utterly failed her when she tried to use it on Drogo.

They would ride into London on the morrow, and she still had no idea of what he felt or planned.