The Grail Quest 1 - Harlequin - Bernard Cornwell

Jeanette sat on the edge of her curtained bed, clutching Charles. The rules of chivalry, my lord,“ she said, ensure my protection.” She flinched as a woman screamed in a nearby house.

Chivalry?“ Sir Simon asked. Chivairy? I have heard it mentioned in songs, madame, but this is a war. Our task is to punish the followers of Charles of Blois for rebelling against their lawful lord. Punishment and chivalry do not mix.” He frowned at her. You're the Blackbird!" he said, suddenly recognizing her in the light of the revived fire.

The blackbird?" Jeanette did not understand.

You fought us from the walls! You scratched my arm!“ Sir Simon did not sound angry, but astonished. He had expected to be furious when he met the Blackbird, but her reality was too overpowering for rage. He grinned. You closed your eyes when you shot the crossbow, that's why you missed.”

I did not miss!" Jeanette said indignantly.

A scratch,“ Sir Simon said, showing her the rent in his mail sleeve. But why, madame, do you fight for the false duke?” My husband,“ she said stiffly, was nephew to Duke Charles.” Sweet God, Sir Simon thought, sweet God! A prize indeed. He bowed to her. So your son,“ he said, nodding at Charles, who was peering anxiously from his mother's arms, is the present Count?” He is," Jeanette confirmed,

A fine boy.“ Sir Simon forced himself to the flattery. In truth he thought Charles was a pudding-faced nuisance whose presence inhibited him from a natural urge to thrust the Blackbird onto her back and thus show her the realities of war, but he was acutely aware that this widow was an aristocrat, a beauty, and related to Charles of Blois, who was nephew to the King of France. This woman meant riches and Sir Simon's present necessity was to make her see that her best interest lay in sharing his ambitions. A fine boy, madame,” he went on, who needs a father.“ Jeanette just stared at him. Sir Simon had a blunt face. It was bulbous-nosed, firm-chinned, and showed not the slightest sign of intelligence or wit. He had confidence, though, enough to have persuaded himself that she would marry him. Did he really mean that? She gaped, then gave a startled cry as angry shouting erupted beneath her window. Some archers were trying to get past the men guarding the gate. Sir Simon pushed open the window. This place is mine,” he snarled in English. Go find your own chickens to pluck.“ He turned back to Jeanette. You see, madame, how I protect you?” So there is chivalry in war?"

There is opportunity in war, madame. You are wealthy, you are a widow, you need a man.

She gazed at him with disturbingly large eyes, hardly daring to believe his temerity. Why?“ she asked simply. Why?” Sir Simon was astonished by the question. He gestured at the window. Listen to the screams, woman! What do you think happens to women when a town falls?"

But you said you would protect me,“ she pointed out. So I will.” He was getting lost in this conversation. The woman, he thought, though beautiful, was remarkably stupid. I will protect you,“ he said, and you will look after me.” How?"

Sir Simon sighed. You have money?"

Jeanette shrugged. There is a little downstairs, my lord, hidden in the kitchen."

Sir Simon frowned angrily. Did she think he was a fool? That he would take that bait and go downstairs, leaving her to climb out of the window? I know one thing about money, madame,“ he said, and that is that you never hide it where the servants can find it. You hide it in the private rooms. In a bedchamber.” He pulled open a chest and emptied its linens onto the floor, but there was nothing hidden there, and then, on an inspiration, he began rapping the wooden panelling. He had heard that such panels often concealed a hiding place and he was rewarded almost instantly by a satisfyingly hollow sound.

No, monsieur!" Jeanette said.

Sir Simon ignored her, drawing his sword and hacking at the limewood panels that splintered and pulled away from their beams. He sheathed the blade and tugged with his gloved hands at the shattered wood.

No!" Jeanette wailed.

Sir Simon stared. Money was concealed behind the panelling, a whole barrel of coins, but that was not the prize. The prize was a suit of armour and a set of weapons such as Sir Simon had only ever dreamed of. A shining suit of plate armour, each piece chased with subtle engravings and inlaid with gold. Italian work? And the sword! When he drew it from the scabbard it was like holding Excalibur itself. There was a blue sheen to the blade, which was not nearly as heavy as his own sword but felt miraculously balanced. A blade from the famous swordsmiths of Poitiers, perhaps, or, even better, Spanish?

They belonged to my husband,“ Jeanette appealed to him, and it is all I have of his. They must go to Charles.” Sir Simon ignored her. He traced his gloved finger down the gold inlay on the breastplate. That piece alone was worth an estate!

They are all he has of his father's,“ Jeanette pleaded. Sir Simon unbuckled his sword belt and let the old weapon drop to the floor, then fastened the Count of Armorica's sword about his waist. He turned and stared at Jeanette, marvelling at her smooth unscarred face. These were the spoils of war that he had dreamed about and had begun to fear would never come his way: a barrel of cash, a suit of armour fit for a king, a blade made for a champion and a woman that would be the envy of England. The armour is mine,” he said, as is the sword."

No, monsieur, please."

What will you do? Buy them from me?"

If I must,“ Jeanette said, nodding at the barrel. That too is mine, madame,” Sir Simon said, and to prove it he strode to the door, unblocked it and shouted for two of his archers to come up the stairs. He gestured at the barrel and the suit of armour. Take them down,“ he said, and keep them safe. And don't think I haven't counted the cash, because I have. Now go!” Jeanette watched the theft. She wanted to weep for pity, but forced herself to stay calm. If you steal everything I own,“ she said to Sir Simon, how can I buy the armour back?”

Sir Simon shoved the boy's bed against the door again, then favoured her with a smile. There is something you can use to buy the armour, my dear,“ he said winningly. You have what all women have. You can use that.”

Jeanette closed her eyes for a few heartbeats. Are all the gentle-men of England like you?“ she asked. Few are so skilled in arms,” Sir Simon said proudly. He was about to tell her of his tournament triumphs, sure that she would be impressed, but she interrupted him. I meant,“ she said icily, to discover whether the knights of England are all thieves, poltroons and bullies.”

Sir Simon was genuinely puzzled by the insult. The woman simply did not seem to appreciate her good fortune, a failing he could only ascribe to innate stupidity. You forget, madame,“ he explained, that the winners of war get the prizes.” I am your prize?"

She was worse than stupid. Sir Simon thought, but who wanted cleverness in a woman? Madame,“ he said, I am your protector. If I leave you, if I take away my protection, then there will be a line of men on the stairs waiting to plough you. Now do you understand?”

I think,“ she said coldly, that the Earl of Northampton will offer me better protection.”

Sweet Christ, Sir Simon thought, but the bitch was obtuse. It was pointless trying to reason with her for she was too dull to under-stand, so he must force the breach. He crossed the room fast, snatched Charles from her arms and threw the boy onto the smaller bed. Jeanette cried out and tried to hit him, but Sir Simon caught her arm and slapped her face with his gloved hand and, when she went immobile with pain and astonishment, he tore her cloak's cords apart and then, with his big hands, ripped the shift down the front of her body. She screamed and tried to clutch her hands over her nakedness, but Sir Simon forced her arms apart and stared in astonishment. Flawless!

No!" Jeanette wept.

Sir Simon shoved her hard back onto the bed. You want your son to inherit your traitorous husband's armour?“ he asked. Or his sword? Then, madame, you had better be kind to their new owner. I am prepared to be kind to you.” He unbuckled the sword, dropped it on the floor, then hitched up his mail coat and fumbled with the strings of his hose.

No!" Jeanette wailed, and tried to scramble off the bed, but Sir Simon caught hold of her shift and yanked the linen so that it came down to her waist. The boy was screaming and Sir Simon was fumbling with his rusted gauntlets and Jeanette felt the devil had come into her house. She tried to cover her nakedness, but the Englishman slapped her face again, then once more hauled up his mail coat. Outside the window the cracked bell of the Virgin's church was at last silent, for the English had come, Jeanette had a suitor and the town wept.

Thomas's first thought after opening the gate was not plunder, but somewhere to wash the river muck off his legs, which he did with a barrel of ale in the first tavern he encountered. The tavern-keeper was a big bald man who stupidly attacked the English archers with a club, so Jake tripped him with his bowstave, then slit his belly. Silly bastard,“ Jake said. I wasn't going to hurt him. Much.” The dead man's boots fitted Thomas, which was a welcome surprize, for very few did, and once they had found his cache of coins

they went in search of other amusement. The Earl of Northampton was spurring his horse up and down the main street, shouting at wild-eyed men not to set the town alight. He wanted to keep La Roche-Derrien as a fortress, and it was less useful to him as a heap of ashes.

Not everyone plundered. Some of the older men, even a few of the younger, were disgusted by the whole business and attempted to curb the wilder excesses, but they were wildly outnumbered by men who saw nothing but opportunity in the fallen town. Father Hobbe, an English priest who had a fondness for Will Skeat's men, tried to persuade Thomas and his group to guard a church, but they had other pleasures in mind. Don't spoil your soul, Tom," Father Hobbe said in a reminder that Thomas, like all the men, had said Mass the day before, but Thomas reckoned his soul was going to be spoiled anyway so it might as well happen sooner than later. He was looking for a girl, any girl really, for most of Will's men had a woman in camp. Thomas had been living with a sweet little Breton, but she had caught a fever just before the beginning of the winter campaign and Father Hobbe had said a funeral Mass for her. Thomas had watched as the girl's unshrouded body had thumped into the shallow grave and he had thought of the graves at Hookton and of the promise he had made to his dying father, but then he had pushed the promise away. He was young and had no appetite for burdens on his conscience.

La Roche-Derrien now crouched under the English fury. Men tore down thatch and wrecked furniture in their search for money. Any townsman who tried to protect his women was killed, while any woman who tried to protect herself was beaten into submission. Some folk had escaped the sack by crossing the bridge, but the small garrison of the barbican fled from the inevitable attack and now the Earl's men-at-arms manned the small tower and that meant La Roche-Derrien was sealed to its fate. Some women took refuge in the churches and the lucky ones found protectors there, but most were not lucky.

Thomas, Jake and Sam finally discovered an unplundered house that belonged to a tanner, a stinking fellow with an ugly wife and three small children. Sam, whose innocent face made strangers trust him on sight, held his knife at the throat of the youngest child and the tanner suddenly remembered where he had hidden his cash. Thomas had watched Sam, fearing he really would slit the boy's throat, for Sam, despite his ruddy cheeks and cheerful eyes, was as evil as any man in Will Skeat's band. Jake was not much better, though Thomas counted both as friends.

The man's as poor as we are,“ Jake said in wonderment as he raked through the tanner's coins. He pushed a third of the pile towards Thomas. You want his wife?” Jake offered generously. Christ, no! She's cross-eyed like you."

Is she?"

Thomas left Jake and Sam to their games and went to find a tavern where there would be food, drink and warmth. He reckoned any girl worth pursuing had been caught already, so he unstrung his bow, pushed past a group of men tearing the contents from a parked wagon and found an inn where a motherly widow had sensibly protected both her property and her daughters by welcom-ing the first men-at-arms, showering them with free food and ale, then scolding them for dirtying her floor with their muddy feet. She was shouting at them now, though few understood what she said, and one of the men growled at Thomas that she and her daughters were to be left alone.

Thomas held up his hands to show he meant no harm, then took a plate of bread, eggs and cheese. Now pay her," one of the men-at-arms growled, and Thomas dutifully put the tanner's few coins on the counter.

He's a good-looking one," the widow said to her daughters, who giggled.

Thomas turned and pretended to inspect the daughters. They are the most beautiful girls in Brittany,“ he said to the widow in French, because they take after you, madame.”

That compliment, though patently untrue, raised squeals of laughter. Beyond the tavern were screams and tears, but inside it was warm and friendly. Thomas ate the food hungrily, then tried to hide himself in a window bay when Father Hobbe came bustling in from the street. The priest saw Thomas anyway.

I'm still looking for men to guard the churches, Thomas. I'm going to get drunk, father,“ Thomas said happily. So god-damn drunk that one of those two girls will look attractive.” He jerked his head at the widow's daughters.

Father Hobbe inspected them critically, then sighed. You'll kill yourself if you drink that much, Thomas.“ He sat at the table, waved at the girls and pointed at Thomas's pot. I'll have a drink with you,” the priest said.

What about the churches?"

Everyone will be drunk soon enough,“ Father Hobbe said, and the horror will end. It always does. Ale and wine, God knows, are great causes of sin but they make it short-lived. God's bones, but it's cold out there.” He smiled at Thomas. So how's your black soul, Tom?"

Thomas contemplated the priest. He liked Father Hobbe, who was small and wiry, with a mass of untamed black hair about a cheerful face that was thick-scarred from a childhood pox. He was low born, the son of a Sussex wheelwright, and like any country lad he could draw a bow with the best of them. He sometimes accompanied Skeat's men on their forays into Duke Charles's country and he willingly joined the archers when they dismounted to form a battleline. Church law forbade a priest from wielding an edged weapon, but Father Hobbe always claimed he used blunt arrows, though they seemed to pierce enemy mail as efficiently as any other. Father Hobbe, in short, was a good man whose only fault was an excessive interest in Thomas's soul.

My soul,“ Thomas said, is soluble in ale.” Now there's a good word,“ Father Hobbe said. Soluble, eh?” He picked up the big black bow and prodded the silver badge with a dirty finger. You've discovered anything about that?" No.