Enemy at the Gate (22 page)

Poor Richard started when I entered, "Are you ill, my lord?"

I smiled, "No, Richard.  I was a mummer! Now go and eat and then become as drunk as you can as quickly as you can."

Richard looked confused.  Gilles said, "Just do as I do, Richard!"

It was dark when they returned and the noise from the camp had diminished as men fell to the ground in a drunken stupor.  Or so I hoped the enemy would believe. We were hidden in our tent and we could prepare. We wrapped my spare hauberk in bedding and placed it across the tent entrance. Any assassin would assume it was a squire protecting his knight with his body. Then we dressed for war. We donned our gambeson and our mail.  We would not wear helmets for we would need to hear.  We stuck our spare swords and daggers in the ground at the sides of the tent.  That would be where we would sleep.  Then we used straw wrapped in our bedding to simulate our bodies. The helmets made a fair imitation of a head. Gilles went to the candle and snuffed it out. We sat in the dark recesses of the tent and we waited with our swords in our hands. We sat close together.  It was getting colder at night and wearing mail seemed to make it even colder.  The proximity of our bodies slightly offset that. Waiting was hard. I think young Richard found it harder than any.

I was convinced I had heard something outside but when there was no alarm I relaxed again. Then I smelled something. It was a human smell.  It was not one of my men.  I nudged my two squires.  They gave the barest of nods. We had sat in the dark so long that we could see clearly. A hand came through the tent flap and a knife slashed down on the mail. Immediately four men raced into the tent and leapt at the three bundles of bedding. Even as they hacked and slashed at them we were on our feet.  I thrust my sword through the side of one assassin. I pulled it back and then hacked the right arm of a second. Richard and Gilles both had swords and they killed the two men at arms each with a single blow. The man whose arm I had severed moaned as he began to bleed to death.

Grabbing my shield I led my squires from the tent. We moved through my camp.  I could now hear grunts and moans as men died.  Then there was a shout from Sir Miles' camp to my right and the sounds of sword on sword. Silence disappeared. As the alarm spread so did the cacophony of noise. The sneak attack was over and now it would be a battle.

"To me!"

My men came from where they had been fighting with the unarmoured killers sent to slay us in our beds.  Stephen had stolen the idea from me. My archers formed a line behind my knights and my men at arms. The archers would struggle to see targets; it was night but any flesh which could be seen would be hit. There was a roar from the dark as the first wave of men at arms and knights rushed at us. They were hampered by their own dead men who lay haphazardly in their path. One knight was so eager to get to us that he failed to see a body and as he tripped Sir John brought his war hammer over and used the spike to impale the knight.

A man at arms thrust his spear at me. I stepped forward and punched with my shield.  I deflected the head and brought my sword diagonally across his neck. With the weight of my body behind it I broke the man's neck.  I quickly stepped back as a sword swung at my head.  It missed and Sir Tristan's blade darted out and severed the knight's arm.

"Lock shields!"

My men squeezed together.  Sir Tristan' shield overlapped mine and I tucked mine behind Sir John's. We held our swords over the tops of our shields. The enemy ran into the wall of wood, leather and steel. We did not strike.  We had no need.  Their weapons struck our shield and some of us were lucky enough to have a warrior pressed on to our blades. They came at us in a mass; they were a jumble of men eager to get to us.  We were an unyielding wall.  There was a brief moment of almost stillness as we stood face to face.  Dead men were pressed against some of us.  The man at arms who faced me spat at me. Suddenly a dagger came over my shoulder and pierced his eye and his skull.

Gilles shouted, "Do not spit at my lord! Barbarian!"

That simple act of spitting seemed to inflame my men. Edgar shouted, "Forward! Kill them!"

I should have given the command but my men had taken enough insults. I stabbed forward with my sword.  The dead man at arms was still before me but my sword scored a hit on the cheek of the man behind.  Sir John's war hammer swung high and crushed the skull of the hapless warrior in the second rank.  My archers and the squires pushed into our backs and the enemy before us fell to the floor.  I saw a face beneath me and I stabbed down, skewering the man. The enemy fled. We rushed after them.  When we reached the ditch I yelled, "Hold!"

We spent the rest of the night despatching the dead.  The wounded knights had been carried to safety by their squires.  There would be no ransom. As dawn broke we saw the charnel house that was our camp. I sought out Edgar. "Find wood.  I want a mangonel building.  It need not move."

He did not question me.  He just said, "Aye lord." He and my men could knock one up in a couple of hours.  The difficulty was always in making one with wheels.  I did not need that. The enemy had set sentries.  They stood two hundred paces away.  They had shields before them for they respected my archers.  I summoned Dick and Ralph.  I gave them instructions.

Sir Miles and Sir Pain joined me along with Sir Raymond.  "You were right, lord.  It was well that we prepared.  It was an attack in force."

"Did any of you lose large numbers of men?"

"One or two but the enemy suffered more.  It was not their knights.  They had neither mail nor helmets."

I nodded, "Stephen is clever.  He sent assassins who could use knives and would profit the most from our deaths.  He did not risk his knights.  They were to attack later."

"What now, my lord?"

"We eat and we watch.  I have set my men to work.  If my plan succeeds then we can build on the success of yesterday and last night.  I want to buy us a day or two. By then our reinforcements should be here and we can attack them."

By noon Edgar and his men had finished and they brought the mangonel to the edge of the ditch.  Dick and the archers brought sacks with them. Intrigued Sir Miles and the others joined me. I nodded to Edgar.  He reached into a sack and brought out the head of one of those slain the night before.  He placed it in the mangonel and released it. The enemy ducked behind shields.  By the time Edgar had sent the third one they knew what we did and they advanced. 

"Ralph!"

My archers began to release their arrows.  A couple of men dropped to the ground and the rest retreated.  It took an hour to send the grisly trophies back to them. I turned to the others.  "Now we watch. I hope this has taken the heart from them."

Sir Raymond said, "How so?"

"I do not think that Stephen will have let on to his men their losses. We sent eighty heads back to them.  They now know that we killed that many of their men.  It will make them worry that they may be the next." They did not come again. 

My sentries who watched in the night, woke me.  "Lord.  We can hear noises from the enemy camp."

"I will come."

I had one in four of all my men on watch.  If an attack came again then we could repel it.  However an attack would mean that I had misjudged my enemy and that was a dangerous thing to do. My squires followed me and we walked to the ditch line and the sharpened stakes.  I could hear the sound of men but it was not close. I turned to Alan son of Alan, "What do you make of it?  Are they moving towards us?"

"If they are then they are being clumsy about it but I think they are preparing for something."

"A dawn attack perhaps? I will watch with you.  Richard go and find us food and ale."

By the time dawn began to break I saw what the noise had been.  They were breaking camp.  The siege was over and Stephen was retreating. Without fighting a battle or losing men we had outwitted and defeated Stephen.  It was a small victory but it was a victory.

We spent a few days clearing away the enemy defences.  I sent Sir Harold and Dick with twenty men to find Stephen. I wanted to know that he had retreated.  I went with Sir Miles and Sir Raymond to meet with the Empress at Gloucester and to decide upon our next course of action.  The Empress was delighted with our success.  I saw that she desperately wished to embrace me as I descended but it would not have been seemly.

"Earl, you and my warriors have served me well.  I will reward you. You shall be Prince Bishop of the Palatinate!"

I shook my head, "I am sorry Empress but, until it is captured that is not yours to give. Besides your brother might resent my elevation.  It is better that we are both earls."

She nodded, "As ever you are wise.  Then I give you the manor of Azay in the Loire.  The baron there died.  It is a rich manor and you will be close to your son there. I also make you champion of my son Henry Fitz Empress!"

I smiled, "That I will accept."

"Sir Raymond I give to you the manor of Arromanche in Normandy.  The baron there was a traitor and he is under sentence of death in Caen."

"Thank you, my lady."

"Sir Miles, I give you St. Briavals Castle and the manors thereof.  I fear that my cousin has taken your right to be constable of Gloucester.  This should make up for that."

"Thank you my lady but I serve you and that is enough."

"Nonetheless you shall have a reward and now we must plan our next move."

I had already thought this through.  "That is simple enough.  We must make the west your land. There are royal garrisons at Worcester, Winchcombe, Cerne and Hereford.  We strike now with the forces you would have sent to aid us and we make this as safe a stronghold as any."

"And then?"

"It will be winter then, my Empress, and the land will be too hard and cold for fighting.  This is not Normandy nor Anjou.  This is England and here the winter bites." She nodded.  "Besides we need to win back the support of your brother. Without his knights we have not enough men to face Stephen in open battle. Next year we must do that.  This year we secure your base and when we have built up your forces and mended relations with your brother we take back the rest of the country."

Sir Miles clapped me on the back.  "And with you to lead us Earl, we shall!"

We left earlier than I had planned for the weather began to change.  Wintry showers of sleet and rain drove in from the west. If they had been from the north then they would have had snow in them. We gathered our forces and headed for Hereford.  Sir Miles brought forth Geoffrey Talbot who had captured the castle in the early days of the civil war.  Stephen had retaken it but Sir Miles and Geoffrey knew the defences well.  Sir Pain also had useful knowledge. When we reached Hereford, which was but twenty odd miles from Gloucester, we surrounded it.

I held a counsel of war. "This will need siege engines.  I will take my men and those of Sir Raymond and we will take Worcester.  It is close enough for us to reach there quickly."

Sir Miles agreed, "Aye lord, and we will prosecute the siege with more vigour than Stephen did at Wallingford."

As we headed north east towards Worcester I sent Ralph and my archers ahead. I had spoken with those knights who came from the area and knew that there was no castle there but an island,  Bevere,  two miles upstream.  It was a place the locals used as a refuge in times of peril.  Ralph and my archers were sent to capture it. The other information we had was that they had fortified a manor house. When they saw our approach they would bar themselves within. I planned a sudden strike with my knights and men at arms.  We would use the speed of our horses to overpower them before they had time to react and organise their defence.

We had travelled fifty miles by the time we reached Worcester.  The river was high; that was due to the rains. It passed perilously close to the road. The cathedral, which was still being built, rose high above the river and we used that as a landmark for our approach.  We galloped over the bridge which led to the city so quickly that the sentries who stood their watch were slain by Dick and my household knights before they could utter a cry.  However the noise of the hooves on the bridge acted as warning for the rest. I heard a cry as my standard was seen.  "It is the Wolf of the North! The Warlord comes! Flee!"

Fear is a deadly foe and it filled the hearts of those in Worcester. Most did not run to their sanctuary of the manor house but fled north taking whatever they could carry. We reached the fortified dwelling and could go no further for the press of refugees fleeing north filled the road. I left Sir Raymond and the rest of the knights and men at arms who accompanied him to pursue the citizens.   Arrows were loosed at my men from the manor house and Cedric fell clutching his leg.

"Withdraw out of bow range."

As we wheeled around, Oswald had his horse slain by two arrows. We took shelter behind a row of houses.  Dismounting I handed my reins to Richard.  "Gilles, give Richard the standard. You shall come with me."

We returned to the main street.  Sir Raymond and his men had emptied it.  The bodies of those they had slain lay scattered along its length.  I shouted, "Whoever is in the manor house, surrender and I will treat you fairly!"

I was answered by an arrow which thudded into the building next to me and a defiant shout, "You are the Earl of Cleveland and a traitor. We would sooner surrender to the devil."

"Then be it on your own head."

I looked at the manor house.  It was sturdily built.  There was a ditch running around it and we would have to cross a small bridge to reach the door.  The door itself had four stairs before it so that a ram could not be used. I knew that my archers would be holding Bevere Island but I regretted sending them hence.  I needed them. I spied two dead bow men in the road. "Gilles, fetch those two bows and those quivers."

He ran the gauntlet of the crossbows and arrows from the manor house but he was quick and he was lithe and they were expecting an attack not a youth running away.

"Dick, Harold." My two knights joined me as Gilles returned. "You two will have to become archers once more."

"Aye lord." They both looked with distaste at the war bows. "These are poor weapons lord and the arrows..."

"They are all that we have. Do your best. I am going to lead a tortoise to break down the door." As they went to identify their targets I waved over  Sir John, Sir Tristan and Edgar. "I want four axe men. We will make a shelter of shields and advance to the door.  Dick and Harold will clear the archers and crossbowmen."

"Aye lord. "

I held my shield over my head.  Sir Tristan stood next to me and did the same.  Edgar and John stood with Gurth and Wilfred.  They would break the door down.  The rest of my men at arms formed up behind us.

"Ready Dick."

"Aye lord.  Go!"

I heard the two bows twang as the arrows were sent speeding towards the roof of the manor house.  I heard a cry and, as we crossed the road, saw the body of a crossbowman lying awkwardly in the middle.  Arrows and bolts thudded into our shields.  One managed to penetrate through to the other side but, as Dick and Harold became used to the new bows they silenced more of the defenders. We reached the steps.

"One hacks the other defends." Edgar held his shield over Sir John as he smashed his war hammer at the door. After ten blows Edgar took over and used his axe. I could see that the door had lines gouged in it.  The metal studs would slow down the destruction but we would break it down eventually.

Gurth and Wilfred took over.  It was Wilfred and his mighty hammer who finally broke down the door.

"Stand aside!"

The four men would be tired.  Sir Tristan and I leapt through the shattered door. A spear was thrust at me. I deflected it with my shield and rammed my sword through the knight's thigh. The blood spurted high.  I had struck an artery. I pulled his body aside and stepped into the hallway and the stairs. More men were massing and racing towards us.  This was no time for finesse and fine stroke work.  Tristan and I hacked and slashed about us with scything sweeps. There were so many men trying to get at us that blows managed to get through our defences.  A sword rasped along my helmet and a spear caught my mail.  Alf had made both well and they held. When Sir John and Edgar reached us we had managed to empty the stairs of defenders but I knew that more would be on the first floor waiting for us.

We advanced slowly up the stairs with our shields held above us.  It was fortunate that we did so for stones were dropped from above. One was so large the it cracked my shield and numbed my arm.  Whoever had dropped it had to been a mighty warrior. As we neared the top of the stairs I saw a leg.  I stabbed at it and my sword sliced through the calf.  As the man dropped I brought my sword up and ripped though his throat.

I had had enough of this and I roared as I punched upwards with my damaged shield.  I brought my shield down and swept my sword before me.  It clanged against another and I saw the huge knight who had dropped the stone.  He was a head taller than I was and had a chest like Alf my blacksmith. He made the mistake of trying to swing from over his head but he was too tall and his sword caught on the ceiling I stabbed upwards and my sword  found a gap in his mail. I saw the tip emerge from this left shoulder. He shouted and brought his sword's pommel down to strike me on the side of the head.  I brought my shield up and it softened the blow but I was still knocked sideways and my shield broke in twain.  The two halves fell to the floor. As I stumbled to the side I grabbed my dagger with my left hand. Still falling I slashed with my dagger and it ripped across his knee. He still had the strength to bring his sword down and I was barely able to block the blow with my sword.  I raised my dagger and stabbed him through the foot.  He stumbled backwards and I managed to get to my feet.

He was a bloody mess but he was a strong warrior. He came forward using his sword to swing sideways at my middle. This time I spun around and his blow hit air.  I continued my swing and brought the edge of my blade across his back. His mail held but it was a powerful blow and he started to lose his balance.  Alan son of Alan was coming up the stairs and, as he saw the giant, he rammed his spear upwards. The weight of the falling knight drove the spear through his neck. Finally he tumbled to the ground, dead. 

The knight was the last of the serious opposition. We worked our way through the rooms and up to the roof. The last to die were the two remaining crossbowmen. Sir John hurled one to the road below us. We stood on the battlements at the top of the house and we cheered. It took us until dawn to finally clear the town of all those who opposed us. Ralph and my archers returned driving animals before them. The townsfolk had fled to the island and their men were slaughtered by my archers.  The animals would feed our army and deprive the enemy of supplies. After burning the manor house we headed back to Hereford and the siege.

We arrived in the middle of the next afternoon.  We had many animals to drive back.  The siege was being prosecuted with great vigour. Geoffrey Talbot knew something of siege warfare and they had dug up the graves of  St. Guthlac's church to make a ramp.  It was gruesome but effective.  The catapults hurled broken pieces of gravestones towards the walls. The men working the war machines must have had no sense of smell for they were surrounded by festering bodies.

Sir Miles greeted me warmly, "Well done, my lord!  The capture of Worcester and the fresh meat has put heart into our men."

"Good.  When will you be ready to assault?"

"The day after tomorrow.  The east wall is weakened already."

"Good.  I have time to ride to Gloucester and report to the Empress."

I took just my squires with me for it was not a long journey. We reached Gloucester just after dark. As we arrived I saw a great number of tents had been erected and there were many more armed men than there had been.  I left my squires with the horses and was hurrying to the hall when Margaret accosted me.  "My lord, the Empress' brother, the Earl, is here."

"Good."

She lowered her voice, "Be careful my lord.  Be careful I beg of you."

I trusted both Margaret and her judgement.  I nodded, "Thank you, Margaret you serve your mistress well."

She smiled, "As do you, my lord.  None better."

I recognised the Earl's livery.  His men guarded the doors to the Great Hall. The two looked at each other as I approached, "My lord, the Earl is within."

"And I have great news so stand aside and let me enter."

"We have orders to admit no one."

I stepped close to him and said, quietly, "While you and your fellows have been hunting and pleasuring yourselves in Bristol my men and I have been fighting the forces of Stephen.  We have killed many.  Unless you wish to join them move!"

He looked at his fellow and then nodded and moved aside.

"A wise move."

I opened the door.  The Earl had his back to me and he shouted, "I said I wanted no interruptions!"

He turned and saw me. His mouth dropped open.  I smiled and spread my arms. "Not even a comrade and warrior who brings good news."

The Empress smiled, I think it was with relief, and said, "A timely entrance, my lord.  My brother was just telling me how we will never defeat Stephen without his aid. We do not have the skills to do so. Is that not right, brother?"