They had, though I hadn’t expected him to remember. It had been the briefest of encounters, and more than two years ago besides.
‘They were among the men who opened the city gates to your army on the night of the battle at Eoferwic,’ Robert said. ‘It was Tancred who led the charge on to the bridge, who faced Eadgar ?theling in single combat and almost killed him.’
The account as he gave it was more or less true, although others had embellished those feats in their retellings of the battle. Robert, Wace and Eudo all knew well that if anyone had nearly met his death that day, it was I and not Eadgar, but I had rarely admitted this to anyone else, and thought it wise not to say anything now.
‘Of course,’ the king said, studying me with narrowed eyes. ‘Tancred of Earnford. The Breton. I’ve heard tell of your exploits.’
I did my best not to flinch beneath his gaze, and to quell my anger at the note of scorn in his voice. ‘Only good things, I trust, lord king,’ I replied as evenly as I could.
He ignored that remark. ‘Should I understand that you three are responsible for capturing the Englishman?’
‘There were others as well, lord, but yes, it was we who led the expedition,’ I said.
The king nodded as if in contemplation. ‘Very well, Breton. What is this suggestion of yours?’
I swallowed to moisten my throat. ‘I was thinking, lord, that we should send Godric back to Elyg.’
There was silence for a moment, in which only the sound of the rain and the geese in their pen outside could be heard. The king’s eyes narrowed but he did not speak.
‘Send him back?’ Eudo asked. ‘After all this, you would let him go?’
‘Think for a moment,’ I said. ‘Why does Morcar persist in stirring up trouble? Why does he ally himself to filth-ridden wretches like Hereward? What is he looking to gain?’
I turned to Godric. The colour had drained entirely from his face but there was renewed brightness in his eyes. If he wanted to leave this place alive, though, he would have to help me.
‘I – I don’t know,’ he mumbled, his voice quiet.
‘I think you do,’ I said. ‘You might be a poor excuse for a warrior but you know him well enough. If Morcar truly wanted to drive us from these shores, his best opportunity was to raise his banner in support of Eadgar ?theling last year, but he didn’t. He doesn’t care whether an Englishman or a Frenchman wears the crown, so long as he profits. Am I right?’
Godric did not reply, but his silence told me all that I needed to know.
‘I think I understand what Morcar has in mind,’ I went on. ‘As much as he might act the war leader, the truth is that he is barely more experienced a fighter than his nephew. Remember that in two months not once has he dared meet us in open battle or so much as send a single raiding-band against our camp.’
Wace shrugged. ‘He is a coward. What other explanation is there?’
‘Maybe he is, but that doesn’t mean he is stupid. I’d wager he knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s content to let others harry us and wreak destruction, while he shuts himself up inside the rebels’ fastness at Elyg and, week by week, wears us down. Hereward and his band might have made it their cause to shed Norman blood until the marshes run red, but for Morcar this rebellion is merely a way of furthering his own ambitions. He doesn’t want to dirty his hands if he can help it. In the end he’s not looking to fight us, but to bargain.’
All eyes turned to the king, who was looking into the hearth, his hands clasped together and his forefingers steepled in front of his pursed lips. The fire-glow reflected in the whites of his eyes.
‘If you’re right, that means that he can be bought,’ he murmured.
I nodded. ‘Every man has his price. But the longer this campaign continues and the more desperate we grow, the greater the advantage he and the rebels hold, and so the greater their demands will be if we find ourselves forced to sue for peace.’
I said if, but truthfully I knew that it was a matter of when. As I’d said to Robert yesterday, we could not keep fighting this war for ever.
‘You would try to come to an arrangement with Morcar,’ said the king. ‘You would pay a small price to him now, to avoid having to pay a larger one later. Is that it?’
‘That is it, lord king.’
‘You have no confidence, then, in our prospects of taking Elyg by force?’
‘I don’t doubt that it can be done,’ I lied, having to choose my words with care. ‘But it will be costly, and will mean the deaths of many hundreds if not thousands of our own men. Whether victory is worth that cost is not for me to say.’
The king turned to Godric. ‘For the right price, can your uncle be persuaded to renew his oath to me and abandon the rest of the rebels?’