The question was meant for Fitz Osbern but it was Earl Hugues who spoke first. ‘I will head the northern advance,’ he said, glancing about the table as if daring anyone to defy him. ‘Gwynedd borders upon my earldom; it is my responsibility if it is anyone’s.’
‘I have no objection,’ said Fitz Osbern. He would, I suspected, be more than glad to send the Wolf hunting elsewhere – far enough away at least that the younger man would not be constantly barking at his heels. ‘As for the command of the other raiding-party, I invite any of the rest of you to put yourselves forward if you so wish.’
There was silence, and I could see why. Should the plan succeed and the Welsh be defeated, the honour conferred upon the men commanding each raiding-party would be considerable. And yet of the two, this one carried by far the greater risk, since it would be marching into the enemy heartland, many miles from any castle or other fastness, far even beyond the safety of the dyke. Not only that, but such a small band could easily find itself exposed with little hope of retreat, and in such a situation one’s very life might well be forfeit.
And yet if I’d learnt anything in my years it was that life was rarely without danger in one form or another. Oftimes the best thing a man could do was embrace it.
‘I will lead them,’ I said.
Eleven
ONLY AFTER I’D spoken did it strike me how self-important those words made me sound, and how foolish too. Next to me Robert was frowning, shaking his head slowly. Once more, all eyes were upon me.
‘You?’ Berengar asked. ‘What makes you think you can command such a force?’
‘Peace, Berengar,’ said Fitz Osbern from the head of the table. ‘I can think of no one better suited for the task.’
But Berengar would not listen. He rose to his feet, his expression one of indignance and disgust. ‘You would have him lead this raiding-band?’
‘I see no reason why not,’ Fitz Osbern said mildly, as if the matter were of little account, and the idea that anyone else should take charge were ridiculous.
‘Surely someone with more experience is needed for an undertaking such as this,’ Berengar said. ‘What has he done to merit this?’
To tell the truth his doubts were well placed, though he could not have known it. Never before in all my years of campaigning had I ridden at the head of such an army. Under my old lord I had commanded a whole conroi, and sometimes more than one; when his horse was killed beneath him during the feigned flight at H?stinges I was the one who had rallied his men, all threescore of them, and held off the enemy hordes who pursued us. That was not quite the same thing, admittedly, yet even so I had no doubt that I was capable.
‘Do you have someone better in mind?’ Fitz Osbern asked Berengar. ‘Perhaps you would be willing to take charge of the expedition yourself?’
Berengar opened his mouth as if to protest, but then obviously thought better of it and shut it again. I could see he was torn: on the one hand was the promise of honour and fame, while on the other was the knowledge that should he fail, whatever reputation he had would be tarnished for ever. He gazed down at the table, hardly blinking, his lips set firm.
Fitz Osbern was not about to let him back down so easily. ‘Well, what is your answer?’
‘Lord . . .’ Berengar said, and I could see from the frown on his face that he was having to choose his words carefully. ‘If I may say, this whole idea is foolishness. You would send close to two thousand men out into the wilds beyond the dyke, into country that few Frenchmen have ever dared set foot in. If those men are lost, what then?’
‘With every week that passes the Welsh are gathering their strength,’ Earl Hugues put in. ‘If we simply wait for them to come to us then there is no guarantee that we’ll be able to hold them off. Were you not the first to point that out?’
Fitz Osbern nodded, for once it seemed agreeing with the Wolf. ‘Certainly this will be no easy task, Berengar, but I think you rather overestimate the enemy. Since you will not put yourself forward, though, it is of little consequence.’ He turned his attention to me. ‘I believe that Tancred has experience enough. Indeed for the hero of Eoferwic – the man who led the charge against Eadgar ?theling, who dared to fight him in single combat – I imagine that the command of a small raiding-party such as this should be a straightforward proposition.’
It seemed I would be forever branded with that feat, despite the fact that it had been borne not from courage but from stupidity, even if I were the only one who understood that. Nevertheless, I sensed a challenge in Fitz Osbern’s words; one that was difficult to back down from. It was only due to his sufferance that I’d been allowed to speak at all this evening. Now I was being presented with the chance for honour and glory greater than any I had won before. Yet if I withdrew my offer then I would be seen as a coward and would lose all the respect I had worked so hard to gain.