“That will not be necessary,” she said. “I have been completely truthful.”
Gaetan’s eyes glittered at her in the weak light of the tent. “That remains to be seen,” he said. Then, he turned to the knights standing behind him. “Prepare yourselves. I intend to go to the Saxon encampment as quickly as possible, so dress accordingly. Travel lightly. We will need to slip in and slip out, and we cannot do that if you are heavily armored or burdened with many weapons. Take only what you will need.”
De Reyne, standing closest to him, frowned. “Why not wait until darkness?” he asked. “It will make it much easier to move about.”
Gaetan shook his head. “We cannot take the chance that they will move out this morning and take Kristoph with them,” he said. “Unfortunately, operating in the day will leave us exposed, but we will simply have to double our efforts of caution.”
The knights understood. The plan was set and they were more than ready to see it through, feeling anticipation in regaining their lost man. Surely it would be a simple thing against the beaten Anglo-Saxons who had taken Kristoph prisoner. They quit the tent, heading back to their own shelters to prepare for the coming incursion into the enemy encampment, but Téo lingered behind.
He waited until the men were gone before speaking to Gaetan. “Will you tell Normandy what you intend to do?” Téo asked. “And what of Harold’s body?”
Gaetan turned to look at the corpse, the face still exposed. He sighed heavily. “Normandy does not want it,” he said. “If Kristoph’s captor will not take it in exchange, then I suppose it is of no use to use. Seek out William Malet and see if he will assume the burden. Although he is close to Normandy, I do not believe he wishes to see the body thrown into the sea, either. He did not seem to approve of those orders when Normandy gave them to me. See if he will give the body back over to the king’s widow or even to his mother. I heard she had offered gold for it.”
“I heard that also. Do you think Normandy will turn it over to them?”
“That is difficult to know. But I no longer have any use for it.”
Téo understood; William Malet was a trustworthy man, one of the duke’s many Companions. He was as reasonable as any of them to handle the disposal of the body. As Téo headed out to find Malet, Gaetan was left with Ghislaine, once again, alone in the large cluttered tent, but that didn’t last long. Soon, there were squires entering the tent again to assist Gaetan in dressing for his coming mission and Ghislaine was all but forgotten.
Still standing over near the edge of the tent, Ghislaine watched the activity and she was, in truth, grateful to have been forgotten. This entire incident had been a nightmare, one of frustration and fear. She didn’t even feel much relief that the Normans would soon be doing as she had hoped by rescuing their comrade and, hopefully, killing Alary in the process. Whatever hope she did feel in that action had taken a blow when she’d heard de Wolfe mention that the Duke of Normandy had wanted Harold’s body thrown into the sea. She was even more surprised to hear that her sister, Edith, had evidently already been to view her husband’s body but had left without it.
So much had happened to a family so devastated.
But, perhaps, the worst was yet to come. At this point, nothing was certain. Exhausted, shaken, Ghislaine sank down to her buttocks on the cold ground as de Wolfe went about dressing. But she wasn’t watching the big knight. She was looking at Harold’s exposed face, seeing the damage by the arrow, heartsick over the loss of her sister’s husband. He had been a good man for the most part and very kind to her. Not only was her family devastated, but the country as well. There was a new king, a duke from across the sea. And already, Ghislaine was in league with his men to have her brother killed.
Was it survival?
Was it treason?
Either way, she’d made a deal with the devil. She hoped the price wasn’t too high, whatever that was to be.
CHAPTER FIVE
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War Dog
“Where is your little protector?” Alary asked in Kristoph’s language. “She has been so determined to shield you from the rest of us that surely she would not leave your side. Where has she gone, Norman?”
It was daybreak on the day after the battle to end all battles and Kristoph wasn’t in the mood for this line of questioning. On top of the initial injuries he’d had from being knocked off his horse, now he had the pleasure of damaged organs from the kicking he’d taken, a swollen face, probably a broken nose, and loose teeth. There was coagulated blood all in his mouth and down his throat, making swallowing difficult. His head was killing him and he couldn’t see out of one eye because the swelling was so bad. Therefore, the questions being posted to him were not welcome.
“I would not know,” he said through his swollen lips. “I have not exactly been alert as of late.”
Alary was crouched beside the fallen knight. He could see how badly the man was injured but he had no sympathy. He grunted.
“None of my men have seen her, either,” he said. “What did she say to you when she left you? My men said she whispered something to you before she disappeared.”
Kristoph lay there with his eyes closed for a moment before, slowly, opening his eyes as Alary’s question registered. “The last I spoke with her was last night sometime,” he said. “At least, that is the last I recall.”
Alary didn’t doubt the man. The knight had been beaten into unconsciousness last evening and was only now, at daybreak, becoming lucid again. Still, he was hoping to find a clue as to his sister’s whereabouts.
“No one can find her,” he said. “But knowing my sister, she is probably lingering around the edges of the Norman encampment, picking off Normans with her bow. She is quite good with it.”
Kristoph’s eyes remained open for a moment longer before closing; it was too exhausting to keep them open. “It seems to me that she is a seasoned fighter.”
Alary thought on his strong-willed obnoxious youngest sister. “She does as she wishes and no one has stopped her,” he said frankly. “I have two sisters, one of whom is the widow of Harold. Did you know that? The king you killed was my sister’s husband.”
Kristoph didn’t know that and he surely didn’t care. “Many husbands are killed in battle,” he muttered. “It is the way of things.”
Alary’s eyes narrowed. “It is the way of Norman conquest,” he said. “These are not your lands. You should not have come here.”
“Your sister said much the same thing.”
“For once, she was correct.”
“Much as you have followed your king, I too was simply following orders.”
Alary snorted. “I follow no orders.”
“Then why are you here?”
Alary cocked his head. “An excellent question. I suppose the answer is because I deserved something from all of this. Edwin, my brother, is not here, nor is Morcar, my other brother. They did not come south with Harold, but I did. I wanted something for that loyalty.”