“Could we parallel Alary’s travel and intercept him at some point?”
Ghislaine cocked her head thoughtfully. Then, as the knights watched, she went in search of a stick, bringing it back to the group and then dropping to her knees in the center of the knight’s circle. She began to draw with the stick.
“I have been traveling Mercia my entire life,” she said, wanting to be helpful now that they had seemingly given her the chance to do so. Perhaps they would even forgive her for this incident at some point. “We are north of the sea right now and close to London. Alary is not far ahead of us and since he more than likely departed this morning, just as we did, he is probably somewhere west of London right now along the road we are currently traveling on. Just to the north of us, intersecting this road, is another road that leads west. If we take that road, we will travel about five miles before we come to another road that leads north. This is a small road, more of a path really, but it runs deep into Mercia and all the way to the village of Worcester, which is far to the north.”
Gaetan liked the idea. “How close is Worcester to Tenebris?”
Ghislaine made a mark on her crude map. “Not far at all,” she said. “Tenebris is northeast of it, mayhap two or three days. If we travel swiftly enough, we can be waiting for Alary before he reaches his stronghold.”
From a day that had suffered from a terrible moment of darkness, Gaetan was starting to see some hope. Perhaps nothing was lost, after all, in their quest to save Kristoph. He turned to Wellesbourne, who knew this area considering he was from the village whose name he bore, which was in the borderlands between Wales and Mercia.
“And you?” he asked. “What say you? Do you know the road she speaks of?”
Bartholomew nodded, eyeing the map in the mud. “It has been a long time since I have traveled that road, but it will take us north, as she says.”
That was good enough for Gaetan. His attention returned to Ghislaine. “And your brother will not know we are following him?”
Ghislaine shook her head as she drew the approximate location of the road Alary would be traveling upon. “My brother is intelligent but not experienced when it comes to warfare,” she said. “He will only think to look behind him to see if he is being followed. He will not think to look alongside him, on the road to the west.”
“Then that is how we shall travel.”
Ghislaine nodded but there was something in her expression that suggested she wasn’t entirely thrilled with the plans. “I must suggest caution, however,” she said, glancing at the knights as she spoke. “Although this is the most likely path to travel, this road moves through some of the most fearful places in Mercia. It is rife with danger. Even those of us who live here and know the road will not travel upon it.”
Gaetan didn’t see much threat in what she was saying. “We are heavily armed,” he said. “I do not think there will be anything upon that road that we cannot fight off.”
He was confident but Ghislaine was not. The road she suggested wasn’t safe in the least but it was the only solution. There were other roads but it would take time to reach them, which would see Alary possibly make it to Tenebris before they were able to reach him. Therefore, there was little choice. If they still wanted to follow Alary with the hope of rescuing the man, then this was the only way. As Ghislaine pondered the coming journey north on that road of many dangers, Gaetan turned to his men.
“Prepare the army to return to Westerham but abandon the order to burn it,” he said. “For now, we will use it. Aramis, make sure Ansel of Guise is in command. Tell him to return the army, settle in, and wait for us to return.”
Aramis nodded to the command. “And when Lord Boltolph returns?”
Gaetan was resolute. “As I said – the man may coexist with our army peacefully. If he does not, Ansel has permission to do what is necessary to maintain control of Westerham.”
With a plan set, the knights seemed far more composed than they had only moments earlier. Even de Russe and de Moray were moving off together, talking between them. Tempers would flare at times between the men but, like any close family, those things were quickly forgotten.
As they moved away, Ghislaine was left crouching down over her map in the mud, realizing that Gaetan hadn’t moved away with the others. He was still standing there, probably looking at her, his mind filled with doubts about her. His presence made her vastly nervous but she also viewed it as an opportunity to convey her sorrow in the situation. He was calmer now and would, perhaps, be more apt to accept her condolences. Dropping the stick, she brushed off her hands and stood up.
“Shall I send the messenger back to Westerham?” she asked.
Gaetan’s gaze had been on his men in the distance, now moving to her. He pondered her question for a moment.
“Nay,” he replied. “I will send him back with the army. I do not need him returning before them to warn Lady Gunnora that the Normans are returning to stay.”
“Very well.” Ghislaine paused a moment, summoning the courage to say what she felt was necessary given the circumstances. “I wish I had known what Gunnora was thinking last night in regard to my brother. If I had known, I would have most certainly stopped her. But on behalf of the children of Aelfgar, I must apologize for what Alary has done. He has always had an evil streak in him, something my father saw long ago when Alary was a child. That is one reason, among many, that Alary has no lands or titles. Everything he has, Edwin has given to him because he feels pity for the man who is a bastard from his father’s loins.”
Gaetan wasn’t feeling nearly the rage he had been earlier and, in truth, he appreciated Ghislaine’s attempts at an apology. She seemed sincere about it, but he was still feeling the hurt and disappointment from the fact that she’d been told not to tell him about Alary and she had obeyed. The more he thought on that, the more he supposed that his disappointment was in the fact that she had listened to Jathan and not to her loyalty to him.
She did have loyalty to him… didn’t she?
“I was not aware that Alary was a bastard,” he finally said.