That was an unfamiliar voice and they all turned to young William, sitting on the bed beside his father. When he saw all of the eyes turning in his direction, he stood up, facing thembravely. He was quite tall for his young age, taller than Kevin easily and nearly as tall as Peter. But he faced Caius with courage beyond his years.
“My father told me that you offered to let me be your squire while you were here tending to William Marshal’s task,” he said. “I would be honored, my lord. It is a rare opportunity to learn from such a great warrior. I have learned all I can from the master knights of Kenilworth. Will you not consider allowing me to serve you permanently?”
Caius grinned. “You think you’ve learned all you can from Kenilworth, do you?”
William shrugged. “I know more than they do sometimes,” he said with the arrogance of youth. “Their tutelage was fine when I was younger, but now… now, I want to learn from a great knight like you. Will you not consider it?”
Caius had to admire William’s boldness. But it was more than empty boldness; he could see substance behind it. Perhaps even greatness, someday, simply from the way he carried himself. Caius had noticed it from the first.
In any case, William wasn’t wrong in wanting to learn from one of the best field commanders in England. The master knights of Kenilworth were teachers, molding young men into warriors, but they lacked the knowledge in the things Caius had experienced as The Britannia Viper and as an agent of William Marshal. He recognized that he had something unique to offer a future knight.
After a moment, he nodded.
“I am agreeable to keeping you with me provided your father agrees,” he said. “But let us take this slowly. Let us get through this situation with de Wrenville before we decide to commit to each other for life. Agreed?”
William smiled timidly. “Agreed, my lord. And thank you.”
Edward was looking proudly at his youngest son. “William is very bright,” he said. “He will do what you tell him to do,allthat you tell him to do. Won’t you, lad?”
William nodded. “Indeed, I will,” he said. “I will not fail.”
“Of course you won’t,” Caius said. “But if I hear you’ve been arranging gambling games, I will sell you to the Irish and tell your father you ran away.”
Everyone started laughing at William’s expense, and he grinned, unruffled to be the butt of a threat. “I hear the Irish like to gamble,” he said. “That may not have the results that you hoped for, my lord.”
That brought on more laughter, mostly from Edward at his clever boy. Grinning, Caius shook his head.
“You have your hands full with this one, Edward,” he said. “I’ll see if I can tame him a little.”
Edward, still smiling, patted William on the arm. “I like him just the way he is,” he said. Then, he sobered. “Now, good men, all levity aside, we have a feast to attend. As soon as this snow eases, we will return the armies back where they came from, but until then, we are de Wrenville’s guests. Other than Caius, Maxton, and I, keep your mouths shut and keep to yourselves, and if de Wrenville tries to reach you and coerce you into siding with him, ignore him. I have a feeling he may not be beyond such things.”
The parameters were set and the men knew what they had to do. Decisions had been made and, soon enough, they would be carried out. As the snow whistled and the storm continued to rage, the men bundled up in their fur cloaks and warm clothing, following the rope all the way up to the warm and noisy great hall.
An interesting evening was about to begin.
CHAPTER EIGHT
It was crowded,noisy, and smelly.
The great hall of Winterhold was filled with most of Covington’s army, eating and drinking. Being that there was a horrible storm outside, everyone was crowded into every corner, every chair.
Edward entered first, followed by Caius, Maxton, William, and the rest of the knights. Even with such a short walk, from the knights’ quarters to the great hall, they had an inch of snow on their shoulders and heads. Just inside the door, they began to shake it all off, removing cloaks and handing them over to the servants who were waiting at the door.
Steam was beginning to rise off them as their cold bodies came into contact with the heated air. One hovering servant approached Edward and muttered a few words to him, pointing to the other end of the hall. Covington was down there and expected his guests to join him, so they began to filter through the gathered men as they made their way to the opposite side of the enormous hall. They passed a gambling game as they went, men huddled over dice, and when William came to a halt to watch with interest, Caius grabbed him by the neck and pulledhim after his father. He and Maxton exchanged grins at the twelve-year-old evil genius interested in soldiers’ games.
Caius was going to have to break him of that habit.
As they neared the dais with Covington, Caius found himself looking around at the truly impressive hall. Behind the dais was an elaborate wooden screen that shielded an area with the door leading out to the kitchens. There were soaring windows in the hall that were covered with massive wooden shutters and a blazing hearth that several men could have fit in quite comfortably.
In all, the hall was as impressive as the rest of Winterhold and Caius was coming to the conclusion that Covington de Wrenville was completely unworthy of the place. It could take its place among the great Marcher castles like Lioncross Abbey, Chepstow, Ludlow, Trelystan, Beeston and others, but it was owned by a dangerous fool.
“My lord?”
Someone was behind him and he turned to see Hallam. Before he could reply, the man smiled politely.
“I thought you should know that de Wrenville plans to interrogate you about your discussion with Lady Emelisse,” he said. “He will want to know if you convinced her to speak with her brother about surrendering Hawkstone’s keep.”
Caius eyed the man. “My discussion with her is private,” he said. “I’ll not tell him a thing.”
