As William nodded firmly, prideful that he was the only one who had been asked to accompany Caius, Morgan stepped forward.
“Cai,” he said, his young face serious. “It may be two weeks or more before I return with your army. What are you going to do meanwhile?”
Caius looked at Emelisse. “Take my wife to Wolverhampton,” he said. “I will explain to Edward what has occurred and try to coerce him into joining me against de Wrenville. I have a feeling it would take very little provocation for him to agree.”
With the situation clear, and the men with their missions, there was little to do now but execute them. Caius looked at Emelisse, who smiled at him timidly. There was so very much at stake for both of them. William was already starting to run off, to retrieve the horses, but Maxton grabbed him by the neck as he tried to leave. He kept his grip on the strong but squirrely squire as he faced the group.
“You cannot leave through the gatehouse,” he said. “There are about one hundred angry Winterhold men waiting just outside, angry that we chased them from the bailey. If you ride through them, they will see you leave together and Hallam’s story of the lady’s escape would be for naught.”
Caius nodded. “I realize that,” he said, looking to Emelisse. “Is there a postern gate we can depart from?”
She nodded. “It is behind the keep, in the kitchen yard,” she said. “It leads to a path that either goes to the main road or down to a wooded area next to the brook.”
Caius looked at the others. “Has anyone seen it? Is it heavily guarded?”
It was Kevin who spoke up. “I saw it,” he said. “I pulled Winterhold men away from it, so it is not guarded now, but you can see it from the road and from the area where Winterhold has set up an encampment. You would have to take the path to the wooded area immediately to avoid being seen.”
“Can we get the horses through it?”
“The lady’s palfrey could make it,” Kevin said. “But your warhorse is too big. You’ll have to go through the gatehouse.”
The plans were cast. Caius sent William to bring the lady’s palfrey to the gatehouse while Caius would take both his horse and William’s spirited animal through the gatehouse and meet them around behind.
Everyone began to move.
Caius remained with Emelisse until William returned with her palfrey, still with her satchel from Lady de Wrenville tied to the saddle. Caius then turned the lady over to the squire and as the two of them made their way to the postern gate, Caius hurried to the stableyard, or the remains of it, where the big horses were tethered and eating anything they could get their floppy horse lips on. As he mounted his steed and began to lead William’s skittish beast towards the gatehouse, near the postern gate, something ominous was brewing.
*
William was feelingparticularly important.
He had been entrusted with a very important task, one of leading the lady to safety. He had been on the periphery of theentire situation since riding north with his father, and he had been very excited when Caius had offered to let him squire. That wasn’t an offer that came frequently, for in his world, only the most worthy were able to apprentice with a great knight, and Caius was one of the greatest, according to his father.
William wanted to be one of the greatest, too.
In truth, he knew that he could be a little wild, but he was always obedient where it counted. He was strong, intelligent, and well educated. He had also seen a few battles as a result of his position at Kenilworth Castle. Since Kenilworth was loyal to the Crown, it seemed that anytime there were any skirmishes, Kenilworth and her great master knights we’re always called forth, at least locally.
William was no slouch with a sword.
In fact, he was often used to help train other squires because he was so good with a sword. Other than a whip-smart mind and the ability to make illicit money, that seemed to be where his great talents lay, something that filled his father with pride. In fact, for his most recent birthday, his father had a sword commissioned for him, a weapon that Edward called The Eye. The Eye of the Wolfe was William’s weapon, something that his two older brothers greatly envied because they had not yet earned their weapon from their father. William sword wasn’t the biggest blade he had ever seen, but it was beautifully made, exquisitely weighted, and gorgeously forged.
It was the weapon of a champion.
Even now, he wore the sword at his side proudly. Usually, squires were not armed, but in William’s case he insisted on wearing it and, so far, no one had demanded he remove it, although the master knights at Kenilworth would not let him wear it on a regular basis. He was only allowed to wear it on special occasions, during practice, or sometimes even during a feast because although he was young, the master knights knewthat William had enough common sense to know when to use the sword and when not to use it. Their brilliant, wild, gambling squire was strangely trusted more than most when it came to a weapon.
Even now, the beautiful sword hung on his right side in a sheath that had been specifically commissioned for it. As William led Emelisse and her horse through the kitchen yard and towards the iron-fortified postern gate, he was on alert. One hand was on the horse and the other hand was on the hilt of his sword.
As young as he was, he knew what was at stake.
As they neared the gate, no one seemed to be around, so William quickly picked up his pace, yanking the gate open. As he stepped through, a Winterhold soldier abruptly appeared on the other side.
They were both startled to see one another. William dropped the horse’s reins and unsheathed his sword just as the Winterhold soldier let out a shout. Panicked, William knew that shout would bring others and the lady’s escape would be thwarted. Therefore, he did the only thing he could do– he brought his sword up in a flash, goring the man straight through the belly.
But he knew that wasn’t enough, for the man could still live a short while and tell his friends what he had seen. Therefore, as the soldier fell to his knees and pitched forward, William brought his sword up against the man’s neck and nearly cut his head off.
The soldier was dead before he hit the ground.
As the body of the Winterhold soldier rolled down the slope and into some heavy foliage below, William watched with wide eyes as Emelisse rushed up behind him. Having seen what happened, she put her hand on the young man’s shoulder.
