But it had been with a purpose in mind.
It had occurred to him that this situation would never end so long as Marius was alive; that was the truth of the matter. As long as the man lived, Emelisse would be in danger and that was something Caius couldn’t stomach.
As he had listened to his wife argue as to why she needed to accompany him back to Hawkstone, he started to agree with her. An idea occurred to him and he realized he needed her to be part of it. It was her home, after all, and this was her battle.
But her battle had become his. The mission to aid The Marshal’s extended family had turned into something else because, now, The Marshal’s extended family had just become Caius’ enemy.
And his enemies would die.
*
They found TheMarshal’s army several miles north of Winterhold, nearly at the halfway mark between Hawkstone and Winterhold.
With the snow melting at a rapid rate, the roads were becoming swamped with the runoff. That made moving a one-thousand man army difficult because of the sloppy conditions. Men were up to their knees in mud in some places, and the provisions wagons were becoming stuck every few feet because of the clay-like mud that had developed. Therefore, travel had been extremely slow, and they hadn’t made good time on their trek to Hawkstone.
Caius, Emelisse, and Kevin found the army as about half of its mass had already been moved off the road. The rest of it was struggling, moving men and material into a nearby field.William had arrived about two hours earlier and relayed Caius’ instructions to Maxton. Frustrated, he nonetheless obeyed and stopped the army immediately. But then came the attempts to move the army off the road, which had been difficult and laborious.
The field that the army had moved to wasn’t much better than the road itself. The condition of the field, covered with dead grass and debris, had turned into a swamp. When Caius and Emelisse and Kevin arrived, Caius left the others at the side of the road while he proceeded to hunt down Maxton, who was standing up to his knees in dark mud, shouting at the wagons because four out of the six of them were almost permanently stuck in the muck. When Maxton saw Caius approaching, he turned to the man with some anger.
“You wanted us to stop, so we have,” he said, irritated. “Why in the hell are we stopped, Caius? What is amiss?”
Caius was almost amused at Maxton’s anger, but not quite. He had something very serious to talk over with the man and wouldn’t let frustration get in the way.
“Nothing is amiss,” he said. “But you do not have permission to move the army to Hawkstone and you know it. The Marshal gave us explicit orders to that regard. We werenotto fight for Hawkstone.”
“Do not tell me you didn’t already think of this.”
“Of course I thought of it. But if anyone is to disobey The Marshal, it will beme.”
That took some of the fight out of Maxton, but not entirely. He was easily riled, especially when he knew he was right. In this case, he believed that strongly. He headed in Caius’ direction, taking the man by the arm and pulling him away from the men he’d been shouting at so they could have more privacy.
“Marius is mobilizing his army,” Maxton said. “He will be marching on Hawkstone today, tomorrow at the latest. Did you marry Lady Emelisse?”
“I did.”
“Then he will be marching on your property. It is vulnerable. Did you think I would just stand by and watch him destroy it?”
Caius sighed faintly. “Maxton, you cannot disobey The Marshal,” he said quietly. “I told you– if anyone will disobey him, it will be me. I will not allow you to put yourself in a position like that.”
“And yet, I have.”
Caius could see that he was determined. His bullheaded, stubborn friend. “God, I love you,” he muttered. “You know I do. But I have a better idea that will make this all go away and will not risk our loyalty to The Marshal.”
Maxton frowned. “What?How?”
“Just… come.”
Together, the two of them trudged off towards the road where Emelisse and Kevin were waiting, joined by William, who by this time was looking positively exhausted. Being up all night and having a hard ride this morning, were taking their toll on the boy, but he was still upright and alert, still waiting for any orders Caius might give.
But Caius wasn’t looking at his squire. He was focused on both Maxton and Emelisse. As he and Maxton drew near the group on the edge of the road, he reached out and took the reins of Emelisse’s palfrey. He led the little animal along, motioning to Kevin and William to follow. Together, the five of them moved down the road, away from the army that was settling in. When Caius was certain they were out of earshot, he came to a halt.
“Now,” he said, glancing at the group. “What I am about to say will not leave this circle. Is that clear?”
He mostly meant William. He had no worries about Maxton or Kevin or Emelisse. William nodded solemnly, as did Emelisse, but her expression held both confusion and trepidation; Caius could see it.
He continued.
“As of this morning, Covington de Wrenville is dead,” he said. “His son, however, is very much alive and…”
