Hugh pondered the dregs in the bottom of his cup. “I have no wife to consider hardship for, no family,” he said. “My vocation is my life. There is little else. But there is my brother to consider, I suppose.”
The others looked at him. “Calum is not far from here,” William said. “Selborne Castle is a two days’ ride from here. Hugh, do not hate me for saying this, but mayhap we should seek assistance from your brother.”
Hugh’s head came up, his brow furrowed. “Why? This is not his task.”
William’s eyebrows lifted. “Think on it,” he said quietly. “We all want to carry out Henry’s wishes but we do not wish to become hunted men in the process. I have my family to consider, lands and titles that will become mine upon my father’s death. I do not wish to lose that. The same can be said for Richard andReg. And you– you will inherit the Lordship of Westmoreland when your father dies. Do you truly wish to lose that, Hugh?”
Now, Hugh was beginning to feel some doubt. “Of course not,” he said. “But why must we seek assistance from my brother?”
William sat back in his chair, his gaze upon Hugh intense. “Because Calum has nothing to lose,” he muttered. “And because he serves Val de Nerra, who is Henry’s Itinerant Justice in Hampshire where Winchester Castle is located. De Nerra is the law and, instead of killing Canterbury, we will simply have Val arrest him.”
It was an intriguing thought, one with great possibilities. “And do what with him?” Hugh asked.
William’s dark eyes glittered. “Whatever Henry wants him to do. Val has the authority to administer justice on behalf of the king. You are very aware that Henry feels that he must have jurisdiction over the clergy. It will be Henry’s right to punish Canterbury however he wishes and he will see how loyal we are to him because we had Canterbury arrested and brought to him. That way, we avoid being ruined by killing the man. If we only arrest him….”
It made sense; Hugh could see the logic. “Henry would still be avenged,” he murmured.
“Exactly.”
Hugh’s thoughts moved to Val de Nerra, a knight they all greatly respected. He was also a favored of Henry, which meant if Henry became angry for the arrest, he’d be less apt to punish a man like de Nerra.
“And how are we to convince Val that this is what Henry wants?” he asked.
William shrugged. “It is simple. We tell him that Henry has ordered it.”
Hugh digested that suggestion. He had said, in his opinion, that Henry’s rhetorical cry had been a direct command. He couldn’t go back on that, not when he truly felt as if it had been Henry’s order to knights who would hopefully interpret it as such and carry it out. But it was possible that an arrest was what Henry really meant and that consideration brought about some doubt in his actions.
Arrest? Or assassination?
In any case, de Nerra was the law. It would be his responsibility to arrest Canterbury on behalf of the king, but de Nerra was no fool. He would fully understand the implications of such an action. He would want proof.
“Val is trusting but he will want evidence of such a command,” Hugh finally said. “We have no such evidence but a few coins to one of Henry’s clerks and we would have an arrest warrant. I will swear upon my oath that I truly believe that Henry’s plea was a command to us, as his loyal men, to rid him of Canterbury. We all heard him say it. Therefore, we will issue a warrant for Canterbury’s arrest and ride to Selborne for de Nerra and my brother before continuing on to Canterbury. Do you all agree?”
He was looking particularly at William and Richard, who had seemed more reluctant than Reginald. Reginald, in fact, was nodding and so was William. Eventually, Richard nodded, but it was with great hesitation.
“Very well,” Richard said, sounding frustrated. “We ride for Selborne and then to Canterbury, and we arrest Canterbury. We stand by our belief that this is what Henry wishes.”
Hugh was relieved that everyone was finally in agreement but he couldn’t help feeling guilty, as if they were deflecting the responsibility in this action onto de Nerra. But that could not be helped now, not if they truly wanted to carry out what they believed to be the king’s orders.
It must be this way.
“Henry departs for Winchester tomorrow and hunting after Christmas,” he said. “We shall take that diversion to do what needs to be done.”
The door to theporchersuddenly opened, spilling forth a pair of knights who were heading in to sleep and the conversation at the table abruptly quieted. But before it died completely, Hugh spoke softly.
“It is as the king wishes,” he muttered, lifting his cup.
Three more cups were lifted as a dark bargain was struck. They would fulfill Henry’s command to the best of their abilities, unwilling to acknowledge again that they were bringing two innocent knights into their mix to deflect their rogue deeds. But the die was cast.
It was time to end Henry’s torment with Canterbury once and for all.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Bishop’s Waltham, two miles from Durley
Val had riddenfurther with Vesper and McCloud than he’d intended to, but the journey had passed so quickly that he’d lost track of the miles. The first half-hour after they departed from Selborne had been filled with conversation with McCloud, but after that, Vesper had monopolized his time and, before he realized it, they were entering Bishop’s Waltham, a large village that wasn’t far from the d’Avignon home of Durley.
The village was, in fact, the seat of the Bishop of Winchester, Henry de Blois, and he’d built a large castle there about thirty years before. Val had been to the bishop’s palace a few times in his capacity as Itinerant Justice and it was a very large place, rich with wealth from the bishopric of Winchester. He knew de Blois only through his legal dealings, and the man’s grandfather had been the Duke of Normandy, so he was an important man in southern England.
