Val did. He snatched it, bringing it over to the tapers that had just been lit, giving forth their soft warm glow into the chamber. Calum watched his face as he read it; he read it once, twice, and then just stared at it. After a moment, he lowered the missive and looked at Calum with an odd expression on his face– something between disbelief and horror.
“God’s Bones,” he hissed. “I take it that you read this?”
Calum nodded solemnly. “Hugh told me to,” he said. “Henry has ordered you to arrest the Archbishop of Canterbury becauseyou are the law in Hampshire, where the missive was written and where the trial shall be carried out. Hugh brought FitzUrse, le Breton, and de Tracy with him and they have already gone ahead to Canterbury to talk the man into surrendering peacefully before you get there. But we know he will not. My God, Val… what has Henry put you in the middle of? If Canterbury refuses, Henry will blame you and if he complies, the Church will blame you because you arrested him. What are you going to do?”
Val simply stared at him as if he had no real answer. His exhausted face gave forth a rainbow of emotions as the implications of the missive sank deep. While Calum had been given time to think about every angle, Val hadn’t. Now, Calum had slapped him across the face with the reality of the situation and he turned away, missive in hand, struggling to collect his thoughts.
“I am going to obey his missive,” he said after a moment. “That is the only thing I can do. But for something like this, Henry should have summoned me to Winchester at the very least. He should have told me to my face that this was to be my duty. To send a missive is cowardly at best. In fact, mayhap I should ride to Winchester to discuss it.”
Calum shook his head. “But he has already sent my brother and the other knights on ahead,” he said. “Hugh told me that you should meet them at the West Gate Inn. Do you know it?”
“I do.”
“Then if you seek Henry to discuss the contents of the missive, it will delay you in going to Canterbury and I would wager to say that you will anger Henry. He wants this done quickly; otherwise, why would he have had my brother bring you this missive? To go back to Winchester would cost time and my brother is already heading for Canterbury.”
Val understood that. Evidently, this was something Henry wanted done very fast so it could be over and done with before church supporters were rallied to protect Canterbury. But Val knew of the troubles Henry had with Thomas Becket; hardly a fighting man in England hadn’t heard of it, troubles that went back for years. He knew about the excommunication of York and Salisbury, something that a knight traveling to Winchester from London last month had told him when he’d stayed a night at Selborne. That same knight was traveling to Winchester to inform the king.
It never occurred to him that the message the knight bore would someday involve him.
But it did. The excommunication of those who had crowned Young Henry had evidently been the last nail in the coffin as far as Henry was concerned. Was he surprised by the directive? Nay, he was not. But he was deeply concerned about it. Calum had been correct; Henry was putting him in a very bad position.
“Henry knows he has placed me in the jaws of the lion,” he muttered. “Did you see the portion of the message that threatened me? If I do not do my duty, then Henry will consider it a refusal of his command. He had to do that because he knew I would not swallow this command easily.”
Calum watched the man carefully, looking for any signs of rebellion. But Val was very good at covering his emotions. More than that, it would be unheard of for him to refuse an order from the man who had done so much for him. He was loyal to Henry until the end.
Even his.
“I am sorry, Val,” he said quietly. “This is not something you should be mixed up in.”
Val was oddly calm about the situation, mostly because it hadn’t fully sunk in yet. His exhaustion had prevented that, as had the events with Vesper. Even now, when he should bethinking about the king’s directive, it was competing in his mind with thoughts of the lady who was now halfway to Eynsford.
But he had to shake himself of thoughts of her. He needed all of his focus because he had a very serious duty to undertake. He looked at the missive again, still in his hand, reading those words yet again.
“I am the law in Hampshire,” he said. “Henry made me so. I cannot pick and choose those laws and royal directives I decide to enforce. I suppose I am the logical choice when it comes to arresting Canterbury although I do not relish it. This will be trouble for me, if I refuse or if I comply. Either way, I am doomed.”
Calum knew that. He was feeling a great deal of pity for Val. “Kenan and Mayne do not know of this directive,” he said. “It is up to you if you wish to tell them. Do you have any thought as to who will go with you to accomplish this task?”
Val looked at him as if surprised by the question. “No one will,” he said. “I will go alone. This directive is for me and me alone. I will not allow the rest of you to be sucked up into it.”
Calum was concerned. “But you must take some men with you,” he said. “What if Canterbury resists? How will you overcome him?”
Val sighed heavily. “Before I was a justice, I was a knight and a very good one,” he said. “I spent years on the battlefields of France, as you well know. Now, do you truly believe a cleric like Canterbury can fight me off?”
Calum quickly shook his head. “I did not mean that,” he said. “I know you can handle Canterbury, but he has men that surround him. What will you do about them?”
Val turned for the table, reaching out to set the missive atop it. “You said your brother and the others have gone on ahead of me,” he said. “I think between the five of us, we can subdue any guards that Canterbury might have.”
Calum didn’t like that at all. “Please, Val,” he begged softly. “Take one of your knights and a hand-picked contingent with you. For your own safety, please. I know you do not want to get any of us mixed up in this, but we serveyou. We are already mixed up in it. Please do not go it alone, I implore you.”
Val was too weary to fight off his words. He made sense and he knew Calum would pester him until he agreed. Worse still, he might even tell Margaretha and then she would enter the fray. Nay, that’s not what he wanted. Therefore, he gave in to Calum’s soft pleas simply to shut the man up.
“You are an old woman, Calum,” he said sternly. Then, his face cracked into a smile. “But I understand your concern and I will respect it. If you were hoping to go with me, I will not permit it. You have a wife and a child to think of, so you remain here. But I will allow you to select the knight and contingent who will attend me. Tell them not why; I will do that. We will leave before dawn, so have them meet me here in the solar before dawn breaks. I will explain the situation to them. Even if Henry did not tell me to my face what his wishes were, I will show my men more respect than that. They will know what they will soon be facing.”
Calum was disappointed that he would not be going with Val but he understood. He did have a wife and child to think of and this mission would have far-reaching implications to those who participated. He didn’t want to jeopardize his family, or worse, leave them completely. He very much wanted to see his son born.
“Very well,” he said reluctantly. “What about your mother? Will you tell her?”
Val nodded. “I must,” he said. “She will have to know why she will no longer be welcome in church.”
