Henry pondered that for a moment. “I have been thinking on disbanding the Guard of Six so that you may find more lucrative positions,” he said. “Do not look at me with such shock—I simply mean that Torran is now an earl and we do not see him often, and Kent has decided to remain on the Welsh marches with his new wife and family. We will not see him again. I consider youthe leader of the Guard of Six now, and there is Aidric and Britt and Dirk. There is also Stefan de Lohr now, and that fiery knight, Payton-Forrester. You are all elite knights, but if I am to no longer travel or engage in battle, your lives will go to waste for want of action, and that is not a fate any of you deserve.”
“No man suffers an ill fate when he serves the king,” Jareth said. “But it is true that a man’s skills will lapse if he does not use them.”
“Do you feel that your skills will lapse if you remain with me in my infirm years?”
Jareth shook his head. “Not at all, Your Grace,” he said. “I will simply go around starting fights to stave off boredom.”
That brought a grin from Henry. “Let us hope it does not come to that,” he said. Then he turned to a man off to his right. “William believes I should keep my Six. He has been your advocate, as has Thor. Mayhap I will not disband you at this time because, truthfully, you are a comfort to me. And I need men who are a comfort.”
Jareth looked over at William de Valence, one of Henry’s chief advisors. He was French, as many of Henry’s advisors were, but he was likable enough. He genuinely seemed to have the king’s, and the country’s, best interests at heart. As he exchanged a nod with William, Thor, who had been standing well behind Jareth during the conversation, came to stand alongside him.
“Your Grace, may I offer to accompany Jareth on his journey to Bristol?” he said. “I suspect he may need guidance and assistance, and I am certain you do not wish to send the entire Six with him.”
Jareth thought that was a good idea, but Henry shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “He may take the Six. As I said, I have no plans to go anywhere or do anything for the next month or so, but I would prefer that my Lord Protector remain by my side.Jareth, take the Six with you. It will give them an adventure to stave off the boredom, as you call it. But I will expect you to return as soon as you can.”
Jareth dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Aye, Your Grace.”
He eyed Thor as he turned to leave, as if to acknowledge the man’s disappointment in not being able to travel with him to Bristol. Thor remained behind, indeed disappointed, as Jareth quit the chamber and shut the door behind him. When he was gone, Henry let out a hiss.
“I did not want to say this in front of him, but I fear he is in for a shock when he arrives in Bristol,” he said.
Thor looked at him. “Why, Your Grace?” he asked.
It was de Valence who spoke. “Very true, Your Grace,” he said.
Thor was looking between them now. “Whatis he facing when he arrives in Bristol?” he said.
William and Henry looked at each other again until Henry gestured toward the man, inviting him to answer Thor’s question. As Henry returned to his sweet wine, William spoke.
“Do you know much of Bristol, de Reyne?” he asked.
Thor shook his head. “I’ve only been there once,” he said. “It seemed a nice enough town. Why?”
“Were you told anything about it?”
“Like what?”
That told William what he needed to know because to those who knew much about Bristol, there was one thing that stood out to them. Surely Thor would have said so had he known.
But he hadn’t.
William proceeded.
“My wife has property near Bristol,” he said. “Some of her family still lives there. Part of my role, as an advisor to the king, is to keep my ear to the ground for information on the nobleswho infest England, especially when it is within lands or areas where my family lives. I must know of the people who pay my taxes.”
Thor knew he was speaking as a Frenchman who had been greatly opposed by Henry’s warlords. “My father is the Earl of Ashington, so I know about people who pay taxes and the character of English nobles,” he said, more or less warning de Valence that he was not on the man’s side should he speak ill of the English people. “What have you heard of Chester de Long?”
An amused expression drifted across William’s face. “Simply that Chester is a man of many enterprises,” he said. “The merchant business is only the beginning. That is not where he makes the bulk of his money.”
Thor frowned. “Then where does he make it?”
William couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “From a place called Aphrodite’s Feast,” he said. “That is the true moneymaking establishment in Bristol. It is an enormous place, an old Roman temple converted into a luxurious home. Truthfully, it could put the finest palaces to shame. I have been there before, taken by my wife’s father. He is a regular patron of the place that the locals call, simply, The Feast.”
“What is it?” Thor asked. “An inn?”
“Amyltenhus.”
Thor stared at him as he realized what the man was saying. “Awhat?” he said, aghast. “A bordel?”
