Goodbye, Penelope….
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Gods weresmiling upon him.
At least, the dark French knight felt that they were. After months of pursuing Hage from the Levant, he was finally closer to him than he’d been in months. He could smell the man, knowing he was somewhere close by.
The last few days had all happened quite by chance, which is why the French knight was certain that the Gods had a hand in this. He didn’t believe in God as a singular deity; he’d grown up believing God was a dictator and the saints were his evil minions, so his beliefs were in the Fates. They had never steered him wrong and they were certainly on his side now.
Passing through the town of Longcross on his way to Salisbury where he had planned to track down the earl, he came across a massive festival and tournament. The entire village of Longcross was wide open and people were traveling in and out, and the mood in general was very festive. There were also soldiers and knights of many different houses and when he came to rest at an inn called the Cock and Bull, he came across men who were attached to the Duke of Dorset. The dark French knight engaged the men in casual conversation only to find out that the Earl of Salisbury was attending the tournament.
Thrilled at his stroke of luck, the French knight took the one remaining room at the Cock and Bull in order to lay down his plan to approach the Earl of Salisbury and find out what the man knew about who had killed his son. He’d had time to ponder the situation during his ride from Dover and decided to offer his services to the earl to track Hage down and bring him to justice. They would have a common goal, after all. Perhaps the earl would even pay him well.
So he kept to his room for a day and a night, eating, resting, and planning. The truth was that he was exhausted from months of travel and his money was nearly gone. He had a fine horse, and his usual weapons, and the second day he was at Longcross, he meandered over to the tournament field to see who had entered the competitions. He was thinking on entering the mass competition simply to win the purse so he would have more money. Additionally, were he to win the mass competition, Salisbury might take him seriously on his offer to help him bring Hage to justice. It would be a winning situation for them both.
The dark French knight wandered the happy streets of Longcross, observing the English as they celebrated some kind of harvest festival. He didn’t even know what it was, only that there were citizens with straw effigies, parading them through the streets.
Approaching the tournament field, he could see the marshals milling around a table that was set up to accept entries. Bouts were posted as were the schedules, and the dark French knight wandered over to the posted schedules, casually, making note of the houses that were present– Sherborne, du Bonne, de Moray, Forbes, and Penden. Great houses that even the French knight had heard of. There were lesser houses, of course, and there was also the House of Longespee and the Duke of Dorset. In all, it was an impressive lineup.
There was also a schedule of who was competing in the afternoon mass competition. The tournament had started that day and one mass competition had already happened that morning with the House of de Moray taking the prize. De Moray was historically a popular tournament house and they were very well known on the circuit, so it was no surprise that they had won.
The French knight considered the lineup for the afternoon mass competition and decided he would enter, but the field marshals grilled him for almost an hour on his background since he did not have his list of patins, or a knight’s resume, with him. They wanted to know where he trained, where he had served, and his great accomplishments, and he spent most of that hour telling them about his time spent in the Levant. Finally, the head marshal gave his approval and the French knight was added to the afternoon’s mass competition.
Relieved that he had been added, and the least bit excited about it, he had some time to prepare before the bout began so he headed back to the Cock and Bull. His mind was on a juicy knuckle of beef and a particularly round wench he had seen earlier. In fact, he was quite sure he would take her into his bed. Thoughts on rubbing his naked flesh against hers, he turned the corner onto the avenue that would lead him to the inn about a block down and he caught sight of a man and woman upon a wagon laden with trunks. They had just pulled up outside of the Cock and Bull and the man leapt off, moving to help the woman.
Startled, a warning bell went off in the French knight’s head; the man’s back was to him but he seemed very familiar. People were walking in between him and the man, as the street was busy, so his view kept being interrupted. Finally, the path cleared and he saw, clear as day, Kevin Hage as he helped a finely dressed and quite beautiful woman into the inn. Other men, perhaps servants of the inn, were removing the heavychests from the wagon and following Kevin and the woman inside.
The French knight fell back into the shadows of a building across the street; it was too much to believe. He stood there in shock, hardly comprehending that he’d just seen Kevin Hage. Of all of the strokes of luck in the world, one happened to fall upon him and he could hardly believe it. Hage was actually in this town at this particular time. Moreover, he was going into the very same inn that the French knight himself was lodged in.
Was it actually true? Had the Gods dropped Kevin Hage right into his lap?
Electrified by what he had just seen, the French knight dashed towards the inn but he cut around the back side. Hage would know him on sight and know why he had come, so he didn’t want to tip the man off by barging in through the front door for all to see. He wanted to watch Hage, to see what the man was up to, because quite clearly, this was an unexpected event.Whywas Hage here? There were so many questions in his mind that it was difficult to single out just one. And what was he doing with the lovely woman? The dark French knight was determined to find out.
With stealth, he entered the tavern from the rear, staying to the shadows, spying Hage as he and the woman stood near the steps that led to the second floor of the inn. They were speaking of something. The French knight could see that Kevin was in serious conversation with her. What he couldn’t hear were the words. The inn wasn’t particularly crowded, so the noise level wasn’t high, but the dark French knight was too far away to hear anything.
He could see that there was a gap beneath the stairs that led back to the kitchen, and he could also see that he could reach the kitchen from where he was standing without being seen. Hehad to get closer to Hage to possibly hear what was being said. Perhaps that would explain this wild coincidence.
He had to get closer!
Carefully, he made his way through the kitchen, ignoring the look of the serving wenches, and ended up beneath the stairs, literally around the corner from Hage and the woman. Of course, he could charge out and catch Hage off-guard and try to kill him that way, but he knew Hage was far too good to make an easy target like that. More than likely, the French knight would find himself the one bleeding on the floor. So he would bide his time and wait for the right moment to sneak up behind Hage and slip a dagger into his ribs. When dealing with skilled assassins like Hage, there was only one way to handle them.
Catching them when they least expected it.
*
Unaware of theextreme danger that lurked just out of his line of sight, Kevin was completely focused on Annavieve. He had been explaining the point system of the mass competition and joust to her, as she was very curious. He was also reluctant to leave her simply because he didn’t want her out of his sight, so he was trying to draw out the conversation so he didn’t have to leave her. But the truth was that he was expected back in camp to prepare for the coming contest so he reluctantly tried to wind down the conversation. The problem was that Annavieve wasn’t so apt to let him end it and, being weak where she was concerned, he didn’t push.
“I think it is completely shocking that men will ransom their friends,” Annavieve was saying. “Will you do this terrible thing?”
Kevin was trying not to laugh. “Of course I will,” he told her. “Why wouldn’t I?”
She shook her head, exasperated. “Because it is terrible to take money from your friends like that,” she said as if he was daft. “You are essentially stealing from them.”
He did laugh, then. “It is not stealing,” he assured her. “It is a very normal way to obtain coinage. Why do you think so many men compete in these competitions? Not only can you ransom those you subdue, but the winning team usually shares a purse.”
Annavieve cast him a reproachful look, but in truth it was rather humorous. Men were still naughty boys at heart. “Well,” she said, primly. “I have never heard of such things. I do not think I like tournaments.”
He laughed again, quietly. “You will once you see the excitement of it,” he said. “In fact, I must go and prepare for my bout now. The innkeeper said your room is the first one at the top of the stairs, so I will stand here and watch you go inside. You are not to leave that room until I return for you and you are not to open your door to anyone save the innkeeper or his wife. Is that clear?”
