‘What is happening?’ she asked as she walked briskly into the main hall. Looking around, she found all of the women and children gathered there.
‘Riders approach and Lord Giles is not certain of their identities. You will be safe here,’ he said as he nodded at several other warriors there.
With some signal she did not see, the soldiers placed the women and children in a group near the stone wall and positioned themselves between them and the rest of the hall. Tables were turned on their edges and pulled together into a barrier wall. A defensive placement so that they stood between any intruders and the weakest ones in the keep. The windows, high up on the walls, were shuttered, keeping both the sun’s light and any arrows aimed there out.
So much for a lovely autumn day.
Chapter Six
Fayth lifted one of the small children into her arms, trying to calm her while the girl’s mother did the same with her other children. Even if they could not understand what transpired, the wee ones felt the danger and began to whimper or cry as the room grew dark. Everything that happened brought back memories of the attack on the keep by Giles’s men just weeks before. Her heart pounded in her chest and she began to pace a few steps back and forth, trying to ease the little girl’s distress as much as her own.
Could it be Edmund coming to rescue her? Coming to oust the Breton devils from her lands and keep? Had other loyal Saxons banded together to push Duke William from England? Would there be more bloodshed? And how many would die this time? Questions raced through her thoughts and she could only pray that, whatever happened, no one else would die.
At the sound of loud yelling outside, between the keep and the wall, Roger ordered them all to the floor behind the tables and Fayth sat there, whispering soothing words that she did not feel or believe to the girl in her arms. Readying his men, Roger gave them some signal and some hurried orders that she could not understand. The seconds turned into minutes and still there was no word or movement inside or out.
Realising that there were no sounds of battle or attack, Fayth permitted herself to hope this would end with no lives lost. The tension grew inside the keep until the sounds of approaching soldiers increased. Everyone peeked over the barricade and watched the doors that led to the yard, waiting and watching for the attack to come.
Then, a shrill whistle could be heard outside and Roger and his men relaxed their stance. Staying in position, they watched until the doors opened and Giles entered, leading a small group of his men. With a nod, Roger helped Fayth to her feet but bade her to wait at his side for Giles’s arrival.
It took a few more minutes, for Giles stopped to speak to some of the soldiers and give additional orders or instructions and to ask questions, but all was accomplished in a voice and tone too low for her to hear. His last stop before reaching the enclosure behind which she stood was Roger.
Their exchange continued for several more minutes, sparing her several glances which she could not interpret. Tempted to push the table aside and leave on her own, she understood that she could gain information if she listened to them speak. Information about Edmund perhaps or about other Normans in the area. Instead, their words were low and hushed and she gained no insight into the riders’ identities or Edmund’s whereabouts.
Finally, as those guarding her and the others began moving the tables aside, the warrior reached the front of the room. Nodding to Roger and holding out a hand to her, he led her away from the rest.
‘You follow orders well, my lady,’ he said as they stopped near the door to the yard. His nod in some way acknowledged or saluted her actions.
‘I did not think I had a choice but to do so,’ she answered. ‘Who were they?’ She lifted her hand from his armoured one. The feel of the metal reminded her once more of their first meeting in the chapel and she shivered at the memory of it.
‘The unfortunate results of war,’ he said. He turned and issued more orders before giving her his attention once again. She noticed that all of his men obeyed without question or pause, as though they’d fought and worked together for a long time. ‘Not all of the Duke’s men are willing to wait for their just rewards and ride out from London seeking easy targets to claim as their own.’
‘Does it surprise you that there is no honour amongst thieves?’
The words slipped out before she thought on them and his reaction was swift. Taking her by the arm, he led her to the stairs and nodded at them.
‘Seek your chambers and remain there until I call for you,’ he said loudly. He gestured up the steps and called out to Roger. ‘See the lady to her chambers and report back to me.’
‘My lord,’ she began.
Fayth should know better than to provoke him, especially following so close to this dangerous situation, but sitting in the darkened hall, waiting for another attack on her keep and her people, had worn on her temperament. Now words failed her and, even more, the urge to apologise soured her mouth before she could speak such words. Still, he controlled everything and everyone here, so an attempt at humility was needed or she would find herself a prisoner in her chambers.
He shook his head at her and turned away, but she reached out and touched his arm. ‘I fear this terrifying situation has overwhelmed me, my lord. Forgive my rash words spoken without thought.’
She looked neither terrified nor overwhelmed, but Giles hesitated to call her a liar even though she’d called him a thief. Instead he saw a glimmer of pride and something else, too, something less definite and more unidentifiable. Almost a challenge to call her bluff in this.
But there was much to do before dark and he could waste time standing here trying to discern her thoughts and her motives. If nothing else, this unexpected approach by strangers made clear the holes in his defensive plans for the keep, exposing gaps in both numbers and placement of men, weapons and strategies. There was much work to do to secure this place and in this situation the only thing that had saved them was that the riders were allies and not enemies.
‘Very well, lady. See to the righting of the hall and see that the women go back to their assigned chores.’
She nodded, nearly bowing her head to him, and turned to the task he’d given her. He did not miss the smile that threatened there on her lovely mouth. It was as he suspected—there was no humility in her words or her actions. The lady was simply protecting her own intentions.
Part of him wished to strike out at her for her boldness, but he understood how much he needed the lady and her support. Being open enemies would turn the keep and the people into a personal battleground, one that would not stand against attacks from the outside. Oh, he could punish her, but after the small incident of giving assistance to the water boy and having every person in the yard stand witness Giles knew any goodwill gained would be lost if he took action against their lady for what seemed a trifling matter.
Instead, he left her to her task and made his way out into the yard. His commanders—Roger, Lucien and Matthieu, all Bretons he’d fought with for years—knew what he expected and so he found his horse saddled and six men, armed, at the ready. Giles mounted, accepted his shield from Martin and led the men out of the gates, which were closed behind them.
It would take him hours to ride the lands, checking for signs of either the gangs of rebels that had been formed amongst those opposed to or displaced by the arrival of Normans or, now, the gathering outlaw companies of Duke William’s men who were taking what they wanted in ever-widening circles extending out from London.
Giles and his men arrived back at Taerford Keep just as the darkness of night lay completely across the lands. Luckily, a nearly full moon’s light gave them some aid in making their way across the unknown hills and valleys of the lands he now controlled. At his signal, a whistled one practised many times, Roger ordered the gates open for them from his place in the guard tower. The small troop rode through and the gates were secured behind him.
