“Simply go to Winchester, then.”
Alaric shook his head. “I wish I’d known,” he said miserably. “I passed Winchester on my way here, from Devon. It will take me at least a week or more to reach Winchester now, going back the way I came.”
Myles put his feet up like Brenton had. “It should not take more than seven days with a swift horse,” he said. “Is your horse swift?”
Alaric nodded. “A Spanish Jennet,” he said, indicating a breed that was known for speed. “Still, it will take time. Lord Sidbury will be displeased because the matter is terribly urgent.”
“What is so important?” Brenton asked. “Or is it a secret?”
Alaric looked at him. Then he looked at Myles. He took another drink of wine and appeared to be contemplating the question.
“Itisa secret,” he said, but he was looking at Myles. “I will tell you because you should tell your father. He is an important man and he should know who to trust. Everyone knows Hereford serves the king, so mayhap the king will ask him to do something about it.”
“Do something about what?”
Alaric leaned forward, lowering his voice. “The king has been betrayed.”
“By whom?”
Alaric looked around to make sure no one had heard him before reaching over to the table behind him and grabbing his satchel. He put it on the table and opened it, digging around until he came to a carefully folded vellum envelope. Drunk as he was, he didn’t even think to be careful about this. He’d never met Myles or Brenton before. He didn’t know what kind of men they were, but he was going on Myles’ surname.De Lohr. Everyone knew they were honorable, that they served the Crown. Perhaps telling Myles about the missive he carried was as good as telling the king. Word would surely get back to the man. But it never occurred to him that Myles and Brenton could have been lying about everything. He simply took them at their word.
He put the envelope down in front of Myles.
“Look at that,” he said. “Look at the seal.”
Curious, Myles collected the envelope without taking his feet off the table. He held it up, studying it for a moment, before his brow furrowed. Then his feet came off the table and he sat forward, peering more closely at the seal because the light was better here. Finally, he lifted his gaze to Alaric.
“Ludovicus VIII, rex Franciae,” he said. “That is Louis’ seal. The King of France.”
Alaric nodded. “It is,” he said. “Read it.”
Now Brenton’s feet were off the table, too, and they both looked at the envelope as Myles noted that the seal was broken.
“Who broke this seal?” he asked.
“Lord Sidbury,” Alaric whispered loudly. “And it is a good thing he did. We have found a traitor in England, one who would see Henry destroyed.”
Myles still wasn’t any clearer, but he was starting to become concerned. “Be plain, man,” he said. “What is this about?”
Alaric pointed at the envelope. “I am taking that to Henry with an accompanying missive from Lord Sidbury,” he said. “That dispatch is from Louis, thanking The Blackchurch Guild for providing him with men and money to win the battle for Gascony against Henry.”
Myles blinked in surprise. Shock, actually. He ended up carefully unfolding the envelope and, with Brenton looking over his shoulder, read the following:
Mon ami de Saint-Denis,
C’est avec la plus grande gratitude que je vous remercie de votre soutien à ma cause gasconne. Sans vos hommes et votre argent, je n’aurais pu vaincre Henri, le grand prétendant. La Gascogne est de nouveau mienne grâce à vous.
Que Dieu vous bénisse pour votre loyauté envers moi et envers la France.
My friend St. Denis,
It is with the utmost gratitude that I thank you for your support of my Gascon cause. Without your men or your coin, I would not have been victorious over Henry, the great pretender. Gascony is now mine again because of you.
God bless you for your loyalty to me and to France.
Myles had to read it three times. Brenton read it four times. Even when Myles was finished, Brenton took the envelope from him and stared at the words. Myles, however, was fixed on Alaric.
“Wheredid Lord Sidbury get this dispatch?” he asked.
