“It is not a job for an army, at least not at first,” he said. “I will ride out alone to Castle Heton and see if they are there. If they are, I shall get them out myself. I will not attract any attention that way and it will be safer for Mae and the children.”
Immediately, the brothers began shaking their heads. “Nay,” Scott said. “You cannot do this alone. I agree that going in with an army at the outset could be detrimental, but you cannot rescue a woman and several children by yourself. You are a de Wolfe, Tommy, and by virtue of that bloodline, you are a great and powerful knight, but you are not invincible. You must be realistic.”
“He is trying to do what is right.” Blayth, who had largely remained silent throughout the conversation because his head injury prevented him from speaking quickly, finally opened his mouth. He stepped forward, moving to Thomas’ side and putting a hand on the man’s shoulder as he spoke. “You are trying to do what is good and noble, and you are trying to do it without asking for help from your older brothers. But this is a task for the family, Tommy. We are with you, whatever you wish to do. Will you let us help you?”
Thomas looked at his older brother, a man who, before his head injury, had been gentle and wise. He was still gentle and wise; the man he’d known as James for most of his life was still there, deep down. He had been the family peacemaker before and he still was.
“It is not that I do not wish to ask you for help,” he said after a moment. He pointed a finger to the ceiling, indicating the floors above. “But there is so much to worry about with Papa. He and Mother need you here, with them. I will take Desmond and we will sneak into the reivers’ stronghold and get them out.”
“And if you don’t?” Scott asked. He held up a hand to indicate patience while he continued. “Tommy, I understand you want to rescue the woman, and you should. Papa would want you to act on your instincts as a knight by saving women and children. But he would never forgive any of us for letting you go if something happened to you, so we are going to help you. Right now, Papa has Uncle Paris and Mother to tend him, so we can do no more.He has awoken, and his reactions seem to be good, so I am not as worried about him as I was before. Right now, I am worried aboutyou. You want to save this woman and the foundlings single-handedly and I simply do not think it is a good idea. The reivers are seeking revenge against you and God help you if they were to capture you while you were trying to save others. Do you understand my concern?”
Thomas sighed heavily. “I do,” he said. Then, he looked at his brothers, at each one of them. It was difficult to put his thoughts into words. “I have always been the screaming little brother. Troy has even said so. This is something I must do to save the woman I love and, for once, I want to be a responsible brother. I want to take my place beside the rest of you by doing the responsible and courageous thing. I have spent my entire life being the purposeless and reckless de Wolfe brother and I no longer want to be that man. I do not need you to hold my hand through this. I can do it myself.”
Scott smiled faintly. “We will not be holding your hand,” he said. “But we will be fighting anyone who tries to cut it off.”
In spite of himself, Thomas grinned. He couldn’t argue with logic like that, and the truth was that he did need their expertise. He wanted it.
“Then I am in command?” he asked.
“Completely.”
Thomas looked at Desmond, who was gazing at him somewhat guardedly. “Des?” he said. “Mayhap we have differences when it comes to Mae, but can you at least put them aside until we get her to safety?”
Desmond looked at the host of de Wolfe brothers looking at him expectantly before finally nodding his head. “Aye,” he said, sounding resigned. “I’d rather be at your right hand than in your path, Thomas. What do you have in mind?”
Thomas told him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The next morning,a tempest unleashed from the heavens.
It was just before dawn on the day following the discovery of Edenside’s abduction, and a storm lashed the lands the likes of which no one could remember in recent memory. Winds howled, rain splashed, and through it all, an army moved into the area west of Castle Heton.
Wark, Questing, and Northwood had gathered to destroy the ThurrockCúonce and for all. A message had been sent to Berwick overnight, and Patrick’s mighty Berwick army was moving in from the east. Scouts were out all over the landscape, staying to the forests, staying off the main roads, not wanting to be sighted if, in fact, the reivers had their own scouts out. But in this weather, unless a man was going to war, there was no reason to send out scouts.
And for the House of de Wolfe and its allies, this was war.
Thomas’ plan, as conceived of and discussed all night long, was simple– some of Northwood’s best spies had been sent out in the darkness to Castle Heton to determine if there washuman habitation there. Garr and Hugh Ellsrod had gone with them, young knights who were hungry for glory and dangerous work, and they had returned to announce that, in fact, they’d caught the smell of cooking fires near the old place. Upon closer inspection, they saw sentries in the trees around Heton, leading them to believe that there were men inside. It seemed that Troy had been correct– the ThurrockCúhad a link to the ruinous Castle Heton.
After that, the plan was laid out.
Thomas and his brothers, plus Desmond and Patrick’s son, Markus, would sneak into Castle Heton and locate Maitland and the children, if they were there. If they were, they would spirit them away, hopefully without being seen, leaving the clean-up to the massive armies that were being assembled. Northwood and Wark were coming from the north and west, Berwick from the east, and Questing would march south, swing around, and then come northward so that any escaping reivers would be sandwiched between four enormous armies.
But there was a catch, of course. There was no guarantee that Maitland and the children were in the ruins of Castle Heton, and only a thorough inspection would determine that. So as the storm broke just before dawn, Northwood’s army moved out to rendezvous with Wark and Questing.
Coordination was the key or none of the carefully-laid plans were going to work.
There was also another issue– anyone going into Castle Heton couldn’t wear armor or protection because it was heavy and noisy, and they would have to move swiftly. That meant that Thomas, Scott, Troy, Patrick, Blayth, Desmond, and Markus were all going into battle without protection. They wouldn’t even carry broadswords because the big weapons would weigh them down.
They would be open and vulnerable.
As they prepared to depart Northwood with the army with the great storm overhead, they were wearing little more than breeches, tunics, and an oiled cloak to keep the rain off of them. They didn’t even have helms on.
And that was how Paris saw them.
In truth, the man had been wrapped up with William, who was doing surprisingly well in spite of the injury he’d sustained, but Paris had caught a glimpse of a mustering army in Northwood’s outer bailey and it was enough to prompt him to leave William’s side. Descending into the outer bailey, he saw troops armed for battle, with half of the knights without protection and the other half with it.
Northwood had always had its fair share of several high-caliber knights, and this generation was no different. Edric, his brother Rhys, Edric’s sons Garr and Hugh, and Rhys’ son, Landry, were all suited for battle. So were Hector, Atreus, and Hermes. All of them armed to the teeth. Then, there were Thomas, Scott, Troy, Patrick, Blayth, Desmond, and Markus who were not armed in any way, yet they were gathered with the knights.
