But that didn’t mean there wasn’t one coming.
Outside, the daylight greeted them. As the door to the tavern slammed, Fabius was in his brother’s face.
“What was that about?” he demanded. “We have enough men. We could have taken her!”
Atilius grabbed him by the neck and turned him around, pushing him towards his horse. “If we try to take her, we risk bloodshed,” he growled. “While I am unconcerned with cutting down Marshal knights, I am concerned with injuring the lady. We need her whole and sound for our purposes.”
Nesta was scurrying alongside them as they headed for their mounts. “She does not know who she is!” she hissed. “She will not be the leader of a great rebellion. She will kill morale and spirit by telling her people that she is aSaesneg!”
Atilius came to an abrupt halt and faced her. “Not necessarily,” he said. “We can use that to our advantage. When your men see how the English have beaten her down and convinced her that she is one of them, there will be such outrage that Wales will be unable to contain it. Think not for one moment her attitude will not work to our advantage. I assure you that it shall.”
With that, he turned for his horse, taking it from the soldier who was holding the reins. As he prepared to climb into the saddle, Fabius stopped him.
“What now?” he demanded. “Where are you going?”
Atilius had that look of displeasure again, but also a look of determination. “There is a tavern at the other end of town,” he said. “It caters to outlaws and drunks, but it does not have The Marshal’s men in it and that makes it most attractive.”
“Attractive for what?”
“To make plans to abduct the lady.”
It was then that Fabius began to understand. A gleam came to his eye. “I see,” he said. “Then we wait until their guard is down and we go in and take her?”
Atilius shook his head. “I doubt their guard will be down now. But even so, we can easily overcome them. We simply have to be smart about it and the lady shall be ours.”
With that, the column began to move, heading back the way they had come to the opposite side of town where a seedy tavern awaited. But even as Atilius and Fabius and Nesta moved in that direction, Atilius had the de Shera soldiers fan out and cover all exits out of town just in case The Marshal escort, lady included, decided to flee.
The stakes in the situation were higher than ever.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
For a manwho hadn’t been out of The Paladin much in all of his forty-one years, he was doing fairly well on his own.
Tatius wasn’t stupid; he could be cunning and this was one time when that particular trait was called upon. He had to dig down deep to find that young man who had trained as a knight those years ago and who had been mentored by some of the best fighting men England had to offer. He didn’t really remember that young man, however– it had been so long since he’d recalled him that it seemed like another lifetime ago. That young knight with the weight of a great empire upon his shoulders and extreme pressure from a father who wanted a son to be just like him.
Aurelius de Shera had been a hard man. Averyhard man. The harder he pushed, the more Tatius retreated. Atilius and Fabius had risen to that kind of treatment, constantly trying to appease a father who could never be appeased, but Tatius had shied away from his father’s heavy hand. By the time Antoninus was born, Aurelius was older and had mellowed somewhat. Antoninus never took the brunt that his much older brothershad, resulting in a young man who didn’t harbor the resentful memories that Tatius had.
The hatred towards a father who saw his heir as a weakling.
But one thing Tatius did have, that his father also had, was a clever streak. He may have been a man of gentle hobbies, and even a recluse at times, but he could be quite shrewd. Following his brothers after having heard their plans in that dark and dank servant’s chamber caused him to draw upon the training he’d had long ago, and he had followed a heavily-armed de Shera contingent all the way to the town of Longton.
In truth, it had been rather exciting for a man who rarely left his home. Tatius had dressed in a disguise for his foray, in servant’s clothing with a heavy cloak he used to cover himself up with, and he’d taken his fine steed southward. A man of such slovenly dress appeared odd upon such a fine horse, but Tatius didn’t pay much mind to how strange he looked. His horse was a good one and he wanted a strong steed for the travel.
Two days later, the de Shera contingent rolled into Longton and came to a halt in the middle of the day, which told Tatius that they’d reached their destination. He’d spent the night sleeping in the bushes and days trying to stay out of sight, but once the de Shera army came to a stop, he’d directed his horse into the trees that grew in great groves off to the east of the village. Tying off the horse, he snuck back into town, through gardens and alleyways, until he came to the edge of the main street. It was there he saw his brothers, and Nesta, gathering and talking before entering a three-storied tavern.
Once Tatius saw that, he slipped around to the rear of the buildings that lined the street, making his way to the back entrance of the tavern, hiding out from the servants passing in and out of the open kitchen door and into the yard beyond.
It was a kitchen yard that also acted as a stable yard, because chickens clustered near their coop over in a corner and a cowwas tied up as a servant milked it. A massive iron cauldron bubbled over a white-hot fire, heating water that was meant for a variety of uses.
Tatius wanted to go into the rear of the establishment and find out what was going on, but with the servants lingering in the yard and near the door, he couldn’t get close. Therefore, he slipped around front, waiting and watching for his brothers to emerge from the inn.
Unfortunately, it was a bit of a wait. Huddled up against the side of the inn, Tatius covered himself up with the cloak, protecting himself against the chill in the air but also to conceal himself. If any de Shera soldiers happened to see him, he didn’t want to be recognized. He wanted to look like any other villager who might be living in alleyways or on the street. In fact, he even rubbed some dirt on himself to add to the disguise, congratulating himself on his ingenuity. And then he waited, entertaining himself with recollections of the last time he’d left The Paladin.
It had been a very long time, indeed.
But then, something surprising happened– less than a half-hour after entering the inn, Atilius and Fabius and Nesta re-emerged. Tatius heard Atilius’ voice as the man walked right past him, with Fabius and Nesta following. They were hissing about something Tatius couldn’t quite hear, but he didn’t need to hear it to know that whatever they were speaking of was serious. Atilius’ tone spoke volumes.
Tatius knew his brother well enough to know the man was irritated.
