But it had been a long month. Mostly, they were focused on Berwick Castle and the comings and goings, but they also spenttheir time in the taverns and hovels, pretending to be sailors looking for a job, but also pretending to be drunk the entire time so no one would hire them and no one would take them seriously.
Addax had even taken to letting his hair grow on his face and, a month later, had a seriously bushy beard growing, while Essien had taken to shaving his head and wearing jewelry he received from women in exchange for what he termed as “services”. Addax knew what he meant, and Essien had bedded several women who were either concubines or even wives of the Scots at Berwick Castle, so he had learned a great deal from the local women. As he’d told Addax, a woman never spoke more loudly or more freely when he was withholding a climax from them. Addax had to shake his head at his brother’s rather bawdy way of doing things, but it worked.
A month into their mission, they had more information than they could have hoped for.
With Addax and his bushy beard and Essien with his gold earrings and jewels around his neck, they made quite a pair on the dirty, smelly streets of Berwick, but they were tolerated and completely overlooked in most cases. Scots from the castle would drift into the taverns and speak rather freely in front of them. Sometimes, they would speak freelytothem after they’d had a few drinks purchased for them.
One of the more important things they had learned while trolling in Berwick was the fact that MacHeth didn’t keep his fortress very secure. The gatehouse was always open, and any number of gates down to the river were also always open and often without a guard. There was one particular gate down at the river’s edge they didn’t even lock any more. It remained open all the time, day and night, although if someone wandered into it and ended up at the castle, there was usually a guard at the mouth of the passage to stop them.
MacHeth himself wasn’t at the castle all of the time. He came and he went, and although he had a wife at the castle and a few children, it was common knowledge that he also had a mistress who lived to the north in Coldingham. When he left, it was usually by himself, as he apparently didn’t see the need to travel with a contingent of men.
However, they noticed something over the past week that had their interest. MacHeth had been present more than usual and there had been an inordinate amount of activity at the castle. Men were coming and going, but mostly coming. There was some kind of a buzz going on that neither Addax nor Essien could quite get the pulse of. Something seemed to be happening, but they didn’t know what it was.
Given that MacDuff had ample time to return to Edinburgh after the battle at The Keld, it was quite possible that William the Lion was sending men to shore up Berwick’s defenses because he suspected the English knew that Berwick would be the entry point for the Northmen. The only flaw in that theory was the fact that the castle still had loose security and men came and went at all hours in any case. If William knew that the English were on to him, keeping the castle open didn’t make much sense.
Unless, of course, they were expecting reinforcements from the sea.
On exactly the one-month mark since their venture into Berwick, Addax and Essien found themselves in the tavern calledBlankenshipbecause this was the tavern frequented by so many Scotsmen. There had seemed to be a particular buzz about the castle today because a group of Scots had arrived from the north the day before, and Addax and Essien wanted to know why.
They had a plan to put into motion.
Essien had been watching the tavern most of the day and he knew that several Scots from the castle had visited, but he wasn’twatching them so much as he was watching the women they kept company with. Like most taverns, Blankenship had its share of local ladies. Addax had been inside the tavern, pretending to be drunk, also watching to see which men found company with which women. That would be key when Essien joined him, because Essien would then go after the women who had spent the afternoon with MacHeth’s men.
He wanted information.
At dusk, Essien entered the establishment, grabbing the first woman he came to and laughing seductively. The serving wench had seen him in the place many times, and he was a favorite, so she laughed right along with him and give him a big kiss. Essien asked her to bring him some ale as he left her and made his way across the crowded common room until he came to his brother, sitting at a leaning table with his back against the wall.
There was a half-filled cup of ale in his hand.
“Greetings, my drunken friend,” he said, slapping Addax on the shoulder so hard that drink splashed out of the cup. “The night is young and so are the women. It will be a good evening!”
He was being boisterous and loud, as he usually was, but the regulars at Blankenship were used to him. In fact, he was so obnoxious sometimes that they tended to shut him out, which was exactly what he wanted. He plopped down next to Addax, who was using his fingers to wipe up the spilled ale and then lick them. He portrayed the perfect drunk, unwilling to lose even a drop.
“No one else has a chance with you on the prowl, you alley cat,” he said. “The evening will be good for you, I think, but not me.”
He put the cup to his lips as Essien leaned back against the wall. “What do you have for me?” he muttered, his gaze on the room.
Addax still had the cup to his lips. “Celandine,” he whispered. “MacHeth’s man has just left her.”
Essien’s attention went to the wench named Celandine who was over near the kitchens. She was busty, dark-haired, and pretty. Essien had spent time with her before and it was never wasted because she chattered like a magpie. He kept his eyes on her as he spoke to Addax.
“We have been here for a solid month,” he mumbled. “We’ve learned what we could, we’ve made nuisances of ourselves to every tavern in town, and everyone thinks we are drunken fools. I will glean what I can from Celandine, but regardless of what she tells me, we must return to Pelinom tomorrow. We have enough to tell de Velt.”
“We have everything except when the longships are coming,” Addax said, his lips still on the rim of his cup. “That is what we need, Es. We estimated a summer arrival, but summer is nearly upon us. De Velt must have time to rouse armies and move them to Berwick.”
Essien’s nostrils flared. “We are men of many talents, but I am tired of pretending to be a drunkard with a flair for jewels,” he said. “I have more jewels than I know what to do with. Who am I going to give them to, anyway?”
Addax sighed heavily. “That is the least of our worries.”
“Untrue,” Essien countered. “This entire month has been beneath us. I do not want to do this any longer.”
“You will do as you are told.”
Essien looked at him. “We are knights, not fools,” he said. “I want to be at the tournament in Morpeth where I belong.”
Essien often showed distain for things he felt were beneath him, as a man of royal blood. Addax had been dealing with that since Essien had been a child, and in moments like this, pretending to be men they were not so they could glean information against the coming invasion was when Essienstrained against orders. It was true that he was excellent at what he did, and he made a splendid spy, but there were times he had resented the position he found himself in.
Like a wild stallion, sometimes Essien had to be reined in.
