Page 24 of Rogue Knight
“What will you do?”
“Today Cospatric and I leave on my ship, anchored in the Humber, for King Swein’s court. We will urge him to send the ships we asked for. Edgar has agreed to join us. From there, we will go to Scotland to see King Malcolm and gather new recruits to our cause.”
“So there will be more trouble in York.” She spoke with mixed feelings, knowing more battles would mean more dead, yet wanting desperately to see her people shake off the Normans, for they had all been made serfs with the coming of the Conqueror.
“If we are to gain our freedom, Daughter, how can it be otherwise?”
Seeing his goblet was empty, she got up and poured him some more. “I suppose you are right,” Emma admitted, worried for him and the people she cared for. “How long will you be gone?” She sat again on the stool.
He fingered his beard. “I cannot say. Mayhap for the summer. Look for me when the grain grows ripe.”
Her spirits fell. “So long?”
“It will require time to sail to Denmark and then to Scotland. And more time to bring order to our purpose. We cannot risk another defeat. We must draw our allies to us.”
“You mean the Danes?” Though he had been an English high sheriff and a wealthy thegn, Emma knew they traced their lineage to the Danish kings so it was not surprising her father would seek his allies among them.
“Yea, the Danes. We must have King Swein’s ships and men. And there will be others who will join us. Even now Edgar prepares messages he will send all over England, urging rebellion.” At her concerned look, he hastily added, “The Danes will come, Emma. You will see. Swein believes he was promised the throne of England. York was once the capital of the Danish lands. He will not give that up so easily.”
Her gaze drifted to the flames in the hearth. “Kings and their promises! Too easily given, too easily withdrawn. It seems Edward the Confessor promised many the throne of England, including the Norman Bastard who vexes York. At least he claims it was promised to him.”
“Aye, well there are many opinions on that. Besides, York is special to the Danes. The other Yorkshire thegns and I are fortifying sites on the Humber to be ready to receive them.”
His face exuded confidence now, no longer was he the discouraged man he had been for some time.
“Father, how much more can the people endure?” She was thinking of Feigr and Inga when she asked, but also of Ottar’s young body on the snow-covered ground and the other dead she had seen. “So many have been wounded, so many gone from this life.”
“They will have to endure more if we are to have our freedom. The Normans have ravaged York, Emma. Even the Minster has been made the object of scorn for they violated sanctuary to take some of our men. A church, by God! You told me yourself what Inga and her father have suffered. I have heard worse tales of the Normans’ brutality. We cannot allow such outrage to continue.”
She dropped her gaze in resignation. He was right, she knew it.
“Yesterday,” her father continued, “after the Normans defiled the Minster, the archbishop still urged us to submit. It was a pathetic and wasted entreaty. None of the men who were there would agree. Ask Artur. He was among them.”
“I believe you, given what I have seen… Ottar, Inga and Feigr.” How could they submit to those who would hurt innocents?
“They will be avenged, Daughter. Do not lose hope.”
Emma rose. “If you must leave today, at least I can see you have clean clothes and a hearty meal to take with you.”
CHAPTER 6
Two days later, in the cold, chill air of a morning without sun, Geoff watched from the top of the motte as the building of the second castle began, this one on Baille Hill on the opposite bank of the River Ouse. They were close enough he could hear men shouting orders to the workers as they formed a huge pile of dirt into the mound from which the square tower would rise. Behind him in the bailey of the older castle, the loud clash of metal and shields sounded from the practice yard.
Seeing Northumbrians forced to join in the building of the new castle, he remembered Emma’s words. And the regret in her beautiful eyes as she spoke of her people being forced to build yet another symbol of William’s reign.
In her home lived a man who was more than a servant. A tall man, most likely for there had been a shield. Could such a man defend her against knights like Sir Eude? He banished a sudden image of a man sharing her bed. Nay, whoever the man in her home was, Mathieu must have the right of it—’twas a brother she had failed to mention. If not a brother, mayhap an uncle or a cousin.
Emma was three years widowed. ’Twas possible her husband had died before the Battle of Hastings. If that were true, at least she would not hold Geoff responsible. Was it not time for her to marry again? He thought of Eawyn, so different from Emma of York, and yet both widows. And both had suffered at the hands of those seeking to conquer England. If he were to pursue the beautiful York widow, would she rebuff him, as Eawyn had? He would not vie with a ghost for her attention.
In the distance, hundreds of men swarmed over the mound that would become the new motte like ants on honey, moving dirt to the desired shape. Emma would be pleased to know it was not only Northumbrians who had been forced into the work. Some of the men were from William’s army. To one side of the men working, piles of new wood were neatly stacked. Such a horde of workers would soon make use of the timber. The king was obviously in a hurry.
At the sound of boots crushing the thin layer of snow, he turned to see Malet coming toward him. Geoff raised his head in greeting and gestured to the work underway. “’Tis a furious pace the men set to build William’s new castle,” he remarked to the sheriff.
Malet nodded and took his place beside Geoff to watch the construction. “William expects the castle to be finished before he leaves for Winchester where he would celebrate Easter.”
Geoff shook his head. “That leaves little time.”
“Less than a fortnight before he must depart for the South.”
