Page 51 of Rogue Knight
“Squire?” It took her a moment to realize he meant Geoffroi’s squire. “Oh, yea… Mathieu. I will come.” She rose. “Inga, can you tell them another tale? Mayhap the tale of Cnut the Great?”
“Of course,” said Inga, smiling at the children.
The twins settled down to hear more and Magnus left his place between them to follow Emma into the house.
The squire stood next to the hearth, his young face somber.
“Will you have something to drink?” she asked.
“Nay, my lady. I come in haste and must return. Sir Geoffroi sent me to warn you. We have word the Danes are sailing north towards York with hundreds of ships, mayhap only weeks away from the Humber.”
She let out a sigh.So it begins. Thank God Geoffroi knows.She thought of the danger for him and her family on different sides of a fight that was surely coming. Would they survive such an onslaught?
“Please tell Sir Geoffroi I am grateful that he sent you, however unwelcome the news may be.”
“Aye, my lady.” With that, he bowed and departed.
She did not move but stayed next to the hearth, listening to the pounding of the horse’s hooves as the squire galloped down the street to return to his master, her Norman lover. From the open door leading to the kitchen and the garden beyond, she could hear the twins’ chatter.
Magnus nuzzled her hand with his cold nose. She patted his neck, having nearly forgotten he was there. Inhaling deeply, she steeled herself for what must be faced in the days ahead.
***
“How did she take it?” Geoff asked Mathieu, regretting he could not have gone himself to see Emma, to embrace her, to love her. It had been days since he had been able to get away and he sorely missed the woman who had become the light of his life.
“It was odd, sir. She did not faint or cry, as I dreaded she might. She was calm, saying little. Just thanked you for the warning. It was almost as if…” His brow wrinkled. “…as if she expected to hear what I had to say.”
“Many of us have been expecting the Northumbrians to muster another attack. I have often spoken to her of my concern. But I never mentioned the Danes. I would have thought they were gone with Hardrada’s defeat three years ago. But Emma is a strong woman. Mayhap she was trying to be strong for the children.”
The meeting that evening was boisterous, each man having a different opinion.
“We must let William know we need more men and soon,” urged Gilbert.
“The Danes are experienced warriors,” said FitzOsbern, the gray in his dark hair suddenly speaking loudly of his years at William’s side. “One wonders why they waited so long.” He had fought them before, Geoff knew. “Why do they come now?” FitzOsbern’s need to understand the why of it was not unlike Geoff’s own but there was little to gain by pondering the Danes’ motives at this late point. They were coming.
“No one knows,” Geoff said, “but it hardly matters now.”
“William asks how long we can hold out,” said Malet, bringing them back to the message from the king. “Mayhap he means to send us more knights.” The sheriff sent a hopeful glance in Geoff’s direction.
“We must begin immediately to take in food stores and water,” argued Gilbert. “I have room in the new castle’s bailey for pigs and cattle enough to see us through a long siege.”
“We must do that, of course,” said Geoff, “but food and water will not be our only concerns. With one torch, the Danes could set the castles ablaze. And then there is the very real possibility the Northumbrians will aid the Danes by filling up the moats to ease their crossing.”
“Aye,” said Malet, “they might use timber from the houses that ring the castles. What do you suggest, Gil?”
“I would burn the houses that surround the castles,” replied the castellan.
“Fire is a dangerous tool in our hands as well as the enemy’s,” warned Geoff. “Be careful what you do.” He did not see how burning one row of homes would prevent others from being torn down, their timbers used to fill the moats. And he liked not using fire in such a way.
They argued for some time, but in the end, Malet decided to send the king word they could hold out for a year, as he believed. Geoff thought it unlikely. He would have asked the king for more men at once.
In keeping with his idea, Gilbert was dispatched by FitzOsbern to see to the firing of the homes near the castles.
“You do intend to warn the residents of York who live in those houses?” Geoff asked Fitz.
“For all we know they may succor rebels,” insisted FitzOsbern. The Earl of Hereford’s reputation was that of a harsh overlord, so the suggestion did not surprise Geoff. If it were left up to FitzOsbern, the people would have no warning at all.
“Fitz, there are women and children in those homes,” argued Geoff. “They should at least be allowed to leave with what they can carry.”
