Rhuddlan (87 page)

Delamere tasted grit in his mouth and spat
onto the ground. “Only if you swear to leave Haworth for me.”

Chapter 53

June, 1178

Llanlleyn, Gwynedd

Roger of Haworth moved his men back to a
secure position east of the fortress, near the banks of the Clwyd,
and immediately dispatched a contingent to cut timber. When his
fear had been justified and it was obvious that Hugh was not on his
way to the Perfeddwlad, he had decided to build a rough scaling
tower and a quantity of ladders for use in overcoming Rhuddlan’s
defenses. He didn’t know how long he had before fitz Maurice’s men
began to return but he wasn’t particularly worried; there couldn’t
be more than a dozen soldiers left inside Rhuddlan and with a
scaling tower, he could put many more than that over the walls in a
matter of moments.

Still, it would be honorable on his part to
give the defenders some warning of his intentions, on the narrow
chance they would decide to surrender peacefully. To that end, he
and two of his knights approached the gate again and demanded to
talk to Guy Lene. This time, however, Lene did not immediately
appear and they were forced to stand in the rain, which did nothing
to improve Haworth’s mood. But he stayed, because Hugh was in
there.

At last Lene’s upper body showed in the
tower. “What are your men doing, Sir Roger?” he demanded in an
angry voice. “We can see them felling trees—our trees! What do you
mean by this?”

“I should think it quite obvious, Sir Guy; we
are preparing to take your fortress,” Haworth answered. “Hear me
well, because I will not repeat this offer! If you don’t
immediately open the gate and release the earl and his bodyguard,
you leave us no alternative but to take Rhuddlan by force. And I
promise you—take it we will! We know you’re few in number while we
are at full strength. And don’t expect aid from the men at present
en route to Llanlleyn. As a precaution, two knights were sent to
intercept any messenger you may have posted to your captain. He
will never deliver your plea for the army’s return!”

Without excusing himself, Lene abruptly
stepped away from the front of the tower, disappearing from view.
Haworth and his companions exchanged a puzzled glance. At length,
Lene re-emerged.

“We regret we cannot compy with your request,
Sir Roger!” he shouted. “And we must warn you that any assault on
our walls will be interpreted as an act of war for which your
master will be held accountable. As he is currently our guest, he
won’t be difficult to find and judge!”

Haworth’s mouth dropped open. He hadn’t
thought Hugh’s life would be in peril. “Don’t do anything rash,
Lene!” he said threateningly. “The earl is the foremost peer of the
realm!”

“And this castle belongs to the king’s son!”
Lene retorted.

“It’s Rhuddlan which has acted precipitously
by seizing the earl and holding him against his will!” Haworth
argued. “Release him immediately and we will leave!”

Again Lene stepped out of view. Haworth
decided he must be conferring with another knight.

Lene returned. “Once more we regret we cannot
comply with your request, Sir Roger! The earl gained entrance to
Rhuddlan with false information and accusations which were designed
to destroy this fortress and everyone in it, as well as everyone at
Llanlleyn. We are holding him for Lord William to judge when he
returns from Normandy!”

“Are you mad?” Haworth was incredulous. “God
alone knows when Lord William will return!”

“Take your men and leave now, Sir Roger, and
perhaps when Sir Warin comes back from Llanlleyn, he will agree to
release your master to keep the peace!”

Haworth’s horse stepped fitfully, sensing its
master’s indignation. “We’re going nowhere without the earl, do you
hear me, Lene? We’ll be back in the morning to take this fortress
and I swear by all the saints above, if even one hair on the earl’s
head has been touched I will personally carve up your body into a
thousand pieces! Do you hear me, Lene! I will show no mercy to
anyone in Rhuddlan and that includes your mistress! You have
tonight to think it over, Lene! When we come back tomorrow, this
gate had better be standing open if you value your life and those
of your comrades!” With an angry jerk, he turned his horse and he
and his entourage galloped off, spraying clomps of grass and
dirt.

Guy Lene watched them go and then wearily
descended the ladder. Teleri was waiting for him. Two servants held
a taut length of cowhide over her head to keep off the rain.

“You don’t look happy, Sir Guy,” she
said.

“I’m not, my lady. I don’t like holding
someone as important as the earl of Chester prisoner. And Sir Roger
is right: once he’s built those ladders he can take this fortress
with little effort.”

“Only if you’re prepared to expend little
effort in return, Sir Guy!” she said impatiently.

“Sir Roger’s a formidable opponent…”

“He isn’t invincible! He was already captured
once, and by the Welsh, whom you consider less able than you
Normans.”

“I don’t see how a dozen men can hold
off—”

“Sir Guy, as long as we have the earl Sir
Roger can’t touch us. If we have to parade him along the walls with
a knife to his throat to keep Sir Roger at bay, then we will.
Sooner or later, Sir Warin will return. All we have to do is hold
off Sir Roger until then. It couldn’t be easier.”

The knight’s face showed plainly that he
didn’t agree with her. Frowning, she stepped closer to him. “I’m
giving you a warning, Sir Guy. You do as I say or I’ll have you
arrested. I told you yesterday what the earl had planned for
Rhuddlan and Llanlleyn. He would kill us all! Keep your mind on
that fact and perhaps your resolve will return! The earl remains a
prisoner and Rhuddlan resists any attack by Hawarden.
Understand?”

Daunted by her vehemence and cowed by her
position, he nodded.

From their hiding place
among the trees in the wooded area opposite Rhuddlan, Longsword and
Delamere watched Haworth and his companions retreat to the river.
Thanks to Haworth’s and Lene’s booming voices, they had heard the
entire exchange, which had explained the reason Hawarden’s two
knights had attacked Longsword, but not why the earl was now a
prisoner at Rhuddlan. And Delamere had another worry: Llanlleyn was
apparently under attack. He wanted to leave immediately but this
time Longsword pleaded with him to stay. “You heard what Haworth
said, those men were sent to intercept a messenger. We killed them
before they could get to him, so
he’ll
get to fitz Maurice before the
army reaches Llanlleyn—”

“What if they’re already there, Will!
Llanlleyn is no match for our army!”

Longsword heard fear in his voice and tried
to speak calmly. “Neither will Rhirid give up without a fight,
Richard. Besides, it’s raining and fitz Maurice never did like to
get wet. If he’s already at Llanlleyn, he’s more likely shivering
in a tent than sitting on his horse, rusting.” He looked earnestly
at his friend. “Please, Richard. I need you. Stay this night and
we’ll leave together first thing in the morning. Our horses will be
rested and we’ll be fed. Lord, but I’m hungry.” He thought
longingly of the hot meal he’d envisioned waiting for him at
Rhuddlan.

“Need me for what?” Delamere asked
suspiciously.

“I have a plan,” Longsword said with a little
smile. “But it must wait until dark. Will you stay?”

“What is this plan?”

“All in good time, Richard…First, I need a
meal. If we head north and get close to the sea, we should find a
fisherman’s hovel. We can get food and shelter…and rope,” he added,
the smile widening at some private, sudden inspiration. He focused
again on Delamere. “And I swear to you, we’ll head for Llanlleyn at
first light.”

After a moment, Delamere nodded. “Fine.”

They headed back to where they’d left the
horses. Longsword bent down and unhobbled both of them. He was
filled with excitement with his plan but tried to remain placid
because he knew Delamere was still worried about Olwen. As he
straightened up, a thought occurred to him. “Richard, back there on
the road. You were going to Llanlleyn. Why did you turn back?”

Delamere heaved himself into the saddle and
picked up the slack in his reins. “I never started off, Will. I was
watching you go, wondering if I should have gone with you after
all. I saw the two riders. Lucky for you I had an attack of
conscience.”

Yes, Longsword agreed; lucky. He only hoped
that one day he’d be able to adequately repay Delamere for all his
years of loyalty and friendship.

Four riders hurtled toward the fortress,
heedless of the rain-slicked grass. They shouted to the guard
standing in the covered platform above the high palisade and
galloped up the short mound and through the open gate, reining to a
halt just on the other side. One of them jumped to the ground as
Guri came hurrying to meet them, followed by half a dozen men who
wore expressions ranging from wary curiosity to apprehension.
Everyone knew such a dramatic entrance was invariably followed by
an unusual announcement.

The Norman army, the man breathlessly
informed them, was on its way to Llanlleyn.

There was an immediate buzz of disbelief and
Guri had to hold up his hand for silence, just to be able to ask a
few questions. It was true; there was no mistake: a force the size
of that Lord William had fielded in the battle against the earl the
summer before was headed in their direction. Lord William himself
had not been seen but there was no misinterpreting the intention of
the grim faces, the steady marching of the footmen and the bows
slung across the backs of the archers.

It was quite obvious the
Normans were coming to fight. As to the
why
, none of the four Welshman had
been fool enough to inquire. None of them had even gotten close
enough to be spotted. The Normans had so much faith in their
abilities that they rarely bothered to look around.

Guri supposed the why didn’t matter, anyway.
If the men from Rhuddlan were coming, there were preparations to
make. Rhirid had built Llanlleyn with defense in mind—it was on the
tallest rise in the meadow, the wall was mounded, packed earth
topped with a spiked pallisade and there were blocks at various
points along the inside of it upon which an archer could stand and
shoot—but Guri knew it could not hold out very long against a
Norman force superior in numbers and weapons. Anyone who couldn’t
fight had to be sent into the forest for safety; the cattle had to
be rounded up and likewise removed. Weapons had to be honed; the
gate reinforced. There was no hope for the fortress, but Guri
wasn’t about to abandon it.

He gestured to several men to step forward.
One of these was Dylan ab Owain, who had been Rhirid’s champion.
Guri had never cared much for Dylan because he hadn’t liked the
influence Dylan’s wife had had over Rhirid, particularly where the
cast-off mistress of one of the Normans was concerned, but Dylan
was always eager to prove himself as loyal to the new chief as he’d
been to Rhirid and Guri decided to test him now. He wanted Dylan
and the others to find the Normans and track their progress. There
was a certain route through the forest which was narrow and
winding. Perhaps a small ambush of a sort could be devised to help
slow that progress.

It didn’t take long for word to spread
through Llanlleyn and soon there was a riot of activity within the
walls. Olwen, clutching little William with one hand and holding
Henry tight against her chest with the other, made her way through
the throng of people to the front gate, where Goewyn was watching
her husband set off with two companions to track the Norman
advance. Her friend’s face was creased with worry, her expression
unhappy, and when Dylan was out of sight, she turned to Olwen
plaintively. “What’s happening?” she cried. “I thought we were safe
now, at least while Lord William ruled Rhuddlan. What
happened?”

Olwen shook her head. She dropped little
William’s hand and shifted Henry to her hip. “There must be some
mistake. Rhuddlan has no reason to break the peace. Don’t worry
about Dylan.”

“How can I not? He’s so large, he’s bound to
be seen. And if he’s seen, they’ll shoot him!”

“Hush, Goewyn! Don’t talk like that!” Olwen
admonished. “I’m telling you there’s a mistake…but I do have a
favor to beg of you.”

The other woman looked at her through
red-rimmed eyes. She touched a square of cloth to her nose.

“I was told by Lord Guri that I’m to remain
here,” Olwen said. “Will you take my children and watch them?”

Goewyn was plainly surprised and all other
expression briefly left her face. “Of course…Olwen, why must you
stay?”

“I don’t know,” she said helplessly. “I
suppose to translate, if the situation gets that close.” But
privately, she couldn’t help but wonder if Guri had a darker
reason: to use her as a hostage.

The messenger from Rhuddlan finally caught up
to the army in the late afternoon. The rain which had started
earlier in the day now fell with large, steady drops and showed no
inclination towards abating. The dismal weather had made fitz
Maurice’s journey not only a physical misery but a mental one as
well; the men had left Rhuddlan the day before eager and optimistic
but now they trudged along muddy paths in morose, miserable
silence. They had nearly reached their destination but their pace
was slow and fitz Maurice, riding back along the line every so
often to encourage them, began to despair of arriving before
dusk.

He had returned to the head of the winding
line when the messenger laboriously worked his way up to meet him.
At first he continued to ride as he listened to man relay Guy
Lene’s message but the story was so incredulous that he soon reined
his horse to a halt to demand elaboration. Three other knights who
had heard pieces of the message stopped as well, but fitz Maurice,
anxious to make camp while there was still some light, gestured to
everyone else to keep going.