The Bloodstained Throne

his conjugal rights the whole time we were aboard.’

Carefully, he began to pack away the ink pots, pens and parchment that had been in the bag Geoffrey had saved, although his disapproving expression indicated he thought his master should have taken the other one — containing clothes and a small store of gold coins.

‘He was seasick,’ explained Ulfrith. ‘Although I suspect an hour or two with Philippa would have cured any sickness of mine.’

‘And I could have managed a bout with the other one — that Edith,’ said Roger salaciously. ‘She was a fine, strapping wench, with plenty of meat for a man to-’

‘There is Juhel!’ exclaimed Geoffrey, pointing suddenly along the beach.

‘So it is,’ said Ulfrith, squinting. ‘An undertow must have pulled him away from the rest of us. He is lucky — few men live once undertows get them.’

Bale stood to wave and catch the parchmenter’s attention. ‘He has the cage that held his pet chicken, although I cannot imagine the bird is in it.’

Geoffrey glanced down at his dog, glad it had survived, but thinking again with sadness about his horse. He wondered if Patrick had floundered because Fingar’s greed had led him to pile her with more cargo than was safe, or if she had simply been poorly loaded.

Juhel arrived, breathlessly relating his brush with death. He was stocky, with a wide, smiling mouth and prominent eyes reminiscent of a frog. Geoffrey wavered between liking him for his readiness to laugh and distrusting him because he had caught him out in several lies. The knight was amused to note that not only was the chicken in the cage but it was alive, albeit bedraggled.

Geoffrey tuned out the parchmenter’s gabbling and stared pensively across the heaving waves. Another casket, badly smashed and with its lid missing, rolled on to the shingle, where it was seized by crewmen. He looked up at the sky, gauging how much daylight was left. A glance behind showed that the villagers were inching forward again, all clutching weapons. Was there time for him and his companions to reach a friendly settlement with them before dark? And how easy would it be to find another ship that was eastward-bound? He realized he must have spoken aloud, because the others were gazing at him aghast.

‘You intend to try again?’ whispered Ulfrith. ‘After we narrowly escaped with our lives? God is telling us not to travel east, and only a fool would disobey His wishes!’

‘Only a fool would have gone in the first place,’ muttered Roger. ‘And we are bigger fools for going with him.’

‘Then stay,’ said Geoffrey shortly. There were often violent storms in the English Channel, and he did not imagine for a moment that God had engineered one for his benefit. ‘I will go alone.’

‘How?’ demanded Roger. He nodded to the saddlebag in Bale’s hand. ‘You did not bother to save your gold, and you have no horse. How do you propose to reach the Holy Land?’

He had a point. Geoffrey’s little manor on the Welsh borders was experiencing a lean period, but his sister — who managed the estate in his absence — had managed to scrape enough together for his journey. He could hardly go back and ask for more, especially since Joan had not wanted him to go in the first place. Neither had his wife — Geoffrey had recently been forced into a political marriage in the interests of peace. But he had a burning desire to travel east again, and it had not taken many weeks of life in the country before the yearning had become too strong to ignore.

‘You should return to Lady Hilde, sir,’ recommended Bale tentatively, when he saw Geoffrey had no reply to Roger’s remarks. ‘She is not yet with child.’

Geoffrey gaped at the effrontery, but Bale suddenly lowered his bald head and vomited a gush of seawater, and the knight supposed he had spoken out of turn because he was not himself: Bale was normally diffident to the point of obsequiousness. Meanwhile, Roger was more concerned about their current predicament than his friend’s obligations in the marriage bed.

‘Fingar is incompetent,’ he declared. ‘His ship was a paltry, leaking basin, not fit to bob down a river. I could tell just by looking that it would sink in the first puff of wind.’

‘Then why did you not say so in Bristol?’ asked Geoffrey. ‘You were happy when we sailed — especially when you learned he might be a pirate. You entertained high hopes of joining him in his work, so you might share the spoils.’

‘Pirates!’ spat Roger. ‘He and his crew are no more pirates than my mother.’

Geoffrey glanced at him. Roger had some very odd relations, so it was entirely possible that Roger’s mother — long-term Saxon mistress to the corrupt and treacherous Bishop of Durham — might take to the high seas for booty.

‘Irish pirates,’ said Bale, looking evilly at the seamen and fingering his favourite dagger. His weapons were his most prized possessions, lovingly honed to a vicious sharpness on a daily basis. ‘And not even a Christian part of Ireland. They are infidels who worship graven images and drink the blood of babies.’

‘Oh, really, Bale!’ exclaimed Geoffrey irritably. ‘They are just-’

‘I want them to pay for my horse,’ interrupted Roger, working himself into a temper. ‘I know they have gold, because I saw it.’

‘Where?’ asked Bale eagerly.

Roger pointed with a thick finger, indicating a sturdy, heavily secured box about the length of his forearm. It stood in the middle of one of the salvaged piles. ‘I saw them counting what was in it just this morning. If they had been watching their sails instead, we would still be afloat.’

‘It is thanks to Fingar’s fine seamanship that we survived at all,’ argued Geoffrey. ‘A lesser sailor would have lost the ship out at sea, where we would all have drowned.’

‘Regardless, they will pay for my horse,’ vowed Roger.

Meanwhile, a small sailor with a pinched, mean face became aware that Roger was eyeing the chest. Donan was Fingar’s second-in-command, and he muttered something to his companions as he pushed it out of sight. Geoffrey did not like the looks that were exchanged and was about to tell Roger to be careful when Juhel suddenly cried out, jabbing his finger towards someone struggling through the waves.

‘It is that rude Saxon,’ said Ulfrith. ‘The one who never bothered to tell us his name.’

‘His servant is with him,’ said Bale. ‘Simon.’

But the Saxons were in difficulty. Geoffrey tore down the beach and into the churning waves, fighting to stay upright as the water surged around his legs. Too late, he realized he should have removed his armour and surcoat first. Then a crashing breaker tossed the pair within reaching distance.

The Saxon was swimming strongly, so Geoffrey flailed towards Simon, but the Saxon grabbed Geoffrey around the neck as he passed. Geoffrey tried to push him away, but the Saxon’s grip was a powerful one. He glanced at the man’s face, expecting to see panic or terror, and was startled to see it calm and determined.

‘Bear me to the shore,’ the fellow ordered imperiously. ‘I cannot swim another stroke.’

Geoffrey struggled to be free of him. ‘Your servant needs help.’

‘Take me to the shore first,’ the man snarled.

Angrily, Geoffrey prised his hands away, but when he looked to where Simon had been, there was only water.

For the second time that afternoon, Geoffrey was forced to strip off his clothes so Bale could wring them out. It was not pleasant to replace them, chilled as he was, but even sodden garments were better than none in the biting wind. He jumped up and down in an attempt to warm himself, at the same time listening to Juhel regale the Saxon with details of how the current had dragged him miles along the beach before he could break free of it. The Saxon remained haughtily aloof, although he did not object when Juhel helped him remove his clothes for wringing — now the hapless Simon was dead he seemed unsure how to make himself more comfortable.

‘You cannot go to the Holy Land, Sir Geoffrey,’ said Bale, resuming their earlier conversation as though it had never been interrupted. ‘God wants you to stay here, see.’

Roger agreed. ‘He wants us in England, and I dare not risk His wrath again. I am staying and I urge you to do the same.’

Geoffrey was relieved. Since he had no money, taking companions was out of the question anyway. He would miss Roger’s ready sword and cheerful friendship, but it could not be helped.

‘We are lucky,’ said Bale. ‘Not only are we still alive, but we are still in England. We might have ended up in