his evil face, brown, creased and warty, and I knew that he meant no good. He is dark of eye, dark of dress, dark of heart — bent and stooped and old, almost as old as I am. The two conspirators talked for a long while, but in tones too low for my worn-out ears to hear. The dark man seemed to be angry about something. Osric soothed him and it seemed that their disagreement was soon resolved, for the stranger passed Osric a small clay pot, sealed with wax, and received a couple of silver coins in return — whatever was in the pot must command a high price. By his dress and demeanour, I guessed that this dark man was an apothecary and that the clay pot contained some sort of poison.
Black rage at Osric’s perfidy boiled then in my gut and yet I did not challenge my bailiff openly, as I did the last time. He would no doubt have found some seemingly plausible reason for his secret meeting after nightfall with a purveyor of poisons, although what that might be, I cannot imagine. Instead, I went to Marie and told her what I had seen of her husband’s conspiracies. It was an even graver mistake.
‘You are a stupid old fool!’ Marie said, when I awoke her that same night with my tale of Osric’s sinister business with the apothecary in the stables. She had already taken to her bed, but I wanted her to see with her own eyes their plotting. ‘To even think, to even entertain the notion that Osric means you harm — it is ridiculous, absurd even. He respects you, and wishes you nothing but health and prosperity. Has he not shown it with his work here at Westbury? He has made this little manor a great success. Go to bed, you silly old dotard, be grateful for Osric’s hard work, and put these idiotic thoughts from you.’
She is clearly in league with him: I see that now. I was a fool to reveal my suspicions to her. Osric and her, newly married, greedy, ambitious, impatient: of course, they both wish me dead. With me gone, they can do with the manor as they will. Perhaps Osric will install one of his tall sons as the lord. I fear for little Alan, my heir: who will protect him? Not I. I am an old man now, how can I stand against the combined cunning of Osric and Marie? I feel my doom approaching.
And there is worse to relate. This very night, not an hour ago, as I worked on this parchment with scant thought of the danger that surrounds me, I drained the last drops from a wooden mug of ale and discovered a white powdery residue in the bottom of the mug. The poisoners have struck! The contents of the clay pot have found their way into my belly and there is toiling, moiling through my guts to achieve my destruction. I feel Death’s bony hand upon my shoulder. I made myself vomit, of course, as soon as I saw the white residue. I spewed in my chamber pot until I could bring up no more. But I can feel the poison working in my body: I am growing sleepy, so very careworn and tired. But I must not sleep, I must go on and finish this tale before the cursed white powder drags me down into the grave.
I have barricaded the door against them, and routed out an old sword from my chest, which now leans unsheathed against the lectern that I stand at and write upon. If they try to break into my chamber tonight I will defend myself, and perhaps kill one or both of them. But I do not wish their deaths as they wish mine; I merely pray they will leave me in peace for one last night. If I am to finish this tale before I am called to God, I must endeavour to write on as quickly as I am able…
There is a great comfort to be found in prayer, particularly when you are certain that you will shortly be face to face with your Creator. And I prayed that night in Nottingham Castle as I have never prayed before. I did not fear death, but I did not want to perish. I did not want my earthly life to be ended by Milo, that monstrous half-human being, for the amusement of Prince John, Ralph Murdac and all the other castle knights that I had come to despise. And if the measure of a man is how he faces up to his Fate, I fear I did not measure well. I prayed, I prayed again and then I prayed some more.
The guards had taken me to the lowest part of the great tower, in the cold stone heart of Nottingham Castle, cut my bonds, and thrown me into a storeroom half-filled with sacks of grain. It was completely dark in there, and silent too, but for the occasional scurry of a rat — but to be honest it was not uncomfortable. When I had finished praying, I laid my body down on two large full sacks of barley and thought about how I had ended up here.
I remembered Robin’s face when he told me what he wanted me to do, in Westminster, the day before the inquisition at Temple Church. His silver eyes were blazing with intensity and he said: ‘I know this will be very hard for you, Alan, and dangerous, too, and I would not ask it if it were not of the utmost importance — but we must have a man inside Prince John’s camp.’
I asked him why we could not merely bribe some servant. And he shook his head sadly. ‘We need a fighting man. I need to know how many men will be with each tax-gathering party, and their strength, their weapons and morale. It needs an experienced soldier. And, don’t forget, you will have Hanno with you for company. He will run all the messages to me, and for safety’s sake you and I will have no contact after this ridiculous inquisition until your time with Prince John is over.’
‘But, Robin,’ I protested weakly, ‘the world will think me a man of no loyalty, a cur who turned traitor on his lord…’
‘It is necessary, I’m afraid, Alan. Everyone must think that. If they do not believe that you have genuinely betrayed me at this inquisition, Prince John will never take you into his service. You and I will know the truth — that you serve me still. And be honest with me: you did not like my playing the bloodthirsty part of Cernunnos; as I remember it, you were quite angry with me at the time. All I am asking you to do is to tell the truth to the inquisition when they ask it of you. You can do that, can’t you?’
‘But what about you, Robin? What about your life?’ I said. ‘If the Templars find you guilty at the inquisition tomorrow your life will not be worth a rotten turnip.’
‘I have made arrangements. Do not concern yourself about that. Now, will you do me — and our good King Richard — this great service?’
I sighed: ‘Yes, sir.’ I could summon little enthusiasm for his plan: betrayal, ignominy, the very real chance of a felon’s death on the gallows. Still I said yes. I could never refuse Robin, no matter how unpleasant or difficult or dishonourable the task he proposed to me.
‘You know that I will not forget this? That I will be for ever in your debt?’ He gripped me by both shoulders.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Good man!’ he said, and he slapped me on the back and left me to my preparations for an immediate departure to Germany after the Templar trial.
And so for six long months I had been acting my part as Prince John’s man and feeding information to Robin through the good offices of Hanno — where was he? I wondered. I had dispatched my wily German friend the day before yesterday to pass on the news of the great silver wagon train to my master and I had not seen him since. Had Prince John’s men taken him? Was his corpse at this moment twisting in the wind on the town gibbet?
I had not intended to accompany the wagon train of silver. All those months ago Robin and I had agreed that, to try to avoid doubt falling on me, he would not rob tax-gathering parties of which I was a member. I had only joined the force of knights guarding it at the last moment, on the specific orders of Ralph Murdac: clearly their suspicions of me had finally come to a head. I felt my throbbing nose and ran my tongue over the chipped tooth. There had been no need, it occurred to me then, for that brutal knock from Little John. I could have stayed with Robin and saved my own life. Right now I could be riding Ghost through the cool clean spaces of Sherwood, free and clear, beside Robin and Little John and all my friends — rather than lying here, with the Devil beating his drums inside my head, waiting to be ripped apart by that grotesque monster Milo.
I realized that I was pitying myself and stopped abruptly. I was not dead, not yet. I got up from my barley sacks and began to make an examination of the storeroom. It was small, perhaps four paces by five and seven foot high. The door was a solid one made of thick elm boards, bolted securely from the outside. I pressed my ear to the door and heard — nothing. I wasted a few moments banging on the door and shouting for a gaoler but got no response: it must be the early part of the night, I reckoned, about eight of the clock. Either the guards were asleep or eating, or no one had bothered to post them. There was nowhere I could go, deep as I was in the bowels of the great tower, no chance of escape, so perhaps there was no need to detail guards to watch a locked door all night.
The walls of my cell were cool, dry smooth sandstone, with no breaks or cracks or fissures that I could discern, and there were no tools or weapons in the room of any kind. By touch I found an empty bucket, and a jug of cool water. I drank deeply and relieved myself in the bucket. And that was it, apart from some sacks of barley and a couple filled with oats. I did not know the underground ways of the great tower well, having only been down here on two or three occasions — Hanno knew it far better than I, as there were innumerable cellars and kitchens and pantries down here under the big square keep and built into the thick walls surrounding the upper bailey, and
