Michael JECKS - The Oath

He stepped forward, thrusting with both hands at the doors. They creaked, but then opened wide, one slamming against the wall on his left, and all the men in the room were silenced as the Duke entered, slowly tugging at the fingers of his gloves to pull them free, gazing about at the men inside, nodding shortly to Sir Roger Mortimer, then bowing more graciously to his mother.

‘I fear someone forgot to ask me to attend,’ he said, striding over the floor to the long table which had been placed in the middle of the room. This was where Mortimer had been sitting, and the knight bowed and vacated the space.

The Duke sat and looked about him. He beckoned the steward and took a goblet from him, sipping as he studied the faces of their visitors. ‘Sir Baldwin, you are welcome. Sirs all, please, be seated. Abbot, I hope you are in good health?’

He knew them all. Some of them perhaps better even than Sir Roger.

‘My lord Duke,’ Mortimer said after a moment, ‘these good men have come from your father to ask for terms.’

‘How is my father?’ He addressed this to the Abbot, a slender old monk with the face of a wizened apple, wrinkled and leathery.

‘He is well, my lord. Although it is no surprise to learn that he is very sad at the disloyalty of his subjects.’

‘His behaviour towards his subjects has been the cause of their discontent,’ Sir Roger grated. ‘You will remember that.’

‘Sir Roger, please,’ the Duke said sharply. ‘We are talking about my father. My lord Abbot, please tell him that I am sorry that affairs have come to this.’

‘He asks what you intend for him and for his household,’ the Abbot said. There was a light in his eyes as he looked at the Duke, the light of hope. He had been thinking that he would be forced to negotiate with Sir Roger, but now that the Duke was here as well, surely the negotiations would go more easily.

‘I intend nothing that–’ Duke Edward began, but Sir Roger Mortimer spoke over him.

‘He must surrender, along with all his household, and depend upon the kindness which we shall show. He can expect no more.’

‘Sir Roger,’ the Duke said admonishingly, his anger growing. ‘I would prefer to speak to the Abbot alone.’

‘My lord, I will not permit that. You are not of an age to govern nor to make terms. This is man’s business.’

‘I remind you, I am Duke of Aquitaine. I will be King after my father.’

‘But for now, your mother negotiates. I am her mouthpiece,’ Sir Roger said blandly. Turning to the Abbot again, he raised his eyebrows enquiringly. ‘Well?’

‘My lord, your King wishes for assurances.’

‘There can be none. If he and his household surrender themselves and their arms, they can expect more leniency. That is all.’

‘It is to be expected, Sir Roger,’ the Abbot said, speaking so forcefully he almost spat the words, ‘that a man of the King’s stature could expect assurances of safety. That the bodies of his comrades and servants will also be protected by you.’

‘In God’s name, Sir Abbot! This is a man suing for peace because he has run out of space to run to! He cannot expect more, and he will receive no more than this. We do not make war on the King, we seek only to punish Despenser for the manifest offences which he has committed upon the weary English. He will come and surrender with all his men, or he will be captured with them all. Do not try my patience with these petty demands. You may leave!’

The Abbot was shocked at the outburst. His mouth fell open, and he threw a look at the Duke as though pleading with him to intervene, but Edward could think of nothing to say. He felt as though he must weep if he so much as opened his mouth. For all the trappings of power that were outwardly his, he possessed nothing compared with the stern authority of Sir Roger. In the face of the man’s martial confidence, Edward was reduced to a child. He looked away.

‘Then, Sir Roger, there is little more to be said,’ the Abbot murmured. He bowed, then turned and began to head towards the door, his companions walking with him, but when he arrived at the doors, he stopped and looked back at the Duke. ‘Do you have a message for your father, my lord?’

Sir Roger snapped, ‘Yes, that he should surrender and stop any more of this waste and nonsense!’

‘And tell him I love him, please, my lord Abbot,’ the Duke said coldly, without looking at the knight.

Simon had been waiting outside with Jack and Wolf, whittling a stick into a point, and when the men appeared in the doorway, he looked up at Baldwin. ‘Well?’

Baldwin smiled, but his eyes showed how troubled he felt. ‘We are not to have any terms, it would seem. Our friend Sir Roger had already decided that the King is to be shown how low he has sunk in the estimation of the barons and people of the realm. There is no hope.’

‘What do you mean?’ Simon said. ‘Surely if he surrenders, he–’

‘The King cannot surrender, Simon. If he does, Sir Hugh will be executed, and the King will not have that. So instead he will defy Sir Roger, and that means that this will drag on a little longer. And what then? Who can tell.’

Simon clasped Baldwin’s hand, and the two men were silent for a moment. There seemed nothing to be said. They released each other and stood a pace apart, but it felt as though they were on opposite sides of a great river. Words could not bridge that gap. It was too profound.

‘Baldwin, be careful, my friend.’

‘You too, Simon,’ the knight responded. And then he tried a grin, and marched on, punching Simon’s shoulder with his fist in a rare display of affection.

Simon was walking to his horse when Wolf rose and lumbered across the area. Soon he was sitting, panting happily while being petted by a tallish man with a stained and filthy bandage bound about his lower shin. As Simon wandered past, he saw the man Herv Tyrel. He was with Otho, talking animatedly with the fellow stroking Wolf.

There was a shout. The King’s ambassadors were already preparing to leave, and Simon ran to his horse as Baldwin swung his leg over his own mount. Simon had his foot in the stirrup and was in the saddle before the Abbot had ordered his men to ride on. Sir Stephen had heard of the rapid departure of the men, and joined Simon now. ‘Are you intending to ride with them?’

‘Yes, I–’

‘Best to leave them, friend. They’re riding to the King. If you go too, they may think you’re trying to follow them – that you’re a spy. Wait a little. We will ride to the Earl of Lancaster’s men together.’

Simon nodded slowly, his eyes on the backs of the men as they rode out from the gates. One of them, he saw, was the man who had been with Wolf. He was a short way from Baldwin, who turned once, and stared at Simon as though in an effort to remember his old friend, and then they were gone.

First Saturday after the Feast of St Martin [43] 15 November 1326

Neath Abbey

King Edward heard the group of men ride into the court. There was little doubt that it was them. Few enough men were coming and going from Neath Abbey at this time. Even those who had been bringing food in, demanding the most exorbitant sums in return, had dried to a trickle now they believed that the King would not be here much longer. No one wanted to be found there when Mortimer arrived.

He felt a fleeting urge to leap up and run to the men, to learn what they had managed to negotiate, but that would have been unseemly. Instead he motioned to his steward and tried to ask him to fetch Sir Hugh, but when he opened his mouth, no words would come. The steward gazed at him uncomprehendingly, as the King forced himself to relax, while his heart thundered. This terror of the future was unbecoming of a King. ‘Please. Sir Hugh. Bring him.’