Michael, JECKS - The Tournament of Blood

‘Are you the Bailiff?’

Simon groaned inwardly, but nodded.

‘I am Sir John of Crukerne. My son tells me you questioned him about where he was last night. Well, he was with other squires. All right? There are plenty of people to confirm his alibi.’

‘And if I need more, you will pay for extra witnesses, eh?’

‘You catch on quickly. I congratulate you.’

Simon smiled thinly as the knight gave him a quick look up and down, but his smile hardened as the knight spun on his heel and made to walk away. ‘Sir John?’

Pausing, the knight turned his head. ‘What?’ he snapped rudely.

The sight of the man’s back made Simon’s hackles rise. He took a deep breath and stepped forward. ‘Sir John, I wouldn’t like to think that you could be bribing people to perjure themselves. If I was to think that, I’d have to inform the Coroner.’

Sir John slowly turned to face him.

Simon continued, ‘And if I find that your son was not telling the truth, Sir John, I will see to it that he is arrested and questioned. I hope that is equally clear.’

The knight said nothing, merely sniffed and turned on his heel.

Simon said sharply, ‘I’m not finished!’

Sir John turned and gritted his teeth. ‘You are trying my patience, Bailiff. You have no jurisdiction over me.’

‘This land is Lord Hugh’s. I am his representative here.’

‘I don’t give a shit who you are.’

‘I want to know what you were doing last night after dark.’

‘Me?’ Sir John burst out. ‘You think I had something to do with Wymond’s death?’

Simon held his stare, but then he was disconcerted to see a smile breaking out on the knight’s face.

‘Well, Bailiff. If you must know, I went to my tent and slept there. Alone.’

‘So you have no one to confirm you were there?’

‘Yes, I have. My ward, Lady Alice. She was there when I returned from the meal. She can confirm that I arrived shortly after dark. I gave her a good night.’

Sir Peregrine of Barnstaple rode proudly at his lord’s side, sitting easily on his great bay stallion. The weather was fine and dry. He could feel the sun on his dark crimson velvet tunic and the dust rose in choking clouds, tickling his nostrils and throat.

At his side his standard bearer carried his square banner on its long shaft and the sight of the cloth fluttering in the breeze warmed his heart. Barnacles on a yellow background, a play on the link between his family and Barnstaple, always made him happy, but today he felt honoured, for his arms were being displayed beside Lord Hugh’s.

His lord was not of a mind to chat and their journey had been quiet, Lord Hugh speaking rarely except during their occasional breaks to rest the horses. Sir Peregrine knew that his master had much on his mind; also, with so many men-at-arms about them, he couldn’t talk because a man could never be too certain who might be willing to accept a fee for information about a magnate’s thinking – and the King’s friends had weighty purses filled with gold for those who helped them. The men were neccessary, because Lord Hugh’s household was travelling with him and he had need of protection for the carts with the chests filled with plate ready to be pawned to buy cloth, pay retainers, reward knights who showed particular prowess, and generally impress all who came to see his tournament. A knight needed to display many qualities: courtesy, humility, loyalty, hardiness, a love for the truth, but not least among them was largesse – spending freely to show his own disdain for cash.

Not, Sir Peregrine noted, that many knights eschewed money. They couldn’t, not when their lives depended upon good armour, good horses and good weapons – none of which came cheaply. They must look to their manors to provide them with enough funds to maintain their lifestyles, yet it was not easy to squeeze the last pennies from reluctant and recalcitrant peasants.

Lord Hugh with his household could devastate an area. They were forever in the saddle travelling from one manor to another, and it took little time for the meagre stores at each point to be consumed. Sir Peregrine was often involved in assessing the stores at different places, especially within Lord Hugh’s forts, and knew exactly how much the men needed. It was no surprise that many of the farm peasants looked upon the arrival of the lord and his retinue as a form of purgatory to be endured, rather than a cause for excitement and pleasure.

At least this visit would be different, he reflected, looking about him. Everyone enjoyed watching the spectacle of a tournament and even the townsfolk would be happy with the profits they could make from the visitors to the market.

On entering Oakhampton, people on either side came out from shops and houses to gawp, a few to cheer, knowing that Lord Hugh’s household meant increased sales of food and drink, and that the celebration of the tournament would soon begin. Shabby townspeople thronged the streets, while urchins ducked under arms and stood at the roadside to gape at the men-at-arms in their finery, with their caps on their heads, their mail chinking merrily like so many coins as they walked, the badges holding the enamelled insignia of Lord Hugh shining at the horses’ harnesses, the leatherwork squeaking and groaning, the weapons gleaming blue or silver, the edges well-honed, the polearms slung over men’s shoulders ready to be swung into play. Well might the townsfolk stare. This cavalcade of twenty horsemen, carts, wagons, thirty more men-at-arms on foot and all the supply horses, not to mention the great destriers eagerly skipping and occasionally lashing out at each other or at a bystander, was the largest that the town had seen in years.

Sir Peregrine could see that Lord Hugh’s mind was not on the hordes waiting upon each side. His thoughts were still on the King and the recent death of Thomas of Lancaster.

The suddenness of Thomas’s death had shocked men up and down the country. For the wealthiest man after the King to be dealt with so peremptorily was terrible. A short hearing, then justice: he was set upon a mule to be taken to the gallows, but at the last moment his punishment was changed to simple beheading rather than hanging and quartering as a traitor deserved. Wiser counsel had prevailed: his noble blood was acknowledged in his death.

Lord Hugh had been a mover behind the scenes for some years, helping those who sought to obstruct the King’s foolish spend-thriftiness. Especially when Gaveston was created Earl of Cornwall and given rich estates. It was pathetic to see how the King doted on him. After Gaveston’s death he saw those who brought Gaveston to the block as traitors, and Lord Hugh knew that the King waited to hear of treason on his own part. As soon as that happened, Lord Hugh de Courtenay would be condemned.

In part it was to distract him that Sir Peregrine had suggested a tournament. Lord Hugh was an enthusiastic supporter of martial arts and his wife eagerly seized upon the idea: she knew her husband needed to relax. However, there was an ulterior motive: if the King should take it into his head to attack the West Country, it would be far better that Lord Hugh’s knights should have had practice, and that as many of the youngsters who wanted to win their spurs should do so, receiving spurs and arms from Lord Hugh himself. A man would only rarely consider treachery against the lord who had given him the collée to dub him knight.

Sir Peregrine knew King Edward II distrusted him. Last year Sir Peregrine had unsuccessfully advised his lord to join the Marcher lords standing against the King. For a time the alliance had been successful and the two Despensers, Hugh the Older and his son Hugh the Younger, had left the realm, the father to take up the idle life of an exile, his son to become a pirate thriving on the trade ships which passed along the Kent coast; but now the Despensers were back, and strengthened in pride and arrogance by the removal of their most bitter foe, Thomas of Lancaster.