Stephen Lawhead - Hood

"Who has come?" he asked, throwing the reins of his mount to the head stabler.

"It is Baron Neufmarche of Hereford," replied the groom. "He arrived only a short while ago."

Neufmarche here? Mon Dieu! This is a worry, thought the count. What could he possibly want with me?

Dashing back across the rain-scoured yard, a very wet Falkes de Braose entered the great hall. There, standing before a gloriously radiant hearth, was his uncle's compatriot and chief rival, accompanied by five of his men: knights every one. "Baron Neufmarche!" called Falkes. He shrugged off his sodden cloak and tossed it to a waiting servant. "This is an unexpected pleasure," he brayed, trying to sound far more gracious than he felt at the moment. Striding quickly forward, he rubbed the warmth back into his long hands. "Welcome! Welcome, messires, to you all!"

"My dear Count de Braose," replied the baron with a polite bow of courtesy. "Pray forgive our intrusion-we were on our way north, but this vile weather has driven us to shelter. I hope we do not trespass on your hospitality."

"Please," replied Falkes, oozing cordiality, "I am honoured." He glanced around to see the cups in the hands of his guests. "I see my servants have seen to your refreshment. Bon."

"Yes, your seneschal is most obliging," the baron assured him. Taking up a spare cup, already poured, he handed it to the count. "Here, drink and warm yourself by the fire. You have had an inclement ride."

Feeling uncomfortably like a guest in his own house, Falkes nevertheless thanked the baron and accepted the cup. Withdrawing a poker from the fire, he plunged it into the wine; the hot iron sizzled and sputtered. The count then raised his steaming cup and said, "To King William!" Several cups later, when a meal had been prepared and they all sat down together, the count at last discovered the errand that brought the baron to his door, and it had nothing to do with seeking shelter from the rain.

"I have long wished to visit the Earl of Rhuddland," the baron informed him, spearing a piece of roast beef with his knife. "I confess I may have waited too far into the autumn, but affairs at court kept me in Lundien longer than I anticipated." He lifted a shoulder. "C'est la vie."

Count Falkes allowed himself a sly, secret smile; he knew Baron Neufmarche had been summoned by King William to attend him in Lundein and kept waiting several days before finally being sent away. William the Red had still not completely forgiven the contrary noblemen who had upheld his brother Roberts claim to the throne, legitimate though it undoubtedly was. When the dust of revolt had settled, William had tacitly pardoned those he considered rebels, returning them to rank and favour-although he could not resist harassing them in small ways just to prove the point.

The delay Neufmarche complained of had allowed the count's uncle to make good the de Braose clan's first foray into Wales without interference from the lords of neighbouring territories. While Neufinarche was idling in Lundien, Count Falkes had, with uncommon swiftness and ease, conquered Elfael. The whole campaign had been closely planned to avoid extraneous entanglements from the likes of rival lords such as Neufinarche, for if Baron de Braose had had to beg Neufmarche for permission to cross his lands that lay between Norman England and the Welsh provinces, Falk-es was fairly certain they would all be waiting still.

"You have done well," the baron said, gazing around the hall approvingly, "and in a very short time. I take it the Welsh gave you no trouble?"

"Very little," affirmed Falkes. "There is a monastery nearby, with a few monks and some women and children in hiding. The rest seem to have scattered to the hills. I expect we won't see them until the spring." He cut into a plump roast fowl on the wooden trencher before him. "By then we will be well fortified hereabouts, and opposition will be futile." He sliced into the succulent breast of the bird, raised a bite on his knife, and nibbled daintily.

Neufmarche caught the veiled reference to increased fortification. No one builds fortresses to hold down a few monks and some women and children, he thought and guessed the rest. "They are a strange people," he observed, and several of his knights grunted their agreement. "Sly and secretive."

"Bien sir," Falkes replied. He chewed thoughtfully and asked, trying to sound casual, "Do you plan to make a foray yourself?"

The bluntness of the question caught the baron off guard. "Me? I have no plans," he lied. "But now that you mention it, the thought has crossed my mind." He raised his cup to give himself time to think and then continued, "I confess, your example gives me heart. If I imagined that acquiring land would be so easy, I might give it some serious consideration," He paused as if entertaining the possibility of an attack in Wales for the very first time. "Busy as I am ruling the estates under my command, I'm not at all certain a campaign just now would be wise,"

"You would know better than I," Falkes conceded. "This is my first experience ruling an estate of any size. No doubt I have much to learn."

"You are too modest," Neufmarche replied with a wide, expansive smile. "From what I have seen, you learn very quickly." He drained his cup and held it aloft. A servant appeared and refilled it at once. "I drink to your every success!"

"And I to yours, mon ami," said Count Falkes de Braose. "And I to yours."

The next morning, the baron departed with an invitation for Falkes to visit him whenever he passed through his lands in Herefordshire. "I will look forward to it with keenest pleasure," said the count as he waved his visitors away. He then hurried to his chamber, where he drafted a hasty letter to his uncle, informing him of the progress with the ongoing survey of the building sites-as well as his adversary's unannounced visit. Falkes sealed the letter and dispatched a messenger the moment his guests were out of sight.

~ngharad stirred the simmering contents of the cauldron with a long wooden spoon and listened to the slow plip, plip, plip of the rain falling from the rim of stone onto the wet leaves at the entrance to the cave. She took up the bound sprig of a plant she had gathered during the summer and with a deft motion rolled the dry leaves back and forth between her palms, crumbling the herb into the broth. The aroma of her potion was growing ever more pungent in the close air of the cave.

Every now and then she would cast a glance toward the fleecewrapped bundle lying on a bed of pine boughs and covered with moss and deer pelts. Sometimes the man inside the bundle would moan softly, but for the most part his sleep was as silent as the dead. Her skill with healing unguents and potions extended to that small mercy if nothing more.

When the infusion was ready, she lifted the cauldron from the fire and carried it to a nearby rock, where it was left to cool. Then, taking up an armful of twigs from the heap just inside the cave entrance, she returned to her place by the fire.

"One for the Great King on his throne so white," she said, tossing a twig onto the embers. She waited until the small branch flared into flame, then reached for another, saying, "Two for the Son the King begat."

This curious ritual continued for some time-taking up a twig and consigning it to the flames with a little verse spoken in a child's rhythmic singsong-and the simple chant reached the young man in his pain-fretted sleep.

Three for the Errant Goose both swift and wild.

Four for Pangur Ban the cat.

Five for the Martyrs undefiledAye, five for the Martyrs undefiled.

She paused and cupped a hand above the fire for a moment, allowing the smoke to gather, then turned her palm, releasing a little white cloud. As the smoke floated up and dispersed, she continued her verse.