The Silver Falcon (67 page)

“I do.” Adam immediately lifted his head.

Odon did not want to show his disappointment. He patted his son’s shoulder. But the boy shrank back, as if his touch was unwelcome.

“Why?” asked Adam, almost inaudibly, looking down again.

“Why what?” Odon barked.

“Why did you let it happen?”

“It’s not my fault. You said yourself that I had no choice. Your fine young lord was going to kill me if I didn’t let you go with him.”

“I meant the woman and the child. Why did you let them be killed?”

“Come, come, you’re not going to cry about that, are you?” Odon rebuked him. “You’re my son, and you must behave as such.”

“But I don’t want to be your son anymore,” he cried petulantly. He tore loose and ran off.

Baffled, Odon watched him go. “You’ll pay for this, William. Setting my own son against me.” He turned and strode off toward the tower to fetch the queen from her room and lead her down to the hall.

As usual, most of the guests had already gathered there, having taken their places on benches at the tables. The hall was filled with whispered conversations and laughter. The king had arranged for jugglers, minstrels, and pipers to entertain his guests with jokes and comic songs.

Odon frowned when he saw John approach his wife, greet her with a warm smile, offer her his hand, and lead her to her place. They looked more in love than ever. An uneasy feeling crept over Odon. What could have happened? Odon tried to keep a cool head. Queen Isabelle had probably prevailed in the end, ensuring that the king would banish Marguerite and William from the court. He studied the crowd of people in the hall and noted with satisfaction that neither of them were to be seen. And Robert was not sitting on one of the benches either.

None of them suspected that Odon had another unpleasant surprise in store for them. When the suspicion for this particular piece of villainy fell on Robert, he would get his just deserts at last—and so would William—and Odon hoped it would finally cost him his neck. Odon’s whole body roared and throbbed with ecstasy. Although it was still rather cold in the hall, he felt more comfortable than he had felt in a long time.

“May I hand you over to your page and sit down?” he asked the queen as he pushed her chair in toward the table. He bowed when she indicated that he could leave her.

Odon’s place at the royal table had been at the same level as William and Marguerite’s lately, with the result that he was always sitting opposite them. This time, though, it was some other baron, a
real
one, that was sitting down there. Odon grinned at him broadly, raised his cup, and drank to his health. This was going to be a truly enjoyable evening.

What a pity he hadn’t brought Maud. Her beauty would have been on everyone’s lips, and countless men would have envied him. Odon took a swig of wine. It ran down his throat easily. Perhaps it was better that he hadn’t brought Maud, after all, he reflected. If the king had once lusted after Marguerite, how his heart would have been inflamed by the much fairer Maud! No, her presence would just have made things difficult.

He turned contentedly to the page standing behind him and had his cup refilled. In the future he would make sure the king did not meet Maud. Just in case.

Now that William no longer seemed to enjoy the king’s favor and represented no danger, he would get Adam back and train him to be a proper knight. Perhaps he would ask Marshal. Odon nodded with satisfaction when a large platter of carved meat was placed before the king, and his page set about finding a choice piece for his master. It couldn’t be long before he received something he could get his teeth into. His stomach was already growling.

He watched tensely as the king and queen were served. He saw them whisper to each other, and then the king raised his hand. The hubbub in the hall immediately went down a notch. The few who had not noticed that John was going to say something were called to order by their neighbors, and after a few moments there was not
a whisper or a rustle to be heard. Odon leaned forward a little, the better to hear the king.

“Come, Richard, we need to go. It will be dark soon.” Emma reached out her hand to drag the boy away.

“No,” he protested throatily, and when he saw the nursemaid’s stern look he went on, a little more tamely. “Please.”

Batting his eyes had already had the desired effect twice that day, but this time Emma was firm. “No, Richard, we have to go. Your mother is already going to be displeased that we’ve stayed out this late.” She beat the dust off Richard’s smock and smiled cheerfully. “We can come back tomorrow.”

“Promise?” the child asked, tilting his head to one side. He had spent half the afternoon playing by the brook, throwing leaves into the water and watching them be swept away. He had clapped with pleasure when Emma had skipped flat stones over the surface of the water, and finally he had started scratching at the hard earth by the bank with a twig.

“Yes, I promise, Richard, but now we must make haste. Come.”

The little boy reached up and trustingly slipped his hand into hers. But after only a few steps he tore loose, full of high spirits, and ran on ahead as fast as his little legs would carry him.

Emma followed him quickly enough, never letting him get more than two or three steps ahead of her. It was not far from here to the tents. There was just a narrow band of fields between the tent site and the sparse woodland from which they would soon emerge.

Suddenly, a young maid was standing on the path in front of them, as if she had sprung out of the earth. She spread her arms and called out, “Come, I’ll catch you and make you fly like a bird!”

“Come here, Richard!” Emma said loudly. She did not know this maid. “Richard,” she said again, this time a little more firmly, but the boy was already throwing himself into the strange girl’s arms with a joyous laugh.

Emma was by his side immediately. “We have to go!” she told him firmly, trying to get hold of the boy.

“Don’t touch him,” the stranger hissed softly but threateningly. “His father wants me to take him with me. He loves me, you see. So let us pass.” She tried to push past Emma, but Emma did not make it easy for her.

Richard had become like a son to her. She had spent night and day with him since he was only a few days old. Who did this shameless person think she was? Claiming his father had sent her? Sir William would never have given orders to someone like her to take the child anywhere! Determined, Emma pulled the boy away from the maid, but the stranger would not let go. She clung firmly to Richard’s little legs, and he started to cry.

“It’s your fault he’s howling,” the maid complained. She let go of the boy’s legs, grabbed Emma’s hair instead, and pulled hard.

The nursemaid set Richard on her right hip and tried to free herself with her left hand. She managed to tear herself away and run toward the edge of the forest.

When she glanced back hurriedly to see whether the maid was following, she had disappeared. Just as unexpectedly as she had appeared.

But Emma went on running as fast as she could. The field was not far now.

Suddenly her breast was burning, or was it her shoulder?

“You’re not taking the boy away from me again,” the maid murmured in her ear.

Emma’s neck was icy-cold; she felt sick, and everything began to spin around her. With all her remaining strength, she tried
to clasp the child to her. Richard screamed and struggled. Then everything went black.

“Friends, vassals, allies,” the king said solemnly, setting the feast in motion with his jewel-encrusted golden goblet raised high. “As you know, we have been gathered here for several days to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ—until tomorrow, which is Epiphany.”

Approving murmurs could be heard.

“But there is another happy event we should be celebrating.”

Jesus, the queen is with child, thought Odon in surprise, looking at her curiously. So that was what she had been telling her husband. Perhaps William would appear at court again, after all.

“You all know that I have one married daughter already, for you all know Joan. Today, though, I found out that I am the father of another child.”

An excited whisper ran across the room.

Odon looked up in astonishment. So it wasn’t the queen! It must be about Richard. It couldn’t be anyone else. Obviously, the queen had directly accused her husband and demanded that Marguerite and William no longer sit and dine at the royal table. Odon stroked his chest with satisfaction and raised his cup. Everything was going according to plan.

The king raised his hand again for silence. “I would like to present my daughter and her husband.”

Odon gulped. His daughter?

The king waved, and Marguerite, followed by William, approached him through a side door near the royal table.

“Alix de Hauville, my daughter’s mother, was a beautiful and clever woman. And since she was also a loving wife with a generous heart, she did not reveal to her childless husband that it was I,
not he, who was the father of her daughter. She even kept it secret from me. Therefore, I embrace Marguerite, whom I used to consider my ward, for the first time as my daughter.” He pressed her to him and kissed her on the forehead.

“How can you be sure you’re not being tricked, sire?” Odon said, jumping out of his seat, swaying slightly. Wine on an empty stomach did him no favors.

The king frowned, then smiled roguishly. “Well, my dear Odon of Elmswick, let us put it this way. My body has a feature that only a few of my playmates and my wet nurse know about.” The king laughed loudly and looked fondly at Marguerite. “Since Marguerite and her son both possess the same charming feature, I don’t doubt that she is my daughter and he my grandson.”

Odon sank back onto the bench. Little Richard wasn’t John’s son, but William’s. The thought hammered at his brain. He needed more time to take it all in. William wasn’t a husband selected by the king for his discarded lover, and he wasn’t a cuckold forced to bring up another man’s bastard. He was the king’s son-in-law. Odon drained another cup of wine, immediately demanded a refill, and drained that in a single gulp, too.

“Well, where is my grandson?” asked John, looking about. “Have him brought to me so that I can show him to everyone.”

Odon sighed with relief. Everything would turn out well, after all. He was curious to see how William would explain the child’s disappearance. Odon grinned maliciously, took another drink, and stood up again.

“What a pity you found out about your daughter so late and married her off to someone unworthy of her,” he said to the king, slurring his words. He ignored the indignant murmur around him. This was William’s deathblow.

“I see the wine is doing your talking for you,” replied the king sharply. “But you care about me and the welfare of my kingdom, and that honors you, even though you must know that of all my
wards, Marguerite was always my favorite. For that reason I did not choose just any husband for her. William’s being an outstanding falconer and a faithful subject made the choice easier, but the decisive reason was his excellent ancestry.”

“The son of a woman swordsmith,” Odon jeered. “Some ancestry, something for Sir William to be really proud of.” A few men were laughing with Odon. “I’m sure you could have picked a better son-in-law.”

“Well, my dear Lord Elmswick, even if the mare is quite ordinary, an extraordinary stallion can be the beginning of an outstanding breed. And it’s not only true for horses. William is the son of our dear friend and faithful counselor William Marshal,” the king announced, nodding at Marshal with a smile.

This was greeted with murmurs of astonishment.

Odon saw Marshal turn pale. He obviously had not known that the king was aware of his paternity. Odon snorted. Good God, that, too? Wasn’t it bad enough that William was the king’s son-in-law? Did he have to have the mightiest baron in the land for his father, too? Odon wiped his forehead: sweat was pouring down his temples. Why did William, of all people, have to have so much luck?

“Come, my child, sit down at my table, with your husband, in the place that belongs to you.” The king indicated the seat next to him. Marshal, who had been sitting there, immediately shifted two places farther over. The men beside him left the top table without complaint and took their places. For them all to sit down, it was necessary for everyone on this side to shift over, including Odon, who now found himself farther from the king than before, thanks to William.