The Temporal Knights (52 page)

“Good to see you Colonel,” Peebles said. “What’s our status?”

Lemay shrugged. “We have the courtyard covered...Captain Gardner how’s it look?”

“The archers on the keep gave us a scare for a moment, Corporal Marfisi was hit in the leg but otherwise we’re unscathed. We’ve killed the archers...about fifteen; no one else is showing their faces. We still have two heartbeats below our position in the barracks, but they’re staying put. The rest of the bogeys are in the keep.”

“Private Morris?”

“We’re keeping busy Sir. Many tried to come down the stairs, and right now we have maybe fifty bottled up opposite of your position. I think this may be the only way in or out.”

“Danger?”

“Minimal. No immediate threat. We took the liberty of removing any torches from the area. We like it nice and dark.”

“Martone?”
Lemay asked of the Private guarding the main door to the keep.

“All quiet here Sir...Captain Gardner’s killing them on one side, and Morris is doing the same on the other. In the middle, it’s nice and calm.”

Lemay’s gaze refocused on his General. “We seem to have the situation under control. There may be only one way in or out of this hellhole, but we have that bottled up nicely.”

“Poor planning,” the General said with chuckle, then turned serious. “I have a man down here, and we need a stretcher to move him...I want the entire fortress taken as soon as possible. I would like to move him upstairs where it’s warmer. Dr. Rice is with him now.”

“Captain Gardner, can we raise the gate if needed?”

“Yes Sir, we have control of the area.”

“Lieutenant Otsaka, what’s the situation outside the fortress?”

“All clear at the moment. We killed those running toward the gate, the rest learned quickly enough.”

“I need a stretcher and nine IWS helmets on the double...you may fire up the Humvees, our cover’s shot to hell, but it seems we control the only way in and out of the keep.

“Roger, out,” Otsaka said and refrained from asking why they did not need ten helmets.

Lemay then took off his helmet and handed it to the General.

“I think the men will want to hear from you.”
Peebles nodded. “Harris, Starling if you would be so kind as to loan Sadao and Jefferies your helmets and weapons for the moment,” the General said, not worried that he might hurt someone’s feelings. After five long years of war, they were all very aware of each other’s abilities. Both men gave up their weapons without hesitation or bruised egos. Sadao and Jefferies were simply the most dangerous warriors alive at the present moment in time.

Once armed and connected to the IWS, the two men sprinted up the stairs toward the level above. The General slipped on the Colonel’s helmet, which was just a bit too big for him. “Private Morris,” Peebles said.

“Yes Sir,” the Private answered at once and the General could hear the smile in his voice.

“Be advised that Sadao and Jefferies are coming on to your position. Sadao will then take command of the attack. We’re going to take this…castle, gentlemen. We’re not leaving the area until Sir Eadwulf is captured.”

“Captured?” Lemay asked and Peebles flipped off the GBF, and raised his visor.

“He may have Eve?” the General replied, his expression hard as stone.

“Eve is fine. He tried to take her and failed,” Lemay answered.

Peebles flipped back to the GBF. “Correction...let’s find the Earl...I want him dead...repeat dead.”

Cheers erupted throughout the battle frequency, but they didn’t last long as everyone got down to business.

Sadao and Jefferies literally raced up the stairs and
past the now quiet women, and were directly behind Private Morris and Stroff within a minute. They were dimly aware of Captain Gardner and his team taking out the two remaining targets in the front gatehouse, and unconsciously ignored all the reports coming in over the GBF that did not deal directly with their situation. Their entire focus was on the scene just down the hall, where at least a dozen bodies lay prone and bleeding. They watched silently as an arm poked from around the far corner and tossed a lit torch into the darkness. It landed among the dead men but it was not nearly close enough, nor bright enough, to illuminate the Americans waiting for them. Plus the light from the torch would just hinder the night-vision of the men who had just thrown it. Sadao smiled at their ineptness and then glanced up the stairs on his right.

“Any problems from upstairs yet?”

“No, not after the first wave,” Morris replied and nodded to the dead bodies just in front of their position.

Sadao frowned. “Keep an eye on it,” he instructed Private Stroff.

“Flashbangs?” Jefferies asked and Sadao nodded, not wanting to risk the strength of the walls against the force of a grenade. Even they could not escape from a collapsing stone keep. Their tactical virtual display indicated that at least fifty heartbeats huddled just around the far corner, but the numbers did not really concern Sadao and his team. Moments later two magnesium laden concussion weapons were bouncing down the hall toward the enemy. A local bravely jumped around the corner and was immediately shot.

“Power down,” Sadao ordered and all of his men immediately powered down their night vision and acoustical capabilities, then the computer automatically engaged their ear protection devices. Flashbangs were moderate concussion weapons that relied heavily on noise and blinding light rather than a blast wave and shrapnel, but still anyone too close to them on detonation faced
serious injury. The two flashbangs exploded one right after the other, and were enormously loud in the narrow hallways of the keep. Sadao only heard a muffled explosion however, followed quickly by another, before he powered up his equipment and headed down the hallway at a dead run. Everyone but Corporal Stroff followed closely behind. They were each dimly aware of Gardner reporting that the courtyard was now clean and that they were raising the gates to allow several hummers and reinforcements inside.

Sadao didn’t hesitate as he reached the corner but quickly moved around it, firing low since he knew that nearly all the knights would now be on the floor, their senses overloaded. Jefferies was firing with him; their movements practiced and coordinated. Their rounds chewed up all fifty of the enemy in seconds, though a handful were already dead. The hallway they were now in was narrower than the last, and it was tight to keep two men abreast. They picked their way over and through the bodies as they continued their search for the Earl of Rochester.

§

Sir Eadwulf was awake and pacing in his quarters, gripping the pommel of his sword very tightly. Two guards stood uneasily at his door listening to the explosions below, and the sporadic sounds of gunfire. Sir Eadric, who’d rushed to his lord’s chambers in a panic, now sat near the smoldering fire and quietly watched Eadwulf pace, wondering just how he was going to get out of this mess. Eadwulf was wondering much the same thing. Once he realized that Rovescester was under attack, he’d sent archers to the rooftop and the bulk of his personal guard to the lower levels to hold the keep and then sent word to Dorn to kill the prisoners. But now, as the terrifying sound of gunfire drew ever closer and ever louder, he was beginning to think such a move might have been a mistake.

“Put out the fire,” Sir Eadwulf ordered his remaining guards then grimaced at Eadric’s questioning look. Just moments before his knight had argued against sending the message to Dorn to have the American General killed. Eadric believed that they would need every man available if they were to escape this death trap.

‘Sir Eadric tis getting soft, like a woman,’
Sir Eadwulf thought and slowly drew his sword. Moments later what little fire was in the pit was doused and the room grew dark.

“We must escape and climb to the balcony below,” Eadric explained as though the Earl was a child. “This keep is a trap. We should have seen it before.”

“And wot of the guns in the courtyard?” Sir Eadwulf asked, moving to the nearest window and peeking carefully outside. He could not see much since it was still dark; the sun had not yet rising in the east.

“I still have this,” Eadwulf said holding up a pistol, completely oblivious to the fact that the Beretta he was waving around only held fifteen shots, and there were now over one hundred enemy soldiers within Rovescester’s walls. The Earl was also under the mistaken impression that the gun would continue to fire forever, every time he pulled the trigger. Eadric could just make out the gun in the dim light of the room and shook his head in disgust. His lord was a fool.

“Ye be a sott, Eadwulf,” Eadric snarled, his courage growing in the darkness. “These men be devils...killing devils and ye have pitted them against us’n. Ye be a dead man and I’m sorry I joined with ye,” and then he flopped down in an armchair, fingering the hilt of his sword.

Sir Eadwulf raised the gun in the darkness and pointed it in the direction of his former advisor, but in the end he did not shoot. Instead he went to the window and leaned against the shutters for a moment.

“These men have attacked me. They have attacked me home, and deserve nothing less than the death I will give them,” he spat with much more bravado than he felt. He snuck another peek out the window and then moved to the heavy wooden door that led to the balcony beyond. For a brief moment, Eadric could see his silhouette against the somewhat lighter sky, but then Sir Eadwulf stepped through the doorway and outside. Eadric sighed and rose from his chair, happy that his lord was now thinking of escape. He moved quickly to the doorway. The balcony was small but Sir Eadwulf had moved over to the far railing giving Eadric a bit of room. Eadwulf was leaning out, trying to distinguish the balcony below in the utter darkness of the night. But his eyes never adjusted, instead there was a single pop and his head exploded. Sir Eadwulf’s body stumbled backwards and then fell against Sir Eadric who was now covered with bits of blood, skull and brains.  Eadric jumped and pushed the body of his lord away and then scrambled backwards into the room. The knight crawled quickly to the armchair and then climbed to his feet. The door to the room was now open and the gunfire in the keep was very loud and moving closer. Sir Eadric felt a moment of panic but then calmly sank back into the chair where he pulled his legs up and curled into a tight ball. The two guards lurked a moment by the open door, but then fled as the gunfire suddenly fell silent.

Though only a few minutes past, time spread out for Sir Eadric, and after what seemed like hours, he heard the soft footfalls of someone entering the room. His eyes strained to see in the darkness. The knight held his breath and remained very still, very quiet, almost believing that he might go unnoticed. His ears were now tuned to the smallest sound, and he easily picked out a faint whisper to his right, but the meaning behind the noise was lost. Sir Eadric, his eyes wide and staring, blinked at a flash of light and then nothingness.

Sergeant Sadao checked the rest of the room thoroughly and then moved to the body lying on its side on the balcony. He flipped it over with the toe of his boot. There was a large hole beneath the right eye, but the man was easily recognizable as Sir Eadwulf, former Earl of Rochester.

“The keep is clean. Eadwulf is dead,” he reported, feeling no remorse at all for the man staring sightlessly up at him. Eadwulf had shown no remorse for Hamilton and no compassion for Eve, and so deserved none in return.

“Roger,” General Peebles replied a moment later which was followed by three other acknowledgments from Lemay, Garraty, and Gardner.

“All right Colonel, let’s move all of the men inside,” Peebles added, smiling grimly. He stepped out into the courtyard just as the sky was beginning to lighten in the east. He gave a little wave to Captain Gardner on the walls, as Sergeant Moore and Hersey, plus Privates Chuen and Trotske followed him out into the fresh air. Peebles looked past Gardner to the grim scene of the dead and dying hanging from the fortress walls.

“Sergeant Sadao, Corporal Jefferies report to the courtyard and form a detail. I want all the healthy locals removed from the castle grounds. I want them gone in ten minutes. Send anyone injured to Dr. Rice, he’ll be setting up quarters in the forward barracks near the front gate.”

“Roger.”

“Free the other prisoners. And somebody cut these bodies down,” he added and everyone immediately realized there would be no sleep for many more hours.

Chapter Fourteen

T
he next morning the Lady Ellyn’s carriage topped a rise and moved down toward Maiden Castle, by far the largest fortress in all of Wessex. The morning was warm and the sun was bright as they rode into the thriving town of Winchester. In their excitement both Ellyn and Trudy sat right up against the side of the carriage, their heads sticking out the open windows as they took in the sights of the King’s town. Sir Gospatrick and his friend Master Ædwin were again on horseback, giving proper escort to the ladies and were riding directly behind the carriage. Gospatrick was smiling wryly at the Lady Ellyn’s combination of exuberance and backwoods behavior, but he also enjoyed the sights of the fairest city in the land and spurred his horse forward until he was riding opposite of the Lady’s window.

“Tis a grand sight is it
na?” He asked with an easy smile. Ellyn nodded and smiled back at him, and despite her earlier misgivings, she found that she liked the way his black hair fluttered about in the early morning breeze. The town in the foreground was large and teaming with activity, but what captured the girl’s attention was the immense fortress on the hill beyond. The wooden walls were impossibly long and much higher and grander than the little buhr at Athelney. There were six tall watchtowers on the nearest wall alone, spaced evenly and guarding the immense main gate. From the tops of every tower hung colorful blue and white pennants and draped all along the walls of the fortress were long, bright banners representing all the visiting noblemen. Gospatrick pointed out a yellow banner signifying the presence of Sir Byrnoth of Sussex and the red banner of Sir Ælfgar of Dorset, the King’s long time ally and friend. Even from this distance Ellyn could tell that there was a fair or festival going on the castle grounds.

“Yor in luck.
We’ve made it back for the May festival,” Sir Gospatrick said, very attracted to the girl’s smile and enthusiasm.

“This late?”

“Yah, tis na May Day we celebrate, but tis a special celebration all of Wessex holds before the summer season gets on us. There twill be lots of dancing and it be me hope that ye wold save the first for yor escort,” Gospatrick added, still pursuing the girl hard. Ellyn had become more at ease and open with him as the trip progressed, but still resisted all of his advances, much to the amusement of Ædwin.

“I could do nothing less for yor noble protection on me journey,” she answered, surprising both men. Gospatrick broke out into such a large, lopsided grin that the Lady Ellyn laughed and was very glad she’d accepted.
‘Mayhap,’
she thought,
‘I have misjudged the man.’
They moved through the town at a slow pace and Sir Gospatrick was greeted very enthusiastically by the local people, and many a maid trotted alongside his horse in order to converse a few moments with him. Obviously he was very popular with the townsfolk, especially the womenfolk. Master Ædwin was also greeted, though with much more reserve and respect and with much less love, but if Ædwin was aware of the difference it did not show.

All about town, people were hanging flowers and other greenery to celebrate the coming of summer. The town of Winchester was clean and beautiful and all along the road, draping down from the tops of the taller buildings, were long strings of colorful flowers and leaves. They hung elegantly over the newcomers and blew about lazily in the breeze. The atmosphere was very joyful and festive, everyone crying out greetings and smiling as the carriage rolled past. The
celebrating continued as they moved toward the outskirts, followed now by a growing parade of peasant children who playfully escorted them all out of town.

The ground around Maiden Castle was a bright and colorful wonderland. The hundreds of apple trees that ringed the fortress were in bloom, with many of the pink and white petals floating through the warm spring breezes. Walking through the orchards were ladies, decorated in their finest, most colorful dresses, accompanied by fair born men and knights clad in colorful vestments and tights. Children were running here and there all over the grounds some dressed, some not, but all trailing long colorful strands of ribbon that whipped around in the air behind them. All the young folk were squealing and laughing with delight. The sights and sounds were all of gaiety and pleasure.

“Tis a grand day is it na, Mum?” Trudy said, her face glowing with excitement as she watched the people pass, waving to some and shouting to others, though she knew not a soul from this land.

“Tis truly,” Ellyn answered waving herself and answering the many greetings that were cast her way. She felt truly happy and was completely unaware that she had lost her somber demeanor over the past week. But now was not the time to be sad and brooding, and as her carriage approached ever closer to the castle they were surprised by the fact that the Lady Ealhswith, the Queen herself, rode out on horseback to greet them, and Ellyn found her stomach jumping with nervousness.

“Greetings Sir Gospatrick...Master Ædwin,” Ealhswith added coolly as she approached, riding easily on the back of stark black stallion. “I hope yor journey was a pleasant one?”

“Indeed, made all the more so by the company of the Lady Ellyn from Bridgwater,” Sir Gospatrick replied with a sweeping hand gesture and a bow, which was none too easy from horseback.  Ædwin also bowed in respect though his was not nearly as flamboyant as his younger friend.

“M’lady,” Ædwin said with a slight smile.

“Ah, the Lady Ellyn,” Ealhswith said with a broad smile as she looked into the carriage and caught the girl’s eye. She immediately dismounted and handed the reins without a thought to Master Ædwin and then moved to the carriage.

“May I join ye for the ride to the Maiden?” Ealhswith asked, but did not wait for permission; rather she opened the door and stepped up, then sat with a sigh next to Trudy, who was stunned speechless.

“Hallo,” Ealhswith said and patted Trudy’s hand.

“Tis Trudy, me maid,” Ellyn stammered, finding her voice, and Ealhswith turned and looked Trudy in the eye. The queen was a pleasant looking woman, older, but time had not been too unkind to her. Her hair was still blonde with only a few strands of gray mixed within and was wrapped tightly on the top of her head, held there by a small army of bejeweled pins. She was tall, and just on the plump side of thin, but the beautiful lavender gown she worn accentuated her bust and long sculptured neck, which the queen considered her two finest features. But at the moment Trudy found her attention fixed on the woman’s striking gray eyes which glinted with keen intelligence. She might have been taken as stern, but her wide mouth more than made up for any harshness with its predilection for breaking into a smile.

“Hallo Trudy.”

“Hallo M’lady,” Trudy managed to squeak and lowered her eyes.

“Yor journey twas pleasant?” the queen asked turning back to Ellyn.

“Yah, M’lady,” Ellyn answered, still stunned that the Lady Ealhswith had ridden out to greet them and planned to escort them to the castle. It was far too great an honor, after all she was just the daughter of a knight of a minor nobleman, and not someone who would normally draw the attentions of the truly highborn. And then the reason came to her...the Americans.

“Sir Gos’ advances did
na compromise yor virtue too much, I hope,” she added with a smile and a wave to Sir Gospatrick who was riding alongside and listening as best he could.

Trudy laughed and Ellyn smiled shyly. “Na M’lady, but he knows how to make a girl feel wanted,” she answered and Sir Gospatrick beamed at Master Ædwin as the girl defended him.

“Hmmpf,” was all Ædwin said though his eyes betrayed his amusement.

Lady Ealhswith laughed. “That he does...that he does, for many a young maid.”

“M’lady...” Sir Gospatrick said loudly, wanting to come to his own defense, but the Lady Ealhswith held up a hand. “Leave us now...go and join the festivities,” she added, dismissing him with a wave of her long slender hand, and with a bow both he and Ædwin were off.

“Ye want to discuss the Ammericaans,” Ellyn said bluntly, deciding to come to the point.

Ealhswith smiled again, liking this bold, intelligent girl before her, and she instantly knew why Gos was acting all defensive. Mayhap this was the one to tame his wild, rambling ways...though she hoped not. Sir Gospatrick was a treasure to her and she loved to hear of all his adventures and conquests… and there were many. They ranged from the Ladies at court, down to the lowliest maid, for he cared little as long as they were pretty and had a bosom. He amused her and she envied him, occasionally wishing she were a man able to taste the fruits of many a tree. But she was a Lady, the Queen no less, and while she might not exactly be happy in her arranged marriage, she was at least satisfied and so had only just taken a lover, though she knew her husband had dabbled with more than a few. Ealhswith sighed. It was the way of men.

“Yah, I wish to discuss the...strangers in the west. I’ve many letters from the Lady Merwinna, and lately a few from me daughter, F
læ
d. Of course Alfred has also received numerous correspondences from most of the western lords. Tis said ye be lovers with one of the strange men?”

Ellyn went red and bowed her head, acutely aware of the rocking carriage as they moved across the bridge that led directly into the large courtyard of the immense Castle.

“Yah, I be in love with one of the Ammericaans.”

“Ammericaans...” Ealhswith said.
“Tis a strange word. Are they truly as large as giants, but have the looks of women?”

Ellyn smirked but quickly controlled herself.
“Na M’lady. Tis true they be large men, but tis nothing womanly about the way they look, ‘xcepting for that they remove the hair from their face every day, so that they resemble young boys.”

“They
be men, then? Ye have seen them?” Ealhswith asked and Ellyn blushed all the more, knowing exactly what the queen was asking. She was only dimly aware that the carriage had stopped, but Ealhswith made no move to open the door.

“Yah, they
be men.”

“Large men?” the Queen asked with a twinkle in her eye, delighted by the younger woman’s obvious discomfort.

“Yah,” Ellyn gulped, feeling hot and faint with the memory. “They be large men.”

Lady Ealhswith laughed. “Well then, mayhap we should greet them quite properly,” she replied and finally opened the door to the carriage.  The queen stepped out and addressed a large maid who appeared instantly. “Caitlithe, see the Lady Ellyn to her rooms so she may rest and refresh herself before this evening’s celebration.”

“Yah M’lady.”

“Ellyn,” Ealhswith said with a nod. “We will talk more tonight. Alfred and I both have a keen desire to know wot is truly happening in the lands of Somerset. I will see to it that ye be well placed at sup,” she added, and then was off moving to her rooms, anxious to see her own lover after his absence.

“Thank ye M’lady,” Ellyn called after her, stepping from the carriage, and looking up at the great heights of the closest towers of the Maiden.

Once in her rooms, which were very elegant, far better than she had ever imagined as a child or young woman, Ellyn found that she was indeed tired from the long days of travel, and dropped down on the large four poster bed and slept. Trudy, after seeing to their clothes climbed up next to her mistress and also fell into a deep slumber. It wasn’t until a servant girl knocked politely on their door that they awoke.

“Yah’m,” Trudy called lazily and climbed down from the high bed to answer the door.

“Sup will be ready shortly,” the girl said and poked her head into the room slightly, trying to get a glimpse of the Lady that all the fuss was about. Trudy blocked her view with a frown.

“Ha! Wot’s the matter?”

“Oh, nothing Miss. Excuse me, but the Queen wanted for me to be sure that the Lady was up and about.”

“Ye may thank her Highness...I’m up and will be ready shortly,” Ellyn said approaching the girl.

The maid caught sight of Ellyn and gave her a shy smile.

‘She’s pretty ‘nough, though a bit on the scrawny side and her bosom tis na nearly as large as me own,’
the maid thought with just a hint of a smile. The maid moved off down the hall well satisfied with her own looks and skipped slightly so that her breasts jiggled in her bodice. She may not be a noblewoman, but she still knew how to grab a man’s fancy, whether it be lettin’ him catch a glimpse of teat or accidentally brushing his arm with a full bosom. There were but a few surefire ways of gettin’ a man’s attention, and she was thankful again for her full figure. Still, it was said that Sir Gospatrick had taken a fancy to this young noblewoman from the woods, though why he would the girl could not say. The Lady Ellyn hardly had enough flesh on her bones to grab onto.

Inside their rooms, Trudy and Ellyn were worried about more important things, such as changing the Lady’s dress and doing her hair up properly. It was essential to have someone around to help with grooming because mirrors were rare and very expensive. Ellyn sat patiently by the window in her long chemise, which she wore under her outer clothes, trying to decide just which dress she would wear tonight, while Trudy brushed out her hair before beginning to pull it up in a more suitable fashion. Ellyn had several garments of wool, but they were generally used for more casual occasions and she dismissed these out of mind. She also had a crimson taffeta tunic and mantle, but it had a slight tear near the bottom that needed mending, so she finally came to the decision to wear the green damask gown with an white mantle, which was her old favorite, especially when matched with white tights, that complimented the rabbit fur sown in around the border of the dress. It would present the best first impression.