Knight of the Empress by Griff Hosker Read Free Book Online Page B

lands.  You know whom he keeps in his court do you not?"
    "No, who?"
    "The son of King Henry's brother, William of Clito. While William's father is a prisoner in your Tower in London, his son is being courted by the King of France.  It is a devious pond into which you have stepped.  The King of France is pulling the strings while others do his deeds.  It is said that he even has the Pope under his spell.  Do not cross the King of France, my friend, it would be fatal."
    "And the squires?"
    "They may have been with the ambush," he shrugged, "if I see them again then they will die.  Gurt was a good friend and I had served with him these ten years."
    As we rode I pointed to his surcoat.  It covered his mail.  I had seen them in the east but, until we had entered the Empire I had not seen them in Europe. "Why do you wear these Rolf?"
    "We became used to wearing them in the Holy Land.  There they keep warriors cooler. They are useful for that in parts of the southern Empire. Mainly, though, they identify us in battle.  If a knight has his back to you then you know not if he is friend or foe. "
    I nodded, "It makes sense.  You can tell that you three are in the same Conroi."
    Carl added, "The also protect our mail from the elements."
    I turned to Edward, "We will have some made when time allows."
    "Do not forget your shields too, Englishman.  Your plain blue shield tells the world that you do not wish to be identified.  That normally means you have something to hide."
    "Like the knight with the red shield." I had told them of the mysterious knight in the hope that they could identify him but they knew him not.
    "Exactly."
    "We could have a blue background and a star. Guillaume of Ghent's star was effective."
    I shook my head, "One star suggests a target! We could have two for the two knights in our conroi."
    We spent the next half a day discussing the design with our Swabian friends.  I had noticed that my archers and men at arms looked martial but they also looked a little like brigands for all wore their own clothes.  The archers, in particular, looked like bandits. We had a little coin we had gathered and I still had the purse given to me by Robert of Gloucester.  Thanks to Sir Guy we had not had to use much on the road.  It would be worth the investment to have blue padded tunics made for my men.  We could have a pair of blue stars sewn on to them.  Surcoats would make my men at arms look the same.
    We had almost reached Worms when we had our last run with those who wished harm to the Empress. We had begun to relax.  Alan's stitches had begun to itch which Wulfric assured us was a good sign that he was recovering and we had had no attacks for seven days. We headed for an island on the River Lauter.   There was a hunting lodge upon it used by the Holy Roman Emperors.  Although it was uninhabited unless the Emperor was there it had a roof, beds and wood for the fires.  The Empress was keen to use it. She knew it well. Rolf thought it safe as it was on an island and the river would protect us from danger. He was proved wrong.
    The lodge was just big enough for the knights.  The squires and the men at arms slept outside under quickly erected shelters. Our archers were at home in the huge forests and brought back food for us to cook.  Perhaps we relaxed too much.  We had good food and we had a river to protect our island.  The men at arms stood guard but we, as knights, did not supervise the watches and we left them to it. Whatever the reason, we were surprised by attackers in the middle of the night.
    It was a shout which woke me. I opened my eyes and saw nothing for the room was in darkness.  I began to doubt that I had heard anything at all. Perhaps it had been a bad dream. Then I heard the clash of arms.  I grabbed my sword and ran for the door.  As I opened it a huge axe came in my direction.  It was wielded by a bearded giant. I threw myself backwards to avoid having my head split open. I landed on