The Tournament of Blood by Michael Jecks Read Free Book Online Page A

survived only because of the help of others, although survival had been hard. It had left him with deep tracks raked into his forehead and at
either side of his mouth, and while his melancholy had left him since his marriage, and crows’ feet at his eyes proved that his nature now tended to be more cheerful, there was a steady
intensity in his eyes that many distrusted. Beyond the curious fixity of his stare, the only visible proof of his past lay in the scar at his cheek which twisted the line of the neat beard growing
along the edge of his jaw.
    ‘Anyway,’ Odo continued, moving uneasily in his seat as he felt the force of Baldwin’s gaze, ‘not long afterwards I met an English lord who accepted me into his retinue,
for he missed English songs and tunes. With my flute-playing and my experiences on the battlefield, it was easy to win a post as herald. Who better could a lord gain than someone like
me?’
    ‘Who was that?’
    ‘Hugh Despenser the Elder,’ Odo said, and then chuckled at Baldwin’s startled expression. ‘I know – many don’t like the man, but I found him a good
master.’
    ‘Perhaps, but he is no friend of Lord de Courtenay.’
    ‘No. That is why I told Lord de Courtenay right away about my service to Lord Despenser,’ Odo grinned. ‘I came clean about it – yet there is no trouble. Lord de Courtenay
is now my lord.’ He paused. ‘A herald must tread a difficult path sometimes. When my lord Hugh returned to England this year, I came with him. I had witnessed enough death and fighting
abroad. It seemed like a good time to return and share my knowledge.’
    Baldwin was curious. ‘And what sort of knowledge would that be?’
    ‘Ah well, have you seen the new craze for weapons in Europe? And mercenaries from Germany now wear plate armour.’
    ‘Like an English coat of plates?’
    ‘No. Where we use interlocking plates to cover our chests, the Germans use one plate alone. I have heard that in Benevento some years ago the Germans charged a stronger force of
Provençals and were winning the day because their armour was so strong it was proof against all their weapons. It was only when some sharper-eyed Provençal saw a gap beneath the
armpit of these knights that the Provençals could turn their enemies aside. There was a great cry of “
À l’estoc!
”, “
At the point!
”, and
they began to sweep through the enemy.’
    ‘A hole under the arms?’ Baldwin enquired doubtfully.
    ‘Yes. Where the breast- and back-plates met there was a gap, and there a man might stab a sword. Bear it in mind, should a heavily armoured German ever attack you!’
    ‘Interesting. Still, it will make you a much sought-after herald. A man with knowledge of foreign customs and weapons is always attractive. You are happy to be home?’
    Odo pulled a face. ‘Well, you know, I sat upon my horse on the way here today and stared about me at the countryside, and do you know what I saw?’
    Baldwin shook his head.
    ‘Green. Everywhere I looked, the land was green. Verdant, healthful, with glorious and riotous plantlife on every side. Where there weren’t trees, there was grass – all over
the place. And do you know what struck me?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘For all this grass to have grown, for all these trees, for all the flowers, there must have been plenty of sodding rain! Yes, it pisses down all the time here!’
    The planning for the tournament at Oakhampton had been set in train weeks before the event was due to start. Messengers had to reach all the wide domains of Lord de Courtenay:
knights from Cornwall to Carlisle received invitations and either groaned because of the journey they must undertake or crowed with delight at the thought of the money and renown they could
win.
    At his castle in Gidleigh, Sir Richard Prouse took the note and gave it to his priest, listening with a set face to the cleric’s slow reading. When he had finished, the priest gave him a
sympathetic glance over the top of the