The Uncrowned Queen by Posie Graeme-evans Read Free Book Online

Binnenhof and a warm welcome from the sieur de Gruuthuse. This man says there’s a good track all the way, with only a few fishing villages on the dunes. We can avoid them easily.”
    The weary party of men had just reached an intersection of the farm track they were following with another. The light was fading rapidly and Hastings had been pleased to see a farmer trudging home from working his strips of land. It had been an odd conversation, an exchange composed of the few crumbs of Dutch possessed by the Englishman plus scraps of old high German and the farmer’s one or two French phrases, but it had told William what he needed to know. By the grace of God, they were close enough to s’Graven-hague and the Binnenhof, the erstwhile seat of the Counts of Holland, to reach it tonight. William crossed himself gratefully. It had been a risk to ask for directions, but their case was urgent enough to gamble on information of their presence spreading, even from this most isolated place. If they could just get to the Binnenhof ahead of the news of their arrival, it would be worth it.
    He’d had little to trade for this welcome information, however, and that worried him. He’d given his last piece of coin to the man, an English threepenny bit, but it might not have been enough to buy a night’s discretion. The coin had been good silver, though, that was something. Truly God did move in enigmatic ways. In his previous life as England’s chamberlain—such a short time ago—William had reformed the English currency against the abuse of corrupt coin dealers, who “clipped” the edges of legitimate coins, mixing the stolen metal with lead or tin and issuing false coin. Such activities had caused confidence in the currency to plummet, with disastrous results for England, and for trade. But Hastings’s work had put a stop to the practice, and the Dutch farmer, after biting the coin to test it for hardness, seemed to approve. William had almost laughed. Perhaps God had guided him to improve the metal weight of English coins just so they could command one night of silence from this Dutch farmer.
    Amused by the thought, William moved through the party of men, taking stock of their resources. There were only five horses among them all and that meant slow progress, even though the end of this weary journey was now so close. By their looks, and their silence as they waited for orders, the men were dangerously tired. After weeks of cold and dangerous fighting in England, they’d endured the hardships of a sea voyage and then walked south for two days with little food. Mostly they’d traveled at night, the nobles, including the king, taking turns to ride while the rest walked. During daylight hours they’d slept under their cloaks among the dunes, huddling together like dogs for warmth, not daring to light fires. By this morning what food they’d had was gone and the king had taken the decision to travel by daylight as well to make all speed. Perhaps the boldness had paid off. William fervently hoped so, but only the last leagues ahead would tell the case truly.
    â€œSo, my liege, if you would give the order?”
    Edward slid down from the bony gelding he’d been jolting along on for some hours. “Your turn, William. Up you get.”
    Hastings protested. “No, Your Majesty. I will not ride while you walk.”
    â€œMy legs could do with a stretch.” Edward smiled. “Here, letme help you up.” He cupped his hands so William could mount more easily. What he did not say, as he swung back to face his weary bunch of companions, was that he was more than grateful to ease his aching arse as well. The gelding’s gait was particularly trying at a slow trot, which was all that could be managed if the men were to keep pace with the horses. “Not long to go. My good friend the sieur de Gruuthuse will make us a noble welcoming feast in his hall