Medieval Master Swordsmen(432)
“My lord?”
“If you play me for a fool, so help me, I shall run you through myself. You know exactly what I mean, le Mon.”
“I married Derica de Rosa.”
“You eloped with her!”
“I did.”
“To what purpose?”
“Because you ordered me to.”
The Marshal was losing his patience. “Aye, I did. But under specific conditions and damn you for ignoring them. You, my friend, have violated my commands and have created a shambles out of your mission.”
Garren wouldn’t back down. “You ordered me to marry Derica de Rosa, my lord. I have done that. The circumstances on how it was done are not of issue.”
The old man lost his patience then. “It is the issue. Are you living at Framlingham with your wife and her family?”
“No.”
“Do you have any contact with Bertram de Rosa and his horde?”
“No.”
“Then how can you possibly tell me that you are still within the guidelines of your mission? Your mission was to spy on them, Garren, nothing more or less. What information can you give me? Has all of my careful planning for you been in vain?”
“There are two thousand Teutonic mercenaries amassing north of Nottingham as we speak. The next few days with see two thousand more French. It is my guess that they plan to stranglehold England about the middle of the country and cut off the north from the south.”
The Marshal stared at him. “Why do you think there is an army amassed in the bailey, Garren? I already know this.”
Garren didn’t flinch, though he felt as if he’d been struck. He felt like a fool. “Chateroy is under siege by the de Rosas because of what I have done.”
That news gave the Marshal pause. “How do you know this?”
“I have my trusted sources. I must go and help my father.”
William stared at Garren a moment longer before letting out a long, heavy sigh. Scratching his white head, he leaned back against a small table, pondering his course of action from this point. His anger had abated for the most part, though he was still rightfully upset. Mostly, he was disappointed.
“You realize that I have been quite angry with you.”
Garren’s guard came down somewhat. He could feel the disillusionment in the Marshal’s voice and it hurt him. He had worked so hard to achieve the trust he had with William, though it was not completely lost, it had been damaged.
“Who told you?’
“It does not matter. I suppose what matters is that you have come back to face me as a man should. I expected nothing less.”
“And I would never show such disrespect by not facing you.”
“Then you admit your mistake.”
“It was not a mistake.”
William cast him a long look. “You failed.”
“I did not.”
“I am not going to argue technicalities, Garren.”
“And I am not going to admit that marrying a woman I am deeply in love with was a mistake. I have done what I have done, for reasons you do not agree with. Rather than arguing about it, I am here to tell you what I have done and ask that I be given leave of Richard’s service to be with my wife.”
William’s jaw dropped. “You’re serious?”
“Never more so.”
The fury returned to William’s veins. He rose from his seated position, stiffly. “I have no intention of allowing my greatest emissary leave, in any circumstance. You were born, bred and trained to serve me, le Mon, and that is exactly what you shall do. Your marriage and personal feelings are secondary to the needs of our king at this moment. I need you now, more than ever. Is that clear?”
Garren stood his ground. “You have many capable commanders, my lord. I am inconsequential.”
“You are my hammer.”
For the first time since Garren had been a knight, he felt a surge of anger at a direct command. Never mind that it was coming from William Marshal; anyone who would keep him from his wife would be dealt with.
“Find another hammer, my lord. I am going back to my wife.”
He spun on his heel, uncharacteristically defiant. He hadn’t made it three steps when the Marshal spoke.
“Do you know Fergus de Edwin?”
Garren paused, massive confusion filling him. “Should I?”
William Marshal had achieved his position in life for a very good reason. He could be a cold and calculating when he needed to be. This was one of those moments. He knew even before the words spilled from his lips that the mood between him and Garren would change forever.
“I am the last person you need be evasive with.”
“I am not being evasive.”
“Then you will tell me that you know of him, for I know that you do.”