The Straw Men(57)
An hour later, summoned by Thibault, Athelstan sat on a stool in St Peter ad Vincula. A Court of Oyer and Terminer had been set up. A great table bearing a copy of the Gospels, a royal standard and an unsheathed sword lay next to Thibault’s commission ‘to listen and terminate’ Crown matters. The Master of Secrets was the principal judge, Lascelles his associate, Cornelius his scribe. Athelstan realized it was all a pretence. Indeed, according to statute, the rule of law had been suspended. Thibault had been very quick to point out the underlying legal principle, enshrined in the Statute of Treason proclaimed by the present King’s grandfather Edward III. Once the royal banner had been unfurled and displayed, all those caught in arms against it were adjudged rank traitors; sentencing was just a formality, gruesome death a certainty. Only a dozen prisoners had been taken. The dying wounded had been roughly tortured, interrogated and then dispatched with a throat-cut from a misericorde dagger. All the prisoners refused to speak, to confess, to accept any pardon or any commutation in return for betraying the Upright Men. Sentence had been swiftly delivered: all faced summary execution. Thibault had asked Athelstan to shrive any who asked for the sacrament. Athelstan’s earlier fears were also realized. The release of Maximus had been deliberate, to cause as much chaos as possible before the attack.
‘Some accomplice in the Tower,’ Thibault had hissed at Athelstan, ‘killed the keeper, released the chain on the bear and opened the gates.’
‘And Artorius?’ Athelstan asked. ‘How . . .?’
‘Slain by a bolt through the forehead; indeed, that’s all that remains of him.’ Thibault smiled slightly, as if he found it amusing. ‘Just imagine, Athelstan, a savaged head with a crossbow bolt in it. He was killed, the chain released and the doors left open.’
Athelstan closed his eyes and murmured a prayer. The assassin had been very cunning. At first Maximus would have moved slowly, giving the killer an opportunity to escape. Only then would the formidable bear begin to wander, attracted by the smell of blood from his now-dead keeper.
‘Where was Artorius killed?’
‘In the aisle beside the cage. The place is awash with blood.’
‘How did the assassin get in?’ Athelstan asked. ‘Artorius was careful.’
‘What does it matter now?’ Thibault had declared. ‘Their plans certainly failed.’ During the swift trial Athelstan had learnt how Thibault, alerted by Duke Ezra’s warnings and perhaps his own spy, had secretly prepared two war cogs, ‘The Glory of Lancaster’ and ‘The Blanche of Castille’. They had slipped through the morning mist and used that as a cover to drop anchor off the Tower quayside. Once the tocsin had sounded and the beacons lit, both cogs had disgorged their fighting men to trap and kill the Upright Men. Now the doom. Thibault summoned each of the survivors before him and stripped off their hoods, masks and weapons. Peasants, young and old, striplings as well as veterans, they all proved to be obdurate. They refused to recognize the court, to give their names or say anything about their families or their villages. All ignored Thibault’s offer of clemency so all were condemned to ‘Mort Sans Phrase’ – immediate execution. Once sentence was passed the prisoners were hustled out. Athelstan accompanied each of the condemned. They were forced to kneel on the frozen, snow-covered grass. Athelstan crouched beside each, listening to their litany of sins, trying to provide what comfort he could. He’d whisper the absolution, bless the condemned, rise and step back. The headsman’s assistants forced their victim to lie face down on a great log, twisting his head sideways. The executioner, feet apart to steady himself, brought up his great two-edged axe and severed the neck with one savage cut. Athelstan just continued to stare at the ground, whispering the De Profundis, moving aside as the blood shimmered across in sparkling red rivulets to soak and warm the ground. The gore-gushing trunk was pushed away, the head doused in boiling water and tossed into a basket to be displayed along the Tower wharf. Athelstan stayed to the bitter end, determined to pray for each soul.
They all died bravely. They betrayed no bitterness towards him but cursed the judge who condemned them. They did whisper a few words about themselves: how in the main they were from Massingham and Maldon in Essex, parishioners of St Oswald’s, their priest Father Edmund Arrowsmith. Athelstan kept such information to himself. When the executions were finished, he left that blood-drenched place, pushing through the crowd, ignoring the questions of Samuel and the other Straw Men. Back in his chamber, Athelstan warmed himself over one of the braziers. He gulped some watered wine then lay on his bed, staring up into the darkness. Some time later the latch rattled. Cranston swept into the chamber, doffing hat and cloak and placing a leather sack beside Athelstan’s bed.