Casca 57: The Red Rose by Tony Roberts

Author:Tony Roberts [Roberts, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-09-28T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

The night was upon them and Casca pushed through the bracken back towards the light. He found he had to constantly keep on checking the sentries. If he relaxed in his duties, they got careless.

The army was cold and hungry, but in good spirits. Well they might be, for they were a large number and confident that this time they could emerge victorious against York and his run of victories.

War had broken out once more, and there had been three battles, none of which Casca had partaken in, much to his frustration. These past three or so years had seen a gradual deterioration in the peace that had prevailed since St. Albans, and much of it was down to the antipathy between not York and Somerset, but Warwick and Somerset. The earl of Warwick, one Richard Neville, the man who had won the battle at St. Albans, had emerged as the main supporter of York and his faction, and was steadfast in refusing to concede any ground in negotiations.

At Coventry, when they had held the first big meet there after the victory of York, Casca had seen for himself how arrogant and unmoving Warwick was, and how easily he had enraged Somerset who was already edgy over having to speak with the people who had killed his father. Casca had become involved in a fracas with the town guard who had tried to intervene when the two nobles got into a shouting match and it had ended with drawn swords between the guards and Casca and his fellow retainers.

After that the king had tried on numerous occasions to patch the rift up, but none of these had ever lasted for long. Finally, in an effort to separate the squabbling nobles, Henry Beaufort had been awarded the Captaincy of Calais and sent across the water to the fortress. This, though, had not settled anything for the Yorkist garrison had refused to allow him and his entourage which included Casca into the town.

This had ended with Somerset taking over the lesser fort of Guines just a few miles away but ultimately fighting had broken out and the Lancastrian force had been defeated by the Calais soldiers. At this time the war on the mainland had resumed with a full-blown rebellion launched by York after a council meeting in the Midlands had indicted York and his allies and so York had to move to crush not only the Lancastrian faction but also to take the king prisoner.

By then Casca was back with Somerset in England and they were mobilized and sent to intercept Warwick who was moving north from London to join his allies, York and Salisbury who were the main nobles rebelling. An Act of Attainder had been made by the king and now it was clear that the lands and titles of the three magnates were most likely to be taken away.

Casca had wondered if they would be able to be brought to heel for they had a formidable set of soldiers to hand.

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