An Uncivil War: Stephen and Matilda battle to rule Medieval England (The Medieval Saga Series Book 3) by David Field

Author:David Field [Field, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2022-06-17T04:00:00+00:00

XVII

Thomas and Robert were exhausted. They had loyally seen to the immediate matters necessitated by the unexpected and undignified death of King Henry, and they had been in the process of having his embalmed remains transferred to England when they received news that Stephen of Blois and Boulogne had crossed the Channel to claim the English crown.

‘We must release all our hostages if we are to have any hope of maintaining the loyalty of the Norman barons,’ Thomas insisted as they sat sharing a jug of wine in the royal apartments overlooking the town.

Robert posed the question that they had each been struggling with privately. ‘Loyalty to which of the claimants, do you suggest?’

Thomas gave him an admonishing stare. ‘You may break the oath that you swore so recently, but to me a solemn vow can only be dishonoured if one is prepared to answer to God for doing so. We swore allegiance to Maude, did we not?’

Robert nodded reluctantly. ‘Were we wise to do so?’

‘In the circumstances that then obtained, yes we were. And the Lady Maude — Queen Maude, in my eyes — now has sore need of that allegiance.’

‘Though she be my sister,’ Robert confessed, ‘I fear her cause to be greatly weakened by recent events. She claims through her father, whose name probably stinks more in Normandy than his corpse did, after what he recently inflicted on those of his leading barons who he suspected of treachery. Can we now expect them to rally around his daughter? A Queen of England, never before known?’

‘Every momentous event must occur for the first time,’ Thomas argued philosophically. ‘Whether her path to the throne will be strewn with posies of flowers, or littered with the corpses of her enemies, I am sworn to uphold her claim, and I intend to do so. Should you not be so inclined, then we part company today on terms of amicable friendship. Look to your conscience, is all I ask.’

‘My conscience bids one thing, my common sense another,’ Robert replied gloomily. ‘But I cannot be seen to desert my own flesh and blood at the first sign of difficulty.’

The reference to flesh and blood drove a dagger of guilt straight into Thomas’s heart as he recalled who was still, so far as he knew, seated alongside Maude and serving her in a more humble capacity. ‘We must at least travel to Angers and seek further counsel as to what our new queen needs of us. And I must ensure that my daughter remains safe, should there be any threat of an uprising in Anjou or Maine. But first, as I already counselled, we must arrange for our hostages to be freed before all the barons here in Normandy, and those who may travel from England, stage their own rebellion.’

Robert put down his wine goblet and rose to his feet. ‘I shall give appropriate instruction to those of our household who will travel with us, and see to the release of the prisoners and the gathering of the men at arms who will guarantee us a safe journey west.

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