Dover Castle
England
7 May,
1067
The first thing Odo knew of his brother's arrival was the stamping of many, many, horses. He was sitting at his desk in the upper study of Dover Castle at the time, studying a ledger in which were inscribed all the required tax payments of the Kentish taxpayers versus the actual payments made. Although he could have had his steward, Alain de Eu, who William had sent over as a way of discharging some debts he owed Alain, look over the ledger for tax evasions or inadequate payments, Odo disliked delegating work, especially this work which his time as a bishop had trained him for, because he feared that if he was dependent on others to do work then one day he would be left helpless.
Hearing the hooves stamping, Odo got up and looked out the castle window.
On the grass next to the castle, a small armed retinue of knights had parked their horses.
And in the center there was a figure Odo knew all too well even without the crown.
William de Normandie 'the Bastard' if you didn't know what was good for you, 'the Conqueror' if you did, King of England.
Odo cleared his throat, then boomed: "Welcome, sire! What brings you to my humble little fortification?" The false subordination was killing Odo from inside.
William looked at him then said with a threatening voice: "No need to toady, my rebellious little friend. What I want is not servility, but cold, hard cash."
Odo was panicky now. He knew he'd forgotten something, but in the haze of guilt over Faversham and auditing he'd forgotten to send all the cash he'd collected in the last month with Joscelin to William. Perhaps Joscelin had been punished for not bringing the full amount? The thought would have comforted Odo had he not been frantically searching for a serviceable excuse.
With no other options and with time running out, Odo knelt before his half-brother and lord and said in a toadying voice: "Forgive me, lord, but I have been so busy doing your work that I have not been able to send you the full payment due to you as my liege lord. I swear by God and all His saints and by the Holy Church that I shall send you any monies you are owed once I have finished verifying that all the taxpayers have paid their due amounts."
But Willliam was not to be mollified so easily. He drew his sword and barked: "Get up,
whoremonger. What are your oaths worth if you can just hop over to your pal the Bishop of London to release you from them? Hand the money over
now or this nice little piece of steel will have a bit of Norman blood to add to the Saxon!"
Odo was terrified for a moment, a moment of unending hysterical terror which no logic could cure, but it receded when he steeled himself.
I am a trueborn lord while he is a bastard in both birth and conduct. I can handle this.
And so Odo came up with a rather simple plan. He drew back from William and his armed knights, and then shouted, casting away his fear on the wind that blew his hair: "Strike me down! Strike me down in this very moment! Wave that sword and part my head from my body! But be warned: I shall not die. Though you can slay my body, you cannot slay my spirit. If you do this then I will never leave you, until you are in Hell and I am in Heaven. It may not be so long as you think: What shall the people think of their king if he simply decapitates his lords for some trifling cash?"
Odo wished he had Rèmede with him to back up his tough words, or alternatively Broyeur to escape the consequences.
William lowered his sword, then looked thoughtful. It seemed an eternity as the king pondered the fate of his half-brother.
Then Odo watched as his lord sheathed his sword and said: "Very well. I accept your oath to pay me the remaining due monies as soon as possible, and I will withdraw.
But, there is another service I will require of you as a fine for late payment..."
Eoforwic,
England,
10 July,
1067
It never stopped raining in England, Odo reflected as he entered the capital of the northern part of England.
Broyeur's saddle had become wet and slippery but thankfully Odo was able to dismount at the gate and stable his long-serving horse.
He drew his little knife when he was well inside the city where once his Danish kinsfolk had ruled, which made him miss Rèmede.
But he could not afford to be seen with a full sword inside the city; A knife was alright because every man had a right to self-defense but a sword would be suspicious.
And the whole point of the mission was to be inconspicuous, or not suspicious.
He scanned the skyline of the city, and immediately locked on to his target: the Duke's Palace.
William had told him that he suspected that Morcar, Duke of Northumberland and lord of Eoforwic was plotting to bring over King Svend of Denmark (who as a descendant of Knut the Great had a claim to the English throne) or perhaps to rebel against William for his own independence. Either way, the consequences would be disastrous for him. He still woke up in a cold sweat some nights after a nightmare about Hastings, the face of one of those dirty Saxon peasants he killed swimming up to haunt him. Did he really want to go through a similar exprience less than a year after the battle in which his brother won England?
Having locked onto the palace, he walked in its direction, north.
At the palace gate he was stopped by a weary-looking guard.
The result of a few too many at the tavern? Odo thought as he was checked for incriminating objects.
Tiredly, the guard waved him in.
A ruin from the Eoforwic National Park which may have been part of Morcar's palace
The palace was exceptional for what was still mostly Anglo-Saxon England. Instead of a pathetic wood and a bit of stone in the fort, such as Dover, the palace which was more like a castle at which Odo gazed jealously, was built entirely in stone in a Danish style. Moreover, it seemed quite new, the rain draining off the fresh stones.
Odo entered, and immediately encountered a situation of interest:
A red-haired man who looked somewhat familiar was talking to an armed huscarl. Odo's English had improved much in the last ten months since William had landed at Pevensea, and was able to catch the gist of the conversation:
"So when the
beàcen is lit you bring the
hus to Lindcylene where you will aid the
Ealdhlàford Eadgar "
That was all Odo needed to hear. He rushed out of the castle while trying to remember why the red-haired man was familiar.
And then he remembered:
That man looked like Morcar!
He mounted Broyeur and rode madly south.
It was all he could do to prevent a bloody war.
A week later
Outside the village of Windsor
County of Middlesex
England
The air hung heavy over the English countryside with a hint of rain. A tired man was standing a few hundred paces away from the village of Windsor, waiting for the contact to emerge. He could not afford to be seen: he would be recognized immediately. Windsor had, after all, been on the Norman army's route from Hastings to London. The hint of rain became wet reality soon enough, making his unprotected hair and head slippery with water. He was miserable. It rained in Normandy sometimes, but not so much!
Finally, the man he was waiting for came out of the village, the scent of alcohol from his breath tainting the clear smell of rain.
Good, thought the tired man,
it is known that the inebriate's lips are loose.
He whispered:"So the mission is a success?"
The alcoholic whispered back: "Yes, my lord. He was completely fooled. I saw him riding madly south out of the city."
"Don't call me 'lord', you fool!" snapped the other man, "someone might hear and get interested!"
"Sauri" slurred back the inebriate.
The man who was called 'lord' asked: "So he will be here within two days, accounting for rests along the way?"
"Yas, ma laurd."
The 'laurd' was too tired to reprimand his contact again, and only produced some Norman coins from his pocket instead of drawing his sword as he would have done in other circumstances.
The inebriate collapsed on the floor nonetheless, and the 'lord' gave him a hard slap on the head to discourage any memory of this meeting.
And now it was time to go home; A certain Flemish lady was waiting for him in bed.
To be continued...