The Bold Prince
Wareham, England - February 1115
King Uhtræd sat in his tent surrounded by his top commanders. Next to him, Lord Morcar drummed his fingers rhythmically on the slight map table. The King’s man Alexander sat next to him and frowned in his annoyance at the noise. The Duke of Ferrara was enjoying a cup of ale as he waited for the King to speak next and Beorhtmaer kept his eyes on the map before them. Lord Harold stood behind the Prince, also gazing curiously at the map. The King held his finger to Wessex as he spoke up once more.
“The Catalans sit near Winchester at the now after chasing the Mercian force north to Wells and then on to Wessex. Both times, this Deodat won his match. Our Lady Wulfrun has quickly lost her force and is now no matter.”
“She will try to build another,” Harold suggested.
Uhtræd gave nod, “That is no doubt, but she will not be able to do so for a time. In that time, we must make our decision.”
“Your Grace,” Morcar leaned forward, “We are over six thousand now…near to eight with the numbers of this Catalan Band. We should split our force and move back to the taking of these holds.”
Beorhtmaer looked at the map, “The Lord Marshal has a point, Your Grace. We hold all of Northampton and a goodly amount of both Somerset and Middlesex. London has fallen to you and yet, we sit here in Dorset trying to take one keep of Lord Cearl when all of Wessex remains intact as does the remainder of Cornwall.”
“And Mercia is a great land to the north, Your Grace,” Alexander suggested, “The surest way to keep Lady Wulfrun from raising fresh troops is to relieve her of her own land.”
Uhtræd looked to the map with a frown and slapped a hand upon France, “And Mercia is not our goal. Robert of Normandy is.”
“What does your foolish Robert do at the now, good King?” Duke Arnolfo asked before taking a drink.
“Our other ally, the Duke of Dauphine has sent me word from Auvergne, where he sits at a siege against the Normans,” Uhtræd pointed to the south, “He says that he expects the Norman Duke to be upon him soon and with a superior force. He would hold as long as he is able.”
“And your wife?” Morcar looked to the King a bit too familiar.
Uhtræd offered him a sharp eye, “The Queen remains in the Empire where she works at efforts to safeguard Meissen from a harsh and now disgruntled Emperor.”
Arnolfo chuckled, “This Siegmund has always been disgruntled. I have never liked him myself.”
“Mayhap no,” the King answered as he moved to a satchel and pulled out a note, “But he is moreso now as he has lost his claim to Brugge.”
“Robert bested him?” Harold looked shocked.
Uhtræd gave nod, “He has. My brother Eadward has sent word that a peace was signed between the two men not a fortnight ago leaving the Norman free to pursue his original goal.”
All of their faces looked disappointed and the King nodded his head in agreement, “So you may see why I am not yet ready to split my force at the now.”
Beorhtmaer kept to the map, “Do you think he will cross?”
Lord Morcar was quick to interject, “He could not so quickly if he is to his south.”
“I would not be so confident in that, my Lord,” Harold suggested to his fellow Duke. “Lord Robert has proved to be an uncanny man in every way.”
“What of our brother by law, Your Grace?” Beorhtmaer asked, “Does the Prince fare any better?”
Uhtræd sighed, “Sadly, he does not. In the same letter Eadward sent, he tells me of even more happening in this game that is for France itself.”
“Christs Keys!” Morcar exclaimed, “What now?”
“There is yet another that sits the chair,” Uhtræd allowed only a slight grin, “This time, it be the younger brother to our Prince Roubaud. Do not ask me how for Eadward has no words on the matter, but Sybille is out and now this Guillaume is in.”
“The Count of Blois?!” Arnolfo asked with an amused shock. “Why he is a snake after all! I met the man some years ago prior to all of this mess. He did not show me to be a man of any measure…the clear inferior to his brother Roubaud in every way.”
“Inferior or no,” Uhtræd looked back to the map, “He is now King of the Franks and Prince Roubaud continues to push for his claim…now against his own brother.”
“An unfortunate business,” Morcar tut-tutted, “We had such great hopes of making him a fine ally to us.”
Uhtræd looked to the Duke quickly, “An ally he remains and we would not refuse him his aid should we be able to help.”
“I cannot see how,” Morcar allowed with much bluster as he stood to fetch his own ale, “Not if we be so sure to keep to the surroundings of Wareham at the now and tremble at Robert’s boots landing ashore.”
“Now see here, my Lord Marshal,” Alexander stood to defend the King, “His Grace does not tremble in fear but looks to the best advantage. You would hold your tongue!”
Morcar turned with a fresh cup, “And you would mind your rank, sir. I merely state the obvious.”
Arnolfo stood himself to move by Lord Harold as he waved a hand, “I believe it safer next to you, my Lord. There is a foul odor to that side of the tent.”
“My Lords,” Uhtræd held out his hands, “Please! Let us not fight amongst ourselves. We are not the enemy.”
Beorhtmaer had remained silent but spoke up once again, “Your Grace…while I am unsure if our Lord of York speaks rudely or no, I do believe he still has a point.”
“Thank you, sir,” Morcar allowed the Prince a smile.
Uhtræd shot the Duke a sharp eye, “Be silent my Lord and allow the Prince to speak.”
Morcar shrugged with his smile intact as Beorhtmaer continued, “It is not that I agree with his suggestion that we split our force only to remain here on these shores and at the same sieges that have seen us remain not at the front of this thing.”
“What then would you suggest?” Uhtræd was curious.
The young Prince pointed back to the map, “As long as we remain in our realm, Lord Robert is allowed near immunity from any threat and it allows him to best any foe he may wish across the channel. First his own brother in the Vexin, then Prince Roubaud, and then the Emperor. Now he moves south to best the Duke of Dauphine. And even if he crosses, there remains one place that he is not. Right here.”
Lord Harold immediately caught on as he spied where the Prince was pointing to, “You would have us move on Rouen.”
Morcar was shocked, “You would have us seen cut to shreds. At the least, here we know the ground…we hold the advantage. The moment we step foot in Normandy, we lose all of that. Do you not think that he may return to his home at a moment’s notice once he thinks it under threat?”
Beorhtmaer allowed a smile of his own, “That is quite the point, my Lord Marshal.”
Duke Arnolfo allowed an impressed nod, “Yes…I see it. A bold plan, my good Prince. This Norman thinks that we be scared to travel to his lands and so he may take all the time he wishes to build his force for just the right landing that he may desire. If we would leave a residual force here to protect against the raising of more troops by your Duchess in the north or even this foolish Cearl, you may take the bulk of this army straight to Rouen and place it under great siege.”
Lord Harold moved to bow to the King, “Your father made such a move before you, Your Grace. It was a success against the Bastard.”
Uhtræd offered a smile, “Ironic that when he did, this Lord Robert had not lifted a finger to help his father. Now he would be the one under attack.”
“Your Grace,” Morcar stepped forward, “We should be in Wessex. We should be in Devonshire. We should be straight to Hereford and knock these allies of the Duke from this war before we go after his own.”
The King stayed silent for a moment before he finally looked to all in the tent, “I would like to be in all of those places and more, my Lords, but we are one army and with limited men. I may not say that this move towards Rouen is our plan just yet, but I have a liking of it. We would take this place of Wareham before all else, but once this is done, I will consider this once more.”
Uhtræd looked to Lord Harold, “May I entrust you to get a letter to your brother in Kent, my Lord?”
“Of course, Your Grace,” Harold nodded quickly.
“You may tell Lord Æthelmær to begin looking at finding us a means of travel to these shores. He may not have many archers in Kent, but they do not lack for ships and we would need many.”
Lord Harold gave another quick nod as the King looked to Duke Arnolfo, “I wonder if I might ask of you another favor, my Lord?”
Arnolfo offered a bow, “You may surely ask it, good King. I know not what my answer would be until the hearing of it.”
Uhtræd grinned, “I know that I have asked you to take part in assisting my brother by law in France and you demurred saying that you could not. By that, I have taken it that you wish not to fight in France.”
“I would assist you, good King, for my sister’s sake as she is married to your fine son Oscytel. But I could go no further than that, I am afraid,” Arnolfo answered with another bow.
“That is fine,” Uhtræd moved to stand next to him, “For what I may wish should we take this move of traveling to Rouen is for your force to remain here and keep at our work. Your force remains healthy and I would have trust in you.”
Duke Arnolfo offered a much deeper bow, “It would be my great honor, good King.”
The King turned to the Duke of York, “And you, my Lord Marshal…I would have you remain as well. I would like you to begin preparations to parcel a small force of your men so that some may stay with you and assist the Duke here while the larger part would go with me.”
Morcar grumbled under his breath, “That would likely be wise, Your Grace. It would not do to have a large force of fancy Italians raiding the countryside and scaring our Saxon women half to death.”
Arnolfo leaned over to whisper to Harold, “A charming man. I am so lucky.”
“The rest of us,” Uhtræd looked back to them all, “We would begin this consideration. This Lord Robert thinks us the same old Saxons of distant times…we who might bend the knee to a northman or his Norman father because we feared their wrath. It has been many years since such a thing existed and my father did not rebuild this Saxon Kingdom for it to be taken over once more by a foreigner. If this man thinks that we may stand timidly by and watch him do whatever he pleases, then he will think again when he finds the great force that we would bring to his door. We would end this war, my Lords, and we would go back to being a peaceable Kingdom. You all may mark my words.”
