When a King becomes a tyrant then blood will flow and men will die. In this sequel to ‘To Murder a King’, we follow the fortunes of a sword for hire who has to tread the difficult path between two rivals for the throne. When the Queen of England dies then King Richard suddenly changes. He wreaks vengeance on all those who have slighted him and only William Strongstaff and John of Gaunt are in a position to curb his excesses. Beginning in the Baltic where there is a crusade against the Lithuanian pagans the novel moves to England, Scotland and Ireland before the owner of the crown of England is decided.
This novel takes up to the end of King Richard’s reign. I don’t like to give away too much about my stories. The series will, hopefully, go on to the end of the reign of Henry Vth. I have always wanted to write about Agincourt. As you probably know by now, my novels are organic. I use history as the coat hanger for my characters. The next one in the series will be Henry IVth.
Excerpt
“Three pirate ships coming to cut us off!”
Captain Peter did not panic. He sent his crew to give his little ship every piece of sail they could. I shouted. “Arm yourselves. Alan of the Wood, half the archers to the bow castle and, Stephen the Tracker, take the other half to the stern. Roger of Chester, have the men at arms gather close to the mast.”
John handed me my helmet, coif and sword. He held my shield and I shook my head, “I will use a dagger instead. Ralph, take your bow and go to the stern. Today is your first lesson in becoming a warrior.”
I pulled on my coif and donned my helmet. I drew my sword and dagger and I walked to the mainmast. I had never fought at sea and I hoped I would not have to now. The deck pitched and rolled around. We were in a worse position than the pirates for they had no sail and no mast. Their ship pitched around less. They were like lean greyhounds and we were like a milk cow! Seamanship was the Captain’s domain. Slaughtering pirates as they tried to board was mine. I had on my mail hauberk but no armour. If I fell overboard then I was dead. John just had his leather hauberk. I watched the three ships as they came towards us like wolves hunting a sheep. Two were coming for our steerboard side and the other, the largest, for our larboard. I was no sailor but I guessed that the larger was the leader. “Natty and Geoffrey, stay on the steerboard side. Keep watch on those two pirates and tell me if they close with us. The rest of you to the larboard. I want us in a double line. John, you will be in the second. We attack any who manage to board.”
I watched the crew pick up hand axes and wickedly curved short swords. They would sell their lives dearly. The pirates had chosen a narrow stretch of water from which to launch their attack. For more than half a mile the Captain had no sea room. I estimated that the leading pirate would hit us almost as we reached the passage to the open sea. Looking aft I saw that the Captain did not look concerned. He shouted something to one of his sailors and a sheet was tightened. Glancing at the mast head pennant I saw that the wind was coming from our steerboard quarter. We began to move faster. The leading pirate also benefitted from the wind even though she had no sail. She began to not only keep pace with us but also to close. Her two consorts on the other side, both smaller boats, were merely keeping pace with us.
I watched as Alan of the Wood released an arrow which arced high in the air. He was aiming at one of the smaller boats. It was a ranging arrow. It plunged into the wooden prow of the leading one. He was our best archer and it told him that they were out of range for he had the greatest range. He turned and shouted, “Aim at the ship to larboard!” He knew that the leader was in range for they were closer. With just a few bows he would have to keep up a regular rate to whittle down the numbers who might try to board.
The nine bows of my men rose high and their arrows dived like vengeful birds into the belly of the pirate. I heard, across the water, the shouts and cries as the swallow tail arrows found flesh. Another flight soared and there were more cries. Our captain was keeping us to the north side of the channel. I suspect it was the safest channel. It meant we were converging with the pirate. The oars of the pirate were more ragged now for men had been hit. The boat began to slew around as the oars on the far side of the ship seemed to suffer less. We were higher in the water and I could see the ship below us. I looked down its length. There had been upward of forty men aboard. There were less now for I saw bloody bodies and men nursing wounds. A voice shouted from the centre of the boat and four men rose, as the bows came towards our centre. Even as the four grappling hooks were thrown and gripped into our gunwale, I saw the helmsman and the pirate next to him fall. As he died his body pushed the pirate to parallel our course. The bow would not ram us but the movement laid it alongside us.
“They will try to board us. Single line. Natty and Geoffrey, join us!”
We stepped to the side of the ship and began to hack through the ropes. More hooks snaked over towards our gunwale. Natty and Geoffrey ran directly to them and began to cut them. The arrows still thinned the ranks of the pirates. I think they were just trying to delay us until the other two ships could join them. Men began to climb up the side of our ship. They swarmed up the ropes. These were strong men who rowed great distances. Pulling themselves up a rope was child’s play for them. However, they could not pull themselves up and carry a weapon. I saw that each of them had a small hand weapon gripped in their mouths. Most had a knife or a dagger while the first pirate whose face appeared before me had a small hatchet. As he pulled himself up our ship lurched a little and the movement made us step back while it allowed the pirates to gain the deck. It was a fluke of the wind but it stopped me from completing the swing I had begun. As he gained the deck, the pirate grabbed the hatchet with his left hand while he began to draw his sword with his right. This time I had my feet firmly planted and I brought my sword from on high to hack deep into his shoulder close to his neck. The hatchet fell from his fingers but he was a tough man. I saw the anger in his eyes as he tried to force his dying body to swing the sword. I punched him in the face with my left hand and he tumbled over the side. As he did so he crashed into the next man who was clambering up. It slowed the flow of pirates.
My men were despatching the handful who had made the deck. I shouted, “John, use the hatchet to sever the lines!” I swung my sword, blindly, down the side of our ship and it connected with the skull of the Danish pirate who was pulling himself up. A second was thrown into the well of the ship as John severed a line. Nine arrows struck the handful of men who were preparing to join their comrades and then the last line was severed with a twang. The pirate suddenly drifted away and, being freed, ‘Maid’ leapt forward like a stallion of the sea. I turned and ran to the steerboard side. The two pirates were less than five lengths from us but, even as Alan and my archers loosed arrows at them, we burst into the open waters of the Baltic. We were freed!
Sheathing my sword, I left my men to strip the dead and throw them overboard. Had they landed in numbers they might have caused some damage but man for man we were better armed, mailed and trained. Captain Peter had a huge grin on his face, “My short cut almost cost us there my lord! But for you and your men things might have gone ill. I am in your debt.”
