Warwolfe (de Wolfe Pack Book 0)(120)
Ghislaine wasn’t sure how she could explain her fears to him, but she had to try. She truly felt Gaetan’s life depended on it.
“Norman knights are like nothing you have ever seen on the field of battle,” she said. “They are stronger, better equipped, and more skilled than anything on this earth. But that is in open battle; when it comes to the warfare our people conduct – in trees, in hiding, or covertly – Normans are extremely vulnerable. They fight head-on because that is what they know. But our people – your people, my people – do not fight that way. Right now, Gaetan has taken eight men with him and they intend to stop my brother and rescue their man. My lord, Alary has two hundred men with him who fight in this fashion. I am terrified that Gaetan and his men will walk straight into their deaths.”
Antillius was listening carefully. “Surely they are not that foolish,” he said. “Men like that do not live as long as they have by being foolish. I think you underestimate him.”
Ghislaine tried not to appear too contrite. “I do not mean to underestimate him,” she said, “and as long as I was accompanying them, I knew I could advise them on the way our people fight. This wound in my leg? I received it when we were passing through the shadowlands, south of Worcester. Knowing what I know of the people in that area, I was able to draw them out and avert an ambush. Now… now I must avert another terrible clash, or at least try. But I have no horse and no weapons. I am asking if you will provide me with these things so I can at least help them. Please, my lord, I beseech you.”
Antillius was over his shock of the situation for the most part. Now, he was pensive as he pondered her words. “If I let you go, I cannot imagine that de Wolfe would be too pleased with me,” he said. “He told your priest to keep you here. Lygia told me so. Now you are asking me to let you follow him?”
Ghislaine nodded. “I will do it with or without your help, but with your help, it would be much easier.”
Antillius believed her implicitly; she seemed like a rather stubborn female. He certainly didn’t want to lock her up like a prisoner but he wasn’t sure how else to keep her here if she wanted to follow Gaetan. He’d also heard from Lygia that Gaetan and the lady were betrothed, so he knew her request wasn’t purely from concern.
It was from devotion.
Antillius had seen the way Gaetan had looked at the lady and he knew a man in love when he saw one. He could only imagine the lady felt the same thing for him, else she wouldn’t be willing to risk her life so. But men in love were fickle things because he’d seen it enough to know and men like Gaetan de Wolfe couldn’t truly fall in love; war was their lover, their mistress, and their life. Women like Ghislaine, while beautiful, were only an infatuation to these war creatures.
They were another conquest.
Moreover, the survival of Ghislaine’s family didn’t depend upon her marrying Gaetan. But the survival of Antillius’ people very much depended on new blood and, with that thought, he began to formulate a plan of his own.
“Even if you go, if they are truly under attack, you cannot help them by yourself,” he finally said. “You would become a casualty, too. What you need is more men.”
Ghislaine nodded, trying not to look too scared or miserable in that knowledge. “I know,” she said. “Gaetan has two thousand men but Alary knew we were following him and he threatened to kill his captive if Gaetan did not stop following, so Gaetan left his army at Westerham. We cannot summon them in time.”
“You have not asked me if I will help.”
“But I have. I asked you for a weapon and….”
He cut her off. “You did not ask me if my men would help.”
Ghislaine looked at him as if the thought hadn’t occurred to her. There was astonishment and hope in her eyes. “Would you?” she gasped. “If you and your men would go to help him, surely he could win. Surely he could regain his man. My lord, if the Tertium were to go to battle as Gaetan’s army, then victory is assured.”
Antillius nodded. “Mayhap,” he said. “At least, Gaetan and his men would have a fighting chance against Alary and his hundreds. But even as I suggest this course of action, you must know that there is a reason behind it. I have explained such things to Gaetan but I am sure he has not spoken of it to you. You see, my lady, my people are dying out. I fear that my daughters’ generation will be one of the very last unless we are able to bring new blood, new life, into our tribe. I have nearly three hundred men in the village now but in the days of my father and his father, there were thousands. If I take those three hundred men into battle against your brother, I will lose some. There is no doubt that some will die. And that is an extremely expensive price to pay. As it is now, I can never replace those men.”
Ghislaine wasn’t quite following his line of thought. “I am very sorry to know that, my lord,” she said. “But I assure you, if you and your men go into battle for Gaetan, he will reward you greatly. Mayhap that reward will help save your people somehow.”
“That is what I am hoping. But I will name my price.”
“Of course, my lord. Anything you wish.”
“I understand that you and Gaetan are to be married.”
Ghislaine nodded, but it was with some embarrassment. She hadn’t known Gaetan had told him that. “Aye,” she said hesitantly. “I have agreed to be his wife.”