Warwolfe (de Wolfe Pack Book 0)(46)

“No.”

It was such a stubborn answer that, now, Ghislaine was in danger of grinning. She looked away before he saw it.

“I am not surprised,” she muttered.

“What did you say?”

She cleared her throat, noticing that Jathan was coming forward on his old hairy horse. “I said that you are wise,” she said, lifting her voice. “I shall do my best to convince Boltolph to give you and your men shelter for the night.”

That was the last thing Gaetan heard from her as she dug her heels into the side of the horse, spurring it down the road with the priest following. Camulos was, too, rushing after the pair as they tore off down the road.

Gaetan let the dog go, knowing the beast had developed something of a great affection for Ghislaine over the past couple of days.

Truth be told, he didn’t blame the dog in the least.





CHAPTER TEN




?

A Warrior’s Heart


Westerham, home of Boltolph the Sane

Fortunately, Boltolph hadn’t resisted the Norman incursion. In fact, the man wasn’t even home.

But his daughter was. Gunnora had been very glad to see her friend, Ghislaine, as the woman entered the walled courtyard of Westerham. Having been called forth by the men guarding the entry to the complex, Gunnora was a tall, lovely woman with long blonde hair and an ample girth. She was, quite simply, a big woman with a big heart, and she embraced Ghislaine warmly.

Through a few minutes of friendly chatter, Ghislaine was distracted by the fact that Westerham was nearly devoid of soldiers. There were a few guarding the walls and milling about, but it was very clear that the army was gone. When she asked Gunnora about her father, the woman confirmed that, indeed, her father was still in the north. Ghislaine didn’t know if she felt worse about that or better, because now there would be no resistance to Gaetan and his army. Gaetan intended to stay here for the night so, perhaps, it was best that there be no chance at resistance. Westerham would remain intact and the Normans would continue on their way come the morning. But because Boltolph was not in residence, it meant that Gaetan would not be able to establish an alliance with him.

But Gunnora saw things differently.

Truth be told, the woman didn’t have much of a head for warfare. Harold’s death and the advent of the Normans meant little to her. She had been twice married, and twice widowed, and she was constantly on the hunt for another husband. So when Ghislaine asked if the Norman army could lodge at Westerham for the night, Gunnora was more than willing to let them come. Saxon or Norman made little difference to her; if they were men, they were welcome.

Gaetan and his men were literally welcomed with open arms by the people of Westerham. The gates to the enclosure were wide open and the soldiers on the wall, what little there were of them, simply watched them enter without any reaction whatsoever. But a large woman with a mass of blonde hair, standing near one of two long houses in the compound, seemed quite excited to see them. Ghislaine was with the woman and introduced her as Gunnora Boltolphdotter, Lady of Westerham.

As Ghislaine introduced their hostess to de Wolfe’s knights, who seemed less interested in Gunnora and more interested in their surroundings, Jathan pulled Gaetan aside and explained that Boltolph was still in the north with the majority of his army.

With that information, Gaetan understood that he could have had a very quick submission of Westerham if he wanted to, confiscating the lands and riches for himself, but he thought better of it. Better to be allied with the Saxon lord than to steal from him at this point, especially if he wanted the man’s cooperation with other Saxon lords.

Therefore, in the interest of being a polite guest, he only had his knights and the provision wagons come into the bailey to be protected during the night while the rest of his army camped outside the walls. They were permitted to hunt in the forest or fish in the river for their food but they were not permitted to raid the village, which was quite unprotected. It would have been like lions hunting lambs.

God’s Bones, when did he become such a polite guest?

He wasn’t going to admit it. Under no circumstances would he admit it. But… perhaps, there was a chance that Ghislaine’s words had some impact on him. Had he truly become so soft and foolish that he was actually listening to a woman? Or was it the fact that he had no choice but to trust her advice in this strange new world?

Or, perhaps, he simply wanted to please her.

He was an idiot….

As night fell and black clouds gathered for a storm that soon unleashed its ferocity, Gaetan’s army settled in for the night courtesy of Lady Gunnora. Westerham was actually quite vast and comfortable as far as homes went; there were two longhouses, or what looked like longhouses, with one of them being made from waddle and daub with a heavily-thatched roof, and the other was made from stone until about midway up the wall when it abruptly turned into another kind of stone, very rough-hewn and jagged. This structure, too, had the heavily-thatched roof and it was into this building that Gaetan and his men were ushered.

It was a busy place, crowded with servants and tables that were oddly low to the ground. The benches looked like they were meant for children. It was also incredibly smoky and Gaetan and his men realized that it was because the cooking fire was at the far end of the hall, spitting thick smoke into the roof where it would struggle to escape through holes in the walls. There were several people cooking over this very large fire, a pit dug into the ground. A cauldron sat upon one side of it, steaming heavily, while an entire pig was roasting over the center of it, turned on a spit.