Rose Victory - Eagle Series (12 page)

It was the last Aguilus heard as he scrambled down the rocky bank
.

Aguilus
started when Sir Stefan shook his arm.  Coming out of his thoughts, the squire looked enquiringly at the man that rode beside him.

The knight
replied to the boy’s question for the second time.  “I said we should be out of the forest in a couple of hours, no more.  Aguilus, are you alright?” Stefan looked worriedly at the boy and then suddenly he tensed in the saddle, his eyes sweeping across the nearby trees.

“Yes, sir, I was just thinking.  I don’t like this place and…”

“Quiet!”  Sir Stefan
’s command silenced the squire immediately.

Aguilus had never heard the knight use that deadly tone of voice before.
He looked up to see his father trotting his enormous, black warhorse back towards them.  The earl sat relaxed in his saddle, his face expressionless but his eyes were alert and watchful.  He nodded at Sir Stefan and a silent communication seemed to pass between them.  Then Roydon made a covert gesture to the rest of the men that had them straightening into alertness in their saddles and loosening their swords at their sides.

A
guilus just had time to pull the strap of the leather bag that hung on the pommel of his saddle over his head, before Sir Stefan plucked him from the saddle.  The next instant he found himself hurtling up into a tree.  Instinctively he grabbed onto the nearest branch and anchored himself.

“Climb!”  Sir Stefan stared up at him for a moment then swung his horse away.  Aguilus climbed and then he inched out along a sturdy branch until he could see down onto the path.
  The bandits, if indeed they were being attacked, had chosen the spot well for just here the trees fell away from the path, leaving a small clearing to one side of the trail.

Near total silence reigned below, only the j
ingle of horse bridles broke the silence and the thump of impatient horses’ hooves on the hard earth.  Aguilus still did not know what had alerted Sir Stefan and his father.  If danger existed he still could not detect it, not that he had much experience in these matters!

The three knights and the soldiers had arranged themselves in a half circle
under the squire’s tree.  In pairs, horses facing different directions, they waited.  The earl and Sir Stefan sat on their horses to their fore, just off the path.  Side by side, both faced the trees on the other side of the small clearing, their bodies relaxed but their eyes were continually searching, trying to penetrate the gloom of the forest.  Neither had drawn their swords.  Almost directly below the tree Sir Ivan sat his horse, he as well as the rest of the soldiers already had their weapons in hand.  No one spoke and then a movement at the edge of his vision made Aguilus look towards the trees on the other side of the path.

A sea of faces, a multitude of bodies materialized from the trees.  The boy wished he had never learnt to count, surely there were nearly a hundred men facing their small number?  No wonder they dared to attack them.  The
outlaws dressed in rags, their hair dirty and unkempt; they huddled together as they left the protection of the trees. They carried all kinds of weapons, from rusty swords to clubs, spears and even pitchforks.

There were too many of them!  Aguilus looked with mounting alarm at his father who sat, calm but watchful, on his horse.  Then a mirthless smile split
the earl’s face as he drew his enormous sword.  Sir Stefan did likewise.  The sound of sliding steel as the swords left their scabbards had never seemed so dangerous or menacing to Aguilus.  The boy took comfort from the sound and from the look of utter contempt on the faces of the knights.

At that moment the squire realized that neither of the two men wore full armour.  Their heads, as well as their arms remained unprotected, only breast and back plates protected their torsos over quilted gambesons and steel-mailed
chausses their legs.  Thank God all the horses wore protective armour…  This was no coincidence, the boy realized, his father had prepared for just such an occurrence as this.  Horses and legs protected from a possible attack from unhorsed bandits and head and arms with the freedom of movement to cut them down.

Slowly, the earl tied the reins of his horse to the pommel of his saddle and drew out a small battle axe; this he hefted in his left hand.  Sword held in his right hand, across his horse
’s neck, he waited unmoving once again; black, intense gaze on the approaching men.

Aguilus nearly lost his grip on the branch, with such unexpectedness did the earl’s and Sir Stefan’s sudden
actions surprise him.  They had waited, immobile, unmoving until the outlaws were almost upon them.  Then at an unheard, unseen signal, they each spurred their horses away and to either sides of the approaching human horde in a sudden burst of speed and action.

The squire watched in awe as the two men circled the surprised bandits and attacked them from behind.  Weapons slashing, hacking and ripping
, the knights pushed the outlaws towards the waiting soldiers.  Now Aguilus understood perfectly what Sir Stefan had tried to teach him about controlling his mount with just his legs.  Hands busy with weapons, the two knights controlled and guided their horses exclusively with their powerful legs.

A shout from below distracted the boy from the awe inspiring sight of the devastation that the two men alone were causing the bandits. 
Three, in some cases four outlaws, engaged each pair of soldiers.  The sight brought him to his senses.  Although the men-at-arms seemed to be holding their own against the unskilled assailants, Aguilus did not deem it fair odds and he decided to take a hand.

Carefully, so as not to lose his balance, he put his hand into the
leather bag and extracted one of the heavy stones he had collected the night before by the stream.  They weren’t very big, just slightly larger than his fist and wouldn’t do much damage, but as a distraction he hoped they would do just fine.

Taking careful aim at one of t
wo bandits that attacked one of his father’s men, he let the stone fly at the back of the man’s head.  The stone hit right on target.  The outlaw swung round to confront this new threat and fell victim to his beleaguered opponent.  Satisfied with both his aim and the fact that the soldier could now deal with the remaining attacker, Aguilus looked for a new target.

He found it in a pair that fought almost directly below him.  The soldier had a long slash down his right arm
which bled profusely, yet he still faced an enormous bandit who attacked him with a long rusty sword.  Putting extra force into the swing, the squire flung a small rock at the man’s head.

This time the stone hit the side of the outlaw’s head, just above his eye.  The man stood there stunned for a moment and then he collapsed to the ground, out cold.
  The wounded soldier looked in disbelief at the felled giant and then up into the tree; only to see a grinning face from among leaves looking down at him.  After a gasp of surprise, he saluted the boy with his good hand and returned to the fight.

None of the rest of the stones that Aguilus threw after that worked
quite as well as the one that toppled the big bandit. Nevertheless they did distract the targets and allowed the men-at-arms a chance to strike back.

In a surprising
ly short time the fighting came to an end.  A few of the outlaws melted back into the trees and the rest threw down their weapons and surrendered.  More than half of the bandits lay dead or wounded on the ground.

Aguilus, mindful of his father’s orders, remained quietly in the tree watching the pris
oners dragging their fallen comrades out of sight into the forest.  Sir Ivan seemed to have been given the task of supervising the move.  He stood near the foot of the squire’s tree indicating the next bodies to be moved, when Aguilus noticed one of the ‘dead’ bandits behind Sir Ivan move.  He watched in horror as the man abruptly rose to his feet, a long knife gripped in his hand and aimed at the back of the knight’s neck.

“IVAN!”

Only the boy’s shout of warning and Sir Ivan’s own immediate reaction saved his life.  The knight turned quickly in the direction of the warning, raising the naked sword in his hand, almost as a reflex action.  It deflected the falling knife and then continued on to end the life of the would-be assassin.

The earl, now on foot with Sir Stefan beside him, approached a slightly shaken Ivan.  “Are you alright, Ivan?”

“Yes, my lord.”  The young knight’s voice sounded a bit unsteady.  Somehow a difference existed between facing death on your own terms in battle and the vile attack he had just been the target off.  “If it hadn’t been for Aguilus’ warning…”  Ivan left the sentence unfinished and looked up into the tree.  His two companions followed his gaze.

A
smiling face, with bright golden eyes and a salient aquiline nose looked back down at them from among the leaves, the rest of his body hidden by the foliage.

“You saved my life just now, Aguilus.  You have my gratitude.”  Ivan gave a heartfelt sigh.  “I should have been more careful.”

“Yes, you should have.”  The earl’s expressionless face and cold tone masked the concern that had been obvious a moment before.  “Never let down your guard whilst you are surrounded by enemies, dead or alive.”

Ivan nodded, accepting the reprimand, knowing it stemmed from
concern.  “I am sorry, my lord.  It will not happen again.”

Roydon laid a hand on Ivan’s shoulder
, a look of approval settling on his face.  “You have done well today, Ivan.  This is your first real battle.  I am well satisfied.”

Ivan literally glowed with his lord’s praise.  “Thank you, sir.  I will just finish with the outlaws.”

“There is someone else who has been very busy today according to the reports I have been receiving.”  Roydon looked up at the boy again.

From the speculative look on the earl’s face Ag
uilus could not determine if his father approved or not of said reports.  He opted to remain quiet on the subject until he found out.  “Can I come down now, my lord?” he asked, emphasizing the fact that he had been obedient and remained in the tree, in case the earl found fault with his ‘distractions’.

Sir Stefan smiled at Roydon, realising full well the intention behind the boy’s question.  “You must admit,
Roy, the boy is learning.”

“Yes he is.”  The earl
positioned himself under the tree and held out his arms.  This time when he looked up such pride and approval shone from his eyes that Aguilus blushed a deep red with the knowledge he had pleased his father.  “Jump!”

Aguilus did not hesitate for a moment.  He jumped into his father’s arms, never surer of anything than that the powerful arms held out to him, would never let him fall. 

“I am proud of you, son.”  The earl set Aguilus feet first on the ground.  “Your actions probably saved a few lives today.”

Embarrassed, the squire tried to belittle his actions.  “I only threw a few stones, Father.  Nothing like what you and Uncle Stefan did,” the boy’s eyes shone at the memory.  “You rode and controlled your horses without using your hands!”

“That takes a lot of training, practice and hard work,” Sir Stefan explained seriously.  “I
have
been trying to teach you.” 

“Yes, but now I understand.  I will never complain again.”

“I never heard you complain before.”  Stefan raised an eyebrow in question.

Aguilus
bowed his head apologetically, “I complained in my head, sir.”

“Ah, I see
.” Stefan chuckled.  “I’ll be sure to listen more carefully next time.”

Sir Ivan’s return
ended the short period of levity.  At the earl’s curt nod he gave his report on their casualties.  “Three dead, four wounded, my lord,” his voice sombre, he added, “We also had to sacrifice eight horses.”

“Damn them!”  The earl thought for a moment.  “Put the wounded in the cart and our dead onto horses; they deserve better than to be left here.”

“What do we do with the prisoners, sir?”  Sir Ivan grimaced.  “There are eighteen, seven of them wounded.”

“The wounded we leave behind, we have no way of taking them with us.  Their friends will probably come for them when we leave
, they can also bury their dead.  Anyway I will get the local baron to come and clean this place up. He can also decide the fate of the other eleven.  Tie their hands and they can walk behind the cart.”

“I’ll get to it right away,
my lord.”

“Be as quick as you can, I
van.  I want to leave this place as soon as possible.”

“I
will come and help.”  Sir Stefan walked away accompanied by the young knight.

“You will have to give your horse to one of the men
, Aguilus; some of them will have to ride double as it is.”  The earl pursed his lips and issued a piercing whistle.  “Think you are brave enough to ride Black?”

“Ride your warhorse?”  The thunder of approaching hooves drowned out the boy’s incredulous question as men scrambled out of the way of the enormous horse.  The huge animal snorted to a stop beside the earl.

Aguilus remained absolutely still.  One of the first things he had learnt had been never to move abruptly when near a warhorse, or better yet never to go near one.  They were dangerous animals, bred for the battlefield and could easily kill with their iron shod hooves.  In the case of Black only his master and one of the grooms at home, who took care of him, could get near the horse with any degree of safety.