Beyond All Sorrow

Sample

 

Chapter 1

Northern England: Year 1299

The rumble of the collapsing wall brought the small column of armed men to a halt. A dusty cloud billowed up as rock and dirt tumbled down and splashed into the wet moat below. Even from a distance it was an impressive sight. Impressive…and disheartening considering this was their new home.

Bryant Beringar scowled at the gaping hole in his newly acquired castle. It was no larger than the hole in his gut. He had a strong urge to hit someone.

“Your lands do not please you, my lord?” Col Martel reined his horse beside Bryant’s. He had pushed his chainmail coif off his head and bared his tangled blond curls in typical disregard for his safety. That hair—in need of a clipping—glowed like the halo of an iconic angel. His smirk, however, spoiled the effect, which was also typical of the man who was more like a brother to Bryant than a friend or vassal, his companion in mischief as a child and his companion in arms ever since. Not to mention a continual thorn in his side when there was the slightest opportunity for some heckling.

Maybe he would hit him.

“Why would you think that?” Bryant asked.

“I’ve seen that look on your face once before and that was in the midst of battle. One we were losing, as I recall.” Col replied.

A gust of wind riffled over them and a slight break in the clouds let forth a single brilliant shaft of light that fell, not on the castle, but on a plot of graves with crude wooden markers near a copse of trees.

“You think this isn’t a battle?” Bryant nodded toward the graves. “The previous occupants of this place were all massacred, you know.”

“And on that happy note, we pronounce this place home,” Col said, though he then appeared to ponder Bryant’s words. He said, “It seems strange, does it not? It appears to be a defensible position.”

Both men studied the fortress with practiced eyes. Though not large, the castle did have formidable defenses, round corner towers, well-formed battlements, massive gate towers, thick walls and a wet moat that lapped at the foot of those walls. It was a structure meant to impress and intimidate, the way it loomed up, massive and solid in the clearing. Impress it did, as long as one ignored the monstrous breach in the wall. Blackened rubble from two collapsed towers and a good section of wall filled a portion of the moat. It made a quite passible bridge to the hole and the bailey beyond. That did tend to spoil the intimidation effect.

Col said, “Its previous lord must have been very remiss to allow it to be overrun without a prolonged siege.”

Remiss. Yes, one would think so. But from all accounts Marcus Turville had been a competent and cautious man. Not the sort to be taken by surprise. Or to give up without a fight.

Bryant spurred his horse forward and set the column in motion once more. It was evident as they drew nearer that there had not been a siege at all. The ground around the castle showed no scars of an encamped force, no traces of cook fires, none of the detritus left behind by any army. The walls did not bear scars from war machinery. Even from a distance it was evident that the destruction was, for the most part, inside the castle. The collapse looked to be the result of fire, not siege engines or mining.

Bryant glanced behind him at his men. They were a rugged group, filthy from a fast, hard journey, which added to their fierce look. Seasoned warriors, every one, formidable in spite of their lack of numbers. In all, they made up a garrison of no more than a hundred. All he could gather in the time he’d had. Few enough to man an intact castle, far too few to defend a breached one in hostile territory. But defend it they would. King Edward had granted him this fief because he did not doubt that Bryant would defend his lands to the death. His majesty knew how desperate he was for lands of his own. Edward never missed an opportunity to fulfill his own needs when he bestowed a gift.

Not that he was complaining. As a second son it was never certain he would ever have lands of his own. He had served his king to the best of his ability in Wales and France, and more recently in Scotland at Berwick and Falkirk in the hope that this day would come. And here it was. His chance, his opportunity to build something for himself. A castle on the border of a rebellious, hostile nation, in need of a strong military leader. He had sacrificed much to prove himself to be that leader. He’d fought for the majority of his life. Fought England’s enemies to prove his loyalty and his strength. Oh yes, he would defend these lands to his last drop of blood. He’d earned that right.

Closer to the castle now, he held up a fist and halted the column of men once more. He wanted to study the castle from this closer vantage point. He looked it over with an eye for how to defend it in its current state. It was far from a complete loss. The walls that remained were in good condition, the gate was reinforced with a drawbridge—which was down though its chains were intact—and an iron portcullis that was jammed at an angle at the top of the entry. The gate towers were positioned in such a way that any intruders who tried to gain entrance by the main gate would face a crossfire of arrows and perhaps a shower of burning pitch or oil. Col was right, a raiding force of Scots should not have found an easy target here. Yet, the castle had fallen. It was as if the defenders had just opened the gates and given their enemies free entrance.

“It will be dark soon and it looks as if we’re in for a storm,” Col said.

Darkness could be something to fear in this place. Behind them, one of the knights began to mutter. Bryant glanced back. Gawen, a knight so young that his beard grew spotty and thin on his chin. The man gaped, wide-eyed, at the castle, while he fingered something attached to a leather thong around his neck. A religious relic, no doubt. Gawen always fell prey to pilgrims pawning off trinkets said to ward off evil or bring good luck.

A shiver jittered along Bryant’s spine. He shook it off and called, “Which saint are we praying to today, Gawen?”

“Saint Germaine,” Gawen answered. He held up what proved to be a rotten chunk of wood. “This is a piece of the staff with which he, alone, slew a thousand blood-thirsty barbarians who wished to sacrifice his people to heathen gods.”

Col said, “He slew a thousand men single-handed, Gawen? Doesn’t sound very saintly to me. Are you sure this Germaine is a real saint?”

“Don’t trouble the boy,” Duscin, one of the older knights, said in a voice as scarred and textured as his face. “That chunk of wood is a grand step up from the jaw-bone of Saint Thomas.”

“At least Thomas was a real saint,” Col replied. “Who has ever heard of this Germaine fellow?”

Gawen began to protest and the other men—always fond of spirited discussion—chimed in with their own opinions of this so-called saint. Bryant was sorry he’d asked. He scowled at Col who had fallen silent with a satisfied grin.

“You do delight in getting them started, don’t you,” Bryant growled.

“It’s better than Gawen’s superstitious muttering,” Col said.

As the discussion grew more heated behind them, Bryant could have argued the point. Instead, he kicked his horse into motion. Time to inspect his new home from the inside. His eyes narrowed as he considered the task before him. The hole in the wall was the real concern. If they could hold out long enough to repair the hole, they would be in a good, defensible position. They’d need reinforcements. He would send for those first thing.

They were near the gate now, a mere arrow-shot away. The open bridge taunted him. The invaders had gained entrance to the castle somehow. Was there a fatal weakness in the castle’s defenses? He would have to do a thorough inspection, from top to bottom.

Behind him, the ‘discussion’ grew louder. If he didn’t put a stop to it, it would come to blows. Once they were inside he would put them all to work. That should shut them up for a while.

He didn’t have to wait that long. A sharp twang sounded from the castle. It brought instant silence. A moment later a shower of small stones rained down upon them like hail, far from lethal, but maddening with their sharp sting. The men drew their weapons and struggled to control their mounts. Bryant scanned the battlements. His scouts had reported the castle empty. They were good men. He knew they had been thorough. It would have to be a very small force to have hidden themselves from them.

The last of the pebbles fell and all was still. There was no sign of their enemy. Then a sudden flash of darker gray offered a target and in an instant his archers released their shots. Arrows clattered against stone and were answered with another twang, another stinging shower of pebbles.

Bryant’s gut urged him to charge. He signaled his men and they burst forward with a cry that would have chilled the blood of Lucifer himself. His men were few, but well-chosen. They thundered across the bridge and into the bailey to be confronted by…silence. Unexpected and unsettling. At Bryant’s signal a handful of men dismounted and made their way in pairs up open stairways that gave access to the battlements on the walls. Col and Duscin entered the right gate tower, Loys and Evart the left. The rest of the men waited with him in the bailey, poised for action wherever it may be needed.

One by one men appeared at the top of the wall and signaled all was clear, no sign of the enemy. Gawen started muttering again. Bryant scowled at him and he fell silent.

A sudden, muffled screech came from the right gate tower. It was all the indication Bryant needed. Sword drawn, he leaped from his horse, sprinted through the door, and started up the inner stairs. Soldiers crowded in after him eager for a fight. Halfway up, Bryant collided with Duscin who backed down the narrow staircase. Bryant couldn’t see around the man, but the sound of a scuffle came from up above, punctuated by an occasional grunt. Duscin turned and pushed Bryant into the men behind him saying, “Out, out. Clear the way.”

Duscin prodded and shoved and with much stumbling and many curses the stairway was cleared. Duscin continued to herd the men out of the tower. Bryant turned back to peer into the gloom of the staircase and was almost knocked from his feet by a mass of flailing arms and legs—which was Col and something else—as it tumbled down the stairs and crashed into him.

The something else separated itself from the heap and tried to dash back up the stairs. Col’s hand caught the ankle of the creature as it fled and brought the thing crashing to the ground. It let loose a grunted oath. It’s human, at least, Bryant thought, though you’d never know by its looks.

Col wasted no time in making his capture secure. He trapped the creature’s arms beneath his own, struggled to his feet and proceeded to drag it over to Bryant. This took some effort, despite the fact that the thing was quite a bit smaller than Col. It kicked and squirmed and looked like it would have bit him if he had let its teeth get anywhere near bare skin.

Bryant gripped a handful of tangled brown hair and jerked its head up so he could get a look at its face. It stared up at him with large, dark eyes that burned with a hatred so fiery that he had to fight an urge to take a step back.

Good lord, he thought. It’s a woman.

Despite the intensity of her eyes, she looked no more harmful than a pile of old rags. Indeed, had it not been for the dirt and grease, her woolen tunic may not have held together as clothing at all. Her hair had been cropped to shoulder-length and it hung in wild, snarled clumps that shielded her face. What the hair didn’t mask, dirt did.

“Who are you?” Bryant demanded.

The woman continued to impale him with that fiery stare. She had grown quite still, though her chest heaved and her hands were balled into fists at her sides. He thought she was young, little more than a girl, but it was hard to tell through all that dirt.

He loosened his grip on her hair and smoothed it back from her face. “Don’t be frightened,” he said. “You’re in no danger here.”

Her eyes narrowed. He slid his hand down to cup her cheek. “We won’t hurt—”

She lifted her knee into his groin with a force that his split mail hauberk did little to dispel. Bryant dropped his sword and sank to his knees. Through a red haze he saw the girl throw her head back and catch Col in the chin. Col’s head snapped back. The girl slipped from his grasp and darted back up the stairway. Bryant’s well-trained soldiers crowded in the doorway were slow to react. One or two took a half-hearted step towards her, then seemed to think better of it. The rest watched her flee. Bryant would have cursed the wretches had he been able to draw a breath.

“A feisty wench,” Col said and rubbed his jaw.

Teeth clenched, Bryant glowered at him.

Col turned on the immobile soldiers. “A lot of help you are, standing around with your mouths agape like a bunch of helpless old women.”

Arnuld stroked his long, grizzled beard and said, “We thought to stay and fight the others, sir.”

“What others? It was just the girl.”

The men looked around as if willing an enemy to materialize from the dust.

“We were attacked by a woman?” Gawen’s voice cracked into a squeak. The young knight flushed and cleared his throat.

Col laughed. No one else did. Bryant forced himself to his feet.

“What?” Col said in response to the men’s silent accusation. “You’re the ones who let her get away.”

There was an outburst of heated protest. Bryant collected his sword and, with no more than a slight limp, pushed his way through the men in the doorway into the fresh air of the bailey. Col followed on his heels and carried his argument from the smaller group in the gatehouse to the larger group outside. Accusations flew back and forth and it promised to become a brawl if he didn’t intervene. Heaven help him, it was like living with a gaggle of geese. And there was Col, that grin on his face as he urged them on.

“Col!” Bryant shouted above the din. Col turned. Bryant’s fist sent him sprawling in the dirt. Astonished, the men fell silent.

Bryant smiled. That was much better.

–end sample–

About the Author

Kathy Galloway grew up telling herself stories to alleviate the tedium of doing chores. She studied at Brigham Young University where she earned a degree in history. Writing novels lets her combine her two passions–history and storytelling. When she is not fantasizing about times long past, she works in the construction industry.