Belaset's Daughter - By Feona J Hamilton Page 0,116
as he stood with head bowed before him.
"You have served us well, young man," he said. "Now stay with us, if you will. Do you know any here?"
"If someone can tell me where I might find Jervis FitzHugh, Sire?" said Aaron, eagerly.
"Ah, yes!" said Henry, laughing. "You are acquainted with Master FitzHugh, I recall.
He is certainly here with us."
He beckoned to a man standing nearby.
"Take him to de Warenne s quarters," he said. "Deliver him to Master Jervis FitzHugh, with our warmest thanks."
He clapped Aaron once on the shoulder, and swept past him, calling out the names of the men he wished to speak with him.
"Come forward," he was saying, as Aaron left the hall with his guide. "We must plan our movements carefully, and arrive at Lewes ready and able to fight."
Those whose names he had called hurried forward, eager to prepare, now that they knew where they were going, and that there would, at last, be a pitched battle between King Henry and the brother-in-law who had become his fiercest opponent, Simon, Earl de Montfort. Great battles were talked about but rarely fought, and there was fear as well as excitement in the thought of being a part of one.
Aaron s guide was walking at a half-trot, and he had to lengthen his stride to keep up.
The man left the hall, and the building in which it was housed, sped round two sides of a cloister, through passage which led from one side of the building to the other, turned BOSON BOOKS
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sharp left, and entered a porch, with the door set deep inside. He rapped thrice on the door, and stood aside as it was opened and Jervis FitzHugh looked out.
The man simply nodded at Aaron, standing beside him, then turned on his heel and left them, walking away as rapidly as he had come. Jervis, after a second of open-mouthed amazement, let out a whoop of joy and laughter, and seized Aaron in a hard hug, before letting him go.
"Aaron is it really you? How are you here? Why have you come?"
His face sobered for a moment.
"Is your family well? No further harm has come to them?"
"No, no!" said Aaron, laughing himself at the onslaught of questions and still breathless from the strength of the hug. "I am here as a messenger from Gregory to the King . ."
"What is happening in London, then?" said Jervis.
"Let me in and I will tell you," said Aaron. "It is dark and cold in this doorway is there nowhere to sit down like two civilised people, while I explain?"
"Forgive me," said Jervis, looking chastened. "I have forgotten all my manners. Please, come in and rest, and have something to drink."
He stood back and ushered Aaron past him into a large hall. It was empty of people, but the table at one end had chairs set behind it, and there were fresh rushes strewn on the floor. Trestles and benches were stacked against one wall, where they had been stored while the hall was cleaned. There was no fire and no sign of there having been one.
Although the space was light, it was chilly, and Aaron shivered despite his warm clothing and heavy riding cloak.
He was relieved when Jervis led him across the hall and opened a door behind the table.
Stone stairs led up to a higher level, and Jervis opened a door at the top and beckoned him into a smaller chamber. He flung himself down on his bed and gestured to Aaron to sit with him.
"Now," he said. "Tell me all you know."
Aaron laughed and took a deep breath, but got no further. A wide-eyed page opened the door and gasped out that they were all leaving as quickly as possible. John de Warenne had been ordered to make ready his Castle in Lewes, and to tell the town that the King was coming to honour them with his presence. Now de Warenne had ordered all who were of his party to leave within the next few hours and return to Lewes.
Jervis sprang up, hauling Aaron up with him.
"You will come with us," he said, making it a statement and not a question.
"Of course!" said Aaron, promptly. "I will go to my family."
He laughed.
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"I had no idea that being a messenger could be so useful!" he said. "I was afraid that my message would bring the King s wrath down on my head. I find, instead, that it will reunite me with my wife!"