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.Their drooping shoulders and gray-white faces proved the people’s exhaustion.They had no more to give.What remained of their small supply of energy was needed to fight off the fever and tend to the ill.“Falke and I will never live this down.Knights working like field hands…!” Alric muttered as he looked at the few crooked rows that his lord had managed to dredge from the dirt.Waving his hand in the air, he trotted down the path and called, “Falke, wait up.I’ll help you.”“Now, that Sir Falke be a nobleman with vision,” Blodwyn commented to another woman.“Aye, and a man not afraid of hard work.” The elderly man nodded his white head in reverence.“I was a thinkin’ the man was too caught up in ’e’s own affairs to be thinkin’ about us.’Pears I might be mistaken.”A general mood of acceptance engulfed the crowd.Gwendolyn could not help but rejoice.Falke had gained the people’s trust and loyalty, but would the knights in the castle understand the sacrifices Falke was willing to make for Mistedge? From her eavesdropping, she had surmised that Falke’s more senior vassals sought a leader with more than just a title.They sought a man who put Mistedge first, a man they could depend on.“Lady Wren,” the old villager called out to her, “if ye ken spare me, I have a mind to go down there and show those boys a thing or two about farming.”Gwendolyn glanced down at the now unmoving oxen and the two knights tugging on the yoke.“Pray do so, Durin.” In her heart she prayed that Sir Falke would show his vassals a thing or two about being a lord.“What a disgrace.” Laron paced back and forth along the narrow walkway of the inner wall.“Imagine, the lord of Mistedge plowing a field.”The assembled lords and ladies shook their heads and tsked in censure.Sir Baldwin peered over the wall at the men trying to budge the stubborn oxen.A wry smile crossed his grizzled face.“And he’s doing a pretty poor job of it.” Waving to a few elderly lords, he gave them a wink.“I think we underrated the lad, my friends.”“Underrated!” Laron sputtered.“He’s shaming us all.”“I hate to admit it, but you’re right, Laron.” Sir Baldwin’s smile faded and his eyes darkened to black glass.“Lord Falke is out there alone, seeing to it that the villagers are cared for and our bellies will be full come the cold dark days of winter.Tell me, Laron, did you expect to dine on your fine words and fancy dress come December? Nay? Then ’tis best a farther-seeing man is our lord or there would be many a rumbling belly come the winter.”Facing the knights and ladies of the keep, Sir Baldwin continued his lecture.“I’d be joining him now, but his orders to me were to stay and guard the inner keep.And I obey my liege.”A quiet whisper spread among the nobles.Finally, a clean-faced youth stepped forward.“I’m ready to join Lord Falke.” With hesitant steps, four more knights joined him.Sir Baldwin’s gaze fastened on the two men guiding the reluctant oxen.“Gentlemen,” he called out to his friends gathered near, “I have hope that Mistedge has truly found her lord.”Chapter ElevenFalke stomped across the broken fields, scattering the hens pecking for bugs in the furrows.Morning dew released the rich aroma of the tilled soil.Three days and only one field plowed.Those ignorant, stubborn, arrogant oafs were more of a hindrance than a help.And this time he wasn’t talking about the oxen.Nay, the knights of Mistedge were more disagreeable than the smelly beasts.Five able-bodied knights, plus Falke and Alric, should be able to turn more than one measly field.That is, if the Mistedge knights would take Falke’s direction.The knights ignored his, the old farmer’s and each other’s advice.Each man went his own way, and nothing was accomplished.“Salutations, my friend,” Ozbern called as Falke approached the canopy.“Pray, do not take this as a criticism, but I have never seen seven men work so hard and achieve so little.”Falke gave his friend a tired smile.“Would that I could bind those knights to me as Lady Wren has the villagers.With a snap of her fingers, she has a battalion of men, women and children to do her bidding, without complaint, without question.”“Aye, ’tis true enough.” Ozbern pointed to the mountain of folded laundry near his pallet.“Even I, newly risen from my sickbed, have been put to work folding laundry.” He gestured toward the village park, where Lady Wren, surrounded by her eager helpers, ministered to the ill.“Go and ask her advice.”Falke shrugged at the irony of the situation.“And to think we judged her a simpleton.”“Instead we find her a loyal soul, brave, strong, intelligent.” Ozbern pondered his words, then added, “She would be an excellent chatelaine for Mistedge.”“Do not suggest it.” Falke rose and placed his hand on Ozbern’s shoulder.“I will not wed her.But I have promised to protect her from Titus, and I will.”“’Twould be easier if you married her.Titus will not give her up, nor can you count on Mistedge’s support should Titus lay siege.And in King Henry’s court, you’d be in the wrong.”“Ozbern, you recover too quickly.As usual, you point out all the flaws in my plans.”“And as usual, you will no doubt find a way around them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]