The de Montfort Histories - The Dove and the Devil Read Online Free Page B

harassed nurse.
    “Oh, Milord, I’m ever so sorry!” The nurse’s face was red from exertion
as she tried to take hold of the wriggling Guy, who was doing his best to evade
her clutches. “I know he shouldn’t be here and I daren’t think what the lady
Alicia will say, but he is so stubborn. He will go everywhere that Master Amaury goes.”
    “Whoa there!” Simon caught Guy up in his arms. “Be at peace, young man,
and give Nurse a rest.”
    Guy flung his arms around his father’s shoulders. If Guy looked upon
Amaury as his hero, he looked upon his father with near Godlike adoration. It
was seldom that he had the opportunity to be this close to his papa, and he was
relishing every second of it.
    “When are you going to joust, Papa?” Amaury asked, attempting to
distract his father’s interest from his young brother. Guy was getting
altogether too much attention.
    “Not until tomorrow, but Geoffrey de Joinville will be in the lists this
afternoon. If you are very well-behaved you may accompany maman and me when we
go to watch him. He will be against Gauthier of Brienne, so it should be a good
match. You will certainly see some good jousting. If you pay attention, you may
even pick up some pointers.”
                 “Me,
too! Me, too!” Guy pleaded while pounding on Simon’s chest.
    “Not so fast, young man. You have a choice. You may rest this afternoon
and attend this evening’s festivities or you may stay up this afternoon and go
to bed early this evening. Choose wisely because once you have made your
choice, you will honour it!”
    Guy pouted and there was a quiver to his lips, but even at his tender
age he knew his papa’s decision was final. “I choose to rest this afternoon and
attend the festivities tonight,” he declared finally.
    His face brightened when it occurred to him that the evening would offer
many opportunities to get into mischief with some of the younger pages whilst
adult eyes were distracted by all the food and wine. No nurse would be
constantly dogging his heels, and there would very likely be troubadours from
Occitania who had accompanied some of the lords from that southern part of
France. He loved their singing, even though he was not able to understand
exactly what they were singing about—they sang in a foreign language
called Oc.
    There were loud protests from both the boys as Simon pushed them towards
Guy’s nurse. He had seen Walter, who was just about to go into the tent of one
of the armourers. “You may spend the next hour or so looking around and then
you must return to the chateau. Do you both understand that? You must stay with
Nurse and do as she tells you.”
    Amaury was about to argue but thought better of it. His father clearly
had business to attend to which was of no concern to the boys. Besides, there
were some very exiting sights to see—the stilt walkers, for one thing,
and the wrestlers for another. An hour was such a short time to take everything
in! This was an excellent tournament and Amaury was impressed. He certainly
didn’t want to cause any trouble in case he should be forbidden some of the
delights that were simply begging to be sampled.

Chapter Two
    Occitania, South of France
    1199 AD
    The Occitanians

 
    The air was filled with the moans of the young woman lying on the
blood-soiled bed. She had laboured for two days to give birth to her child.
Huge eyes, like those of a frightened doe, beseeched the attending sage-femme
to end her misery. The midwife could only shake her head. This was a difficult
one, no doubt about that. She could see clearly that the babe was far too big
to be born nature’s way. Something must be done and quickly if both mother and
child were to survive.
    She went out of the foetid-smelling room to where the young woman’s
husband paced the floor, as he had done for hours. His haggard face wore the
lines of exhaustion. Upon seeing the midwife he looked up expectantly, but his
hope soon died, for he could