CHAPTER 1 : FROM ROYALTY TO POVERTY
Once upon a time, in a scenic valley in a far away kingdom, there lived the youngest of three princes who loved the daughter of a nearby noble family. The girl's parents loved him and were happy to welcome him into their family. However, the prince's eldest brother who was the ruling monarch, expected him to marry a woman of his choosing.
After years of arguing, the young man made a decision. He and his beloved would run away and settle in the South. The middle brother encouraged him even giving him a purse of gold to ensure that he would be able to establish a suitable home. He also included a family keepsake, an engraved pendant belonging to his mother who had been called Clare.
The youngest prince and the love of his life were married secretly at her home before leaving the valley for good. They were accompanied by the prince's trusted manservant and the new wife's maid servant.
Financially, they were solvent and a bright future lay before them. However, the eldest brother was determined to make an example of his youngest brother.
Evil trailed the couple and their servants; packhorses were stolen, properties in which they showed interest or offered to purchase, were burned to the ground and damaging rumours regarding their ability to pay their debts flourished. Their reputation was besmirched, therefore unable to find a suitable home, they decided to continue travelling further and further south.
The only ray of hope in the little family was that the Lady Margaret was expecting a baby. Prince Niall was determined to find a safe place for them to live. He changed the rich clothes he wore, sold his and his manservant's quality horses and purchased horses more suitable for merchants, insisting nevertheless that his wife keep her palfrey. He explained to anyone querying such a quality horse that she had been a wedding gift to his wife from a neighbouring lord.
Prince Niall was worried, this was not the life he had expected for the future. He worried constantly about the effect it was having on his wife. She was a hothouse flower, not used to an arduous life.
Things went from worse to worse, his wife's maidservant was kidnapped by marauding bandits whom his manservant confided to him had looked familiar. Soon the baby arrived, a little girl. Lady Margaret was thrilled with the new addition to her family and happiness reigned.
Word reached the king and he rejoiced that it had not been a boy! He was childless and though he was on his second wife, no additions to the ruling family were expected. He was determined to have an heir and was casting around for another wife, maybe one who was widowed and had already proved herself by producing a child.
This activity took his mind off his brother and Prince Niall, Lady Margaret and their little girl slipped under the radar.
-0-0-
Gawaine had left the others and was searching the fire ravaged cottages. There was nothing of value, all bedding and furniture had been burned. Any chickens had literally flown the coop and one solitary pig was rooting around in what might have been the remains of a lean-to.
He could hear Arthur talking with the village headsman but wasn't paying much attention and could only hear a smattering of what was being said.
These attacks happened more frequently than they should have. Marauding bands descending on isolated hamlets, stealing anything of value, killing anyone who tried to stop them and leading away any livestock and boys of a working age. They always hit the least prepared and left desolation in their paths.
The hamlet in question, was made up of five cottages, three had been burned to the ground. There had been sixteen odd inhabitants. Seven newly dug mounds represented the dead.
Gawaine had tuned in again as a man was telling Arthur, "We knew nuffing of 'em, just that the man called hisself Wilf, and 'is woman had a new baby. There was also another child, a girl don't know her name. 'Aven't found 'er so she's either burnt to a crisp or's run off inta the woods."
"Were they the owners of one of the cottages?" asked Simon.
"They ain't got no money," the man who was then talking to Arthur said. "They 'ad a piece of cloth frown over a cross pole for a tent. Womenfolk felt sorry for 'er so took 'er in when she birthed. 'Arry here took the man on to help 'im with his thatch. Didn't you, "Arry?"
Harry an old man who looked as if he would need help repairing his roof, nodded adding, "Nice little family, cum upon 'ard times they had."
It seemed that the father had tried to defend his family. The mother had come out of their makeshift tent when she heard her husband cry out and charged at the man who'd stabbed him. He took it badly and swung at her. The woman was screaming like a wild animal and continued bashing him with her fist and kicking out at him as she tried to reach the body of her husband. The bully shoved her and the girl who was holding onto her skirts to the ground.
A women added, "Before our very eyes, he up with an axe 'n' stabbed both 'er and 'er baby boy, then kicked at 'er until he grew tired. We heard the young girl cry out and knew they were gonnas…never found the girl's body."
"We buried seven people and two babies and we know the men've took three missing boys with 'em," added the headsman. "Never seen the three men before in my life but they were scary no one you'd be wanting to pick a fight with!"
Arthur seemed satisfied with what he heard. "It's late, we'll camp here for the night and tomorrow, we'll count up your losses and arrange for some help from the neighbouring villages."
Making his way around the family's camp site, Gawaine had noticed the pig vigorously rooting in the ash and burnt trees. He paid it little attention until it squealed excitedly. He grabbed a half burnt branch and walked toward it stumbling over a mound of ashes and cloth.
The way the mound moved when he stood on it, made him feel momentarily sick, he knew he'd found another body. He dropped to his knees and started digging in the ash and burned wood. He found a child's leg and cleared away the surrounding debris to find the missing girl's body. He sadly thought, 'Well, at least she hasn't been left in this world to suffer alone.'
As he lifted the body, he felt resistance as if the body didn't want to be moved. He shook his head and continued before realising that there was movement in the body. It was alive and had tensed when he had touched it. He yelled, "Arthur, over here!"
Arthur and the people he had been talking with came over and one of the woman said, "That's the girl!" However, she didn't reach out to take her.
The child's body was soaked with blood and Arthur visualised another grave being dug. Gawaine had clutched the child to his chest and carried her to the clear ground in the middle of the hamlet. He motioned to Erik who happened to be Sir Rook's brother and one of the squires to pull off his cloak and lay it on the dirt. Gawaine nodded his thanks and carefully laid the bundle of the child's body on it.
None of the three women present stepped forward to become involved. It wasn't until later that Merlin explained to Arthur that stepping forward would have meant claiming the child and acknowledging a willingness to take care of her.
Rhylin handed Gawaine a wet cloth and he proceeded to clear away the filth and ashes from her face. She was a mite of a thing and smelled. Rook said, "Give her to me, I'll get her cleaned up a bit and we can see how wounded she is." Erik went with him.
Gawaine looked at Arthur relieved, he knew nothing about children and was sure that he would have done the wrong thing. Arthur had said almost apologetically, "I wouldn't know what to do either, Merlin is usually with us and he takes care of things like that."
One of the women came out of her undamaged cottage with a large cloth and stood watching as Rook carefully tried to remove more dirt and the girl's skirt which was burnt and had scorched her legs. The child had not murmured or opened her eyes, however she was still breathing…then he noticed that half of her left hand had been sliced off.
He turned to his brother who looked green and said, "It must have happened when her mother was killed. How she hasn't bled to death I don't know!" He took the cloth from the woman and without trying to disturb the bloody mess, wrapped it up to stop it from being hit and maybe starting to bleed again.
He thought of his little girls and the lovely clothes they wore and asked the women if she had anything he could use to cover the child. The women returned to her cottage and came back with a pair of boy's pants. She whined, "I was keeping these for my son when he grew older."
Rook nodded at Simon who had come over to join them, he reached into the purse on his belt and gave the women a coin worth well more than the cost of the little pants. Simon said, "You wouldn't maybe have a tunic we could also buy?"
Rook smiled; Simon's sarcasm was lost on the woman and then he felt guilty as these people were all very poor. The woman however was not offended and trotted back to the cottage to return with a too large girl's linen blouse. She waited for her payment and then left them.
The blouse was so large that it fitted the child like a dress, so he told Erik to bring the pants in case they needed them later. The knight then carefully carried the child back to Arthur. "What are we going to do with her?"
"One of the villages will look after her," Arthur said adding, "I'll see that they receive an allowance until she is able to do her fair share of work."
Rook shook his head and Simon said, pointing to the child's arm, "There's a problem she's missing half her hand."
Arthur's heart dropped. According to Gaius, children with infirmities were often abandoned outside their villages. If what Simon was saying was right, the child would never survive without needed medical care. He knew only one thing, 'Where was Merlin when he needed him?'
Rook put the child back into Gawaine's arms as Arthur said, "We can't leave her here, she needs a healer's care. We'll keep her with us tonight. If she's kept dry and warm, maybe she will wake up."
Rook nodded, "She'll be more likely to survive if we can get her to Gaius."
"I don't intend to take her back to Camelot, just find some village with a healer, then leave her for a good family to take her in," Arthur said.
Gawaine looked at the child and said, "I don't see any family coming forward to take her as she will not be as able to work in the fields or around the house as a normal child. She might yet lose her arm."
"We can find someone in the lower town to look after her for a few pennies a week," said Simon.
Arthur finally nodded, the kid was probably not going to survive the night, they could bury her before they left. If she was alive tomorrow and survived the return to Camelot she could be looked after by one of the families in their own town.
Adding to anyone who was listening, "Remember, Simon, she's your responsibility. Now, We'll camp near the stream. Gregory, see to the horses! Erik, get a fire going!" The squires moved immediately to carry our their king's orders.
Supper was better than expected, the village headsman insisted that the knights eat his food and they sat around the fire enjoying rabbit stew with parsnips and bread freshly baked that morning. Gawaine had left Simon in charge of the child while he had gone to convince one of the housewives to part with some of her homemade ale.
Arthur smiled as once he returned, he pushed Simon out of the way so that he again sat next to the little girl who was still unresponsive and rolled in a blanket on his bedroll.
"You'd better watch it, Gawaine, kids get under your skin!" said Rook.
"Don't be silly!" Arthur said. "What would Gawaine do with a kid when he spends all his free time in the alehouse?"
Gregory and Erik returned the cooking pot to the headsman's wife, thanking her. She gave the young men a sweet cake each, saying with a smile, "They're for you, Lads, not those burly knights."
Erik smiled thanking her and thinking to himself that this time next year, if all went according to plan, this lad would be a burly knight.
-0-0-
Half expecting to be woken by the little girl during the night, Gawaine was surprised to have slept until morning. It was sunny and hopefully that night would find them another day closer to Camelot. Maybe today, they'd bump into Merlin and Spenser. The child was still breathing almost normally and her forehead was cool. The cloth around her wrist didn't have any fresh signs of blood but Gawaine knew that when they started moving her, it might start bleeding again.
Arthur broke his fast with the hamlet elders and suggested that they consider moving to an area closer to another village. He would see that they received help building cottages and getting settled. No decision was made and Simon was sure that if they returned next year this hamlet would still be inhabited and in the same position of helplessness in the face of a future attack.
Arthur thought, 'Why couldn't these people realise that there was safety in numbers and start again in an established village?'
Bedrolls packed, horses watered, fed and saddled the group of knights stood in the centre of the village. Simon held the child until Gawaine was mounted and then handed her to him. Arthur smiled at seeing the knight so engrossed in someone other than himself.
He noticed a woman walking up to Gawaine's horse and she stopped beside Simon. Arthur heard had say, "My daughter died so you can have these clothes as well." She held a well worn girl's blouse, a rather tatty home spun skirt and little shawl. Using the shawl and with tears in her eyes, she made a bundle. "My husband was buried two days ago, I don't think I'll have any more children." Suddenly, Arthur felt uncomfortable and Simon dug deeper and gave her a handful of coins which she pocketed with a sad little nod of thanks.
All the knights but Simon were mounted, Arthur had a few words with the hamlet's residents and led his group back to the road.
Simon was ready to mount his horse when he was approached by a youngish women with a baby in her arms and a boy at her knee. "Sir?" She handed Simon a leather wrapped package the size of a generous slice of bread. "This was the mother's. She said that once they had enough money to get a home, she would feel safe. She asked me to keep this for her girl if anything happened. So, I buried it in my cottage but it is not mine, it belongs to her daughter."
Simon took the soil covered package saying, "Do you know the child's name?"
"No! She only ever called her 'My Little Dove'. I heard her father calling her once but I couldn't make out the name. I remember that her mother's hands were so smooth. They made mine look like the bark of an old oak.
"Her husband, she called him Niall was lovely, he treated her so kindly. He would bring fuel for their little fire and carry water for her. He treated her like a real lady. Please find a good family for the little one."
Simon nodded, mounted and turned to catch up to the others. He'd give the packet to Arthur later.
-0-0-
Merlin and Spenser had finally found the village in which Gaius's letter could be delivered. It was off the beaten track and Spenser knew that Arthur was now at least a day if not two ahead of them. He laughed to himself because at least in travelling with Merlin, he had not only a pleasant travelling companion but also someone whose ability to cook from practically nothing was well documented.
They had opted not to stay in the village but had accepted the roughly wrapped packet for Gaius. As they left, Spenser said, "I hope it's nothing disgusting that leaks during the night."
Merlin grinned and croaked, "Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog…!"
They managed to cross a river and were camping on a knoll surrounded by boulders and trees. It was very quiet and they both fell asleep easily.
Merlin was woken early in the morning by voices but hearing no sounds of distress, he figured that it was only some early risers or merchants on their way to market in a neighbouring village. He started the fire, adding a little water to the gruel waiting for it to heat before waking Spenser.
Soon the two of them were on the road when Merlin noticed, an intermittent trail of dark splotches in the dust to one side of the road. As soon as he put his finger into the stickiness and smelled it, he knew that it was blood.
They continued on their way with Merlin keeping his eye on the blood droplets. By the time they reached the next village, they were greeted by a group of villagers standing under a tree staring at something.
Merlin dismounted and walked forward and as the group turned to look at him, he saw a lad of maybe eleven sprawled on the grass at the base of the tree. He said, "What happened?" as he sank to his knees to try to find a pulse. He didn't expect to find one as the ground was soaked in blood.
An elderly woman said, "He was 'ere this morning when I gots up. I didn't 'ear nothin'. Some voices earlier but 'adn't thought nonthin' of it as 'tis market day. His throat has been slit."
"He don't belong to no one 'ere," said a man glancing apprehensively at the knight holding the two horses in the village square.
Merlin could see that the boy also had a gaping wound on his leg which was probably the source of the blood on the road. He could do nothing for him and returned sadly to Spenser. "There's something fishy but I don't know what. The lad is about eleven, he's had his throat slit but he doesn't belong to the village. Looks like he's just been dumped there. The wound on his leg would't have killed him but the slash to his throat did. Some kids have the worst of luck…wonder why he was wandering around in that condition?"
They joined the road again and Merlin temporarily put the boy's death out of his mind. They made good time and by nightfall had reached a village with an inn. Spenser said, "My treat!" and got them accommodation for the night. True it was dormitory style but better than sleeping on the ground especially as it had started to rain.
"We're a fine pair stuck here when our other halves are travelling ahead of us. I'll be glad to get home for a nice bath, good company and a more comfortable bed that this. It's not that you're not good company, just not the company I crave," said Spenser with a grin.
Merlin laughed…
-0-0-
Arthur and his knights were moving slower than usual. Gawaine had told them to go ahead and he could manage the child alone but Rook shook his head. "You need help mounting. What are you going to do, juggle her as you leap onto your horse? If Arthur agrees, at least keep Erik with you."
But Arthur decided that they should stay together. He knew that somewhere behind them were Merlin and Spenser. It would give them a chance to catch up.
It also gave him time to go over in his mind, the happenings over the last few days. They'd left Camelot to visit three major villages. Each was doing well and he felt sure had appreciated his visit. Even though they could be tiring, he felt that royal visits reinforced the villagers' feeling of belonging. There were tied to the kingdom, a royal visit and the aid it often generated was their proof.