Roland’s lips tightened and his gaze strayed to Sebastian and back again. “I hope she proves worthy of you.”
“That she deigned to warn us is a good indication of that,” Amaury said. “She could have kept silent and let me ride into Marnis, unaware of the danger awaiting me.”
“I do not like it,” Roland muttered.
“There is much to dislike in our situation. Let us contrive a way to improve it.” Amaury beckoned to his brother. “Tell me all that you know,” he invited as they crouched together near the blaze of the fire. The meat crackled as it roasted, one of the boys steadily turning a makeshift spit. He knew that three of his brothers’ men walked the perimeter of the camp, and that two of the squires of his own companions watched the horses. He knew the land was silent and all at peace, but he could not quell the agitation within himself.
He hated the sound of Sebastian riding away, the horses’ hoofbeats fading from earshot all too quickly. He hated his certainty that his father would have found a way to mend the disagreement before it came to this result.
“Matters have worsened with Marnis,” Roland said from beside him. “Particularly in the last two years. Our crops failed two seasons ago, due to the weather.”
“Too much rain, then not enough,” one of Roland’s companions confided. “And sickness in the village.” He noddedto Amaury. “You may not recall me, my lord. I am Oswald and was but a youth when you left.”
Amaury nodded. “I do remember you, Oswald. You aided the smith on occasion.”
That man nodded agreement, deferring again to Roland.
“We might have surmounted the challenges, but the Lord de Marnis began to attack our borders,” Roland said. “He was clever and left no sign of who was responsible, but we knew it was him.”
“How?” Amaury asked.
“He sent word weekly that Father should cede to him and make Montvieux a daughter estate to Marnis.” Roland gave Amaury an intent look. “Father declined thehonor.”
Amaury nodded. He was aware that his three companion knights lingered close enough to listen. “And then?”
“And then there was a great storm last autumn. The river overflowed its banks and the village flooded. We lost many lives, and yet more in the pestilence that followed. Part of the forest was burned one night, thieves preyed upon those who used our roads, and the mill was attacked in the night and set ablaze.”
“The mill? So close as that?”
“Aye,” Oswald agreed.
Philip’s father was the miller of Montvieux, though Amaury would have been concerned even if he was not. “And the miller’s family?”
“Escaped hale, with only the clothes upon their backs,” Oswald asserted, to Amaury’s relief.
“But alive,” Amaury said, to be certain, and the pair before him nodded agreement.
“Those from Marnis grew bolder in their assaults and their insulting offers over the winter. Father feared they would storm the very gates in the spring, so he dispatched us to seek aid. Irode north,” Roland said. “To the king’s own court, with three of those men loyal to the house.”
“So many,” Amaury mused. There had been seven knights in the employ of Montvieux: to dispatch three and a son of the house told him much about his father’s fears.
“We feared assault on the road.”
“We feared to not arrive at our destination at all,” Oswald added. “My lord Sebastian rode east to the archbishop who has always been a friend to your father, also with three warriors loyal to Montvieux.”
Amaury winced, though said naught at all. His brothers departing with six men would leave Montvieux’s defenses thin. His father must have been fearful, indeed.
“We were gone a fortnight,” Roland said and Sebastian nodded agreement.
“You must have ridden hard to reach Paris and return in that time.”
“We did. We did not know what would occur in our absence.”
So, all had known the risk. That told Amaury even more about the threat. He glanced up to see Luc shake his head once. “What did the king say?”
Roland almost laughed. “What kings always say. Father warned us of the excuses he might offer. The demands upon his purse were legion. He would have peace in all his demesne.”
“He could not favor one lord’s demand over that of another,” Oswald added bitterly.