Dispensation of Death

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Ellis was almost back at the palace when the man stopped him.

The fellow was young, and quite slim for a man-at-arms, but from the heraldry on his breast, he was a servant of Earl Edmund. He wasn’t the sort of man to upset, but Ellis didn’t care.

‘What?’ he demanded ungraciously.

‘A present. For your master from mine,’ the man said. ‘Do not open it yourself, though, it is for Sir Hugh le Despenser and him alone’

Ellis took the leather package and hefted it. It was quite heavy, for all that it was about the size and shape of a pig’s bladder. He jerked his head to have the man move out of his path, then strode onwards.

The gate was busy, as ever. There were always traders entering, politicians idling their way past, guards sitting and gossiping with pots of ale or wine, and the sound of thousands of men and women talking as loudly as possible, selling wares, shouting for attention, demanding people stop and consider their goods.

Not for him today, though. He had been sent to the Bishop’s house with an urgent mission, and now he had a gift for his master too. He shouldered his way through the crowds and out to the Green Yard gate. ‘For Sir Hugh le Despenser,’ he said, holding up the package, and was soon through.

He had been told to bring his message to the King’s chambers, so he made his way there now, easily getting past the different guards. All knew him. All worked for him. All were paid by him.

The last pair were at the King’s doors. Ellis motioned for them to stand aside, then rapped smartly on the timbers. Hearing the King’s command to enter, he opened the door and walked in.

‘Ah, Ellis,’ Despenser said. ‘You have it for me?’

‘Yes. I went there as you asked, and his servant gave it to me.’

‘Good. Where is it?’ He took the small scrap from Ellis and glanced at it with relief. Then he saw the leather parcel slung from Ellis’s shoulder. It was a simple bag, with a thong that passed about the mouth, and this had been tied firmly. ‘What’s that?’

‘It’s a gift from Earl Edmund.’

‘Really?’ Despenser said. He was intrigued. The Earl was more likely to send an assassin, like the one who had tried to kill him on Sunday.

The King was surprised too. ‘I didn’t think my brother would usually consider sending you a present, Sir Hugh.’

‘Nor did I, my Liege,’ Sir Hugh said, but added with a smile, ‘yet he and I have discussed many matters recently, and we find ourselves often in agreement.’ He set the package down on a table and fumbled with the bindings. It felt like a pot of wine or something. It was quite a weight.

The leather bag opened, and he pulled the drawstrings wide, reaching in and then giving a short gasp and pulling his hand away again, his eyes wide with revulsion. ‘What the-’

‘Sir Hugh?’ the King cried, leaping to his feet.

Ellis’s more practical response was to draw his knife and step to his master’s side. ‘Sir Hugh, what is it?’

Sir Hugh tipped the bag over. Piers’s head rolled out a short distance, the eyes half-lidded, the neck obscenely shortened.

‘I don’t understand you,’ Simon said as Sir Baldwin stood in the yard with hands on hips, and looked up and down with excitement.

‘Simon, it is easy. I wouldn’t trust that son of a leprous whore any more than I’d trust a snake. Not true: I’d trust a snake more than him.’

‘You mean Despenser?’

Baldwin threw him an exasperated look. ‘Come along, Simon. This was your fault, after all.’

‘Mine?’ the Bailiff protested, but Baldwin was already striding up towards the alehouse’s midden.

‘He must have hung about here in order to be hidden,’ he said, pointing up at the wall walk. From almost all angles, Simon could see, they were concealed from view here. And nobody would have bothered to keep much of an eye upon this noisome place.

‘But look,’ Baldwin said, gesturing back towards the Green Yard gate. ‘See? If that fool Pilk was out in front, he would be unlikely to block the archer’s view of Despenser.’

‘So?’

‘So, as you pointed out, there was no need for this man to lean out to fire at Despenser. All he need do was stand here and fire along the building.’

‘Unless there was someone else in the way.’

‘Pilk said not, and we can trust his words, for he actually saw the bowman. If there had been an obstruction, Pilk would not have seen the man.’ Baldwin leaned against the wall with satisfaction. ‘No, I think that explains much. This fellow wasn’t aiming at Despenser.’

‘What? Who, then?’

‘There was one man he’d have to lean out to hit, and hit safely without hurting another — and yet leave it looking as though he’d been trying to kill Sir Hugh.’

Simon swore quietly and slammed a fist against his thigh. ‘But why would Sir Hugh conspire to kill his own servant?’

‘If Despenser had paid to have Mabilla killed … how would her brother react?’ Baldwin asked.

Simon nodded. ‘A good point.’

‘A very good point,’ Baldwin said with a brief flash of his teeth. ‘And the best of it is, if we can persuade Ellis of the truth of our words, he might just agree to tell us about his master’s business. This could be the last little thread of the story that ties the whole tapestry together.’

Despenser pointed at the head and barked at Ellis, ‘Take that thing away! Throw it away!’

Ellis was staring at it still, open-mouthed. ‘Why’d he send that to you? It was the Earl’s servant himself gave it me, master. I am sorry.’

‘Get the damned thing off my table!’ the King screamed. ‘Who was it? Dear God in heaven, whatever was my brother thinking of when he-’ He stopped. Never a fool, Edward knew a revenge slaying when he saw one. ‘Who was he?’ he repeated.

‘A man I knew, named Piers de Wrotham,’ Sir Hugh said cautiously. ‘No one of significance.’

‘He isn’t now, anyway,’ the King said drily. The shock was wearing off, and both men could eye the head with interest as Ellis picked it up and shoved it back in the bag.

‘I’ll take it back to Earl Edmund.’

‘Do that. And tell him that I am grateful for his gift, and that I intend to reciprocate in due course,’ Sir Hugh said, his anger already rising at the thought that the King’s youngest brother could have dared to taunt him in this way. No matter. He would have his revenge.

Ellis walked from the chamber with the repugnant package in his hand, hoping against hope that he might meet with one of the Earl’s men, and be able to dump it on him.

‘Master Ellis, I must speak with you!’

He saw Sir Baldwin and his friend, but didn’t slow his pace, snarling, ‘I’ve urgent business. Leave me alone.’

‘Pilk told us that you were investigating the assassin. Did you learn how he got in?’

‘Speak to the fool Arch who was on the wall. He was the weak link. The man knocked him down, I think, and climbed in that way.’

‘Where did he go then?’

‘Down to the Queen’s rooms, I suppose. Now leave me alone! This is business between my master and the Earl of Kent. I will not be delayed.’

‘But we need to talk to you about your sister,’ Simon shouted after him, but he was beyond listening.

Ellis was seething. He wanted to kill someone. For the offence given to his master — and for the murder of his sister.

Sir Hugh excused himself. ‘My Liege, I fear that my man could get into a fight again if he meets with one of the Earl’s men. Would you allow me to leave you and ensure that there is no bloodshed?’

‘Why was my brother willing to decapitate a man and send the head to you?’ the King demanded.

‘It is a question you must put to your brother,’ Sir Hugh said firmly, and he bowed.

‘It is a question I have posed to you, Sir Hugh,’ the King said sharply.

‘My Lord, if I leave this a moment longer, there will be more blood shed for no purpose!’

‘Oh, go if you must, then,’ the King responded petulantly. ‘But be quick! I will have an explanation from you, and from him too. I am not in the habit of receiving heads at my table, Sir Hugh. I do not like the thought that others may consider you are receiving such leniency from my hand.’

But Sir Hugh didn’t wait to hear any more. He bowed his way from the room, and when he had passed through the doorway, he turned and hurried away to the yard. But rather than follow Ellis, he took the path that led him down to the Great Hall and out by the Exchequer. It was that which saved him from bumping into Sir Baldwin and Simon, who were hastening along in the wake of Ellis.

Despenser saw Ellis in the yard as soon as he reached the New Palace Yard, and immediately began to cast about for Pilk. Ah, there he was, over at the main gate, sitting on a bench. As soon as he saw Pilk, Despenser waved to him. The slow-witted idiot seemed not to recognise him at first, but then lumbered to his feet and made his way towards Despenser.

Ellis, meanwhile, was moving at a faster pace. A pair of the Earl’s men were standing at a brazier of charcoal, hands held out to it. Ellis recognised the young man who gave him this ‘gift’, and did not break his stride as he approached them, but instead gathered the bag to his breast, elbows out, and both hands behind it, thumbs under to support it, before flinging it like a stuffed bladder in a football match. It span twice through the air before slamming into the shoulder of one of the men.

He fell, cursing loudly, and his companion had his sword out in a moment. Ellis ignored it, drawing his own and snarling incoherently as he held it aloft and advanced.

And in the midst of the fight, Despenser saw his opportunity. ‘Pilk, in God’s name, stop Ellis. He’s gone mad! Look at him!’

Pilk needed no second urging. He drew his own sword and hurried after Ellis, who meanwhile had kicked the Earl’s man in the head where he lay, and was now attacking the second.

He cared nothing for the scratch he had already experienced on his left arm, but instead attacked relentlessly, his blade always before him so that no further stab might win through. There was no sense to the fight, it was the culmination of the horror of his sister’s death, and then the increasing frustration he felt at not finding her killer. He wanted to lash out until all those who had hurt his sister were dead. And these gilded little popinjays were representatives of the man whom Mabilla had accused of trying to feel up her skirts. The good Earl had tried to rape her, and then sent his man to have Ellis carry that head to his master. Well, Ellis would have his head in return. Tears filled his eyes at the thought of Mabilla’s body lying cold in her grave, and the anguish of loss gave his damaged arm more vigour. He slashed and stabbed faster and faster.

‘Stop that! Stop, Ellis!’

He didn’t register who it was. His blood was up, and any man who approached him was there to try to kill him. So as soon as Pilk was near enough, he span quickly, his sword flashing red, and whipped it past Pilk’s throat. There was a gout of blood, and he sprang forward to plant his fist in Pilk’s face even as Pilk staggered. Then he was back on his other opponent.

But the Earl’s man had not been idle. As soon as Ellis turned to attack Pilk, he reached forward, so low that his hand went to the ground to support him, and his sword thrust up from just above the buttocks. It was not a deep stab, and Ellis hardly seemed to notice it, but when he returned to the attack, he was slower, more ponderous. He could feel it, even though he was unaware that his liver and a kidney were both ruptured. But as he continued, a growing pain in his back told him something was amiss. He tried to return to the assault, but found his eyes growing heavier and heavier, his feet leaden, and suddenly he pitched forward to his knees. He remained there for a moment, blinking, baffled and too tired even to maintain his anger.

But not for long. His opponent would take no risks. His sword whirled once and Ellis’s head was catapulted through the air to join the one still in the bag over by the brazier.

Baldwin and Simon had heard the screams and shouts, and turned to rush back to the yard, but they were too late to stop the fight. They only reached the ground as Ellis sank to his knees, the back of his jerkin and hosen a reddened mess of blood, and just in time to see the Earl’s man bring his blade around and sweep the injured man’s head from his shoulders.

‘A sore loss,’ Despenser said, coming to join them. But there was no sadness in his tone. No, as he gazed at the two bodies, at Pilk’s still shivering from the throes as the last of his blood leached into the gravel about him, and at Ellis’s, where it had fallen forwards to lie on the ground only a matter of yards away, all he knew was satisfaction at a job well done.

‘I hope you are pleased, Sir Hugh?’ Baldwin spat.

‘Me? I have lost two good men here, Sir Baldwin. Naturally I am distressed,’ Sir Hugh replied. But he smiled.

Baldwin clenched his fist; Simon saw and gripped his wrist. ‘Baldwin!’ he muttered in the knight’s ear. ‘Think of Jeanne, and Richalda and little Baldwin. Do not throw away your life and their future in anger!’

‘You are right,’ Baldwin said, taking a deep breath. ‘We have evidence enough already to see you ruined, Sir Hugh.’

‘I had nothing to do with all this, Sir Baldwin. These men started a brawl without my egging them on. They are simply the victim of their own violent natures. And now I shall have to find more men.’

‘Yes. And explain all that happened on the night Jack was killed.’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘I think you do. You commanded Jack to kill the Queen, but then you changed your mind. For whatever reason, you decided to stop Jack. But how to do that? The only way was to kill him.’

‘You call me a murderer?’

‘I call you much worse than that.’

‘Be careful how you speak to me!’

Baldwin was about to say more, when Despenser shook his head.

‘Sir Baldwin! You think you have some marvellous evidence against me? You do not. I knew nothing about this Jack atte Hedge. Nothing. And you cannot prove otherwise.’

‘I shall prove it!’

Despenser shrugged and grimaced without humour, then walked slowly away, from the scene of slaughter, content that with Ellis dead, he was safe.