Free The Blue Falcon by Robyn Carr Page B

word.”
    “ I am the lady of this hall!” she cried.
    “ Aye!” he shouted, still louder than she. “ Lady,” he said with more control, stressing the word, “ I could not spend my time delivering messages to every member of this family if I was to prepare an army for travel.”
    Edythe, who had lingered behind her parents, boldly pushed her way forward and briefly curtsied before Conan. Raising green eyes to his, she said shyly, “ I shall pray for your safety, my brother.”
    Conan was lately seeing the gentle beauty and gracious manner of his young sister. He touched her cheek and smiled. “ Then I shall rest assured, knowing you pray for me.”
    He bowed briefly to his parents and moved to the head of his troop. Orion danced in anticipation of a hard ride. A hand raised high to the man atop the wall and the sounds of the bridge crashing down and the huge oaken doors opening signaled their departure. Mars, occupying Conan’s shoulder, let his wings flap, and his neck craned and beak opened as if to issue a war cry. Orion reared in lustful eagerness to stretch his flanks. The sense that Conan had a oneness with his animals cast an even more powerful light to his already envied status among his peers.
    Alaric watched them ride out and felt his chest expand with pride. He did not notice that Edythe stole away to the chapel, for he stood rooted until the gate was closed and the doors bolted. He then turned to his wife.
    “ You should not question him now, madam. He will prosper if his masters are few and his servants many. Remem ber that.”
    “ Yea, my lord.”
    It had taken great cunning to live with a man as stubborn as Alaric. Udele could enslave him by playing the part he adored: the beautiful and submissive wife. She could pacify him now, and later, when Conan ruled over Anselm and Phalen, she could seek a finer station.
    “ Serve him as well as you have served me,” Alaric said softly.
    Udele’s eyes twinkled and she stroked her husband’s arm. “ Of a certain, my lord.”
    ***
    As Sir Conan led his troop toward Stoddard, he thought heavily on his mission. Stoddard was not great and mighty, but it was terribly important. His father held much wealth a nd the arms were strong. All this would be his in any event. But Conan’s goals were differ ent from most ambitious knights’ : it was not his goal to be the wealthiest knight in all Christendom, but the finest among his peers.
    Much of what Conan lived by had come from the heritage of his family lands, a story told and retold many times over the years. The first de Corbney to establish himself in England was Sir Bayard, a knight of simple means, who fought by the side of William the Conqueror. When the Saxons were sufficiently brought to heel, Bayard built a hall on the spot where Anselm now stood and brought his wife and children from Normandy. Under Bayard’s firm hand and with his support, the Saxons rebuilt their village. A town and hall called Corbney flourished under his hand.
    The only son to survive Bayard was Sir Eldon, who inherited the land. His father had put thirty years of hard work into seeing the small hamlet grow into a substantial little town. But Eldon was more ambitious than his father, and he sought greater kingdoms. To that end, he pressed the people hard, forcing them to labor to provide him with more, but the serfs broke under his pressure and failed him in his quest.
    The course Eldon took next left destruction and cruelty in its wake. He attacked neighboring barons and collected himself an army. As his forces grew it seemed he would take the entire kingdom, and after a decade naught but chaos and murder surrounded Eldon.
    It was King Henry I Beauclerc who summoned Eldon’s cousin, Alaric’s grandfather, to gather an army and put an end to the barbaric rule of Sir Eldon.
    This was no easy task, for Eldon had accumulated an army whose battle skills were sharp and ready. Cunning was needed more than strength, and after days of