Chapter 337 - 244: Wardship

"I hope he won’t be that bad."

"I have a feeling he’s going to drive you mad in the end," Emma said indignantly, brushing the dew from her robes. "Logically, if he were entrusting the boy to your care, he should have sent him here to be your attendant and receive proper knightly training. You should be the one to grant his knighthood, but he didn’t do that."

"I couldn’t expect to pay no price at all. I know your father must be furious," Eric said, suddenly sweeping Emma into his arms. "Alright, let’s do something more pleasant. Now, let me take you to your bath."

The stares of the maids and attendants made Emma’s face burn.

Eric was never one to pick his moments.

But she didn’t stop him.

"My lord, the Lord of Chippenham begs for an audience." An attendant ran into the castle’s main keep and called out, bowing to Eric’s back.

"Chippenham? What does he want?"

"He didn’t say."

"Did he bring a gift?"

"No, just three knights and five attendants."

"Then let him wait outside." Eric was in no mood to waste time on this insubordinate fellow.

The Lord of Chippenham was Eric’s largest vassal in Wiltshire. According to the size of his fief, he was required to provide Eric with twenty knights—a Baron Level military service.

He was originally a lord directly under the Royal Family, but he was transferred to Eric’s authority along with the lands King Robert granted him.

He seemed to hold quite a grudge about this, and his attitude toward Eric, his direct Feudal Lord, was not deferential. The year before last, when Eric summoned all his vassals to discuss reforms for their lands, this Lord of Chippenham acted as the leader of the opposition, causing Eric a bit of trouble.

"I think I know what this is about," Emma said, patting Eric’s shoulder.

"What is it?"

"I brought someone back with me from Hereford. Her husband was a cousin of my mother’s. He was one of Chippenham’s Vassal Knights. After her husband died in battle, Chippenham seized the land her husband left to her, claiming he was exercising his right of guardianship over a vassal. This has made it difficult for her and her son to survive.

She appealed to my father, trying to ask for his help. But my father didn’t think highly of that cousin of my mother’s because he married a merchant’s daughter, refusing a match my father had arranged for him. This caused my father a great deal of trouble."

"So you want to help her?"

"She’s in a pitiful state. I was thinking of making her one of my ladies-in-waiting. At least it would solve her immediate living problems."

"I suspect there’s more to it than that. Are you also hoping I’ll grant her son a knighthood and, better yet, get his land back for him?" Eric said with a smile.

"Those are your words, I didn’t say anything," Emma said, turning her head to look away. "However, I imagine that the just, brave, upright, and kind Earl of Gloucester wouldn’t turn a blind eye to such an illegal act, would he?"

"Not a villainous little thief?"

"That’s right. So now I’m going to chop off the thief’s hand." Emma knew Eric was teasing her, and she smiled as she playfully chopped his shoulder with the side of her hand.

"Alright, I’ll see if I can offer some help. Where is she now?"

"She’s in the great hall. How about I take you to see her now?"

"Actually, I’d rather take that bath first."

...

Before entering the great hall, Emma looked at Eric.

"What are you going to say when you go in?"

"What else is there to say? ’My lady, you wouldn’t want your son to be bullied, would you?’" Eric said with a laugh.

"Why does that sound so strange?" Emma punched Eric lightly on the chest.

"To be honest, I don’t actually think Chippenham would be foolish enough to do something like this and give me leverage against him," Eric then said seriously.

"I think so too, but people do foolish things these days. Besides, Chippenham deserves a lesson. He actually dared to pursue her all the way to Hereford."

Emma nodded, then pushed open the doors to the great hall and led Eric inside.

The great hall was brightly lit by forty or fifty candles. The light fell upon tapestries, a large polished table, a dozen or so long benches, a prayer stool carved with scenes of Christ’s suffering, and a long sofa covered in fur. The floor was covered with deerskins.

A black-haired woman was sitting on one of the benches. She was about thirty years old, and her wrinkled dress looked shabby.

She was holding a child of seven or eight in her arms, trying to rock him to sleep.

When Eric and Emma entered, she spat on her fingers and wiped the dirt from her child’s face.

Seeing the look in Eric and Emma’s eyes, she grew embarrassed.

The sound of the door opening woke the child, and he began to struggle.

"Gisa, this is the Earl of Gloucester, the direct Feudal Lord of the Lord of Chippenham. You may present your petition to him," Emma said.

The woman quickly put him down.

The woman bowed to Eric and Emma and gave her son a gentle push.

"Kneel," she whispered.

Her son did not do as she wished. He seemed upset at being woken up, so he began to cry, burying his face in his mother’s skirt.

This made the scene even more awkward.

Eric pulled a piece of candy from his coat and handed it to the little one, which finally quieted him down.

"I beg your forgiveness for my son’s offense, Lord Earl. His name is Gilbert Giffard, the rightful master of Glastonbury Manor. The Lord of Chippenham has infringed upon his natural and legal rights to Glastonbury Manor."

The woman bowed to Eric again. Although she spoke in French, Eric could clearly tell it was not her mother tongue.

This meant she was likely a Saxon, or worse...

Afterward, Eric listened to her appeal, which was essentially the same as what Emma had described.

...

A short while later, Eric had the guards open the castle gates and allow the Lord of Chippenham and his knights to enter.

They hadn’t left, so they were soaked through by the rain.

The Lord of Chippenham was a middle-aged man of about forty, with a pale face and wary eyes. He was thin, with a light-colored beard and long, white, bony hands, which he kept clasped in front of his downturned mouth.

This Lord had been waiting for the King to grant him the title of Baron, but his wait had not brought him a good outcome. Instead, a new superior had been dropped on him from above; he had been completely overlooked by the new King.

This left him filled with resentment.

Eric left them to dry in the great hall for another hour before he finally received them.

"My respected lord, the Earl of Gloucester, your loyal vassal, Brian De Le Havre, Lord of Chippenham, humbly petitions you."

"A request for what?"

"I request that you allow me to exercise my right of guardianship over my vassal."

"Guardianship?"

"Yes. A Feudal Lord has the right to exercise guardianship over the underage heir of a vassal. But this wretched woman has abducted my vassal’s heir from my manor. This is illegal."

"A mother abducting her own son? What a novel concept, Chippenham."

"No, my respected lord. It is a serf who has abducted a freeman—or, shall we say, a half-freeman."