The Devil’s Diadem by Sara Douglass

‘They are not my matters,’ I said, ‘and not my worry.’

Hugh and d’Ecouis exchanged a glance, then Hugh tipped his head, as if the matter was of no concern.

‘Indeed,’ he said. ‘Perhaps we shall see you at court?’

‘Perhaps,’ I said. ‘Master,’ said Robert, ‘we must ride on. The countess is with child and this cold does her no good.’

‘Indeed,’ the master said once again and inclined his head in farewell as we turned our horses back to the road.

‘I have lost the immediate threat of Henry’s malice,’ I muttered to Alianor, ‘only to be left with that of the Templars. What in sweet Christ’s name can they want from me?’

With that unanswerable question hanging between us, we resumed the ride toward the de Lacy manor and hall.

Chapter Seven

The de Lacy’s manor hall sat atop a rise amid meadows and fields not far from the banks of the Fleet River. I imagined that in spring and summer it was a delightful place, with views right down to London, Westminster and the curving Thames, but now, in this January freeze, their lands were as cold as anywhere else.

Their hall, however, its lower floor built of stone, its upper of wood, was warm and comfortable. I settled happily, enjoying the company and the respite from the busyness of London and the excitement and intrigue of court. My stay here was meant to be quiet, spent in front of fires, with gentle conversation to amuse me, but on my third day there came news that a fair day was to be held on the morrow on the Thames, upriver from the bridge, to mark Plough Monday.

Since the day of the Great Storm, which had seen scores of barges and boats crash into the bridge, creating a dam of splintered timbers, the waters upriver from the bridge had become almost completely still and for the past weeks the river had been freezing over, the ice growing ever more thick. Now the watermen of the Thames had declared the ice safe enough for man and beast alike to gambol over.

The Londoners, not ones to miss the opportunity for combining money-making and fun, had decided to hold a festival and fair. There were to be sports, dancing, hare chasing, dog races, bonfires, outdoor feasts, contests of all descriptions, mummers and players, troubadours and minstrels — and all on the ice.

Gilbert Ghent, who brought us this news, stood before myself, Alianor and Robert, his eyes a-gleam, and I had to smile at the hope in his face.

‘My lady?’ said Robert. ‘It is but a short ride away.’

‘There will be tents full of benches and braziers a-plenty for the ladies to sit and rest, if needed,’ Ghent said.

I did not need to be persuaded. ‘A gentle ride there,’ I said, ‘and we shall see on our arrival if we wish to stay, or return to our fires here. So long as tomorrow is not full of sleet or rain, then I say we should go.’

The day dawned fine and clear. Even the chill in the air seemed to have moderated. We rose at our leisure, said prayers in the de Lacys’ tiny chapel, broke our fast, and then decided to dare the ride to London.

We entered the city through Lud Gate, turning our horses toward Baynard Castle on Thames Street, running along the riverbank. It was mid-morning, and there were a goodly number of people moving through the streets toward the river, all intent on merry-making. Once on Thames Street we pulled our horses to one side of Baynard Castle, gazing in wonder at the river.

Where once had been flowing greenish water was now creamy ice. It appeared quite solid, for there were horses and laden carts trundling over its surface, as well as men, women and children walking, dancing, running.

Along the centre of the ice were two lines of tents, gaily coloured and with flags and pennants flying from their pinnacles. The de Lacys pointed out some of the standards and devices: some were of inns and taverns, now set up with trestle tables on the ice; some were for various of the guilds and crafts of London, there to sell their wares; some represented nobles, who had set their own tents; others marked bands of players or musicians, and there were the tents of vendors plying food and merchandise. Also, Alianor indicated to me in an undertone, privy tents where we could retire should the need take us.

In front of, and behind the twin rows of tents, were various areas marked out for dancing, racing, games and sports.

There were already crowds of people on the ice, and much noise and jollity.

We left the horses with our grooms and proceeded to a hastily built set of wooden steps leading down to the ice. Robert helped down Alianor, while Ghent took my hand and aided me down the steps.

I was tentative at first, not trusting my weight on the ice nor my footing on its surface, but my confidence grew as I walked further out into the ice fair and soon I was walking with only a light hand on Ghent’s arm.

There was activity everywhere. In one open space two knights were demonstrating sword play to a thick crowd of admirers. In another, a score of boys kicked a leather ball to and fro, trying to get it through large hoops that had been set up fifty or so paces opposite each other. Yet somewhere else a small racing circuit had been established, its bounds fenced with woven hurdles. Here, hares raced, carrying with them the bets of the wildly cheering crowd which had gathered.

One resourceful man had affixed a small sled to a pole which was itself affixed to a central gearing mechanism so that the man could push sledfuls of shrieking children round and round and round at ever faster rates. Elsewhere, adults, well-fuelled by ale, had set up circles on the ice to play Bee in the Middle.

People were selling hot nuts, dried apples, sweetmeats of every description, alcohol — whatever your heart could desire and whatever could be carried easily down to the ice (there was even one tent of whores, though Ghent hurried me past that all too quickly, despite my curiosity).

At one point our group stopped by an archery field set up in the very centre of the river, and it was not long before Alianor and I persuaded Ghent and Robert to show us their skills with the bow and arrow. Gytha watched with wide eyes (I had brought my three women with me), and when Ghent won a ribbon for his skills he presented it to the blushing girl.

I thanked him for that, for it was a sweet and courtly thing to do for a girl who had, I think, seen little pleasure in her life.

We wandered for hours, stopping now and then to rest at one of the tavern tents where we drank small beer and feasted on hot beef from one of the roasting oxen. The ice was such a novelty, and the scene so festive, that none of us truly wanted to leave.

By the late afternoon we had walked closer to the bridge. Here the ice was rougher, for the tides underneath the ice could the more easily pull at its edges, and we did not linger. We could see, also, the tops of the piles of jumbled timbers, poking through the ice and mush, that so obstructed the flow of the river that this ice pond had become possible.

There were groups of boys here who, I think, had imbibed a little too heavily of cups of full ale, for they were loud and raucous and too uncaring of the danger on the rougher ice. Several of them had brought along the smaller bows that boys often learned with, and were running about with arrows dipped in oil and set alight, that they might shoot them a little too close to their friends for comfort.

We left, lest they started shooting those arrows in our direction.

‘We should make our way back to the stairs,’ Alianor said, ‘and then make our way home.’

I nodded, and there was general agreeance. It had been a full and most enjoyable day, but I was tired now, and content to begin the gentle ride home to rest before a fire.

Everyone was weary, I think, for there was little conversation as we wandered back toward the stairs by Baynard Castle. My head slowly drooped, and, as I leaned ever more heavily on Ghent, I found myself studying the strange patterns in the ice. Occasionally objects had been caught and then frozen into the ice. There were muddy brown fish, and some flotsam and jetsam. An infant rabbit, its jaws wide open in an ever silent scream, its black eyes staring.

That made me shudder, yet I did not look away, for I was strangely fascinated by these objects that had become caught in the ice.