Page 213 of Historical Hotties
Thor, however, was the fighter.
A war god, just like his namesake.
“I gave my son to you on loan for two years,” Gage said, trying to keep his temper down. “He was to accompany you to the Levant and fulfil his destiny as a great and noble knight, but that did not happen. He has returned home prematurely. Did you not think that I, as his father, also have plans for him upon his return? Plans that did not include playing a companion to the king.”
Henry’s features darkened. “He could only be so fortunate.”
Gage could see that he wasn’t getting anywhere, so he had to shift tactics. He was dealing with an ill old man, one who was also conniving, and butting heads with him wasn’t going to work. He’d known that from the start. Months of missives back and forth regarding the return of Thor to the north had culminated in Gage’s presence here at Westminster. Henry had refused him audience for three solid weeks, and Gage knew why.
They were at the crux of that reason now.
Henry didn’t want to let Thor go.
“Of course he has been fortunate,” Gage said. “But I have great plans for him also. I expect him to take command of Septentrion Castle, my largest garrison, and a property he will inherit when I pass. It is his. Does a man not have a right to his own property?”
Henry simply looked at him. Then he spoke to Edward, standing behind him to his right, without looking at him.
“Edward?” he said. “Please tell Ashington our intentions for his son. The time has come.”
Edward didn’t look particularly eager to speak. “Now?” he said. “In front of everyone? Do you not wish to tell Ashington privately?”
“Nay,” Henry said in a calculated move. “Tell him now.”
Edward grunted, looking to Gage apologetically. “I will clear the hall,” he said. “I should not be—”
Henry cut him off, standing up from the chair he’d been planted in. “Nay,” he said firmly. “You willnotclear the hall, Edward. I will tell Ashington what we have planned for his son so that everyone may understand that what I have to offer him is far more prestigious than a little castle somewhere in Northumberland. Let his fellow warlords tell him what a great offer it is.”
Gage could hear the condescension in Henry’s voice. The man was going to try to use peer pressure to get his wants. “Septentrion is hardly a little castle, your grace,” he said. “It is large and strategic.”
Henry waved him off. “Compared to what I am prepared to offer him, it is a pittance,” he said. Then he pointed at Gage. “Listen to me and listen well, Ashington, because I have a little story for you.”
“Go on, your grace.”
Henry was moving stiffly, moving for one of the long feasting tables near Gage. He intended to sit, but before he did, he gestured to the men in the hall, men around him.
“Who do you see here?” he asked. “Look at them—do you not see the Earl of Canterbury? Daniel de Lohr?”
Gage’s focus moved to the big blond warlord standing off to the side. Daniel de Lohr had inherited Canterbury from his father, David, who passed away about ten years ago. The deLohrs were legendary in the history of England and particularly during the last sixty or so years.
He acknowledged the earl who was also his friend.
“Of course I know Canterbury,” he said, watching Daniel smile faintly. “We are old friends.”
“And you know that Daniel’s uncle, Christopher de Lohr, gained his fortune through marriage,” Henry said. “Who else do you see here?”
Gage spied another Northerner, Edward de Wolfe, son of the greatest knight the north had ever seen. William de Wolfe, Earl of Warenton, was a living legend, and his sons were all a chip off the old block, so to speak. De Wolfe had six grown sons, and while five of them had followed the warring ways, Edward had followed the path of his grandfather and namesake, Edward de Wolfe, and become Henry’s counselor and premier diplomat. He was quite young for such a role, but he was excellent because he had been mentored by Henry’s greatest chancellor, Roi de Lohr, the Earl of Cheltenham. Roi was Daniel’s cousin and a greater statesman had never existed. Roi was here, too, standing with Edward, both of them watching Gage to see how the man was reacting to Henry’s bullying.
It was difficult not to feel pity for the man.
“I see de Wolfe and de Lohr,” Gage finally said. “I see great men. What is your point, your grace?”
Henry glanced over at Edward and Roi before speaking. “My point is that William de Wolfe married well. That is how he gained much by way of fortune, even if he did marry a Scot. Christopher de Lohr married Arthur Barringdon’s daughter and inherited Lioncross Abbey Castle and the Barringdon fortune, which set him up to create his empire. Menmustmarry well, Gage, though I do not have to tell you that, considering you assumed the Ashington earldom through your wife. Do younot think that Thor has the right to do the same, given the opportunity?”
Gage rubbed at his forehead as if to rub away the headache that threatened. “I would appreciate it if you would say what you mean, your grace.”
Henry cocked his head in a gesture of agreement. “Very well,” he said. “Your son is a great knight, Gage. We both agree on that. You want him in your service and I want him in mine. I can offer him more than you can.”
“Such as what?”
