In irritation. Sprig turned to stalk in Cecil's direction.

Cecil leaned towards him. "The time has come to register a new beginning in the annals of history, John. In a short while, God willing, we'll be part of a royal household. What is more, it will be accomplished without a cup of blood being spilled."

The sound of dogs barking echoed around the courtyard, when as if from nowhere a tall, fit, and very muscular man stepped from a doorway. All heads turned to look as the man stepped briskly with the dogs by his side.

Philippe had just managed a glimpse at the duke out of the corner of his eye, when Sprig called the men to attention again.

Philippe watched as Duke William of Normandy, the man he knew by reputation to be vidous, murdering, cunning and tyrannical, strode over to Eumer and the contumelious Sergeant Snap. He studied the men as the duke approached Eumer, who looked down at his paymaster. This encounter, Philippe realized, was very personal, and he watched the tableau, deriving amusement at the frustration on Snap's face as he strained to make out the words of intrigue to no avail.

"You know what must be done," the duke whispered. "You will have the rest of your payment in gold as soon as you have discharged your service to me. If anything should go awry, though, you must leave England immediately. You've never been to Normandy, nor have we ever met." William passed to Eumer a bag of gold coins. "Are you perfectly sure of your target?"

"Yes, My Lord; I am fully cognizant of my intended quarry. You have no reason to feel any doubt as to my resourcefulness. I've plenty of time to observe him and to plan for the event in detail. I leave nothing to chance; you can be assured of that. There will be no trace or evidence that would lead back to your person." Eumer replied as he took the bag of gold. He placed it deeply into his saddlebag and sealed the compartment securely.

William patted Toll upon his neck, before approaching the now mounted Cecil. "You're to make it dear that Toll is to be presented to Earl Harold and that it's a spedal gift from me, personally. Subtly remind him of his oaths and promises. Harold is to secure England for my arrival upon the death of King Edward. One more thing-- you've never before in your life clapped eyes on Eumer; is that clear?" William stood authoritatively, leaving no question as to what he meant.

"I will carry out my orders to the letter, my lord. Indeed, I know of no such person bearing that name, nor do any of the other gentlemen in our party." Cecil whispered.

William nodded, his lips pursed tightly, then pivoted to return to his private apartments.

"We ought to now make our way to the coast, because the tide waits for no man," Cecil said looking about the company. He gave a nod to Sprig that they should get moving.

Sprig called for the gates to be opened, and the mounted men trotted across the courtyard and out to the track beyond. Philippe and Alan brought up the rear, followed closely by the tumbril.

As they rode past the tree, Philippe leant across to Alan and pointed at the place where their stash was hidden. "I hope someone doesn't decide to clear the ground and build something on top of our stash," he remarked to Alan with a chuckle.

"Easy come, easy go," Alan replied, who was making a mental note of the location.

"I can't wait to experience the sea first-hand. It's just like being a kid again. You know, the excitement of discovering uncharted territory. I'm going to gain a whole new understanding of our environment, Philippe. To see something new that is totally amazing, and to sail on a real ship, on such a vast stretch of water, too."

As the party began to ride across the bridge, Robert dropped back to join the brothers and took up the rear position between Philippe and Alan.

On the other side of the River Orem, the riders grouped into two lines of three; Cecil, Firmer, and Snap at the front. They trotted past the inn where, not so long before, all hell had broken loose and where now only sadness occupied its empty remains.

Philippe leaned a little towards Robert, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Tell me, Robert. What else do you know about Eumer and Snap?" he whispered.

Robert looked into Philippe's eyes, and they slowed their pace a little, allowing those in front to get dear of any words that could potentially be overheard.

"I know from experience that Eumer can only be a hired killer. I've seen him practicing with his weapons. They're the types of weaponry that are used by men who can afford only the very best. I'm guessing he's an assassin. If you ask me, he is to kill King Edward. You saw the duke speaking to him. He gave him something that looked to me suspiciously like a sack of gold. Then we have that thieving bastard. Sergeant Snap. He's just a madman. He would kill a man for farting too loudly. With him, you should never leave anything other than a slug alone. He will steal anything remotely profitable. He rapes children, too. The moment I get a chance to be alone with him, I will kill him and send him back to his father, the devil."

Philippe began to wonder if Robert had already planned the death of Snap, or if he'd at that moment decided that since he now had allies, he might just as well ask for assistance in Snap's demise.

As they turned into the port, the sea was clearly visible, with hundreds of boats of every kind either anchored or drawn alongside wooden jetties. The six men made their way down the gentle slope towards the jetty, where two ships were awaiting their arrival.

Cecil dismounted and strode down onto the landing stage to meet with the captain. One hour later, the horses and baggage were loaded aboard the two ships.

The tide was high, the breeze blew from the south, and the ships slowly began their journey to England, the land of milk and honey.

"Bloody hell!" Alan called. For the first time in his life he tasted the salty sea. "Merde! This is undrinkable filth!"

Philippe just smiled and shook his head as he watched Alan feeling the briny ripples flow through his fingers.

Alan tirrned to look back at the coastline slowly receding behind them. The horses don't seem to mind the rocking, he thought. He glanced at Philippe, who was seated, his head resting on his arm, before turning to see what Robert was up to. He saw him feeding a large seagull stale bread. He moved to sit beside Philippe, his concerns still troubling him. "Are you sure we won't fall off the edge of the sea?" Alan asked with a mixture of excitement and just a little trepidation.

On hearing the question Robert looked back and smiled, before slowly shaking his head and returning to the task of feeding the hungry seagulls.

"I'm quite sure, Alan. We'll be just fine," Philippe replied, gazing aimlessly out to sea.

Alan noticed another boat with full sail heading their way, but paid it no heed until he heard the captain's yell for all men to come to arms.

"Pirates!" came the cry as an arrow pierced a nearby coxswain's shoulder.

Philippe shoved Alan down behind the railing as he spied two bowmen popping up over the far ship's side. While scrabbling to get to his weapons, his peripheral vision caught Eumer appearing from the far side of the ship where he'd been indolently lazing.

With no apparent emotion showing at the sudden mayhem breaking out around him, Eumer withdrew his crossbow from the carry-sack, loaded the weapon, and took aim. The shot entered the head of the opposing bowman who fell into the water.

As the boat drew alongside, Philippe dove headlong into his brother, knocking him back down behind the rail as the other bowman loosed a shot. He could hear Snap's footsteps pounding across the deck, his curses harsh as he looked for leverage against the pirates making ready to board them. He looked over his shoulder in time to see Snap scraping the wood of the deck as he seized the iron and with one mighty heave, threw a grappling hook aboard the other ship.

Realizing Snap's intent and their sudden advantage, the captain made a grab for the rudder and swung the ship around, pulling the smaller pirate ship side-on. The wind caught the pirate ship's sail and with the weight of the pirates on one side of the now unstable vessel, the attacker's boat capsized.

Snap sliced through the grappling rope, watching with wicked glee as the pirates fell overboard while the others gathered around the stern to watch the ship sink beneath the waves, the screams of the bobbing heads diminishing as the wind and distance took them on.

Philippe assessed that the danger was now behind them and turned his attention to insuring his co-travelers were still all with them. He eased his way over to remove the arrow from the coxswain's shoulder, instructing Robert to hold the victim on his side and still. "You'll live, but this is going to hurt," Philippe stated grimly as he pushed the arrow through the man's flesh to reveal the bodkin. The coxswain fainted with the pain as Philippe snapped off the arrow's point and pulled out the shaft. From his bag, Philippe removed a linen shirt, ripped it into shreds and dipped the linen into the salt water. Using the wetted cloth, he cleaned and dressed the wound. He placed the arrow against the man's arm as a splint then tied coxswain's arm into a sling.

"Where did you learn to do that, Philippe?" Robert queried in admiration.

"I did my allotted time with King Philippe. You learn a great deal as a serviceman in the royal household. The training was good, even if the remuneration was poor." Philippe replied, realizing his remark was becoming repetitious; he smiled, almost embarrassed, and looked away. He felt a bonding, a sort of closeness toward Robert, a kind of kinship, yet he deemed it odd that an attachment was forming between them, for they had known each other for barely twenty-four hours. He felt a hand upon his shoulder and turned to look into the smiling face of Robert.

"Then I'd better stay by your side, just in case, eh," Robert breathed as he patted Philippe affectionately on his shoulder before he noticed everyone ringed around them. "I'm surprised to see that the horses didn't panic," he blustered gruffly.

"The horses are trained to ignore rough weather on board a ship; they'd be no bother." Snap sneered as he moved off to resume his unconcerned position near the bow.