‘They’ve sworn their loyalty to me. We’ll see how well they fight when the time comes. I have put them under Renfred’s command.’

Killbere corked the wineskin. ‘And I’ll wager that Godfrey de Claville has already sent riders to warn Charles of Blois that we are on our way to join Chandos.’

‘It makes no difference, Gilbert. Men are swarming in from everywhere. It’s a war between the English and the French in all but name. Their new King will want Brittany under his control, not Edward’s. He’ll send Normans and men from Burgundy to fight alongside the Bretons. He beat Navarre at Cocherel and now he will want to win against de Montfort.’

‘The question is, who makes the first move and where? Do any of those Navarrese prisoners know anything about Beyard?’

‘He was taken for ransom on the battlefield by one of the Breton lords. Godfrey de Claville lied to us. Ranulph de Hayle was here. He bought some of the Spanish prisoners. De Claville kept others back. The French have a profitable trade going on.’

‘Then you think he had Beyard?’

‘No.’

‘Why not? The lying whoreson might have made a healthy profit on him.’

‘I spoke to the Spanish. One of them thought he might have been taken to the castle at Auray.’

Killbere smiled. ‘Now, that’s convenient. We are to meet Chandos near there.’

‘And all we need to do is ensure that we get de Montfort and Chandos to do as we want. If Beyard’s held there, then we need to get inside.’

‘Which will be the more difficult? Getting inside such a stronghold or convincing Chandos and de Montfort to let us?’

‘That we’ll have to see when we get there. In the meantime, we must ensure these newcomers do not cause friction among us. Especially any feeling the men have about the Jew.’ Blackstone walked to the edge of the forest where the men were camped. Clusters of them stood around the covered cart that bore Meulon, cosseted on a straw mattress and watched over by ben Josef. Blackstone’s men looked warily at the man in his Spanish garb.

‘The Navarrese I ransomed spoke well of the Jew. They told me that de Grailly had campaigned with him before as his surgeon. I didn’t know that.’

‘De Grailly’s a Gascon: he probably didn’t want the Pope hearing about it. He excommunicated the Castilian King for having Moors as his personal guard. No man needs a religious conflict bearing down on him when there’s a war to be fought,’ said Killbere.