BooksBarbecue
Back Winter Pilgrims
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Book
  3. About the Author
  4. Kingmaker: Winter Pilgrims
  5. Dedication
  6. Though the Lancastrian Claim comes from Edward III’s THIRD son, it relies on a) possession and b) that the crown can not pass through a woman – Philippa Mormer – so must fall to the next male in line. The Yorkist Claim relies on their descent from Edward III’s SECOND son, and says it can pass through Philippa. The Tudor Claim ignores the fact of passing through a woman – Lady Margaret Beaufort – or that John, Earl of Somerset, was born illegimate.
  7. Factions in the Wars of the Roses
  8. Prologue
  9. PART ONE
  10. 1
  11. 2
  12. 3
  13. 4
  14. PART TWO
  15. 5
  16. 6
  17. 7
  18. 8
  19. 9
  20. 10
  21. 11
  22. 12
  23. 13
  24. PART THREE
  25. 14
  26. 15
  27. 16
  28. 17
  29. 18
  30. 19
  31. PART FOUR
  32. 20
  33. 21
  34. 22
  35. 23
  36. PART FIVE
  37. 24
  38. 25
  39. 26
  40. 27
  41. 28
  42. 29
  43. 30
  44. 31
  45. PART SIX
  46. 32
  47. 33
  48. PART SEVEN
  49. 34
  50. 35
  51. 36
  52. 37
  53. 38
  54. 39
  55. Acknowledgements

‘I know that, William. But I want everyone to know that if they take up arms and follow that bastard-born Somerset, or bloody old Tudor, or any man, against us, then they will pay for it with their lives. They have shown us no mercy, and so by God we shall show them none either.’

Hastings remains doubtful.

‘But who among them has a choice?’ he asks. ‘Commissions of Array are one thing, but if you owe your livelihood to a man and that man demands you harness yourself and march with him to war, then what can you do? If you refuse, you’ll be evicted and your goods given to another who will fight.’

But March is determined. Losing a father and a brother might do that to a man, Thomas supposes. Katherine meanwhile is now sitting with her head lolling on its thin stem. Thomas asks Hastings if there is anywhere he might find for her to sleep.

‘Of course, of course. I am sure we can find somewhere. She should take a little wine and then rest.’

‘And may I ask if you have news of Sir John Fakenham?’ Thomas asks.

Hastings shakes his head. ‘I have heard nothing,’ he says. ‘I sent a messenger to command him to come to Shrewsbury with every man he could raise, but the messenger never returned. I don’t know if he was prevented from delivering his message, or waylaid on his way back. All I know is that Fakenham was yet to arrive by the time we marched south.’

‘He was summoned to Sandal before Christmastide,’ Thomas says. ‘I was with him when the messenger arrived.’

Hastings takes a drink and Thomas hears him swallow. There is a telling silence for a moment.

‘We can only pray,’ Hastings says. ‘Pray that he still lives.’

Thomas is not invited to sit at the board, but a servant leads Katherine away to her bed, and she leaves with a wary backward glance, trying to find him, but failing. Thomas finds a spot in a passageway outside the kitchen where a dog lies with his jaws on its paws, the light of the rush lamp catching in its liquid eyes, and the wall is warm from the fire, and as he closes his eyes he wonders where she is, and wishes she were there.