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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

‘No,’ she says. ‘You cannot leave us here alone. What if Giles Riven is not with the Queen’s army? What if his son is not? What if that giant of his is still here? What then? It is just me, and Richard, and this Meg.’

Sir John is ashamed but his shoulders are already in mid-shrug.

‘My lady—’ he says.

‘We are coming with you,’ she interrupts. ‘We will not stay here to be murdered.’

Sir John is stricken. He looks at Thomas. Thomas nods slightly.

Sir John lets out his breath.

‘Very well, my lady,’ he says. ‘Very well. We shall leave at first light tomorrow.’

PART SEVEN

To Towton Field, County of
Yorkshire, March 1461

34

IT IS A clear morning and the sun comes up behind them, throwing their shadows long across the frosted mud of the road. Thomas is up front, then Sir John leading Richard by a rope, and then Katherine. Thomas has packed everything he owns because he does not think he will come back to Marton Hall, and just before he loses sight of it for the final time, he turns and tries to remember the happy times. Then he rides on.

The land north of Marton has been spared, and it is only when they cross the Trent at Gainsborough that they encounter the waste left by the northerners again: buildings pulled down for firewood, pens and sties emptied of livestock. There is that smell of something left to rot and ungainly crows squabble in the lower branches.

They ride on through the day towards Doncaster. The road improves, but a sheet of pale cloud obscures the sun and later it begins sleeting again. Sometime in the early afternoon they see a band of eight men on horseback riding ahead. Thomas notches an arrow and waits. Then Katherine recognises Fauconberg’s blue and white livery.

‘Good eyes you’ve got, my lady,’ Sir John says without looking at her.

Soon the men reach them. They are a picket, riding from Pontefract Castle, in full harness.

‘How many men has Fauconberg?’ Sir John asks their captain, a big man who keeps his eyes on Katherine.

‘Six thousand?’ the man guesses. ‘Archers, in the main. King Edward and the Earl of Warwick are bringing more men-at-arms and what have you, and the Duke of Norfolk is expected to bring yet more from the east. We should number something like twenty thousand in the field.’

Sir John whistles admiringly.

‘Such a host!’ he says.

‘Perhaps,’ the captain agrees. ‘But the Queen’s power is greater yet. Almost all the lords are with her. Somerset, of course, Northumberland, Exeter, Dacre, Roos, Devon, Clifford . . .’

He continues naming men of whom Thomas has never heard, but Sir John looks steadily more wintry. When the man finishes the list, Sir John does his best to sound confident.