To kill a king master of.., p.1
To Kill a King (Master of War), page 1
TO KILL A KING
Also By David Gilman
Master of War series
MASTER OF WAR
DEFIANT UNTO DEATH
GATE OF THE DEAD
VIPER’S BLOOD
SCOURGE OF WOLVES
CROSS OF FIRE
SHADOW OF THE HAWK
TO KILL A KING
The Englishman series
THE ENGLISHMAN
BETRAYAL
RESURRECTION
Dangerzone series
THE DEVIL’S BREATH
ICE CLAW
BLOOD SUN
Standalone novels
THE LAST HORSEMAN
NIGHT FLIGHT TO PARIS
Children’s stories
MONKEY AND ME
DAVID GILMAN
MASTER OF WAR
TO KILL A KING
www.headofzeus.com
First published in the UK in 2024 by Head of Zeus,
part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Copyright © David Gilman, 2024
The moral right of David Gilman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (HB): 9781801108096
ISBN (E): 9781801108126
Cover design: Simon Michele
Map design: Vanessa Periam
Head of Zeus
First Floor East
5–8 Hardwick Street
London EC1R 4RG
WWW.HEADOFZEUS.COM
For Suzy, my wife, with love
CONTENTS
Also By David Gilman
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Character List
Maps
Epigraph
PROLOGUE
PART ONE: THE ROAD TO WAR
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
PART TWO: SINS OF THE FATHER
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
PART THREE: TO KILL A KING
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
PART FOUR: THE CLAW
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
PART FIVE: THE KILLING FIELDS
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
PART SIX: PURSUIT AND CAPTURE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
PART SEVEN: SHADOW OF DEATH
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
CHAPTER SIXTY
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
CHAPTER SEVENTY
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
Author’s Notes
Acknowledgements
About the Author
An Invitation from the Publisher
CHARACTER LIST
*Sir Thomas Blackstone
*Henry Blackstone
THOMAS BLACKSTONE’S MEN
*Sir Gilbert Killbere
*Meulon: Norman captain
*John Jacob: Blackstone’s squire and captain
*Renfred: German man-at-arms and captain
*Will Longdon: veteran archer and centenar
*Jack Halfpenny: archer and ventenar
*William Ashford: man-at-arms and captain
*Aicart: Gascon captain
*Rosslyn: Renfred’s scout
*Dene: Renfred’s scout
*Bartholomew: Renfred’s scout
*Tricart: Renfred’s scout
*Walter Root: archer
*Roger Fairfoot: archer
*Bullard: man-at-arms
HENRY BLACKSTONE’S MEN
*Hugh Gifford: man-at-arms and Henry’s guardian
*Walter Mallin: mercenary
*Robert Helyer: mercenary
*Raymond Vachon: French mercenary
*Arnald Bezián: Gascon mercenary
*Eckehart Brun: German mercenary
*John Terrel: mercenary
BRETON MEN-AT-ARMS AND OTHERS
Bertrand du Guesclin: commander
*Jean de Soissons, la Griffe/the Claw: routier
*Pellan: routier
*Le Bourc: captain of Josselin
*Yagu: fisherman
GASCON MEN-AT-ARMS, MERCENARIES AND NOBILITY
*Galhard de Prato: commander of the Château de Langoiran
Garciot du Châtel: mercenary commander
Bertucat d’Albret: mercenary commander
Jean de Grailly: Captal de Buch
ENGLISH ROYALTY
Edward of Woodstock: Prince of Wales and Aquitaine
John of Gaunt: Duke of Lancaster
ENGLISH OFFICIALS, ALLIES, MERCENARIES, MEN-AT-ARMS AND OTHERS
Sir John Chandos: Constable of Aquitaine
Sir Nigel Loring: the Prince’s chamberlain
Steven Cusington: Marshal of the Army
Guichard d’Angle: Marshal of the Army
John, Count d’Armagnac
James IV: exiled King of Majorca
Eustache d’Aubricourt: Hainault mercenary
Sir Hugh Calveley: mercenary commander
Sir William Felton: knight
*Flemyng: man-at-arms
*Alfred Vaisey: routier
William Durant: Warden of Merton College, Oxford
*Clara: Durant’s niece
FRENCH ROYALTY
Charles V: King of France
FRENCH OFFICIALS, NOBILITY, MERCENARIES, MEN-AT-ARMS AND OTHERS
Simon Bucy: counsellor to the French King
Arnoul d’Audrehem: Marshal of France
Gaston Phoebus: Count de Foix
*Alphonse: Count de Foix’s steward
*Garnier: routier
Hélie ‘Petit’ Meschin: mercenary
*Bernard de Lagny: man-at-arms
*Hugo Muset: man-at-arms
*Nicholas de Mitry: man-at-arms
*Gautier de Fleur: knight
*Louis de Roche: knight
*Père Éraste: priest
SPANISH ROYALTY
Pedro I: King of Castile and León
Henry of Trastámara: Don Pedro’s half-brother and claimant to his throne
Charles II: King of Navarre
SPANISH OFFICIALS, NOBILITY AND OTHERS
*High Steward to King Pedro I
*Sancha Ferrandes of Castile
*Don Fernando Ferrandes of Castile
Martín Henríquez de Lacarra: Navarrese knight
Count de Osona: Aragonese ally of King Pedro
*Abbess of the Convent of Santo Domingo de Estella, Navarre
*Abraam Abroz: leader of the Jewish community in Estella
*Indicates fictional characters
MAPS
Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes viros.
As fire tests gold, so adversity tests brave men.
Seneca
PROLOGUE
Cathédrale Saint-André
Bordeaux
1367
For seventeen years the High Steward to King Don Pedro I of Castile and León was a silent witness to the depraved violence of the Spanish King. And he had lived in fear since Thomas Blackstone had returned from Galicia where he had slain the King’s favourite, Velasquita Alcón de Lugo. There was no doubt in the steward’s mind that the woman was a creature of the devil. At Pedro’s behest, she had murdered his young Queen, using her skill with poisons to make it seem like suicide. She had sided with the murderous Ronec le Bête, the beast who had slaughtered Blackstone’s Gascon captain, Beyard, and a boy witness who had identified Velasquita as the young Queen’s killer.
And Blackstone had killed the poisoner and the beast who served her.
How had the scar-faced English knight done so? It should not have been possible. No one had ever survived her poison. No one. And yet… and yet Blackstone had. Had God favoured Blackstone? Or had the devil found a stronger ally than even the woman? The High Steward recalled the terror instilled in him by the poisoner when she asked him to choose between God and the devil: which of them did he fear the most? And after he confessed to her that he feared the devil more, he had agreed to administer her poison to Blackstone. Had he refused, Lucifer would have torn his soul from his body. And so he had been a party to murder and further encumbered his soul’s burden by poisoning Blackstone’s wine before he set off in search of the woman killer. Who was the most aggrieved by the High Steward’s action? God or the devil? If only he could banish his doubt about which entity waited to wreak vengeance on him. Every day in the small hours the Castilian King’s trusted servant slipped away from the royal chambers at the Archbishop’s palace adjoining the northern perimeter of the Cathédrale Saint-André and made his way to the cathedral itself, where he would kneel in penance.
Blackstone had returned to Bordeaux months ago and reported to the Prince of Wales all that he knew of the murders and what he had done in the name of justice. Pedro had condemned the Master of War, insisting Blackstone be punished for the wilful slaying of a member of Pedro’s court. There was no proof of Velasquita being a witch, he had insisted: Blackstone had killed her to satisfy his thirst for revenge. Worse still, Blackstone had threatened Pedro. Insulted and treated with contempt a God-chosen king. A king the Prince of Wales had sent Blackstone to rescue.
And Blackstone had not denied it.
To appease the Spanish King, Blackstone was banished from the court and imprisoned. Common men do not threaten royalty and escape punishment. That had put him beyond the city, confined in a castle, separated from his men and guarded day and night.
The High Steward replayed in his mind’s eye the confrontation between Prince, King and Master of War. He exhaled the tension held in his chest, his breath cold on the air. His knees ached from the pain of spending so much time on them. The cathedral’s flickering candles cast him into a half-world of darkness and light. Shadows lifted the priest’s monotonous incantations into a mere whisper high in the vaulted roof arching above his bowed head. His tightly clasped hands turned his knuckles white as his mind berated him. Was he afraid of Blackstone or the Lord Jesus? Surely it was the latter: he feared the Almighty’s condemnation, not any physical threat from the Englishman. He was safe. He was protected. Blackstone would never dare harm him. The Prince of Wales had commanded it. Blackstone’s name had not been uttered in months. He was as a ghost in the Prince’s court. The English King had decreed that the Prince must return Pedro to his rightful place in Castile. An army was being prepared. The French must not be allowed to usurp a vital ally on Aquitaine’s southern flank across the Pyrenees. And Pedro, despite his cruelty and violence, was that ally. There had been no mention of Thomas Blackstone when his master had discussed plans with the Prince of Wales. Doubt about waging war without the renowned knight was not even touched on. For all the High Steward knew, Thomas Blackstone would never be favoured in the English Prince’s court again.
As his tormented mind raced through the purgatory of doubt, a small miracle enveloped him: a God-given moment of warmth seeped into his aching bones. The cathedral’s deathly cold chill had stiffened his ageing muscles, but now he felt the comfort of spiritual forgiveness embrace him. A tear trickled down his cheek in gratitude. The Lord had accepted his penance.
He gathered his cloak around him. It would not be long before they recrossed the Pyrenees and returned home. All would soon be well.
*
The High Steward scurried along the cloisters leading to the cobbled passage that would return him to the servants’ entrance to the palace. His survival instinct these past months made him avoid the main public thoroughfares, seeking different ways to reach the cathedral’s side door. A single lantern burned in the distance. He hugged the darkness, focusing on the lamp’s glow. A beacon guiding him back to a warm bed for the scant few hours before dawn when his master would be roused for morning prayers.
Then he faltered and turned to face the darkness behind him. He had heard someone moving in the distance. He waited, breath held tightly. Shadows moved beyond the cloisters. His tension eased. It was only a handful of worshippers leaving the cathedral’s main entrance, silent except for shoe leather scuffing cobbles. He did not berate himself for his caution – better to be wary. A servant holding the lantern was waiting for him. The High Steward struck out across the courtyard as the hooded man raised the oil lamp above his shoulder, showing the King’s steward the way.
‘All is well?’ the High Steward called.
‘Aye, my lord. The night watch has passed by. There is no one else abroad at this hour. Only the righteous.’
The High Steward nodded and gestured the man to lead the way. He followed in his wake. They turned a corner. A sliver of light entered the passageway from a high window: a narrow slit in the rough-hewn walls. A servant lighting a lamp, no doubt after having slept in a stairwell or wherever a humble resting place could be found. The High Steward’s gaze returned to the lamp carrier, who had stopped half a dozen paces ahead of him.
‘Get on,’ he ordered the man.
The lantern bearer made no response. He stood still, gazing down. The High Steward reached him and saw what the man was looking at. It was the crumpled body of a servant. His servant. He took a rapid pace backwards as the man in front of him turned and pulled back his hood. The High Steward stared at him. He thought he recognized the face, but could put no name to it. He gasped as his retreat brought him up against a second man. He whirled around, pressing his back against the wall. Two cloaked men barred the way. One close, the other several paces and to one side behind him. A block against any escape attempt should he manage to get past the hulking figure who stared faceless from the darkness of his hood.
‘All right, Will,’ said a voice from behind the lantern bearer, who handed the lamp to the voice’s owner, a fourth man who stepped out of the darkness and pulled back his cowl.
King Pedro’s steward lurched forward, heart pounding as he gasped for breath. The blood drained from his face as he stared at Thomas Blackstone. ‘It cannot be you. You are banished.’
‘I am,’ said Blackstone.
‘Then, how…?’ The question died on his lips. His throat was dry with fear. It made no difference how Blackstone had found him.
But Blackstone answered anyway. ‘We waited. My men watched for weeks. The huddled beggars in the doorway; the street seller sleeping beneath his cart. The spy from the window up there,’ he said. ‘We were in no hurry. Your servant is not dead. My archer struck him but he will recover from the blow.’
The steward blinked rapidly, his mind racing. Ever cautious, he had altered his journey to the cathedral every time he went to pray. Some nights one door, the next another. They had still tracked him. It made sense. They were hunters.
He fell to his knees. ‘I have begged forgiveness from our blessed Lord Jesus. I have done penance. Sir Thomas, I had no choice in what I did to you. None.’
‘You poisoned me to protect yourself and the King you serve.’
The steward shook his head, his hands clasped in front of him as if he were facing the very wrath of God Himself. ‘I bore you no ill will. I swear it. It was the woman. She turned my bowels to water with her threats.’
‘You remained silent. You kept the secrets of a murderess. You protected a foul king. You allowed a child to be slain and my loyal captain to die trying to save him. They were killed in a cathedral in Spain not unlike this one. You knew everything.’ Blackstone stared down at him. ‘But you remained silent. And then tried to kill me. There must be a reckoning for their sake.’
The High Steward spread his hands in supplication. ‘Do not kill me, Sir Thomas. I beg you. I will pay whatever restitution you ask. My lord, I beg you with all my heart.’
