Mercenaries by Jack Ludlow Page A

one of which would ever advance them in any way. They were no more farmers than their sire, and so it seemed to the eldest they must do what he had done when a young man.
    ‘We too should seek the solution elsewhere,’ said William.
    ‘A pilgrimage?’ Drogo demanded, in a voice that showed what he thought of that idea.
    ‘Your soul is beyond redemption, brother,’ William replied, grinning, ‘and you know that is not what I meant.’
    ‘The work of God is being pressed east of the Elbe, converting the Slav barbarians.’
    William looked at Montbray. ‘That is your work, cousin, not ours. We need to fight for recompense, notto spread the faith.’
    ‘Which means Spain to fight the Moors, or Italy?’ Tancred said, without enthusiasm.
    William nodded. ‘Those who have returned from Italy seem to have done well.’
    ‘Which is a tenth of the number whose bones are still there.’
    ‘Show me an alternative.’
    ‘I could try to speak with Duke Robert again,’ his father responded, but in a voice that held out little hope.
    ‘Beg!’ William exclaimed. ‘Not even to a duke would I have you do that and I cannot ever see myself bending my knee to a man who denies consideration to a blood relation in the way he has so clearly done.’
    ‘Let me think on it.’
    William de Hauteville was quite brusque with a parent to whom he normally showed great respect. ‘It is not yours to decide, Father, it is up to each one of us who is of age to make that choice for ourselves.’
    In the firelight, all of Tancred’s sons could see the disappointment in his face, looking more lined in the flickering fire than it truly was. From oldest to youngest, they all knew the hopes he had entertained for his house, hopes that through his sons the name of de Hauteville would stand high in the annals of Normandy, hopes held over many years that had beendashed in the last week.
    He had said many times how they would rise in the service of their liege, had said the death of Duke Richard made no difference, his brother would inherit the title and the obligation to the sons of his sister, and that, given the way he had raised and trained them to be warriors, they could be so assured of advancement. Their half-siblings too would prosper in the same way, on the backs of their established brothers.
    He had put aside their doubts when his repeated requests to the court, written for him by his nephew of Montbray, received no reply. He had kept them training, and saw them use their skills in various local quarrels. His boys were not just good: they were, as fighters, exceptional, so much so that in the part of the Contentin in which they lived few dared to dispute with the family now so many were grown to a good age. A de Montfort would because he commanded enough lances; no one of the same rank as Tancred dared.
    On the journey home to the demesne, in which every avenue was discussed, what was a notion became a decision. Money constrained them, even with what they had just acquired; only two could make the journey, but they, if they were successful, could send for the others. William claimed the right to be first, which naturally meant Drogo asserted that he shouldbe the other. Humphrey and fourth son Geoffrey would follow, while their cousin of the same name declined to even consider a move to Italy. His ambitions lay in the Church and Normandy.
    No one even mentioned Serlo or Robert, which had no effect on the first and genuinely annoyed his half-brother, who saw it as a slight for his not sharing the same mother.

CHAPTER FIVE
    The Jew was not one to open his door to a stranger, but in a place like Salerno, bustling but not large, everyone knew the features of the old Duke’s heir, for they had seen him paraded alongside his father at every religious festival, Roman or Orthodox, held in the city since he was a babe in arms. He recognised the boy as soon as he threw back the cowl on his head. He was also a man from a race that had learnt to be