The Archer's Gold: Medieval Military fiction: A Novel about Wars, Knights, Pirates, and Crusaders in The Years of the Feudal Middle Ages of William Marshall ... (The Company of English Archers Book 7) by Martin Archer

Courtney's death and shows up to try and claim the place. 
           From now on we'll always keep a strong force here.  Probably Raymond and his Horse Marines; Raymond's wife will like being in a castle with a noble lady while he's off riding about.  I wonder if they have castles where his wife came from.  She told him they have dragons there so they must have castles to hide in.
           At the moment Raymond and his men are convoying the prisoners to Cornwall and carrying a message telling Harold's second, the man in charge of our ships and sailors when Harold's not available, what to do with them. 
           Raymond's message also directs Harold's man to send two of our galleys in London to meet Thomas and his party. 
           The galleys are to bring Thomas and the boys and our company of walking Marines back to Cornwall, load the prisoners if they have not already been shipped out to the Holy Land on an earlier galley, and then carry Thomas and Peter on to Rome to deliver the prayer coins from last season's travelers to the Pope. 
           Thomas and I discussed his trip to Rome in some detail; he wants Peter to know the delivery process so Peter can take his place when he is not available.
           Two hours later and the boys and all my lieutenants and their men are off and gone.  Oakhampton feels somewhat deserted and empty even though I've got an entire company of Marine archers camped inside the castle's walls.
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           Supper that evening with Lady Isabel is a quiet and simple affair.  A cold spell has arrived and brought a chilling rain so we have a small fire at one end of the great hall's fireplace to warm us.  At the moment it is casting flickering shadows on the walls as we eat our joints of mutton and drink our bowls of ale. 
           "How long do you think you will be here, Earl William?   Or should I call you Captain William?"
           "Please call me William, Lady Isabel." 
           "And to answer your question, I'm not sure how long it will be.  Certainly I will not be leaving until Raymond and his horsemen return with this year's horses from Hathersage and London.  Then I'll go to Restormel and spend some time my, uh, family before I sail on to Cyprus before the weather gets bad."
           "But don't you expect your horsemen back from Cornwall tomorrow?"
           "Yes, of course. Raymond should be back from delivering the prisoners tomorrow.  But then he and his men will ride on the very next day to Hathersage Castle and London to get our new horses.  It will take him several weeks at the very least to fetch them and bring them back."
           "Will you tell me about your women and children?  Thanks to you, I'm once again very interested in life again, I truly am.  How did you meet them?" 
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           It took quite a while because of all her questions and the complexities of having three women in my life.  But when Isabel finally touched me gently on the shoulder and said good night she certainly knew more about my personal life than anyone except Thomas - and in some very personal areas about the sisters quite a bit more.  She's a nice person.
           It happened when I'd just gotten back from pissing and was burrowing down into the linen and furs on the string bed the servants had set up for me in the great hall.  That's when I heard the quiet footsteps padding down the stone staircase and moving towards me.
          The light from the flickering fire was so dim that until she spoke I couldn't even make out who it was.  But I knew as soon as I heard the footsteps.
           "Will you move over and let me in so we can talk some more?  The stones are cold on my feet you know."
           "Lady you should not be here.  What will your maid think?"
           "Silly man.  This is the first time I've ever had a chance to be alone with a man in my whole life.  Who do you think