53

A GHOST

"It was just a joke, sir..."

But Henry remained stubborn. "This is no joke, Ben. Until you finally understand this, your sword stays with me."

Henry, who had just returned from the war, didn't think it was so funny that Ben caught it playfully trying to slash one of his brothers open with his wooden sword. Boys read knight books in school and also learned theory about stuff like that. But never, even jokingly, would Henry tolerate the boys trying it out among themselves.

Ben fought back tears. That's why Henry had to run away quickly before he softened. Luckily the sky got a little cloudy, so he had an excuse to flee into the hall. "Go somewhere, it's going to rain soon."

Ben, still struggling, nodded and trotted after him. When a sob escaped him at the entrance to the hall, Henry fainted. "If you behave yourself at lunch, I'll think about it again. But that must never happen again."

Everything was already forgotten and Ben was happy again. So Henry was relieved again and looked forward to his well-deserved meal. Before he was even in his hall, he was being dragged to the top of the stairs.

"Wow! Damn it, Elizabeth! What are you doing!?"

"We have visitors."

"Aha, fine. Who's the troublemaker?"

"My sister Enna."

That was unexpected. "I thought your family died of the plague?"

"It's also true. But my sister got married and moved away. So the plague hardly touched her."

That was one explanation. "Why can't I go into the hall? Does she bite?"

"No. She's harmless and has bad problems. We need to discuss a few things before dinner."

"But..." now it was Henry who was fighting back tears. "But, I'm hungry!"

Elizabeth grabbed his forearm impatiently and pulled him along. "Sometimes you're a bigger baby than the boys."

Overcome by a childish defiance, Henry growled something boorish and had himself boxed into his room. "And now?"

The warm and spicy smell of food rose up and into his nostrils. On cue, his stomach growled. As if that should have said it all, he looked at his merciless wife. Completely outraged. But the ice-cold lady pushed him into his chair. Life just wasn't fair sometimes...

"She needs money. She didn't ask for it directly, but I can tell."

Henry nodded angrily at the chest where her gold was stored. "You also have the key, why are you bothering me about something like that..."

"Because I can't decide that on my own!"

His stomach growled in disgust. "What's the problem? She's your sister and therefore family. It's our duty to help her."

"It's a lot of money, Henry." A little exhausted, she sat down on the padded stool next to him. "Her husband is in jail. She doesn't tell me why, only that they lost their land and now have no money to buy him out."

The short hair on the back of his neck stood up. "If she doesn't want to say it, he's probably justified behind bars."

"I can't tell her like that..."

Of course not. But it meant not only a lot of money, but a fortune that they had to give up. "I need more time to think. There are a lot of things that we have to abandon here if we don't have the money. And we have children who are affected as well."

She nodded and thoughtfully grabbed his hand. "I know it's asking a lot... But she's so skinny, Henry. So skinny. So humbled..." He kissed her knuckles and walked over to the trunk. "What are you doing? Let's eat first."

But he saw that Elizabeth wouldn't be able to eat until this was done. So he sat down in front of his chest and began to study his papers. Elizabeth disappeared for a moment and returned with a large tray of food.

Michel grabbed Avan Arm and hid behind him. They just came into the hall to eat and there was a ghost sitting there! But the fearless Avan walked to her seat with her little brother behind her and even smiled!

The ghost smiled a skull smile and Michel swore it was getting colder in the room. "Who are you then?"

Joe was smart again. "Mother's children."

Aven grinned. "Elizabeth and Henry Campbell are our parents, madam."

The ghost winced slightly. "I'm not of social class, child. Just a farmer's daughter."

Eric shrugged and held out his hand. "So was my mom and now she's a noble. I'm Eric."

"Enna." The pile of bones wrapped Michel up. "I guess I'm your aunt."

Never ever! His mother was human and this woman was a skinny, pale thing who didn't even seem to have living eyes... Suddenly, Avan grabbed his hand and pulled him out a little. "This is Michel, he's probably a bit shy."

Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that! He knew exactly Michel wet himself with shock! "Say hello Michi."

"Hey." He was hiding again.

"Your father is probably not well. That's why your parents eat upstairs."

Ben pouted. "Great, then I can smear my sword in my hair..."

Samuel struggled to see the table properly. Unashamedly, the stranger lifted her little brother onto her lap and helped him eat. It made Michel nervous that none of the big three objected. Didn't anyone see that she had to eat herself to become a human?

The whole meal they entertained this Enna. First of all the three big ones. Well, if they trusted her, I guess Michel could too. But only when he was absolutely sure that this skeleton was really a human being...

"Why are you so bad at each other?" Eric, ruthless as ever. Ava rolled his eyes.

It probably didn't bother Enna. "Because we haven't had a harvest for a long time."

"But the last few months have been perfect weather for the fields!" Avan stared at him. "Ow! Damn, why are you kicking me!?"

Avan rolled his eyes again, as did everyone else. Except for Enna, who grinned sadly. "Well, we didn't grow anything."

"Didn't you have any money?"

"We... you know... My husband he..." She shook her head and kneaded her fingers nervously. "Anyway, he did his best..."

Eric wasn't done yet. "And where is he? Is he dead?"

Avan was stunned. "What is that, man!?"

"No, he..." suddenly there were tears in her eyes. Now Michel was convinced that was a poor woman. No ghost. "Not yet anyway..."

"Will he be hanged!?"

Avan almost got the blow. "I can't wait for you to become Raven's page! You know no boundaries, brother..."

"Enna can say yes if she doesn't like it. Can't she, Daddy?" He narrowed his eyes angrily and lifted his chin provocatively.

Michel saw how Avan considered fighting him, the poor woman blew her nose. "Your brother is right. Your questions are razor sharp."

"Sorry." Eric handed her another napkin. "My father always says that I will have many more problems with my loose tongue." He smiled sheepishly and scratched his blond hair. "He's probably right."

Enna touched his dimple. "Hopefully my kids will be as cute as you."

DISAPPOINTMENT

Enna put her hand in front of her mouth and swallowed hard. "Oh Elizabeth..."

But I waved him off. "I discussed everything with Henry. He agrees with me. He said you're family and it's our duty to help you. He wouldn't give a damn if he didn't want to."

"But I didn't know you had so many sons when I came here."

I raised a shoulder. "Do as I do and let Henry work that out. Now take the bag and forget it. Okay?"

Enna was older than me. But she was so skinny that she looked like a twelve year old again. Small and skinny. Shaky. It was awful to see her like that. Especially if you were pretty well padded yourself, thanks to the seventh pregnancy.

"Your children are adorable." Oh yeah. Every single one. "How can you still walk upright after such big boys?"

"Well, after every child you remain a bit shaken. It's probably the farmer's daughter in me that I can still cope with."

Her spindly fingers timidly took the pouch. "I owe you more than I have, sister. For never reaching out, especially."

Her husband and she were always on the go. Personally, I suspected that the stands fled and therefore kept secret where they were. So I brushed that aside. "You had your reasons."

"I let you down completely. Especially after the death of our family..."

It was like this. At first I was very angry with her too. But seeing her sitting there like a corpse made me realize that she probably didn't have much to say and hardly had a choice. Just as little as now, when she had to beg for her husband. So I shook my head and started telling her about Nash.

It was slowly becoming like before. Enna thawed and even attacked the little cakes. She told me that she wanted children so badly but never had one because her husband, Mitch, didn't want a child and therefore always found a way not to make the pregnancy possible.

She adored my little ones all the more for that. She especially loved my Ben. He was so smart and calm, when he said something there was something behind it and yet he was playful and excited.

Eventually Henry came from outside and introduced himself to her. She was completely shocked by his huge and slightly sinister stature. He was as nice to her as he had never been to me. "The man is... a tree!"

"Well, where do you think the boys got that from? Not from me anyway."

"He doesn't crush you, you..." she broke off and giggled.

Before it got dark, she packed everything up, hugged me and ran out of the castle. I wanted to stop her, but then she jumped onto a horse with a woman and rode away...

It was pleasantly cool in his chamber. He threw off his boots followed by his shirt and threw himself on his bed. "Thank God, my bed..."

He heard Elizabeth's skirts rustle as she collected his things with a growl and threw them back on the floor with a thud at the door. Then she fumbled back in her chair and mended the old baby things. "Did you have a fight?"

"You know how it annoys me when you throw everything around the room! I'm about to give birth Henry! Bending over is very difficult now!"

My goodness! "Sorry..."

"When I say go to bed, I have to repeat it a thousand times because no one obeys!"

Oh... okay. "You mean the boys?"

"Who else? You?"

Henry got up and, as he often did, crouched in front of her and folded her arms in her lap. He watched her for a while as she angrily packed up her stuff because the light was already getting too bad.

"Where is the ghost? Ask. Where did she go? If I say I don't want to hear about ghosts, don't obey! You never obey!"

Henry balked. "Shall I go and put them over my knee?"

Grumpily she tossed the baby robe into her basket. "No... you didn't do anything."

"Are you sure?"

"I just feel bad for yelling at her. Because I'm angry. Now I'm looking for an excuse for myself."

"Sometimes you just lose your nerve. They like to do that often enough themselves."

She growled impatiently. "But it's not about her! It's about Enna. She just disappeared again. As if she had fled quickly."

Henry's eyes widened. "What why?"

"You're asking me that!?"

Henry was shocked. And he understood her anger. Enna came, took the money and ran away again? And Elizabeth sat there now. Another family member cheated.

"I know it's not her fault. Who knows how quickly everything has to go now. But I'm injured."

Henry couldn't find the words and he didn't want to either. He certainly wouldn't make excuses. So he just silently put a hand on her stomach where the child was sleeping. He would soon have to go back to France. She would soon have the child, but she no longer felt safe here. He was her opinion. Nashville was a rough place with a lot of cliffs. The danger that the little ones would escape on their own again was great. It was happening more and more often now.

Immediately, the small forest in front of Raven's castle came back to his mind. The little savages could escape there. By the white knight was a gentle hill area, two crevices wedged in the castle. She would be perfect.

Suddenly Elizabeth put his forehead against his and wearily closed her eyes. "You'll write to me when you're gone..?"

"What a question. Of course."

She grinned and led him to the bed. Just as exhausted as he is. However, neither of them fell asleep immediately. Everyone busy with their thoughts...

BOYS BECOME MEN

Raven growled and emptied his mug. "I hope he pulls himself together soon. Otherwise he'll die."

"He's fourteen. Adam is trying to be a man."

"If my little son continues like this, he can take the make-up off."

The whore brought the stew and left, not without provocatively emphasizing her cleavage. Henry pushed their plates closer to Avan and Eric. "Then you go to sleep."

Eric was already so tired after his first day as a squire that he would hardly get anything down. They were back in camp now. The situation with the French was tense. Likewise between Raven and Adam. The fourteen-year-old wanted knighthood and a castle. The father was against it.

"But he did a great job on the battlefield, Raven. And he's old enough to get married and move out."

"But not to move so far away!" Raven, daddy number one, banged his fist on the table top in exasperation.

Avan and Eric grinned at each other and continued starving. Even the two brats understood that Raven just didn't want to let go. Henry ordered him another beer. "Tell me about the battle."

Raven leaned back a little calmer. "He saved Max's life."

"Robin's squire at the time?"

"Exactly. An arrow came whizzing and Adam threw himself between them with his shield. I almost got hit..."

"But he did it well." Avan's eyes widened. "So brave!"

Raven glared at him impatiently. "For even coming against my orders?"

Avan shrugged nonchalantly. "If fathers are too careful, boys have to become men on their own."

Henry didn't like that at all... "Eat or go to sleep!"

Not even offended, he continued to eat happily. Raven growled. "In the tent I hit him in anger when a soldier came and called Adam to the king. He had observed it and praised Adam for his chivalrous courage. He was so mad at me that he didn't tell me the rest. "

Henry shook his head. "You can't hit him anymore, he's fourteen, dammit."

"I was in shock and angry."

"I don't even know you like that."

Raven nodded guiltily. "I was afraid for his life." Eric yawned and rubbed his tired eyes. Raven lifted him onto her lap. "I saw him again as my little boy eating honey. When I saw all the swords and blood around him, I aged years. I thought he was in camp."

Eric leaned against Raven's chest for just a moment and fell asleep immediately. Henry realized that the little one, with his golden curls and cheeky dimples, would want to stand on the field like Adam and would do just as much to make it without Henry's permission. Eventually he would be like Raven.

Especially after Avan's wise remark, Henry became even more aware. Avan pushed the empty plates together and woke Eric up enough to stumble after Avan.

"Where does he want the castle?"

"There is one near Yorshire that no one inhabits."

Henry sensed a lead. "That's not far from Nashville."

Ben raised his hand, beaming. It said Ben in shaky writing. "Look Ma!"

"Did you learn that today?" I picked up the crumpled piece of parchment. "Very good, Ben! Will you put it on dad's table so he can see it when he gets home?"

"Good idea!" He ran up the stairs to our bedroom.

"My lady, I'll put your letters on the board!"

"Good, Geoffrey!" I picked Samuel up and wiped his mouth with my apron. "What were you snacking on again? You have honey everywhere."

"Lecker! Honig!"

"That's how you look to me, kid!" I marched with him to the table. Michel sat on the ground in front of it and tied something. "What are you doing?"

"A trap."

"Wie?"

The boy picked up the loop. "A trap! Dad showed me how to do it. Now I'm practicing and hoping to catch a rabbit with it!"

"Sami too, Sami too!"

I left the brothers to their own devices and turned to the two letters. Henry, of course, and one without a return address.

Beloved sister,

Forgive my sudden departure, but my husband was not well. Thanks to you I was able to save him! I swear it won't be the last you hear from me. I'll give you the money back. Tell Henry not to think I'm ungrateful. I want to show my gratitude one day.

Enna

I studied the lines and saw the skinny, weak Enna before me again. With a little trepidation, I folded the letter and tucked it in my apron. Then I sat comfortably at the table, took an almond cake and unfolded Henry's letter.

Mylady Campbell,

Is the child here yet? Maybe a girl this time? Eric is a strong little fellow and very popular with the squires. Even the older ones. As charming and cheeky as he is, he is very popular even with the knights. You can be proud of him! Avan is just a big brother. Whenever Eric overdoes it, Avan pops up out of nowhere. I have good news, darling! Adam earns his spurs and is knighted. Raven was against it at first, because his castle, which he gets, is practically around the corner from us and far away from Raven. Which does mean; pack. Raven agrees to move to Nashville, we're moving, you guessed it, to the White Knight! You don't have to worry. Raven arranges the move at his castle. Just take care of the kids and you.

Don't lose a kid on the way, baby. Henry.

THE TURN

Henry loosened the grip of his sword and walked across the bloody battlefield with selected comrades. Most of the men they found were dead.

He was so tired of this war.

In addition to the injuries, the losses, the longing for home, poverty in England was cruel. Taxes were increased to feed and compensate the soldiers, parts of the crops were confiscated by the crown to be put into camp.

Elizabeth, meanwhile moved and no longer pregnant, wrote him that she often travels to her village to distribute soup and bread to the starving serfs with maids. It had come to that.

Luckily, this battle also passed the Campbells without major casualties. Adam had an ugly arm injury. Besides, Theo had been so badly mauled that Henry feared that the old man would die before he could take revenge.

But Theo was the devil, or in league with him. That's why he breathed. Unconscious, but still.

Henry left the field of blood and headed back to camp. Eric and Avan sat in front of the hospital. Eric was shaking.

"There he is!" called Avan and immediately came running to Henry with a brother. The two boys clung to him. They cried silently.

So Henry took his time and comforted her. They stayed awake all night, although they tried to sleep. But no child could be expected to sleep while their father was away at war.

"Did you already eat?"

"No." Avan had dark circles under his eyes. "So far the injured are getting all there is. After that, the men from the battle."

To Eric, who was still crying softly against his shoulder, Henry murmured under his breath; "Aren't you going to get some bread?"

"Shall we?" Again, only Avan managed to answer.

"Naturally. Then we'll all three hit each other..."

Eric broke away from his father very reluctantly, but Henry had something important to do that couldn't wait. "We'll meet in the tent, Eric promised."

The guards crossed their spears. "The king wants to be alone, Sir Campbell."

"I want to stand by him because of my father."

"Were you not informed at all?"

"Because?"

"Your father is awake. His sick bed has been moved here so that the king himself can guard his most faithful man."

Henry hadn't felt bitterness in years. Not until Theo had dared to harm one of his sons. From here it started to boil his blood again. "Well, then I may ask to see my father?"

Immediately the lances rose and the tarpaulin was opened. Theo was already asleep again, but the king himself, exhausted, sat in his chair and drank wine from a cup. Tin every gold was already pledged.

„Oh, Henry."

"And, Your Majesties."

"I forgot to summon you. He fell asleep again too quickly. But don't worry, he's alive."

How great... "That calms me down."

"Do you need anything else?"

Henry took a deep breath. He had been waiting for this. "Yes, Your Majesty. It's about my father's position. He's getting old, Sire."

The king smiled sadly. "We all..."

"But not all frontline fighting."

"No, you're probably right..."

Henry sat down at Theo's bedside, like a doting son. "My father wielded the sword in the Campbells' name for the crown. for years. It was never so difficult for him..."

The king agreed and stroked his beard. "No one can ever replace him."

"No, you're right." Henry cleared his throat as if trying to suppress tears. He had to suppress glee. "Nevertheless, let me try, sire."

It got quiet. Henry took the hand that had left countless small scars on him.

The most powerful man in England cleared her throat. "Do I understand you correctly? Do you want to be a commander? My main sword?"

"Yes, Sire. For you know I have the makings and the blood for it.” The king paused a moment. “You rebelled against me.”

"Years ago, Your Majesty. And that wasn't a rebellion. I married a woman I still adore."

The effeminate man was already smiling. "A nice story you have there actually." He looked at Theo's pale face. "And it would be exciting to choose a Campbell as his successor... And then your own son."

"Isn't that what every father wants?"

The king, father of a son himself, nodded. "That's our goal when we have a boy. Not true?"

Henry got up and refilled the king. Then Theo slowly raised his songs. "Majesty..."

"Theo, you are awake!"

"My skull..."

"He's buzzing, what my good? You needed a lot of red wine. As much blood as you've lost..."

"I... might need a while to... get fit."

"You have all the time in the world, my lord."

Theo frowned. "Sir?"

“I have found the perfect successor for you. You can retire."

Theo sat upright in a flash. When he saw Henry leaning against a pillar behind the king, his cheeks turned red.

The king pushed him back onto the bed. "Rest, it will all be over in the morning..."

Oh yes, it is, Your Majesty.

Ben nuzzled her little cheeks and took Kora in his arms. "Like a squirrel!"

Michel pouted. "Another baby... How many more Ma?"

"Do you mind?"

"Alright..." He looked down at his feet coyly. "The more babies come the older I feel."

Smiling, I lifted the almost four-year-old onto my lap. "Where did you get that from? The more brothers the more fun, right?"

When Kora grumbled, Ben rocked him slightly. "Look Mom! He stops!"

"You're doing very well."

Ben kissed the soft baby down. "I'll show you my practice area. And how to ride. I'll show you everything I can!"

Michel hopped down again. "I'll show him a trap!"

"My lady?" the wet nurse, who never breastfed our children but watched from time to time, came to us. "A letter from your husband."

I didn't fall!

So much at the beginning. Eric's first shock is over. Both boys also want to meet their little brother, so we'll probably come home for a bit.

Raven is fine too, Adam is wounded and will probably be out for a while. Do I have to mention that there is almost a party about our father Raven?

He still received an honor and the castle he had hoped for. And all of a sudden the young hens fly out of the harbor onto our Adam. At least that's what Raven grants him.

We'll see each other soon! Because I have something big to tell you.

Commander Henry Campbell