Guy and Agnes
folder
M through R › Robin Hood
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
9
Views:
2,907
Reviews:
2
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
M through R › Robin Hood
Rating:
Adult
Chapters:
9
Views:
2,907
Reviews:
2
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Robin Hood, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Guy and Agnes
Gisborne England 1167
Sir Henry Gisborne was in the garden of his home, sparring with wooden swords with his 11 year old son Guy.
It was not a game. Lady Mary Gisborne had pleaded with him that it was too soon to be training the boy. Time enough when he was 13, for the Duke of Lancaster to take on the boy's martial training. For now she wanted her son to be a child.
Gisborne was however fiercely competitive. He couldn't bear for his son, as an extension of himself, not to shine. He had taught Guy to ride as soon as he was able to sit on the horse. This revealed an unprecedented skill. The boy was quite simply a natural. He seemed to blend in with the horse, communicating with the animal almost telepathically, and any horse looked very happy to have such an understanding and respectful human to work with.
This was source of great resentment to Sir Henry. How dared the boy be better than him?! By the age of 8 Guy could be taught nothing more that he and the horses were learning together. Always a violent man, who would use his fists on anyone who angered him. Sir Henry had beaten his wife and son for as long as they could remember, and resentment of Guy made him worse. This bewildered the poor child. Why was he beaten for doing something so well?
Sir Henry had tried Guy with archery. The boy was clearly going to be tall, and it was a fact that taller men didn't do as well as their shorter colleagues at shooting. This however was all the more reason, in Henry's mind to give Guy a head start. He was never going to be brilliant, but there was hope.
Where he was showing promise was with a broad sword, albeit a wooden one. Guy found that using the sword was a marvellous way of relieving the terrible tension his father caused him. Parrying his father's blows and returning them, gave huge satisfaction. Every blow that Guy managed on his father was counted as 1 point for himself or his mother. The lack of praise riled him too.
He was good at this and worked hard at it. He longed for his father to acknowledge that, but expressions of emotion were not Henry of Gisborne's thing.
That's enough for today boy'. Henry put the sword into its scabbard. 'Go and wash for your lunch'. Guy set off back towards the house. They would have guests for lunch today. Sir Henry and his friend Sir William De Vere were to attend a council of nobles, with their overlord the Duke of Lancaster.
Something that had to be done, since the system of fiefdom ( an over lord granting lands to an under lord in return for taxes and military service) meant keeping the Duke sweet. Sir William would be arriving, bringing his wife Aline, a girlhood friend of Mary's and their 13 year old daughter Agnes, a friend of Guy's to have lunch before the men set off.
When Guy was tidied up, he went down to the solar, where he found his mother and Lady Aline talking. Agnes sat beside her mother, demurely listening, and trying not to yawn with boredom. Guy bowed ' Mother, Lady De Vere..............hello Agnes.' The girl stood up with relief. 'Is there time for us to go into the garden before lunch my lady?' She asked Lady Gisborne.
Guy's mother was not going to deny her son some childhood time and sent the two of them off saying they would be called.
At the council of nobles, a terrible surprise awaited Sir Henry, although he ought to have expected it. His paying of taxes had never been regular . This certainly was not due to any lack of money, Henry was interested in whores and high living and taxes were something that happened to other people. This immediately put him in danger with the Duke. The final straw came however, when the Duke announced his intention to send troops to the holy land. Sir Henry, refused point blank stating that he didn't feel the Crusades to be justified. The Duke had discussed the matter of Gisborne with the King, and had to told to sling him out, if he didn't provide troops.
So it was that Sir Henry of Gisborne found himself stripped of his lands.
After 2 years further insult was added. The land taken from Gisborne had been split by the Duke, to be offered to nobles he felt deserving. No less than 4 of these, so called, nobles were friends of Sir Henry, and all accepted without protest, occluding Sir William De Vere. Lady Gisborne was devastated by this.
Sir William was Guy's god father, and he had already shamed himself, when only 6 months after the fateful council, Lady Aline had died, Sir William replaced her with a younger woman only a year later. This betrayal was too much for Sir Henry and he further added to his family's woes by hanging himself.
Lady Mary had barely had time to get her husband buried ( not even in a churchyard, a suicide had by law to be buried in unconsecrated ground). When she had to consider the future of her 13 year old son, the immediate future at least.
The distant future she did not want to contemplate. Sending him to the Duke of Lancaster was no longer a possibility. Henry's brother Thomas had arrived to help her with such details, he suggested Lincoln. It was a long way from home but there seemed no better alternative.
Guy didn't want to leave his mother. For some time he had felt a fierce protectiveness of her. She gave so much love out and all she had received from her husband were pain and misery. He knew though that he could not tell this to Uncle Thomas who had no more tenderness than his elder brother, so heavy hearted he hugged his mother who was trying unsuccessfully to stem her tears.
' I love you mother'. he whispered to her, his voice cracking with emotion. Mary embraced him passionately, her tears wetting his hair 'God bless you my darling, we'll see each other soon'.
TBC
Sir Henry Gisborne was in the garden of his home, sparring with wooden swords with his 11 year old son Guy.
It was not a game. Lady Mary Gisborne had pleaded with him that it was too soon to be training the boy. Time enough when he was 13, for the Duke of Lancaster to take on the boy's martial training. For now she wanted her son to be a child.
Gisborne was however fiercely competitive. He couldn't bear for his son, as an extension of himself, not to shine. He had taught Guy to ride as soon as he was able to sit on the horse. This revealed an unprecedented skill. The boy was quite simply a natural. He seemed to blend in with the horse, communicating with the animal almost telepathically, and any horse looked very happy to have such an understanding and respectful human to work with.
This was source of great resentment to Sir Henry. How dared the boy be better than him?! By the age of 8 Guy could be taught nothing more that he and the horses were learning together. Always a violent man, who would use his fists on anyone who angered him. Sir Henry had beaten his wife and son for as long as they could remember, and resentment of Guy made him worse. This bewildered the poor child. Why was he beaten for doing something so well?
Sir Henry had tried Guy with archery. The boy was clearly going to be tall, and it was a fact that taller men didn't do as well as their shorter colleagues at shooting. This however was all the more reason, in Henry's mind to give Guy a head start. He was never going to be brilliant, but there was hope.
Where he was showing promise was with a broad sword, albeit a wooden one. Guy found that using the sword was a marvellous way of relieving the terrible tension his father caused him. Parrying his father's blows and returning them, gave huge satisfaction. Every blow that Guy managed on his father was counted as 1 point for himself or his mother. The lack of praise riled him too.
He was good at this and worked hard at it. He longed for his father to acknowledge that, but expressions of emotion were not Henry of Gisborne's thing.
That's enough for today boy'. Henry put the sword into its scabbard. 'Go and wash for your lunch'. Guy set off back towards the house. They would have guests for lunch today. Sir Henry and his friend Sir William De Vere were to attend a council of nobles, with their overlord the Duke of Lancaster.
Something that had to be done, since the system of fiefdom ( an over lord granting lands to an under lord in return for taxes and military service) meant keeping the Duke sweet. Sir William would be arriving, bringing his wife Aline, a girlhood friend of Mary's and their 13 year old daughter Agnes, a friend of Guy's to have lunch before the men set off.
When Guy was tidied up, he went down to the solar, where he found his mother and Lady Aline talking. Agnes sat beside her mother, demurely listening, and trying not to yawn with boredom. Guy bowed ' Mother, Lady De Vere..............hello Agnes.' The girl stood up with relief. 'Is there time for us to go into the garden before lunch my lady?' She asked Lady Gisborne.
Guy's mother was not going to deny her son some childhood time and sent the two of them off saying they would be called.
At the council of nobles, a terrible surprise awaited Sir Henry, although he ought to have expected it. His paying of taxes had never been regular . This certainly was not due to any lack of money, Henry was interested in whores and high living and taxes were something that happened to other people. This immediately put him in danger with the Duke. The final straw came however, when the Duke announced his intention to send troops to the holy land. Sir Henry, refused point blank stating that he didn't feel the Crusades to be justified. The Duke had discussed the matter of Gisborne with the King, and had to told to sling him out, if he didn't provide troops.
So it was that Sir Henry of Gisborne found himself stripped of his lands.
After 2 years further insult was added. The land taken from Gisborne had been split by the Duke, to be offered to nobles he felt deserving. No less than 4 of these, so called, nobles were friends of Sir Henry, and all accepted without protest, occluding Sir William De Vere. Lady Gisborne was devastated by this.
Sir William was Guy's god father, and he had already shamed himself, when only 6 months after the fateful council, Lady Aline had died, Sir William replaced her with a younger woman only a year later. This betrayal was too much for Sir Henry and he further added to his family's woes by hanging himself.
Lady Mary had barely had time to get her husband buried ( not even in a churchyard, a suicide had by law to be buried in unconsecrated ground). When she had to consider the future of her 13 year old son, the immediate future at least.
The distant future she did not want to contemplate. Sending him to the Duke of Lancaster was no longer a possibility. Henry's brother Thomas had arrived to help her with such details, he suggested Lincoln. It was a long way from home but there seemed no better alternative.
Guy didn't want to leave his mother. For some time he had felt a fierce protectiveness of her. She gave so much love out and all she had received from her husband were pain and misery. He knew though that he could not tell this to Uncle Thomas who had no more tenderness than his elder brother, so heavy hearted he hugged his mother who was trying unsuccessfully to stem her tears.
' I love you mother'. he whispered to her, his voice cracking with emotion. Mary embraced him passionately, her tears wetting his hair 'God bless you my darling, we'll see each other soon'.
TBC