The Earl's ManChapter 3 free porn video

It felt strange this time when I walked through the gatehouse towards the Manor House. I’d walked through here almost daily for as long as I could remember, but to walk here now, knowing that the Manor House was my new residence, and that I was now the Earl sent shivers through me.

It was obvious that Jeffrey was nervous, but he was still trying to pretend that he had no clue why I had him brought to the Manor House. “Jeffrey, listen very carefully to me, and think long and hard before answering me. I already know enough that you and your family are eligible for execution.” He started to protest but I raised my hand and cut him off.

“Nothing you say now can make your sentence worse than it already is. I will give you one chance, and only one chance, to both tell me everything and to convince me that your family wasn’t involved. If you do this, their sentences will be commuted and they will spend the rest of their lives as slaves or serfs instead of freemen. In addition, I will give you one chance to redeem yourself, to have your sentence reduced to a whipping and becoming a slave or serf as well. Jake chose to talk voluntarily and die quickly rather than suffer through what he saw me do to the other men who killed the Earl and my father.”

By now, Jeffrey was pale and had definitely quieted down. “What do you want to know?” he asked, defeated.

“Tell me how you started, who asked you, how and how much you are paid, who you make your reports to, how often you report, and who else you know spying on anyone in Lancashire. Remember, Jake already told me everything he knew, and the first time I think you are lying to me, you will be tied to a tree in the courtyard and tortured in front of your family and friends until you die or tell me the entire truth.”

He was quiet for long enough to take several deep breaths, and then broke down into tears. When the sobbing subsided, he started giving me all the details he knew, including a couple more spies in other Barons’ troops in Lancashire. He told me the Duke of York was beside himself because two of his men reported that the Earl had been killed, but then they and two other men disappeared with the money meant as payment for the highwaymen. The Duke didn’t know if they were telling the truth or lying, and was hurriedly gathering and arming all the troops he could.

I sent one of the guards to fetch Jeffrey’s young wife, Alice, their infant son, and baby daughter who were waiting nervously in the Great Hall. It felt odd having them bow to me. Once they were seated, I explained what was going on. “Jeffrey has been spying for one of the Barons in Yorkshire who was involved in the attack that killed the Earl and his family as well as the troops with him. Fortunately, I don’t feel that he was directly involved, so I might be able to reduce the King’s sentence of execution. Jeffrey has cooperated fully and told me everything he knows. He has also convinced me that you had no knowledge of or involvement in this.

“For the time being, I am willing to commute your sentences to a lifetime as personal slaves. I have a test for Jeffrey to determine his and your final judgment. If he successfully completes his assignment, you will all be allowed to live out your natural lives, although as serfs. If he fails, he probably won’t return and will condemn the three of you to lives as slaves.”

Jeffrey hung his head under the reproachful look from his wife.

“Jeffrey, your test will be to get a message to Baron Wingsham. You are to let him know that the Earl was killed in the attack, but a survivor killed the highwaymen, and then rode to London and reported to the King. Tell him the King believes it was a random attack by a large group of brazen highwaymen, and sent troops to Lancashire to secure the area and search out any highwaymen in the area. He also sent messengers to his nobles in the area, asking them to prepare and arm their troops in case it was more than a robbery. I will know if you succeed. If you choose not to return...” I didn’t finish the threat, just looking over at his wife and children conveyed the rest of the message.

As they prepared to leave, his wife, in a rare demonstration of defiance by a woman, slapped him across the face hard enough to stagger him, bowed to me and apologized, and stormed out carrying their son and with their daughter in tow. For his part, Jeffrey hung his head in shame. “I will do what you asked and return to whatever punishment you deem appropriate, but please, please don’t punish my family,” he implored tearfully.

“I’ll wait until everything is over and done to make a decision,” I promised.

My next chore was just as onerous. I had to inform Gemma and her mother Avecia that Jake was dead, and what he had done. Both women paled when they heard, fully aware of what the usual punishment was. “I spoke with the King, hoping to find a way to spare you and he has graciously allowed a second and slightly less drastic option, personal slavery. If you choose this option, I promise that you will be treated kindly. I don’t blame either of you for what Jake did. You know Margaret and Gemma are good friends and I’m sure Margaret won’t allow her friend to be treated poorly. You can let me know tomorrow what you decide,” I offered.

“That won’t be necessary. You are incredibly understanding and compassionate and I can’t imagine serving a better man,” Avecia said smiling a forced smile bravely through the tears, and knowing that the “slavery” sentence meant having to serve as my personal sexual slaves.

“How is Margaret doing?” Gemma asked cautiously as we were leaving. Normally she would have insisted on being allowed in to see her.

“I’m sure that she would love to see you and to see that you are fine,” I answered.

Gemma hugged me, something not at all uncommon before this happened, then froze, and stammered an apology. “I’m sorry, I forgot my place,” she said quietly as she tried to move away. Instead, I took her hand and pulled her back, put my arm protectively around her shoulder, and kept walking, aware of the furtive sideways glances she gave me occasionally and of the silent communication going on with her mother as they tried to figure out what was going on.

“I’m new at this too,” I said, trying to answer their unspoken question. “I noticed in London that certain people had a much more familiar relationship with the King than their station would suggest. For now, let’s keep ours as friends,” I suggested.

“Thank you,” Gemma whispered emotionally, snuggling tighter against me.

The two guards posted outside my mother’s home opened the door for us and Gemma flew inside, making a beeline for Margaret who was comfortably propped up in the bed talking with her mother and mine. Bolts of cloth and most of the other things I had purchased littered the table and foot of the bed.

After sharing an excited hug, Gemma stepped back, performed a perfect curtsey, asking, “And how is Milady this evening?” Both of them joined in a bout of girlish giggling that eventually woke the baby Abby was holding. While Gemma fussed over Margaret, Abby gave the baby back to Margaret. I pulled several small pouches from one of the saddlebags I hadn’t given the women yet. Selecting the green cloth bag, I went over to the bed and opened it while everyone watched.

“Nothing could make you more beautiful than you are right now, but this small gift is to let you know that I thought of you when I was in London,” I said pulling out the gold necklace with the diamond on it. There was a collective gasp in the room, followed by silence except for the baby’s suckling noises. There was another gasp when I pulled out the strand of pearls and then the poor baby was crushed between Margaret and me as she hugged and kissed me.

We all watched as Margaret quieted the baby and helped him resume his rudely interrupted meal. “I’d like to name him after my father,” I told her quietly.

“I think that would be wonderful,” she agreed emotionally. My mother and sister both had tears in their eyes when I looked up at them.

Their eyes got huge when I took another of the bags and pulled out another gold necklace with a diamond for my mother. “I want you and Abby to live in the Manor House with us. I bought enough cloth and lace to make several nice dresses and you can buy dresses and more cloth when we go to London,” I offered.

“Mike, I’m used to working all day. I can’t just suddenly stop and become a woman of leisure,” she protested.

“I understand. I will have the same problem. However, there is a lot we can do to improve the lives of everyone in Lancaster. If we clear more ground to the south and east, using it for pasture instead of the fields now being used. We could plant the current pasture with more grain and other crops, providing more food for everyone. Part of the extra, new pasture could be cut and stored for fodder during the winter to feed more horses, cows, and sheep. The herds would grow, and we’d have more wool to trade, more milk, butter, cheese, and beef to share with everyone. I also want to spend the winter collecting rock from the river and hills to start building stone houses for everyone. With more food and better shelter, everyone will have a better life and fewer people will die from not having enough to eat or from being too cold. The following year we can plow even more land and plant yet more crops. The town will prosper and grow, and hopefully all of Lancaster will prosper and grow with it.”

“I agree; we’ll move into the Manor House,” my mother conceded, but I could see the pride in her eyes.

The pride turned to surprise again when I took out her strand of pearls, then the gold necklace with the diamond and the strand of pearls for Abby. “I guess we need to start sewing,” she teased Abby, smiling happily. Abby crushed me with her hug and then surprised me when she gave me a very un-sisterly kiss on the lips.

“I would not want your husband upset with me for not thinking of you, too. I also wouldn’t want him upset because he thought my gift was too extravagant so I got this for you,” I told Margaret’s mother, handing her the gold chain necklace with the cross. “If he feels a more extravagant gift is acceptable, I will correct the oversight when I go to London again.”

After an emotional hug from Margaret’s mother, I left the women to their chatter and went back to the Manor House to check on Jack and the troops. Jack wasn’t sure where to spend the night, so I directed him to the Manor House to find Edith, the woman who basically ran the Manor house for the Earl. “Please tell her that I hope she and the current staff members choose to stay on in their current positions. Also, my mother and sister will be staying with us, and Gemma and her mother will be joining the staff, but their duties haven’t been decided yet.” Jack bounded away eagerly, happy in the knowledge that he would be sleeping in a bed tonight.

The new troops were settling in nicely, and the men who had served the Earl were both consoling and congratulating me. They had already heard what happened from the troops that came with us.

I talked with Margaret quietly before going to sleep, letting her know about Claire and her father staying in the Manor House. I made sure she knew the trip here had been their idea, not mine. When she asked my opinion of Claire, I told her that she seemed nice enough and intelligent, but I wasn’t too impressed with her ability to survive away from the pampered life of a Manor House. I was impressed by her determination, though, laughing as I explained about the second carriage that had returned to London after the third day of our trip north.

I also told her that I wasn’t looking for any more wives. However, any that expressed an interest on their own would be directed to her. The decision of whether or not to have a second, third, or fourth wife would be entirely up to her. If she decided to accept an additional wife or wives, she alone would make the determination of who was accepted. She seemed to take it well enough, teasing me about different choices, purposely naming girls she knew I wouldn’t be interested in while grinning viciously at me. She also gave me a wicked blowjob before we went to sleep, and woke me with another one the next morning telling me how proud she was of me for what I’d done to avenge the Earl and my father.

Early the next morning, Captain Weber and I plotted our next move. He was surprised that I’d let Jeffrey go, but agreed that it could do little harm. If he defected, they would be expecting a massive assault, not the middle-of-the-night sneak attacks on the leaders of the rebellion. If he did what I wanted, the Barons might begin to relax and let their guard down, making our attacks even easier.

I also called Jeffrey’s wife back to ask her to do something for me. “This is not an order, merely a request. I need someone to gain the confidence of the female prisoners when they are brought here. If you agree, I want you to be imprisoned with them. I will make sure the guards know not to hurt you, but you would still need to be shackled and chained in the cells with the other women long enough to find out as much as possible, especially to find out if any of them supported or were involved in the plot. Any that you are convinced weren’t involved will be spared. Otherwise, I’d have no way of knowing if they are involved and many more of them might face execution with their husbands.”

“You would trust me to make that decision?” she gasped.

“Is there a reason that I shouldn’t?” I asked casually.

“No, and thank you for trusting me after everything,” she said emotionally.

By noon, the troops that went to the bandit’s campsite had returned with everything. They were convinced that nobody had been there since I left because the dead bodies, although severely gnawed upon, were still lying around the fire ring or still tied to the trees where I’d left them. Aside from tracks made by the animals that had been eating the bodies, there were no fresh tracks.

I noticed that there were many whisperings all day and the men started looking at me a little differently when they heard what I had done to the men tied to the trees.

I made sure to talk with Godwin, the man who had planned and directed the Estate’s labor for the Earl. He was pleasantly surprised at my ambitious plans, having tried for several years to talk the Earl into doing much the same thing--although he presented it as a plan for the Earl’s enrichment rather than for the overall improvement of everyone’s life. He promised to start clearing the first fields right away since we should be able to continue preparing fields all winter.

He would also begin gathering rocks. Since Goodwin had overseen the construction of several buildings for the Earl, he knew how much stone would be needed. I also asked him to talk with Kent the blacksmith (Margaret’s father) about making several new iron-tipped plows. If necessary, he should send messengers to towns within a two-day ride and see if we could purchase more iron-tipped plows or have them made. I wanted twenty more plows by spring, complete with harnesses and yokes to be pulled by teams of horses or oxen. I also wanted four heavy sleds as soon as possible for carrying rocks through the mud, and four heavy wagons for carrying rocks the rest of the time. “Let Kent decide what he can handle, and then contract with other nearby blacksmiths he recommends so we are able to get the work done as quickly as possible,” I told him.

Captain Weber sent out two patrols, each consisting of two hundred men, one to the north, and one to the south. Their orders were to scout the roads for bandits. Each patrol took one of the hunters with them in case they needed to track someone. If possible, bandits would be taken alive and returned here for questioning. The patrol that went north towards York took Sniffy with them. They were impressed with the fact he had sensed or smelled the danger in time to warn us on the way here. The patrol heading south was instructed to stop by Baron Winston’s manor and inform him that his pikeman, Phillip, was spying for the Barons of York and should be arrested and held for now.

The twenty-five archers with silk bowstrings and the remaining two hunters spent most of the morning resting. Shortly after lunch, I bid Margaret and my son a tearful goodbye and we set out to the north with an additional seventy-five archers, each with a second horse so we could trade horses and travel faster. By nightfall, we were close to Baron Markham’s manor, so we made a small camp a short walk away. The twenty-five archers watched over me while the two hunters and I made our way towards the Manor as quietly as possible, stopping frequently in the fields to watch and listen. One by one, the few remaining lights visible in the cottages went out. When only a handful still had the dim light showing, we crept towards the closest cottage. There had been no light from inside for quite a while when I slowly opened the door and we crept in.

The glow from the embers in the fireplace gave us enough light to see where we were going and moments later, all six residents of the cottage were awake and scared shitless. I explained to the man of the house who we were and why we were here. After checking his name against those of the rebellion’s leaders here, I gambled and removed my hand from his mouth. “We need you to tell us the names of the leaders forcing everyone to fight for the Duke of York,” I told him. He did, slowly and quietly as we compared the names to our list. He even gave us two names we didn’t have already.

“Now we need you to show us which houses these eight men live in. We will take them and their family prisoner tonight. Tomorrow, Baron Markham’s remaining soldiers can surprise the Baron and take him and his family prisoner. That way, everyone not involved will think it was a local uprising and won’t know the King’s troops were involved,” I explained to the man. He agreed, grateful for the chance to avoid major bloodshed and possible treason charges against the Crown. Well before dawn, the conspirators and their families had been captured and secured in their homes.

The last cottage he led us to was one of the Baron’s archers. I explained to him that we had captured and bound securely all eight men who supported the Baron, leaving the Baron unprotected. I left it to them to arrange the capture of the Baron and his family, as well as taking them, their valuables, and the other eight families to Lancaster. The rest of the prisoners’ personal belongings could follow in a day or two.

I instructed the archer, “Take thirty mounted archers to guard the prisoners. When you meet up with my men, give them the Baron and then head north with your men until more of my men stop you. Avoid riding near town so nobody sees you. I want you to help us take the prisoners from Baron Fineman’s manor back to Lancaster.” I also explained to him how important it was for everyone in town to think this was a spontaneous uprising of the Baron’s own men. He agreed, and we watched as he disappeared into one house after another in the dim light of the false dawn.

Finally, we withdrew to the tree line and watched as nearly two dozen troops went first to the cottages we’d raided tonight, and then to the Manor House. They weren’t inside the Manor House very long before nine people were dragged roughly outside, witnessed by more than a dozen early risers. The bound prisoners were thrown, unceremoniously into the back of a farm wagon. A small chest and several bags were also thrown in before the wagon and a column of mounted soldiers headed for Lancaster.

“The prison cells in the Manor House are going to begin filling up starting today,” I thought to myself.

Skirting the town, we continued our way north, finding a secluded spot to stop a ways from Baron Fineman’s manor. Shortly after dark, two of our sentries brought in a cavalryman wearing Baron Markham’s insignia. He had refused to stop after they identified themselves as the Crown’s troops and was hurt from falling when they shot his horse out from under him. When he refused to talk, I had my men strip him and tie him so he was hanging horizontally from both feet and both arms about seven feet off the ground. I tied a hemp bowstring (I sure wasn’t going to waste a silk one on him) tightly around his cock and balls, then tied it to a fair-sized rock and let the rock drop. My men cringed as he shrieked loud enough that we could hear it, even through his gag. I stood dispassionately in front of his face until he quit howling enough to hear me.

“Are you ready to tell me everything yet?” I asked. He thought for a moment too long, so I took a firebrand from our tiny cooking fire and approached, singeing the hair on his chest. When he stopped screaming, I asked again. “The next time, the flames go lower. Are you ready to talk yet?” He nodded violently. I gave a second rock to one of the guards. “If he starts to scream, knock him out,” I instructed before removing the gag.

Our reinforcements arrived just in time to hear his sobbed confession. As I had suspected, he was hurrying to warn Baron Fineman about what happened to Baron Markham. I extracted a list of names from him, adding two more to the list I already had. After gagging him again, I removed the bowstring to save it for future use and slit his throat. We buried the body so nobody would find it any time soon.

Once again, the three of us crept into town. This time we ended up with seven families of prisoners. Again, we watched in the early dawn light as the Baron’s Captain rounded up the men he trusted and headed for the Manor House. The Captain had known my father and was saddened by his death.

They waited a little longer than the previous town did to bring their eight prisoners out of the Manor House, and there were dozens of witnesses. Many threw things at the Baron or spat on him as he was dragged across the courtyard and thrown into the wagon. The men had to stop several people from trying to kill him outright. Once the bags of valuables had been loaded, the wagon and accompanying troops headed south with the wagons holding the other seven families. Well outside of town, two thirds of their troops turned and headed east to find us. The others headed for Lancaster. They also had instructions to stop on the way to pick up the family of the man we captured trying to warn Baron Fineman.

Our observations of the village tonight were interesting. We saw a handful of people skulking about well after most homes were dark. All seven of the skulkers entered the same home leading me to conclude it was either those men loyal to the Baron planning something, or men that heard about the uprisings in the other two Baronies and were hoping to do the same here.

I only took nine men with me, leaving the rest to cover us in case we had to make our escape. There was some commotion when we barged into the house, but it died down quickly when the men realized we weren’t the Baron’s troops. The men were a group planning to assassinate the Baron and his supporters, taking their example from the two Baronies that had already successfully done the same thing. I wondered how they’d heard.

We assisted them before we left, capturing the eight men who supported the Baron. Yet again, we left the prisoners bound and under guard in their homes. The Baron put up a fight in the morning and died in the struggle, but his family, his body, his valuables, and his supporters were all loaded into wagons and carted off to Lancaster. Forty more archers joined us later that day.

Two of the new men went with us that night when we snuck into the next town. They guided us to the home of one of their brothers. He in turn, guided us to the ten homes of the Baron’s supporters. Early the next morning, the Baron and his family, as well as the ten supporters and their families were hauled off unceremoniously to Lancaster, amid jeers and curses from the townspeople.

After getting the prisoners on their way to Lancaster, another thirty archers joined us that evening. As usual, we set up camp a mile or so away from Malveston Manor and the usual group of us got as close as we dared and watched as the town went to sleep for the night. Unfortunately, shortly after sunset--and well before it was completely dark, several guards were posted around the outskirts of town. When they set out from the walled Manor House, it looked like a dozen men. Since there were only ten men who supported the Baron, I hoped most of the guards weren’t in favor of the revolt. I was actually grateful when it started drizzling and the guards facing our direction each took shelter on the south or the east side of a building to avoid the rain.

Leaving everyone else behind, ready to release a volley of arrows in my defense if need be, I began creeping through the wet grass and the mud towards the unoccupied side of the building where the closest guard was taking cover. I had to move slowly because he would pop his head around the corner unexpectedly every so often and I didn’t want to have to try running back across this field, which was getting muddier by the moment.

When I was thirty feet from my goal the guard rounded the corner and looked directly at where I was lying, motioning for me to be quiet and not to move. Knowing I’d been discovered, I contemplated running, but the guard hadn’t called out in alarm or raised his bow. Besides, as slow as I’d be able to run in the mud, even a kid could have hit me at that distance with a bow.

I almost panicked and ran anyway when I heard him talking to someone else. The guard and another man rounded the corner of the building talking. “Just the usual rabbits,” the guard said pointing across the field away from where I was. “Are you sure I can’t shoot a couple of them?” he asked.

“Just keep your eyes open for anyone moving about either in town or outside of town,” the second man answered gruffly before stomping off, obviously not happy that he had to be out in the rain.

Moments later, the guard was back. He opened the door of the cottage he was standing guard outside of and said something quietly to someone inside before turning back to me and motioning me over. When I got to him, he hurried me inside and stood in the doorway with his back to me, watching in case the other man returned. His bow was still slung over his shoulder, and his wife was stirring the coals in the fireplace. “Who are you?” he whispered.

“Sir Michael Miller, new Earl of Lancaster,” I answered.

“Are you here to help us capture the Baron and his men?” he asked eagerly.

“That’s the plan,” I answered. He turned, still in the doorway, and bowed.

“Adam Haley at your service, my Lord. How may I be of assistance?”

I explained what we had done in the other Baronies. “There are three of the men you want to capture on guard duty with the rest of us tonight; the man just east of me, the man who came by a few moments ago, and another man watching from the walls of the Manor House. The man who came by here won’t be back for quite a while. He’s probably warming himself in front of his fire right now.” Adam brushed thresh back from a spot on the floor exposing the dirt and used an arrowhead to draw a rough diagram of the manor.

“The man on the walls comes out periodically to check on the guards. We’ll need to get a lot closer before we’re close enough to hit him.”

“How far is it to the walls?” I asked.

“It’s a good four hundred yards. You’ll want to get up near the closest cottage. That will only be about a two-hundred-yard shot,” he explained.

“If you point him out to me, I can hit him from here,” I told him. He stared at me, incredulous.

“If you miss, they will sound an alarm,” he reminded me anxiously.

“I know,” I replied. “What happens when I hit him?” I asked.

“The other guards will probably push his body over the wall so the Baron doesn’t see it if he looks out--after making sure he’s dead,” he said, grinning and drawing a finger across his throat.

We crept back out to the end of the building so I could see the wall. Fortunately, my cold, soggy wait was fairly short before someone appeared from the small gatehouse atop the wall. “That’s him,” Adam hissed quietly.

“You go take care of the other guard,” I whispered, nodding towards the next guard to the east. I gave him what I felt was enough time to reach the next guard, and then aimed, and released my arrow. I breathed again when the man atop the wall crumpled silently. Moments later, a second man crept out of the gatehouse and pushed the body over the wall just the way Adam had predicted. After a grateful salute in my general direction, he hurried back into the gatehouse.

Adam came back a short time later. “Right in the head!” he gasped. “I’m going to let the other guards know what’s going on. You wait in my house,” he whispered and scurried off. He was smiling when he returned. “The other guards all know. Once Collins comes back out, we can take him, and then we’ll take the others while they sleep.”

We waited behind the corner of a neighboring cottage, mostly out of the rain, until the door opened. Grumbling to himself about the Baron being afraid of his own shadow, he started his rounds again. Head down, shoulders slouched forward as he walked away from us while trying to stay as dry as possible. It wasn’t even sporting. “Too bad,” I thought as my arrow dropped him silently twenty feet from his doorway.