1004. Chapter 1004

After Much Ado About Murder

Episode 8.20

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Once more unto the breach for I do not own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above

Pietro shrugged. "And so it will be a good thing to have a Venetian with Duke Rodrigo. I suspect that after another battle or so, both sides will want to reach a negotiated settlement. And, my position in Venice has been made clear. We pay pirates like Demming to raid our enemies the Genoese and their allies. The Genoese bribe the pirates to attack the Venetians. It's madness. Better we should destroy the pirates and save the money for fighting each other. But no one in Venice agrees with me."

A bowman interrupted. "Sir Richard, a page from Sir James is here. Sir James would like to see you, and Lord Pietro at noon."

Kate accompanied Rick and Pietro to see Sir James. She was, after all, Rick's advisor on all things Italian, plus he always liked to be near her.

Sir James rose when the three entered the palazzo that Duke Rodrigo had given him for his quarters. Duke Rodrigo was there as well.

"I understand that you are now a wealthy man, Richard. Congratulations."

"Thank you, Sir James. It's a bit overwhelming for me."

Sir James nodded and smiled. "With your new found wealth, you could return to England with your soon to be bride, buy land and become a wealthy landowner."

Rick and Kate shared a look. Rick shook his head. "I intend to stay here with Kate. And I will always be a soldier. I owe it to my company to continue."

Both Sir James and Duke Rodrigo looked pleased.

"Good, Richard. Now, for the news. Venetian ships have evacuated de Braquenne's army back to Venice. The Venetians are providing him with money to recruit new soldiers."

"But it is hard to get soldiers to fight for someone who has been badly beaten in battle." Rodrigo added. "We, on the other hand, were the winners. And since we have the money you found for us, we can hire soldiers ourselves. Even now we have agents in northern Italy and elsewhere recruiting."

Rick frowned. "The wealth of Pola is large, but is it enough to raise an army capable of defeating de Braquenne?"

Rodrigo looked around him, as if looking for hidden listeners. "We have other sources of income."

Seeing the confusion on Rick's face, Pietro explained. "The enemies of Venice, the Genoese, do not wish for Venice to make the Adriatic Sea their own. The same can be said of Florence and Pisa, and even the Duchy of Milan."

Sir James continued. "Luckily, Venice can't bring its full strength against us. They have problems elsewhere, with the Ottoman Turks, the Holy Roman Empire, the Hungarians, even the Pope is said to be unhappy with their power. Of course, they all have other problems than the Venetians, but for now, we'll be facing de Braquenne and whatever army he can raise."

"I am at your service, as always, Sir James."

"Your company of archers took casualties, did it not?"

Castle nodded, remembering the men who had died or been disabled. "I have under ninety archers now, but I do have sixty Aragonese crossbowmen and Pere Jean's Gascons. I think I can raise…."

Sir James waved him to silence. "Duke Rodrigo and I have other plans. We must keep the bulk of our army facing de Braquenne in the north. But, despite the defeat of Demming and his pirates, there are still pirates all down the Adriatic coast all the way to Greece." Sir James shook his head. "There are pirates all around the Mediterranean and beyond. Istria has little beyond a few fishing boats, where once it had a navy and many merchant ships. We need those pirates taken care of. Oh, we know that we won't be able to permanently rid the Mediterranean of pirates, but we need the ones to our south chased away and taught not to fight against Pola. We want you lead a chevauchee, a raid, against the pirates. You now have wealth and we can provide more. You will need a force of some five hundred mounted archers, a few hundred crossbowmen, six or seven hundred spearmen and all the light cavalry you can raise. Perhaps a few hundred mounted knights and men at arms as well. Will you do it?"

Castle thought quickly. He could be commanding his own army. With his money, a good portion of the army would owe fealty to him. He could easily pay for the archers, crossbowmen and perhaps some others.

Castle smiled. "I'll do it."

It is the year of Our Lord 1362….

She strode down the street, her new boots striking the cobblestones. The sun was warm and the sky was cloudless. Ahead of her, she could hear the sounds of horses and men.

Six hundred archers and two hundred crossbowmen followed her husband. More men than he had the money to pay had wanted to follow the famous Sir Richard Castle. Sir James Walden had provided Castle with over six hundred spearmen and Duke Rodrigo had recruited five hundred local light horsemen, the stratioti, led by one Michael Paleologos, who claimed to be the natural son of a Byzantine noble. They had feared that they would not be able to recruit any heavy cavalry. However, shortly before they were scheduled to leave Jock Tait of Teviotdale had arrived with a hundred and fifty men at arms.

No civilians would accompany the raid and every man was mounted, not on the best horses, Kate knew, but good enough to keep the raid very mobile. Supplies were also carried on pack horses.

She turned a corner and came upon a tall handsome man who looked down at her with the bluest of blue eyes. She held up her hand for him to take.

"You really intend to go with me, Kate?"

She nodded. "Of course. You're my husband. My place is with you. Besides, you need someone to teach you of the ways of Italy."

A groom brought her horse up and she mounted.

"Are you ready Lady Castle?" He asked.

"Always."

Author's notes: Sir Richard and Lady Katherine will be back fighting pirates, just as soon as I write the whole story. Then there will be a third and final story. Maybe more. Who knows what I may write?

Istria is the sort of triangular shaped peninsula in the northeast corner of the Adriatic Sea. It has been Italian at times, but now is part of Croatia mostly, with a little bit in Slovenia. Pola, now Pula, is a major seaport. However, by the year 1361, it was a part of the Holy Roman Empire and not an independent Duchy. But what fun is that?

There was a truce in the Hundred Years War between England in France between 1360 and 1369. During that time some English troops, no longer needed to fight in France, served in Italy as mercenaries. The best known was Sir John Hawkwood who is mentioned in passing in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel, The White Company.

Gascony, now part of France, was a part of the King of England's domains and Gascons fought against the French in the Hundred Years War.

Aragon was a separate Kingdom in Iberia, there was no nation of Spain yet, and Aragon held both the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and Sicily. We'll meet another Aragonese.