Monday, November 07, 2005
499
Sir Mortimer boasts
What a year! King Idris of Cornwall swept up the kingdom of Jagent, and while we watched our neighbor devoured by a fellow Briton, we had to contend with Prince Aescwine hanging around Salisbury court. He wants us to ally with him against Sussex, Kent, and Silchester—I can't believe I would say "Silchester" in the same breath as other Saxon possessions, but there you go, that's the harvest of treachery—but we're having none of it. We've said that we will consider it, in order to buy a summer of peace before a council at Windsor to discuss the high kingship. The Count of Marlborough, just a boy, is with us now, so we're making hay and kicking the Saxons and Silchester knights out of Rhydychan.
We were wildly successful at the siege of Oxford, and pummeled Sir Ulfius at the Battle of Dorchester. Two-to-one odds in his favor yet still we carried the field! We followed him to Wallingford and fought another decisive battle, also in our favor. I managed to capture the Count of Windsor, a prize rich beyond imagining. His ransom will pay for a lot of defensive works in my holdings, and a lot of troops for our continuing battles.
I'm also trying to convince the Countess of Rhydychan, without husband or heir, to marry the Marshal. It would be a prudent move for both her and him, and for all our lands.
We couldn't reach a quorum at Windsor, and left disappointed. No one is strong enough, yet, to claim the high kingship.
