The Wild Hunt - by Elizabeth Chadwick
Basically, Guyon of Ledworth, a Marcher lord (the guys that got to live on the Welsh border and basically protect the English from their raids) is offered the young and nervy Judith of Ravenstow as a bride.
She is the niece of the dastardly rapist, murderer and torturer, Robert of Belleme (true historical figure) Robert is also fairly friendlty with the homosexual King of England William Rufus, so no one really wants to mess with him too much.
William also kind of fancies Guyon as well, so he agrees to give him Judith (v v wealthy heiress) and obviously de Belleme is not happy as he wanted Judith to marry his lackey Walter de Lacey instead.
Judith is not happy about the wedding as her parents had a miserable one and her father was an asshole who used to beat up and rape her mother. As de Bellemes brother, is anyone surprised?
Guyon also has a Welsh mistress (Rhosyn) who has just announced that she is pregnant with his child. They agree that she should remain in Wales where she would be safe from de Belleme and de Lacey who are now uber pissed off with Guyon. Besides, the mistress doesn't want her child to grow up in an icky gross cold Norman castle...
Judith and Guyon meet on the eve of the wedding, and he is somewhat amused when his future wife falls into the mud at his feet and her pet cat attacks him. A terrified Judith rushes off, and Guyon finds the whole situation hysterical.
The get married and he promises that they won't have sex as she is virtually a kid. He is impressed by her fieriness, her brilliant knowledge of herbs, and a strange resemblance to someone that he can't quite pinpoint!
During the wedding party, the men go off to hunt wild boar, de Lacey being a part of the group (he tried to grope Judith on her wedding night but Guyon was having none of it!) and strangely enough there is an accident in which Guyons spear breaks and he is quite badly wounded (BOARS ARE DANGEROUS!!!)
Guyon hides the extent of his injuries from his guests and Judith patches him up. Later on de Belleme comes to visit his niece and new husband and presents her with a bunch of sables as her wedding gift. He also get £300 silver off Guyon as payment for his predeccessors debt. Guyon fakes getting as drunk as a skunk and with some of his Welsh buddies, goes out, surrounds de Belleme and his entourage with a herd of sheep and proceeds to steal back the £300. He then goes off to his mistress and telkls her that the sables came from her uncle who was murdered on the road by de Belleme and his men, and that he will get revenge.
Judith is in a panic as Guyon hasn't returned home and she goes ballistic at him when he finally comes back. He takes a draught of poppy so that when Belleme returns, he can pretend to still be under the influence, therefore incapable of having been the guy that robbed de Belleme. The ruse works, especially after Guyon pukes on Roberts shoes...
Things go on, Judith and Guyon get closer. Judith's mom and Guyons father start to fall for each other. And then the king dies in a suspicious hunting accident. Guyon is also buddies with the King's younger brother who has seized the treasury and been crowned Henry I of England, and Judith suspects that Henry and Guyon were complicit in Rufus' death - especially since Guyon has been acting oddly ever since they met the Henry a few months ago.
This is due to the fact that HENRY is actually Judith's biological father. Her mother was sick of being accused of being baron, so (at age 28) she shagged the 14 year old Henry (who was already VERY experienced and had already sired a few bastards so I guess it's okay...?) and got knocked up and passed the kid off as her husbands.
Of course Guyon can't just tell Judith this, so she gets all cold and suspicious and hatey, until eventually Guyon convinces her mom to tell the truth. Henry sorta kinda tries to use the family connection to get Guyons loyalty, but it's unneccessary, as Guyon and his family are loyal to the crown regardless.
Wars happen, Henry's older brother Robert (Duke of Normandy) invades England - with the help of Belleme who has switched sides. Robert is such a chivalric gentleman though, that he bypasses Winchester where the queen is about to have a baby, and makes a peace treaty with Henry. De Belleme is pissed off.
Stuff happens, Guyon and Judith finally do the deed, and she discovers that she REALLY likes THE SEX!!! So all is good! Until Guyons mistress comes to town to buy some stuff and see Guyon about some textiles that she is trading. The two women meet, and Judith meets the kids - including Heulwen, Guyon's bastard daughter. The two women come to peace with each other, especially as the Rhosyn is going to get married shortly, and while they can never be friends, they respect each other.
Judith sends an escort with Rhosyn to make sure that she arrives home safely, but one of the younger men soon returns, holding Heulwen and explaining that the group was attacked and exeryone was massacred except for Heulwen who he found, and Rhosyns daughter who was kidnapped and taken away.
Guyon and Rhosyns betrothed go ballistic, especially when they realise that de Lacey is responsible. Guyon ius desperate to rescue Rhosyns daughter, and prevent her being raped and tortured like the others were. Judith feels hugely guilty and takes Heulwen to look after.
The men take the castle, but it seems de Lacey has escpaed! One of the guards tell Guyon that Rhosyn's daughter committed suicide by breaking free and jumping off the castle walls. Judith comes to attend to the wounded, and finds de Lacey's wife and young child at the verge of death as well. She can't save the mother, but she decides to try and save the baby boy Adam.
De Lacey has in fact NOT escaped! He has been hiding in the castle and jumps out to try and rape and kidnap Judith! Guyon finds her under the body of de Lacey, not moving! He fears the worst, but NO! Our fiery redhead has fatally stabbed de Lacey, and was merely trapped under him when he fell!
The pair clean up the castle, enjoy their victory and take in young Heulwen and Adam de Lacey as their wards, and Judith reveals that she is pregnant! They live happily ever after!
I really enjoyed this, even though it was a little romancey for me, but the characters were well developed, and had as many flaws as virtues. The historical characters were reasonably well represented as their historical selves, although liberties were obviously taken with some personalities. As a history nit-picker, I wasn't too frustrated by historical inaccuracies, so this was definitely a plus for me!
Onwards to the Next book in the Ravenstow Trilogy : The Running Vixen
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