Thread: A Mother's Trials (Tesora & Greeneyed23)

The world knew much change in the year 1099. The city of Jerusalem, for the first time in nearly 500 years returned to the control of the Christian nations, and the reins of power shifted from throne to throne and even into the hands of non rulers with a speed that startled them all. Leaders of men found themselves pushed to rule themselves and though many refused, not all were so noble or wise. The war that would be known as the crusade also served another purpose. Devious rulers sent many of their rivals to the Holy Land to fight for the glory of Christendom, knowing many would not return. This included the eldest son of William the Conqueror Robert who had failed to become king due to his lack of funds thus had had to take a duchy while his younger brother took the throne of the most powerful kingdom in Europe. Urged by his brother and Pope Clement Robert and his fellows had set out to free Jerusalem. Robert had taken a number of his friends and followers, but also quite a few of his enemies. This included one Roland Eckert Lord of Salisbury. He had ascended to his title the same day he had been knighted in full after the death of his father in an hunting accident, then after wedding his betrothed and only just getting to know his newborn daughter he had been summoned by his king to serve as an advance guard for the oncoming Crusade and after making love to his wife a final time had left his home in 1093, a full three years before the rest of the Crusade was fully formed. It was Roland who arrived in the Holy Land and began to recruit warriors while also fortifying the small holdings he could gather. By the time others had gathered he had taken a full twelve cities and then lead the attacks on Jerusalem and a number of other cities. Somehow his name was lost though and it was thought he had died before the others had ever arrived in the Holy Land. Now he served with his fellows in the Knights Hospitaller guarding the sick and needy in the Holy Land. He had requested to go home many times but had always been needed for more duties. He did not know he was thought dead, thus did not know just what madness lay in wait for him. William II knew he needed an heir else the throne would pass to Robert or maybe even Henry. But though he sowed his seed with wild abandon he had not sired even a single child. He had been told that he needed to wed a proper noble woman and only then would God see fit to bless him with child. With the news of Jerusalem's fall but also the news that Roland was dead, William set his aims upon the beautiful and wealthy Lady of Salisbury. The dear lady had her own troubles. The nobles of Wessex were striving to wed their sons to her still young daughter, while her family and again the various nobles were all trying to befriend her son and use him to influence the mother. They had also demanded that she name someone as the new Lord claiming that Roland's death required it. Of course they wished it to go to her son whom they were also trying to convince to sell them his father's many holdings, along with his mother's, for a paltry sum. This were but a few of the troubles the still young noblewoman faced. Her daughter was beginning to show interest in men, and her son was a angry angry boy who needed a father but refused to bond with any of her male family. His hate and rage were wild and explosive. It did serve one purpose however. The boy hated William. Despised him with a wicked viciousness that could have got him killed were he not so young. On the King's last visit the boy had set fire to the royal carriage and had convinced the King it had been the captain of his own guard. In all things the boy was out of control and a strain on his mother but he also refused to accept that anyone could replace Roland as his father. Only hunting seemed to calm the young man, who had already mastered his bow and was gaining a rather severe reputation both for his skill but also the brutality of his handling of matters. He had taken lately to shooting bandits through the hands and feet claiming as defender of the land it was his duty but as he was not the Lord of Salisbury he could not take their lives himself. He frightened his sister and thrilled to it and always tried to anger his mother, often intentionally disobeying her simply to gain her attention. Though winter had fallen he continued to hunt daily and always refused a guard, having tricked the last into a series of traps where had left them until they had nearly starved. The boy was another key point of the nobles complaints to his mother. They wanted him controlled, trained, and constantly they offered to do so for her, even offering prestigious apprenticeships for him. These and other offers were thrown upon the Lady of Salisbury on an almost hourly basis and every day they were increasing in both number and insistence.