The Spanish knights were unable to meet the King of England in London, but during this war season, Butescarles were everywhere in search of opportunities to enter the city, a situation that had become more and more common since the conquest of King Canute, and no one found anything suspicious about this handsome knight with weapons.

"Kid, find some of the best oats for our horses, this is for you." The Spaniard threw a coin at the horse boy and handed him his beloved companion "Bavieca". The heroic appearance of this Spanish steed had earned him the envy of many people along the way, but even the most greedy bandits did not dare to have any ill intentions against this tall and slender warrior.

The smell of cheap beer in the hotel made him frown, but he found a seat and asked for a plate of lamb shanks while a group of nearby Saxons chatted loudly.

"I heard Master Phocas say yesterday that there is going to be another war recently."

"The Greek? Last time my wife had gout, he gave me some herbs. ”

"An eccentric old man, who heard that his family had all died in the war?"

"Yes, it is said that his sons fought with the emperor of Greece and were all killed by the infidels. God saves us, and this world is full of bloodshed. ”

"I don't know if our Sain will go to war this time, that grumpy Governor Edric just pulled some people to the north the other day."

"Who are you fighting this time?" The questioner's voice was a little nervous.

"I heard it's Welsh."

"That group of sissies who love to sing, one Saxon can beat ten of the best Britons." Someone unashamedly began to boast.

The Spaniard understood only a little, and then asked his squire, Alvar Fanez, "What did these people say?" ”

"The Basque captain taught me only a little Saxon language, but I think they were talking about war with some barbarian, and I heard someone mention what valra, as if it were some kind of Gentile name."

"Is it the Franks?"

"I don't know, but isn't this a good opportunity? You are the most famous Campeador in all of Spain, and if we had joined the English war, the King of England would have drowned us with gold and silver. Young Alva suddenly fell into a beautiful fantasy.

"First we have to meet the king." Knight Rodrigo interrupts Alva's dream.

"Lord Rodrigo, what should we do if the English still refuse to accept your services?"

The Spaniard was a little uncertain, and replied casually: "I have heard that the Roman Emperor is at war with the Holy See, and the Germanic princes, wherever they stand, are gathering men everywhere, and we can go to Italy or Germany to see." ”

"Italy?" The squire's eyes lit up.

"Don't think about Italy anymore, we're in London now!" Knights Rodrigo had to remind Alva once again of his immediate priority.

"Well, but didn't you say that the King of England had an old friend with you?"

The Spaniard, who had last been in England as an envoy to King Sancho, was now an exile who had lost his lordship, Alfonso's brother-killing tyrant was offering bounties for his capture, and "Campeado", once hailed by countless Christians, was now a lost dog fleeing his homeland. Rodrigo shook his head and decided not to think about these old things, the question at the moment is, where is the king of England?

Edgar was now counting the chimneys of smoke on the west side of Chester's castle, and he counted at least twenty, but there might be more in the distance under the thick clouds, but they were obscured and he couldn't make out them.

"They're looting." Count Moka said to the king.

"Yes, sir. This civil war seems to be much bloodier than we thought, and will brothers and blood relatives be so choked like this? ”

"Your Majesty, in the land to the west of us, there is a sword hidden in the smiles of the people, and my deceased brother is better at dealing with these Britons, but it is a pity that ......"

"Now we need to deal with these people, but the Earl of Northumbria's training has been beyond my expectations, and these soldiers are now considered brave, and their discipline is well maintained." The king commented on the nearby garrison.

"Very good indeed, although Lord Walsiov is young, his ability to lead soldiers is not much worse than his father's, no wonder the old Earl Godwin was also afraid of their family in the first place." As if hinting at something, Count Moka saw that the king did not react, and immediately fell silent.

"How many people are on the enemy's side now participating in these raids?" Edgar asked again.

"From what I know about that people, it depends on how many horses they have, and generally speaking, only warriors with war horses will participate in the raids, and in this respect they are not as good as the Cumbrians in the north, and those mongrels are simply overwhelming nomadic legions when they plunder cattle, and there is hardly a village where people do not move."

"So, the enemy has a lot of cavalry?" Edgar's face became a little solemn.

"Looking at this formation, I'm afraid it's indispensable, those Ulcheville lords' Terry guards generally have war horses, if the scale of their raids is large, it means that there are a lot of lords who have joined."

"Is it possible that the Danes and Gaelic of Ireland have arrived?" Edgar suggested another possibility.

"My spy did not report the arrival of the Danish ship, and besides, the Irish must still be busy with the farms. Believe me, Your Majesty, if the Danish ship from Dublin arrives, we will know. "The Earl of Mercia was not at all worried, he was only curious that the king had not sent troops so far, not that he had any sympathy for the Welsh who had been plundered by his countrymen, according to the Earl's idea, no matter what he did, he would always have to die, and it was better to die than to let his own people bleed. What Count Moka was curious about was why the king insisted on concentrating on the main force of the cavalry, after all, to deal with the rebellion of Dafeld, even if the Irish and Vikings in Dublin were added, in fact, only one squadron of guards cavalry was needed, with these elite iron cavalry, with the main force of Gwinness and Boas, what enemy could not be solved? On the contrary, the threat of the King of Denmark seems to be greater, although the record of the King of Sven is not very good, but the tens of thousands of Danish elites under his command are real, although I don't know where the rumors came from, but the news that the fleet of the King of Sven is gathering has spread all over the north, and even the Earl of Mercia does not doubt this now, if it were not for the fact that the Kingdom of England has been protected by countless castles and castles, and the vitality of the counties has recovered a lot, the current situation is somewhat reminiscent of the "mustache" sixty or seventy years ago It was the eve of the Sven invasion.

It was only in the face of this bearded and increasingly majestic Chedisingas royal family that the Count of Mercia did not dare to directly question the king's decision.