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None of the little dwelling places that had accepted those of lesser rank had
quarters that Brian considered respectable for a knight to use; and besides,
with the three of them isolated this way, they could discuss plans in privacy.
Jim had his own private reasons for not stepping into one of the huts of his
own people. Those same huts would be alive with fleas, lice, and other vermin.
He had not stayed completely clear of such on his trip toFrance and back; but
he wanted to keep himself as clean as possible until he was able to get into
the castle, have his clothes thoroughly boiled and cleaned, and take a bath in
the privacy of his quarters with Angie.
The evening was still busy with people coming and going. The bundles of twigs
that were to be set on fire had to be made. Dafydd also had specific
instructions to give his bowmen. He had managed to pick at least a dozen
passable archers out of the thirty or forty who had presented themselves. The
job of these would be mainly to keep any bowmen or crossbowmen on the
battlements from shooting down into the crowd below once the attack started.
At least they could encourage the marksmen above to keep their heads down. The
chief men-at-arms also had to be given specific orders.
Still and all, by what Jim judged to be something like ten o'clock, everyone
was gone. The fire had burned down, well on its way toward becoming a bed of
embers. The three rolled themselves in saddle blankets, and both Dafydd and
Brian dropped off, as if tomorrow were to be no different than any other day.
It was a knack that Jim had remarked and envied in them before this.
In his own case, he lay awake for some little time, thinking not so much
about the fight, as about the conditions under which Angie was being kept in
the castle as a prisoner. Comforting himself finally with the belief that it
would not pay Malvinne to abuse the three women of the castle until he knew
that Jim and his two companions were firmly in his grasp, he finally fell
asleep.
He woke, like the rest, at daybreak. They had barely got their campfire going
to warm themselves, when several of Jim's locals brought them food and
homemade beer for breakfast. Jim, to his own surprise, was as ravenously
hungry as Dafydd and Brian seemed always to be. He told himself that perhaps
he was beginning to fall into the pattern of things here, after all.
They filled their saddle flasks with beer, and tied packages of some of the
food, that would not spoil too quickly, to their saddles; and set about
getting their forces in position. This, Brian had emphasized, needed to be
done before the armed horsemen came out from the castle, so that no noise or
movement should attract attention from either them or the castle beyond.
In due time, the unsuspecting foes came, dismounted, tied their horses to the
pegs in the ground, and settled down to a number of games, running from dice
to a sort of crude form of chess.
And the hard part began.
Now, as Brian had emphasized the night before, they must wait until the
knights, men-at-arms, or whoever Malvinne's fighting men were, should have
settled down to what they thought was another weary day of waiting. The wait,
this time, was almost as hard on those hidden in the woods around them as on
the heavily armored men themselves.
Almost, but not quite.For one thing, those waiting in the woods were in
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shade, and had relative freedom of movement. The men stationed behind the
castle cursed the sunlight loudly and hunted small patches of shade as the sun
rose and the shadow cast by the castle dwindled.
Then, finally, came the moment Brian had been waiting for. At midday,
servants came out from the castle, bearing a meal for the armed men. To the
satisfaction of everyone watching, those being fed ate heartily. Not only was
there no need to stint themselves, but clearly they did not expect Jim, Brian,
Dafydd, and the rest to show up until somewhere between midafternoon and the
end of the day.
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