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off Fara's nipples had done its work. In every village and from every castle
they passed, they heard this. They also found so much confusion that nobody
could have opposed their march even if he'd wanted to. In fact, most villagers
and some Lords openly welcomed the riders of Nainan and the end of Duke
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Raskod's harsh and pleasure-loving rule.
Blade noticed that this kind of welcome seemed to increase in strength the
closer they got to the castle.
"The castles and villages close to Raskod's seat were the ones who had to give
up their pretty girls for his pleasure," said Alsin as they rode down the last
valley before the castle. "He was only able to keep them at all inhabited
these last few years by killing anyone who tried to flee. Even Lords sometimes
suffered."
Now that Duke Raskod's hand was lifted, the villagers were proving the truth
of Alsin's statement by fleeing in swarms. The riders of Nainan covered the
last few miles to the castle over roads choked with refugees, carrying babies
and valuables and driving livestock before them. All of them seemed to have
only one thought-to get out of reach of Raskod's Lords before they started
seeking a ghastly vengeance for their Duke's murder. Blade listened to some of
the refugees' talk as he rode past. None of them seemed aware that they
themselves could make the slightest difference to what happened now.
No two Lords in Nainan's army agreed on what they expected to find at Castle
Issos. Personally, Blade expected to find the heads of the women of Raskod's
harem on pikes outside the closed gates, with a defiant garrison inside ready
to fight to the last man.
They found the gates closed, all right, but they also found the women snugly
in possession of the gate tower, able to lower the drawbridge any time they
wanted. Under a flag of truce, Blade and Lord Gennar rode to within shouting
distance of the gate tower. A lovely young darkhaired woman leaned out the
topmost window, bare to the waist.
"Well done!" Blade shouted. "How are you?"
"We're safe for the moment," she said in a cracked, rasping voice. "But for
the love of the Fathers, get us some water!"
Blade sent Lord Gennar back to order up pack horses carrying water bags. From
the castle walls one of
Raskod's men shouted, "You aren't going to help those bitches!" and emphasized
his opinion by throwing a spear. It narrowly missed Blade.
He leaned out of his saddle, pulled the spear free of the ground, then shook
it at the castle walls. "The next thing any of you throws, the ladies are
going to lower the drawbridge. We'll come in, and we'll come with swords in
our hands." Blade wasn't sure if he had the right to make that threat, but he
didn't care.
The women had shown a cold-blooded courage he greatly admired, and they
weren't going to die now that safety was so close if he could do anything
about it.
Raskod's men seemed to believe the threat. The men on the walls watched in
silence as the women hauled the water bags up to the window. Blade and Gennar
were about to ride away when they saw
Chenosh riding toward them, escorted by half a dozen Lords. One of them
carried a hunting crossbow.
Just beyond a spear throw from the wall, the archer dismounted, cocked the
bow, put a bolt in it, and shot the bolt over the walls. Chenosh rode up to
Blade and explained.
"That's our terms. If they surrender by dawn tomorrow, Duke Raskod's healthy
son will inherit the
Duchy. He and his Lords must swear the same oaths as Duke Padro, but that's
all. If they don't yield, the women will lower the drawbridge and we'll storm
the castle. The Duchy of Issos will become part of
Nainan."
Blade laughed. "I just threatened them with about the same thing if they
didn't let me get water to the women." They turned their horses and rode side
by side away from the castle. Blade couldn't help looking back once or twice
at the massive walls and the frowning keep. Getting inside the walls would be
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only half the victory. He hoped that in saying he would storm the castle,
Marshal Alsin hadn't made a threat he couldn't hope to carry out.
The men of Nainan spent an uneasy night. Most of them didn't even bother
taking off their armor, and no one slept without a weapon close to hand. They
ate well, off the sheep and pigs that had strayed from the fleeing villagers,
and the smell of roasting meat and the sizzle of dripping fat filled the camp.
First light brought no word from the castle, but it did bring two unexpected
sets of reinforcements. One included thirty Lords of Nainan, led by Lord
Ebass, the man whom Blade had fought just after his arrival in this Dimension. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]