by Martin Owton
“Thank the Gods you’re here,” said Lady Alice’s cousin Esmont.
He brought them into the main room of the house calling for wine and food for his guests. His wife shed tears over the state of Celaine then summoned her maids and packed Edith and Celaine off to be bathed and reclothed. Edith resisted but Maldwyn told her to go and look after Celaine.
“We’ve been trying to organise some move against Tancred, but achieved little,” said Esmont. “There are many opposed to him, but no-one knew what we should do. Did you know he has dismissed half the guard?”
“Yes,” said Maldwyn. “We knew that.”
“We have three of the guardsmen here. One is my nephew and he brought the other two.”
“Would they know where to find the others?” asked Aron.
“Those that stayed in Nandor,” said Esmont. “Some left to try their fortune elsewhere.”
“Then let’s gather them as quickly as we can,” said Maldwyn. “Send Thomi with them.”
“Do you have a plan?” asked Esmont.
“Not yet,” said Maldwyn. “But we will have by the time they get here.”
“What do you know of conditions inside the castle?” asked Aron.
“Not a lot,” said Esmont. “Not many people are allowed in. None of the merchants have been paid for goods they’ve supplied since the takeover, so there’s not much that goes in.”
“They’ll be starting into the siege rations before long then,” said Maldwyn. “That puts paid to any idea of getting in in disguise.”
“Were you thinking of doing that?” asked Esmont.
“We hadn’t excluded it,” said Aron. “What about the maids and the cooks? Don’t some of them live in the town? We need to find out what they know,” said Aron.
“My wife will see to that,” said Esmont.
“Only the older ones,” said Aron. “I wouldn’t trust some of the younger ones not to have formed liaisons with Tancred’s men.”
“Surely not,” said Maldwyn.
Servants bearing fresh-baked bread, cheese, cold roast mutton and wine entered putting an end to the discussion. Aron and Maldwyn’s attention turned to the repast with gusto after their long journey on short rations.
***
Deep in the night as the rain pounded on the roof just above their heads, Edith drained the mug of the mushroom draught and, holding Aron’s hand, waited for the mist.
“Are you sure you’re not too tired?” asked Aron. “We can do this tomorrow.”
“I want to see mother and tell her we’re here,” said Edith.
“Look for the sentries before you do anything else,” said Aron. “We have to know how many and where they are. And find out how your mother is guarded too.”
Edith closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind but her worries about Celaine refused to subside. She had struggled to get Celaine to eat anything this evening and when they had tried to wash her she had curled up into a ball so she was put to bed dirty. Before she set out for Marenin she had been slightly plumper than Edith, a source of much teasing, but now she was worryingly thin. What are we going to do if she doesn’t get better? I just want my sister back. A harsher voice in her mind added and Tancred dead.
Edith felt her mind lift. She opened her eyes to find the room filled with mist. She let go of Aron’s hand, stood up and stepped into the thickest part of the mist. A moment later she stood in the room next door where Celaine lay curled up completely under the blanket. Edith muttered a curse and tried to concentrate on picturing the courtyard of Nandor castle as she kept moving forward. The mist swirled up to engulf her and in another moment she stood in the castle courtyard.
The rain thrashed the cobbles of the courtyard filling the puddles and spilling from the gutters of the keep. A night to keep the most resolute sentry under cover.
She waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark before looking up at the sentry’s walkway on the wall. As she expected there was no sentry on the walkway. So where are they then?
At the foot of the corner watchtower was a small room where the sentries could keep weapons and, perhaps, some food and drinking water. A canvas sheet had been hung over the doorway and was clearly secured from within as it did not flap with the wind that gusted around the tower. She passed through; inside the sentry was perched on a chair fast asleep, his face turned to the wall, a flagon at his feet. I’ll wager anything that’s not water in there.
She left the sentry to his slumber and climbed the stairs inside the tower up to the walkway. She looked out over the wall, appreciating the height with new eyes. As a small child it had seemed a terrifying distance and now, thinking about climbing it, it still seemed a long way to the gardens below.
She followed the walkway around to the gatehouse where a single light burned from a slit window. There should be at least one more sentry in there. She passed through the archway and descended the stairs to the guardroom.
Two men sat unarmoured, warming themselves in front of a fire and playing dice. She did not recognise them. Tancred’s men. There’s no chance they’ll be going out in the wind and rain tonight.
She moved on from the guardroom back across the deserted courtyard to the keep, passing the barracks where the rest of the guard slept, and the bolted door of the armoury. There should have been a sentry at the entrance to the keep, but there was none. Dicing back in the guardroom.
The hall was empty; the fire in the great fireplace banked down. Edith climbed the stairs to her mother’s chamber expecting to find it unguarded. Here she was surprised; not only was the door guarded but the sentry was awake. Edith recognised him as Filip, the youngest Nandor guardsman, and was momentarily saddened to find he had joined the traitors.
A moment later she was beside her mother’s bed calling to her. Lady Alice woke, sat up and opened her arms wide to embrace Edith.
“Where are you?”
“We’re at Esmont’s farm,” said Edith. “So far no-one knows we’re here.”
“When are they planning on trying to get in?”
“Soon. They’re trying to gather the guardsmen Tancred threw out.”
“That’s good sense. How are they going to get in?”
“Probably over the back wall on a rope, but that really worries me. The sentry is asleep tonight, but what if he isn’t when they come? It’s a long drop, they’d be killed.”
“Aron’s done it before. That’s how he got in to rescue Maldwyn from Sarazan.”
“I know…but it scares me. You know how clumsy Maldwyn is,” said Edith, not yet ready to admit she was scared of losing Aron again.
“I agree, but how else would they get in?”
“Delivering something, bags of flour, barrels of ale maybe?”
“There aren’t many deliveries now that Tancred’s stopped paying the merchants and tradesmen. We need to think of something else. If I could just get to Tancred then I could solve the problem, but he’s always got guards around him. I can’t get near him.”
“I could,” said Edith. “You’ve know how he looks at me, undressing me with his eyes. I’d have no problem getting him alone.”
“And then what would you do?”
“Kill him.”
“How?”
“Take a knife with me. It’s easy enough to hide one. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You think it so easy to kill a man now, but when you have to do it, it won’t be. Even Tancred.”
“I’ve already killed men,” said Edith, thinking of Broll, and the clansmen who had attacked Kusso in the woods. “I cut the head off the leader of the bandits Tancred hired, and I’m going to do the same to Tancred.” Her blood burned at the thought.
Lady Alice looked at her daughter as if she had turned into a goblin as the mist rose between them.
“Wait,” called Lady Alice, but a moment later Edith stood in Tancred’s room. She stared balefully at her sleeping cousin until a thought occurred to her.
She leaned over him and
whispered. ”I’ll be home soon, Tancred. Then I’m all yours.”
Tancred stirred in the bed and called out her name. Edith smiled grimly and let the mist rise to hide her.
Aron was asleep but still holding her hand when she awoke in Esmont’s house. Being careful not to wake him, Edith settled down to think her scheme through.
***
“Four sentries, all awake,” said Edith. “One on the wall, two in the guardroom and courtyard, one at mother’s door.” She had waited until both Aron and Maldwyn had had breakfast before discussing what she had found on her mistwalk.
“I’m surprised,” said Aron. “They’re better disciplined than I expected.”
“Me too,” said Maldwyn. “I thought they’d be drunk, or asleep. We’ll have to be careful.”
“You’re still going to go over the wall?” said Edith. “Even with the sentries?”
“Might need to set up a distraction,” said Aron, his face grave. “Big enough to draw them, but not so large they turn out the guard.”
“I have a better idea,” said Edith. “I’ll go to the main gate as if I’ve just arrived back. They’ll let me in and I’ll kill Tancred, then I’ll open the gate.” She watched their faces as she spoke to measure their reaction.
“How will you kill him?” said Aron.
“I’ll have my knife,” said Edith.
“But how will you get close to him?” asked Maldwyn. “You said he always has guards with him when he’s with mother.”
“He does, but I’ll have no trouble getting close to him. He won’t see me as a threat. You know how he used to look at Celaine and me. He won’t be able to keep his hands off me, especially if I give him a bit of encouragement.”
“It sounds dangerous to me,” said Maldwyn. “He could hurt you very badly if it goes wrong.”
“As dangerous as climbing the castle walls in full view of the sentries?” said Edith.
“As dangerous, but in a different way,” said Aron. “You’re making guesses about how Tancred will react that may be wrong, and if they are wrong we still have to come over the wall.”
“But I know him as well as anyone and if I’m right, no-one else gets hurt.”
“And what about Tancred’s men?” asked Maldwyn. “Do you think they’ll just surrender and let you open the gate?”
“I don’t know,” said Edith. “I’m going to kill Tancred quietly, wait until night and then open the gate.” She thought of the two men dicing in the guardroom; it would be easy to approach them without being noticed. “I’ll find a way of dealing with the sentries. The rest of them won’t know until it’s all over.”
She looked at them defiantly, daring them to say no.
“You need a more certain way of dealing with the gate-guards, but other than that it’s workable,” said Aron after a while.
“I don’t like it,” said Maldwyn. “Too many assumptions about what Tancred will do. I say no.”
She looked at Aron hoping for support, but he shook his head.
“You’re the Earl,” said Aron.
Edith bit back her disappointment; this wasn’t over.
***
The rest of the day offered her no opportunity to talk to Aron. One by one, former members of the guard arrived. Maldwyn and Aron talked with each man, listening to their story and telling them that they would regain their position if they assisted in retaking the castle. Edith sat in on the first two of these meetings but had nothing to add so she declined the others. After seven former guardsmen, two women arrived who Edith recognised as cooks. She listened as they told of the state of life the castle which mainly confirmed what Edith had already learned. When they had finished their tales they asked cautiously after Celaine.
“She is here with us,” replied Maldwyn. “But she has been gravely harmed and is far from herself. We can only hope that bringing her home will aid her recovery. ”
“We will pray for her,” said the older of the women.
Once they had left Aron busied himself with making make-shift weapons with the guardsmen who had arrived unarmed. Seeing that he was likely to be occupied for the rest of the afternoon, Edith made her decision and went back to her room to gather her gear and write a letter to Maldwyn.
Aron and Maldwyn were hard at work drilling the guardsmen with their new weapons when she came out and did not so much as look her way as she slipped out of the gate.
They’ll be angry with me, but I’m doing it to save their lives, she thought as she tramped down the muddy track towards Nandor Town, her bowcase, wrapped in sacking, concealed in a bundle of clothes she carried in her arms. This is less risky than trying to climb the castle wall in the middle of the night, and if they won’t listen to me I have no other way. No-one called out to her or came running after, and soon she was out of sight of the house.
The handful of people she met greeted her cheerily but no-one recognised her. Why would they? They wouldn’t expect to see me here and I look like any other farmer’s daughter, she thought as the borrowed skirt flapped wetly around her ankles.
She did not recognise the guard on the castle gate. Must be one of Tancred’s men. She resisted the sudden urge to put an arrow in him and, setting her face to a gentle smile, walked up to him.
“Whadya want?” he growled, blocking her path. He was unshaven, something Captain Thalon would never have permitted on sentry duty, and the links of his mailshirt were rusted.
“To go into the castle,” said Edith as demurely as she could manage.
“Castle’s closed.”
“But I live here.”
He stared at her unsympathetically. “Who are you then?”
“Lady Edith of Nandor,” she said, just managing to not add that’s my lady to you. Out of the corner of her eye she saw another guardsman coming out of the gatehouse; she was both pleased and disappointed to recognise him.
“Alen,” she said. “Tell this man who I am.”
Alen looked at her as if she was a sheep that had spoken. “My Lady Edith? Is that really you? I didn’t recognise you.”
“I’ve come back, Alen. I had to cut my hair.”
“Who is this then, Captain?” asked the first guard.
Captain? Was that his price then?
“Lady Edith. Lord Tancred’s cousin,” said Alen. “So we’re going to let her in.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The very mention of Lord Tancred set Edith’s teeth on edge, but she said nothing and followed Alen into the castle.
“Its good to see you back, My Lady,” said Alen. “My Lord Tancred will be pleased to see you. He’s out hunting at present, so I’ll take you to your Lady mother.”
Edith gritted her teeth and ground out a “thank you” then followed him through the castle to the keep. No-one paid the least bit of notice to the bundle in her arms. Another guard stood before the door to her mother’s chamber. He saluted at Alen’s approach and stood aside to let them pass.
At the sight of Edith, Lady Alice dropped the embroidery she was working on and leapt across the chamber to embrace her daughter. She looked thinner, Edith thought, and there were lines on her face that hadn’t been there before.
“Thank Iduna, you’re safe,” she said, holding Edith so tightly she could barely breathe. “Where are the others?”
Edith heard the door close behind her as Alen left. “Still at Esmont’s.”
“They agreed to your plan? I’m surprised.”
“They didn’t. They wouldn’t listen to me. But I’m certain this is a better way, so I’ve come to prove it.”
“And how do you intend to kill Tancred?”
Edith stepped away, laid down her bundle and hoisted up her skirt to show the knife strapped to her thigh. Lady Alice stared at it, doubt written across her face.
“You’d do it if you could get close to him, wouldn’t you?” said Edith. “So why’s it different if I’m doing it?”
There was a pause before Lady Alice spoke. “Yes. Yes, I would do i
t. But that doesn’t make it less dangerous. What are you going to do about his men?”
“Wait ‘til they’re all asleep then open the gates. I’ll need to take care of the guards at the gate though.”
“A few bottles of your father’s wine should do that. I’m sure Glynis can arrange for them to be found in the guardroom. What happens then?”
“Aron and Maldwyn retake the castle with our old guardsmen.”
“Do they know they’re supposed to be doing that?”
“If they read the letter I left them.”
“Maybe we should hang a lantern on the tower when it’s done.”
“They won’t know what it means.”
“But they’ll see it and know it means something. I think they’ll work it out from there. Now if you’re going to do this, you need to bathe and change before Tancred gets back. He won’t come within a spearslength of you in that state.” She tugged on the cord to summon her maids.
***
The lamps had been lit around the castle before Tancred arrived back. Edith heard the riders clatter into the courtyard and looked out to see Tancred dismount and hand his horse to a groom.
Don’t lose your temper with him, she told herself. She smoothed out the fabric of her best blue gown to conceal the knife and settled on her stool
Tancred did not come to their chamber immediately.
“Perhaps he is bathing to ensure your good opinion of him,” said Lady Alice.
“In which case he has forgotten how well I know him,” said Edith.
“Remember what you’re trying to do,” said Lady Alice.
“Yes, Mamma.”
Boots rang on the stair then a solid knock came at the door.
“Enter,” called Lady Alice.
Tancred came in flanked by two armed guards. His hair was slicked down suggesting he had indeed rinsed off the sweat and mud from his ride. If she hadn’t known him, Edith might even have thought him handsome.
“My dear cousin,” he said to Edith. “I am so glad to see you returned. What news of your brother and sister?” His eyes lingered on her and Edith had to remind herself of her purpose.