‘I can think of no other.’
Rayster sighed. ‘I had always hoped to die in my bed, my grandchildren weeping around me.’
‘Maybe you will.’
Rayster glanced back at the forbidding keep. ‘Doesn’t seem likely at present.’
Grabthorne returned with two plates bearing thickly cut portions of apple pie, dusted with sugar. Rayster had finished only half of his meal and pushed away his plate.
‘Not to your liking?’ asked Grabthorne.
‘It was good,’ said Rayster, ‘but I needed to leave room for the apple pie. My friend tells me it is magnificent.’
‘Aye, the wife is a fine pastrycook and no mistake.’
Kaelin paid for the meal, adding two daens ‘for the cook’.
‘Good of you,’ said Grabthorne.
Kaelin tucked into the apple pie. ‘I don’t know how you can eat at a time like this,’ said Rayster. ‘My stomach is shrunk so tight I doubt I could swallow an apple pip. Are you not at least a little frightened?’
‘I’m not usually frightened when I eat,’ said Kaelin, with a smile. ‘There is not much danger at the moment. Ask me again when we reach the gatehouse.’
‘I will probably have other matters on my mind around then,’ said Rayster.
The two clansmen were the last to leave the tavern, and Kaelin led Rayster into the shadows of an alleyway overlooking the gates. The sentries had still not been changed. The two men waited silently. At just after midnight two more guards appeared, had a brief conversation with the men they were replacing, then entered the gatehouse.
‘Now?’ whispered Rayster.
‘Wait awhile. Let them settle down and become bored.’
‘By heaven, you are a cool one, Kaelin Ring.’
Kaelin did not reply. He did not feel cool. His heart was beginning to beat faster now, and tension was tightening his belly. Taking his money pouch from his pocket he tipped out the coins into his hand. Pocketing most of them, he put several chaillings and daens back into the pouch.
Another hour slowly passed. Small groups of soldiers continued to return to the keep. Kaelin noted that the guards did not bother with passwords. Easy to be complacent when five thousand fighting men were stationed in and around Black Mountain.
‘Now,’ said Kaelin, and strolled across the open ground. Rayster followed him.
Kaelin crossed the drawbridge and reached the wrought iron gates, which were now closed. ‘Hello the gatehouse,’ he called softly. A soldier appeared.
‘What do you want?’
‘Mr Grabthorne sent us. One of the soldiers left his money pouch at the Dancing Bear. I am to return it.’
‘Hand it through, then.’
‘Mr Grabthorne asked me to fetch a signed receipt, and see the money counted.’
‘You don’t trust me?’
‘Of course I trust you,’ said Kaelin. ‘You are a soldier of the king. ‘Tis Mr Grabthorne who doesn’t trust me. He counted it out before I left.’ He reached into the pocket of his dark coat, producing a bottle of uisge, which he uncorked and sipped. ‘Ah,’ he said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. ‘Twenty-year-old single malt. Nothing like it.’
‘Damn, but that’s too expensive for the likes of common soldiers,’ said the man.
‘I’ll share it with you while you count the money,’ offered Kaelin.
The soldier slid back the gate bar and ushered them inside. Kaelin walked into the small gatehouse. A second soldier was sitting at a table there, a deck of playing cards spread out before him. The first guard explained to the man about the money pouch. Kaelin passed the uisge bottle to him, then tipped out the contents of the pouch onto the table. Both guards sat down, their eyes on the silver and copper coins glinting in the candle light.
‘Must be near five chaillings here,’ said the second guard. ‘I’d like to know how a soldier came by five chaillings.’
The first guard pulled the money towards him, and began separating the coins. Kaelin glanced at Rayster and nodded. Then he dipped his hand into his pocket, curling his fist around the hilt of a knife. Rayster moved closer to the table, looking as if he was reaching for the uisge bottle.
Kaelin’s blade came clear of the pocket. With one swift movement he rammed it into the throat of the first guard. Rayster plunged his knife into the neck of the second. Kaelin’s opponent struggled to rise, blood pumping from his severed jugular. He fell across the table. Kaelin caught him, lowering the body to the floor. The second soldier was grappling with Rayster. They kicked over a chair. Kaelin moved in, stabbing the man twice more in the back. He made a gurgling noise then fell into Rayster’s arms.