Derek frowned. “This is no time for jokes.”
Aran started to say that he hadn’t been joking. The dour look on Derek’s face silenced the knight.
“I’m going to say hello,” Aran said, turning to go. “Then I think I’ll have a lie down. You wouldn’t believe how I ache. I’m not as young as I used to be. We’ll have a feast tonight, to welcome me, what?”
Derek nodded, and Aran went into the castle. Though he was tired and sore, the red-haired knight still had a singular ease to his gait-the same ease he’d had many years ago, when they’d been questing-brothers with Brian Donner. Derek turned to dark thoughts. It had been a day full of bad news: first Linbyr’s tale of dragons-unconfirmed as yet, he reminded himself-and now, at last, proof of Gunthar’s refusal to reinforce Castle Crownguard.
“So, you think you can win by leaving me undefended before the enemy,” he whispered to the shadows. “You think you can sacrifice me like a cleric in a khas match. Pray you’re right, Gunthar.” He curled his fingers into a fist. “Pray you’re right.”
*****
“I fear our hospitality is not what it used to be,” said Edwin as Aran Tallbow helped himself to a slab of roast boar.
Servants bustled about the Great Hall, keeping flagons filled with warm, dark beer. Bread, cheese and summer fruits lay scattered about the great dining table, scarce compared with peacetime feasts. Edwin gestured with his knife at the other knights who had assembled for the meal. “Most of us have grown accustomed to porridge and salt pork by now.”
Derek, who had hardly spoken since the first bread had been broken, glared at his brother. “Edwin, be still.”
Aran chuckled around a mouthful of meat. He quaffed his beer and shook his head, his red hair bouncing merrily. “No fear, Derek,” he said lightly. “I’ve been through sieges before. At least you’re not reduced to eating rat meat. Why I remember a time when-”
He stopped. No one-except Edwin-was even politely pretending to listen.
Aran glanced around the table and shook his head. No matter how he tried to brighten the mood, these men seemed determined to be gloomy. Well, they had every right-or so he was forced to admit. He’d looked at the map table before the feast. Castle Crownguard was all but surrounded. The hobgoblins that had caused Aran so much trouble were coming down from the north. And there was, by all accounts, a sizable army on the way from the south, an army that had razed Castle Archuran. Derek had learned that much from the peasants, before they’d set out to take their chances in the hills. He warned them that they were not likely to survive long in the wilderness, but they’d been adamant about not wanting to stay at the castle.
What worried Aran most, though, was his host. Derek had always been serious-ill-humored, even-but now he was dark and ominous as a thundercloud. Aran wasn’t looking forward to seeing the lightning strike.
“How many knights can we expect to aid us, Sir Aran?” asked old Pax Garett, Knight of the Sword, who had been one of Derek’s father’s closest friends. He stroked his steel-gray moustache. “And when will they arrive?”
Aran cleared his throat awkwardly, setting down his knife. “Um,” he said, “twenty or thirty, provided they don’t lose any on the way. And they’ll be here in five or six days-again, assuming all goes well.”
“Twenty or thirty!” Pax returned, shocked. “Five or six days! By the Abyss, man, that’s not enough! What does Gunthar think he’s doing?”
“Gunthar’s doing nothing,” Derek growled. All eyes turned to him. “He sits in his castle, hoarding his troops rather than committing them to the front.”
Aran shook his head. “Not so, my lord. Truth to tell, there are few knights left on Sancrist. Barely enough to hold the High Council. Most are fighting at Vingaard and Solanthus. Gunthar expressed his regret that he couldn’t help-”
“Bah!” Derek snarled. “He and his men are probably laughing at us even now! He’s done this deliberately, to get us out of the way. To get me out of the way.” His eyes gleamed in the hearthlight. “In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to hear he’d made a deal with the enemy-cast us to wolves, while he goes free!”