“Send another lackey on your errand, brother,” Edwin continued. In thirty years, he had never spoken to his brother with such anger. “I won’t be a pawn on your khas-board.” With that, he turned and left.
Derek stared after him until the fire in the hearth began to gutter out. If only it were as simple as Edwin imagined, he said to himself. How fine it would be if Paladine would drop by and save the day. But Paladine wasn’t coming. Not now. Not ever.
Gunthar’s refusal to send reinforcements was all part of a plan, Derek decided finally. Gunthar had sapped the hope from Derek’s men, turned Derek’s brother against him, and consigned the Crownguard family to the ashes. All to keep Derek from ascending to his rightful place.
Snarling, Derek hurled his crystal goblet against the wall. It trailed an arc of golden brandy behind it, before it smashed to flinders against the flagstones. Derek sat quietly, gazing intently at the glittering shards. He sat for hours.
Plotting his next move.
*****
By dawn the skies above Castle Crownguard were heavy with storm clouds the hue of unpolished armor. The lands to the southeast were hazy with approaching rain, and the wind had turned from vaguely chilly to damp and cold. The men on the walls clasped their halberds with shivering hands and lowered the visors of their helms against the slashing wind. No one sang now. Few spoke. The castle’s scouts were reported missing. They had been due to return from patrol several hours before, but not even the sharpest-eyed sentry had yet seen any sign of them. With the storm coming and the enemy army not far behind, hopes that they would ever be seen again dwindled hourly.
By morning’s end, rain lashed the castle walls, and some of the more callow squires were talking of following the folk of Archester into the hills. The knights quickly silenced such talk, but not even the harshest reprimands could lift the shadow of dread from the young men’s eyes. Sir Winfrid ordered the watch at the postern gate doubled to prevent desertion, and the worst cowards were locked away to keep them from sowing fear throughout the keep.
Derek was furious when he discovered the dissension, and took special note of each culprit’s name-if, somehow, he was spared, he swore to bring up their cowardice before the High Council. None of them would ever be knights, if he had any say in the matter.
That wasn’t the worst of it, though. Derek had discovered that his brother had gone to the old chapel to hold vigil in the old custom. Some of the younger knights wanted to join him. It was sacrilegious folly, and Derek considered putting a stop to it. But Edwin’s angry words from the night before still stung. Derek reluctantly left his brother to his fancy.
Derek Crownguard was in a dark mood when he left the map table in the Great Hall to inspect the castle’s defenses. At the top of the keep’s high inner wall he found Aran Tallbow sitting alee of a wooden canopy, patiently whittling a shaft of wood. Aran’s fine longbow rested beside him, its string covered to keep it dry. He looked up when he heard the rattle of Derek’s armor.
“A fine day to you, my lord,” he said with a wry smile.
Derek glowered. He did not return the greeting.
“You don’t need to make arrows, Aran,” Derek said, crouching beneath the canopy and wiping rainwater from his face. “We’ve enough to last the winter, if needs be.”
Aran shrugged. “You know me, Derek. I’d sooner wear another knight’s armor into battle than loose a shaft I didn’t fletch myself.” He stuck a green-dyed feather onto the arrow with a dab of glue from a clay pot. “Any word of the patrols?” he asked, plucking a second feather from his deerskin pouch.
Derek shook his head. “Perhaps they sought shelter, to ride out the storm.”
Aran finished with a third feather, then started fitting a broad steel head onto the shaft. “You don’t believe that,” he said. He tapped the arrowhead to make sure it was secure, then eyed the finished shaft critically. “You’ve got bigger problems if this wind doesn’t let up, though. Your archers won’t be able to hit a blasted thing.”