| The hunting party rode out into the night, and Rowena watched them
leave. Her anger had cooled, but she was still unhappy that Fred was going
off on what she saw as a wild goose chase. Surely there was very little
chance that the pursuers could track down the attackers in the darkness,
especially since their quarry would have had at least four hours' start?
Fred was inevitably going to be very tired when they resumed their journey
in the morning, after a night without sleep. And if by any chance the attackers
were
tracked down, then who would win the fight was far from certain. She knew
that worrying about the risk which Fred was taking meant that she was unlikely
to sleep much herself. She had been tempted just for a moment to act the
part of the Lady commanding her bodyguard, and to forbid Fred to go, but
looking into his eyes she had known that he must be allowed to have his
way.
Now Fred had gone, she could stay in her room and worry about his safety,
and puzzle over the recently revealed strange armour and why he carried
two swords rather than one at his belt. Or she could spend the evening
in Batlan Keep's tavern until it closed. The latter seemed much the more
attractive option, especially as she was confident that she would find
the Chanticleer there.
The tavern was almost empty when she entered it. No doubt many of its
usual customers were in Kayne's party. The Chanticleer was there, though,
an almost empty mug of beer in front of him, though there was no sign of
Pall. He looked unusually sombre, but when he saw her he smiled and motioned
her to his table. "It's a miserable business drinking alone, my Lady,"
he said, "especially after a day such as we've had today, so I'm very glad
you've joined me. May I get you a drink?" "Thank you. A glass of red wine,
please."
The Chanticleer soon came back with a jug of wine and two glasses. "I've
almost finished my beer, so I'll share the wine," he said. "So long as
you don't expect me to match you glass for glass. I've seen few who drink
as much as you do, yet you never seem any the worse for it." "In my line
of work you spend much of your time in inns, so you have to learn how to
take your drink." "I hadn't realised it was something which could be learnt.
Anyway, the jug of wine you had when we were attacked may well have saved
my life. I'm very grateful." "It was nothing. Besides, you looked like
you could have given a pretty good account of yourself with your knife,
if need be." "How's Pall?" "Not so good. He's fretting in his room. I tried
to persuade him to come to the tavern with me, which would have done him
much more good, but he wouldn't have it." "A pity."
After a short silence, Rowena said: "You know my name now, Chanticleer,
so perhaps you would be willing to tell me yours?" But before the Chanticleer
could answer, there was a commotion outside. A voice was shouting: "All
guards to the outer walls. We're under attack!" Then a warning bell began
to toll.
Rowena sprang to her feet, but to her surprise the Chanticleer remained
seated and took another sip of his wine. "Surely we should do something?"
she asked. "What?" he replied. "The outer walls of all the keeps on this
road have been designed to keep out a besieging army. If by any chance
the assailants somehow manage to get inside, we should leave them to the
guards to deal with. They are trained in combat and we are not. We would
only get in the way. We are as safe here as anywhere, so sit down and carry
on as before." Rowena sat down, but she felt that to summon sufficient
sangfroid to carry on as before was beyond her.
After ninety minutes' hard riding, Kayne's party approached the spot
where the ambush had taken place. Fred stood in the stirrups of his horse,
and pointed. "See, there are the bodies of some of our attackers," he said.
"I can see nothing yet," Kayne - riding beside him - said. "You must have
uncommonly good eyes." "I have," said Fred.
A search of the bodies revealed only one feature of interest, that some
of them bore no sign of a wound; the cause of their death was a mystery.
All of the bodies were indisputably human. None of them carried anything
that would identify them or show to whom they had owed allegiance.
"Which way did they go when you fought them off?" Kayne asked Konrad.
"I don't know. There was just enough light to see by until the fog descended,
and then all was blotted out." Kayne pondered a moment. To have it confirmed
that the attackers were human - and to have a large number of his men see
the evidence - was valuable in itself. Perhaps some of the wild tales that
had been flying around would finally be put to rest tonight.
-
 He
had hoped to be able to track down whoever had been responsible, though.
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