Golden Sword

Chapter 13

Candlelight glinting off of the polished breast plate caught her eye as he moved about the room. The change in Jack had been remarkable. She had not seen him before departing for her reconnaissance the previous day. Once she and her small band of Mercedian soldiers had made it to Drumont Castle, they had been escorted to the Duke's office to brief the officer staff about the fall of Crown Point Castle and the destruction of the enemy bridge. Jack's appearance had come as a pleasant shock. He was bathed, clean shaven, and wearing a spotless Mercedian green uniform in good repair under newly buffed armor. There was no sign of alcohol at his desk, and the office itself was even neater. The air in the room was fresh and no longer smelled like the inside of a shoe. Keika was quite happy with the change, but decided to not comment on it until she had been able to talk with Eric.

Jack was devastated by the death of his close personal friend, Baron Garnes. They had known each other since childhood. Both had courted Charlotte as young men, but she had selected Ethan in a close contest......and, although hurt, he never faulted her for that. Melanie had more than compensated for his loss when they met at a county fair not long after. The two couples had frequently gone on outings and spent holidays together. The men had fought at each other's side, keeping count of who had saved the other's life more times. During those same times the women had comforted and kept each other company as they awaited the return of their men. Charlotte was now recovering in a private room in the castle, but would be transported to Mercedium as soon as a carriage was readied. She could not be here for the coming siege.

The staff discussed the probable next moves by the enemy and scouts were sent out to watch for movement. Keika gave them detailed information regarding how the enemy attacked fortifications and how effective their troops, particularly the Knights, proved to be in battle. She told them about the destruction of the bridge, but left out how she almost died twice in the span of a few seconds. Eric's eyes were upon her, however. She could feel it, but she would not look at him. There were holes in her uniform and she was sure he had noted. Not here, they could not talk here, but she knew she couldn't escape his wrath forever.

Drawing a deep breath she then began to briefly tell them about the encounter with Major Titovic when Michael Sheridan interrupted her account (with an apology) to give a much more vivid and detailed report, recounting every stroke of the blade and every word spoken. Everyone was spellbound, ecstatic that their heroine could so easily deal with one of the enemy's best. After some prodding, Keika gave them a more detailed account of the bridge attack, this time telling them about her injuries and how she had survived the incident, but not about the visions she had when near death. Both stories seemed to give them all some degree of hope and more confidence in what they were doing. As she was about to become acutely aware, these tales, the reconnaissance mission, her single handed destruction of the bridge and her encounter with Titovic would be retold over and over. They would become part of the continuing legend she already had with her own people....and now part of a growing legend within her adopted nation as well.

Efforts to prepare for the siege were greatly assisted by the information Keika brought regarding the enemy's siege techniques. The castle had a medium trebuchet in the courtyard that fired over the walls, and Jack had ordered another one built. A total of seven of the old manual winches she had asked for were coming from various places in the kingdom and were to be securely mounted in places she designated on the battlements. Along with what the Princess had ordered, the castle should be a pretty tough nut to crack by the time the enemy arrived.

Drumont itself was a ghost town. All of the civilians had fled south except for a few diehard holdouts, or those too ill or old to move. Anyone who wanted to leave was provided transport if they could not walk, but the way would be hard and many of the ill preferred to stay and hope that the enemy allowed them to live. A great deal of material within the town had been scavenged by the soldiers in the castle for materials that could be used in the castle's defense. The escape tunnel was being sound proofed as much as possible and everything would be well organized for a quiet retreat out of the citadel when necessary.