Bertrand pulled me enthusiastically into his embrace, then called Richard Smart into his arms as well. “I swear,” the young knight whispered, “by all that is Holy and our Lord Jesus Christ Our Savior, that I shall never forsake the two of you, and do everything to save you both from slaughter. And if that means that my own noble blood will be shed—”
“Yes, sir,” Richard interrupted. “We get th’ bones, th’ skin, and the mush o’ what yer talkin!”
I smiled, then Sir Bertrand kissed both of us; and I walked from the stable, looking back at them every few steps, hoping that I would not fall into a rut hole.
I was on my own. I carefully crossed the deserted stone courtyard between the stable and the main hall of Odred’s castle. There was no moon out, nor stars. A portent of rain, certainly, bu
