25
If the run to the poor quarter had been hard, the run back to the castle was a nightmare. They students kept their lines together, though, and moved through the streets as quickly as they could. Ahead of them, William trotted his horse, looking constantly back over his shoulder and shouting at them to hurry. Thomas was seriously considering telling the young lord to get down and see if he could manage it any faster when they came out of the narrow streets and on the wide thoroughfare to the castle.
Orange flames were licking out of the inner keep.
Thomas swore and increased his pace. The students around him did the same, racing toward the gates. They were open, to Thomas’s surprise, but blocked by guards with pikes.
“I’m Lord William!” shouted the lord even as he pulled the reins ba
