Royal Feud

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Your father beat you repeatedly, did he not?"

"Aye." A sob broke her whisper. Delvin swallowed and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. His hands lingered briefly on her back before he drew away from her. Setting aside his pity for her and his anger at her father, he marshaled his concentration on the danger facing them. "Tell me again what Morety has planned."

She rolled over onto her back, all the while keeping the bedding pulled to her shoulders. Delvin stared into Hermione's brown eyes as she repeated the conversation she had overheard, feeling a reluctant admiration for her grit and her grasp of military tactics. When he focused on her intelligent eyes, he could almost forget the ruin of her face.

He heard her out in silence, then pushed the bedding out of his way and got off the mattress. Crossing the room to his armoire, he yanked out a clean pair of breeches and a tunic. He glanced back at the bed and saw her lying still, her eyes closed. "Get dressed, Hermione." Delvin had tried to keep his tone soft and unthreatening, but the sound of his voice caused her to jerk all the same. Sitting on a chair, he pulled on his hose and boots. When he finished, he stood and looked at her frozen next to the bed, covered in her white linen chemise, her arms crossed over her chest. Her head was bent, and her long, brown hair shielded her face.

Striding to the wall separating his bedchamber from his mother's, Delvin pulled aside the tapestry lining the wall to reveal the door. He knocked softly twice, paused, and then knocked again, repeating the distinctive pattern until the door opened. Lucy's ebony hair was loose, hanging around her shoulders and down her back, but she was still dressed in the gown she had worn for the wedding.

"Delvin, what is it? What is wrong?"

"Mother, come in. Hermione told me her father plans to invade Ishton. I want the two of you to stay here together while I command the castle defenses. Bar both doors after me and do not open them for anyone other than myself. Understand?"

"Aye." Lucy placed her hand on his arm. "Delvin, take care."

He glanced down at her and grinned as he patted her hand. "Do not worry, Mother. I mean to finally finish Morety, once and for all." Sweeping through the connecting door, he closed it securely behind him. Delvin

grabbed a black wool cloak from his mother's armoire and slung it over his shoulders, pulling up the hood to cover his head. Since his mother was tall for a woman, only a few inches of his breeches showed under the hem of the cloak.

He cautiously opened the outer door of his mother's bedchamber. A glance showed

no one in the gallery, so he swiftly slipped out the door. Holding the sides of the hood close to his face, he walked quietly downstairs. The revelries continued in the hall, so no one paid any attention to him as he kept his head down and walked around the perimeter of the hall to the outside door. He glanced furtively around but did not see Gerald or any of his men.

Once outside the donjon, Delvin threw off the hood and sprinted for the armory, where he found Belwick, Bernard, Gordon, and two squires. The young men were helping the older knights suit up for battle by fitting them with their mail hauberks and iron helmets.

Hugh strode over to the door to meet Delvin. "Milord, I was coming to warn you. One of our scouts has reported that Morety's garrison is amassed about one mile south of Ishton. There are approximately five knights and thirty foot-soldiers." "Aye," Delvin replied. "Lady Hermione told me her father plans to infiltrate the castle.

Where are Gerald and his men?"

"Gerald retired to his chamber shortly after you did, but his men remained in the hall." "I did not see them when I came through the hall just now." Delvin turned to his squire, who had finished assisting Bernard and now lingered nearby. "Jessup, get my

armor ready."

"Aye, milord." The squire bowed and left their side.

"William," the castellan ordered in a loud voice, "go find Sir Roger and ask him where Lord Gerald and his men are, then report back here." "Aye, Sir Hugh." The other squire left the armory.

"Hugh." Delvin spoke in a low voice so the others in the room would not hear. "Morety's plan is to have his inside men eliminate the guards and then open the postern gate for his troops. We need to lure Morety's forces inside the castle walls where we can ambush them so we cannot warn our guards what to expect. We need to let Morety's men seize the battlements. I want you to reduce the number of guards on the crenellations to two only."

His gut twisted at the realization he was condemning the men to certain death, but he could see no other course of action. If he withdrew all the guards from the battlements, Morety's men were sure to become suspicious. The sacrifice of the two guards was necessary for the survival of all at Ishton. Delvin stared into Hugh's eyes as

his castellan nodded his understanding and acceptance. "Station the rest of the men inside the turrets on the inner wall so we can trap Morety's men once they enter the bailey."

"Aye, milord," Hugh responded. "I will go now and round up the rest of the men." "Send for Lord Wyham and ask him to join me here. He must be a witness to Morety's treachery."

"Aye, milord." Belwick left the armory. Delvin joined Jessup, who held his padded aketon ready. After pulling the thick, quilted under tunic over Delvin's head, his squire pulled it down and adjusted the sleeves. Delvin accepted his padded coif from Jessup and fitted it onto his head, covering his ears with the flaps and tying the strings beneath his chin. Next came the chain mail hauberk that had sleeves to his elbows and fell to his knees, with a slit in the front and the back to allow him to move and to mount his horse. The squire took a long strip of leather, placed it around Delvin's waist, and knotted it. Pulling up some of the mail, he draped it over the belt to help distribute its weight. Then Jessup pulled the chain mail ventail attached to the hauberk over Delvin's head before raising the flap at his throat and tying it on both sides of his face to cover his neck. When his squire handed him his helmet, Delvin settled the heavy iron on his head, the brim positioned low on his forehead and the guard completely covering his nose. Last came the heavy leather gauntlets that Jessup held while Delvin slipped his hands inside.

Suited for battle, Delvin turned to look at Bernard. The knight's prominent chin was about all he could see of the man's face beneath his mail coif, until Gordon pulled up the older man's ventail and tied it. When Bernard turned toward him, Delvin returned the knight's determined look, glad to have the experienced man with him in this fight. William returned with the news that Morety's men were bedding down in the hall,

along with the Ishton retainers. As far as anyone knew, Gerald was still secluded in his chamber, When Wyham arrived. Delvin took him to the top of the southwest turret in the interior wall, which offered the best vantage point of the river and surrounding countryside, as well as the castle grounds. After informing the king's emissary about Hermione's revelations, Delvin hunkered down and waited.

Darkness was complete, punctured only by the pale light of the waning moon as it played hide and seek with the clouds. The stillness was pierced by one sharp cry, quickly muffled, and a faint scuffle. Then stark quiet descended. Delvin clenched his jaw and stared resolutely at the crenellations on the inner wall. The two Ishton guards

had been taken down, and now three of the enemy took their place.. Delvin and Wyham watched as a lone man slipped out the postern gate, scrambled down the side of the castle mound, and dropped into the river. After swimming across the wide expanse of water, he reached the far bank and ran for a coppice a short distance away. Within a few minutes he reemerged riding a horse and galloped off to

the southwest.

About half an hour later Delvin saw Morety and his men approach the castle, where they dismounted under the cover of the surrounding woods. A shrill birdlike call originating from the allure split the silence. At that signal the invaders crept across the meadow, slid into the river, and swam to the castle mound. After entering the castle grounds through the postern gate, they amassed in the outer bailey, between the two curtain walls.

As soon as Morety's men deserted the crenellations on top of the inner wall to join the rest of their troops in the outer bailey, Delvin left Wyham. He crept down the turret stairs and met Hugh at the bottom, just inside the inner bailey. ""Tis time. Alert the men stationed in the gates." "Aye, milord."

Hugh dispatched one man to the northwest gate and one to the southeast gate. Delvin waited with the majority of his garrison at the southwest gate, his back pressed against the cold stone wall, his sword held loosely in front of him in his right hand and the strap of his shield secured around his left forearm. Waiting, he held firm while his enemies slipped into the inner bailey one by one. Keeping a careful rein on his aggression until the majority of the attackers appeared to be inside, Delvin then rushed forward and yelled his battle cry. "Defend Ishton!"