Longbow shrugged. “One in five perhaps From the Green Heart to the Northlands is a long, difficult journey under the best of circumstances. Now . . .” He let his words trail off.
Gardan came up the stairs from the courtyard. “Highness, the tower watch reports the Tsurani are in formation.”
As he spoke, the Tsurani sounded their battle calls and began to advance. Arutha drew his sword and gave the order for the catapults to fire. Bowmen followed, unleashing a storm of arrows upon the attackers, but still the Tsurani came.
Through the night, wave after wave of brightly armored aliens threw themselves at the west wall of Castle Crydee. Most died on the field before the wall, or at its base, but a few managed to crest the battlements. They, too, died. Still, more came.
Six times the Tsurani wave had broken upon the defenses of Crydee, and now they prepared for a seventh assault. Arutha, covered in dirt and blood, directed the disposition of rested troops along the wall Gardan looked to the east. “If we hold one more time, the dawn will be here. Then we should have some respite,” he said, his voice thick with fatigue.
“We will hold,” answered Arutha, his own voice sounding just as tired in his ears as Gardan’s.
“Arutha?”
Arutha saw Roland and Amos coming up the stairs, with another man behind. “What now?” asked the Prince.
Roland said, “We can see no activity on the other walls, but there is something here you should see.”
Arutha recognized the other man, Lewis, the castle’s Rathunter. It was his responsibility to keep vermin from the keep. He tenderly held something in his hands.
Arutha looked closely: it was a ferret, twitching slightly in the firelight. “Highness,” said Lewis, his voice thick with emotion, “it’s—”
“What, man?” said Arutha impatiently. With attack about to begin, he had little time to mourn a lost pet.
Roland spoke, for Lewis was obviously overcome at the loss of his ferret. “The Rathunter’s ferrets didn’t return two days ago. This one crawled into the storage room behind the kitchen sometime since Lewis found it there a few minutes ago.”
In choked tones, Lewis said, “They’re all well trained, sire. If they didn’t come back, it’s because something kept them from returnin’. This poor lad’s been stepped on. His back’s broken. He must’ve crawled for hours to get back.”
Arutha said, “I fail to see the significance of this.”
Roland gripped the Prince’s arm. “Arutha, he hunts them in the rat tunnels under the castle.”
Comprehension dawned upon Arutha. He turned to Gardan and said, “Sappers! The Tsurani must be digging under the east wall.”
Gardan said, “That would explain the constant attacks upon the west wall—to draw us away.”
Arutha said, “Gardan, take command of the walls. Amos, Roland, come with me.”
Arutha ran down the steps and through the courtyard. He shouted for a group of soldiers to follow and bring shovels. They reached the small courtyard behind the keep, and Arutha said, “We’ve got to find that tunnel and collapse it.”
Amos said, “Your walls are slanted outward at the plinth. They’ll recognize they can’t fire the timbers of the tunnels to bring it down to make a breach. They’ll be trying to get a force inside the castle grounds or into the keep.”
Roland looked alarmed. “Carline! She and the other ladies are in the cellars.”
Arutha said, “Take some men and go to the cellars.” Roland ran off. Arutha fell to his knees and placed his ear on the ground. The others followed his example, moving around, listening for sounds of digging from below.
Carline sat nervously next to the Lady Marna. The fat former governess made a show of calmly attending to her needlepoint despite the rustling and stirring of the other women in the cellar. The sounds of battle from the walls came to them as faint, distant echoes, muted by the thick walls of the keep. Now there was an equally unnerving quiet.
“Oh! To be sitting here like a caged bird,” said Carline.
“The walls are no place for a lady,” came the retort from Lady Marna.
Carline stood. As she paced the room, she said, “I can tie bandages and carry water. All of us could.”
The other ladies of the court looked at one another as if the Princess had been bereft of her senses. None of them could imagine subjecting herself to such a trial.
“Highness, please,” said Lady Mama, “you should wait quietly. There will be much to do when the battle’s over. Now you should rest.”
Carline began a retort, then stopped. She held up her hand. “Do you hear something?”
The others stopped their movement, and all listened. From the floor came a faint tapping sound. Carline knelt upon the flagstone. “My lady, this is most unseemly,” began the Lady Marna.
Carline stopped the complaint with an imperious wave of her hand “Quiet!” She placed her ear upon the flagstones. “There is something . . .”
Lady Glynis shuddered. “Probably rats scurrying about. There are hundreds of them down here.” Her expression showed this revelation was about as unpleasant a fact as imaginable.