‘I just told the Prince that if we can keep them from getting ladders to the wall, we should hold until morning without much difficulty. The tricky part is going to be getting to the eastern gate to admit the Armies of the East.’
Erik said, ‘I told Patrick I’d lead a sally at dawn.’
Manfred laughed. ‘So did I.’
‘You can’t,’ said Erik.
‘Why not?’
‘Because you’re the Baron and I’m just a . . .’
‘Bastard?’
‘Yes.’
Manfred said, ‘But you have a wife and I don’t.’
Erik said, ‘That means nothing,’ and he knew the words sounded just as hollow to Manfred’s ears as they did to his own.
‘You’ll have to come up with a better argument than that,’ said Manfred.
‘How about you’re a noble and I’m not? You have people depending on you?’
‘And you don’t?’ said Manfred. ‘Besides, doesn’t a Knight-Captain in the Prince’s Army carry the office of Court Baron with it?’
‘That’s different. I don’t have estates and tenants who depend on my protection. I don’t have to administer justice or sort out legal wrangles the courts can’t solve. I don’t have cities and towns, villages and . . . It’s not the same.’’
Manfred smiled. ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be Baron?’
Erik said, ‘You have Father’s title!’
‘There is that.’ Manfred glanced over the wall and said, ‘Is there no end to them?’
Erik said, ‘Not that you’d notice.’
For a moment, they rested, crouching behind the wall. Erik said, ‘How is it you never married? I thought the Duke of Ran had someone in mind for you.’
Manfred laughed. ‘The lady came to visit and I think I failed to impress her.’
Erik said, ‘I find that hard to believe.’
Manfred looked at his half-brother. ‘I thought you might deduce it, but obviously not.’ He glanced around, making sure no one was climbing over the wall. ‘When you have a mother like mine, it tends to distort your opinion of women. Stefan liked to hurt them. I prefer to avoid them.’
Erik said, ‘Oh.’
Manfred laughed. ‘If we survive, I’ll tell you what. You can do me a service. I’ll marry some prize the Prince picks for me, and you can father the next heir to the Barony of Darkmoor. It’ll be our secret, and I suspect the lady in question will thank me for sending you to her bedchamber.’
Erik laughed as a flight of arrows sped overhead. ‘I don’t think my wife would approve.’ Then he said, ‘There’s something you should know.’
‘What?’ asked Manfred.
‘You have a nephew.’
‘What?’
‘The girl Stefan raped, Rosalyn: she bore his baby.’
‘My gods!’ said Manfred. ‘Is it certain?’
Erik said, ‘Just one look. He’s a von Darkmoor.’
Manfred said, ‘Well, that changes things.’
‘How?’ asked Erik.
‘For certain one of us must survive, else the lad will be left to Mother’s tender mercies.’
Erik laughed. ‘Only it you tell her.’
‘Oh, she’ll find out, eventually. Mother may be crazy, but she’s well connected and enjoys her intrigues.’ He lowered his voice, as if someone might overhear. ‘There are moments I think Father’s seizures were Mother’s doing.’
‘You think she poisoned him?’
Manfred said, ‘Sometime get me to tell you Mother’s family history. Poison played a large role in her greatgrandfather’s rise to his title.’
A huge boulder slammed into the citadel then, rocking the outer keep wall. ‘Well,’ said Manfred as he brushed off the dust, ‘seems our guests have found a catapult.’
Erik glanced over and saw the war engine had been dragged out into the middle of High Street. He motioned for a soldier and said, ‘Get word to Sergeant Jadow to have that catapult taken care of.’ Another boulder came slamming into the wall, and the soldiers in the street beyond the moat let out a cheer. ‘Fast!’
The soldier ran into the keep. Manfred said, ‘It’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it?’
‘What?’
‘They knock a hole in the wall, fill up the moat with whatever they can throw in, and come swarming over.’
Erik said, ‘Basically.’
‘Well, let’s make it interesting,’ said Manfred. He signaled to another of his soldiers, and said, ‘Tell Sergeant Macafee to release the oil.’
The soldier ran off. Erik said, ‘Going to fire the moat?’
‘Why not?’ said Manfred.
Erik sat back. ‘How long can you keep the oil burning on the moat?’
‘Three, four hours.’
Another boulder slammed into the wall, and Erik said, ‘Jadow!’
As if hearing Erik’s voice, a catapult atop the central keep fired, releasing a half-dozen barrels of oil. They came crashing down around the catapult in the street, drenching the machine and its crew.
The enemy catapult crew began to run. The oil spreading in the street quickly reached one of the many fires nearby, and suddenly the war engine was ablaze. Erik’s men on the walls of the citadel let out a cheer.
Erik said, ‘Well, that’s that.’
Manfred said, ‘When the oil in the moat is burned out, they’ll start filling it in again.’
‘That will keep them out until sunrise, though.’