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rode the man who had called across the moat. |
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Kingsclere Keep was much smaller than Iford or Roselynde. There was no inner bailey. The keep stood directly behind the dike that had been thrown up out of the earth dug from the moat. As soon as he came abreast of the master of the guard, the man who had called across the moat swung off his horse. |
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"I will go with you to wake Lord John," he said hoarsely. |
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The master of the guard raised a hand to signal a guardsman carrying a torch to come closer. The hand of the man beside him twitched surreptitiously toward his knife, but the master of the guard did not turn toward him. He reached toward the cloth over the corpse's face, lifted it. He looked down at Simon's fixed and stony features, nodded and smiled. |
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"I will not stand out here all night," Sir Giles growled. "Nor do I think this should be left here. I will have it carried within." |
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The man who had called across the moat moved closer behind the master of the guard, reached around him with his left hand, and twitched the cloth back over the dead face. The guards' master jerked, and then stood very still. The six men-at-arms who had come with Sir Giles detached the horse litter from the two animals that had drawn it. Four carried it toward the keep. One took the torch from the guardsman's hand and another led the horses around toward the stables at the back with the help of the guardsman. Sir Giles and the other two men followed those who carried the litter closely. Inside the forebuilding, the cortege stopped abruptly. The man who had called across the moat clapped his hand across the mouth of the master of the guard. As he moved, torchlight gleamed briefly on the knife he held in his other hand pressed to the master of the guard's side. |
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The corpse moaned faintly. The master of the guard |
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