|
|
|
|
|
|
accomplished thieves and would doubtless collect enough loot without actually raiding to make the little excursion profitable. What Simon wanted to know was whether Henry intended assault or siege, and he knew just how to get the most accurate report of Henry's state of mind. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Probably Richard would have had a fit if he had seen Simon when he and his men left Usk just after dark. They went afoot, and there was nothing at all to mark the knight as different from his base-born followers. All wore knee-length tunics of deerhide mottled dark and light, with chausses and shoes deliberately splotched-and streaked with dirt. All had short swordsor very long hunting knivesthat were meant for stabbing and slitting throats rather than for formal combat. All carried long-bows and quivers filled with yardshafts and a long dark cloak rolled tight across their shoulders, and all had well-blackened faces and hands. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One by one they slipped through the postern. The guard saw them cross the small footbridge that spanned the moat and, before his unbelieving eyes, seemingly disappear, even though there was a well-cleared area for several hundred yards surrounding the keep. Once or twice the guard caught a flicker of movement across the open area, but he was sure that if he had not known there were fifty-one men out there, he would have assumed it was a hare or a cat or some other small animal. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Simon's bent body moved automatically in the slow steps and quick rushes that carried him from one shadow to another. Bifan had taught him the art when he was a child. He was not quite as proficient as his menit was Simon whom the guard sawbut he was good enough not to endanger them, and they were as proud of him as they would have been critical of one of their own. For a Saeson he was a miracle, and they believed that only the greatest devotion to |
|
|
|
|
|