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Page 192
not to save them, but because they would be in the way. Then Simon bellowed for silence and the chatter stopped. He warned his men to look to their other weapons and to the thrusting poles with which the scaling ladders could be pushed over.
Simon's position would not be exposed to any dangerous assault machines. The siege towers he could see around to the southwest would be directed against the walls near the gateway, where winning the wall would permit the invaders to lower the drawbridge and lift the portcullis. The possibility did not trouble Simon. Richard himself and the best of his vassals and men-at-arms would defend that section.
Then Simon realized that Geoffrey would almost certainly be on one of the siege towers, since he could not climb a ladder. His mouth went dry, and he strained his eyes into the distance, but it was too far to make out the colors of any man's shield. Most sincerely, although silently, Simon prayed that if one of them had to die or be wounded, it would be he. His parents would grieve bitterly either way, but he would be no loss to any other person. Even if Rhiannon cared enough now, she would soon forget.
The concern Simon felt for Geoffrey was pushed from his mind when a line of men in tight groups of three began to run toward the keep. Simon shouted aloud both in warning and in pure joy. Now that the banners were spreading out, he could see that he was opposing one of the Flemish mercenary groups. He need have no fear at all of killing or injuring them. There would be no kinfolk in England who might be his allies in the next war. Mostly such things were understood, but occasionally bitterness lingered. It was not easy to have for a backup man one whose father or brother you had killed.
Another advantage of facing the mercenaries was that they used the crossbow. There was little choice in power between the two, but the longbow was far more

 
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