< previous page page_419 next page >

Page 419
firmly that Simon should get a few hours of sleep, assuring him that if he would stay out of the way, they would be at Grosmount and ready to attack at the proper time.
At first light they did, indeed, set out. For his sins, Simon was put in charge of the baggage animals, not wagons and oxen but sure-footed asses that could climb the mountain trails that lay between Grosmount and Builth. He cursed and laughed at the same time, recognizing that the punishment surely fit the crime. It was not so bad, either. He arrived at Llewelyn's camp only an hour after the main body of the troops, well in time to join the others for a late dinner. Llewelyn was not there. He had ridden with Pembroke and Bassett to Abergavenny.
Scouts went out and returned to say there was plenty of activity in the camp but no sign the army would move. The troops settled down to give a last look to their weapons or to sleep, but Simon remounted Ymlladd to bring in his own men from the camp on Orcop Hill. They were not needed, but it would be a shame for them to miss the fun and what individual pieces of loot they could pick up. By the time he got back to the main camp, Simon was beginning to feel tired, but he went at once to join the conference that was planning the attack. He had more news that would be of interest. His men had discovered that all the leaders of the army, the king, Winchester, Seagrave, Peter of Rivaulx, and nearly all the mercenary captains were inside the keep. Only lesser men were with the army.

Rhiannon had reached Builth just before terce to find that the keep was all but empty. The old knight whom Llewelyn had left in charge of the skeleton garrison told her willingly enough where the troops and her father had gone, and assured her that they expected to return to Builth and that the women in the keep were ready to receive her. Rhiannon had all she could do not to

 
< previous page page_419 next page >