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Page 386
swords drawn, began to investigate the interiors of the outbuildings. Sybelle directed Damas toward the cowering manor serfs and asked when Walter had ridden in. One began to stammer an answer, but before he could finish a man-at-arms came running around the corner of the house from the stable.
"He is here, lady," he called. "The lord's horse is here, and the stableboy is bound."
"Inside!" Sybelle cried, gesturing those four men who had swung the gates shut toward the house as she lifted her leg over to slide from the saddle.
"Do not dismount," the master-at-arms shouted. He had not originally intended to go, since he had arranged that a reliable and experienced captain lead the men. However, when Sybelle rode out, he had seized a horse from one of the other men and followed.
"You defend the gate," Sybelle ordered. "That troop will probably try to batter it down as soon as they reach it."
He knew she was right, and he also knew that he should not permit her to go into the house where there might be grave dangerbut he had no idea of how to stop her, since restraining her by force was unthinkable. And at that moment a pair of men came from the small smithy, herding the smith and the bailiff between them. Moreover, shouts of anger could be heard as the troop they had seen arrived outside the walls, which proved that Sybelle had judged right. The troop intended entry into Hay; they were not passing by coincidence.
A blow struck the gate. It was nothing, probably two or three men kicking it to see if the bars had been set in place, but it was another sign that the men outside intended to force an entrance. The master-at-arms spent another second shouting a plea for Sybelle to be careful, and then turned his attention to the bailiff, trying to calm him and convince him they meant no harm, that far from intending to sack Hay and kill him, they wished to defend the manor against attack. Another blow struck the gate.
"One does not bring a lady on a raid," the master-at-arms pointed out, exasperatedly. "We ourselves are seeking shelter."
At last the bailiff's fear diminished enough for him to listen. He remembered the woman's voice, and she had said to defend the gate. He began to answer the master-at-arms questions about the defensive armament of the manor. A third

 
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