The Robber Knight's Secret

50. Afraid of the Light

The castle was almost eerily quiet. No lights were visible atop the walls, no shouts rang out, no alarm bells sounded. Only a few guards were marching to and fro atop the outer wall, and those, Ayla realized with some surprise, were not equipped with torches.

Behind the crenels, though, out of sight of the enemy army, there was a different sight. Line upon line of fierce, grim-faced defenders, armed with bows, axes, crossbows, guisarms, swords, and any other kind of weapon you could think of. Every single one of them was crouching down or sitting, so their heads would not be visible above the crenels. The guards that walked the walls ignored them, as if they weren't there.

"What the heck is going on here?" Ayla muttered to Theoderich, gesturing up at the strange sight above her, up on the walls. "What's the meaning of this... sitting parade?"

The boy shrank back. "I don't know, Milady. You'll have to ask Sir Reuben."

"Oh, I will, trust me! Where is the blaggard?"

"I believe Milord is in his command center."

"Indeed?" One of Ayla's eyebrows rose, dangerously. "And pray tell me, where is Milord's command center located?"

"Um... at the north tower, Milady."

Ayla gestured. "Very well then. Lead me to Milord and announce my presence. I have a few things to say to him."

"Err... Yes, of course, Milady."

Theoderich hurried ahead, his ears red. Ayla followed him to the northernmost point of the wall, where one of the highest of the castle's towers gave an ideal vantage point over the Lunt Valley. Or it would have given an ideal vantage point, if the night hadn't been pitch-dark. As Ayla stepped out onto the wall from the spiral staircase of the north tower, everyone was still sitting in blackness. The only reason she could make out Reuben's shape among the others on the wall was, because even sitting, he managed to tower over everyone else.

"There you are!"

Reuben's head, facing towards the valley, his eyes just peeking over the top of one crenel, snapped around at her low hiss. A grin spread over his face. The white glint of his teeth was pretty much all she could see of his face in the dark.

"Milady! Come to join our little gathering, have you?

"No! I've come to ask you what the heck you're up to!"

"Oh. Well, you can still join our merry little band. Come, you beef-witted louts! Move your asses!"

He gestured to the men crouching beside him, who hastily moved their asses and the rest of themselves, too, vacating a space for Ayla.

"I've got better things to do than sit with you bladder-headed idiots on a rock wall all night," Ayla whispered. "Why did you send for me? The boy said you sent him to tell me that the castle was under attack!"

"No."

"No? You didn't send him?"

"Oh, I sent him all right. But I didn't say the castle is under attack—because it isn't. At least not yet. But..." He glanced over the wall again, "It's going to be, in about five minutes."

The look Ayla gave him could have roasted a whole boar. But the insolent cur in front of her just grinned wider!

"How I have missed these amusing chats with you," he remarked, absent-mindedly. "You know, it's not nearly as much fun if you simply glare at me in silent disapproval."

"I'll do a whole lot more than glare at you if you don't explain what is going on right this minute!"

"No need to rush. As I said, we've got at least five minutes before the enemy tries to exterminate us."