Ides of the May (Children of the May 2 - updates weekly)

Chapter Five: Alisander's Story (part two)

A trumpet sounds in the night.

Aggy is in my room. Bellina says she shouldn’t just walk in now we’re older, she should knock first, but I don’t understand that. There’s fire from the loch, blasting my friend’s face through the window.

The trumpet sounds on and on.

‘What is it, Aggy?’ I say. ‘Is Epicene back? Is that her fire? Has she brought someone?’ Epicene, Melly and La Cote Mal Taille left a couple of days ago, so Epicene could talk to her dad at some cave somewhere.

Downstairs I hear Agravaine. ‘Let me go!’ he’s shouting. ‘I’ll have them!’

‘Come back, you fool!’ shouts Mordred.

‘It’s not Epicene,’ says Aggy, still staring out towards the loch. ‘Come look.’

The trumpets are hurting my ears. Men shout in the occasional gaps between the blasts.

I go to the window. Aggy steps aside.

There are men outside, standing in a thin line down near the edge of the water. They hold torches and trumpets, all of them facing us. The window’s thin, so I can’t see very far to the right or left, but the line seems to curve around the tower. I think we’re surrounded.

And then I see them, right in the centre, standing further forward than the rest. The giant Sir Lamorak, and behind him fat Sir Dinadan. I pick up my bow, and, without thinking, string it and notch an arrow. Melly told me that these windows are called arrow-windows. This is what they’re for.

I shoot, but my arrow falls well short of them. The trumpets break off for a moment and the men laugh.

‘Well at least one of them’s got a bit of spirit, eh?’ shouts Dinadan to his men. They laugh again, and then the trumpets start up once more.

‘I don’t want to leave the den,’ I say to Aggy. ‘Will they find it, do you think?’ We’ve been here all summer. I like this place almost as much as Lady Bertilak’s castle. Mina tells me that Castle Udaymon was a bad place, but up until the very end it was nice. But it can’t still be bad now that Drift’s looking after it, I think. I wish we’d stayed with Drift.

‘We’ll build another den,’ says Aggy.

‘Aglinda, Alisander, come away from the window.’ It’s Mina; she’s at the door.

‘I’ll kill them all!’ shouts Agravaine downstairs.

 

* * *

‘How did they take us by surprise?’ says Mina. She can be scary when she’s angry. ‘Who was on watch?’

‘It’s my fault, Palomina,’ Mordred says to her. ‘I let us relax too much. I let us get too comfortable. We knew they were looking for us.’

‘With all respect, Mordred, who was the watch?’

Garnish comes into the room. He’s red-faced like he’s been crying. ‘I fell asleep,’ he says. ‘I’m sorry.’ He’s always crying at the littlest thing. Even Christian cries less than him. He’s a big baby. Mina doesn’t look at him; neither does she look surprised.

‘Who are they?’ says Mina.

‘The big feller’s Sir Lamorak,’ says Agravaine.

‘And the other knight?’

I know, but I don’t like to speak in front of the big ones, only to Aggy and Melly and sometimes to Mina if she’s in a good mood. Sir Guy always told me only to speak if I was spoken to.