Love Everlasting (30 page)

“Don’t think, not even for a moment, of
offering yourself to Kenric in hope that he will then order the
siege lifted,” William told her.

“I won’t,” Julianna promised. Under the cover
of her heavy cloak she laid a hand on her abdomen. If it were only
herself, she might have tried it, even knowing Kenric’s propensity
for cruelty and betrayal, but she couldn’t risk the life of Royce’s
child.

She looked from William to Michael, drawing
strength from the resolution she saw in their honest faces.
Suddenly, she felt courage flowing into her own heart, and her mind
began to work again.

“Water first,” she said. “William, the well
in the inner bailey - is it fed directly from the river? I suspect
not, but I haven’t had cause to ask before today. I need to be sure
our water supply cannot be cut off or poisoned.”

“The water is safe.” William gave her an
approving glance. “The well is fed by an underground spring.
Royce’s grandfather took care to build his castle around a
dependable source of water. You must have seen the secondary spring
that cools the cellar where cheeses and butter are kept. It’s a
source separate from the main well, in case we have to retreat to
the keep.”

“Good.” Julianna made herself smile at him.
“Food second. Ever since I took over the chatelaine’s keys, I have
been rationing the food supplies.”

“I did notice,” William said dryly.

“In my last letter to Royce, I asked him to
send grain and preserved meats from Craydon,” Julianna continued.
“Now, we’ll have to make do without them.”

“How long until the food runs out?” Michael
asked.

“If we are very careful, perhaps a month,”
Julianna said. “As you remarked earlier, this siege comes at the
worst possible time, at the end of a long winter, when the
storerooms are close to empty.” She did not say what else she was
thinking, that thanks to Alice’s carelessness, the storerooms were
even more depleted than they should be. Instead, she offered the
only morsel of hope she could find in what was certain to become a
desperate situation. “Royce will soon notice the silence from
Wortham. The absence of your regular letters and reports will alert
him that something is wrong.”

“Let us hope so,” William said. “At least, we
are well manned and well supplied with weapons, so we have no
worries there.”

“No worries at all,” Julianna murmured, her
hand again resting over her abdomen.

Ten days passed before the siege engines that
Kenric had promised made their appearance. There were two of them,
both mangonels, and the heavy carts on which the throwing apparatus
rested were drawn by teams of oxen. More carts followed, filled
with the supplies of rocks that the mangonels would hurl against
the castle walls.

“Thank heaven for these days of spring rain,”
William said, peering from the battlements. Water ran off his hair
and dripped from his nose. “The storm must have delayed them. With
the ground so saturated, they’ll have trouble finding a spot that’s
solid enough to bear the weight of the machine and the stones. We
may have a day or two of grace before the battering begins.”

Muffled in her heavy cloak, Julianna stood
between William and Michael on the battlement walkway. In a little
more than a week she had learned much about sieges from the two of
them, as well as from the defending knights and men-at-arms, whom
she did not hesitate to question.

Thus, she did not have to ask why one of the
mangonels was being dragged away from the road and around to the
south side of the castle at some distance from the gatehouse. The
river lay to the north; southward the land was slightly higher and,
therefore, it was not so damp. Once the heavy mangonel was situated
upon the firm ground on the south side, it would be stable enough
for immediate use.

“I will ask Father Aymon to pray for more
days of heavy rain,” Julianna muttered. “Let that cursed mangonel
sink into the mud so deeply that it can’t be used. Let it tip far
over to one side.”

“Even with the mangonel working properly,”
William remarked, “they will need weeks to break a hole in the
outer wall that’s large enough to allow men to charge through.
What’s more, the foundations of the castle walls are so deep and
thick that sappers cannot hope to tunnel under them. In any case,
the moat is deeper than it looks, and just now the ground is so wet
that tunneling is impractical. All we have to do is sit out the
siege until help comes.”

“If anyone knows that help is needed,”
Julianna said. “If the food supplies last.”

Four more days passed. The rain finally
stopped and the mangonel on the south side of the castle was set up
and armed. The second mangonel had been left on the gravel road,
with the cup at the end of its throwing arm positioned to toss
rocks directly at the main gate. The battering began at once. The
aim of the machines was not always accurate and the carts displayed
a tendency to kick up their rear ends when the heavy rocks were
released. Julianna had seen several men injured by the sudden kick,
but the problem did not deter those who were operating the
mangonels. Over and over rocks blasted against the gates or the
stone walls, at first with little effect, though with ear-splitting
noise.

“They will eventually break the mortar
loose,” Michael explained to Julianna. “Each night a few men will
swim the moat to dig at the cracks in the mortar, so they can
dislodge the stones. They will also collect what thrown stones they
can retrieve and carry them back to reload the machines, so every
day the mangonels can hammer away again.”

“It will take weeks,” William insisted.
“Perhaps months. Our bowmen have killed or wounded many of the men
who approach the walls to work at the stones.”

“But now they’ve sent out other men to hold
heavy wooden shields over the workmen’s backs, to protect them from
the arrows,” Michael noted.

“Meanwhile, we have a more immediate problem
than the condition of the outer walls,” Julianna said. “The
storerooms are almost empty. We have extra mouths to feed, with the
villagers who’ve taken refuge here. Not to mention their
cattle.”

She did not speak about the growing problem
of refuse in the bailey, all the effluvia created by humans,
horses, cows, sheep, and chickens crowded close together. The
horrid stink rising from the bailey made that particular problem
self-evident.

Nor were they able to bury their dead, and
several people, two men-at-arms and two elderly women from the
village, had died in recent days. Father Aymon had washed and
shrouded them and had seen them reverently laid in the crypt below
the chapel, where the past lords of Wortham rested.

Kenric had refused a truce to allow the dead
to be buried in the village cemetery. To make matters worse, no
coffins were available, for William insisted that all wood must be
saved to help shore up any holes the besiegers were able to make in
the outer walls or, more likely, in the wooden main gate. With the
weather becoming warmer every day, the danger of disease was sure
to increase as the bodies decayed and as more people died. Julianna
was sure Kenric was counting on this particular problem.

“If the villagers want protection,” William
told her with grim seriousness, “they will have to sacrifice their
livestock. You must balance the milk and eggs the animals provide
against the fodder they consume. Slaughter a few at a time and let
everyone have a bit of meat. Royce will replace what the villagers
have lost; you know he will, and so do they.”

“I will see to it.” Julianna turned away from
the crenel where she had been standing.

“Julianna, wait a moment before you go.”
Michael put out a detaining hand. “We cannot be sure that Royce
knows what is happening here. If that collection of disloyal
noblemen out there in the fields has arranged some incident at
court to keep Royce’s attention fixed, then he may not have time to
think about Wortham. Despite what we’ve been hoping, help may not
be on the way.”

“What do you suggest?’ Julianna asked. “I
know you well enough by now to believe that if you complain of a
problem, you will have a practical solution to offer.”

“Tonight, the moon is but a crescent. Under
cover of darkness,” Michael said, “I intend to venture out the
postern gate. You know it’s on the river side of the castle, but
the besiegers are watching the mangonel on the southern side, away
from the river. They are also paying attention to the second
machine at the main gate, on the western side. Between the two,
there’s a fair chance I won’t be noticed.

“Furthermore, a small boat is kept ready by
the postern, so the outer walls can be inspected from the river and
the moat. I’ll row across the moat, then launch the boat into the
river and lie low in the bottom until the current carries me past
the encampment. When I reach a safe place, say a village some
distance downriver, I’ll hire a horse and make for Northampton, to
alert Royce. At the very least, I can provide details of the siege
that he may not know as yet.”

“Absolutely not!” William exclaimed. “I won’t
allow you to risk your life like that.”

“Do you imagine my life isn’t at risk now?”
Michael asked with some heat. “Along with the lives of all inside
this castle? Forget our friendship for a moment and be sensible,
William. Someone has to get out of Wortham and tell Royce what is
happening here.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Julianna said,
intervening in the dispute, “except that you must not leave
alone.”

“You cannot go with me,” Michael told her. “I
intend to ride as fast as possible, and not stop to rest.”

“I understand, and that’s not what I was
going to propose,” Julianna said. “I know that speed will be
essential. But it’s also true that two men are more likely than a
single rider to accomplish a dangerous mission. If one of you is
injured, the other can continue. Michael, I want you to take your
squire.”

“Brian?” Michael considered the idea for a
moment, then smiled at Julianna. “He will be delighted to know that
you think he’s old enough to be entrusted with so perilous a
responsibility.”

“That’s just the trouble,” William objected.
“The journey will be perilous. Don’t deceive yourselves; Kenric and
his friends will have lookouts posted along the road and the river,
in case we try to send for help. They know by now where the postern
gate is and, however interested in the mangonels they are, they
will be watching that exit. If they capture you, Michael, they’ll
make what the French did to you a few years ago seem like a
Christmas banquet.”

“You forget that I spent more than ten years
spying before I was caught,” Michael said quietly. “I know how to
be careful and how to conceal myself. I was only caught that time
in France because I was betrayed. Royce saved my life then. I owe
him this much now. No one in England except we three and Brian will
know what we are about. We will not fail.”

“I’ll see that you have food to take along,”
Julianna said, “and as much coin as we have available, for you will
need to hire horses along the way. I will write a letter to Royce,
and another for you to carry, that declares in my name as Lady of
Wortham that Royce will reimburse any cost incurred during your
journey. William, I expect you to countersign those letters.
Michael may well need them.

“Now, William,” she went on, “we will need
some very noticeable activity along the south castle walls tonight.
I want as many besiegers as possible to be staring at the
battlements and not paying attention to the postern gate.”

“My dear lady,” Michael said with a laugh,
“you will make Royce proud.”

“I do hope so,” Julianna murmured. “Michael,
swear to me that, whatever you discover at Northampton, no matter
how bad the news, you will send word to me. To us,” she amended,
seeing William’s surprised look.

“Royce and I, together, will bring you word,”
Michael promised. “We’ll bring relief, too, in the form of an army
to drive off those dastardly besiegers, and carts of food, enough
for everyone in the castle. We will celebrate the lifting of the
siege with a great feast.”

“I still don’t like your plan,” William said.
“I fear you haven’t a hope of getting away from here, and even less
chance of reaching Northampton without being captured or killed,
but I can see that you are bent on leaving. I’ll put my seal on
whatever document Julianna thinks you will need, and I will provide
a noisy diversion on the battlements.”

“Good man. I knew we could depend on you.”
Michael clapped William on the shoulder before he went off to
prepare for his hazardous adventure.

The postern gate was so skillfully built into
a corner of the inner bailey that it was not readily noticeable
unless one knew where to look. With the key in hand, Julianna
waited there in the darkest hour of the night just after the moon
had set. At first she noticed only a motion in the deep shadows.
Then she saw the pale square of Michael’s face and she realized
that he and his squire were both garbbed entirely in black.

“Here is as much food as we can spare.”
Julianna thrust a leather bag at them. “It’s bread and cheese, only
enough for a day, two days at most, if you are careful. And here is
the money bag, with the letters folded inside. I have included a
note for Royce.” She handed over the purse, which Michael fastened
at his belt.

“As soon as we locate horses, we’ll ride as
fast as we can,” he told her. “Allow five or six days for us to
reach Northampton. Royce will need time to gather a force of
fighting men that’s large enough to defeat the army surrounding us.
Then we have to march them all back here, and some of them will
likely be foot soldiers.”

“You are warning me to expect a long wait,”
Julianna said.