Prince of Wrath Read Free Page B

dead.”
    “We must send word to Niake, sire. Perhaps the governor there, Extonos, knows more?”
    Jorqel looked at Gavan. Both had a low opinion of Evas Extonos. “Do you really think he knows what goes on inside his own city, Gavan? I doubt he has a clue where this rebel is, let alone what to do. We cannot count on any help from him!”
    Gavan snorted. “There are others in the Niake administration. Someone must know. I could ride there with a small force; it’d also be useful if I scouted out the terrain and looked for signs of the rebels.”
    Jorqel pondered on the request. “How many are you thinking of taking? This Lombert Soul is said to be recruiting large numbers of men. If they happen upon you I doubt you could hold them off.”
    Gavan spread his hands wide. “We would be on equine back; most of Soul’s men are surely on foot. Even if they are mounted, they couldn’t deal with the heavily armoured bodyguard.”
    “Take ten men,” Jorqel said, making a decision. “I want to know if the roads are still open. I also want to send a message to Niake that I am watching them, and want their assistance in this matter. I’ll compose a letter for you to take to the governor. You are to impress upon him that I will not accept any prevaricating or procrastinating from him.”
    “Understood, sire. One thing is worrying me, though.”
    “And what is that?”
    “Sannia was taken from her estate, to the north of here. Lombert Soul has never been seen in Lodria.”
    Jorqel nodded. “An unusual thing indeed; the same had occurred to me. You infer that perhaps there is another helping this rebel?”
    Gavan shrugged. “Maybe further questioning of the Nicate servant who was with her might gain some clues.”
    “Yes, good idea. Now go get ready for the ride. You’ll take a few days to get there.”
    Gavan departed. Jorqel remained standing looking at the message. He became aware that another had appeared at the doorway. He looked round and saw that it was the castellan, Fostan Caras. Caras had served both under the last official imperial regime and also the Fokis rebels. He had kept his head mainly because he was good at his job and refused to get embroiled in politics. Perhaps a dangerous attitude, but he had faithfully served three different masters now and Jorqel, piqued at first that he had gone along with the rebels, had come around to the fact that this man was irreplaceable.
    “Yes, Castellan?”
    “Sire,” Caras bowed. “The new drawbridge is almost completed.”
    “Oh.” He’d forgotten all about that, given the distraction of the note from the Nicate estate. “I’d best come see it, in that case. Lead on.”
    The new castle would soon be completed. Jorqel had pushed and pushed for it to be done by the summer, when he planned to marry Sannia. Now it seemed all the urging on his account was to be for nothing. The walls, too, were nearing completion, and within perhaps thirty days all would be done. Then all there would remain to be done was the cosmetic business of making the walls look neat, the castle impressive and the town attractive.
    Easier said than done, but for the wedding it wouldn’t do to have it looking like a builder’s plot. The new castle entrance was to be protected by a drawbridge rather than a stout door and a steep set of stairs. A ditch had been dug in front of the new keep and filled with sharpened stakes. To cross this twenty feet deep chasm a ten foot long drawbridge had been built. The carpenters had been working on it feverishly for the past ten days and now proudly declared it finished.
    It had been manoeuvred into position and was even now being lowered onto the pins sitting in the well of the pit that the bridge would pivot on. Ten people were working on it, some shouting loudly, giving instructions to the others to guide it into place.
    Jorqel followed the castellan to the entrance doorway. The wooden castle keep did not have any wards or courtyards, but was one