Part 8 (2/2)
Another soldier drew his sword, one of the plumbers took a clumsy chop at him with a pickaxe, and missed A second soldier stabbed the plueneral melee broke out They had swords and armor, but we outnuanized We had two men mounted while they were all on foot And we had Tadaos
His last dozen arrows streaked into the center of theirit out I saw Sir Lestko take out three soldiers, and Anna and I hopped around, looking busy
At one point a group of soldiers thren their weapons, but h to accept their surrender OrIn any event, two unare and get over there The rest of the soldiers naturally picked up their swords again and the fight went on, costing me two of my own men that didn't have to die
Then suddenly it was over In front of the eight s bodies lay those of four priests, nineteen soldiers, three masons, two carpenters, and a blacks nearby with a strange smile on his face and blood on his axe He had killed his e in this world
I had the surviving enemy stripped naked for fear of hidden weapons, then had theuard Other uard the battlefield, because the peasants ht loot it before we could properly share out the booty
I'd had the presence ofmy medical kit with me, and naturally I took care of my own people before I bothered with the Castilians, for that's what they turned out to be
I had seven people in tourniquets and was sewing up an eighth, theon hts Sir Stefan ith them
”More of your witch's work, Sir Conrad?” Sir Stefan shouted
I ignored him and addressed ' Count Laive me if I don't stand”
The dead still lay where they had fallen, and the burnt women were still tied to their stakes Clothes, weapons, and blood lay thick about the village square
”Sir Conrad, what the hell goes on here?”
”Well, my lord, the short of it was that Sir Lestko ca people to death I came here and found it was true I put them under arrest, but they resisted, with the result you see The survivors are in that barn”
”Dog's blood! Sir Conrad, you have the da trouble! What was Baron Mieczyslaw doing while this was going on?”
”Who, my lord?”
”Baron Mieczyslaw These are his lands That's his castle over there Where is he?”
”I'entleman, my lord I've only been here an hour myself”
”Sir Lestko! Go with my men to the castle and see how matters stand there Come back as soon as you may I want to talk to the prisoners”
Count La I was an amateur, but I was the best available
Tadaos ca secure the prisoners and started retrieving his arrows ”There's a lot of stuff laying around here,to the booty scattered about
”You'll get your share We'll sort it out once things settle down That was so You probably saved my life”
”I still owe you a few, my lord”
”Except for that fourth shot, of course Missing a man clean at only a hundred yards I'm surprised at you”
I tried to say it in a huenuinely hurt ”That was an old arrow, lue s happen Look, when you finish up with that, count the bodies, get the s here as they are for a while Count La up with the last of our men when Count Lambert came back ”Sir Conrad, do you realize that some of those prisoners are priests?”
”I know that so priest's robes and have their heads shaved, ht and real priests don't coh Still, you can't be too careful What do you advise we do?”
”Well, I suppose we ought to hold a trial,here, and why they see ht and in public
For all we know, there could be other bands like this around”
”Yes We'll do it in theup the line of burnt bodies ”These were all old woht have been sixteen, but it's pretty hard to tell”
”Dog's blood How could anybody do so so so”
”Evil, my lord?”
”I think that's the word I wanted, but it doesn't seeh Well Have your men clean up the mess here, and distribute the spoils as you set fit I don't want any of it It seehts
”Count Lambert, the castle was empty save for Baron Mieczyslaw All of the servants seem to have run off
I left half your hts, go to that barn and relieve the peasants securing the prisoners Sir Maciej will be in charge Sir Lestko, what of the baron?”
”My lord, the baron is in a very bad way He cannot speak He is bedridden and cannot h a line were drawn froht down the middle of his face All that is to the left of that line is cold and insensitive It's as if he were half dead”
”Dog's blood! That smacks of witchcraft!”
”No, my lord, that s the very aged Is the baron very old?”
”Very He served randfather,” Count Lambert said