Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman

Author:Sharon Kay Penman [Penman, Sharon Kay]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Historical, General Fiction, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9780345396730
Publisher: Penguin UK
Published: 2008-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

May 1179

Taillebourg, Aquitaine

PERCHED ON A STEEP CRAG overlooking the River Charente, the castle of Taillebourg seemed to be scraping the clouds, so high above the valley was it. Protected on three sides by sheer cliffs, its one accessible approach was so well defended that none had ever dared to lay siege to it, for its fortifications boasted no less than three deep ditches and triple walls. Within those bastions nestled a small town, now filled with the inhabitants of the nearby villages, who’d taken shelter there as word spread of an advancing army. Despite the crowding, their mood was calm, for the town and castle were well provisioned with enough supplies to endure a long siege.

The castle garrison was even more confident than the townspeople and villagers, for more than a thousand men patrolled those battlements and ramparts, answerable to one of the greatest barons of Aquitaine, Geoffrey de Rançon, and none doubted that their lord was more than a match for the Angevin king’s cub. Richard had laid siege to de Rançon’s stronghold at Pons early in the new year, and made so little progress that after three months, he’d given up and gone looking for easier prey. He’d had better luck than he had at Pons, taking five castles in less than a month. But Pons still held out defiantly and Taillebourg was even more formidable, so safe that de Rançon himself had chosen to defy Richard from within its redoubtable defenses. Upon being told by his scouts of Richard’s approach, Geoffrey de Rançon had laughed and his knights began to wager how long it would be until the foolhardy stripling crept away with his tail between his legs.

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