Duel at Araluen by John Flanagan

Author:John Flanagan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2019-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

20

Castle Araluen had been quiet for the past day. There had been no attacks on the stairwell, no new machines to threaten the defenders. There had been no sign of Dimon, no further word from him since his admittance to Cassandra that he had given up and would be leaving for Sonderland.

Nevertheless, Cassandra refused to let herself be lulled into a sense of false security. Recent events had taught her to distrust Dimon implicitly. She sensed he was up to something and that his capitulation was a sham.

As a result, she insisted that her men maintain the high level of vigilance they had assumed from the start of the siege. She had Merlon and several other senior soldiers checking constantly on sentries, ensuring they weren’t slacking off and allowing the apparent lack of activity from the enemy to make them careless. And she kept a watch over Merlon and the others herself, ensuring that they remained at the highest possible level of attentiveness as well. She discussed the situation with her father, grateful for any advice he might offer.

“Stay patient,” he told her. “This is the hardest part of a siege. It’s easy to remain alert when you’re under attack. But it’s different when nothing happens hour after hour. Your senses become dulled and your attention can wander.”

As a result, she set and maintained a regular schedule of patrolling for herself, striding around the terrace that surrounded the south tower, checking the castle yard below, inspecting the keep for any sign of activity through its windows, and studying the other three towers and the battlements on the curtain walls that joined them. Then she would descend to the eighth floor and check the sentries at the stairwell, studying the wooden barrier that barred the way to the lower stairs for any sign that the Foxes had attempted to damage it or degrade it.

She would break that schedule at irregular intervals—as the mood took her—and begin extra impromptu inspections. It was all too easy, she realized, to become complacent with a fixed schedule. Changing that at random was necessary to maintain focus on her surroundings and the movements of her enemies. It also kept her own men on their toes. If they had no idea when or where she might appear to check on them, they had little choice but to stay alert at all times, not just those times when they knew she was scheduled to inspect them.

It was mid-morning and she was on one of her surprise inspections, starting at the balcony around the ninth floor, when she saw it.

From the lofty observation point, she had an excellent overview of the main gate and drawbridge. They were set in the southeast wall of the castle, down to her right, enabling her to keep track of the comings and goings below.

It was the noise that first drew her attention. There was a low rumbling sound from the gate. She realized that the massive drawbridge was being lowered. The upper part of the wall hid the actual bridge from her sight, but the noise was unmistakable.

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