Lords of Night and Shadow: A Medieval Romance Collection by Kathryn Le Veque

Author:Kathryn Le Veque [Veque, Kathryn Le]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kathryn Le Veque Novels, Inc.
Published: 2024-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Bertram de Rosa unleashed hell.

Keller, a man who was not easily impressed with battle tactics, had to admit he was somewhat respectful of not only Bertram’s cunning, but of his power. The maid that had come with de Rosa’s terms had not exaggerated when she had said the army carried around one thousand fools and men. It had to be at least that, if not more. But Keller was ready for them.

The first phase of the battle had consisted of archers, aimed high at close range so that they sailed up and over the outerwall of Pembroke but had less luck breaching the inner wall because of its distance from the outerwall and the great gatehouse. Because the archers were so close, they were in range of Keller’s Welsh archers, the finest bowmen in the world. After Bertram’s first volley, Keller let loose with his own barrage that effectively sent Bertram’s archers running for cover. But it had been a shrewd move on de Rosa’s part, designed to give Keller an overabundance of confidence and invite the hope that he would follow it up with something foolish.

But Keller held his confidence in check as he watched the de Rosa archers scatter; it was tempting to want to chase them, but he suspected a man as experienced as de Rosa would not have made such a foolish mistake. He had been correct; a few moments later, he was glad that he had restrained himself. Parting the trees as they moved towards Pembroke were two massive siege towers being pulled by teams of oxen. Keller had been momentarily surprised; so had his men up on the wall. All eyes were fixed on the siege towers that were as tall as the outerwall, lumbering steadily towards them. Once the shock wore off, Keller snorted. Then he applauded.

But his jovial mood was short lived. He knew they were in for a serious siege. He set his archers on the outer wall battlements, taking aim at the oxen pulling the siege towers. Rather than try to kill the beasts, he ordered his men to take out their legs. It was careful hunting and by the time the siege towers came to within several feet of the moat, more than half of the teams on both towers were crippled and the remaining oxen were panicking.

The de Rosa men cut the injured animals loose and took up the pulling themselves, creating gangs of men that began to inch the towers forward again. Keller and his men watched as the giant towers inched closer; he seriously wondered how they were going to bring the siege engines close enough to the castle walls to breach them. The castle was protected on three sides, leaving the fourth side heavily fortified with ditches and the great gatehouse. If Bertram seriously had it in his mind to penetrate Pembroke, then he had his work cut out for him. Keller was very curious how the man was going to accomplish it.

But he wasn’t so fascinated that he wasn’t focused on the castle as a whole.

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