The Dark Lord by Kathryn Le Veque

Author:Kathryn Le Veque [Veque, Kathryn Le]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Medieval
Published: 2012-06-17T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

White Crag had not been as difficult to breach as Pelinom. Even though the defenders had been somewhat prepared for the siege, as someone had informed them of the approach of de Velt’s army, Jax put the siege engines into use and the battle that commenced at sunset the day he left Pelinom was complete by sunrise. White Crag’s white stoned walls were black with soot from projectiles and the slender portcullis was in ruins.

Jax’s men set to impaling the army just as they had with countless other armies. That was their normal routine. Jax personally impaled two of White Crag’s knights, posting the squirming, dying bodies just inside the front gate as a warning to all. Amadeo and Michael and several senior soldiers had already moved into the keep, corralling the occupants and holding them prisoner in the great hall. It was their normal practice to round up everyone in the keep and hold them until Jax arrived.

He arrived as only de Velt could. His massive, armored presence sucked up all of the air in the room as the prisoners cowered. From behind his lowered visor, he studied the lord of White Crag, his aging wife, and his two unattractive daughters. The girls were terrified, clutching each other and weeping. When a servant woman put up too much of a fight against Michael and he drove his broadsword into her chest, it did not help matters. The daughters screamed and the old couple prayed louder. Amadeo, who had been in charge of assessing the keep and its occupants, walked up to him.

“This is the lot of them, my lord,” he said. “This is LeRoy Crandall, Lord of White Crag, and his family. They have two knights, of which you have already seen to, sixteen house servants and seventy-eight soldiers. I am confident there is no one else.”

Jax nodded faintly, watching the daughters’ as they wept, remembering Kellington’s words in his head. Please promise me that you will conduct yourself with fairness and mercy. He hadn’t the slightest idea where to start; he hadn’t done a very good job of showing mercy to the army of White Crag. In fact, he and his men had shown more brutality than usual. It was simply the way of things. But gazing at the family in front of him, he realized that he very much wanted to comply with Kellington’s request. Even if she wasn’t here to witness it, he greatly desired to accommodate her wishes. He could tell her with a clear conscience that he had shown fairness and mercy to the weak and helpless. He wanted to make her proud.

“I am de Velt,” he said in his deep baritone. “White Crag Castle is now mine and you are my prisoners. If you think to plead for your lives, now would be the time.”

The last time he had said that, it had been to Keats and Kellington, and Kellington had wanted to know why she had to plead for her life.

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