Although the sun was still in the sky it was a few minutes from beginning to set when the advanced party arrive at the villages southern gate. The wooded wall around the village on first glance seemed to be in reasonably good condition but Amondo felt that it could bear closer inspection and decided to do so at a later date.
It was still open and like it always did at that time of year would remain that way for another hour or so. Amondo introduced himself to the guard at the gate and the gatekeeper, both of whom he didn’t recognise and asked the gatekeeper where his sister in law was currently residing.
“They were living in the few rooms of the manor house that had been finished sir but after the death of your brother she moved back to the castle.”
“How long have you been the gatekeeper here, your predecessor must be long dead?”
“Not so sir he still lives and only retired last year I am from Feiston village in Kincarn and married his niece five summers ago and we moved here when her parents died two years later.”
After handing the gatekeeper a silver coin for his troubles Amondo had his squire unpack his banner, attach it to a lance and then ride slightly ahead of the rest through the gate and towards the castle. They stopped a few times as they rode through the village so that Amondo could quickly look around before moving on. When they approached the castles outer gatehouse the drawbridge was down as was the portcullis.
A voice called out from inside the gatehouse which Amondo recognised but couldn’t quite put a name to.
“I must apologise sir but you’ve been away for so long that I don’t recognise you. To confirm your identity I need to ask you but one simple question?”
“That’s alright Quinten, go ahead.”, stated Amondo who had recalled the man’s name.
“Well, sir just remembering my name isn’t enough and forgive me if it embarrasses you but here goes. What was the truth behind your attempt to sneak unseen from the castle, that time when your aunt Luisa was staying?”
“I have no idea how you or anyone else could have found out that so I hope this isn’t just a trick to discover the truth of it. I wasn’t caught trying to sneak out I had done that already and was trying to sneak back in. As for why I did so well that must remain private”, was the response.
When he was eight his twin sister Lilou and their cousin Adrienna, who was two years older than them and visiting the castle with her mother at the time, had dared him to sneak out of the castle and steal an acorn for each of them from the oak tree that had stood where the manor house was now located.
“Well, sir since that’s out of the way if you’ll just wait a minute for the portcullis to be raised you and your party can enter. While you are waiting I was wondering if this is all of your party or can we expect more?”
“This is just the advance party, the rest will be arriving sometime tomorrow.”
“How big of a party will that be sir?”
“Thirty Guards, eleven servants, three retainers, three carters, three pages, a young lady and her chaperone. Also a cleric, a blacksmith, a minstrel, a barber-surgeon, a falconer, and a huntsman for a total of fifty-eight people. There’s three wagons, four pack mules and a carriage as well just so you know.”
“Well that should prove a bit of a challenge especially with all your sisters and their families in residence and the refugees but I’m sure we’ll somehow manage to accommodate them.”
How is my sister Zeineb holding up after the death of her husband two years ago.”
“From what I have heard and seen she has come to except his passing and has put all her efforts into the raising of your nephew Vasily.”
While they were talking the portcullis was raised and before he entered the gate Amondo had one last question to ask.
“Hows’s the mood of the people holding up with the current situation being what it is?”
“Well sir I can only speak as to what I have observed but from my perspective, things were really bad for a while after it happened. Things have calmed down since then and everyone is just waiting for two things to happen.”
“And what two events are you referring to?”
“Why the birth of Leonid’s child and your return of course.”
“Well, I’m here now, any word on when the first might occur?”
“Any day now so they say.”
“Well good day Quinten and keep up the good work.”
With that Amondo and his companions rode through the outer gate, passed the outer bailey with its many buildings and then on to the inner bailey. Once through the inner gatehouse, they headed to the stables, removed their saddlebags and then passed their horses to the waiting stableboys. They give them instructions as to what they wanted to be done to the horses filing them in on any of their peculiarities. Stilburs horse likes to eat his manure while Amondos eats faster than is perhaps healthy for him.
With that done the knights had their squires help them take off the light armour, they were wearing. They then proceeded to the castle keep were the constable of the castle introduced himself to them. Sir Dusti Levun was a man of thirty-seven years old who had a scar running down the length of his nose and corresponding ones on his lips and chin. He had served the Malla family since he was twenty and taken over his current position five years previously when his predecessor had died while hunting wild boar.
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