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Getting our people up near the postern wasn't all that easy. There was only a narrow ledge at the base of the wall, not wide enough for safety, let alone for comfort, and no one wanted to fall in the crap below.
Parthet had to go at one side of the door, close enough to work his hocus-pocus. I was at the other side so I could charge in first when the door opened-my "right" as Hero. A
"Okay, Uncle. Your show," I whispered.
He grunted. "You have that flashlight?"
"If you need it."
"I need it. There's not enough starlight to conjure a good fart. Play the light along the hinges, slowly, while I get started."
I had fitted a half-shield of leather to make the light harder to spot from above. I turned the light on and moved the beam the way Parthet directed. The hinges were large metal strips that extended almost the entire width of the door. Smooth rounded boltheads were visible, but there was no way to dismantle the hinges from the outside.
Parthet chanted softly. I couldn't understand a word of it. Either magical formulas were exempt from the translation magic or it was just gibberish Parthet used to psych himself up. As he continued, he got louder, making me worry that the sentry would hear. But before I could work myself up to shushing Parthet, the top hinges started to glow a dull red and I smelled wood burning-like old railway ties. Then the second hinge started to glow and the first got brighter, and hotter. I turned off the flashlight and stuck it in my hip pocket when the metal was light enough to see by. Tiny flames became visible around the metal, then large streaks of the door charred visibly.
"Put your shoulder to it," Parthet said. "A sharp rap." I edged sideways. Bashing into glowing metal didn't seem very smart even though I had leather and chain mail to protect me, but we had to get inside, and the longer I hesitated, the more chance there was that the sentry would see us.
My shoulder scarcely touched the door before it popped inward, hinges and all, so quickly that I almost fell into the castle. I caught my balance against the far wall, getting my hands out before my head could slam into the stone, before I could hit hard enough to jar my bad ribs. I drew Dragon's Death and turned toward the guardroom and great hall of Castle Thyme, where we expected the first challenge. I didn't have much room to swing the elf sword in the hallway, but it would make life problematic for any defenders who tried to get too close to me.
Lesh and A
After that, it was one short duel after another until all of our strike force got into the fray. I had to fight two more Dorthinis, but the encounters were nothing to write home about. Against these enemies, Dragon's Death was once more almost weightless. At need, I could handle it with one hand, as easily as I could swing my own smaller sword.
Then the fight was over. The rest of the garrison surrendered when it was obvious that we had the numbers. These Dorthinis were all good soldiers. There was no "fight to the last man" nonsense. Just as well. I had no stomach for a massacre, not even of the men who had ambushed and killed my father. But I didn't waste any grief on the Dorthinis who died before the surrender.
Once we had accounted for every member of the garrison, we lowered the drawbridge so our reserves could come in with the horses to wait for the Dorthini army to arrive and pass. The rest of our troops moved into their phony siege positions. We raised the drawbridge again well before dawn.
When the first Dorthini scouts arrived in the morning, they saw the Varayan army besieging Castle Thyme. We sent a cavalry patrol to chase the Dorthinis, with instructions to make sure that they didn't catch them. We wanted the Dorthini scouts to escape and carry the news of the siege to the Etevar. We had our slim surprise primed… if we could make it count.
20 – The Dance of Ghosts
We left the Dorthini flag flying over Castle Thyme, seven gold lilies-stylized like the French emblem-on a black field. Harkane had my pe
I didn't try to sleep again after that.
The morning dragged on. The van of the Dorthini army was two hours away, then one hour. Parthet used some of the sea-silver to open a passage between the castle and the cottage in the orchard so we could keep abreast of the news… and so we would have a bolt-hole in case of disaster. A small band of our cavalry skirmished with Dorthini outriders a couple of miles from the castle, then retreated in good order. We wanted to harass the enemy just enough to keep them from trying to make contact with the castle garrison. Castle Thyme was our Trojan Horse, and we couldn't afford to give away the secret too soon.
Parthet didn't know of any Dorthini magic comparable to the doorways, but he couldn't rule it out either. Since the Etevar had the new-and-improved-model wizard, anything was possible. We patrolled every corridor and passage of Castle Thyme, watched everywhere.
From dawn on, I stayed on the parapets, Under cover of a shed that had been erected to give sentries a place to get out of the weather. Parthet stayed with me, except during his brief excursions to the orchard for the latest news. The rest of "my" people also stayed close through the morning.
The Dorthini van was in sight before the Varayan forces "besieging" Castle Thyme started their slow withdrawal across the road into the rolling countryside toward the orchard. Dorthini cavalry came forward to engage, to try to keep our army from settling into strong defensive positions before the Dorthini infantry caught up. Our people had to keep the area around the castle hazardous enough to justify "Dorthini" defenders keeping the drawbridge up and the gate closed. We had replaced the postern door; it at least looked normal.
There were no surprises in the early morning. Everything went right according to plan. I could even be detached about it, recalling battles that Dad had made me study while I was a teenager, looking for comparison-or for any tip I could dredge out of those memories to help us. I didn't have any crazy urges to get out into the fighting right away. I felt no guilt at being safe while others were fighting and dying. I knew that my turn for danger would come soon enough. The only problem I had was with memories of my crypt dream. I heard Vara talking to me again, reminding me that he had sworn that no Hero of Varay would die alone as he had, telling me that they would all be with me when my time came.