Read Online The Lady and the Falconer by Laurel O'Donnell - Free Book Online Page A

replied.
    “Has lady Alissa met with you?”
    Montgomery nodded. “She didn’t say anything. She knows nothing of protecting the castle.”
    “Keep an open mind to her suggestions, if she has any. And let’s keep our meetings a secret.”
    Montgomery bowed. “As you wish, m’lady.”
    “A messenger was dispatched to my father with word of Barclay’s siege?”
    “He left as soon as we received word Barclay’s army was heading our way.”
    “Then I’m sure Father will be here with his army soon to stop all this madness, and that coward Barclay will flee into the dark hole where he came from. All we have to do is hold the castle until his arrival.”
    Montgomery studied the map for a long, quiet moment, his brow wrinkled in concern.
    “Is there something else?” Solace wondered.
    He hesitated for a moment. “I don’t know what Barclay has planned, but it seems strange to me he is not building a temporary housing for his men. Usually, by now a siege castle would have been constructed, but I see no sign of one. And they haven’t erected any palisades. Something just doesn’t seem right.” He scowled deeply. “It’s as if he doesn’t expect to be there for very long.”
    Anxiety slithered up Solace’s spine. “Let’s just make sure he’s wrong,” she answered, trying to suppress the uneasiness that gripped her.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    After attending morning services at the chapel, Solace strolled into the outer ward beneath a gray sky. The air was fresh with the hint of coming rain. She missed Gwen terribly. She had no one to discuss her plans with. But she understood why Gwen and her father had left Castle Fulton when they’d heard the siege was imminent. They didn’t want to be trapped in the castle for months. But that didn’t prevent Solace from missing her friend.
    As she walked the grounds, she stopped before Tom Reed’s pig pen. He was busy feeding a bucket of slop to his sows. She glanced at the nearby wall of the castle, shaking her head and scowling. A simple fence for the pigs wasn’t enough. Solace knew she had to prepare the castle and her people for the arrows and boulders that would soon fly over the castle walls.
    “It won’t do,” she said, moving to Tom’s side. He glanced up at her. “One arrow attack and the pigs will be slaughtered,” she continued. “You have to build an enclosure for them with a sturdy roof.”
    Tom nodded. “Very well, my lady.”
    “If you need tools or help, ask Ned,” she added.
    “M’lady?” Tom called, then hesitated for a moment. “Do you think the Baron is going to try to starve us out, or do you think he’s really going to attack?”
    Solace stared at him, sympathy tugging at her heart. He had no way of knowing what was happening beyond the walls other than the exaggerated tales that uninformed gossip produced. “We have to be prepared for either,” she replied. “So you keep those pigs safe. Our lives could depend on it.”
    Tom nodded.
    Solace continued her stroll through the ward. Her hair was braided behind her, and the dress she had picked out was a simple brown cotton smock with a beige sideless surcoat. It was comfortable, and Lillian couldn’t complain too much if she ripped it. She knew she had a lot of work to do today.
    Solace lifted her head, and her gaze came to rest on the closed drawbridge, the lowered portcullis. What was once an inviting entrance teeming with visitors was now a formidable blockade, barring the access of any travelers. Solace wondered where the wandering monks would stop on their pilgrimage to the Abbey of St. Michael now that Fulton’s gates were closed. She looked around the ward, noticing the absence of the brown-cloaked monks. She felt a surge of anger toward Barclay. Not only had he driven Gwen and her father away, but the monks had also fled. The castle didn’t seem whole without them.
    She glanced toward the keep and the dungeon. She had meant to get to the dungeon and speak with some of the