“Hey, good morning!”
As though summoned by speech, Luke appeared, yawning, and came over. He looked at Ashabel.
“You were talking about something interesting just now, weren’t you?”
“Yes. Captain Gene’s past.”
“You should tell stories like that when I’m here. Come on, start again.”
“Oh, forget it. Ask someone else later.”
“Hey, I’m a playwright. When I hear stories like that, I make splendid scripts out of them. A legend of the back alleys, the ShadowHawk! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see the captain at the theater? I’ve already thought of an actor. What about Simodius?”
Ashabel was immediately irritated.
“How does Simodius look anything like Captain Gene? The fellow looks like a lump of rock. Isn’t there a better-looking actor?”
“Then Joël Haim? Doesn’t he have something of the same air?”
“Nothing like him! Haim looks too girlish!”
“Oh, fine, forget it. He’s your own private hero. Whoever I bring, you won’t like him. Stand on the stage yourself, then. I’ll give you acting lessons.”
As he said that, a murmur came from the front yard. Hal soon ran over and shouted.
“Hey! Everyone inside! Quickly! Something terrible’s happened!”
“Why?”
Ashabel asked, but Hal had already gone, with no time to answer. The noise grew louder. Ashabel ran toward the front yard, while Rosa entered the house through the back door. Luke looked from one direction to the other and muttered.
“What tune am I supposed to dance to? Safety’s all very well, but one ought to judge the situation, shouldn’t one?”
He was walking toward Ashabel when an arrow flew from somewhere, narrowly grazed the brim of his hat, and buried itself in a gap in the wall. Luke stared at it, eyes wide. The shaft was so thick and strong that it had chipped away a piece of stone. A direct hit would have killed him instantly.
Only then did Luke change his mind. In panic, he ran to the back door, but it was already locked. Trembling, he pounded on it.
“Open up! Open the door! It’s me! Me, I tell you!”
Meanwhile, another five arrows struck the wall and the earth, one even lodging in the door itself. Luke looked about. There was nowhere to hide. Giving up on pounding, he crouched and covered his head. Then the door clattered open.
“Quickly!”
It was Rosa. Luke darted inside and crouched behind the wall. Leaving the door, Rosa locked it again.
“Oh, Anir! Watch over us. W-what is happening?”
“I don’t know. Someone’s attacking.”
“It d-doesn’t look like just one person.”
“Of course it isn’t one person.”
Leaving Luke, Rosa ran to the stables. At last coming to his senses, Luke looked around. Every patrolman had come down to the first floor. The front entrance was locked already. Outside, there was a continuous bang, bang of arrows striking or bouncing off it. Not only that: stones that seemed to have been flung by a catapult struck the walls. Each impact shook the entire house.
He heard the excited men calling to one another.
“Where’s the captain?”
“He went out at dawn!”
“When’s he coming back?”
“The day after tomorrow!”
“Th-then Captain Tahyang?”
“Don’t know! He’s not one to tell us where he’s going before he leaves!”
“Surely he hasn’t gone with Captain Gene? Huka’s not here either.”
“Pray he hasn’t. What is this? This is the House of the ShadowHawk!”
Unable to get out into the front yard, Luke could not tell what was happening. He ran upstairs. Just as he was about to enter a room overlooking the yard, someone handed him something like a wooden board.
“Take this, close the window, and lock it. Quickly!”
It was Rosa. He had not noticed her come up. Looking down at what she had handed him, he found a door torn from a wardrobe. Doubtfully, Luke took it and stepped into the room.
Then he heard a tremendous noise.
Crash!
Luke froze where he stood. An arrow struck the door in his hands. It had nearly gone into the hand holding it. Forgetting all about the window, he fled back out and ran toward the stairs. Suddenly, looking into the room beside them, he widened his eyes. Rosa had torn a sheet off the bed and tied it to the sill, leaving it fluttering beyond the open window.
It was plainly meant to draw attention. Why? To protect Luke?
He watched for a moment, then returned to the room he had just left. Taking a deep breath, he ran forward holding the door and closed the window. It was not so difficult once he tried. He closed the windows in the next room and the one after that too.
Coming out, he found Rosa carrying the shutter from the room where he had been. She called, “See those bundles of sheets in the corridor? Throw them down to the first floor!”
“What for?”
“They all have a use!”
When Luke threw down the sheets she had pulled from the rooms, the men gathered on the first floor looked up and shouted.
“What are you doing?”
“How should I know?”
They dodged the falling sheets in bewilderment, then finally piled them in a corner. Looking up, Harat watched the second-floor corridor and noticed Rosa moving about.
“Lady Rosa, what are you doing?”
“If you want to help, come up.”
“If it’s something you’re doing, of course I’ll help.”
Ever since the first day, Harat the housekeeper had been Rosa’s greatest supporter. When he came up, she pointed toward the third floor and handed him two pieces of wood.
“Close all the third-floor windows. Use these to bar the room at the eastern end, and the corner room behind the stairs, where the catches are broken. Then block the door to the bell tower with two mattresses. They’ll fit exactly. There’s a big chest of drawers in the next room, isn’t there? Move it over to brace them.”
“Y-yes. All right.”
Unlike Luke, Harat was a large man, ideal for moving furniture. But for the sake of balance, it was better for at least two people to move a large object. By the time Harat finished closing the windows, Hal had come up to the third floor. He looked at Harat dubiously.
“You said she was doing something important, and you were going to help.”
“Yes, that’s right. Come here.”
Rosa leaned over the second-floor railing and looked down at the first. Her eyes counted the men. About sixty. The rest must be somewhere in the city, but there was no guarantee they would return even if they heard the news. They did not yet know how many enemies there were, or even who they were.
Even knowing nothing, the first measure was obvious. But Rosa was not the leader of the Brothers of the Hawk. She was merely an outsider who had come a few days earlier, and a woman. She had neither Gene’s right of command nor his authority. The Brothers of the Hawk would regard anyone’s orders but Gene’s or Tahyang’s as nagging.
She had to take another approach. And that was something Rosa had done for more than ten years.
“Isn’t anyone going to block the second floor? Stones are coming through the windows and rolling everywhere!”
“The second floor?”
Several men ran upstairs. Rosa pointed to Gene’s room.
“Are you going to leave that room a wreck? Tear the bed and furniture apart and block the wall completely!”
Three immediately rushed in. Rosa indicated another room to those who remained.
“It’s broken through over there too!”
In truth, the men were flustered as well. They were good at fighting, but their battles were chiefly in the streets. Never before had a large force of enemies invaded the House of the Hawk like this. And this was the middle of the city. No one had expected anyone to wage a siege.
Not only the men: no one could have expected it. It was against all sense. Naturally, they had no experience of it.
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