The man reappeared. He held something like a stick, though it was difficult to see from a distance. Then red flickered. A torch. He touched it to the rope supporting the catapult and set it alight, then quickly ran to the opposite side of the building and leaped.
On the third floor, Rosa gasped.
“Ah!”
He did not fall to the ground. A saddled horse burst from within the street, and he landed behind its rider. The rider seemed to duck, and in the blink of an eye they had darted behind the House of the Hawk’s enemies. The skill with which he accelerated the horse in an instant was extraordinary. Dozens of arrows flew after them, but none hit.
When Rosa moved away from the window gap, Ashabel was already running toward the yard. She tried to follow, but she had no strength and had to walk. By the time she reached it, the men had formed a circle around the two men and their horse. Half had drawn their swords.
Ashabel shouted, “They’re on our side! They’re our officers!”
The man seated at the back of the horse made as though to thump Ashabel on the head.
“You fool, we’re in Delphinad.”
They dismounted. Ashabel’s words stopped the men from attacking, but given the circumstances, they did not look satisfied. He spoke again.
“They used to serve our captain. They heard this place was in danger and came to help. I asked them.”
The man who had burned the catapult’s rope smiled around at the men.
“I’m Gayar. This is Hanbun. The captain’s away, and we heard something peculiar had happened. We came in case we could be of use. Don’t worry, we won’t get in your way.”
Then Hal looked at Hanbun’s face and spoke.
“Wait. Aren’t you the man who had a shop on Tanners’ Street?”
Hanbun nodded, but did not smile. Looking around the barricades, he spoke.
“Reinforce that alley more. The enemy will come through there.”
Creses frowned.
“Who are you to give orders?”
Ashabel sighed and began to speak, but Gayar stopped him with a gesture. Then he said, “Orders may be unpleasant, but we’re soldiers. You won’t lose anything by listening to us. This may be a small one, but it’s a siege. We’ve done it more than once or twice.”
He broke off briefly, rolled his neck, and grinned.
“The best of them were with the captain. Ah, if only he were here, something like this would be nothing.”
Creses looked incredulous.
“A siege with the captain? Is the captain a soldier?”
Without appearing to hear, Gayar rubbed his hands, slapped them together several times, and shouted.
“Ah, there’s a story there. Anyway, listen well and it’ll be the making of you. Let’s begin. Gayar, genius of siege warfare, has arrived!”
He immediately began reinforcing the barricades. What he built looked so much stronger that the men could find no particular complaint, though their expressions were not especially pleased. Meanwhile, Hanbun went inside and inspected the blocked windows and doors, then the frozen main entrance. Coming out, he glanced at Rosa standing in the yard and spoke.
“So you’re the young lady.”
Before she could ask where he had heard of her, Hanbun went to work reinforcing the barricades. Hal, returning from checking the square, spoke.
“By the way, what’s happened to the catapult? It’s burned!”
“Oh, really?”
The men all rushed inside. Pausing over his barricade, Gayar looked around and held up his thumb.
“I put on a little fireworks display on the way here.”
“You really did that?”
Hal asked, but Ashabel answered proudly in Gayar’s place.
“I told you. They came to help.”
While preparations for battle continued frantically inside and outside the house, Luke quietly appeared. Coming out on the third floor and trying to go downstairs, he nearly stepped into empty air and fell.
“Oh, that’s right. There’s no second floor.”
A sheet rope hung a little way away, but unlike the patrolmen, Luke was no acrobat. He could not readily seize it and jump down. In the end, isolated, he sat with his legs dangling through the gaps in the third-floor railing.
“It isn’t that I don’t want to come down, I tell you.”
Then the door to the bell tower opened, and a man looked down and shouted.
“The enemy’s going around to the back yard!”
At the cry, all the men ran to the yard. Rosa did the opposite. She went inside to the first floor and examined the entrance. Behind her, she heard the men shouting.
“I knew they’d do that. The door won’t budge, so they’re coming around behind.”
“They say the catapult’s broken too.”
“Now we’ll show them what we can do.”
In the yard, the men formed ranks under Gayar’s and Hanbun’s instructions. They had to make the best use of the narrow alleys, taking into account the archers’ positions, the number of infantrymen, and the alleys’ size. Rosa heard Gayar shouting.
“Yes, you there! No, a little lower. Now, everyone knows the order? I’ll tell you beforehand, don’t get too excited. They’ve got ten times our numbers. Stay calm and deal with them one at a time.
“Remember three things. First, don’t get carried away and jump in front of the barricade. You’ll die immediately. Second, show your head for too long and you’re an archer’s target. Third, hold your place until your head’s cut off. Ready?”
The men nodded. Despite Gayar’s warning, they were more eager than calm. It was better than dejection, but too much excitement might make them careless. As Rosa looked down toward them, the first enemies rushed in. Neups looked back at her and shouted, “Miss, close the door and rest! It’s our turn now!”
Between the packed houses, the alley was so narrow that two men standing side by side filled it. Gayar defended one approach, Hanbun the other. Unable to damage the surrounding houses, the soldiers had to come at them frontally. As two soldiers jumped onto a barricade, their blades clashed with those of the waiting men. In an instant, Gayar stabbed one under the chin and sent him falling beneath it.
“For the ShadowHawk!”
That was a cry to the men’s taste. Soon the same shout rang out everywhere. Two soldiers fell from the barricade, then four, then six. None of the defenders had yet gone down. They fought well, but Gayar’s and Hanbun’s swordsmanship was beyond comparison with theirs. Excited voices shouted.
“This is what you get for daring to attack the House of the ShadowHawk!”
After more than a dozen had fallen, the attack briefly stopped. Ashabel stamped his feet with excitement.
“You rabble! How dare you attack? Do you take our captain lightly? He’s a man who led twenty-two men and swept away seven hundred in a single night!”
Hanbun spoke.
“Ashabel. I believe you’ve left out five hundred.”
“How would they know? Would even one man have died just because some terrifying fellow of a fat tavern keeper died? I was thirteen, and I was counted among those five hundred too!”
At the word “Chandana” from the excited Ashabel, Hanbun put a finger to his lips. Sure enough, one man tilted his head.
“Chandana? Isn’t that some barbarian tribe in the south?”
The next wave of attackers soon came. Rosa remained alone on the first floor, looking up at the main entrance.
Her eyes could see the ice melting a little at a time.
In the north, where Rosa had lived, freezing a door like this was quite effective. Once frozen, it became even stronger after enduring the night. But this was Delphinad. It was even past noon, growing hotter by the moment. She had not wholly failed to expect it, but the climate’s power was greater than she had thought. And since she could use only a limited number of spells without seeing a spellbook, she had had no other choice.
Staring at the door, Rosa frowned and muttered, “Surely you didn’t know this would happen when you told me to wait just five more days?”
The sacks piled before the entrance were beginning to thaw, water running down them. The smell of straw and horse dung mixed into the earth was strong. Suddenly, a scene came to mind: frost-covered earth, grass frozen white, and a faint fishy scent. A scent Rosa knew well, from the frozen ground of home as it thawed.
The memory of that icy smell steadied Rosa, already strong, making her as unyielding as a winter castle.
She whispered toward the door.
“In any case, I’ll defend this place. I promised. But I’d rather you came back as soon as you can.”
Continued in Part 2.
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