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"They did, my lady, rye and barley, as is customary Even a few oats But those men from Varre did trample the fields See, there" He waved a hand but he could have been waving at anything "We heard that they confiscated the grain stores and even burned soaze had drifted back to the palace and tower on the hill Froht, he could discern the footprints of s of the wooden palace and stone donjon overlapped the o a Dariyan outpost had stood here and before that a yet e stones set in place, so the legend told, by daimones of the upper air The Dariyans had worked with dressed stone blocks, so Heribert had instructed hi such eable material up an incline But massive stones could as easily have flown as been hauled, even on rollers; the story of the daiicfor aout the feast day streaeant

"I can’t lant "Hoin back my city?"

He surveyed the valley of Kassel On the east the steep rise of hills made a natural barrier, which had been breached in Dariyan times with a massive ramp constructed of rubble and faced with stone "There the Hellweg e to a scar in the forest cover where the ridge edge dipped lowest "We’ll be easily visible as we descend the ramp There is no other reasonable route down into the valley So if we ride straight in, they will certainly know in advance that we are coeant, how many men hold the palace?"

"Perhaps a hundred"

"Even with the men we have, we’ll be hard put to take the tower in a frontal attack," said Liutgard "It’s built to withstand a siege"

"Yet if ait for the rest of the Varren arht between the enemy at the heart of the town and that which surrounds us froe only to be besieged eant? A river gate? A crawling space where a sroup of men can creep in to surprise the defenders?"

"Nay, Your Majesty Not even a servant’s gate"

Liutgard sreat-uncle Eberhard--the very one who gave up his claim to the throne in favor of the first Henry--had that tower built He didn’t trust his eneht wonder if he would take up arent inside and open up the gates to let the rest of us through Sergeant, have you any signals by which you communicate with your allies inside? Could any person be persuaded to open up the tower gates at a prearranged signal?"

The sergeant considered "Folk in the toe can have soate As for those in the tower, there’s none go in and out except the eneht, we could arrange our attack as we did at Walburg Well, never le in a score of ate and open it to us?"

"One or two at a tiht But if we’re caught, the eneht is afoot"

"And we haven’t several days So be it I’ard?" asked the duchess "I would gladly ransoard, I can sacrifice you and set your daughter in place with a regent If they hold Erard, they hold your heir I think they would rather have her than you, Liutgard Still, it , to see what manner of men hold the tower"

They returned to the troop and continued down the trail, returning at length to the th the road broke free of the forest, they had a breathtaking view of the valley and the i watch on the high toould easily spot the banners of Fesse, Wendar, and the black dragon on the height He nodded at Fulk, and the captain commanded the soldiers forward, down into the valley The rah its slopes had, over the years, grown a carpet of low ground cover and fragile grasses