Free The Iron Castle (Outlaw Chronicles) by Angus Donald

bring grave news.’
    ‘More bad news. I knew it!’
    ‘It concerns your venerable mother, Sire,’ he said, then, catching sight of Robin, he added, ‘and the Countess of Locksley, as well. It seems they have been caught between the Bretons and the Lusignans. Queen Eleanor was at Fontevraud Abbey when news came of Duke Arthur’s advance. She fled south, hoping to find sanctuary at Poitiers. But, alas, the Lusignan forces came north from their lands in Poitou and the Bretons pursued her from the west, and she was caught at…’ He turned to one of his knights. ‘What’s the name of the wretched little place again?’
    ‘Mirebeau, sir,’ said the knight.
    ‘Mirebeau, yes. Well, the ladies were forced to seek refuge at Mirebeau Castle, and there they remain; but they are now besieged by the forces of Arthur and by those of Hugh and Geoffrey de Lusignan. Sire, they cannot hold out for long – their enemies outnumber them ten times over. We must ride now, with all our strength and relieve the castle, if we are to save your lady mother from death or captivity.’
    ‘Ride? South? Now? Are you mad? I have King Philip in my rear, gobbling up eastern Normandy piece by piece, and you want me to gallop a hundred miles away and throw my army into the jaws of Duke Arthur’s savage Bretons and all the massed knights of Lusignan. You’ve taken leave of your senses.’
    I looked at Robin’s face. He was smiling serenely as if he had just had some pleasant, idle thought – he did not look like a man who had just heard that his wife was surrounded by a horde of enemies intent on rape and slaughter. But, by his next words, I could see that he was indeed determined to effect a rescue.
    ‘Sire, this is our one chance, this is our moment, I swear it. If we are swift. If we act decisively, now, we can smash this southern rebellion once and for all. We know exactly where our enemies are – and that they are weak. The main force will be at Mirebeau but at least half of their men, half their strength, will be away ranging the lands between Saumur and Poitiers looting and burning. They are weakened and spread out. I know Mirebeau Castle well. It will not fall easily, not for several days, a week perhaps. If we act fast, if we ride now, in secret, we can reach Mirebeau in two days with all our strength and deliver a killer blow. They will not expect us so soon. With speed, surprise and maximum strength, we can destroy them utterly, and then, before Philip even has word of our movements, we can be back in Normandy and, in turn, bring our whole force to bear upon the east.’
    ‘The Earl of Locksley is right, Sire,’ said des Roches. ‘We can do this.’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said the King. ‘It is late and I am tired. It seems very risky, to me. Perhaps we should take counsel on this matter tomorrow.’
    ‘It is indeed a bold stroke, Sire,’ said Robin, ‘and men will tell their grandsons, and their grandsons’ grandsons the tale of your courage and cunning, but for it to work, we must leave now.’ Then, rather quietly, he delivered the
coup de grâce
. ‘It is most certainly what your noble brother Richard would have done.’
    I saw John’s red head lift at the mention of his older brother. His hopeful, watery blue eyes fixed on Robin’s certain silver ones.
    ‘Do you truly think it is what Richard would have done, were he alive?’
    ‘Yes, Sire, said Robin. ‘It is a masterstroke of war – worthy of another Lionheart.’
    ‘Very well,’ said John, a smirk cutting his aged face in half. ‘We ride!’
    An hour later I found myself a-horse, in the dead of night, and heading south for Le Mans, with Robin at my side and Little John, Kit and Vim trotting behind us, and behind them came two hundred and fifty overexcited Wolves.
    Word had spread swiftly through the ranks that Robin had forced the King’s hand, and the men were proud of their lord’s sway with his sovereign.
    ‘Do you think it will work?’ I asked my