Free Trials by Pedro Urvi Page A

crouching on top of the wall beside one of the ruined towers. A colossal rock from one of the catapults impacted on the already worn battlements and destroyed a piece of the wall with a thunderous explosion of rock and stone. The Prince assessed the state of the wall and battlements. It seemed a miracle that they had not collapsed completely. He could not understand how the wall could resist the impact of the enormous rocks the catapults showered on it. There were practically no battlements left to speak of. In their place were holes in the walls and an uneven surface left by the impacts.
    In the midst of that destruction his thoughts flew high, soaring into the sky in search of the beautiful face of the blue-eyed Healer. How he missed her! Would she still be alive? She must be, yes, she had to be; the idea of losing her, the mere possibility of it, was unbearable. Gerart prayed to the Light every day that he would see her alive again. She was present in his heart at all times, and he lived for the day when he could hold her, kiss her with such passion that she would not doubt his feelings for her. He still felt guilty for having left her, for not having run after her when the river swept her away. He would not make the same mistake again, no matter what was at stake. He just knew he had to have her near him, to hear her voice and feel her touch. All he wished for was to be with Aliana, to lose himself in her arms.
    A familiar voice woke him from his reverie.
    “What’s the day like?” Lomar greeted him. He crouched beside the Prince in the shelter of the ruined tower.
    “It looks as though they’re going to use the siege weapons today.”
    With a threatening whistle, a long missile flew over their heads towards the barracks in the inner courtyard, which were already totally ruined.
    “Ballista,” Lomar confirmed.
    “Yes, now they’re throwing us pine trees, the biggest they can find.”
    “Faster and easier than hacking rock out of the walls of the pass.”
    “And just as effective. Those wooden missiles go through men and buildings as if they were butter.”
    Count Longor joined them with his perpetual smile and good humor. “Soon they’ll be throwing cows and pigs,” he said
    “That would be good, we’re running out of provisions,” said Counselor Urien, who had arrived with the Count and was watching from the stairs.
    When he saw the old Royal Counselor so close to the dangerous front, Gerart tensed.
    “Urien, go back to the Great Tower. I don’t want you running any risks.”
    Another enormous rock crashed against the deserted inner square behind the gate.
    “I’m not in any danger, your Highness. These Norghanians are so clumsy they wouldn’t hit the sun from ten paces away.”
    Gerart smiled wanly at the reply.
    “Even so, I need you alive. Go back to the Great Tower right now and deal with the logistics, which is what we need now.”
    “What we need more urgently are supplies and reinforcements,” the Counselor said.
    “It seems they’re going to punish us from the air again today,” said Lomar.
    “That type of punishment is very disheartening,” Urien commented. “The men are losing their spirit as the days go by. They don’t see how they can stop the Norghanians, they’re fighting with almost total desperation.”
    “The King’s order is to hold fast, and that’s what we’re going to do,” the Prince said with such determination on his serious face he left no room for doubt. “This fortress will not fall, we’ll defend it to the last man!”
    He would die before he failed his father.
    “There won’t be any reinforcements?” ventured Longor.
    “I very much fear not,” said Urien. “King Solin has been sending us the few available men left and the militia he’s been recruiting throughout the villages and cities of the Kingdom. Unfortunately Silanda is in deep trouble, the same as we are, or even worse, I fear. The King has been forced to divide the reinforcements, which is