>>5496990>>5497005>>5497012>>5497056>>5498032>>5498168You decided to take a shortcut to arrive at Pleasantville, you could not tolerate to be late after the baron when he will use his advance to intrigue against you. You needed to act ! So you told lady Takable and lord Isnott.
-Dear Rose, dear Isnott, if I understand well the baron has some advance on us since your dear brother departed for his castle at the same time as you departed for here. So he must have already arrived. We will need to advance quicker if we want to arrive at the same time as him and not make the baron lie more. Is there a shorter road to your lands ?
Both of them seemed to think, Isnott wasn't enthusiastic but lady Takable understood and she said.
-We could pass by the Benny hills on the south west of the hills of Nesse. It could give us many days in advance if we do not follow the road. I could travel without a wagon but on horse if you wish.
Bénies ? You liked this name, it meant blessed in French, you were about to thank lady Takable for sacrificing her comfort and providing you an excellent path when Isnott explained.
-Those hills are full of Kobold slavers ! We will get killed or sold into slavery before we could cross them. This is madness !
You laughed.
-Kobolds ? Are those the half imaginary Saracens that lady Takable talked about, if they are Saracens I will slay them, if they are as she described then they are short and weak, they shall fall easily against any true resistance. If we bring all our horsemen it will be easy.
Rose shook her head.
-Charles, Isnott is right, they, they can be dangerous, and numerous. I only have two guardsmen and Captain Relic on horse and even with yours.
You counted your horsemen.
-You have two, I have six and three knights plus Ancel, he can run near the horses even if he doesn't count for a lot he could smell their tracks well.
-Thank you messire, you are too good messire ! Hosannah glory to you messire.
-Silence Ancel. Well, so nine men with me, two of them very well trained, Captain Crumbling and Oldfossil have horses, we can try to borrow them, but since you and your handmaiden came on a wagon you will have to use them. Our dear Isnott came with six men so we have... Eighteen men, plus me and lord Isnott so we will be twenty armed men around you. Nobody would dare to fight such a group.
Even a huge group of forty bandits would be decimated by the fight and would prefer to attack innocent peasants, these slavers shall not risk such a fight. Twenty armed men, or nineteen, because Lord Isnott was a wimp and one of his guards was a woman so she counted as half, or not, twenty eight because you, Bohémond, Brother Louis and Godefroy counted as three each, you were knights and far above the masses of guards that served under you.
