B00B9BL6TI EBOK by C B Hanley

striding out of the room. Dame Nicola followed to bid him farewell at the postern. Her curiosity was piqued. ‘Who is he?’
    Marshal paused in his advance. ‘A spy, a man of Warenne’s.’
    Now she was taken aback. ‘Warenne? Surrey? Has he re-joined us? I didn’t know he would be with the host.’
    He made a derisive noise. ‘He isn’t. He tried to join but others were wary. This is his way of attempting to curry favour with the lord regent. Apparently this man is one of the best, so if he can help us, Warenne will be welcomed back to the fold.’
    She spoke sombrely. ‘A heavy burden for the man to carry.’
    Marshal nodded as a soldier began unbarring the postern. ‘Aye. And we will see what results from it.’ He moved out of the gate. ‘Until two days hence, then.’ He slipped into the darkness as the gate closed behind him.

     
    Up in the council chamber Edwin’s heart seemed to be running all over his body, and he looked uncertainly at the knight who remained with him. He didn’t know what to say and wasn’t sure he’d be able to get any words out anyway, but the knight assumed control and spoke briskly.
    ‘Now, we must see about the best way of getting you into the city. Come.’
    He led Edwin out of the room and across the ward, calling as he did so for a man to bring rope. Edwin was so frightened he barely heard anything, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other without stumbling, but he was brought up short by that one word. Rope?
    They ascended the wall at one edge of the ward, and once at the top the knight spoke again. ‘There’s not much time, but I’ll give you as many details as I can. We can’t let you out of the main gate, for the French are directly in front of it and you’ll be seen for certain. This is the north-east tower of the castle – see how it’s shaped like a horse-shoe, and remember it. Look down to both sides to see where you are.’
    Edwin complied as the knight pointed to the left. ‘Over there, the north wall. The alley down there should be fairly safe once you’re in it. The French don’t patrol there as it’s too close to our walls, and nobody can come from the other side as the great west gate is blocked.’ He moved around to Edwin’s other side and pointed to the right. ‘Over there, the east side of the castle. You’ll see that they’ve razed the houses over there to create an open space. I’m sure they mean to besiege us from that quarter as well once they get the chance, but at the moment they can’t, as their forces would be stretched too thinly. They patrol the area occasionally. If you can avoid them you should be able to get across to the remaining houses and that will give you cover.’
    Edwin nodded, trying desperately to take in all the information without showing his fear.
    The knight continued. ‘You’ll need to get to the house of William the nephew of Warner, the mayor, who lives in the shadow of the church of All Saints on Church Lane, north of the minster. Here’s Stephen to tell you how to knock.’
    As he was speaking the man who had been in the chamber earlier arrived with a length of rope. Edwin belatedly realised how he was going to get into the city and his heart quailed, his hands shaking as he tied it around his waist. The last man who had tried to act as a go-between for the castle and the city had ended up dead, his head hacked off and shot over the wall … he hoped he wasn’t about to be sick.
    He realised that the man was speaking to him. ‘All I can tell you is what my brother said, God rest him. When you knock at the door, do it three times quickly, then wait, then three times again, and then wait, and then twice. Hopefully they will know it and let you in.’
    The jagged thought of what might happen if they didn’t let him in stabbed into Edwin’s mind, but it had no chance to pierce deeply because the knight was speaking again.
    ‘We’ll keep watch for you here. Listen for the bells of the