Chapter 56: Statue of an Archangel
Chapter 56: Statue of an Archangel
As Castellan Leonard stammered through his account, the sequence of what had transpired gradually became clear.
The desert bandits Leonard spoke of were a long-established gang of misfits, predominantly Zoroastrian, who had been entrenched in the Jordan Desert, running rampant for many long years.
Relying on their swift movements and familiarity with the desert’s water sources and oases, they frequently raided villages when the border patrols were absent, extorting large amounts of wealth, livestock, and grain from the already hard-pressed and poor villagers.
Occasionally, they would also plunder the few passing merchants or poorly defended noble manors. Even Count Raynald and his forces at Kerak Castle were powerless against them.
Leonard had been particularly unlucky. This morning, he had set out with five sergeants, intending to go to a prosperous village under the jurisdiction of Montreal to purchase warhorses. There was a large horse market there. (It’s not that Montreal ;)
The behind-the-scenes owner of the horse market was Count Raynald’s wife, Countess Stephanie, an "Iron Rose, a knight in a skirt."
Count Raynald would occasionally sell horses captured from Ayyubid merchant caravans or defeated Bedouin tribes there.
They had been ambushed by this band of robbers shortly after entering Montreal’s territory.
Lothar’s brow tightened, his expression stern. "Leonard, are you the only one who returned? How many men did we lose?"