THE WIZARD AND THE SYLPH
Chapter Sixteen
The Road North
Before the first grey light of dawn, following Captain Niles of Astargoth's arrival in Lund, as Belloc exited a late meeting with the Steward of Lund, he was approached in the hall by Brogan.
"If I have heard rightly," Brogan told him in a low voice, so as to avoid being overheard, "you leave tonight in secret, in order to avoid arousing the suspicions of one Niles of Astargoth."
Placing a surprisingly strong hand on the younger man's shoulder, Belloc leaned close, putting Brogan's back to the wall, and said with angry, worried earnestness, "You take your life in your hands by voicing such words to me!"
"The secrets of your meeting are safe with me-" Brogan protested.
"You speak as a fool! They should not have been made known to you at all!" Belloc glowered. "It was, after all, a secret meeting. Have you so little respect for the security of Lund and its inhabitants?"
"I had only to ask those who are my friends, who attended the meeting!" Brogan protested. "They are known to me, and I to them! I meant no ill!"
Belloc gave him a sharp, angry look. "This night, I lead a small army of two-thousands. We were to have departed in secret. It is a specialized force consisting of experienced horsemen, all of whom are familiar with the north country. Each and every one of them is as capable of executing my orders as he is capable of acting upon his own initiative. Each and every one of them is as adept with the longbow and the broadsword by day as he is with the dirk and the garrotte in the dead of night.