He was answered by derisive shouts and a
shower of javelins.
"We should lose a good many men in storming those two narrow staircases,
Beorn. There are but twenty or thirty of them, but that is enough to defend
such steep approaches. Let us take twenty men up to the top of the castle,
from there they can hurl javelins down at them, and they will soon see that
resistance is useless."
They ascended the stairs, but paused at the end of the room over the hall
which had been the scene of the conflict. An aged woman, whose dress showed
her high rank, was seated on a settle; beside her was a white-headed
harper, while two little children, a boy and a girl, stood at her knee and
looked fearlessly at the intruders.
Wulf despatched one of the men down to the hall to bring up the
interpreter. As soon as he arrived Wulf doffed his helmet and stepped
forward.
"Ask who this lady is and who are these children."
At a gesture from the old lady the harper answered:
"This is my mistress, Gweneth, the mother of Prince Llewellyn ap Rhys;
these are his children. In his name she bids you defiance. You have taken
his castle, but he will know how to avenge her and his children."
"I have no desire or intention of acting with any disrespect, still less of
injuring either your mistress or the children of Llewellyn," Wulf replied,
when this was translated to him. "My friend and I are Saxon thanes, who
have been forced to leave our homes and to embark on this war in order to
put a stop to the ravages committed across the border--the burning of towns
and villages, and the massacre of men, women, and children by your
countrymen.
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