She shot back a curse, then fell silent.
They climbed back into the courtyard.
In the courtyard, Belem and Stephen found three servants—two of them boys—sleeping in the stable. They took them to the dungeon, then regrouped with Eric. They climbed a dozen wide steps to the castle's main gate, and from there, up the winding tower stairs.
'These servants can't be part of the garrison,' Eric surmised. 'There must be other servants, cooks, grooms, and clerks, but right now, all I care about are the soldiers.'
He found four soldiers sound asleep in the barracks. Luckily, they were naked. Beneath three of them lay women on blankets. Eric grabbed a Torch from a hook on the stairs and used it to startle them awake.
The seven people shot up in terror. One woman sucked in a breath to scream, but Belem leveled his Crossbow, the tip of the Arrow aimed directly at her right eye. She wisely suppressed her panic.
"Tie them up," Eric said.
