Courted Sanctuary

Chapter 32

  Sieglinde inspected the work of the smithy. Those who would normally have worked the fields were free to offer their labour and had helped Conrad create an efficient and skilled team. Just as he had assured Humbert, the strange points in the lake were plentiful and easily obtained. Though the helpers' hands were covered in new cuts daily, they managed to keep the supply of arrows fully stocked.

  With the discovery of this new resource, Sieglinde had also instructed that more bows be made. Every person was to be trained so long as they were big enough to hold one. Though hope brought her its own form of terror, Sieglinde was finally beginning to entertain the thought that they could survive an attack.

  This was despite the fact that the enemy tactics still confused her. There was little that could be done but react whenever they finally chose to attack. Regardless of their newfound supply for weapons, they lacked the numbers and the training necessary to change to the offensive. So long as the wall stood, she felt such an attempt would be foolhardy anyway.

  These new arrowheads were so much like that wall. They were the same colour, sparkled in the same way, and seemed impervious to damage. None of them had any idea what the stone was because it was not one they had had seen around their lands in any of the years previous. The fact that they were so perfectly formed and each one was exactly like the last was also perplexing.

  Was it a gift from the Goddess? A small token to help them protect themselves? She did not know but she also felt any answer would be meaningless to their current plight. As far as she was concerned, the Goddess was no better than Luitgard. Both had abandoned the Mintharchs.

  "Sieglinde?"

  She looked up. Humbert was in the doorway of the smithy. His brow was knit.

  "What's wrong?" she asked.

  "I need to show you something," he said.

  She nodded and handed the point back to Conrad. She quickly thanked him for his hard work before hurrying after Humbert who was already walking towards the Storehouse. When he reached it, he opened the door and indicated for her to enter.

  "What is it?" she asked.

  "You are aware that due to the fire arrows, our gardens have been reduced to almost nothing?"

  She nodded, "Of course."

  "So you are aware of how tight the resources would be even if our rationing were at its best?"

  She nodded again. She felt her mouth going dry with this line of questioning. "What is it?" she pressed.

  He grabbed a metal bar off the wall and walked to one of the barrels that held rye for bread. Using the bar, he wrenched off the sealed lid. It hit the wooden planks of the floor with a loud bang that made her jump.

  The storehouse was dim but she had left the door open and in the sunlight, could see him clearly as he beckoned her over. She was afraid to do as he asked but walked forward nonetheless.

  She could hear the squishy crawling first but it was the sight that nearly made her vomit. Several dead rats rested on top of the grain. One was already missing its belly which was being actively devoured by dozens of maggots that squirmed over each other. The smell of the rotten flesh invaded her nose and she covered it with the back of her hand. It had penetrated too deeply and she was sure the smell would remain lodged there for days.

  "The entire storehouse is full of them," Humbert said as he threw the metal bar to the ground.

  "I thought Adalbern made sure this was built so that could not happen?"

  He nodded. "Aye," he said. "But you can't keep out vermin if you don't keep the door shut. I have caught several of the small ones in here looking for food when the rest of us are distracted. I also found the door open and no one around several more times."

  "All our food is gone?" she whispered.

  "When I discovered the rats this morning, I checked all the barrels," he said as he stared at the dead rats. "There were a few that appeared untouched. I carried them into the manor. It's the best we can manage for now."

  "How long will the rest last?"

  He lifted only his eyes to look at her. "With our current population?"

  "Of course with our current population!" she shot back.

  "A few weeks."

  She swallowed.

  He looked down at the rats again. "If they attack us and we lose any others, we might last longer."

  She shook her head. Her fingers were trembling. She wrapped her arms around her middle, forcing them to still beneath her elbows. "Don't say that," she whispered. "Please do not talk like that. You finally had me convinced we might survive. Do not tell me now that all our good fortune of late has been erased. Don't you dare tell me that!"

  "We need to consider other options," he said. "If you want the people to live ... "

  "What am I supposed to do? If they attack, we might all be killed. If they don't, we will all starve. Arrows alone cannot win an offensive and our blades are too few."

  "Then we need to leave."

  She nearly fell over. Leave? Where would they go? How would they even manage it? They were surrounded by those who would kill them. There was nothing for them in the Christian world. Even if they could, she would not give up her home, her mother's home, her grandmother's home. Why had they worked so hard if they were not going to treat their home as sacred as it was.

  "That's impossible," she said. "Even if we wanted to. You know as well as I the lake is blocked and they would cut every last one of us down if we open that gate."

  "Well, we need to think of something because right now our options are to be murdered or to starve."