the stone battlements. And he could see the tiny figures of the guard.
His presence in the town had certainly been noted. He rode to the other
side of the square, and led his company up the steep, winding road to
the castle's town gate.

The sentries grounded their pikes and stood rigidly as the ducal escort
rode through the gate, the pennons on their lances flying with the
breeze of their passage. The ducal party swept through the outer ward,
through the inner wall, and came to a halt before the keep.

The Baron of Orieano waited before his keep. He came forward, bowing low
before his liege, then steadied a stirrup as the Duke dismounted. He
waved toward the dinning hall.

"Your Excellency will grace us with his presence at meat?"

The Duke gestured to a page, who took the charger's reins to guide the
beast away.

"It would be pleasing to us," he said.

He nodded graciously and followed his vassal into the hall. He nodded in
approval at the long tables, waited until the clanging of the welcoming
salute subsided, and went to the elevated table set for his use and that
of his Baron.

He sat down, looking over the company. A glint of gold caught his eye,
and he looked curiously at two men who sat a little way down the table.

These two were elegantly turned out, their long cloaks thrown back to
expose richly embroidered cloth. The Duke examined them closely.
Obviously, here was one of the great western nobles, with an almost
equally noble companion. The golden circlet proclaimed the identity of
one, and the proud bearing and rich dress of both confirmed their
station. Somehow, the Duke thought, these two presented a far more
imposing appearance than his vassal, the Baron Bel Menstal, despite that
Baron's overwhelming personality.

He thought of his hard fighting border protector. Of course, he had far
to come, and the way through the mountains could be difficult. But it
was a little strange he was not yet here.

The Duke remembered some of the resentful gazes he had noted during his
passage through the fair. He must have words, he decided, with Bel
Menstal. Possibly the man was a little too eager to collect his road and
river taxes. Possibly this hard man of his was too hard, too grasping.
Of course, he held a valuable bastion against the tribes of the
Ajerical, but----

He shrugged away his thoughts and devoted his attention to the dishes
before him.

* * * * *

As the Duke