The cursed towers 206
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Iseult's battle-scarred leather, she looked very feminine and rather helpless. A soft murmur of
appreciation rose from the soldiers and Iseult had to work hard to prevent her exasperation from
showing on her face. She drew Melisse to one side and explained to her in a low voice what she needed
to know.
Melisse had inherited the crown from her father upon his death and, rather to her dismay, had been
ordered from the safety of Lucescere so she could command her men. Half of the Righ's troops were
from Blessem and their allegiance was sworn to Lachlan through the chief of the MacThanach clan.
Unfortunately Melisse had been petted and protected all her life and she had very little idea of what
fighting a war entailed. The journey through the war-scarred countryside had shocked her deeply and she
found both Lachlan and Iseult very intimidating indeed. Luckily her seanalair, the Duke of Killiegarrie,
had fought at her father's side all through the war and he knew the Righ well. He had assured the
NicThanach that she could trust the stern-faced Righ and Banrigh and that she should do as her father
would have wished.
So Melisse furrowed her brow and thought about the problem seriously. After a while she said hesitantly,
"Ar-dencaple lies in a valley edged to the north by the forests o' Aslinn. We often used to stay there
when we were traveling to my cousins Gilliane and Ghislaine in Aslinn. Their mother had a wee castle in
the woods and we used to stay there when we went hunting. There is a little-used road that runs through
the forest. It comes out no' far from Ardencaple and few know o' it at all. If ye circled round and went
through the wood, ye could approach from the northeast and happen they'd no' be expecting that."
"Well, it's something at least," Lachlan said. "We know Aslinn is free o' Bright Soldiers for the faeries
have scoured the forests thoroughly and killed or driven out all who were sheltering there. Happen we
can meet up with Niall and Lilanthe and they can bring the faeries to our aid as well. We'll be able to use
the NicAislin castle as a base. If we send a strong force in from the west, they may no' expect us to strike
from the east as well. We shall take just a small force but o' the very best men, and we shall keep all our
plans secret indeed. Too often this past year it has seemed as if the Tirsoilleirean have kent what it is
we've been planning."
So they had split their forces, the Duke of Killiegarrie taking eight thousand men along the main highway
toward Arran, and Lachlan and his troops taking the high road to Aslinn. The MacSeinn and his two
thousand men had been patrolling eastern Blessem for the past two years and had seen hard fighting
trying to keep the Bright Soldiers from heading back up into Rionnagan. They had been ordered to head
to Ardencaple as well, striking at the town from the north.
Iseult and Lachlan had only two thousand men with them, the others having been left behind in Dun
Eidean or sent with the main body of the army. Still, the double column of men stretched back along the
highway as far as the eye could see. When they made camp that night, the campfires along the road
looked like a chain of rubies, glimmering red in the cool spring darkness.
They reached Aslinn the next day and marched on into the woods, much to the surprise of the soldiers
who had not been informed of their destination. The road was badly overgrown and they had to clear the
way with axes. The NicAislin, Gilliane and Ghislaine's mother Ma-delon, had sent some of her men to
guide them and they scouted ahead, tall, taciturn fellows dressed in rough furs and leather.
They reached the little castle of Lochsithe within a week. It was built on a small stretch of water and had
four round turrets with mossy pointed roofs. Three of its sides rose straight out of the water, the other
being protected by a stout outer wall. The trees grew thickly down to the very shore of the loch, their
branches hanging in the water. It was a quaint little building, nowhere near large enough to house all of the
troops, who made camp in the forest. Only Iseult, Lachlan, the witches and the Yeomen of the Guard
were able to rest within the castle's walls and even they were rather crowded.
