The Sworn Sword

He felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. ""I'll see to the horses"", he said, when he'd tied his armor up in a bundle, secured with hempen rope. ""Go to the roof and get our bedrolls, squire"". The last thing he wanted this morning was another confrontation with the chequy lion. ""If you see Ser Eustace, let him be"".

""I will, ser"".

Outside, Bennis had his recruits lined up with their spears and shields, and was trying to teach them to advance in unison. The brown knight paid Dunk not the slightest heed as he crossed the yard. He will lead the whole lot of them to death. The Red Widow could be here any moment. Egg came bursting from the tower door and clattered down the wooden steps with their bedrolls. Above him, Ser Eustace stood stiffly on the balcony, his hands resting on the parapet. When his eyes met Dunk's his mustache quivered, and he quickly turned away. The air was hazy with blowing smoke.

Bennis had his shield slung across his back, a tall kite shield of unpainted wood, dark with countless layers of old varnish and girded all about with iron. It bore no blazon, only a center bosse that reminded Dunk of some great eye, shut tight. As blind as he is. ""How do you mean to fight her?"" Dunk asked.

Ser Bennis looked at his soldiers, his mouth running red with sourleaf. ""Can't hold the hill with so few spears. Got to be the tower. We all hole up inside"". He nodded at the door. ""Only one way in. Haul up them wooden steps, and there's no way they can reach us"".

""Until they build some steps of their own. They might bring ropes and grapnels, too, and swarm down on you through the roof. Unless they just stand back with their crossbows and fill you full of quarrels while you're trying to hold the door"".

The Melons, Beans, and Barleycorns were listening to all they said. All their brave talk had blown away, though there was no breath of wind. They stood clutching their sharpened sticks, looking at Dunk and Bennis and each other.

""This lot won't do you a lick of good"", Dunk said, with a nod at the ragged Osgrey army. ""The Red Widow's knights will cut them to pieces if you leave them in the open, and their spears won't be any use inside that tower"".

""They can chuck things off the roof"", said Bennis. ""Treb is good at chucking rocks"".

""He could chuck a rock or two, I suppose"", said Dunk, ""until one of the Widow's crossbowmen puts a bolt through him"".

""Ser?"" Egg stood beside him. ""Ser, if we mean to go, we'd best be gone, in case the Widow comes"".

The boy was right. If we linger, we'll be trapped here. Yet still Dunk hesitated. ""Let them go, Bennis"".

""What, lose our valiant lads?"" Bennis looked at the peasants, and brayed laughter. ""Don't you lot be getting any notions"", he warned them. ""I'll gut any man who tries to run"".

""Try, and I'll gut you"". Dunk drew his sword. ""Go home, all of you"", he told the smallfolk. ""Go back to your villages, and see if the fire's spared your homes and crops""."

"No one moved. The brown knight stared at him, his mouth working. Dunk ignored him. ""Go"", he told the smallfolk once again. It was as if some god had put the word into his mouth. Not the Warrior. Is there a god for fools? ""GO!"" he said again, roaring it this time. ""Take your spears and shields, but go, or you won't live to see the morrow. Do you want to kiss your wives again? Do you want to hold your children? Go home! Have you all gone deaf?""

They hadn't. A mad scramble ensued amongst the chickens. Big Rob trod on a hen as he made his dash, and Pate came within half a foot of disemboweling Will Bean when his own spear tripped him up, but off they went, running. The Melons went one way, the Beans another, the Barleycorns a third. Ser Eustace was shouting down at them from above, but no one paid him any mind. They are deaf to him at least, Dunk thought.

By the time the old knight emerged from his tower and came scrambling down the steps, only Dunk and Egg and Bennis remained among the chickens. ""Come back"", Ser Eustace shouted at his fast-fleeing host. ""You do not have my leave to go. You do not have my leave!""

""No use, m'lord"", said Bennis. ""They're gone"".

Ser Eustace rounded on Dunk, his mustache quivering with rage. ""You had no right to send them away. No right! I told them not to go, I forbade it. I forbade you to dismiss them"".

""We never heard you, my lord"". Egg took off his hat to fan away the smoke. ""The chickens were cackling too loud"".

The old man sank down onto Standfast's lowest step. ""What did that woman offer you to deliver me to her?"" he asked Dunk in a bleak voice. ""How much gold did she give you to betray me, to send my lads away and leave me here alone?""

""You're not alone, m'lord"". Dunk sheathed his sword. ""I slept beneath your roof, and ate your eggs this morning. I owe you some service still. I won't go slinking off with my tail between my legs. My sword's still here"". He touched the hilt.