1007. Chapter 1007

After Much Ado About Murder

Episode 8.20

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: He who hath no stomach for this fanfic, let him depart, his passport shall be made, But no crowns for convoy will be put in his purse as I make no money from this. Rating: K. Time: See above. (and below).

He stepped forward and pulled the grey beard down. It came off easily as did the long, straggly grey wig. Underneath all of that was an older redheaded woman.

"Ibn ben Witan? I think not. More like Martha of Bristol, or Martha of Windemere, or possibly Marta le Bon. I last saw you in Bordeaux in the camp of Sir Alan of Stunston, where you took coins from poor soldiers and young lasses by telling their fortunes. Somehow, they all would become rich and well wed in another year. By which time you'd be gone."

Martha nodded. "Please. I am now Martha Rodgers, having been married. But my grandson, Alexander, has leprosy. Just look upon his poor diseased body and have pity on us. Let us go."

Martha stood away from the figure huddled at her feet, allowing Castle to look. Castle grabbed an arm and scraped away the false sores and rotting flesh, revealing unmarked skin beneath. "It seems I've affected a miraculous cure here. And," Castle pulled the fake leper up, "it seems that your grandson has grown breasts since the last time I saw you."

The girl threw herself at Castle's feet and cried piteously. "Please, great lord, do not force us out in to the cold cruel world. We are but…" The girl screamed as Castle twisted her arm.

"If your hand gets one inch closer to my purse, wench, I'll cut off your hand. I remember your tricks from Bordeaux."

Castle grabbed both women and hauled them into the courtyard and dunked the girl vigorously into a horse trough until the girl's pale white skin and flaming red hair was revealed under all of the artifice her grandmother had used.

The girl pressed herself up against Castle, or rather against his armor. "I can be very good to you, Lord. I have learned many, many skills."

"I'm married."

The girl smiled seductively. "I am here and your wife is…."

"Standing right here with a drawn sword." Kate said.

The girl moved away quickly as Kate pushed her sword partway into its scabbard.

Martha Rodgers stepped in front of the girl. "I remember you. You're Richard Castle, a captain of a small company of archers. I demand to see the leader of this army. I'll have justice and not from some mere captain of archers."

"I'm Sir Richard Castle now, a knight of Istria. I command here in the service of His Grace, Duke Rodrigo of Istria."

Martha was taken aback, then smiled. "Congratulations, Sir Richard. I could always see you had greatness in you. And you have married a lady worthy of you."

Castle just glared at her.

"We need to talk." Will Fox interrupted, with the leader of the stratiote. Michael Paleologos, standing by him.

"What is it?" Castle asked wearily.

Paleologos spoke in accented but understandable English. "This fort is a natural choke point for goods stolen by pirates to be resold in Pola or anyplace to the north or east. And the same for goods and people taken by bandits for sale to the pirates. I'm sure Duke Rodrigo would want it garrisoned and repaired."

"We can't garrison every place in Dalmatia." Castle grumped.

"There are few places like this. It controls one of the few good roads around here and it controls traffic on the river."

Fox nodded. "A garrison of fifty, half archers and half spearmen would do."

"We need soldiers to escort the women back to Pola." Kate interrupted.

"What will they do in Pola?" Paleologos countered. "They have no skills other than selling their bodies. But they could work here."

"I will not set up such a place here!" Castle said determinedly.

"That's not what I meant, Sir Richard. We need to repair the damaged tower, but we have no stonecutters or masons. But, the river can provide clay and sand and we can easily find straw. A kiln is easily built and the women can be trained in no time at all. They are of hardy peasant stock. They can easily repair the tower well enough to hold off any bandits or pirates."

"And fifty of my men will have seventy or so women around all the time?" Sir Richard scoffed.

Kate spoke up. "You have made sure that your men are disciplined. With more women than men, the men won't have to fight for a woman. I think it'll work."

"An excellent idea." Martha Rodgers aid. Her granddaughter nodded her approval.

"You two are going back to Pola, or wherever. If I left you two here, you'd cheat everyone out of everything and end up owning the fort." Castle snapped.

"We may be of service to your army," The redheaded girl said.

"You two?"

"Yes! Us two." The girl said seductively. When she saw Kate reaching for her sword, she became all business like." We have a device which will kill your enemies."

"We have lots of such devices." Castle countered.

"Not like this."

The conversation had attracted an audience. They men were wondering what the device was.

"What is your name, girl?"

She essayed a graceful curtsey. "My birth name is Alexandra, but I prefer to be called Alexis. May I get our weapon from von Schiller's quarters. He stole it from us as he realized its great value."

Castle looked at her for a few seconds. "Huw, go with her. Make sure she doesn't take anything that isn't hers."

The redheaded girl flounced off, wiggling her ass as Huw followed her. They came back in a few minutes. The girl was carrying some kind of club, a round metal bar with a wooden handle.

"That's not much of a club." Castle said acidly.

"It's not a club." Martha said quickly. "Sir Richard, could you move that broken door over by the wall?"

Castle looked at the door. It had been knocked off is hinges during the capture of the fort, but was still mostly whole. The door was made of sturdy oak, being four inches thick, six feet high and four feet across. He nodded to two archers who leaned the door against the wall.

Alexis began speaking. "The metal is a tube and an inch in diameter. It is closed at one end and has a small hole drilled towards the back." She drew a small pouch from under her coat. "Only my gram and I know how to make this potion." She poured some sort of powder into the tube. Then she took a lead ball from another pouch and forced it into the tube with a round piece of wood. "Sir Richard, could I ask you to have one of your men bring me a burning brand from one of the cooking fires?"

Castle nodded to Huw who brought the redhead a piece of burning wood.

"I have here a length of cord, soaked in the potion. Observe." She held the burning brand to the cord, which began to smolder. Holding the wooden part under her right arm, she pushed the glowing cord into the hole at the end of the tube using her left hand. Nothing happened for a second, then there was a loud noise, a bright flash and a cloud of smoke. Alexis smiled. "Examine the door, Sir Richard."

Upon examination, there was a hole through the door. "If that had been a man and not a door, he'd probably be dead." He conceded. "Can you do it again?"

Alexis smiled. "Of course."

Castle grabbed a bow and a sheaf of arrows and began firing arrows into the door. He had a dozen in the door before Alexis fired her weapon again.

Castle smiled. "What is the range of that thing?"

The redhead shrugged. "A hundred feet, perhaps more."

Castle shook his head. "Ten archers fighting against a hundred men with your so-called weapon would win easily. What value is it?"

Martha cleared her throat. "If I may tell you about it, Sir Richard?"

"I always enjoy a good story."

"Alexandra and I traveled to Constantinople and from there sailed north through the Pontus Euxinus to the lands of the Sarmatians and others. We landed at a port where the trade from the land of the Chin, on what is called the Silk Road, switched from the land to the sea. It was there that we found this weapon."

Castle interrupted. "So, you were chased by one of the people you'd gulled to the ends of the Earth and there acquired a useless weapon."

"Not so useless, Sir Richard." Martha continued. "Archers begin training as children. It takes decades to properly train an archer. Crossbowmen are more easily trained, but they do need a strong back to cock their bow, or use a complex machine. Our weapon is a simple tube of metal, cheaply made by any competent blacksmith, and the user of the handgonne, as it is called, can be trained in a few hours. Note also that the noise, flash and cloud of smoke will scare horses."

"So, what exactly do you two redheads want?"

"Allow us to accompany your army and use our weapon. If we can find a blacksmith, we can make more. You could give them to some of your spearmen to fire when the enemy comes in range, and then they can use their spears. And we will be able to perfect our weapon." Martha smiled coldly. "And the secret of the potion will remain with Alexandra and me."

Castle thought for a minute. "You can accompany us."

Both women smiled. "You won't regret this, Sir Richard. You will be known to history as a man who changed the course of military history. You are a wise and farseeing man."

"Actually, I don't trust either of you out of my sight."

Both Martha and Alexis smiled, which worried Castle.

They spent the next day deciding which men would garrison the fort, checking for supplies in the fort and preparing to repair the fort's tower. The women had some knowledge of brick making and a check of the area showed a plentiful supply of sand, clay, straw and firewood for the kiln.

Castle gathered the fifty men of the garrison together and told them that they were not to treat the women as prostitutes, but as part of their company. They were also not to behave as the outlaws who they had killed. He left them sufficient coins to pay for their needs until he returned. He made sure that everyone knew what he would do to them if they failed.

Old Tom Ford, an archer who was becoming a bit too old to fight, was left in charge of the fort. As Castle was preparing to leave the next day, Old Tom sidled up to him.

"Don't ye be worried, Sir Richard. I've explained to them that if they fail you, after you're done with them, they'll face your good lady. After what she did to that pirate, they have a great respect for her. A great respect, indeed." Old Tom smiled, revealing about half of the teeth he'd had as a young man. "Your lady is remarkable, Sir Richard. Remarkable."

Castle glared at the old man and then smiled. "She is that, is she not?"

Castle's army was barely out of sight of the fort when a rider came in from one of the stratiote patrols. The rider had a note written in Greek, which luckily Father Ryan was able to translate.

"The note is from a man who signs himself as Xenophon, Sir Richard. He says there is a village on the seacoast some five miles from here. He saw no ships in the harbor and saw that the village was filled with old men, women and children. He assumes the men are out raiding. He wants us to come quickly."

"Is he positive that the men are pirates and not fishermen?"

Father Ryan shrugged. "He didn't say."

"Have Captain Paleologos send his reserve to the village, I'll lead a hundred mounted archers as well."

"Sir Richard, should you be…"

Castle cut him off. "Yes, I should. I need to assure myself that these are pirates and not honest men."

"What would honest men be doing here?' Will Fox muttered under his breath.