1016. Chapter 1016

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.

"Tie his hands, put him on his horse and take him back to camp." Castle said.

"What'll happen to the bastard?" Alexis demanded.

"He'll be tried for rape."

"And who will try him?"

"Me."

"Can I kick him in the balls first?"

"No."

They headed back to the camp.

Joshua Davidson came to with his hands tied behind him, sprawled on the grass in front of Sir Richard Castle. He saw a stunning brunette sitting beside him. She was glaring at him. Gathered around Castle were his captains, the dozen or so women who were with the army, including Alexis, Martha and the young blonde. Behind them were hundreds of soldiers, gathered to see if anything interesting would happen.

Castle spoke. "Davidson, I'm charging you with the rape of Alexis, a woman who is under my protection, as are all of the women with my army."

Davidson smiled. "Rape? Surely you are mistaken. She's a whore. You can't rape a whore. They're available to any man."

"Alexis, did this man rape you?"

"He did. He just barely managed to get his tiny, diseased, soft…"

"A simple yes or no, if you please."

"Yes."

"I take the rape of women of my army very seriously. I punish those who do so and I do not allow my own men to rape. I punish them as well if they transgress. You are guilty of the crime of rape and will hang."

Davidson was shocked. "Hanged? You can't mean it. That's…"

He was hauled to his feet by two burly archers. One of them, Tom Welles, a burly fellow with three young daughters drove his fist into Davidson's stomach. They hauled him to a tree where a noose hung from a branch and Father Ryan stood waiting.

Castle could hear Davidson babbling and Ryan talking softly. Then a group of archers hauled him up and tied the rope off to the tree. Davidson kicked his legs madly at first, but then his movements slowed and then stopped.

The excitement over, the crowd began to break up. Alexis walked over and looked up at the dead man.

"Foolish man. Had you given me a silver coin or two, you'd have had your fun and been on your way. But now look at you."

Alexis walked back to Sir Richard's tent and curtsied to him and Lady Kate.

"Sir Richard, Lady Katherine, might I borrow your bathing tub to clean Magda up?"

Lady Katherine bathed daily, which seemed to most of the army to be a wild and unnecessary extravagance. However, noticing how sweet Lady Katherine smelled, Sir Richard had begun bathing with her. A number of the women with the army had decided to take up bathing and noticed that the men treated them differently. More like they were ladies and not camp followers.

"Who is Magda?" Asked Castle.

"The blonde we rescued. That seems to be her name, although we know little else about her. And she is quite dirty. May we borrow your bathing tub?"

Lady Katherine had brought along a large wooden tub that would hold several gallons of hot water. She had to stand naked in it, but was able to wash herself, and Sir Richard, thoroughly.

"Certainly." Kate replied. "You'll have to heat the water, though. And don't make it too hot. I'll give you some soap as well."

In minutes, Alexis and Martha had the water heated and took Magda into the Castle's tent. The blonde allowed herself to be stripped, but did begin to cry as the two redheads took her ragged clothing off of her. Alexis examined the girl with a professional eye. She was very slender, with narrow hips and a small waist. Her breasts were small, but with prominent nipples. Her legs were long, lean and well muscled. But that's not what attracted the redheads' attention.

"My God!" Cried Martha. "The poor thing's been beaten."

They examined Magda and found that she had bruises, scars, scrapes and sores all over her from her chest down to her ankles.

They stood her in the tub, but Magda seemed to have no idea what to do. After trying to show her, the redheads took soap and cloths, and cleaned the girl thoroughly.

Once she was toweled off, Magda surprised them by sprawling on her back and spreading her legs.

"With those scars, I doubt Magda ever willingly had a man." Martha said.

"She may never want one again." Alexis said sadly, thinking if the joy the carnal act brought her.

They pulled her to her feet and put a pair of drawers on her, then hose that they tied to the drawers. Finally, Alexis got out an old dress that no longer fit her.

Although Magda did not understand, Alexis began to talk about the dress. "This is made of a fine cloth called calico that comes from a country far, far from here. Although the dye is very faded now, it was once quite colorful. I regret that there are two patches on it of dark, cheap wool, but one day, we will all wear nothing but silk and be ladies in waiting to Lady Katherine."

Once Magda had put on the dress, Alexis held a looking glass up to her. Magda seemed to be surprised and happy to see what she looked like.

"Time for lunch now."

Magda just stared at them.

"Lunch. Food." Alexis mimed eating.

Magda smiled. "Food!"

The army headed south at dawn the next day.

They rode past small, abandoned villages for most of the day. Parties of cavalry checked each village out, but found no people, no food and no valuables. One of the stratiotes rode up to his captain, the Byzantine Michael Paleologos. They spoke quietly in Greek, then Paleologos turned to Castle.

"Sir Richard, the scouts have been finding tracks of a large number of people heading for the city of Spolato. It'll be jammed full of people by the time we get there."

"Any chance we can run down these people and get their food? Our thousands of soldiers eat a great deal of food. And their horses go through fodder as well. We need food to go on."

Paleologos shook his head. "We might catch one or two of the slower groups, but they'll be the poorer ones with fewer horses or other draft animals. And less food or fodder."

Castle nodded grimly. "We'll keep going. Don't bother to burn any of the villages. They're small and poor, even if some of the menfolk serve with the pirates. We don't have the time for it. We need to find food."

The army camped than night an Castle inventoried the food remaining. If he cut the rations, they could go for perhaps four more days. Then they'd have to either find new places to forage for food, or retreat through a countryside that they had already stripped bare.

The next morning Castle was awoken before dawn by his wife.

"Get up, lover. Captain Paleologos is here with good news. Or at least it may be good news."

Castle quickly dressed and walked out of his tent. Paleologos and a half a dozen of his stratiotes were waiting for him.

"Good news, Sir Richard," The Byzantine captain said. "We've found a small walled town a few miles from here. My men observed a large convoy of vehicles going in last night. They counted nearly a hundred wagons and many, many packhorses. All loaded with food. One of my men, pretending to be a local, talked to a wagon driver. He was told that the convoy will leave for Spolato at dawn today. Although if I know the locals, it'll take them longer than that to get them going."

Castle noticed that Will Fox and Senor de Esposito had seen the commotion outside his tent and come over to see what it was.

"Will, wake all of the other captains and get everyone mounted as fast as possible. No breakfast. We need to be under way. We especially will need our cavalry, Captain Paleologos' stratiotes and Captain Tait's mounted men at arms. The mounted bowmen, crossbowmen and spearmen will follow as best they can."

Castle dressed and armed himself. He had hoped Kate would remain with the bulk if the army, but when he left their tent, she followed. Both mounted their horses and Castle noticed that Alexis, Magda and all of Alexis' female handgonners were gathered behind Kate.

"You didn't expect us to allow Lady Katherine to go unprotected, did you?" Alexis said with a smile.

"I'm fully capable of protecting my wife."

"But if we help, that gives you more time to command the army."

By that time several hundred stratiotes and all of Jock Tait's men at arms were mounted and ready. Paleologos took his place beside Castle and followed the scouts who had found the walled town and the convoy.

When they arrived at the edge of a small forest that let them get within two hundred yards of the town, Castle smiled wolfishly.

"We couldn't have asked for anything better than this." He said softly.

No more than a dozen wagons had left the town. The main gate to the town had been blocked by two wagons that had tried to pass while in the narrow gate. The wagon's drivers were each standing up and screaming curses at each other. The wagons that had left town were stopped while their drivers enjoyed the cursing of the two drivers stuck together.

"How much cavalry do we have with us right now?" Castle asked.

"I have two hundred and fifty stratiotes." Paleologos said

"I have every one of my men." Jock Tait of Teviotdale replied. "One hundred and fifty one, counting me."

Castle stood in his stirrups and looked behind him. He could see small groups of mounted archers making their way among the trees. He knew that not far behind them came the rest of his army.

"Captain Paleologos, we need to make sure that the town gate remains open. Since you have fast horses with lightly armed men, your troops must get there first and hold the gate for Captain Tait. Can you do it?"

Paleologos smiled. "Certainly."

"Captain Tait?"

"I and my men couldn't be more ready, Sir Richard."

"Everyone knows how important it is to keep the gates open?" Castle asked.

"We know what's expected of us." Paleologos replied, a bit testily.

"Then…CHARGE!"

The light cavalry swarmed out of the forest and headed for the gates. Wherever their enemies had thought Castle's army was, they hadn't expected to be no more than a few hundred yards of them. The immediate result was a paralyzing shock, followed after a few seconds by panic. The drivers of the two wagons stuck in the gate reacted the fastest and perhaps the most intelligently. They jumped down from their wagons and ran, leaving the wagons jammed in the gates.

As Castle rode he saw a very familiar chestnut haired rider beside him. "Kate! Go back."

She smiled at him and ignored him.

Castle thought for a second, then slowed his mount.

"What's wrong?" Kate yelled. "Are you hurt?"