"I would sooner be able to give you the moon, Sir Knight," said Isaac, "than gather together the ransom you demand!"
"A thousand pounds in silver," said De Bracy. "Those are my terms. I will not bargain. I am a reasonable man. If silver be scarce, I will not refuse gold. Is your life not worth such a sum?"
"And what of my daughter's life?" said Isaac.
"You need not fear for Rebecca's life," said De Bracy, chuckling. "Brian de Bois-Guilbert's desire is for love, not death. She will be safe enough from violence so long as she pleases him. When he grows tired of her, I'm certain you will have her back."
"No," said Isaac, "I beg you, save her from such shame. I will do anything you ask; her dishonor would be more than I could bear!"
"You will bear much more before I am through with you," De Bracy said. "Look around you. You are in my dungeons now, not your house in York, where you are free to dictate terms to those from whose disadvantages you prosper. Prisoners ten thousand times more distinguished than yourself have died within these walls. But their deaths would be luxuries compared to yours. A man can be made to suffer untold pain and still be kept alive to suffer more. Do you see that range of iron bars above the glowing charcoal? You'll be stripped of all your clothes and placed on that warm couch. You will be basted like a roast, so that you do not cook too quickly. Is not a thousand pounds of silver a paltry sum compared to such a fate? Choose and choose now, for I an; running out of patience! A slow death upon the coals, or a thousand pounds of silver, those are my terms!"
"I will pay your ransom," Isaac said, "only preserve my daughter's honor and let her go free."
"I told you, Jew, I will not bargain with you! Besides, I have already given my word that Bois-Guilbert shall have her. I would not go back on my word as a knight, not for the sake of apathetic Jew."
"Then you will get nothing," Isaac said, staring at him with hatred. "Not an ounce of silver will I give you, unless I were to pour it molten down your avaricious throat! Do your worst. Take my life if you will and let it be said that the Jew, in spite of all his tortures, knew how to disappoint the Christian!"
"Very well, then," said De Bracy. "I will put your resolve to the test. You'll be whimpering for mercy within moments. Strip him!"
At that moment, a trumpet call was sounded and there was a commotion up above, the sounds of men yelling to each other. Andre de la Croix ran into the dungeon.
"Maurice, come quickly! The Saxons are attacking!"
"What? Are you mad?"
"It's true, I tell you! Listen. It is the outlaws. They have gathered in force and are even at this moment attempting to storm the castle!"
"What absurdity is this?" De Bracy said. "Why would the outlaws attack Torquilstone?"
"They cry for Cedric's freedom."
"The Saxon? I have but two Jews, I have no Saxon!"
"So Bois-Guilbert says. He commands the castle in your absence. They will not listen. Brian says that only force is good for dealing with them."
"How many of them are there?"
"A thousand, at the least."
"Brian is a fool. With such a number, they might well take the castle if they are determined enough. I will show them that Cedric is not here."
Isaac momentarily forgotten, De Bracy started out of the dungeons, on his way to the castle above. Andre followed him.
"I don't know what insanity has overtaken them," De Bracy said, "but these cells are all empty! See for yourself. I—"
At that moment, the sound of Cedric's voice was heard shouting from within one of the cells.
"What the devil?" said De Bracy. He flung open the tiny window of the door and peered inside. "Cedric!"
"Release me, villain!" Cedric shouted, launching himself against the door.
De Bracy slammed the window shut, stunned. He opened the window in the door of the next cell and saw Athelstane. In the adjoining cell, he found Rowena.
"Is this your doing, de la Croix?"
"I rode into the castle with just my squire," Andre said. "You know that. You, yourself, admitted me."
"But how in God's name did they get here?"