THE ROYAL HOUSE OF FRANCE - outriders poetry project

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© 2009 Max Wickert
gradually while continuing battle, drawing them as far away from the fort as you can. Take care that
you do not fail to perform my commands, for, by my faith, I will have any man who falls short
hanged as a traitor. But if my plan succeeds, you will all be rich. I reserve nothing for myself but
the walls of the castle; all the rest shall be yours. Consider that Charles is only two leagues away from
here. When he hears that we have captured Almont’s tower, all the other Frenchmen will feel
shamed, and the whole glory of the victory will be bestowed upon us.”
Then he summoned his two nephews, Lord Clare and Bussy and said to them: “You, with five
thousand knights, shall come with me. Before daybreak, we shall go to post ourselves in ambush on
the other side of the fort, for I am informed that there is a broad, heavily forested valley there. I
have good guides to show us the way.”
So they set out. Two miles from the fort, with these five thousand, he crossed a river and entered a
valley full of trees. The way into it was so difficult that hey had to dismount and leave their horses
at the foot of the hill where the tower stood, with a guard of a thousand knights and some local
guides, who kept them on short bridles, so that they would make no noise. Then they climbed
uphill through some thickets of thorns, until the were nearly a stone’s throw from the circuit of the
walls. There they awaited the coming of day. Directly across from them stood a hill where Gerard
had stationed three men with three red shields, so that, as soon as they should see the whole
garrison issuing from the fort, they would signal with these shields. The knights who came with
Gerard cursed the difficulty of the passage, for all their surcoats were ripped in the course of it.
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At sunrise in the morning, Almont rose and, as soon as he was dressed, went into the courtyard.
The horn from the top the tower sounded the alarm and all Almont’s men ran to arms. There was a