John Neville followed the others to several domed tents in the open space northwest of the castle, and was soon assigned to one. However, he did not have time to rest his ass and legs on a bed made of hay and linen.

He and his uncle William Parr's personal belongings and weapons were placed on the bed, and the helmet was taken off and thrown on the bed casually, and after taking off the hand armor, he hurriedly left the tent. After asking several sergeants for the direction of the stables, they walked towards the gate of an attached fortress to the east of the castle.

Crossing the huge castle square, avoiding the bands of archers, halberders, spearmen, hook-sickles, and quasi-lancers on horseback, they passed by the hired men and servants in twos and threes, and came to the gate of the fortress to the east.

Walking inside the fort, several stables were found in an area on the left. As soon as he entered the first stable, he happened to meet another young would-be lancer named John. When the other party saw him, he chatted with him with a smile on his face, "What, is there anything else you haven't brought to the tent?" ”

John glanced at the hired men in the stables who seemed to be unharnessing the horses, shook his head and smiled, "No, Your Excellency has given me a task to check all the horseshoes before lunch. ”

"Oh, uh, you're Miss Isabelle's attendant?"

"Uh, no, I'm her godson."

"Godson?" When the other party heard this, he became interested, walked up to John's side and touched the other party's armor with the armor that wrapped his upper arm, "Let's go, let's talk outside." Horseshoes, I can have the hired staff do it for you. ”

"Well, just a few words, I can't disobey my godmother's orders." Probably because of his similar age, John did not reply directly to the absolute party's request.

When the two of them reached the open space outside the stable, they introduced themselves, "My name is John Musgrave, and my brother is Sir William, the deputy head of the guard here. Currently, I am still serving as my brother's squire. ”

John didn't want to tell anyone that his father was Baron Latimer III of Yorkshire, and he didn't want to expose his status as the eldest son easily. However, he could not help but say his last name. At this time, he thought of his stepmother's younger brother, and said casually: "My name is John Parr, my brother William is currently serving as a guard in the Duke's Palace, and I am in foster care in the estate of Lord Walton, my godmother's father. ”

After listening to his introduction, the younger brother of the deputy chief of the guard smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Your name is John, my name is John, your brother's name is William, and I also have a brother named William." John, do you mind if we become good partners? ”

John Neville pursed his lips and looked at the other with a smile in his eyes, "Why not?" ”

When the two asked each other's ages, the younger brother of the deputy guard chief was immediately amazed, "John, you are only 14 years old this year, but your body is as strong as my brother. Uh, how did your godmother do it? ”

John smirked, "If my godmother can't even do that, how can she still be my godmother?" ”

In the ensuing conversation, the younger brother of the deputy captain of the guard asked Isabel and her party the purpose of coming to Carlisle Castle, and John said unsuspectingly, "Oh, godmother wants to find out the frontier to find out when the Scots will attack." ”

John Musgrave looked at the various people who were coming and going in the stables and forts, and whispered to him, "John, be careful, this is the Anglo-Soviet border. You know, there's never a shortage of people at the border, spies. ”

John Neville looked at the other party's expression that had become extremely serious, and quickly nodded, "Thank you very much, John, I remember." ”

———————————

Sir Ernest Walton and Sir William Ingleby, dressed in three-quarters, rode back to the castle from near the Brampton border line to the northeast of the castle. A few days ago, Ernest took a keen interest in the young knight when he heard something about his sister Isabelle.

Ernest, who was not wearing a helmet, tied his helmet to the bridge in front of the saddle and pulled the reins to let the horse slow forward. At this time, he looked beyond the defensive line on the right that was built on the ruins of the Great Wall of Haryand. Sir William Ingleby, who was riding to his left, glanced at him, "Sir, how many days have we been on the western frontier?" ”

Ernest looked at him and smiled softly, "I don't remember. Well, it's been about two weeks, right? ”

"Two weeks? Sir, are we really going to serve His Majesty for 40 days? "Sir William seems to have some misgivings about his obligation to serve the King.

According to the current military service system of the nobility, Sir William Ingleby (knight) was a noble military vassal of the king. His main military responsibility was to bring his own weapons to serve the lord (king) for 40 days, regardless of the place of service. Although the king could only call up the militia of the counties to fight when defending his homeland, he could call up the nobles to fight at any time.

Ernest sat on his horse and swayed his body with the pace of the horse, turning his head to look at the other party, "At this moment, Your Majesty has not issued a call to call nobles and knights to war. So, sir, you can always go back to your castle and continue to be your lord. ”

Sir William looked a little surprised, "Sir, what you said is true?" ”

"Yes, Sir William."

"But, if I return to Ripley Castle now, will your sister Miss Isabel have some trouble with me... Bad opinion? ”

Before his father was made a nobleman, Ernest wanted Isabel to marry Sir William Ingleby. Not only was he a young, single knight, but he also had a large family estate and a family castle in Yorkshire. As for the dowry that is enough to scare ordinary civilians to death, even if the family is bankrupt, it must be scraped together and handed over to the man.

Now it is different from the past, my father is a hereditary nobleman. At this moment, asking Isabel, who is the eldest daughter of a nobleman, to marry William does not seem to match her identity and status. Unless she is a second or young daughter, it is still appropriate to marry a knight.

"Sir, Isabel's thoughts, I don't really know. But, you have to believe me, she's coming to the western frontier soon. ”

"Miss Isabel is coming to the border?? This is a battlefield, not a place where a noble lady should come at all. ”

Ernest shook his head, "William, you are my good companion, you should know more about the things Isabel loves." ”