‘And do what?’ said Tibalt. ‘We cannot seize him; we cannot kill him. Why doesn’t the bitch in black go among Blackstone’s men and see for herself?’

‘A woman of the court does not go among scum, that’s why. And if she did, it would alert Blackstone. We seized the boy after Cocherel; we held him at Auray so we can do it again. We deliver him – we get paid. If he’s here, then we can take him on the road to Seville.’

‘Your plan is stupid,’ said one man. ‘Why did we kill the boy we found with the Jew? For what purpose? You risk our lives for a fool’s errand. I have enough money in my purse. I’ll not go into the castle.’

Ranulph de Hayle took a threatening step towards the tough-looking mercenary. ‘I pay you well. You don’t get to choose.’

‘Someone else can go under the walls. I’ll take my chances and fight Blackstone in the open. Whoever goes in there and gets caught will be dragged in front of the mad bastard King. I won’t face him. He’d gut a man and hang him from the battlements while he still lives. No. Not me. And if you don’t like it then I’ll ride and sell my sword to Hugh Calveley.’

De Hayle stood his ground but his voice softened. ‘You’re right, we’re being held to ransom by the woman but our reward will be a sack of gold and then we need never sell our swords again. So now there will be more for the rest of us.’ His hand swept up, driving his knife under the man’s chin and into his brain. He dropped. De Hayle turned on his heel, bloodied knife threatening the startled men. He stooped, plucked the dead man’s purse and then threw it in among the men. Hands grabbed for it.

‘You fight when I tell you to fight and you will crawl on your bellies through shit if that is what’s needed. Now, whoever goes inside and sees if the lad is with Blackstone I will pay three times what I have in my purse.’

The sour-faced men, knowing the risk, shuffled uncertainly. Tibalt watched them. ‘If I could go I would, but a one-armed man does not clamber easily through passages.’

Three of the men stepped forward. ‘Pay us now,’ said the one.

‘If we are to die, then we die richer than we lived,’ said another.

De Hayle bargained: ‘Half now. Half on your return with news.’

They considered the offer and then agreed. They would sneak beneath the castle walls and locate the boy. They would do nothing more than identify him and then return for payment.

*