‘I believe you are wrong. De Claville took le Bête’s money for the Spanish captives and your money for me. I was worth more because of my skills. Better I was kept under lock and key to treat the sick and wounded. But you brought your friend and de Claville saw your need to keep your man alive. Godfrey de Claville was an opportunist. He let you bargain for me. And he urged you to kill de Hayle. That would have stopped any further threat from him against this place.’

‘Old man, you’re rambling. I am lost. What does any of this have to do with de Hayle coming back here and killing those that did not escape?’

‘The boy! Godfrey de Claville sold the boy. That’s whom de Hayle was searching for. It is simple. You see it, don’t you?’

For a moment Blackstone did not. Then he did. ‘I took his prize. It was not Beyard. And how else could I have known about Beyard, and the boy, being kept in the castle at Auray if the information did not come from here.’

‘Yes, yes! And that is why he came back to exact revenge.’

‘Then why is this boy so damned important?’

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The stench of death was downwind by the time they camped in woodland on rising round with a clear view of the surrounding countryside. Blackstone summoned Beyard, who had regained much of his strength.

‘This boy is the key. Tell me everything that you know and that he has said since they captured you at Cocherel,’ Blackstone said.

Beyard played out his memory. ‘I was taken to Auray by one of the French lords. I don’t remember much because they beat me senseless. Then one day an Englishman arrived and threw some Navarrese prisoners and the lad in the cell with me. I tried to comfort him but he could barely speak – terror had made him mute. The Englishman was Ranulph de Hayle. I was so weak I could do nothing but lie there and watch as he took prisoners out and tortured them to death. He forced the lad to watch. Now I understand that he was trying to get the boy to talk. About what, I don’t know. The more de Hayle killed the more the boy withdrew.’

‘He never spoke?’

‘You saw that dungeon. It was infested with rats and so cold we had to huddle together to survive. I held the boy close to keep him warm. I learnt his name but that was all. I tried to get him to talk but he was just too frightened.’

‘What are we to do?’ said Killbere. ‘If the boy has something vital to tell, something de Hayle wanted, then it’s buried in his silence.’

‘He cannot be enticed to reveal it no matter what bribe might be offered,’ said Beyard.