“He is as slippery as a serpent. Wait until I have finished tying these ropes together, and then I will come and deal with him.”I could not see Ma...dox but assumed he was just outside the stable. Apart from ‘Jason’ there was nothing in the stable other than a horse, fitted with a head collar but with no saddle or bridle, and tied to a tethering ring.I recalled ‘Jason’ was the name of the simpleton with a way with dogs, and a hunting horn, and as I looked closer at him I noted the horn slung. " With that I felt a whack, as she struck my bare ass cheeks with the crop. I tried to jump, but her grip on my scrotum did not relent. "Do not move again, or it will be worse." I could tell from her tone she was serious, and to tell the truth, moving hurt more than the blow. Two more strokes fell on my bare ass. Each of the stripes on my ass continued to sting. "There, now let's put a salve on those wounds," she said. "Don't move." I wasn't even thinking about moving. She let go of. That for me" My heart jumped I was still clutching at the parcel . My hand had got sweaty holding it so long . She looked bemused at the state of the crumpled and torn package . Stumbling over my words I blurted out " I can explain" ,She walked over to the table ,Grinning she said "Go on then" as she sat down with her cup of tea . I explained about knocking it off my table onto the floor and it setting the contents off , She gasped and straight away went red in the face, she had just realised. It took him afew seconds to realize that the young man with the thin,haggard face and tired smile was Hal. “My boy, I’d hopedthat you would come through here one day.”The two men went to a nearby tavern and talked at lengthabout the war. Hal told his story and ended with, “…andLord Vance felt that he could convene an enclave of thebarons before the end of summer.”Clarence suddenly looked shocked. “That means they wouldpick a new ruler,” he.