She had now been living in the servants quarters for five days hence. She lived with nine maidens. A horn blasted loud and clear several times. An army of Franks were besieging the castle and its surroundings!

In the grey mist of morning, Bernadine walked up the path to the stables. The tread of her feet was all she could hear. But then, the tread of a horse and a young man was behind her. Silently, she turned around. A black shape of a heavy built horse came toward her. “Bernadine” said the voice of the man.

Gaul, Barbarians, Franks, war, bloodshed. Among all this, there was a village, small, but large in their time. In the center was a hill with the castle of Lord Aldrich. A wall surrounded it. There were two walls, one connecting the wall to the castle, and the other separating the courtyard from the other side of the Keep. On the other side were the stables and servants’ quarters.