Earl William was covered in soft flab and had pale skin. He was a cowardly, incompetent man.
"You had better see for yourself. There are a great many ships," the captain of the guards said anxiously.
Earl William followed the soldier up to the lookout tower high in the castle and gazed at the fleet out at sea.
The soldiers in the lookout tower and the captain had not lied. Earl William could recognize those silent seagoing ships, as well as the smaller riverboats.
The night was pitch-black, but as the ships passed before him one after another, Earl William still recognized the cold gleam of armor in the darkness and heard the occasional familiar neigh of a horse. There were soldiers aboard those ships, and a great many of them.
"My lord, what should we do?" the captain asked Earl William. "Are the Crackclawmen taking advantage of the chaos to attack us?"
"Never mind. Who knows what these people are up to? Bumpkins and savages." Earl William snorted, then rubbed his round belly. "They have no intention of attacking us, or they would be approaching Maidenpool to land."
"But in the pitch-dark, do these Crackclawmen mean to join the war too?" the captain asked in bewilderment. "The Trout and the Lion are fighting now. Why are these savages marching out?"
"Let them be. Perhaps they are only poking their heads out for a look."
Few of Maidenpool's people knew much about Crackclaw Point. The kings of House Darklyn of Duskendale had once tried to extend their domain onto Crackclaw Point. House Mooton of Maidenpool, and later House Celtigar of Claw Isle, had also tried, but they had achieved nothing except breeding hatred.
Only the inhabitants of Crackclaw Point knew its swamps and forests, and outsiders could not compare. If