Chapter 79 — The Rhinoceroses

Chapter 79: Chapter 79 — The Rhinoceroses

Chapter 79 — The Rhinoceroses

The old enclosure stood sound, though its yard and stalls needed cleaning.

Six workers spent the morning cutting grass from the yard and shovelling leaves from the stone drains, while others cleared nests from the shelter and carried away rotten timber. The roof remained sound. Two stall doors had swollen shut, but the outer gate still moved after its hinges were oiled.

The trough filled when they opened the old water channel.

Behind the shelter, the workers found dry stone feed bins and two movable barrier frames. Shallow grooves in the yard allowed the barriers to narrow the space and separate one animal from the others. One frame remained sound; Owen replaced the rotten crosspieces on the second with heavy timber from the castle stores.

They pushed both barriers through the grooves and locked them into place. The grooves let handlers narrow the yard and separate animals for training.

Christopher inspected the enclosure before midday. Its walls reached twice his height and were thicker at the base than several houses in Dragonwatch, scratches marking the stone and one iron ring bent outward.

"Rhinos did that?" he asked.

Owen struck the ring with a hammer. "Something strong did."

An old relief remained above the shelter entrance. Time had worn away the rider’s face, but the animal beneath him was unmistakable: a broad magical rhinoceros covered in fitted armor, a long lance resting beneath the rider’s arm.

Godfrey studied the image once. "Heavy cavalry."

That explained the enclosure, the wide road and the mounting platforms built beside the stalls.

The workers closed the inner gates and tested every latch, and Owen replaced one rotten crossbar with timber brought from Dragonwatch. By the time the sun stood high, the yard held fresh water and cut grass.

"Ready," he said.

Christopher, Godfrey, Walter and Ivo left the castle with Thunder, Aldous accompanying them as far as the ridge overlooking the herd. He studied the adults, the three weaned young and the ground between the grassland and the old cavalry road.

"The young can be separated," he said. "But once they panic, ropes alone will not turn them."

Godfrey glanced toward Thunder. "The ropes will not be working alone."

Aldous remained near the ridge, where he could watch without entering the path of the herd; if the capture succeeded, the animals would become his responsibility after the Knights brought them inside the enclosure.

They took ropes from the old stable stores, along with three wide leather halters that had survived inside sealed chests. The leather required oil but did not crack when Walter pulled it.

Thunder carried no rope. She carried the memory of the herd and the certainty that the young animals already belonged to her.

Christopher let her keep that thought.

They found the rhinoceroses on the same grassland as the day before. The herd had moved closer to a shallow lake, adults standing knee-deep in water while the young rolled in mud along the bank.

The three selected animals remained together. They were young, not helpless calves: the smallest reached Christopher’s shoulder, the largest was nearly the size of a farm ox, and their horns had begun growing but remained short.

Godfrey pointed toward a narrow strip between two low rises.

"We turn them there."

Walter and Ivo separated, each carrying a coiled rope, while Christopher remained with Thunder on the ridge.

"Slow," he told her.

Thunder moved down the slope.

The herd raised its heads, and Prestige spread across the grass. One massive female stepped forward, horn lowered, and the adults gathered around the young while Thunder’s wings lifted slightly.

Christopher felt the urge to answer challenge with greater force. He pushed calm through the contract. Hold. No killing.

Thunder disliked the request but accepted it, drawing most of her Prestige back around herself.

Godfrey circled behind the herd at Silver speed, appearing near the lake before the adults decided where to turn, while Walter and Ivo moved along the sides, carrying no drawn swords.

The herd shifted away from Godfrey and toward the open grass.

Thunder advanced three more steps. The adults moved again.

One young rhinoceros broke left. Walter crossed its path and struck the ground with the flat of his sword, and the animal turned back without being touched.

The three selected young drifted toward the gap between the rises, an adult following.

Thunder released a short burst of Prestige directly toward it. The animal stopped, mud tearing beneath its feet; it snorted, shook its head and backed toward the herd.

The young continued through the gap. Godfrey reached them first, catching the largest by the neck with a wide rope and letting it run until the loop tightened. The rhinoceros dragged him six paces before his boots cut into the earth.

Walter secured the second. Ivo missed the third when it turned beneath his rope, and the young animal rushed toward Christopher.

Thunder stepped between them.

The rhinoceros stopped so abruptly that its hind legs slid sideways. It stared at Thunder, who lowered her head until their noses nearly touched.

The young animal made a sound between a grunt and a squeal. Thunder answered with a quiet rumble.

Christopher felt triumph.

"Do not bite it."

Offense came through the bond.

Ivo approached from the side and placed the halter over the animal’s head. It resisted until Thunder rumbled again.

The adults remained beyond the low rises, pacing beneath the pressure but refusing to charge. One scarred male pushed toward the gap despite Thunder’s Prestige, and Godfrey stepped between it and the ropes without drawing his sword, pressure cracking the dry earth beneath his boots.

The rhinoceros stopped. Thunder added a low rumble from behind Christopher, and after several breaths the male backed toward the herd.

"Not that one," Walter said.

"Not today," Godfrey replied.

Christopher had no desire to change the answer later.

Once all three young were secured, Christopher asked Thunder to move ahead so the animals would follow her, Godfrey, Walter and Ivo coming behind with the ropes.

The journey back took much longer than the capture. The largest rhinoceros tried to turn toward the herd twice, and the smallest sat down whenever Ivo pulled. Thunder moved behind it and discovered that her presence made it hurry; Christopher asked her to ease back before it broke into a run, and she reluctantly gave it more space.

"Walk," he told her.

She walked for twenty paces. Then she rushed forward again, and the smallest rhinoceros scrambled after Walter and nearly wrapped Ivo in its rope.

Godfrey glanced at Christopher.

"She is learning."

"So am I."

They reached the old cavalry road by late afternoon. The young animals calmed once stone replaced open grass and the herd’s calls faded behind them.

The workers saw them coming and opened the outer gate. Thunder entered first, and the rhinoceroses followed her into the yard with less resistance than they had shown the Knights. Once all three crossed, the workers closed the gate and dropped the crossbar.

Godfrey removed the ropes but left the halters.

The animals circled the enclosure. One tested the wall with its shoulder, another discovered the trough and drank, and the smallest remained near Thunder until she approached the shelter, then followed her inside.

The largest struck the outer gate once. Iron rang through the yard, but the crossbar held, and it stepped back and struck again with less force.

Godfrey waited beside the gate. On the third approach, he placed one hand against the animal’s forehead and stopped it before its horn reached the wood.

The young rhinoceros pushed. Godfrey did not move. After several breaths, the animal turned toward the trough.

The workers stared at the Silver Knight with greater caution than they gave the rhino.

"Give them time to settle," Christopher told Thunder.

She ignored him.

"That is their shelter."

Thunder sent the image of a larger shelter containing all of them.

"You have a castle."

She came out slowly, making it clear that the decision was hers.

The workers placed cut grass and leafy branches near the trough. The largest rhinoceros smelled the fodder and began eating, and the others followed.

Godfrey handled the animals while Aldous observed their reactions and directed the workers preparing fodder, water and the shelter.

He placed a folded blanket across the largest animal’s back. It threw the blanket off and stamped upon it; Godfrey picked it up, shook away the dirt and tried again. The second attempt lasted two breaths. The third lasted five.

Walter worked with the middle animal. Ivo chose the smallest and discovered it tolerated him only while Thunder remained beside the gate — proof, to her mind, that she should supervise everything.

He walked the enclosure until the young animals stopped turning away whenever he approached. Walter touched each halter. Ivo opened and closed the shelter gates until the sound no longer made them jump.

"How long before someone rides one?" Christopher asked.

"Not today," Godfrey said.

"I know."

"Then ask after they accept a blanket and harness."

It might take weeks before the young animals accepted a blanket, a harness and a rider, but Christopher could wait if the work continued.

The old mounting platforms, armor relief and surviving halters showed how the Dragon Knights had trained the animals.

Aldous joined them inside the enclosure and approached the smallest rhinoceros from the side, watching its ears, waiting when it stamped and touching the halter only after it stopped pulling away. Godfrey still possessed the strength to prevent an accident, but the beastmaster understood what frightened the animal before it moved.

Christopher left the animals unnamed for now; he could barely distinguish the two larger ones at a distance. Walter marked their halters with one, two and three cuts so feeding and training notes remained clear.

The smallest received the first cut and followed Thunder most readily. The largest received the third and tested every barrier. The middle animal ate before either of the others and tolerated Walter’s hands sooner.

Those differences were enough to begin records.

At Aldous’s direction, the workers marked each halter and recorded how much fodder the animals ate, whether they drank and which one tested the gates. The largest earned two warning marks before sunset.

Thunder earned no mark, although she stole part of their fodder and spat it out. The workers laughed only after she left.

Christopher assigned two of the permanent workers to bring fodder and clean the enclosure, and the Knights would help Aldous accustom the rhinoceroses to ropes, barriers and armored riders during their visits. Thunder had already decided that the young animals belonged to her herd. She would approach them whenever she wished, and the handlers would clear the enclosure when she did.

The smallest rhinoceros watched her leave.

Thunder noticed and sent satisfaction through the bond.

Back at Dragonwatch, the second wall arbalest had been raised onto the western platform.

Soldiers and workers had used a windlass to lift the frame, and Barlow fixed its rear braces into the old stone sockets while Wat checked the trigger twice before allowing anyone to string it.

Christopher arrived as the first practice bolt was carried up. The gate road had been cleared, red cloth marked the danger line, and with Walter still in the small plane, Adam controlled the range with Ivo’s deputy.

"Is the arbalest ready?" Christopher asked.

"Not until I check the catch again," Wat replied.

He tightened one fitting, checked the cord and moved the bolt half an inch.

"It is ready now. Clear the platform."

Four men worked the windlass. The arms bent. The trigger held.

Wat ordered everyone behind the marked stones and pulled the release.

The string snapped forward, and the heavy bolt crossed the open ground and buried itself in the earth bank beyond the western approach. The frame shuddered against its braces but did not shift.

Soldiers on the wall cheered.

Wat stayed focused. He inspected the catch.

"Again tomorrow," he said.

They placed an old shield faced with scrap mail before the earth bank for the next test. The bolt punched through both and lodged in the packed soil, though Wat still ordered more tests before trusting the frame in battle.

The mill wheel turned for the first time that afternoon. Water drove the empty axle while Robert listened for scraping inside the bearings. The wheel shuddered once, settled, and completed another slow turn. The shaped stones still waited beneath a cover; Robert refused to connect them until Wat corrected the drive pins.

Below the southern wall, the cold frames had been covered. Children carried shutters into place as the evening temperature fell, and Cedric checked every vent himself.

The first new house held two families, smoke rising cleanly from its chimney, while work continued on the second.

In the western room, the apprentices finished their evening weapons practice with Ivo. Meg exercised the four hounds in the lower yard before feeding them.

Roofs closed, vegetables grew beneath covers, the second arbalest reached the wall, and three young magical rhinoceroses slept inside an ancient cavalry enclosure.

Christopher ended the day in the council room with Bennet’s supply ledger. Godfrey joined them after washing mud from his clothes, while Walter and Ivo remained in the small plane for the first night, sleeping beside the enclosure in case a gate failed.

"What do three magical rhinoceroses eat?" Bennet asked.

"Grass, leaves and fodder from inside the plane."

Bennet wrote a line anyway. "Someone still cuts it."

The thirty-five permanent workers already had rooms, gardens and cleaning duties. Aldous had begun dividing their time between the castle grounds, the future fields and the animal enclosures, so that two could manage the rhinoceroses each day while the others continued making the service wing livable.

Arrows remained scarce, and six crossbows were not enough for walls this large. The two wall arbalests possessed only four heavy bolts suitable for battle between them. Winter clothing and lamp oil were adequate but not generous.

Northgate could supply some of those things if merchants still held stock.

"We need another journey before winter," Christopher said.

Bennet turned a page. "Then decide what cannot wait. Every wagon sent south leaves us short somewhere else."

Christopher crossed to the gate as the evening watch took its place.