“A general who rides a destrier?” said one of his bodyguards as soon as they were out of earshot. “What is the range of that thing, four hundred yards?” “A strange choice,” agreed Bellamus. More appropriate would have been a courser: faster, lighter and much better suited to spilling orders over a battlefield. A destrier—a full and heavily muscled battle horse—was a shocking beast to ride into combat but would tire quickly beneath a general. Still, Bellamus had been impressed by Roper, who seemed to have grown into his role in what must have been testing circumstances.
