The Ballad of Sir Dinadan (12 page)

They both looked at Dinadan, who had been sitting beside the skull, watching Kai dig. Kai spoke. "Can you tell us anything about this, lad?"

Dinadan hesitated, but he had no reason to lie. "Modron's first wife, I would say. Rhiannon the first. She ran away after her baby was born. Is the baby there, too, Kai?"

Kai shrugged. "I'll look. Give me a hand, Bedivere?" Bedivere nodded, and Kai looked at Dinadan.

He shook his head and glanced down at the skull. "I'll stay with her," he said.

Culloch, the only one still on horseback, snorted and said, "I don't see what you're on about. We're not looking for a woman after all, and besides, I still think we should have begun with Dillus the—"

"Shut up, Culloch," said Kai.

They found more bones and the rest of the woman's dress, but no sign of a baby. They wrapped the bones and the skull in the remnants of the dress, then buried them deep. Bedivere said a few quiet words over the grave, and then Dinadan took out his rebec. Quietly, he played a brief passage from the elegy he had played with Sylvanus. Even Culloch was quiet while he played, and the wind brought a faint piping sound from across the forest. Dinadan lowered the rebec, and they rode away. Nobody asked Dinadan any questions.

Not half a mile further, they came upon a small cottage in the woods. There was a neat garden plot, and a few chickens and cows in the yard. An elderly man and woman sat on a bench outside the cottage, enjoying the sun, and from the woods nearby came the sound of an axe.

"Good morning," Bedivere said to the old couple.

"Good morning, sirs," they stammered, bowing deeply. Clearly they were unused to visits from knights.

"Don't be afraid," Bedivere said kindly. "We mean no one any harm, and we are as surprised to see you as you to see us. Is this not a very secluded place to make your home?"

"Yes, your worship," the man replied, bowing again. "But Beatrice and me, we never needed more people than just ourselves."

"And Colin," the woman added. "Don't forget Colin." She turned to Bedivere and curtseyed awkwardly. "Our grandson," she explained. "He lives with us and takes care of us."

The sound of the axe stopped, and Dinadan saw a sturdy, black-haired youth step out from among the trees.

"Have you lived here long?" Bedivere asked.

"Almost twenty-five years now," the woman said. "It is a good life we lead."

"But how do you live? Do you have enough to eat?"

The woman took a quick breath. "Sakes! I've been out of the world so long that I've lost my manners. I haven't offered you a bite! Will you stay and eat with us? We have fresh venison and vegetables. Colin!"

"Here, grandmother," the youth said. "You stay there. I'll get the food."

Bedivere dismounted, and the others followed his lead. "I thank you, ma'am," he said. "In truth I would like to talk with you. You see, we are looking for someone whom we think passed this way."

"No one has passed this way in many weeks," the old man said.

"Let's eat first, then talk," Culloch said abruptly. "I'm hungry."

Dinadan tossed his reins to Kai. "I'll go help the boy," he said and strolled after Colin. He found him in a small smokehouse behind the cottage, unhooking a haunch of venison. "Can I help?"

The boy looked Dinadan squarely in the eyes, and his gaze was direct and without guile. "Is that really what you want, sir?" The boy looked to be about fifteen years old.

"No. I wanted to speak to you alone," Dinadan replied simply.

"Why?" the boy's voice was firm, but polite. Very different from his father's voice, Dinadan reflected.

"We are here on a quest. We are looking for a baby that was lost, oh, about fifteen years ago. His mother stole him away from his father soon after the boy was born, and she took him through the woods near here. Sadly, though, she was not strong, and I believe that she died not far from this place."

The boy's gaze had not wavered from Dinadan's eyes. He did not speak.

"One of those knights out there," Dinadan continued, "is under oath to find the boy and take him on a boar hunt. Then, I imagine, the boy will be taken back to his father."

"Who is the boy's father?" Colin asked quietly.

"A rich merchant named Modron."

"Why did the boy's mother leave this Modron?"

"I would guess it is because the man's soul is made of shop goods and silver, and he cares for nothing else."

Colin was silent for a moment. Then he said, "My grandparents are very old. Each month they are able to do less for themselves. Sometimes it is more than even I can do, keeping things going here." Dinadan nodded but didn't answer. Colin lifted his chin. "So, sir knight. What do you think happened to the baby?"

Dinadan smiled. "I see two possibilities. Either the baby was found and brought home by an elderly couple who lived nearby and who had no children of their own, or else he died in the forest by his mother. I think he died in the forest." Colin's eyes widened with hope, and Dinadan added, "The only problem is that we didn't find the baby's body. I was wondering if perhaps you had found it one time and buried it yourself."

Colin's face brightened with a joy more pure than any that a boy raised in the home of Modron the merchant would have ever known. "Yes," he said at once. "Now that you mention it, I did." Dinadan could not help returning Colin's smile, but Colin's face clouded again almost at once. "I must go and speak to my grandparents. You see, they sometimes tell a story about how many years ago, they found a baby left beside the forest path. There was no one else around, as if the baby had been left there by someone who ... who then crawled back into the woods to die. It's all a silly tale, of course, but it would be best for them not to tell it today."

Dinadan nodded. "You go talk to your grandparents. I'll bring some food, and then I'll break the news to my companions."

Telling the others that Mabon, son of Modron, had died in the forest was a bit more ticklish than Dinadan had expected. Neither Bedivere nor Kai was a fool, and the appearance of a boy of about fifteen years of age so close to the body under the elm had already aroused their suspicions. With Colin's help, though, Dinadan was able at least to stop them from pursuing their suspicions. Culloch, of course, noticed nothing.

It was a lie, to be sure. There was no disguising that fact. At heart though was a greater truth: the son of Modron the merchant—the boy who would have been had he been raised in that household—was as dead as he could be. This young man, who had chosen a life of hard work and loneliness and duty to others over the life of a rich merchant's son, and had so chosen without even a second's hesitation, this was a different person entirely, a boy that Rhiannon the first would surely have been proud of.

Dinadan's mind turned now to the other Rhiannon and her two children, and a pleasing thought began to take shape. He waited until the knights had finished their meal, and then asked casually, "So where to now? Since Mabon's dead, the whole task is off."

Kai nodded judiciously. "Ay, that's true. Can't do any of it since this part's impossible."

"We could still hunt for Dillus the Bearded to make a leash," protested Culloch. "I always thought we ought to begin there any—"

"No, Culloch," Bedivere said. "The others are right. The only thing to do is to go back to King Isbaddadon and ask for another task."

Culloch brightened up perceptibly. "Oh, that would be all right. We could have another feast, and then he could send us out again. In fact, he'll probably just send us out on the same task, just leaving the boy out, don't you think?"

Bedivere's face grew stern. "If he does, Culloch, you'll go on that quest alone. I'll have no more to do with this foolishness."

"Hear, hear," Kai said, grinning. "I was wondering how long it would take you to come to that."

"But you've made a vow!" Culloch exclaimed.

"That I have. I vowed to stay with you until you were made knight or until you stopped trying to become one. To continue playing this child's game with Isbaddadon is to prove that you've no desire to be a true knight. If he gives you another silly chore, you shall have to decide whether you wish to stay with him or to go with me to seek knighthood."

Culloch looked both angry and confused, and Dinadan realized that Culloch had never seen any distinction between the great deeds demanded for knighthood at the Round Table and the tasks assigned by King Isbaddadon. Dinadan felt sorry for him, but there was no point in dwelling on Culloch's problem. He cleared his throat and said, "Say, lads. Someone ought to go tell that merchant fellow what's happened to his son."

"I didn't get the feeling he cared much," Kai pointed out.

"He ought to be told anyway," Dinadan said. "I'll do that while you three go back to Isbad's castle."

On the way back to Modron's shop, Dinadan hatched several plans for obtaining a private audience with Rhiannon the second, but as it turned out, they were unnecessary. When he arrived, Modron was gone, and Rhiannon and her two children were alone among the merchandise. Rhiannon's tired face relaxed as she recognized Dinadan. "Good morrow, your worship."

Dinadan bowed deeply and said, "I bring you good cheer, Mistress Rhiannon."

Rhiannon turned slightly pink at the courtly greeting. "Have you found the master's missing son?"

Dinadan ignored the question. "Mistress Rhiannon, did you not tell me that you cared for your aging parents until they died?" She nodded. "Was that very hard, madam?"

"It was hard, yes. But I loved them, you see."

Dinadan smiled. "Would it be too hard for you to do that again? I mean, could you and your children help care for an elderly couple on a small farm?"

Rhiannon's face fell. "I would like to, sir, if I could help. But I'm afraid my husband would never ... there is so much work to do here."

Dinadan nodded sagely. "Yes, you're quite right. I shall have to take you all away from here, won't I? Do you need to pack anything?"

"Oh no, we own nothing here—" She broke off suddenly, and covered her face with her hands. "Oh, sir, you shouldn't say such things. My husband will never let us leave. After his last son ran away, he swore that he'd not let us out of his sight."

"Well, where is he now, then?"

"Only just across the square at the tavern. Please sir, don't give us hope. We can't leave. You'd only have to hear his vow to know how strong he felt. He swore he'd not let us leave till the day he opened up his shop and gave everything away for free."

Dinadan chuckled. "He said that, did he? Well, never mind. You three just come with me." Gently, but firmly, Dinadan led them outside to his horses. When he had Rhiannon and her daughter on his spare horse and the boy perched behind Dinadan's own saddle, he led both horses to the edge of town and then left them. "You stay here," he said to Rhiannon. "I won't be half a minute."

Drawing his sword, for effect more than for any other reason, Dinadan walked back across the village square to the busy tavern, where Modron sat alone at a table. "Modron!" Dinadan called. The hubbub of the tap room quieted, and Modron looked up. "Is it true," Dinadan asked, "that you swore a solemn oath that on the day that your wife and children got away from you you would open up your shop and give everything away for nothing?"

"What?" Modron demanded.

"Isn't that the oath you swore?" Dinadan repeated.

"Ay, that it is," interjected a man at a table nearby. "I heard it myself." A chorus of agreement rose from around the room.

"So what if it is?" Modron said. "What's it to you?"

"I just came to let everyone know: she's gone now." No one moved or spoke. Dinadan grinned at the townspeople. "Didn't you hear? Everything is free now. Go help yourselves." Then Dinadan turned on his heel and walked away. He had gone almost ten paces before the tavern doors flew open before the crowd racing across the square to the store, pushing aside the shrieking Modron as if he were a stray dog.

"What is all that noise?" Rhiannon asked nervously, when Dinadan reappeared.

Dinadan mounted and pointed the horses into the forest. "Nothing that concerns you anymore," he said.

Dinadan returned to King Arthur's great court at Camelot, where as months, then years, passed, he found himself becoming one of the best known and best liked of all the knights. It wasn't that he earned glory by feats of arms—only his friend Gaheris was more inept with sword and lance than Dinadan was—but he found himself nevertheless liked and even respected by nearly everyone he met. When he stopped to consider the matter, as he did occasionally, he could only guess that people holding parties and feasts liked to have someone to invite who would sing and tell tales without charging a minstrel's usual fee.

Dinadan's first years at court were eventful years for the Round Table. Sir Gawain, who had gone away on a quest that all had expected to end in his death, returned, telling a strange tale of facing a Green Knight and of earning honor through surrender. The great French knight Sir Lancelot, having been defeated in a tournament, renounced his knightly arms and rode away to live as a hermit. Gaheris went off on a quest, disappeared for a time, and then returned with a remarkable lady named Lynet on his arm and an even stranger tale to tell, far too strange to have been invented. And occasionally, word would come to court telling of events in the outside world. From Cornwall came several stories about Sir Tristram's secret love for Queen Iseult and of King Mark's madness as his suspicions grew. From Wales, there came other stories, of a young man who was hunting a boar with a magic hound or who was looking for something called the Magic Cauldron of Diornach. From this, Dinadan concluded that Culloch was still at it.

Culloch was alone now, though; Kai and Bedivere had left him after the quest for Modron the merchant's son. When King Isbaddadon had given Culloch another ridiculous task and Culloch had declared his intention to pursue it, then King Arthur's knights had written him off and departed. Judging from the reports, though, Isbaddadon was still finding odd jobs for his daughter's intended.