The Wizard (17 page)

were witnessed by Thiazi, Thrym, and other Angrborn. We sacrificed to our Overcyns and the Giants of Skai. Only small sacrifices, three fowls and two rabbits, but they were all we had. Our husband . . ." Marder said, "Yes?" "He wanted to sacrifice twenty slaves. We were able to dissuade him, telling him that King Arnthor would never come to our aid if he knew we'd offered human beings." "You hoped for help from Thortower?" Marder asked. "Yes. Yes, of course we did. We do. We hope that when King Arnthor learns that we, a noblewoman of his realm, have become Queen of Jotunland, he'll send help." "At last I understand," said the Knight of the Leopards. "Understand also that silence is best," Marder told him. I said, "Your father promised King Gilling he would send someone for help. He cannot have intended to send you." "He'll be half mad with worry," Idnn conceded, "but he will soon persuade Thiazi to view us in his crystal, or view us himself in a basinyou may tell the rest about that if you wish. Then he'll see us here speaking to you, and that we're safe. Sir Garvaon and Sir Svon offered to go, but they were badly hurt. I was terribly afraid my father would let Sir Svon go. He isn't wounded as badly as Sir Garvaon and is younger. He has recovered remarkably. Their squires offered to go in their places, either or both together, but one's been wounded and they're only boys. So we went." "And came through safely," I remarked. "By the Lady's grace. We prayedprayed ever so hardthat she'd let us live 'til our marriage was consummated, and she's given us reason to hope she's granted our prayer. You've been patient, all of you. May we try your patience a bit more? Sir Able, you hold His Grace's parole?" "I suppose I do, but I'll free him of it whenever he wishes. I ask no ransom." "Then free him, and we'll beg him to go to King Arnthor and tell him how badly we need his help in Utgard." Idnn turned to Marder and took his hand. "You'll go, won't you, Your Grace? Peacea peace with Jotunland that will last is almost within our grasp, and we'll bless you to the end of our days." "You are a most excellent queen, Your Majesty." Marder shook himself as Gylf would when he left a river. "So good, so beautiful and brave, that it's a great temptation to give you whatever you ask, no matter how unwise. Ten years ago, I probably would have." He rummaged in a pocket of his jerkin. "Let us arrange lesser matters first. Sir Able, I have money in earnest of my ransom. You have given me fealty have you not? You must obey my instructions. Take this and do not argue. We must ride tomorrow, and we should ride early." The purse I had refused earlier landed in my lap. "For the remainder of my ransom, you will have my favor as long as I live, and a seat in my council." He cleared his throat. "Now you're to answer yes. Are those things, with the foreign coins, sufficient?" "Your Grace" I began. "I thank you for your most gracious acceptance," Marder told me firmly. "In return, I free you from your oath. You have held the pass indeed, but you have held it long enough." Uns started to clap, but I silenced him. "I ride north at first light in service to the Queen of Jotunland," Marder continued. "I take it that you, my loyal vassal, will ride with me?" "Joyfully, Your Grace." Woddet exclaimed, "And I with Sir Able, if he'll have me." To which the Knight of the Leopards added, "And I!" Marder thanked them both. "As for your errand to King Arnthor, Your Majesty, my herald can-perform it better than I could. I'll send him in the morning, south at the same time the rest of us go north. But I warn you, whatever help our king sends will probably arrive too late. Men will have to be collected and supplied. Your yourself rode from Thortower to this point on the border of Jotunland, did you not?" Silently, Idnn nodded. "How long did it take you, Your Majesty?" "Two months." Idnn's answer was so softly voiced that Blind Berthold cupped his ear to hear her. "Before winter set in?" She nodded. "My herald must reach King Arnthor first. Preparations will not began until he does." Marder tugged his beard. "I told Sir Able once that he was to hold this pass until there was ice in the bay. The bay will be clear before we can have any hope of help from King Arnthor. We will have to settle this ourselves, and we'll need every sword for it." Next day, still early of a dark morning, when Cloud was eating league after league of the Plain of Jotunland with a swinging walk that pressed every other animal in the column, and Heimir and Hela were loping at my right and left like the Valfather's wolves, I felt Thiazi's gaze. I touched spur to Cloud and drew Eterne; and so it was that Thiazi, looking up from his crystal, could report to Beel (and to Toug and Mani, who had just come in) that Idnn and I were riding north at the head of an army.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN GIANT'S BLOOD!

Toug sat on the stone floor of the guardroom and listened to Thiazi, Garvaon, and Svon argue with Schildstarr. No one except Wistan paid the least attention to him; if they had, they might have thought him inattentive. Although he heard and considered all that was said, his eyes remained fixed on the darkest corner of the room. "Won't stand," Schildstarr repeated stubbornly. "Forever?" Thiazi's bass voice was smooth. "You're correct. It need stand only until His Majesty recovers." "How do we know he's not cold?" Schildstarr leaned forward as he spoke, and his huge chair creaked under two tons of muscle and bone. "You asked before," Thiazi said. "You know our answer. I am his chief minister. If he were dead, I would declare a year of mourning for our fallen king and hail a successor. If he dies, I'll do exactly that. He isn't dead, and by Geror's blessing may recover. You call yourself his loyal subject. Very well, he has need of you. Show your loyalty." "Give me sight a' him and I will." Schildstarr sounded as intransigent as ever. Garvaon said, "He's asleep. No man's wounds heal unless he sleeps. You must know thatI see your scars." Schildstarr's laughter seemed to shake the walls. "Nae half a' 'em!" Mani lay curled in the dark corner Toug watched, his luminous green eyes opening and closing; the shadowy figure behind him seemed Idnn at times, at others an ancient crone, and at still others both, or mere emptiness. And though the fire on the broad hearth had faded to smoke and ashes and the windowless guardroom was freezing, Toug was sweating. Beyond or beside his fear he wondered whether Wistan could see the witch, too, and decided he could not. "I've questions of my own," Svon told Schildstarr. "We have answered yours. When the king wakes, we'll take you to him, provided he consents to see you. I'll answer one more, one you haven't asked but should. I think it likely that he will consent. Do you concur, My Lord? Sir Garvaon?" "I do," Thiazi said; and Garvaon, "Yes." "In which case you can do one of two things," Svon continued. "You can wait here like a sensible man, or you can leave this castle and return tonight with the others. You're not a prisoner." Schildstarr snorted. "You think we couldn't hold you, and no doubt you're right. But since we don't intend to try, it's neither here nor there." Leaning back in the oversized chair on which he sat cross-legged, Svon shaped a tower from his fingers. "You're the king's loyal subject. Does your loyalty extend to the queen as well?" "King Gilling's nae wed." "You're wrong. I won't try to prove it to you. You wouldn't accept my evidence, and there's no need since he'll tell you himself when he wakes. But when you hear it from his own mouthas you willwill you be loyal to her? She's a human woman." "One a' you little hotlanders?" Schildstarr rubbed his huge jaw. "Yes," Svon said, "and your queen, whether you're ready to believe it or not. When you believe itwhen you have proof of itwill you obey her?" "Depend on wha' she wants, is my view." Garvaon grunted and would have pushed his chair back, had chair and table been smaller. "You'll obey your queen if it suits you. Spoken like a true Son of Angr." "You pick chains and lock 'em on you." Schildstarr's tone carried deadly hatred. "My folk dinna take to chains. Somebody else has got to do it." "As you say. Someone does." Thiazi raised a hand. "Enough!" "I agree," Svon said. "We've need of friends here. We have plenty of foes already. I meant no insult, Schildstarr, and imply nothing. Do you know who struck down the king?" Slowly the Frost Giant's head swung from side to side. "I was there. Close by, only I dinna see it. There's tittletattle noo. This one and that one, and some braggin's wha' I hear. Mebbe yes. Mebbe no. I don't know." "Is anyone preparing to storm the castle?" Cunning crept into Schildstarr's eyes. "There's talk. Tomorrow, mebbe. Why we come." "Eighteen of you Angrborn?" "Nineteen wi' me. Good fighters every one a' us. How many knights you got?" "It's not we who have them, but your king." "We have Angrborn, knights, men-at-arms, and archers enough to defend His Majesty's home against a determined assault," Thiazi told Schildstarr, "and defend it we will. My fear is that young bloods, foolishly contemptuous of those smaller than themselves, will assail us without reflection. That could ignite a new rebellion." Schildstarr rose, a process that consumed some time. "You've nae a' us." "That is not true," Thiazi told him. "Nae muckle to eat, neither. Month's food?" He looked from face to face. "We might fetch some." "Lord Thiazi. Sir Garvaon. Sir Svon." A slender woman dressed as slaves were had appeared in the doorway; a breath passed before Toug recognized her. "His Majesty has regained consciousness. He calls for the queen." The corner Toug had watched was empty. Mani looked behind him and grinned. Baki stepped hastily out of the way when Schildstarr and Thiazi hurried out, and curtsied to Svon, Garvaon, and Wistan as they passed. Toug remained behind. "Is this a trick?" Baki curtsied again, this time to him. "La, sir, and I am but a simple girl." "He's really awake?" "Yes. That is good for you, I think." "It would be better for me if he died." For a moment, Toug was sick with fear. 'I'm going to kill him, and since I am the man I am, I'll have to do it in a fair fight." The words came of their own volition, and the pitiful thing in him that cringed and wept was locked away. "That means a fight after he has recovered, a fight in which he has a chance to defend himself. I'm not looking forward to it." "Lord Toug," Baki said, and knelt at his feet. "Don't do that," Toug told her. "What if someone should see us?" "I see you." Mani yawned. "I'm wondering whether you see yourself." "Stand up, please." Toug took Baki's hand. "You wanted to bring Sir Able, so you could take him to Aelfrice because you can't fight . . ." He had lost the name, and groped for it. "Garsecg, Lord. Setr. We can fight him, and fight those who cling to him still. But we cannot win that fight without someone like Sir Able. Or you." Mani stepped in to rescue Toug. "What will Sir Svon say when he looks around for you?" Toug gulped and nodded. "You're right. They're going to see the king. I better hurry." He found Wistan waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "You were talking privately to that slave girl," Wistan said. "I stayed away, so I couldn't overhear you." "Thanks." "This is a funny place, isn't it?" They began to climb as Toug agreed. "There were a couple things just now." Wistan cleared his throat. "Sir Garvaon and Sir Svon talking to that giant, you mean? I liked it better when we fought them." "So did I." For a moment Wistan appeared to contemplate a change of subject. "Do you trust him?" "No. Never. I'd sooner trust Seaxneat." Wistan stopped. "Who's that?" "A man I used to know. A thief." I see. "A coward, too. I didn't think so then, because he talked so brave. Now I know he was trying to make himself believe it, but I believed him. I was a lot younger." "I understand," Wistan said, and offered Toug a hand up. Toug shook his head. "It wasn't really very long ago. It just seems like a long time. So much has happened." They climbed for a minute or more; then Wistan said, "She's not bad-looking, is she?" "Queen Idnn?" "No, the redheaded girl." Wistan grinned. "Oh. Baki." "So many girls have dark hair. There's nothing wrong with that, but red hair or yellow hair makes a nice change." Toug said nothing. "There's all the freckles, of course. A lot of people don't like them, but I say what's wrong with freckles? She kept her eyes down, did you notice? Maybe not with you, but when I was in there, and our masters and the giants." "No," Toug admitted. "Not with me." "When they won't look you in the eye, it's because they don't want you to know what they're thinking." "I didn't know that." "So you know what they're thinking about. Only I wanted to say I'm not going to pick your flowers." Wistan mounted the next couple of steps. "Don't try to pick that one," Toug told him. "I won't. We're friends, right? We'd better be, since we're the only squires here." This time Toug accepted the hand Wistan offered. "But there's things I wanted to ask. Like, the voices. After everybody left? The two giants and our masters and me. So that left you and the slave girl." Toug devoted his attention to the next step. "I couldn't hear what you said, but I could hear voicesthree people. One was you and one was the girl. There was somebody else with a thin, rough voice, too." "What do you think the king will say?" Toug paused to catch his breath. "About Schildstarr and eighteen more?" Wistan shrugged. "Another thing. I don't think this will bother you." "I'm not bothered," Toug declared. "There was something in the corner. Did you see it?" "The king's cat." "Is it the king's? I didn't know. It's a good thing you told me, I'll have to leave it alone. No, I meant something else, something in the shadow there." "There are lots of things that live in shadows." "You saw it, too. Was that the voice I heard?" "Yes," Toug said, "what you saw in the corner." Again, Wistan was silent for a time. Toug climbed as fast as he could, hoping to outdistance him. "You were Sir Able's page. That's what I heard. Then when Sir Able made Sir Svon a knight, he made you Sir Svon's squire. Sir Able isn't like most people." Toug agreed. "There's something of that about you, too." The rush of pride Toug felt was almost overwhelming. "I'm your senior. If you won't acknowledge that, we can have it out right now." "You were a squire before I was," Toug agreed. Wistan nodded. "As senior squire I order you to tell me who the third voice belonged to." "I already have," Toug said. "The thing in the corner. Sometimes it looked like a woman. What was it?" "A ghost, I think." "What's its name?" "I don't know." "We gently born fight with swords." Wistan's voice was cold. "And we give others a chance to draw. Draw yours." "I don't want to fight," Toug declared, "and I surely don't want to kill you." "Coward!" Wistan's hand was on the hilt. Toug took a step backward that put his back against cold stone. "I yield." "I'd fight you," Wistan was furious, "and I'd beat you." "I know it," Toug said. "I yield." "You fought the Angrborn." Toug nodded. "So did you. I know that, too." "But you won't fight me?" "No." Toug shook his head. "We may both have to fight the giants again soon. Can I keep my weapons? I swear I'll never employ them treacherously." Wistan's grin was triumphant. "Hand them over." Toug nodded and unbuckled his sword belt. Wistan held out a hand. His grin widened. "She's not a sword," Toug told him. "She's a mace. Sword Breaker's her name." He paused, caressing the hilt. "I'll give her to you, but I've got to tell you something. When Sir Able and I were boys, another boy and I tried to rob him. He beat us and took our weapons." "You're lying! Sir Able's much older than you." Toug nodded. "He is now, and when we met again he didn't remember me. Or if he did, he didn't say anything." Wistan did not nod. "Sword Breaker used to be his," Toug added as he handed her over. "He gave her to me. I told him I didn't deserve her, but I didn't say why. Maybe that's why I'm losing her like this." Wistan was examining Sword Breaker. "I hope you'll take care of her. She really was his." "There's a cistern in the cellar," Wistan told Toug, "and they say it's so deep it's never been full. I'm going to drop this in there, the first chance I get." Toug watched Wistan climb until he was out of sight. Toug was refused admission to the king's bedchamber; but he argued so persistently with the giant on guard that Svon overheard him and let him in. It was such a sight as he had never imagined, a room bigger than the biggest barn in Glennidam and rich as a casket of gems: the huge gilt bed, its surface higher than Toug's head, on which the king lay pale as his own sheets, propped by silk pillows the size of mattresses; the gold-embroidered bed hangings of crimson velvet (more cloth and richer cloth than Toug had ever seen) drawn back by massy chains of gold; Schildstarr (rough as a wolf, filthy as a cur, and thrice as big as anyone had a right to be) leaning over that bed as attentively as the best nurse; Thiazi, reserved and alert, his face tight with secrets; the resolute knights and the swarming slaves straining to see and hear. A slave drew Toug aside. "He sez th' queen was wit' him inside the stuns'ls, only she warn't, 'cause these gals," the hand gripping Toug's arm tightened, "what kin see, they'd o' seen her, wouldn't they, mate?" Toug managed to nod. "You'd have heard, too, wouldn't you? If the queen came in they'd say good morning, I'm sure, or something like that, so you men would know to kneel." "Aye. That's so." Pouk's whisper declined until Toug could scarcely hear him, though Pouk's lips were at Toug's ear. "Under th' big bed, mate." Toug nodded and edged nearer the vast bedstead, waiting for a moment when no slave woman was looking at him. "You're a good friend," the king was saying; and his voice was the sound of that sad and weary wind which stirs the dead leaves blanketing the dead, warning of cold rain. "We'll remember," the wind moaned. "Remember. Remember . . ." "Your Majesty must not tire yourself." That was Thiazi, like Schildstarr, bending above the bed. "The question is who's to command, Your Majesty." The stern voice was Garvaon's. "We obey His Lordship. We're his men, and our men obey us. We obey My Lord Thiazi now because His Lordship has ordered us to. But if Schildstarr and the Angrborn he says he can bring us will obey only you . . ." Garvaon let the sentence hang, but there was no reply from the king. Schildstarr chuckled in a way that made Toug shudder. Still, no one spoke. "Rum, ain't it?" Pouk whispered. All eyes were on the king. Nodding, Toug ducked and stepped under the bed, where lips brushed his. "Lord." Having kissed him lightly, Baki knelt. "I wouldn't, if I were you." Mani sounded smug and knowing. "Females always make a lot of noise, even if you don't. Someone's bound to look under here then." Toug, who wasn't certain he knew what Mani was talking about, sat on carpet so thick and soft that he felt he might sink into it. "Pouk said you wanted to see me." "I do, Lord. Lord, that boy Wistan has the sword that is not a sword. Did he steal it from you?" "He won it from me," Toug confessed. "He wanted to fight, because I wouldn't tell him about Mani and the witch. He thinks I should obey him as if he were already a knight, and I was his squire. He's not a knight, and I'm no squire of his. I wouldn't break my promise to Mani, and if I had told him about the witch it would have been something else. And something after that, doing his work for him or whatever, and I could see that, too. I told him about the witch and did it in a way that made him think he'd heard her when he'd