The Knight. Part 4

"Yes!"

"I doubt it. If they are indeed listening, they must have heard that you didn't confide in me. Able, you are awake. Sit up, please, and look at me." I did.

"How much have you heard?"

"Everything, or nearly. How did you know I was awake?"

"When you were truly asleep, you stirred in your sleep half a dozen times, and twice seemed almost to speak. Once you snored a little. When you feigned sleep, you moved not a muscle and uttered not a sound, though we were talking in ordinary tones within two strides of you. So you were awake or dead." 48."I didn't want Svon to feel worse than he did already."

"Admirable."

I said, "I'm sorry I threw your sword, Svon."

"Who caught Svon and returned him to us? Do you know?" I had no idea. I shook my head.

Svon wiped his nose. "They gave me a message for you, Able. You are to be sure that your playmate is looking out for you."

I suppose I gawked.

Ravd said, "Who are these friends of yours, Able?"

"I think . . ."

"The outlaws?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. Couldn't it be the Aelf?" Ravd looked thoughtful. "Svon, did you intend Able's death?"

"Yes, I did." There were no tears now; he drew his dagger and handed it to me. "I was going to kill you with this. You may keep it if you want to." I turned it over in my hands. The tip was angled down to meet a long straight edge.

"It's a saxe." Svon sounded as if we were sharing food and pa.s.sing the time.

"It's like the knives the Frost Giants carry. Of course theirs are much bigger." I said, "You were going to kill me with this?" and he nodded. Ravd asked, "Why are you telling us this now, Svon?"

"Because I was told to give their message to him as soon as he woke up, and I think they're listening."

"So you said."

"I was hoping you'd go to sleep. Then I could have awakened him, and whispered it. That was what I wanted."

"You'd never have had to tell me what happened."

Svon nodded.

"I don't want it," I said. I gave him his dagger back. "I have a knife of my own, and I like mine better."

"You may as well tell us everything," Ravd said; and Svon did.

"I didn't run into them like I said. I ran into a tree, and hit it hard enough that I fell down. When I could I got up again and circled around your fire, keeping it only just in sight. When I was on the side where Able was, I got as 49.close as I dared, and that was pretty close. You said you would have heard me if I had found my sword. I don't think so, because you didn't hear that. I was waiting for you to go to sleep. When I was sure you were sleeping, I was going to kill him as quietly as I could and carry his body away and hide it. I wouldn't come back until tomorrow afternoon, and you'd think he had simply run away.

"They grabbed me from behind, making less noise than I had. They had swords and bows. They took me to a clearing where I could see them a little in the moonlight, and they told me that if I hurt Able I'd belong to them. I'd have to slave for them for the rest of my life."

Ravd stroked his chin.

"They gave me that message and made me say it seven times, and swear on my sword that I'd do everything exactly the way they said."

"They had your sword?"

"Right." The kind of sarcasm I was going to get to know a lot better crept into Svon's voice. "I don't know how they got it without your hearing, but they had it."

Recalling things Bold Berthold had told me, I asked whether they were black.

"No. I don't know what color they were, but it wasn't black. They looked pale in the moonlight."

Ravd said, "Able thinks they might be Aelf. So do I. I take it they didn't identify themselves?"

"No, but-- It could be right. I know they weren't people like us."

"I've never seen them. Have you, Able?"

I said, "Not that I remember, but Bold Berthold has. He said the ones who bothered him were like ashes or charcoal."

Ravd turned back to Svon. "You must tell me everything you remember about them, just as truthfully as you can. Or did they caution you not to?" Svon shook his head. "They said to give Able their message when he woke, and never to hurt him. That was all."

"Why is Able precious to them?"

"They wouldn't tell."

"Able? Do you know?"

"No." I wished then that Ravd had not seen I was awake. "They want me to 50.do something, but I don't know what it is."

Svon said, "Then how do you know they do?"

I did not answer.

"Our king was born in Aelfrice," Ravd told me, "as was his sister, Princess Morcaine. Since you didn't recognize his face on a scield, I doubt that you knew it."

"I didn't," I said.

"I don't believe my squire credits it--or at least, I believe he did not until now, though he may have changed his opinion."

Svon told me, "People talk as if Aelfrice were a foreign country, like Osterland. Sir Ravd says it's really another world. If it is, I don't see how people can come here from there. Or go there either."

Ravd shrugged. "And I, who have never done it, cannot tell you. I can tell you, however, that it's not wise to deny everything you can't understand. How were your captors dressed? Could you see?"

"They weren't, as far as I could see. They were as naked as poor children. They were tall, though--taller than I am, and thin." His breath caught in his throat. "They had terrible eyes."

"Terrible in what way?"

"I can't explain it. They held the moonlight and made it burn. It hurt to look at them."

Ravd sat in silence for a minute or two after that, his hand stroking his chin.

"One more question, Svon, then we must sleep. All of us. It's late already, and we should be up early. You said that there were four or five of them. Was that the truth?"

"About that many. I couldn't be sure."

"Able, put a little more wood on the fire, since you're up. How many could you be sure of, Svon?"

"Four. Three were men. Males, or whatever you call them. But I think there may have been more."

"The fourth was female, I take it. Did she speak?"

"No." "How many males did?"

"Three."

Ravd yawned, which may have been play-acting. "Lie down, Svon. Sleep if 51.you can."

Svon spread a blanket for himself and lay down on it.

Ravd said, "I believe you will be safe, Able. From Svon, at least." I suppose I nodded; but I was thinking how another world might seem like it was just another country, and about yellow eyes that burned with moonlight like a cat's.

CHAPTER 6.

SEEING SOMETHING.

We reached Glennidam about midmorning, and Ravd called the people togeth- er, all the men and all the women, and some children, too. He began by driving Battlemaid into a log Svon and I fetched for him. "You are invited to swear fealty to our liege, Duke Marder," he told them. "I won't make you swear--you're free to refuse if you wish to refuse. But you should know that I will report those who do not swear to him."

After that they swore, all of them, putting their hands on the lion's head and repeating the oath after Ravd.

"Now I would like to speak with some of you, one at a time," he said, and chose six men and six women, and had Svon and me watch the rest while he talked to the first one in the front room of the biggest house in the village. An hour went by while he was talking to that first one, and the ones who were 53.waiting got restless; but Svon put his hand to his sword and shouted until they quieted down.

The first man came out at last, sweating and unable to meet the eyes of the waiting eleven, and Ravd called for the first woman. She went inside trembling, and the minutes ticked by. A s.h.i.+ny blue fly, big with carrion, buzzed around me until I chased it, then around Svon, and at last around a little black-bearded man the rest called Toug, who seemed much too despondent to chase anything. The woman appeared in the doorway, her face streaked with tears. "Able?

Which one is Able? He wants you."

I went in, and the woman sat down on a little milking stool in front of Ravd. He, seated on a short bench with a back, said, "Able, this is Brega. Because she is a woman, I permit her to sit. The men stand. Brega tells me there is a man called Seaxneat who is well acquainted with the outlaws and entertains them at times. Do you understand why I asked you to come in?"

I said, "Yes, sir. Only I don't think I can help much."

"If we learn nothing from you, you may learn something from us." Ravd spoke to the woman. "Now, Brega, I want to explain how things are for you. In fact, I must explain that, because I doubt that you understand it." Brega, thin and no longer young, snuffled and wiped her eyes with a corner of her ap.r.o.n.

"You are afraid that Able here will tell others what you've told me about Seaxneat. Isn't that so?"

She nodded.

"He won't, but your danger is much greater than that. Do you two know each other, by the way?"

She shook her head; I said, "No, sir."

"You have told me about Seaxneat, and of course I will try to find him and talk to him. Those people outside will know you've talked to me, and the longer we're together the more they will think you've told me. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Y-yes."

"Have you yourself, or your husband, ever been robbed?"

"They knocked me down." The tears burst forth, and flowed for some minutes. 54."Do you know the name of the outlaw who knocked you down?" She shook her head.

"But if you knew it, you would tell me, wouldn't you? It would make no sense for you to keep it from me when you have told me as much as you have. You see that, don't you?"

"It was Egil."

"Thank you. Brega, you've taken an oath, the most solemn oath a woman can take. You've acknowledged Duke Marder as your liege, and sworn to obey him in all things. If you break that oath, Hel will condemn your spirit to Muspel, the Circle of Fire. The sacrifices you've offered the Aelf can't save you. I take it you know all that."

She nodded.

"I am here because Duke Marder appointed me. If it were not for that, I would be sitting at my own table in Redhall, or seeing to my horses there. I speak for Duke Marder, just as if he were here in person. I am his knight." She sniffled. "I know."

"Furthermore, the outlaws will avenge themselves upon you and your whole village, if they are left free to do so. Egil, who knocked you down, will do worse. This is your chance to avenge yourself, with words worth more than swords to Duke Marder and me. Do you know of anyone else here who is on good terms with the outlaws? Anyone at all?"

She shook her head.

"Only Seaxneat. What is his wife's name?"

"Disira."

"Really?" Ravd pursed his hps. "That's perilously near a queen's name some men conjure with. Do you know that name?"

"No. I don't say it."

"Does she? I will not use her name. The woman we are speaking of. Seaxneat's wife. Has she alluded to that queen in your hearing?"

"No," Brega repeated.

Ravd sighed. "Able, would you know Seaxneat if you saw him? Think before you speak."

I said, "I'm sure I would, sir."

"Describe him, please, Brega."

55.The woman only stared.