The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality (21 page)

I tried to wipe my blade on the grass, but it didn't come very clean, so I finished the job with my cloak. I was quite dizzy now, and my body hurt all over, especially my chest. It took me ever so long to climb aboard Pollux, and then I pointed his nose toward home. He took about ten steps before darkness began to swallow me. I tried to push it away, but there was nothing I could do. I knew I was falling off my horse, though I never seemed to hit the ground. Falling, falling, I fell through the darkness.

When I woke up, I was lying on a straw bed, looking up at a straw roof. "What a lot of straw!" I thought. Then I was out again.

The second time I woke up, I recognized Mora, who was nursing her baby. Something important had happened, but I couldn't remember what it was. She came over, still holding the baby to her breast, and looked deeply into my eyes. Taking the cloth from my forehead, she rinsed it in a bowl and laid it back in place. "You had a nice sleep," she said.

The third time I woke up, Mora was sitting by the bed gazing at me. Hadn't I left her? What was I doing back here again? I was sure I had left on a horse, and ridden down the road. Then the memory came flooding back, and I groaned with the horror of it.

"I wanted to watch you, so I climbed the hill. I saw you fight Mike and Mitch. When you fell off your horse, I came after you."

"You brought me here?"

"Yes. You kept falling off your horse. Don't you remember?"

"Nothing. . ."

"I think you got kicked."

"It was brave of you to bring me here."

Mora started to say something, but then she gave a little shrug. "Nobody liked Mike and Mitch."

"Have those bodies been found?"

She nodded. "Soldiers have been galloping up and down the road. No one's come here yet."

"Where's my horse?"

"I hid it in the woods."

"Show me where."

"Can you ride? I think you should stay here. They'll catch you on the road."

"I don't want you mixed up in this. Is there some way through the woods back to the castle?"

"You could ride along the river as far as the bridge. Once you cross the river you'll be in the royal domain."

"Let's give it a try."

Pretty soon I was leading Pollux through a tangle of brush while Mora led the way. When we came to the bank of the river, the other side was only about fifteen yards away, but there was a steep bank and the water was deep and swift. As heavily laden as Pollux was, it would be a hard chance to swim it.

"Just before you get to the bridge, the river is wide and shallow. You could cross easily there."

"I won't forget this, Mora." I owed my life to this sweet-smelling girl, but I didn't want to lead her on by kissing her like a lover. I took her hand and kissed it instead. She smiled, and dropped me a curtsy.

Mounting up, I set off upstream along the river. The path was barely wide enough for a horse, and sometimes I had to dismount and lead him by the bridle. Getting on and off the horse was agony to my chest, but at least my head was clear.

It seemed a long time before I came in sight of the bridge, but sure enough, the river broadened, and it was so shallow that the rocky bottom was visible. I was halfway across when I heard the sound of hoofbeats approaching the bridge. I had been trying to make the crossing as quietly as possible, but now I urged Pollux forward over the slippery river rocks as quickly as I dared. Although I was close to the opposite bank when the riders burst into view, I was not close enough.

"There he is!" came the shout as they clattered across the bridge; within moments I was cut off, with four riders in front of me and the river all around me. None of them carried bows that I could see, and they did not seem inclined to enter the river; still, the open road to Albert's castle was blocked. Looking at their horses, which were as heavily laden with arms and armor as Pollux, I was willing to bet Pollux could outrun them. All I had to do was break through to the other side, but in order to do that I had to get out of the river.

One spot looked as bad as another. There was nowhere to get a running start, and although the bank was not very steep, it was sure to go badly if they attacked me when I was halfway up. Now I could hear more riders coming from the same direction. I had to do something fast, but what?

Suddenly I remembered my bow, snatched it from its scabbard, nocked an arrow, and shot almost without aiming into that clump of riders. With such a big target, my arrow had to hit something, and it took one of the riders in the thigh. He let out a cry and set his horse backing; it reared and threw him. I sent another arrow into their midst, and now there was confusion, and they were all in each other's way, giving me the chance I needed to climb the bank and gain the road. Behind me I could hear the other riders coming hard. I had no time for a third arrow. Stuffing the bow into its quiver, I drew my sword and charged, screaming Albert's name.

Several blows were aimed at me, but none landed. The open road was in front of me, and I galloped toward the castle. Looking over my shoulder I saw the new riders cross the bridge with Lord Hawke in the lead. How far to the castle? Three miles? I was very afraid I'd never make it at that hard gallop that seemed to be cracking my chest wide open.

"Darcey!" It was a voice I hadn't heard in a long, long time; the voice of someone that it galled me to be running from. Looking over my shoulder, I could see that his troop of soldiers had stopped. It was only Guy Hawke coming on at a comfortable lope, as though he was sure that I would stop.

And I did. But not before I had put a considerable distance between myself and his soldiers. Hawke slowed to a trot, and then to a walk, reining in just out of striking distance. I had to admit that he sat his horse well, and looked very natural in his armor and surcoat. He was a striking figure of a man: strong, erect, alive. And there was something else that a man like me, who is just a puzzle all patched together out of disparate ideas and yearnings and experiences, might be inclined to envy: Guy Hawke was carved out of one chunk. He had no doubts at all about who he was.

"What are you doing here, Darcey?" He had a good voice, deep and rich and full of ambiguous overtones that made the question difficult to understand, as if it were a bunch of different questions all rolled into one. "You don't belong here. We stopped adding new people a long time ago, Albert and I, and he had no business bringing you here. He also had no right to make a knight of you on a whim. That is an honor a man ought to earn and deserve."

"As far as that goes," I replied, "you bought your title with your money, so don't give me that crap, Guy Hawke."

"Do you dare to call me that?" he flared up. "In this kingdom I am a duke, and it is Lord Hawke to you, outlander!"

"May it be as you wish, my lord. But the king of this kingdom made me a knight. And I am known as Sir Jack."

He looked disdainfully away into the woods, and sat with his lips pursed, as though some offensive odor had passed beneath his nostrils. How I wanted to push him off his horse!

"No," he said quietly. "You could never be a knight. What you are is a mercenary, Albert's hired sword. Do you think I don't know what goes on around here? That gypsy witch looked into her crystal ball, and now here you are," he said with scathing contempt. "Here you are to solve Albert's problems, of which I am the worst. I, who stitched this kingdom back together when it was ripping to pieces at every seam!"

"Did you do that for Albert? Did you do that to serve your king?"

"You have no right to question me!"

"Then good day to you, Lord Hawke. I'm sure we'll meet again." I began to turn my horse around.

"Darcey," he said, and against my better judgment I faced him again. "I am not through with you yet. You murdered two of my men, in case it may have slipped your mind, and now you have to answer for that."

"I will tell Albert what happened. He will decide what to do about it. He is the king."

"Albert and I will decide what to do about it together. In the meantime, you are coming with me."

"I am going to Albert's castle. Detain me at your peril."

He gave a little nod, but it was not to me; and I understood immediately that he had been distracting me in order to bring someone around behind me. He turned his horse and tried to move away from me, and on a hunch I moved with him, not daring to take the time to look behind. Then he tried to move away again. Now I was sure that he was trying to get out of the line of fire, and once again I stayed with him.

"Shoot him, you fools!" he shouted, trying to dart away. But this time I was determined to get behind him, to put his body between myself and his bowmen. "Shoot!" he screamed. But I had the fraction of a second I needed, and now I was behind him. Whipping out my sword, I laid the edge against his neck

"If you want to live, tell them to throw their bows into the woods. You have three seconds. One . . . two . . ."

"Do as he says, idiots!" he screamed at the bowmen, angrier at them than he was scared of me.

What now? A quick thrust through the soft tissue behind the ear into his brain. Could I do it? He had strained every nerve trying to get his men to shoot me in the back. Wasn't that enough of a reason? I was a thorn in his side. I stood in the way of his ambitions. He was bound to try again.

What was I waiting for? Behind me I could hear a commotion of voices and a rattle of gear back at the bridge. His men could easily see that I was holding their lord at swordpoint, and all hell could break loose in seconds. Why was I stalling?

I had already killed two people that very same day, and the fact of it was still huge and heavy and unassimilated. I needed a chance to gather some thoughts around it and make a place for it in my psyche where it wouldn't chew away at my spirit. I just wasn't ready to kill anyone else; certainly not in cold blood and from behind. That was the decision I made; and in the light of everything that followed, it was a very bad decision, one of the worst I ever made. All I can say is that the right choice would have been the wrong one too. That's my excuse.

Behind me I heard a shout and a clatter of hoof beats, and I knew the duke's men had made up their minds. "You owe me one, m'lord," I said as I sheathed my sword. Then I dug my heels into Pollux's flanks and we went pounding away up the road. The first time I looked back, I could see they weren't pursuing me. The duke's men had formed up around him, and he was beating those three bowmen with something I couldn't make out at that distance.

I slowed down to a more comfortable lope, one that would get me home almost as quickly, but which wasn't so excruciatingly painful to my wounded chest. I was very tired and sore, and I felt like I didn't understand anything anymore.

Sir Leo was the first person I saw when I reached the castle. He was practicing with his bow, but as soon as I was close enough for him to get a good look at me, he dropped everything and ran to help me off my horse. "Never mind, my friend," he said when I tried to tell him the story. "Let's get you inside." Then I collapsed.

When I woke up it was dark outside, and I was all bandaged up and lying in bed. Albert was there, and Jenna, and Marya, and Sir Leo, and Sir Rudy Strapp, and a couple of men who I had never seen before who were apparently knights by the leather trim on their clothes.

"He's awake, Sire," said Marya.

Albert came over and sat down in a chair by the bed. "Can you hear me, Jack?"

"Yes, your majesty." I had to say it twice, because the first time it came out as a croak.

"How are you feeling?"

My chest was still sore under the tight wrapping of bandages, but nothing like it had been before. "I feel a lot better, Sire," I said. "But I think I'm going to have to skip jousting practice tomorrow."

That seemed to clear the tension in the air. I could see that they had all been very worried about me.

"If you feel up to it, we'd like to know what happened." So I told them about the fight with Mike and Mitch, and about my confrontation with Lord Hawke. I told them that a peasant girl had taken care of me while I was unconscious and that she had shown me the river trail to the bridge; but other than that I didn't tell them anything about my relationship with Mora. When I had finished, I felt tired and sore all over again.

"I think he ought to rest now, Sire," said Marya.

"Yes, I'm sure you're right, Mage," said Albert. "All right, lads, we'll reconvene in the hall." The men filed out, with friendly nods and smiles in my direction as though I'd broken my leg catching a touchdown pass. I found that rather confusing, but I tried to smile back.

"I'm going to let these women look after you, Jack," said Albert. "You won't mind that, will you? We'll talk more in the morning."

"I hope I haven't screwed things up."

"Just rest now. I'm the king. You can leave the fretting to me."

"I never killed anyone before, Albert."

"Oh yes, I understand, Jack. Believe me, I understand very well." He paused in the doorway, and I imagined that a whole review of his experiences as king was passing through his memory. "The life here takes some getting used to," he said finally. "This isn't Connecticut." Then he went out.

"Mage," said Jenna with just a touch of queenly hauteur, "would you leave me alone with Sir Jack for a moment? I promise not to tire him." I wondered what she wanted. I didn't want to be left alone with Jenna. I wanted to go back to sleep.

But Marya dropped a dainty curtsy that was just as pretty as a play, said, "Yes, m'lady," and left, closing the door behind her.

Jenna waited until the silence had settled in the room. Then she said, "Good for you, Jack."

I waited for more, but that was it. "Good for me what?"

"Good for you for killing that trash."

Did she think I wanted to be congratulated for that? "Thanks, Jenna, but I never wanted to kill anybody, and it makes me feel sick to think about it."

"I know you're a sensitive man, Jack. That is to your credit, I'm sure. But whatever you may think about it, you did a great service to the kingdom today. A great many people, commoners and nobles too, will be drinking to your health tonight. You're a hero, Jack. Did you see the way those knights looked at you?"