The Dragon on The Border

by Gordon R. Dickson

  Chapter Twenty

  Jim stared. Liseth had changed completely.

  She had drawn herself up stiffly; and her face was white and imperious. Her voice rang with some of the unbelievable penetration of the de Mer voices in general. Jim winced, half expecting her tones to carry all through the peel tower; so that in a second or two he would see a couple of the brothers above him on the stairs and another pair at the foot of them, all coming at him at the same time.

  The as yet unknighted de Mer sons might not show themselves as very capable against worthy warriors like the experienced men-at-arms MacDougall had taken with him. But Jim was no worthy warrior, himself—as Brian had bluntly told him, more than once. Besides, the thought of encountering four opponents, who probably totaled well over seven hundred pounds on the hoof, was something no reasonable man would go out of his way to look for.

  Of course, many knights like Sir Brian were not particularly reasonable. But Jim was.

  "Liseth!" he said, involuntarily making a hushing gesture with his hand toward her. "What—"

  "Sir!" She had not softened a bit from her appearance of a few seconds before. "Am I to understand you right? You want me to draw out this man, only? Nothing more?"

  "Of course, nothing more!" said Jim. "No other idea ever crossed my mind—"

  "Because, Sir!" said Liseth. "I'll have you to understand that I have my honor! And the honor of my family! I am a virgin and unwed! I cannot think that a gentleman would suggest—"

  "But I didn't suggest!" protested Jim. "As I started to say, what you seem to be talking about never crossed my mind. I'm only thinking of you drawing him out in public. Unless it's in a room full of people, you can ignore him completely. Stay away from him absolutely! No, I only want to see his airs and graces demonstrated in public so I can learn them!"

  Liseth reverted to her pleasant self so quickly that Jim could hardly believe she was the same person who had been sounding those ringing "Sirs!" in his ears a second or two before.

  "Forgive me, if I misunderstood," she said, lowering her eyes. "I am still young, and a weak, simple maiden, alas. It is not always easy for me to understand the whys and mysterious talk of Mages like yourself, let alone men old enough to be my father."

  Jim really did wince inside this time. He was absolutely positive that he was no more than eight years or so older than Liseth, at the outside, and probably less. But it would not be sensible to go into that matter right now. The main thing was, she was back in an agreeable temper.

  "Not at all, not at all," he said soothingly. "You're incomparably wise for your years. I assume it's because of your excellent heritage; and the responsibility you've undoubtedly taken on in this castle, where there've been no other women of your rank all these years. It's because I know you can control men that I propose such a thing as this to you. You will allow Ewen MacDougall only so much nearness as you wish. I was sure that you could handle this by yourself."

  "I will not say I cannot," said Liseth. "Part of what you say may be true. I have been alone in this castle and I have learned something of how to handle men. Very well, then, I will do as you ask—and, anent this matter of knowing how to handle men. I pray that you will let me go about this in my own manner, and trust me; no matter how I act toward m'Lord MacDougall. Believe always that I am concentrating only on your wishes. It may seem to you that I am not doing as you had expected; but in that case, be patient. You will find I've only taken the surest route to the ends you desire."

  "Absolutely. I trust you. I'll be quite content with you doing everything your own way," said Jim, wishing he could wipe his brow, which now felt cool in the updraft of air through the open tower down which their stairs was descending.

  He hurried to change the subject.

  "On other matters," he said.

  "Yes, m'Lord?"

  "The next day or so, I must get in touch with Snorrl once more," said Jim, "so that he can show me the way to some of the Little Men. I can't waste any time suggesting to them that they come in on our side to fight the Hollow Men. By the by, do you know if your father has sent any word of our intentions to his friends along the Border?"

  "I believe he has," said Liseth. "In fact, I know he has. But you must seek any answers on that from him."

  "I will, indeed. Thank you," said Jim. "So, now, if you will send out Greywings at the first opportunity to hunt for the wolf—"

  "I already did so, the minute you appeared at the castle," Liseth said. "You see, I knew you would need Snorrl. She should locate him sometime today; and Snorrl will not expect to meet anyone until tomorrow's morn. We will both go forth to meet him then, fairly early. If I rise before you, m'Lord, I will knock upon the door of your chamber. Do you the same for me, if you should rise very early."

  "I don't know where your chamber is," said Jim.

  "Oh, that's right," said Liseth. "Well—yes you do. You had to use it one time to make some magic."

  "Oh!" Jim was embarrassed. "Of course. Yes, I will knock on your chamber door if I'm up early."

  Privately, he decided he would do nothing of the sort. The chance of his actions being misunderstood, if not by Liseth then by others of the de Mer clan, was not worth the risk.

  He had forgotten, until Liseth fired up a little earlier, that these men and women of gentle rank really held honor as a valuable, if not a vital, thing. He had no doubt that Brian and Giles, for example, would die for theirs if they thought that was necessary. He had very little doubt that Herrac, and the kind of daughter and sons he had raised, would have the same sort of reaction.

  A man or woman's "word"—meaning "word of honor"—was literally a type of currency. Dishonorable people of rank, or those of very high rank, might sometimes disregard it. But if it became known that they had, any but those of high rank risked being stripped of any belief in what they said; and would probably encounter nothing but contempt from then on, from others whose honor had never been stained.

  "Well, then," said Jim cheerfully, "if you can help me get Snorrl to take me to the Little Men tomorrow, and we find them the first day, and I spend a day talking, and then either by Snorrl or one of them get guided back close enough to the castle to reach it by myself, then we're all set."

  He paused, a little out of breath from stringing so many "ands" together.

  Quite suddenly, he remembered something.

  "I understand from Lachlan," he said, "that MacDougall was due to meet with some representatives of the Hollow Men in something like five days. It'll probably take me a week or so after that just to set up a gathering of all of them. Which is probably just as well, because representatives of the Little Men will have to meet with representative Borderers headed by your father, before that; and I may have to be present at the Borderer meeting, to—er, make myself useful in any way I can. I'll talk to your father about that. Do you know where he is now?"

  "I believe he is still in the Great Hall with the others," said Liseth. "If you wish, I can go ahead and speak to him and draw him off to the side where you can speak privily."

  "Would you?" asked Jim. "I'd appreciate it."

  They had reached the bottom of the stairs by now.

  "Wait here," she said, and darted off toward the kitchens and the Great Hall beyond.

  Jim waited, shifting from one foot to another as he stood at the foot of the stairs, and thinking about Little Men, Snorrl, Borderers, Hollow Men and the possible dangers inherent in having the whole de Mer clan think he had acted in any way improperly toward their daughter/sister. An early spring fly buzzed by, having undoubtedly come in one of the open windows of the castle—since none of the windows were glazed except the one in the bedroom where Brian now lay—and buzzed off again, possibly in search of the kitchen. If so, it had headed in the right direction.

  Eventually the overpowering figure of Herrac appeared in the doorway through which Liseth had earlier vanished.

  "M'Lord," he said, "forgive me for not drawing you aside before, but I thought it b
est to give an appearance of complete normality for a short while in front of the MacDougall. If you will follow me now, I will take you to a chamber where we can talk."

  He led Jim through the doorway and off to one side, down through a narrow passageway against the curve of the white stone wall of the peel tower, lighted only by the daylight now coming through the arrow slits along the wall to their right. Eventually the arrow slits vanished and the passage moved between solid walls on either side, lit only by a couple of arrow slits at its far end.

  Luckily it was not a long passage, and before they reached the end of it, Herrac had turned into a room which opened out again on the outer wall and had enough arrow slits to light it with some effectiveness—aided of course by the still-strong afternoon daylight.

  It contained no bed, but a number of benches with backs—that being a better description of them to Jim's mind than to call them chairs—and also a table with storage areas built in underneath its top, so that it was not that far distant from deserving the name of "desk." Herrac dropped into one of the chairs beside the desk and waved Jim to another.

  "I have sent for some wine to be brought us. Shall I simply tell you what has happened and what I've learned since you left us last?" he said. They were the first words he had spoken since he had met Jim at the foot of the stairs. "Or have you something more urgent to speak to me about?"

  "Only one thing," said Jim, feeling that spreading the word himself would be a form of self-protection. "I've asked the Lady Liseth to help me in drawing our prisoner to show off his courtly airs and habits; so that when I change myself to look like him, with magic, I can also display the same movements and behaviors. The Lady Liseth understands, of course, that this is simply a matter of her public behavior with MacDougall. I am not asking her anything beyond the bounds of good manners, or anything that would be in any way distasteful to her."

  "Of course," rumbled Herrac, "I agree. You are a gentleman, as well as being a magician, and I would not conceive of your suggesting anything improper to my daughter. Tell me, has she agreed to this?"

  "She has," said Jim, "just now, as we were leaving the room where Sir Brian lies.—By the by, I have given him permission to come down to dinner. But, on the matter of Liseth and MacDougall. I assumed her agreement would be subject to a chance to tell you about it, and make sure that you also agreed."

  "As a matter of fact," said Herrac, "she drew me aside from the table in the Great Hall just a moment since, told me about it, and did seek my agreement. But I could hardly doubt that any daughter of mine would be anything but polite to a visitor in my home."

  He paused.

  "Besides," he said, "you may have noticed yourself, that she does not take kindly to nay-saying, even by me, her father."

  Since Jim had seen none of the de Mer children do anything but agree utterly and immediately with Herrac, this was somewhat of a surprise to him. But he hid it.

  "It is odd," went on Herrac, more to himself, "but the boys were always more biddable. My dear Margaret always had more success than I in guiding Liseth."

  He paused. His eyes were looking past Jim at something that was not in the room. Jim, who had been about to speak in the momentary silence, closed his mouth again.

  "She was so young to die, my Margaret," said Herrac, in a strangely muted tone of voice, "—to die so suddenly, without warning. It was in the middle of the night and we were in bed together, asleep. And I woke, for even in my sleep I felt the first pain that hit her; as a man, fighting while pressed close against his sword-companion, feels the shock of the blow his companion takes, through the other's body into his. So, I woke."

  "'What is it?' I asked her.

  " 'Hold me!' she said—oh, in such a stricken voice—and I put my arms around her and held her to me, as I would have held her against bear or lion, or Satan himself. And she clung to me…"

  The man's voice had risen; and he seemed to swell as if he threatened to fill the room. His eyes now blazed at whatever he saw past Jim; and Jim himself was suddenly as tense as Dafydd's strung bow.

  "Then the second great pain came." Herrac was not even talking to Jim now, but to himself—only very much out loud.

  "And this one I felt as she did, a pain beyond speaking that went right through me as it went through her.

  " 'Margaret!' I cried.

  "But she was gone. And I held in my arms…"

  Tears were now rolling down Herrac's face, and his voice choked for a moment, so that he could not go on. But he seemed to grow even larger, so that everything in the room, including Jim himself, seemed to shrink. For now, his eyes were the eyes of a madman.

  "I was at the funeral," he went on, "but I saw only Margaret and heard nothing. But for some months—"

  He spoke suddenly between clenched teeth.

  "—no man dared cross my path. For fear I would see, or think to see in him, some slight—present or past—against her; and I would kill him!"

  Herrac's great fist crashed upon the top of the table, so fiercely that Jim started and winced at the same time. For it did not seem that living flesh and bone could take that blow against the thick wood of the tabletop.

  "—Kill! Kill! For want of killing the thing—the death—the thief in the night—that had taken my Margaret from me. If I could have found It, I would have killed It, I would have cut and crushed and slain It like a roach under my foot…"

  Suddenly he slid out of his chair, dropping to his knees, and started to pray with bowed head.

  "Lord God, you have taken her to you. Hold her safe until my coming, when she will want for safety no more. And forgive her any sins that unknowingly she committed—for surely she could have committed none, knowingly. And teach me patience and strength that I may endure in this world until I have accomplished all the things she would have wanted—to see all my sons safely into manhood, my daughter safe, and all things right, so that I am no more needed here…"

  His voice trailed off into silence.

  "Amen," he said.

  Slowly, he got back up into his chair and stared around at Jim and the room for a moment, as if he was seeing them for the first time.

  Finally, his eyes focused on Jim.

  "Not even the servants would come near, for those months," he said, in more normal tones. "Only my children brought me food and drink, and led me to my bed, nights—Liseth first among them, for all Alan was eldest. And in time, I came to live with what had happened—though sometimes, as now, it returns to my mind, unawares; and the wildness comes back on me."

  His eyes were now completely sane again.

  "Forgive me, Sir James," he said, "but there are indeed moments when I remember; and then I cannot help myself. Tell me, you have a wife, do you not?"

  "Yes," said Jim.

  "Then you know what it is to love, in a way even the minstrels do not know?"

  "Yes," said Jim, even more softly, his thoughts for the moment many miles distant.

  Herrac passed a hand over his face, wiping away the last traces of his tears.

  "But we came here to talk of important matters," he said, in his usual voice. "I know all that my daughter could tell me, as well as what you proposed. Yes, I have sent messengers to certain of the other Borderers, as you wished."

  Jim cleared his throat.

  "I'm very pleased Liseth told you, herself," he said, "so we can get right to work. Perhaps you'd tell me how our plans were received by the other Borderers. Including, if you had a chance to do so, about this business of meeting the Hollow Men for a final battle that will end them, and joining with the Little Men to fight."

  "I have sounded out a good number of my neighbors," answered Herrac. "You must understand that, while we have our small disputes, the one with the other, from time to time, in general we are quite able to join together against a menace like the Hollow Men. I heard from none who were not strongly in agreement with fighting them, if they could all be cornered in one place. On the subject of joining forces with the Little Men,
however, I was faced with one question—you will forgive me—to which I had no strong answer. Why, indeed, do we need the Little Men? I was asked by many. I had to send them what answer I could. Which was that you, as a magician, consider it of vital importance that the Little Men be present; but you had not told me why, so that I assumed it was something magical and not to be said to us ordinary mortals."

  Recalling at this point that Herrac and his children were all selkies, for a second the term "us ordinary mortals" struck Jim a little oddly. However, he ignored it, and went ahead with his answer.

  "Actually, m'Lord," he said, "you were giving exactly the correct answer. There are reasons magical which cannot be told. They're vital to our making sure that all the Hollow Men are killed, so that none rise to trouble either you or the Little Men any more—"

  "Where is that wine I called for?" interposed Herrac unexpectedly, glaring at the door.

  He turned back to Jim.

  "Forgive me, m'Lord," he said. "I am listening; please go on."

  "Well," said Jim, "I was just going to remark that whatever the reasons, the Borderers must have the Little Men there. I mention this because when I get to speak with the Little Men again tomorrow—I expect much the same question from them. They will want to know why they need any help but their own in this final battle with the Hollow Men. I can only tell them, as you have told these others—and if you like I will tell it to your fellow Borderers myself—that it is absolutely necessary that both Borderers and Little Men be engaged together in this final battle. Aside from those reasons which must remain hidden, there's the fact that, while you and your neighbors have suffered from them for some hundreds of years, the Little Men have suffered from them much longer than that, and have a right to be in at the end. As a fighting man, you must see that for yourself, and I would trust that the other Borderers you talked to, also being fighting men, would also see it."

  "Certainly what you have to say are strong reasons," said Herrac, rubbing his large but close-shaven chin thoughtfully, as was his habit.

  "But you see, m'Lord," he went on, "what it boils down to is that the Borderers are being asked to go to a place as yet not named, and fight a battle alongside those about whom they have always been wary. All this, simply on your word alone that the place is right, and the results will be as you say. As I may have said, all I talked to were in favor of the idea of eradicating the Hollow Men. All were a little doubtful about whether they wanted to join in on what little they knew about it so far."