The excitement was palpable: Some of these knights were going to win a great deal of money, and everyone held out hope for their champions. The betting houses were busier than ever, the odds favoring certain knights who had proved themselves in previous tournaments.
Squires always placed small bets, anything they could afford, on their own knights as was the tradition. It was also a great motivator, encouraging the squires to help ensure the feathers in their knight’s arrows were straight, lances true, swords sharp, and quarterstaffs balanced.
The crowd seemed large but still manageable. The tournament grounds were vast, with wide acreage allowing impromptu cooks to set up shops to sell food, tinkers to mend broken items, and blacksmiths to sharpen swords, mend armor, or shoe horses. The king’s guard was always visible as they tended to hire some of the largest boys and men for the positions, but not always the brightest. Still, they kept order, demanded small bribes from the small impromptu shops for protection, hauled off the disorderly to the jails, and basically knocked anyone unconscious that was causing a disturbance.
Farling asked: “What happens now?”
Arastead answered, said: “Jugglers, mummers, acrobats, dancing bears, all sorts of entertainment for the crowd. But we should head back to Bringon’s forge, collect him and his wife, and head down to the Paupers Temple for Orlough’s funeral.”
“Agreed,” said Grum.
“And I need to wash,” said Farling, “as I do smell bad.”
Grum nodded in agreement as he pinched his nose.
At Bringon’s forge, they had a quick bit to eat as Bringon’s wife, Clara, was back from the bakery and had made an early dinner.
She said: “I do not want you getting hungry out at the Paupers Cemetery.”
“Clara,” began Farling, “do you happen to have any extra clothes that might fit me? At the Squires Tournament, the armor I wore was quite smelly, and I would like to get cleaned up as best as possible.”
“Of course my dear,” answered Clara. She opened a trunk on the floor and pulled out some clothes. “Here we go. One of our boy’s old clothes when he was your age and size.”
“Thank you,” said Farling as he, Grum, and Arastead went downstairs, cleaned up and got ready.
Grum, in a hushed tone, asked: “What about the jeweled belt?”
Arastead kept his voice low as well, said: “We have not had any time to think about it.”
“There is no rush,” whispered Farling. “We will get to it when we can. It is not like the world is going to end or anything.”
“Well,” started Arastead, “you never know. The belt was surrounded by magic. It was magic that animated that black ship, animated that skeleton. The jeweled belt must have some magic in it too.”
“Perhaps,” said Grum, “but maybe we could sell it to that jeweler I know in the Hive. It would fetch a pretty coin.”
Both Farling and Arastead stared blankly at Grum.
“Bad idea?” asked Grum.
Arastead shook his head, said: “I do not know why I am still surprised what comes out of your mouth, Grum. Now, who wears a jeweled belt? There are no stories of which I can think where the hero wears a jeweled belt.”
“Or heroine,” said Grum. “What? What are you looking like that at me for, could be for a woman.”
“Our hungry friend has a point,” said Arastead. “The belt’s owner could be a woman.”
“Great,” said Farling, “that does not narrow down the choices, merely adds more.”
Grum nodded, said: “Well, the question then to ask is: Who wears a magical jeweled belt? Now what are you looking at me for? We haven’t really talked about it yet.”
“Another good point,” said Arastead. “Wearing a jeweled belt is one thing. Wearing a magical jeweled belt is another.”
Farling asked: “Are there any books with drawings?”
“We would not know which book to look in,” said Arastead. “And besides, the library at the School is gone. Grum and I went through practically every book there as part of our lessons. I cannot recall any books of people who would need a magical jeweled belt.”
“Well, we will need to find the answer soon,” said Farling. “It is not every day a black ship sails into harbor with a skeleton on board to deliver a belt. It is important. It is just that we are so busy with the King’s Tournament.”
“Agreed,” said Arastead. “After the tournament ends, we will start in earnest looking for ideas as we should have more time then.”
Just then, Bringon and Clara walked down the stairs. The blacksmith looked uncomfortable in his dress clothes.
“All cleaned up then, boys?” asked Bringon. “Farling, I see the clothes fit you.”
Farling smiled, said: “Many thanks again, and these clothes smell great.”
And everyone left for the Paupers Temple.
CHAPTER 16
An Unexpected Guest
Compared to the other times Farling had visited the Paupers Temple, this time it was much louder. At this time of day, the area surrounding the Paupers Temple was just beginning to wake up. The owners of the pubs and penny taverns in the area were doing their best to entice people to visit. But during the annual King’s Tournament, it did not matter if the pub had the best musicians, singers, or most beautiful barmaids, all people wanted was just a place to sit. All the pubs were starting to get crowded and would only get more crowded as the night went on.
As they approached the Paupers Temple, Farling could see more details of the building. The temple walls were finely chiseled limestone and the smooth white columns at the front held up the impressive slate roof. From the outside, Farling could see that the Paupers Temple featured some of the finest stained-glass windows, displaying past kings, queens, and knights performing glorious deeds immortalized forever. He could tell that at certain times of the day, sunlight would illuminate the glass windows causing a blaze of color that brought glory to the Paupers Temple.
As they walked in through the tall oak doors, they were greeted by Sihr, the priest who cared for the temple.
“Welcome, Bringon,” said Sihr.
“Sihr,” said Bringon, “this is my wife, Clara.”
“It is a pleasure to meet Bringon’s wife,” said Sihr. “I am sorry it is under these circumstances.”
“I am happy to meet you as well,” said Clara. “And yes, I wish we could have first met under happier circumstances.”
“We are not quite ready yet to leave for the Paupers Cemetery,” said Sihr. “Rickters, who works here, has made tea and biscuits, which are available in the kitchen. Please enjoy them while you wait. I will let you know when it is time to go.”
“I know where the kitchen is,” said Bringon as he walked there with his wife.
Farling glanced around, then said: “I have not walked around the Paupers Temple at this time of day. The images in the stained glass are quite impressive. I think I will just walk around and admire the colors.”
Grum nodded, said: “Good idea, but I would like some tea and biscuits after.”
Arastead scoffed: “Do you have a hollow leg?” Let us show Farling around, then we will get you your snack. In the meantime, you can chew your sleeve.”
“I chewed the flavor out of my sleeve a long time ago,” replied Grum as they walked around the Paupers Temple admiring the stained-glass images.
Grum pointed at the stain glass windows, said: “Gods, famous battles, heroes, typical stained-glass fare. Hey Farling, what are you looking at?”
Farling was staring intently at an image of a beautiful woman sitting on an ornate chair.
Farling asked: “Who is this?” I cannot read the name at the bottom.”
Arastead grunted, said: “It is in an old language that priests spoke thousands of years ago when the gods walked the land.”
“How do you know so much about the gods?” asked Farling.
“The School taught us some,” answered Arastead. “But at one point, I wanted to become a cler
ic. So I found books at the School that no one had touched for a long time, and I became well acquainted with them. The information was always there, just needed someone to find it.”
Grum, in his best exasperation voice, said: “So, mister know-it-all, what does it say?”
“Oh right, of course,” said Arastead with a grin. “It merely says ‘Freya’ in the First Tongue.”
Hiding a smile, Farling said: “Now, what is Goddess Freya wearing?”
Grum cried: “It appears, no, it cannot be!”
“Hush, Grum,” whispered Arastead. “It is our jeweled belt, but she is not wearing it as a belt.”
“Oh sure,” said Grum, “hush me then give everyone the answer. I name you mister wants-all-the-glory after this one. And Freya is not wearing the jeweled belt about her waist, she wears it as a necklace.”
“Of course,” said Farling, looking around making sure no one listened. “I always found it strange that anyone would wear a belt of jewels. But a jeweled necklace, now that makes sense. It would be too big as a necklace about our necks, but her statue must be larger than life.”
Grum asked: “So how do we return a necklace to a stained-glass window?”
“I do not believe there are any more temples dedicated to Freya,” said Farling. “Well, there might be, I just have not heard of any.”
Arastead nodded, said: “I have travelled some around Dennland, and I have never seen nor heard word of any statue of Freya sitting on a throne. And nothing in the books I have read.”
And a voice none recognized said: “Then you have not read enough books.”
All three boys froze, except for their heads which jerked in the direction of the voice.
Around the corner walked a lean, slightly taller than average man, who was wearing fine and expensive clothes. He had blue gray eyes and a small pointy beard. His short hair was streaked with gray. His fingers looked long and manicured.
He stroked his beard, said: “So, you three boarded the black ship, which was an impressive feat on its own. Salt in the boots, so simple. On board, you found a belt of jewels, which is in fact, a necklace. And this necklace belongs to Freya, Goddess of Wisdom, as this stained-glass window shows. Impressive accomplishments, most definitely. I can tell by your dazed expressions that I am not far off the mark.”
Farling gathered his wits first, said: “You are in fact dead on the mark. You have us at a disadvantage. You seem to know practically everything about us, but we know nothing of you. And by the way, each one of us just won our tryouts for the Squires Tournament. You would not want to fight us.”
“Yes, I know. You won sword, you, quarterstaff, and you, archery,” the stranger said pointing at each of them in the correct order. “It is a good thing no one has a weapon or else I might be in real trouble.”
Grum asked: “Are you a soothsayer, a mind-reader? How do you know all this?”
The stranger smiled, said: “The Trondheim thieves guild master needs to know what goes on in his city. You may call me Einar.”
“Uh-oh,” said Grum. “This is bad. This is really bad.”
“Oh, and you beat up three of my initiates,” added Einar.
“It just got worse,” said Arastead.
They stared for a moment at Einar, till Grum exclaimed: “Meanog, Slofar, and Brascan are thief apprentices? Now it makes sense where they got the extra coin.”
Einar shook his head, said: “Initiates, not apprentices, Grum. There are levels in a thieves guild that you must rise through. Initiate being the lowest, master, the highest.”
Farling pointed at Einar, said: “So, when Meanog, Slofar, and Brascan were here in the Paupers Temple stealing Orlough’s ring, they were stealing it for you.”
Einar smiled again, said: “Well done, Farling, I can see why Orlough liked you.”
Arastead waved his hands in disagreement, said: “So, you have come to steal the ring. Or did you talk to Sihr, the Paupers Temple priest and got everything sorted out.”
“Oh, I sorted it all out,” said Einar. “I simply took the ring off Orlough’s finger while everyone was distracted this morning and placed a fine replica back on. Now, none are the wiser. I was tempted to make Meanog and his friends dig up Orlough’s body and retrieve the ring, but that just sounded so messy to me. Now, you three are handy to have around compared to the quality of my other initiates. I also like your skill, Grum, at being able to determine how many coins are in a bag simply by holding it in your hand. A very useful skill for a thief.”
Arastead bristled, said: “We are not thieves.”
Einar chuckled, said: “Then what do you call boarding a black ship and taking a jeweled belt.”
“We were told to,” said Grum before Farling could stop him.
Einar drummed on his lips with his fingers, said: “Ah, now we get a little closer to the story that I do not know. Orlough must have told you before he died. If you ever join the thieves guild, you will need to take acting lessons as your performances are horrible. I can tell right away when you are lying simply by your shocked expressions.”
“Yes, if you must know,” began Farling, “it was Orlough, with his last dying breath that told us. He told us we had to find out who the belt—”
“—necklace,” murmured everyone.
“Necklace, I meant to say. Well, it was around the waist of the skeleton, so we assumed it was a belt. Hard to get it out of my mind.”
Einar sounded surprised, said: “There was a skeleton aboard the black ship?”
Farling sniffed in disdain, said: “Oh, so there are other parts you do not know. The fabled thieves guild master does not know all. Well, that night, it was a good move leaving that merchants guild man in the boat so that his prying eyes did not see all. Yes, the skeleton came to life as I undid the clasp on the belt –necklace, I mean! It grabbed my wrists, and the pain seared so much I could not move. Arastead smashed its skull with his quarterstaff and Grum pried the dead skeleton’s hands off my wrists.”
Under his breath, Grum said: “The skeleton was already dead.”
“Semantics,” said Farling. “So yes, we got on the black ship, we got the necklace, we got the reward. Now we plan to give the necklace to Freya, Goddess of Wisdom, just as Orlough intended. We do not know why we need to, it is just one of those things we have gotten ourselves tangled up in. After all this is done, we will go back to being blacksmith apprentices.”
Einar shook his head, said: “Oh, I highly doubt you will go back to being blacksmith apprentices after all this. And Freya’s necklace is now safe in the Trondheim thieves guild.”
“What?” cried the boys.
Arastead found his voice first: “It was not yours to take, it belongs to us.”
Grum pointed at the stained glass, said: “Well, actually it belongs to Freya.”
Farling nodded, said: “Grum’s right, the necklace must be returned to Freya. It may not work if you give it to her, as you did not take it off the black boat. That boat oozed magic. It sailed with no crew, except for a skeleton. And if that is Freya’s necklace, the gods usually do not wear just any old jewelry. I bet that it is magic as well. But not magic for us, magic for her and her alone.”
Einar shrugged, said: “But how do you know you are not supposed to give it to her on a full moon? A full moon is approaching. Or there could be some other signs, other things to look for that will tell you when to give the necklace back to Freya. As you say, magic has many funny rules.”
Farling shook his head, said: “Orlough said to give it to the rightful owner, he did not say anything about waiting for anything special.”
“It matters not,” said Einar indicating the conversation closed. “I picked the locks on Bringon’s doors, I found your precious little hiding hole under the floor. Yes, that is the one, I can tell by your looks. And I took the necklace. Besides, it does not belong to you. I am a prince of thieves; the necklace is mine. I spoke with Orlough a day before he died. He was going to tell me how to board the bla
ck ship as soon as he had figured out the secret. I was meant to get the necklace. And now I have. I know where the last statue of Freya stands in the forest. I will place the necklace around her statue’s neck when I am ready. And only when there is the most opportunity for profit.”
The atmosphere was charged. Something was going to happen, but before anything could, Sihr walked around the corner, and said: “Ah, I see you have met Einar, Orlough’s younger brother.”
Farling scoffed, said: “Is that how he introduced himself? Interesting.”
Einar grinned.
Sihr looked confused, but just said: “It is time we left for the Paupers Cemetery.”
Farling, Grum, and Arastead waited until Einar left, then followed.
“Sihr!” called Farling, “might we have a word.”
“Of course, but please make it quick as we are on our way,” said Sihr. “The sun waits for no one.”
Farling made sure Einar was far away, then whispered: “Is there a statue of Freya in Dennland? Like her image in the stained glass, of her sitting on a throne.”
Sihr’s face paled and his voice suddenly sounded rough: “There is one, identical to the image in the stained glass if I am not mistaken. I have been told it stands deep in the forest beyond the Paupers Cemetery. So deep, you cannot see it from the forest’s edge.”
“My thanks, Sihr.”
“Oh, and one more thing. It is identical in almost every way. Except that the statue is missing the jeweled necklace.”
Sihr hurried to the awaiting group at the front doors, leaving the boys far behind.
Farling sighed, said: “I have no idea how to get the necklace to her now. I am sorry Orlough, I have failed.”
Grum shook his head, said: “Not your fault, Farling. This Einar is too crafty. Why, without us, he would not have the necklace, would not even know it belonged to Freya. He just happened to walk in on us as we were staring at her image in the stained glass.”
The Abomination of Asgard Page 11