Puck scowled. "Thou dost speak in riddles. Explain."
"Why, 'tis no more nor less than this—that every petty lord has of a sudden risen 'gainst his neighbor. Their dukes do naught to prevent them, for they're far too occupied with fighting one another, themselves."
, The children stared, horrified. "And the King must beat them back into their castles, one by one?" Geoffrey whis-pered.
Kelly nodded. "Do ye wonder he can spare ye no horse nor foot?"
"Nay, not a bit."
"But how comes this?" Magnus asked. "I can comprehend how any one count might rise in war 'gainst his neighbor— but that all might do so, together…!"
" 'Tis conspiracy," Geoffrey stated.
They were all quiet, turning to him. Then Magnus nodded.
"Aye. 'Twas planned, was it not?" He turned back to Puck. "Where did Mama and Papa go?"
"Thou must needs now know," the elf said sheepishly. "We did follow their tracks to a pretty pond in the woodland. There we found marks of a scuffle, and their tracks did cease."
"Even as they did when we were stolen away to Tir Chlis," Magnus whispered.
Gregory looked up, interested.
"Even so," Puck agreed.
" 'Twas no mere mishap, nor the work of a moment's passion." Geoffrey spoke angrily, to hide the creeping fear in his belly.
"Nay." Cordelia shivered, and the fear was plainly written on her face. "It must have been well plotted. Yet how could they know where Mama and Papa would go?"
"They must needs have lured them in some fashion," Geoffrey returned, "and set up their engines of enchantment along the path to that pond."
"Set them up days in advance, and waited and waited," Gregory agreed. "Such weighty spells do require much apparatus that I wot not of."
The children were quiet. It wasn't all that rarely that Gregory admitted that he didn't know how something worked— but it was unusual for him not to know.
"And," Geoffrey summarized, "whosoe'er did plot to kidnap Mama and Papa, did plot also to have all the barons rise up at one time."
"Yet how could they do so?" Cordelia asked, puzzled.
Geoffrey shrugged impatiently. "There are a hundred ways, some of which I know."
"This set of events falls into a pattern characteristic of SPITE, your father's anarchistic enemies," Fess interjected.
"Groghat must be hand in glove with them," Geoffrey cried. Then, suddenly, he looked thoughtful. "Aye, there is truth in that, is there not?"
"Sure and there is," Kelly agreed. "From what we saw of him, I'd be well surprised, if he had wit enough to plan such as this."
"More a dupe than a partner." Puck nodded.
"Yet what of their enemies?" Magnus asked, frowning. "Papa hath said SPITE is opposed by VETO, which is composed of those who seek to rule all, with an iron fist."
"Yes—the totalitarians," Fess agreed.
They were all quiet, thinking. Then Gregory said, "Mayhap the Shire-Reeve?"
Geoffrey's head snapped up. "Aye, thou hast the right of it!"
"And thou children art like to be caught in the warring," Puck said. "I like it not."
"Yet we are like to be caught in such warring in any case." Cordelia spread her hands. "Would not we be marked, Puck?"
The elf was silent for a moment. Then, slowly, he nodded. "I had not thought to set spies to watch thy house."
"Thought!" Kelly scoffed. "Wherefore would ye need to think? If there be great lumbering fools sitting out in the forest watching the High Warlock's house, how could elves fail to notice them?"
"There's truth in that," Puck agreed, and turned to the children. "Yet these enemies of thy father's have spells we wot not of, with which they can watch."
The children were quiet. Then Cordelia said, in a very small voice, "Dost thou say we ought not to go home?"
"I misdoubt me of it," Puck said grimly, "yet I'll set elves to watching for watchers."
"Then where can we hide?" Gregory asked.
"In any place," Puck answered, "yet never for more than one night."
"Then Count Glynn's castle is as good as any other," Geoffrey insisted. "We have but to defeat one giant, to hide there."
"How shalt thou?" a huge voice roared, and a net of thick ropes dropped down over them.
Kelly howled, darted through the mesh, and ran. Puck disappeared. The unicorn tossed her head, knocking the net aside, and bolted, with Gregory and Cordelia on her back— but Groghat swung his stick like a baseball bat, knocking the two children off. They slammed to the ground. Pain stabbed through their sides, from head to hip, and the world seemed to swim about them. They heard Groghat's hoarse bellow and Fess's screaming whinny of rage, abruptly cut off with a huge crash.
"Thou hast hurted him!" Geoffrey cried, thrashing against the mesh. "Fiend! Thou hast broke our father's horse!"
"I'll break more, ere I'm done," Groghat bellowed. He scooped up Cordelia and Gregory with one huge hand, tossed
them into the net with their brothers, and yanked on a draw string. The whole net shut up like a bag. Groghat threw it over his shoulder with a roar of laughter and strode off over the fields, chanting a victory song.
Jumbled in together, jouncing with every step, the children held a conference that the giant couldn't hear.
He is large, Geoffrey admitted, yet there is but the one of him.
And he hath but four limbs, Magnus agreed.
And but one brain, Gregory pointed out. Gently, 'Delia!
Big Sister had him bundled against her tummy for cushioning, to protect him from the jouncing. As gently as I can, babe. Hold tightly to me.
Nay, siblings, Magnus thought. We have slain a vile sorcerer, and restored him to life again…
More's the pity, Geoffrey added.
And from him, Gregory continued, we have learned a spell for causing great pain.
Never shall we use it! Magnus thought instantly. Then he reconsidered. Mayhap—for Groghat…
He is ours, not we his, Geoffrey said, with finality. He looked around, frowning through the mesh. Puck did but now say we would not lack for guards—yet I see him not, nor Kelly neither.
Thou wouldst not, Magnus reasoned, yet be certain—an we cannot finish what we begin, they will.
Cordelia's thoughts were tinged with blood. An he hath broke our Fess…
I misdoubt me of that, Magnus thought back at her. Fess hath been in many battles, and hath scarcely lost horsehair. Yet he will need one to turn him on again.
Aye. Geoffrey glowered. Naetheless, I am not therefore minded to spare this foul giant. What say you, brothers and sister? Shall we slay him now, or later?
They were quiet for a moment.
Nay! Geoffrey protested. Surely thou dost not truly think to let him live!
For a while, at least, Cordelia thought.
Aye, Magnus agreed. We did wish to go to Castle Glynn, did we not? Wherefore ought we not let him take us there?
Then, too, Gregory added, I have never seen a real giant before.
Yet it was not Castle Glynn that Groghat brought them to, but a craggy old ruin deep in the forest.
He stamped into the great hall, halted before a fireplace where a huge fire roared, loosed the drawstring, and upended the bag. The children squawked as they hit the floor, and Groghat crowed, "Now, then! I've new toys to play with!"
The children picked themselves up, and there was murder in Geoffrey's eye. Magnus laid a restraining hand on his arm and said, "Hast thou never had playmates, then?"
For a moment, there was a lost, frozen look in Groghat's eyes. Then it thawed into a grin, and Magnus noticed that the giant's eyeteeth were longer than any of his other teeth. "Thou art the toys, not the players," Groghat growled.
"Indeed." Geoffrey cocked his head to the side with the dangerous glint still in his eye. "What game wilt thou play? Ninepins?"
"Jackstraws, more likely," Groghat grunted. "What, child! Dost not realize thou art in danger of thy life?"
; Geoffrey simply stared at him.
Magnus said quickly, "There are many things we do not realize. We are, after all, but innocents in a rough world. Wilt thou not explain to us?"
For a moment, Groghat seemed baffled. Then he looked suspicious. "What manner of things?"
"Why, many things." Magnus was all innocence.
Groghat sat on a bench slowly, leaning back on a table with one elbow, eyeing them warily.
"Poor giant." Cordelia fairly oozed sympathy. "Thou hast had little of gaming in thy life, hast thou not?"
"What need have I of games?" Groghat rumbled.
"But who hath not?" Magnus spread his hands. "I'll wager thou hast never even played at riddles!"
"Riddles?" Groghat frowned. "What game is this?"
"Why, 'tis simply done." Cordelia beamed. "One of us will tell a riddle, and if thou canst not puzzle it out, thou must needs answer any question we ask."
"Thus will we gain knowledge," Magnus said brightly, "and thou wilt gain amusement."
Groghat sat there gazing at them for a long moment, and Magnus began to think they might have stretched their luck too far. Then the giant rumbled, "It may prove amusing, in truth. Well, then, as thou wilt. What is thy riddle?"
They all heaved a sigh of relief. Then Magnus recited,
"Arthur O'Bower has broken his band; He comes roaring up the land. The King of Scots, with all his power, Cannot turn Arthur O'Bower."
"Aye!" Cordelia cried, glints dancing in her eyes. "Say to us, then—what is this Arthur O'Bower?"
Groghat's brow knotted in consternation, and the children waited in suspenseful silence while the giant gazed into the fire. Finally he turned to Magnus with a look of impatience. " 'Tis nonsense! No one man could stand against all the might of a King, especially an he hath broken with his band of men!"
"Nay, certes 'tis nonsense," Magnus agreed. '"'Tis all for fun."
"Aye, it is that," Groghat agreed reluctantly. "Tell me, then—what is Arthur O'Bower?"
"Why, the wind!"
"Wind…" Groghat stared at them for a moment.
Then he threw back his head, roaring a laugh. "Nay, of course! Now I see, now I know how this game is played! Nay, then, let me ask thee one!"
"Nay!" Magnus held up a palm. "First, our question! One question that thou wilt answer, ere we ask another riddle!"
"Dost thou not remember?" Cordelia urged.
Groghat scowled at them for a moment; then he almost smiled. "Well enough, then, claim thy forfeit. What is thy question?"
"Wast thou born a giant?" Cordelia asked. "Or didst thou but grow larger?"
Groghat scowled, but answered, "I cannot say surely, for I do not remember—yet the ill folk who reared me did tell me I was a wee, puny thing when the stranger brought me to their cottage."
All four children looked up, suddenly bursting with curiosity.
"Now, my riddle." Groghat leaned forward. 'Tell me what is silver above and pale below."
"Why, 'tis… WHUF!" Geoffrey broke off with Magnus's elbow in his ribs.
"Silver above… pale below?" Magnus frowned. "Let me see, could it be… Nay, a lizard's green above… Nay, it's… Why, I have it! 'Tis a rock!"
"Nay, thou'rt wrong!" Groghat crowed. "Where hast thou ever seen a silver rock?"
"High in the Crag Mountains," Cordelia answered, "but Papa told us 'twas 'fool's gold.' What is the answer?"
"A fish, children! Hast never seen a fish?"
"Only when it's cooked and on my plate," Magnus fibbed. "What is thy question for us?"
"Question? Why…" Groghat thought a minute. "Let me see… question… Um."
The children waited.
Finally, Groghat said, "What manner of horse was that I overthrew? Never before have I heard a horse crash!"
Anger kindled in Geoffrey's eyes, but Magnus said, "An enchanted horse. I know not the crafting of the enchantment; 'tis Papa's horse."
"Enchanted?" Groghat looked up. "Is thy father a wizard, then?"
"Ah-ah! No question without a riddle!" Cordelia held up a palm. "And 'tis our turn.
"A little wee man in a red, red coat, A staff in his hand, and a stone in his throat. If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give thee a groat!"
Groghat's brow knitted again. "What is a 'groat'?"
"Papa said 'twas a very small coin. What is the little wee man?"
"Little wee man… Let me see…" Groghat gazed off into space. "It could not be an elf, no, for I've never seen one with a stone in his throat. I have never seen one at all, come to that. Are they real, I wonder?"
"They are."
"Magnus!" Cordelia chided him. "He must tell his riddle ere thou dost answer!"
"Oh! Aye, I erred!"
But Groghat grinned. "I care not. But I cannot tell what thy wee, wee man is."
"'Tis a cherry!" Cordelia cried. "The staff in his hand is the stem, and the stone in his throat is the pit. Now tell me—if thou wast so small a babe, how didst thou come to be so great?"
Groghat smiled, and Cordelia was glad she'd chosen the more complimentary adjective. "The stranger who brought me to the old couple, brought them also a potion to put in my stew at every meal." He frowned. "He brought, too, a gold coin; therefore did they care for me. Yet they cared for the gold more."
And he doth revenge himself upon them, by being mean to all folk he doth meet, Gregory thought.
Thou hast the right of it, Magnus agreed, but what was in the potion? Aloud, he said, "'Tis thy riddle now."
Groghat stared off into space, thinking.
Papa hath told us of a lump of flesh, in the base of the skull, that doth direct how much we grow, Gregory answered. Whate'er the potion was, it must have acted upon that bit of flesh.
Magnus nodded. Yet who was the stranger?
Papa's enemy, Geoffrey thought instantly. It matters not from which side.
"What is it," Groghat asked, "that is brown in the spring, green in the summer, and scarlet in the autumn?"
Gregory started to answer, but Cordelia clapped a hand over his mouth. "Let me think… green… scarlet…" She sighed and shook her head. "I cannot say."
"Nay, thou canst not!" Groghat guffawed, slapping the table top. " 'Tis a tree, foolish child!"
'Why, so 'tis," she cried, fairly beaming. "What is thy question?"
Groghat remembered. "Is thy father a wizard?"
"Nay, he's a warlock. And my riddle is: How can there be a chicken that hath no bone?"
"A chicken that hath no bone!" Groghat stared. "Nay, tell me—for I'd be greatly pleased to dine on fowl that did not crunch!"
"Then thou hast but to fry an egg!" Cordelia said triumphantly.
Groghat stared. Then he threw- back his head and roared with laughter, slapping his leg.
Doth he eat chickens whole? Geoffrey wondered.
Aye, and without plucking the feathers, I doubt not, Magnus answered.
"Now let me see…" Cordelia pressed a finger against pursed lips. "What question shall I ask?"
Wherefore doth he roam the countryside? Magnus prompted.
"Wherefore dost thou roam the countryside?" Cordelia repeated. "Thou hast a pleasant enough lair here, if thou didst put it in repair."
"Why, for that I hate all craven knaves who take orders!" Groghat exploded. "Ever did the old man who reared me give orders: 'Do this! Fetch that!' And I grew wearied, and did resolve that, when I grew large, never more would I do another's bidding! Therefore do I spit on all craven knaves who obey, and make it my commands they answer to!" He leaned back against the table, gazing at the children and brooding. "Thee, now—thou showest no sign of fear, nor of doing another's bidding…"
Could he begin to like us?
Would we want him to?
Papa's enemies do use this poor puppet to help to bring chaos to the land, Geoffrey thought, and he knoweth it not— he, who is so proud of not doing another's bidding!
'Tis true, Magnus agreed, and I doubt me not 'twas Papa's enemies in SPIT
E, who do hate all government, that did bring him to the old couple and paid them. Yet wherefore do not Papa's other enemies in VETO, who wish to rule all Gra-marye with an iron glove, not attempt to stop him?
Why, for that it will be all the easier for them to step in and conquer all when there's no government left, and no large army with it, but only small armed bands of bandits, Geoffrey answered.
I mislike the way he doth look at us. Cordelia's thoughts were tinged with apprehension. .
" 'Tis time to discover whether thou wilt obey me or no," Groghat rumbled.
Quickly, Gregory thought, I have been tracking the paths his thoughts flow through when they tell his arms or legs to more, or his muscles to tighten or loosen to hold his balance. They all do meet at the top of his belly in one great knot.
'Twould hurt him greatly, an thou didst twist it with thy thoughts. Cordelia shied from the idea.
Greatly daring, Magnus demanded, " 'Tis mayhap more to the point, to know whether or not another doth command thee."
Anger flared in Groghat's eyes. He surged to his feet, bellowing, "Dost thou slander me, bug? Who could command such as I?"
"The man who did bring the potion that fed thee," Magnus answered, with a stroke of insight. "Thou dost have pain if thou dost not drink it, dost thou not?"
For a long moment, Groghat just stared at him, his eyes burning.
Suddenly, his head snapped up, looking toward the window. His lips curved into a wicked grin, and he chuckled. "What is this I hear?"
The children strained their ears, but heard nothing. "I cannot guess," Magnus admitted. "What is it?"
"A maiden," Groghat said, with a throaty laugh, "and naught else—a lone maiden, wandering in the woodland. Nay, she must not go without escort!" He whirled away to the door.
As he opened it, he whirled back, stabbing a huge finger at them. "Do not think to wander—for this door shall be barred and, if thou dost seek to climb from the window, thou'lt fall to they death!" Then he was gone, and the door boomed behind him.
The children stared at each other in the sudden silence.
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