by K. C. Herbel
“Well,” started Ergyfel, “his physician is with him right now. He says we should allow the king to rest.”
“Oh,” said Billy. “How is the king?”
“His Majesty is fine, nothing to worry about. Perhaps you should find the princess. I’m sure she would like to hear some of your music.”
“Yes, I think I will.”
Billy immediately sought out the princess. He didn’t have to look far, as she was in her suite. Arlyn, the guard stationed at the door, knocked, and a maid allowed Billy into the central chamber. It was not unlike the suite Billy had shared with Lady Myrredith.
“William,” said the princess, entering the room, “what a pleasant surprise.”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but I had to see you,” said Billy.
“Do you miss Lady Myrredith already?” asked Kathryn.
Billy’s mind was concerned with more pressing subjects, but the mention of his friend sent a pang through him. “Yes,” he answered. “I missed her before she left.”
“Oh, William!” said the princess with a laugh. “Do not fret. You will see her before long. I see you have brought your lute. Would you like to play for me?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” said Billy then anxiously added, “but that’s not why I came to see you.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“May I speak with you alone?”
Princess Kathryn nodded to her maid. The servant bowed and left quietly to the next room. As soon as the door was closed, Billy started.
“Your Highness, I know something very important,” he said in a voice just above a whisper.
“What is it?” asked the princess coming closer. “Why are we whispering?”
“Because I don’t want anyone to hear.”
“Hear what?”
“The king has been poisoned.”
“What?” shouted the princess.
“Shhh!” hissed Billy.
Immediately the door to the next room flew open, and in charged Gwyn. She sent a searing glance at Billy and then looked to her mistress.
“Is everything well, Your Highness?”
The princess looked at Billy and her maid. A smile crossed her face.
“Yes, everything is fine, Gwyn.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” said the maid, retreating into the adjoining room.
“William,” started Kathryn, “you really shouldn’t play games like that. With my uncle’s health being what it is, you nearly scared me to death.”
“I’m not playing!” said Billy. “You must believe me!”
Billy had a sinking feeling after he spoke, as he remembered saying those exact words to the princess before. When he tried to warn her of what he thought would be an attempt on her life, she thought he was playing or fevered. Now she would believe he was making it up.
The princess watched Billy’s expression as he struggled to puzzle out his dilemma. She leaned forward and pushed the hair away from his frowning face.
“It’s very important to you, isn’t it?”
Billy didn’t respond.
“Very well!” said Kathryn. “Who’s our evil culprit? The Irish? The Welsh? Maybe the Saxons. Oh, I know, someone inside the castle, right?”
Billy did not know how to respond. He didn’t want to prolong the idea that this was some product of his imagination.
“Yes,” answered Billy at last, “but . . .”
“Is it Ambassador Snegaddrick?”
“No. It’s not like that.”
“Like what?” asked the princess.
“It’s not what you think.”
“What do you mean? It’s someone outside the castle?”
“No! I didn’t imagine it!”
“What?” asked Kathryn. “What didn’t you imagine?”
“It’s . . .” Billy stopped short of saying the name out loud. He looked cautiously about the room and then whispered, “It’s the magister.”
Princess Kathryn stepped back from Billy. She cocked her head to one side and eyed him carefully. Then she knelt in front of him.
“William,” she said sternly, “this is a game, right?”
Billy started to cry tears of frustration. He looked away from her to hide his tears.
“Tell me, William,” said the princess, gently turning his head. “Everything will be fine.” She placed her hands on his shoulders. “I didn’t mean to upset you, but the kind of games you want to play are too-too serious, if you know what I mean.”
“This is the truth!” exclaimed Billy pulling away from her. Sudden inspiration shot through him. “And I can prove it!” Immediately Billy ran for the door.
“Prove it?” shouted the princess, standing up to follow him.
“The leeches!” exclaimed Billy. “The leeches are my proof!”
Without another word, Billy fled from the princess’ room and down the hallway towards the king’s chambers. Kathryn gave chase, asking the guard to come with her. When Billy arrived, the two guards were again stationed on either side of the door. Dhwen was leaving with his apprentice.
“Dhwen!” spouted Billy as he approached. “You must show Princess Kathryn the leeches!”
“Who are you?” said the physician, stepping back from Billy.
“I am Billy, the king’s new musician.”
“Jester, hunh?” spat Dhwen. “I have no time for jests.”
“No!” insisted Billy. “This is not a jest.”
At that moment, Princess Kathryn and Arlyn came around the corner.
“Your Highness,” said the physician with a respectful bow. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“How is my uncle?” asked the princess.
“He is resting now,” answered Dhwen calmly. “He will recover, but he needs his rest. There’s nothing more to say.”
“What about the leeches?” asked Billy.
The physician looked curiously at Billy and frowned. “I have no leeches, boy.”
“But the king . . .” started Billy.
“The king has no need for bleeding. Everything will be fine.”
Billy noticed James shuffling his feet anxiously.
“No poison then?” asked Kathryn, glancing at Billy.
“Poison?” exclaimed the physician and Arlyn in unison.
“Good heavens no, Your Highness!” continued Dhwen. “I’m afraid this boy has unduly alarmed you. The king will recover. I’ve done all that I can. There’s nothing more to say.”
The exact same words, thought Billy. He must be under a spell! He quickly turned to James and asked, “He used leeches on the king, didn’t he?”
“Well, I-I thought . . .” stammered James. “I thought maybe . . .”
Dhwen gave the boy a searing look. “You thought what?”
“Nothing, master.”
“Quite right, you oaf!” The old physician turned to the princess and bowed again. “My apologies, Your Highness. These two rumormongers have obviously been playing some sort of game. Now if you will excuse us, I have patients elsewhere who require my attention.”
“Yes, of course,” said the princess.
Dhwen bowed and then grabbed James by the ear and escorted him down the hall. “And if you wish to remain my apprentice, you will keep your mouth shut and stop gossiping like some scullery maid. There are many who would appreciate your position!”
“Yes, master,” said James, taking a kick to his rear.
Billy’s hopes for the truth unraveled as he watched them leave. Then his eyes moved to the princess, who stood with her hands on her hips—looking very much like Lady Myrredith.
“I’m sorry,” said Billy, hanging his head. In truth Billy was apologizing for his failure, not for any inconvenience.
“William,” said Kathryn, “what am I to do with you?”
Billy shrugged and kicked at the floor.
“You’ve got to get a hold on that imagination of yours, or it will be your undoing. Why don’t you go to your room for a while?”
&nb
sp; Billy’s head was churning as the princess took him back to his room. Maybe I could convince someone else. Perhaps Dana and Gryff will believe me. But they’re only cooks, what good would that do? I need someone big, like . . . Prince Gaelyn!
As Billy turned it over in his mind, he became convinced that somehow he would have to get the truth out of the physician. James was obviously too unsure or afraid, and he wouldn’t dare confront Ergyfel. Any remaining doubt that Ergyfel was practicing magic had evaporated with Dhwen’s performance.
How can I possibly fight Ergyfel’s sorcery? Billy thought as he paced the length of his room. It seemed like an impossible task. And though it frightened him, he was determined to do it.
“There must to be a way,” he said, thinking aloud. “I’ve got to break the spell.” Billy looked down at his lute and his juggling gear. “Oh . . . ! I don’t know anything about magic! I’m a musician, not a magician.”
A new idea struck Billy without warning. An idea so daring and devious that it brought him chills of delight.
I’ll get the magister to break his own spell, mused Billy. All I have to do . . . is convince him that his spell has failed. He’ll drop whatever he’s doing in order to fix it. That’s when we’ll nab him! But first . . .
“I better get some help.”
* * *
Billy was excused immediately after dinner when he explained that Lady Myrredith’s absence and the king’s illness had upset him. He left the royal couple and went directly to the kitchen. It didn’t take long for Billy to convince Dana and Gryff that Ergyfel was poisoning the king.
“That no-good, connivin’ backstabber,” said Gryff, spitting on the ground. “He’s been nothin’ but trouble from the day he arrived!”
“Aye, husband,” added Dana, “but what can we do about it?”
“Aye, what?” agreed Gryff.
“I have an idea on that,” said Billy grinning impishly.
“I don’t like the look on your face, laddie,” said Gryff, scowling. “I don’t like it a bit, but I’m listenin’.”
Late into the night, Gryff and Dana listened as Billy laid out his plan to trap the King’s First Counselor. Several times they started to walk out, claiming that the whole idea was too flimsy and dangerous, but each time Billy managed to persuade them to hear him out. In the end Billy won them over, and together they agreed to launch the plan on the morrow.
The night crept by for Billy. He couldn’t sleep with his head so packed with intrigue. He mulled over the events of the day and the steps of his plan—looking for things that would need special attention. At last, completely exhausted, Billy nodded off to sleep.
Billy awoke to a scream: his own. As he shakily turned up the lamp wick next to his bed, the door crashed open under the weight of a guardsman. Billy jumped back, bumping his head against the wall. Billy and the guard had carefully scrutinized each other from top to bottom when Princess Kathryn and Prince Gaelyn showed up at the door with a half-dozen guards.
“What are you doing standing on the bed, William?” demanded Princess Kathryn. “This is no time for games!”
“He broke down my door and scared me half to death!” answered Billy, rubbing his head and pointing at the guardsman.
The prince and princess looked at the guard and in unison asked, “Why did you break down the door?”
The guard looked confused as to whom he should answer then turned to Kathryn and said, “I heard a scream, Your Highness.”
“Why did you scream, William?” asked the princess.
At that moment, more guards showed up and greeted their comrades. Billy looked at the crowd staring at him in his nightclothes and felt very exposed. He stepped off the bed and pulled a blanket around himself.
“Why did you scream?” repeated Kathryn.
Billy looked away from her very sheepishly. “I had a bad dream,” he answered.
“A bad dream?” said the first guard. Then he quickly turned to the princess. “Please pardon me, Your Highness.”
“No harm done,” said the princess. “Very understandable.” Then she turned to the other guards. “Well . . . I think we’ve had enough excitement for one night. Thank you, men. That will be all.” As the men left, she turned to Gaelyn. “Husband, I think you should return to bed. I’ll follow, as soon as I finish with William.”
“Very well, my dearest,” said the prince. “Good night, William. See you on the morrow.”
Once they were alone, Princess Kathryn tucked Billy into his bed. She sat with him while he told her about his nightmare.
“Then, when Sir Hugh came out of the dragon—like all the times before—he turned on me!” exclaimed Billy. “He was trying to kill me!”
“Now, William,” said Kathryn, “you know as well as I do that Hugh would never do anything to harm you.”
“I know,” agreed Billy, “but just the same it happened.”
“In your dream.”
“Aye.”
“You’ve dreamt this same dream before?”
“Aye, except Hugh was always my friend after he killed the dragon.”
“Well, you shouldn’t think any more about it,” said Kathryn, kissing Billy on the forehead. Then she pulled away from him and made a queer face.
“What is it, Your Highness?”
“For a moment, you looked just like . . .” Princess Kathryn shook her head. “It’s nothing. You know, this afternoon I was quite angry with you, and now . . . I guess you’ve been through much, William. I’m sorry.”
With that said, the princess started to turn down the lamp. Billy reached out and gently touched her arm.
“Please don’t, Your Highness,” he pleaded.
“Yes, of course,” she said, turning up the lamp. “Good night.”
“Good night, Your Highness. Thank you.”
“Sweet dreams, William,” said the princess from the door. “I’ll have someone fix this door tomorrow.”
Billy spent the rest of the night tossing and turning and found only a smidgen of the sleep he had lost.
* * *
In the days that followed, Dana and Gryff carefully seeded the rumor mill. According to their “reliable source,” the king’s physician, while in a drunken stupor at a local establishment, let slip about his royal patient’s poisoning. At first they told only those servants known to be fairly close lipped, but later they served up morsels of the story with each platter carried from their kitchen. Thanks to Arlyn, the rumor of poison would already be making its rounds through the guards. It was only a matter of time before Ergyfel’s informants would bring him the rumor.
Billy maintained a low profile to regain the confidence of the princess and prince. He sang and juggled for them when they requested but slipped away to keep an eye on the magister whenever possible. After a few days of this observation, Billy became aware of others in Castle Orgulous who were keeping an eye on Ergyfel. Most were frightened, some hateful, a few curious, and one admiring. Billy marked them well, especially the Lady Maeven, whose stare lingered a little too long on the King’s First Counselor.
Billy made mental lists of all the players in the drama unfolding at Castle Orgulous. It was important to know who could be counted on for what, but the most vital figure of all was the one that was still missing. Billy needed someone of bearing, a witness beyond Ergyfel’s reach, to be present when he sprung the trap. The trick was in the timing. Knowing when Ergyfel would make his move wasn’t good enough; Billy had to force the magister to move when the trap was set.
During this time Billy was also getting to know Prince Gaelyn. Any reservations Billy might have felt about this royal foreigner he soon forgot, and they became fast friends. The prince taught Billy the strategy game of gwyddbwyll and Gwyddean-style horse riding, and Billy taught the prince songs from Lyonesse. They were seldom seen apart in Castle Orgulous and were most often sharing a laugh. Behind his back, Billy’s nickname became “the prince’s pet.”
“You really are too much!” crie
d Prince Gaelyn, holding himself up on a crenel in the bailey wall.
“Thank you,” said Billy, unsure of what he had done to cause the prince’s reaction. “I think.”
Gaelyn laughed again and then finally got a hold on himself. He looked at his youthful companion and smiled appreciatively.
“I really am lucky,” said the third Prince of Gwyddea.
“Why?” asked Billy.
“Because I have found somethin’ here in Lyonesse that I never dreamt possible.”
“What’s that?”
Gaelyn looked from the battlements to the green hills surrounding Nyraval. “I have made many friends here, when I expected to find myself surrounded by begrudgin’ enemies. In truth, I have found more friends right here, than in all sixteen cities of Caertref y Gwlad.”
“Where?”
“Caertref y Gwlad is the island you call Gwyddea,” answered Gaelyn, before continuing. “But best of all, I have found two very special friends, in you and Kathryn. I do not think ya can know what trepidation I felt when I found that I was to be married off to a woman I had never met or even seen! Moreover, I was to live in a land, away from my home and family . . . ? The ambassadors started inflated me with glowin’ reports of Kathryn, even before our voyage here. By the time we sighted Tintagel, I was convinced that I was being saddled with a boorish, spoiled, homely, domineerin’ foreigner, with no respect or understandin’ of our ways or me. I nearly jumped ship! I’m happy I didn’t do that!”
Prince Gaelyn paused again, deep in thought. Suddenly, he spoke with great emotion and tenderness. “I find Kathryn witty, spirited, and more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.” Then in a voice barely above a whisper he added, “And I am hopelessly in love with her.”
“She is in love with you too,” said Billy.
Gaelyn looked at him. “Do ya really think so?” he implored.
“I know so,” said Billy most positively. “She said to me just yesterday, that you two are as one. That together, you would make Lyonesse a wonderful place to live again.”
Prince Gaelyn smiled. “Yes, we both share that same dream.”
“Dreams are important,” said Billy.
“Aye,” agreed his royal companion. “Perhaps the most important thing of all.”