As Luc stepped back to his chair, Liaze gave Remy back his rapier and then turned to the women and said, “If you will excuse us, mesdames. ”
Zoe faced the three and made an “after you” gesture toward the door, and Margaux and Aurelie bade their good-byes and stepped away. Tutrice Martine hesitated a moment, but then turned and with her nose somewhat elevated followed after. Zoe shot Liaze a grin and brought up the rear, and as she exited she closed the door after.
Liaze sat down as then did Luc, Remy following, but Zacharie remained standing and asked, “Tea, my lady?”
“With cheese and bread and scones and jellies,” said Liaze. She looked at Remy and then at Luc. “We were backtracking your trail all morning, Sir Luc, and I am quite famished. Remy?”
“Oui, my lady,” said the leather-clad armsmaster, and he turned to Zacharie. “I’d appreciate a bit of beef as well.”
“And you, Sir Luc?” asked the princess. “A tot of brandy or glass of wine to soothe your aches? I am told you took quite a battering.”
“Oui, my lady… that I did. I believe beef and bread and a bit of fruit and a hearty wine would go a long way toward easing my hurts as well as restoring my strength.”
Zacharie nodded and stepped to a bell cord. In but a moment a servant appeared, and Zacharie spoke to him.
When Zacharie took his seat, Luc turned to the princess and said, “You were backtracking my trail?”
“Oui,” said Liaze. “And it seems you slew a goodly number of Goblins along the way. I would ask, whence came you? And what brought you here to the Autumnwood? And what of the Goblins and the Troll?”
“As to whence I came,” said Luc. “ ’Twas from a small woodcutter’s cote, sunwise through three, no, four twilight walls. The woodcutter is my pere, or mayhap I should say my foster pere, for I know not who sired and birthed me.”
“You are an orphan, Sieur Luc?” asked Zacharie.
Luc shrugged. “My blood parents, alive or dead, I do not know, hence I could be an orphan, but then again not, though an orphan I might as well be. My foster father-Leon-tells me that he found me in the woods one day. And none in the nearby villages knows ought of who my pere and mere could possibly be.”
Remy sighed and said, “Though I briefly knew my parents, I am an orphan, too. Slain by Redcaps, they were.”
They sat a moment in silence, and then Liaze said, “Go on with your tale, Sir Luc.”
Luc smiled and said, “As to riding into your demesne, I am simply arove, yet I am so glad that Leon and I chose this way for me to go.” Again Luc’s indigo eyes caught Liaze’s of amber. He held her gaze for a moment, and then looked away toward Remy.
“And as to the Goblins and Trolls I fought, I know nought of their mission, or even if they had one. However, shortly after I rode into the Autumnwood, I sensed someone trailing me, and it happened to be that band. Thrice or mayhap four times they assaulted me, but, in spite of their being Redcaps, I think they were not after blood. Instead, I believe they were out to capture me, though as a hostage I deem I would prove to be of little ransom worth, foundling that I am, and my provisional sire nought but a woodcutter.”
“We thought as much,” said Remy. “-About them being out to capture you, I mean.”
“And why might you think that would be the case?” asked Zacharie.
Luc shrugged. “As I said, ransom could not be the reason.”
“Unless they knew who your true pere might be-or your mere,” said Liaze. “What do you know of them?”
Luc turned up his hands. “Nothing.-Or wait, almost nothing.”
“Almost nothing?” said Liaze.
Luc fished the amulet out from under his shirt. Liaze winced, for when he had done so, she could see dark bruises where he had been beaten.
“Only this,” said Luc, looping the chain over his head and holding out the pendant to Liaze.
As the princess drew back, Remy’s hand fell to the hilt of the dagger at his side, but he did not draw it.
When Liaze hesitated, Luc said, “I give it to you freely, my lady. It will do you no harm.”
Tentatively, Liaze held out her hand, and Luc dropped it into her palm.
It did not sting, but instead felt chill.
She turned it ’round in her fingers and studied it closely. It seemed to be nought but a sapphire in a silver setting on a silver chain. There were no markings on it, and the chain had no clasp.
“My sire, my foster sire Leon, that is, told me it was around my neck when he found me. I was then but a wee babe, and for some reason, the chain was shorter then-it seems to have grown as have I. Regardless, when he tried to remove it for safekeeping, it nearly killed him. It seems that I must give it freely, else it will do great harm.”
“A magic talisman, then?” asked Liaze, handing it back.
Luc nodded, and looped the silver chain over his head, dropping the amulet down the front of his shirt.
“My foster father says that it must have come from my real parents.”
“Have you taken it to a mage, a seer, to find out what he could tell you?”
“Non, Princess. Though on my errantry I hoped to do so.”
“Were you swaddled in blankets?” asked Liaze. “If so, what of them? Were they fine or coarse? That might tell you something of your origins.”
Luc shrugged. “Fine or coarse, that I do not know, my lady. For by the time I knew to ask, they were no longer about.”
In that moment the servant returned, followed by several more, and they brought platters of breads and meats and cheeses and grapes and an assortment of melons and fruit, along with scones and jellies and jams and clotted cream and a large urn of tea. And there were two bottles of hearty red wine, as well as one of white.
Along with utensils and napkins and various porcelain and glassware, they set it all on the sideboard and decanted the wine and then withdrew.
As Luc started to rise, Liaze said, “Stay where you are, Sir Luc, and ease your hurts. I will serve you up a trencher myself. What would you have?”
As soon as everyone had settled, ’round a mouthful of bread Remy asked, “And, as the son of a poor woodcutter, where did you come upon your fine steed and clothes and weaponry?”
“Ah, that is a mystery, indeed,” said Luc, cutting off a chunk of beef and popping it into his mouth. He chewed a moment and then said, “My foster father had trained me in weaponry. It seems in an earlier time Leon had been an armsmaster. And so I learned my lessons well: the bow, the lance, the blade. He had a small collection, you see. Epees, rapiers, foils, sabers, spears, shields and bucklers, and other such gear, two of each, it seems. Yet he only had a single steed, and so my training ahorse suffered somewhat.”
“You took his only steed?” asked Remy, taking up the decanter of red wine and offering it about, pouring a goblet for Luc and himself. Zacharie and Liaze continued drinking tea.
“Oh, no,” said Luc, taking a sip of wine and setting the goblet down. “And here is the mystery to that: one day, not long past, a horse-the black-appeared at my foster pere’s doorstone. It was accoutered with a fine saddle and trappings, and laden with clothes and arms and armor and a silver horn and a small pouch of gold. In one of the saddlebags we found a note written in a fine hand saying that the goods and the horse-Deadly Nightshade is his name, for he is trained for combat-were for me. Whence they came, I know not, nor did my foster father, it seems.
“Leon then taught me just what a combat-ready steed can do and the commands to give, and after a bit more training-me and the horse together-he insisted that I go and seek my fortune, faring forth on errantry. As much as I hated to leave him alone, I did so, riding with my back to the sun, as Leon did advise.”
“What did you do with the note?” asked Zacharie, taking up a bit of cheese to clear his palate.
“My foster father kept it, saying that he would one day set forth on a journey to find the benefactor, but that I was to ride this direction, he said, for perils lay along th
e other, and I needed more seasoning ere I took them on.”
“Hmm…” mused Liaze, spreading clotted cream upon a scone. “I suspect he knew more than he told you.”
“I thought so, too, but who am I to question my sire, foster or no?”
“Regardless,” said Zacharie, now pouring himself a goblet of wine, “we are glad you came, for if the Redcaps and Troll had been on their way here, and they just happened to see you as a victim of opportunity, then your fair warning no doubt saved lives.” Zacharie raised his glass in salute.
“I wonder,” said Luc. “Oh, Goblins are Goblins, but why would they be on their way here? Have you wronged them in some manner?”
“Not directly,” said Liaze. She took a sip of tea, then said, “But we have clashed with their masters-or mistresses I should say.”
“Mistresses?”
“Oui,” said Liaze. “Have you ever heard of Hradian, Rhensibe, Iniqui, Nefasi, or Orbane?”
“Orbane, certainly,” said Luc, “but he is a man, a dark wizard. These others, they are all women?”
At Liaze’s nod, Luc said, “Regardless, I know nought of them. These clashes you spoke of…”
“There are, or were, four sisters, four witches, four acolytes of the wizard Orbane, all sworn to set him free from his imprisonment in the Castle of Shadows in the Great Darkness beyond the Black Wall of the World. These witches blame my sire-King Valeray, who was a cunning thief at the time-and his companion-Lord Roulan, a swordsman of considerable merit-for Orbane’s eventual downfall.”
Liaze paused to take a bite of scone and a sip of tea, and Luc said, “I thought it was the Firsts who entrapped Orbane.”
Liaze nodded. “Oui. You are correct, but they did it through Orbane’s own wizardry.”
“How so?”
“Disguised as a hag, my father tricked the witch Nefasi into allowing him into one of Orbane’s castles, where he stole two clay amulets imbued with the wizard’s own powerful magic, and when he and Lord Roulan gave these to the Firsts, they were used to cast Orbane into his imprisonment.”
“Nefasi is one of those you named, right? One of the acolytes?”
Liaze nodded. “Hradian, Rhensibe, Iniqui, and Nefasi: they are the four-or were the four-acolytes, but now are just three, for Rhensibe is dead.”
“Slain by Prince Borel’s Wolves,” declared Remy. “Tore her apart, they did, and a more deserving death no one ever had.”
“Prince Borel?” asked Luc.
“My brother, eldest of Valeray and Saissa’s get,” said Liaze.
“Whether or no I have siblings, I cannot say,” said Luc, a bit chapfallen.
“There are four of us,” said Liaze. “Borel, myself, Alain, and Celeste, to name us in birth order. We rule over four principalities: respectively, the Winterwood, Autumnwood, Summerwood, and Springwood.”
“This, then, is your demesne,” said Luc.
“Oui.”
Zacharie frowned into his wine, and then looked up. “My lady, I have a thought.”
Liaze gazed at him, a query in her eyes.
“Just this: there are four witches and four of you. Hradian was indirectly responsible for the curses laid upon Alain, and Rhensibe was behind Borel’s plight. That leaves Nefasi and Iniqui, as well as you and Celeste. If the acolytes are out for revenge on King Valeray, mayhap they think to accomplish such through his four children. Hence, perhaps this Goblin and Troll attack was meant to be a raid on Autumnwood Manor after all, and Sieur Luc just happened to get in the way.”
7
Heart
They sat in silence for a moment, pondering Zacharie’s words. Finally, Liaze said, “Perhaps you are right, but then again, that does not explain why they came back to the willows when they heard the Redcap call out.”
“Mayhap they did not want a deadly foe at their back,” said Remy, “and by the count of their slain, Luc is a deadly foe indeed.”
“Nightshade dealt death blows to some of them,” said Luc, “for he is trained to lash out at the enemy when I command him to attackNight, attaques! ”
“ ‘Night’? I thought his name was Deadly Nightshade,” said Liaze.
Luc smiled. “It is, Princess, though most of the time I simply call him Nightshade, but the note said I was to use Night for his combat commands; it is quicker than calling out the full of his name. Regardless, that’s how I breached their last encirclement after my sword broke. They gave way before his flailing hooves, but only after three were slain.”
“Ah, then, he truly is Deadly Nightshade,” said Liaze.
Luc smiled and nodded and said, “Yes, in combat.”
“We saw that on your backtrail,” said Luc. “ ’Tis a fine steed you have.”
“Did you find my spear, my helm?”
“Non. You had a spear?”
“It’s lodged in a Troll somewhere. From horseback I lanced him through and through, and couldn’t free the shaft before the others came at me again.”
“Formidable!” said Liaze.
Luc grinned at her, his teeth even and white, and she again felt a thrill rush through her, caught by his eyes as she was.
“We must not have backtracked far enough,” said Remy.
“W-what?” asked Liaze, breaking her gaze from Luc’s.
“I said, Princess, we must not have backtracked far enough,” repeated Remy.
“Oh. Right. Send a warband first thing on the morrow. Have them look for the helm as well.” She turned to Luc. “Where did you lose it, sieur?”
“It must have been when I was struck across the brow by what I believe was a flung cudgel. It was just after I sounded the warning. I saw the lights of your manse, and I knew I must needs alert whoever was within. And then the cudgel struck me.
“The next I knew, I was on the ground somewhere by running water. That’s where I saw the Nymph.”
“Nymph?” said Zacharie.
Luc grinned again and caught at Liaze’s eyes with his own. “The beautiful princess here, though in a different state of dress.”
Liaze cast her gaze down and away, and she could feel redness creeping up her neck and into her face, and she wondered if she were blushing all over, even unto the ends of her feet.
“I thought her a Water Nymph, an angel, a dream come true.”
Liaze’s racing heart hammered in her chest, as of a caged bird seeking escape, and she thought it might burst free in joyous flight. Perhaps Zoe is right: perhaps this is the man I have been waiting for, and he has come at last. Something… something-she knew not what-welled up from deep inside and shook her soul, and she felt her eyes glisten, as if she were preparing to shed tears.
“My life was saved several times that night,” said Luc. He raised a hand and ticked off a count on his fingers, turning them down one by one: “Once by my spear; many times by my sword; once by Nightshade; once by my helm, for surely the cudgel would have done me in had I been bareheaded.” He looked at the princess and smiled and turned down the last of his fingers and said, “And once by an angel true.”
After a moment of silence, “Harrumph!” Zacharie cleared his throat and said, “Well, my boy, I think it’s time I escorted you to another hot bath and then back to your bed. I promised Margaux we wouldn’t keep you overlong, for, as she said, you need your rest, and you must recover from the battering you took.” He looked at Liaze and said, “By your leave, Princess?”
Liaze glanced at Remy and when he shrugged she nodded to Zacharie and looked at Luc and smiled, but said nought, for she was not certain she could trust her voice.
Groaning softly, Luc stood, and he stepped to the princess and bowed. She extended her hand and he kissed her fingers. Zacharie and Remy were on their feet, and they bowed as well. Remy said, “Shall I escort you somewhere, Princess?”
She shook her head and managed to say, “Non, Remy. Close the door after you leave, for I would be alone to think.”
“As you wish,” said Remy.
The three walked away, L
uc erect and pacing slowly, a slight limp in his step, Zacharie at his side. Remy strode ahead to the portal and held it open as they passed through. And then they were gone.
Sipping white wine, Liaze sat in the blue room for a considerable time, fanciful dreams spinning in the air.
8
Pyre
Finally, Liaze stood and stepped into the corridor, where she found late-afternoon sunlight shining in through the hallway window. Oh, my, but the day has fled as I gathered wool, dreaming of what might be. But I still know little of this chevalier, this Luc. Charming, yes, and witty, and I thrill at even his glance, yet though I think not, still he could be nought but a fortune hunter after my demesne. Are you afraid, Liaze, because it happened once before with someone you briefly thought to be noble? Afraid? Nay. Cautious? Yes, for I cannot let my longing for true love blind me to what is real. Hence, I will have to genuinely come to know Luc ere I can see him for what he is: a flatterer, a cad, a rake, or someone just as he seems. Still, he called me his angel when he knew me not and was addled, and mayhap in that state he was speaking his heart, rather than trying to sway me.
Liaze suddenly realized that she had been standing before the window and seeing nought outside. Movement caught her eye, and she watched as a pony-drawn flatbed cart crossed her line of vision, a man leading the little steed. On the cart were three or four corpses of Goblins. What-? Ah, oui. Remy and the warband are preparing to burn them.
Liaze turned and walked toward the welcoming hall, and there she found her head gardener waiting on one of the marble benches along the window wall. He leapt to his feet and doffed his cap from his fair locks and bowed.
“What is it, Georges?”
“My lady, when they burn the corpses on the pyre they’ve piled up downwind, there at the edge of the woods, it will leave a great scar on the ground, and the grass and plants thereunder, having burnt down roots and all, will not come anew. What would you have me put in their place?”
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