by Jack Vance
"His prospects are poor. Now he takes only a single quail egg poached in buttermilk for his meal. But are we not straying from the subject? What is your proposal?"
"I will point out the obvious, that our two realms are the most powerful of the Elder Isles. I propose that we issue a joint protocol guaranteeing territorial integrity everywhere through out the Elder Isles. The effects of such a doctrine would be profound."
King Casmir's face had become a stony mask. "Your goals do you credit, but certain of your assumptions may be unrealistic."
"I make only one assumption of any importance," said Aillas. "I assume that you are as dedicated to peace as I am. There is no other possibility save the reverse: that you are not dedicated to peace, which is of course absurd."
King Casmir showed a small sardonic smile. "All very well, but would not your doctrine be considered somewhat vague, or even naive?"
"I think not," said Aillas. "The central idea is clear enough. A potential aggressor would be deterred for fear of certain defeat, along with punishment and an end to his dynasty.
"I will certainly give your proposal careful consideration," said King Casmir woodenly.
"I expect no more," said Aillas.
IV
While Aillas expounded his implausible schemes to King Casmir, Dhrun and Madouc went out upon the front terrace and stood leaning against the balustrade. Below them was the quadrangle known as the ‘King's Parade' and, beyond, all of Lyonesse Town. Today, despite Lady Vosse's disapproval, Madouc wore her ordinary garments: a knee-length frock of oatmeal- colored nubble-cloth, belted at the waist. A band of plaited blue cord bound her curls, with a tassel dangling beside her left ear; she wore sandals on her bare feet.
Dhrun found the tassel intriguing and was moved to comment: "You wear that tassel with remarkable flair."
Madouc pretended indifference and made a flippant gesture. "It is nothing much: a caprice, no more."
"It is a distinctly jaunty caprice, with more than a hint of fairy panache. Your mother Twisk might well wear that tassel with pride."
Madouc gave her head a doubtful shake. "When I saw her she wore neither tassels nor ties, and her hair floated like a blue fog." Madouc considered a moment. "Of course, I am not well acquainted with fairy fashions. There is not much fairy stuff left in me."
Dhrun inspected her from head to toe. "I would not be too sure on that account."
Madouc shrugged. "Remember: I never lived among the fairies; I have eaten no fairy bread, nor drunk fairy wine. The fairy stuff-"
"It is called ‘soum'. It is true that the ‘soum' drains away, leaving only human dross behind."
Madouc looked reflectively out over the town. "All taken with all, I do not like to think of myself as ‘human dross'."
"Of course not! Never would I consider you such!"
"I am pleased to hear your good opinion," said Madouc modestly.
"You knew it before," said Dhrun. "Also, if I may say so, I am relieved to see you in good spirits. Last night you were almost morose. I wondered if you were bored with the company."
"Was my mood so apparent?"
"You seemed, at the very least, subdued."
"Still, I was not bored."
"Why were you unhappy?"
Once again Madouc looked out over the vista. "Must I explain the truth?"
"I will take my chances," said Dhrun. "I can only hope that your remarks are not too corrosive. Tell me the truth."
"I am the one who takes chances," said Madouc. "But I am reckless and I know no better. The truth is this: I was so pleased to see you that I became sick and miserable."
"Remarkable!" said Dhrun. "And when I leave, sorrow will cause you to sing and dance for sheer merriment."
Madouc said dolefully: "You are laughing at me."
"No. Not really."
"Then why are you smiling?"
"I think there is more fairy stuff in you than you suspect."
Madouc gave a thoughtful nod, as if Dhrun had addressed certain of her own suspicions. "You lived long at Thripsey Shee; you yourself should be charged with fairy stuff."
"Sometimes I fear as much. A human child too long at the shee becomes addled and moonstruck. Thereafter he is good for nothing but to play wild music on the pipes. When he starts up a jig, the folk can never leave off dancing; they must hop and skip till their shoes wear out."
Madouc gave Dhrun a wondering examination. "You do not seem moonstruck to me-though I am no proper judge. By chance, do you play the pipes?"
Dhrun nodded. "For a time I piped tunes for a troupe of dancing cats. That was long ago. It would not be considered dignified now."
"When you played, did people dance without restraint? If so, I would like you to play, as if by casual impulse, for the king and queen and Lady Vosse. Sir Mungo also might be helped by a few capers, and also Zerling the executioner."
"I did not bring my pipes," said Dhrun. "The fairy waft is draining away, and my temperament has become somewhat dull. Perhaps I am not moonstruck after all."
"Do you often think of the shee?"
"Occasionally. But the memories are blurred, as if I were recalling a dream."
"Do you remember my mother Twisk?"
"Not well; in fact, not at all. I remember King Throbius and Queen Bossum, and also an imp named Falael who was jealous of me. I remember festivals in the moonlight and sitting in the grass making flower chains."
"Would you like to visit the shee again?"
Dhrun gave his head an emphatic shake. "They would think I had come for favors and play me a dozen wicked tricks."
"The shee is not far away?"
"It is north of Little Saffield on Old Street. A lane leads to Tawn Timble and Glymwode and on into the forest, and so to Thripsey Shee on Madling Meadow."
"It should not be too hard to find."
Dhrun spoke in surprise: "Surely you are not planning to visit the shee yourself?"
Madouc gave an evasive response. "I have no immediate plans."
"I would advise against any plans whatever, indefinite or otherwise. The roads are dangerous. The forest is strange. Fairies are not to be trusted."
Madouc seemed unconcerned. "My mother would protect me from harm."
"Do not be too sure! If she were cross and the day had gone badly, she might give you a badger's face or a long blue nose, for no reason whatever."
Madouc said positively: "My mother would never harm her own dear daughter!"
"Why would you want to go in the first place? They would not receive you nicely."
"I care nothing for that. I want only to learn news of my father, and what might be his name and his estate, and where he now lives: perhaps at some fine castle overlooking the sea!"
"What does your mother say to this?"
"She pretends to remember nothing. I believe that she has not told me everything she knows."
Dhrun was dubious. "Why should she hide the information? Unless your father was a scapegrace and a vagabond, of whom she is ashamed."
"Hm," said Madouc. "I had not thought of that. But it is hardly likely-or so I hope."
From the castle came King Casmir and Aillas, both showing faces of conventional impassivity.
Aillas spoke to Dhrun: "The wind seems to be shifting toward the south, and we had best gain sea room before conditions worsen."
"It is a pity we must go so soon," said Dhrun.
"True! Still, that is the way of it. I have invited King Casmir, along with Queen Sollace and the princess, to spend a week with us at Watershade later this summer."
"That would be a pleasant occasion!" said Dhrun. "Watershade would be at its best! I hope that Your Majesty will decide to visit us. It is not too irksome a trip!"
"It would be my great pleasure, if the press of affairs permits," said King Casmir. "I see that the carriage awaits; I will make my farewells here and now."
"That is quite in order," said Aillas. "Goodbye, Madouc." He kissed her cheek.
"Goodbye! I
am sorry that you are going so soon!"
Dhrun bent to kiss Madouc's cheek, and said, "Goodbye. We will see you again before long, perhaps at Watershade!"
"I hope so."
Dhrun turned away and followed Aillas down the stone steps to the road, where the carriage awaited them.
V
King Casmir stood by the window of his private parlour, legs apart, hands clasped behind his back. The Troice flotilla had departed and was gone beyond the eastern headlands; the Lir stretched blank and wide before him. Casmir muttered soft words under his breath and turned away from the window. Hands still clasped behind his back, he paced back and forth across the room, slow step after slow step, head bent forward so that his beard brushed his chest.
Queen Sollace entered the parlour. She halted and stood watching King Casmir's ponderous travels. Casmir darted her an ice-blue glance sidewise from under his eyebrows, and continued to pace in silence. With nostrils haughtily pinched, Queen Sollace marched across the room to the couch and seated herself. King Casmir at last halted. He spoke, as much to himself as to Sollace. "It cannot be brushed aside. Once again my progress is checked and my great effort thwarted-by the same agency and for the same reasons. The facts are blunt. I must accept them."
"Indeed?" asked Sollace. "What are these ugly facts which cause you such distress?"
"They concern my plans for Blaloc," grumbled Casmir. "I cannot intervene without bringing Aillas and his Troice warships down around my ears. Thereupon that fat jackal Audry would be sure to turn on me, and I cannot withstand so many blows from so many directions."
"Perhaps you should adopt a different plan," said Queen Sollace brightly. "Or you might make do with no plan at all."
"Ha!" barked Casmir. "So it might seem! King Aillas talks softly and with great politeness; he has the uncomfortable skill of calling one a false-hearted blackguard, a liar, a cheat and a villain, but making it seem a compliment."
Queen Sollace shook her head in bewilderment. "I am surprised! I thought King Aillas and Prince Dhrun had come to pay a courtesy call."
"That was not his only reason-I assure you of that!"
Queen Sollace sighed. "King Aillas has achieved his own great successes; why cannot he be more tolerant of your hopes and dreams? There must be an element of jealousy at work."
Casmir nodded curtly. "There is no love lost between us, that is fact. Still, he only acts as he must. He knows my ultimate goal as well as I know it myself!"
"But it is a glorious goal!" bleated Queen Sollace. "To unite the Elder Isles once again, as of old: that is a noble dream! It would surely give impetus to our holy faith! Think! One day Father Umphred might be Archbishop over all the Elder Isles!"
King Casmir spoke in disgust: "Once again you have been listening to that clabber-faced priest. He has cozened you into your cathedral; let that suffice."
Queen Sollace raised her moist gaze to the ceiling. She spoke in long-suffering tones: "No matter what else, please realize that my prayers are dedicated to your success. You must surely win in the end!"
"I wish it were so easy." King Casmir flung himself heavily into a chair. "All is not lost. I am checked in Blaloc, but there are always two ways around the barn!"
"Your meaning escapes me."
"I will give new instructions to my agents. There will be no more disorder. When King Milo dies, Brezante will be king. We will give him Madouc in marriage, and by this means join our houses."
Queen Sollace made an objection. "Brezante is already wed! He married Glodwyn of Bor!"
"She was frail, young and sickly, and she died in childbirth. Brezante is notably uxorious, and he will be quite ready for new nuptials."
Queen Sollace said mournfully: "Poor little Glodwyn! She was barely more than a child; it is said she never gave over her homesickness."
Casmir shrugged. "Still and all, it might well work to our advantage. King Milo is as good as dead. Brezante is a bit dull, a factor favorable to our cause. We must make occasion for his visit."
Sollace said doubtfully: "Brezante is not altogether gallant, nor is he handsome, or even dashing. His penchant for young maidens is notorious."
"Bah! Old or young, what of that? The business is all cut from the same cloth! Kings are above small-minded scandal."
Queen Sollace sniffed. "And queens as well, no doubt!" Casmir, staring thoughtfully across the room, ignored the remark.
"One matter further," said Sollace. "I refer to Madouc. She is difficult in matters of this sort."
"She will obey because she must," said Casmir. "It is I who am king, not Madouc."
"Aha! But it is Madouc who is Madouc!"
"We cannot make bread without flour. Scrawny red-headed little whelp she may be: still she must yield to my command."
"She is not ugly," said Queen Sollace. "Her time has come, and she is developing-slowly, of course, and with little to show for the effort. She will never boast a fashionable figure, such as mine."
"It will be enough to affect Brezante." He slapped his hands decisively on the arms of the chair. "I am prepared to act with expedition."
"Your policy is no doubt wise," said Queen Sollace. "Still-"
"Still what?"
"Nothing of consequence."
King Casmir acted without delay. Three couriers rode off from Haidion into the evening: the first to Fort Mael, ordering a return to routine conditions; the second to a high-placed agent in Twissamy; the third to King Milo, wishing him health, deploring the ruffians who flouted royal authority, and inviting King Milo and Prince Brezante to Haidion for a gala visit. Or Prince Brezante alone, if King Milo's health made such a visit impractical.
A few days later the couriers returned. From Fort Mael and the agent in Twissamy came simple acknowledgments that Casmir's orders had been received and would be acted upon. From King Milo came a dispatch of greater interest. King Milo thanked King Casmir for his kindly wishes and fraternal support. Next he announced his return to jovial good health and described how the change had come about. In a passage of some length he described the circumstances. It seemed that one day, just prior to his dinner, a sudden desperate spasm came upon him. Instead of his usual regimen: one quail egg and half a gill of buttermilk, he commanded a joint of roast beef with horse radish and suet pudding, a suckling pig fresh from the spit surrounded by roast cinnamon apples, a pot of pigeon stew and three gallons of good red wine. For his supper he took a more moderate repast of four roast fowl, a pork and onion pie, a salmon and a number of sausages, along with sufficient wine to assist in digestion. After a night's sound sleep, he breakfasted on fried flounder, three dozen oysters, a raisin cake, a cassoulet of broad beans and ham for a savory, and a tankard or two of a particularly fine white wine. It was this return to a sound and wholesome diet, declared King Milo, which had renewed his strength; he now felt as good as new, if not better. Therefore, wrote King Milo, he and the recently bereaved Prince Brezante would be delighted to accept King Casmir's invitation. Neither he nor Brezante would be reluctant to discuss the topic at which King Casmir had hinted. He endorsed King Casmir's suggestion that an era of friendlier relations between their two realms was about to be initiated.
Madouc learned of the projected visit from several sources, but it remained for Devonet to explain the occasion in detail. "You will find Prince Brezante very attentive," said Devonet airily. "He may wish to take you somewhere alone, perhaps to his rooms, for a game of ‘sly' or ‘fiddle-de-doodle'; in this case you must be on your guard. Brezante is partial to young maidens. He may even suggest a marriage contract! In any case you should not succumb to his blandishments, since some men become bored with easy conquests."
Madouc said stiffly: "You need not fear on that account. I am interested neither in Prince Brezante nor his blandishments."
Devonet paid no heed. "Think of it! Is it not exciting? Some day you might be Queen Madouc of Blaloc!"
"I think not."
Devonet spoke reasonably: "I agree that Brezante is
not the most comely of men; indeed, he is fleshy and squat, with a round belly and a big nose. Still, what of that? He is a royal prince, and you are to be envied, or so I suppose."
"You are talking sheer foolishness. I have not the slightest interest in Prince Brezante, nor he in me."
"Do not be too sure of that! You are much like his previous spouse. She was a young princess from Wales-a little wisp of a thing, naive and innocent."
Chlodys joined the conversation with eager zest. "They say that she cried constantly from both homesickness and distress! I believe that eventually she went out of her mind, poor thing. Prince Brezante was troubled not at all and bedded with her nightly, until at last she died in childbirth."
"It is a sad story," said Madouc.
"Exactly! The little princess is dead and Prince Brezante is heartsick. You must do your best to console him."
"He will surely want to kiss you," said Chlodys with a giggle. "If so, you must kiss him nicely in return; that is the way one wins a husband. Am I not right, Devonet?"
"That is one of the ways, certainly."
Madouc spoke with disdain: "Sometimes I marvel at the ideas which seep through your minds!"
"Ah well," sighed Devonet. "It is less disgraceful to think than to do."
"Although not so much fun," added Chlodys.
"Either of you, or both, are welcome to Prince Brezante," said Madouc. "He will surely find you more interesting than I."
Later in the day King Casmir met Madouc in the gallery. He was about to pass her by, eyes averted, in his usual style; instead, he stopped in his tracks. "Madouc, I want a word with you."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Come with me." King Casmir led the way into a nearby council chamber, with Madouc lagging reluctantly six paces behind.
Casmir, smiling the smallest of grim smiles, waited by the door until Madouc entered, then closed the door and went to stand by the table. "Sit."
Madouc seated herself primly in a chair across the table from Casmir.
"I must now instruct you," said Casmir ponderously. "Listen with care and heed me well. Certain events of importance are in the offing. King Milo of Blaloc will presently be our guest, in company with Queen Caudabil and Prince Brezante. I intend to propose a contract of betrothal between you and Prince Brezante. The marriage will be joined at an appropriate time, possibly in three years. It will be an important marriage, in that it will consolidate a strong alliance with Blaloc, to counter Porn perol's tendency toward Dahaut. These are affairs of state which you will not understand, but you must believe that they are of the highest priority."