Until it is fully lapped.”
Chamumi Dre’ela pulled the golden spool on its cord from ’round her neck, and she began tossing it up and catching it, even as she stepped in front of her sire and glared at him and jerked her head toward the bobbin.
Olot looked at her and growled, “You were wrong the last time, daughter.” He gazed about the chamber, and then laughed and said:
“ ’Round and ’round ’tis spun,
On which the thread is wrapped;
’Round and ’round ’tis spun,
Until it is fully lapped.”
And then it was the cham who pointed at the upset throne, where the spider turned a captured fly ’round and ’round as it wrapped it in webbing. “The answer is a fly,” crowed Olot. “The fly is spun up in webbing for the spider to hang in his larder.”
As slaves groaned, for surely Camille had lost, Camille said, “This time you should have heeded your daughter, sire, for she had the answer all along: it is a spool, a spinning-wheel spool.”
“See!” shrieked Chamumi Dre’ela in fury.
“Spool?” roared Olot.
“Indeed, my lord,” replied Camille.
The slaves now hooted aloud at clever Camille’s second outwitting of the cham of Goblins and Trolls.
“This is trickery,” roared Olot. “No more riddles with double answers, answers which you can pick and choose the one I do not guess.” The cham flexed his great thews and said, “For the third and last challenge, I want a physical contest, not one of twisted words. And recall, should you lose this one, then you lose all.”
Camille was stunned, for although she was keen of mind, what could she physically challenge the Troll with? And it had to be something within the chamber.
’Round she looked, and ’round, but nothing came to mind. Finally, in despair, with tears in her eyes Camille looked at her beloved Bear, her beloved Alain. And there, matted in the Bear’s fur was a great blob of candle wax, the wax she had spilled on Alain that terrible night when all had been snatched away, the wax a sign of her betrayal of him. But then she realized that the very thing which had doomed him might also be his salvation.
She turned to the Troll cham and announced, “The third and last challenge, sire, is to clean the Bear of candle wax, but no single hair of the Bear’s fur may be harmed, else you lose.”
Shoving Olot aside, plucking and pulling on the Bear’s fur, scraping with her talons, Dre’ela tried her best and failed, the wax stubbornly clinging to fur. And the Bear did growl all during the trial, yet he stood quite still.
Chamum Te’efoon snarled, “Out of the way,” and she shoved the chamumi aside. And with sweat beading on her knobby, bald head, she, too, plucked and clawed at the growling Bear, her talons a bit more dainty, if dainty could be said of Troll talons. Yet, she had no better success than did her daughter.
Olot hurled the chamum aside, and he clawed at the wax, to little effect, and the Bear added a show of teeth to his growl. Then Olot whirled on Camille and snarled, “This is an impossible task. None can do so. I declare the contest null and void.”
“But if I clean it,” said Camille, “then you lose, agreed?”
Sneering, Olot nodded his concurrence.
Camille reached into her pocket and pulled out the third and last gift: the golden carding comb, the comb Skuld told her to hold on to till the end, for then it might do her some good.
“Not fair,” snarled Dre’ela.
Te’efoon nodded and called out to Olot. “Our daughter is right, for this pretender has a comb.”
But Camille replied, “The only rules were, whatever the contest, it had to concern something in this chamber, and this comb was certainly in the chamber.”
A rumble of agreement muttered among the slaves.
Camille knelt before the silent Bear and combed the fine, fine teeth through his fur, and in but moments, all the wax was gone, and not a hair on the Bear had been damaged.
“Now I will take my Bear and leave,” said Camille.
“Never!” cried Olot. He turned to the Goblin guard and bellowed, “Kill her!”
“For the Lady Camille,” shouted Lanval, turning to the nearest Goblin and smashing a fist in its face.
“For the Lady Camille,” shouted Blanche, kicking a Goblin in the gonads even as Renaud crashed a bench over another’s head.
And the hall erupted in sound and fury, some slaves grabbing up whatever came to hand and attacking the foe, while others fought with nought but fists, feet, and teeth. The Bear roared and reared up, and with mighty blows smashed aside Goblins left and right, keeping them back from Camille, though she shrieked and flailed away with her staff whenever one did come nigh.
Even so, the Redcap Goblins had bladed weapons-spears and tulwars and scimitars-and nearly all of the slaves did not, though a few here and there had managed to wrest a blade away from a downed Goblin. And so the tide turned, for bronze sheared through hands and arms and legs, necks and guts, and slaves fell, pierced or hacked or slashed, and red blood streamed in rivulets across the floor.
But then- Boom! Doom! — the great doors to the castle came crashing inward, and, led by a tiny sparrow, the Dwarves, with their axes and war hammers and maces swinging, rushed into the fray, Big Jack and Lady Bronze among them and slaying Goblins with every strike.
Redcaps fought with fury, yet the iron of the Dwarves shattered goblin bronze, and Redcaps shrieked and tried to flee, only to be cut down from behind. Te’efoon and Dre’ela fled screaming up the stairs, but, just as they reached the high landing above, Scruff flew into the face of Te’efoon, and she reeled back and lost her balance, and she reached out to grab on to anything to save her from the long fall, her talons snatching Dre’ela’s necklaces of stolen gold, and shrieking, together they tumbled over the edge to plummet headfirst to the stone floor below, skulls cracking open like rotten melons, necks snapping like twigs.
Chirping, Scruff flew back down to Camille and alighted on her shoulder, yet she paid little heed; all the battles had ended but one, and Camille cried out in distress, for with battering fists, Olot hammered back the Bear, staggering the massive bruin. Yet this enraged the Bear, and, mad with unbridled fury and striking mighty blows, he savaged the Troll cham, smashing him to the floor. But Olot threw up a hand and squealed, “Remember my curse: if you kill me, then you yourself are slain.”
“Oh, Bear,” cried Camille, “I would not have you die.”
And in that moment the Bear hesitated, but Big Jack shouted, “Well, Troll, I am not so cursed!” And with a single blow of Lady Bronze, Olot’s head went flying.
And with the last bane gone, the Bear vanished, and there stood Alain.
And so it was at that very instant, at the instant Camille’s Alain had been set free, it was high noon above, with the new moon lagging on one side of the zenith and the sun just passing beyond, and in that moment the island could truly be said to lie east of the sun and west of the moon there at that time and place.
Yet even as Camille rushed into Alain’s arms, she looked about at the dead and the dying-slain Goblins and slaughtered slaves and three very dead Trolls-and at the grief-stricken survivors, those with loved ones dead, and at the wounded crying out for aid. And Camille burst into tears and clutched at Alain and buried her face in his shoulder, for even more death had come, and it was all because of her, or so it was she did think.
Both Kolor and Lanval called for the untouched survivors to begin binding the wounds of the injured. And as most of the Dragonship crew and many of the household of Summerwood Manor set to the task, both the captain and the steward turned toward Alain and Camille. But then Kolor started and gasped in disbelief, and he breathed, “Maiden, Mother, and Crone, but am I seeing true?” And he pointed at the dais, where an ebon-cloaked, hooded figure appeared…
… and then another…
… and then one more…
… and all the Dwarves did kneel.
36
Pledge
D
ark as ravens, the three figures stood unmoving, the hoods and hems of their black cloaks outlined respectively in silver, gold, and jet. Two held staves; one did not. All in the hall before them fell silent, but for the groans of the wounded and the sobbing of Camille. Then the silver-trimmed figure stepped to the edge of the dais and said, “Weep not, Camille, for you did well.”
Camille looked up into Alain’s face and then disengaged from his embrace and turned toward the dais. “Lady Sorciere,” she gasped, and wiped at her tears ineffectually.
The figure cast back her hood, revealing silver eyes and silver hair, and Camille curtseyed low and said, “Forgive me, Lady Skuld, I took you for someone else.”
Even as Skuld smiled enigmatically, the other two figures cast back their hoods, revealing golden-eyed, yellow-haired, matronly Verdandi, and black-eyed, white-haired, toothless, ancient Urd. And all the Dwarves dropped their gazes, for surely it would be unwise to stare into the face of Destiny, be it beginning, middle, or end.
And though the three Fates now stood before the assembly, Camille thought she could faintly hear the sound of three looms weaving.
Amazement in his eyes, for there stood Wyrd and Lot and Doom, Alain bowed, and all former slaves who were able bowed and curtseyed as well, Big Jack lowering Lady Bronze and bowing, too.
“Pish, tush,” said Verdandi, waving a negligent hand.
“This is no time for formalities. Instead, care for the wounded.”
As Dwarves and Humans resumed the task of tending the injured, Skuld looked at Camille and said, “Although what Fate gives, most assuredly Fate can take away, we three would be most appreciative if you would return the gifts to the givers.”
“Oh, indeed,” said Camille, and she took the carding comb from her pocket. “Here is one”-she stepped forward and gave over the golden comb to Skuld-“but I’ll have to get the other two, for the shuttle and bobbin are on-”
— Yet of a sudden the shuttle was now in Verdandi’s hand and the bobbin in Urd’s. Camille was relieved, for now she wouldn’t have to touch Dre’ela’s corpse. And then the golden gifts vanished, as if returned whence they had come.
Camille looked back at Alain, and he yet held wonder in his eyes, for not only were the three Fates standing before him, but it appeared his love had had dealings with them. She held out her hand and he stepped to her and took it, and together they faced the three Sisters.
With her stave in hand, Verdandi lifted the gold-trimmed hem of her cloak and stepped down from the dais and looked up at Big Jack and said, “Would you walk with me?” Big Jack bobbed his head and offered his arm, and together they moved among the those who were injured, Lady Verdandi saying a word here and touching a cheek there, and all seemed the better for it.
“Here, you, up off your knees,” snapped Urd, gesturing at Kolor. “A hand if you please.”
Kolor leapt to his feet and aided Urd to step down from the dais, the crone then leaning on him as she shuffled among the slain, prodding Goblins and Trolls with her walking staff, as if to make certain they were truly dead.
But Skuld remained on the dais, and she looked at Camille and said, “It would please me much if you would give me the other gift as well, for truly it is mine.”
Camille frowned. “But my lady, what other gift-?” Camille furiously thought: The only other gifts I was given are In her left hand, Camille yet held on to the stave, and she gave it over to Lady Skuld. And lo! the moment Skuld took the staff, the splits and cracks and splinters vanished, and the vine blossomed again.
“Then you are the Lady of the Mere,” said Camille in wonder, “and Lady Sorciere, too.”
Skuld nodded. “As I said, there at the beginning of the River of Time, my sisters and I are bound by rules, and no matter that I am Skuld or the Lady of the Mere or Lady Sorciere, I must follow those rules. Did you not pledge service to me there on the edge of the mere, and answer riddles ere I responded to your need, telling you where to find your love as well as giving you the staff and the sparrow?”
At mention of the wee bird, sudden tears came to Camille’s eyes, and she reached for Scruff on her shoulder to return that gift as well. But Skuld thrust out a hand of negation and said, “No, you will yet need the sparrow for the great peril which is yet to come.”
Even as Camille’s heart leapt to her throat, Alain put a protective arm about her. Then he gestured at the dead Goblins and Trolls. “But Olot and his minions are slain, my lady. Of what peril do you speak?”
“Camille yet owes me a service, Prince Alain, and it will be more perilous than that which she did for you.”
A look of hardness came into Alain’s grey eyes, as if he would challenge Lady Wyrd Herself, or face dangers dire, but at that moment Camille quietly asked, “What would you have me do?’
“No, my love,” said Alain, “not you alone, but we two together.” He turned to Lady Skuld. “What would you have us do?”
Camille bowed her head, dreading the answer, but Skuld smiled and said, “Fear not, Camille, for I would not ask either you or Alain to betray your consciences. As to the service itself, it is impending, for the one who would pollute Time’s River beyond all repair is yet to come, and there is one before him who stands athwart your path, an acolyte who even now prepares the way for his return.
“But that event wends down the River of Time and will not wash over the worlds for yet long whiles.”
In that moment Verdandi as well as Urd returned to the dais, Big Jack handing Verdandi up, Kolor handing Urd. And the three then stood side by side, and the sound of weaving looms again came faint on the air.
Skuld looked with silver eyes at Camille and said, “Remember this, Camille: even though what I have seen is now woven in the tapestry of time, great efforts by the determined can alter those events. Heed, you and Alain and any who walk at your side have time to prepare and mayhap even change that which I have foreseen, for it is only when Verdandi weaves and Urd binds that the pattern of the tapestry is fixed.”
“I remember,” said Camille.
Skuld turned to her sisters and asked, “Is there aught you would add?”
Verdandi looked at Camille and Alain and said, “For now, return to Summerwood Manor, and enjoy the immediate days.”
Urd cackled and winked at the two, then pointed a shaking finger at Camille, and said, “Remember all I have told you, child, all… and act.”
The clack of shuttle and slap of treadle and thud of batten swelled, and of a sudden the Sisters vanished, the sound of weaving no more.
“Maiden, Mother, and Crone,” breathed Kolor. “Maiden, Mother, and Crone.”
37
Restoration
Camille, aiding Renaud to splint Blanche’s broken arm, found herself next to Kolor, who was helping Big Jack bind a wound across a woman’s back. “How did you get here so quickly,” she asked, “from your station asea?”
“We were not there,” replied Kolor.
Camille glanced at Kolor and frowned. “Not there?”
“Did I not say when you went ashore that should we not hear from you in a timely manner, we would not stay hidden long?” As Camille nodded, Kolor said, “Well, when we had not seen any signal for two full days and nights, we slipped into the cove just ere this dawn, and then-”
“And then we argued about what to do,” growled Big Jack. “I was all for-”
Kolor snorted. “He was all for an immediate raid, but the Goblins were locked up in this great fortress, and if the prince were prisoner within, well… — This is a formidable redoubt and-”
Big Jack’s jaw jutted out. “And if we’d gone over th’ wall in th’ dark like I wanted to-”
“But the dawn was already upon us, Jack.”
“All because of your dithering,” shot back Big Jack.
Kolor sighed and said to Camille, “But then you and the others were marched from the town to the citadel, mayhap to be locked up as well. I thought Big Jack was going to attack the fortress all by himself, yet
we managed to talk him out of it, for we believed surely you would think of something to do, Camille, or so it was we hoped.”
Big Jack nodded, but made no comment as Kolor continued: “Long we waited, and long we watched as load after load of rubbish, it seems, were hauled out of the castle and thrown from the bridge into the moat. As the sun neared the zenith with the yet-to-be new moon still in its grasp, we heard the distant sound of a gong, and all the walls were abandoned, and lo! the bridge was left down with the gate wide ajar. Now we debated whether or no we had been seen and whether ’twas a Redcap ruse to draw us into a passage with murder holes above.”
Fashioning a sling, Renaud grunted and shook his head. “We were all in, and they thought no one else was about, and so, what was there left for them to ward against? Nothing, they believed.”
Kolor nodded in agreement and said, “As we discovered when we heard another distant gong, and shortly thereafter, Camille, your wee bird came flying straight for us, and we knew you were in trouble, and that no signal would come, though mayhap you’d sent the sparrow.”
Camille shook her head. “Scruff did it all on his own.” She looked at the bird, delight in her eyes. “And he flew, oh, how he flew. It was marvelous.”
“Indeed,” said Kolor, “and we were quite surprised, him with his wing and all.-Regardless, Big Jack took off running, little Scruff leading the way, and we were right behind. And a bit of trouble we found you in, too.”
“There, Blanche,” said Renaud. “All done.”
Her forearm now splinted and in the sling, Blanche turned to Kolor. “Thank you, Captain, you and your crew. Thanks to you as well, Jack. Without your aid, we would have all been slain.” She looked at Renaud, tears in her eyes, and whispered, “All.” She pulled Renaud to her and kissed him.
Her own eyes tearing, Camille looked for Alain. He was kneeling and speaking to Jules, the lad with his head bandaged and but a stump for a hand. But then Renaud said, “Come, my lady. More need our aid.”
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