Lyonesse II - The Green Pear and Madouc (13 page)

“Perfectly! I accept your proposal with enthusiasm.”

“I thought as much. Shalles, you shall, like Torqual, visit among such of the barons you suspect of disaffection, and give them counsel and coordinate their efforts. If necessary, you may offer bribes, though this will be your last resort. You will also work closely with Torqual, and at intervals you will report to me, by methods which we will arrange.”

“Sir, I will do my best in this regard, for a period which perhaps we now should define for our exact understanding.”

Casmir drummed a quick tattoo on the table-top, but when he spoke, his voice was even. “Much depends upon circumstances.”

“Exactly so, sir, which is why I wish to define an upper limit upon my service. The danger is very great in this game which you want me to play. In short, I do not care to roam the moors until finally I am killed.”

“Hm. How long a term do you suggest?”

“In view of the danger, a year seems long enough.”

Casmir grunted. “In a year you will hardly learn the lay of the land.”

“Sir, I can only do my best, and, remember, King Aillas will send out his own spies. Once I am identified, my usefulness decreases.”

“Hmf. I will think on it. Come before me tomorrow afternoon.”

Shalles rose to his feet, bowed and departed. Casmir turned to Torqual. “Shalles may be somewhat too scrupulous for this sort of work. Still, he is avaricious, which is a good sign. As for you, I am under no illusions. You are a wolf’s-head, a crafty murderer and a blackguard.”

Torqual grinned. “I also ravish women. Usually they cry and hold out their arms when I leave them.”

King Casmir, who was something of a prig in such matters, turned him a cold stare. “I will provide you weapons and, at your option, a small company of cutthroats. If you succeed well, and, like Shalles, desire a life of rustic gentility, I will also find for you a suitable estate. So I hope to guarantee your faith. You have reason to serve me well.”

Torqual smiled. “Why not? As scoundrels go, we are a pair.”

The remark, in King Casmir’s view, verged close upon insolence, and he gave Torqual another cold stare. “I will confer with you again in two days. Meanwhile, you will continue to be my guest.”

“I would prefer Haidion to the Peinhador.”

“No doubt. Oldebor!”

Oldebor entered from the corridor. “Your Majesty?”

“Take Torqual back to the Peinhador. Let him bathe, provide him decent garments, house him in a clean cell and give him food to his choice-within reason, of course.”

The jailers came into the room. “Are we not to see the colour of his guts? He is the worst of the worst!”

“And a Ska, to boot!” declared the other. “I hoped to work the knife myself!”

“Another time,” said King Casmir. “Torqual has been assigned to dangerous work in the service of the state.”

“Very well, your Majesty. Come along, dog-dirt.”

Torqual fixed the jailer with a cool stare. “Jailer, take care! I am soon to be free and in the king’s service. On a whim I might seek you out; then we shall see who does good work with the knife!”

King Casmir made an impatient gesture. “Enough of this!” He looked to the jailers, now subdued and uneasy: “You have heard Torqual’s remarks; if I were you, I would henceforth use him with courtesy.”

“Sire, it shall be as you command. Torqual, come; we spoke in jest. Tonight you shall drink wine and eat roast fowl.”

King Casmir smiled his wintry smile. “Oldebor, in two days I will again see Torqual.”

THREE DAYS AFTER THE DEPARTURE of King Casmir and his retinue aboard the carrack Star Regulus, Aillas himself set sail for South Ulfland with a flotilla of seventeen ships.

The company included Lord Maloof and Lord Pirmence, both seething with resentment. Dhrun and Glyneth remained at Domreis, to be educated in a style befitting their rank. Both would learn Latin and Greek, geography, the natural sciences, calligraphy, the mathematics of Pythagoras, Euclid and Aristarchus, as well as the new style of Moorish numeration. Through readings in Herodotus, Tacitus, Xenophon, Clavetz of Avallon, Dioscuros of Alexandria, the Chronicles of Ys, and Khersom’s War of the Goths and the Huns, they would gain an overview of history. They would learn to name stars, planets and constellations, and ponder a variety of cosmological theories. Dhrun would attend a school of military science, where he would learn the skill of weapons, and the strategies of warfare. Glyneth and Dhrun both would attend classes in the courtly arts, which included dancing, declamation, music and the proprieties.

Both Glyneth and Dhrun, had their preferences been heeded, would have accompanied Aillas to South Ulfland. Not so with Lords Maloof and Pirmence, each of whom had advanced a dozen reasons why he should not be plucked so rudely from his familiar routines.

To Maloof s protests Aillas made the response: “I appreciate your concern for the work which will be interrupted, but your talents are more urgently needed in South Ulfland; this is where you may best serve king and country.”

“My skills are complex and sophisticated,” grumbled Maloof. “Any clerk can weigh up broad-beans and count out onions.”

“You still do not understand the scope of our project! I will want an inventory of every estate in the land, so that we know its extent and resources, and-no less important-the acreage unoccupied, unclaimed, wild or in dispute. You will direct a staff of surveyors, cartographers and clerks to research the existing records.”

Lord Maloof stood limp. “That is a monumental task!”

“Naturally the work will not be accomplished in a day, but it is only the beginning. I will expect you to establish and regulate an exchequer for South Ulfland. Third-”

” ‘Third’?” groaned Maloof. “Already you have laid out a whole lifetime of work! Your confidence in me is flattering but unreal; I can work only by day and by night: no other periods of time exist. Meanwhile my work here at Domreis will be muddled by bunglers and hacks!”

“Here, so I suppose, you refer to your work with the exchequer?”

Lord Maloof flushed and looked askance toward Aillas. “Naturally: just so!”

“I have made inquiries and I am assured that we leave the work, and again I refer to the exchequer, in capable hands. It is time for a change! A clever man such as yourself needs challenge to develop his full potential, and also to keep him out of mischief. South Ulfland with its intransigent barons and threatening Ska offers a hundred such challenges!”

“But I know nothing, and want to know nothing, of troubles and conflicts and war! I am a man of peace!”

“And I no less! But even men of peace must learn to fight. The world is often brutal, and not everyone shares our ideals. Therefore, you must be prepared to defend yourself and your loved ones, or reconcile yourself to slavery.”

“I prefer to reason, to proffer kind counsel, to ameliorate and to compromise!”

“As a preliminary and tentative policy, these activities are useful!” said Aillas. “If we behave reasonably, our conscience is clear! Then, should decency fail and the tyrants attack, we can lop off their heads with righteous zest.”

“I have few skills along these lines,” said Maloof in a bleak voice.

“Now then, Maloof: do not underestimate yourself! You are sturdy and deft, if a trifle overweight. After a few brisk campaigns, you will gallop your horse and brandish your battle-axe with as much fury as any!”

“Bah!” grumbled Maloof. “I am not the hell-for-leather bravo you take me for. I will waste my life in this dour wilderness.”

“Never! You may use well this life of yours in South Ulfland, but we will find scope for all your skills: perhaps in the suppression of espionage. You might-or might not-be startled to learn that I have discovered treachery in the most exalted circles!”

Maloof blinked and responded, in a subdued voice: “Your Majesty, it shall be as you command.”

Lord Pirmence used different tactics when it came his turn. “Your Majesty, I deem this appointment in the nature of an accolade! I shall always cherish this evidence of your high esteem! But I am a modest man, and I must resolutely decline the honour. No, sir! Do not press it upon me! My withdrawal is definite and irrevocable! I have gained distinction enough for a single lifetime; let the eager young bloods take their turn!” Lord Pirmence performed a courtly bow, and would have considered the matter closed had not Aillas called him back.

“Lord Pirmence, your abnegation does you credit. However, I assure you that honour sufficient for all will be won on the moors of South Ulfland!”

“That is good to hear!” declared Lord Pirmence. “But alas! You forget my advancing years! I have enemies, yes: pangs and aches, failing vision, asthma, toothlessness and senile cachexis; but they are no longer cruel knights, ogres, Goths and Moors. I intimately know the ague, gout, rheumatism and palsy. If truth be known, I am almost ready to creep away to Castle Lutez, to wrap myself in eiderdowns and quiet my roaring digestion with a diet of curds and gruel.”

Aillas said soberly: “Lord Pirmence, I am greatly distressed to hear of your decrepitude.”

“Alas! It is an end to which we all must come!”

“So I am led to believe. Incidentally, are you aware that a person who bears a striking resemblance to yourself roams the coarser districts of Domreis? No? He does your reputation no credit! Recently, close on midnight, I happened to look into the Green Star Inn and there I saw this person with one foot on a bench, the other on a table, brandishing high a tankard of ale and trolling a mighty stave; meanwhile he clasped one of the tavern wenches with an iron grip. His whiskers were exactly like your own and he seemed to enjoy almost an excess of exuberant good health.”

“How I envy the man!” murmured Lord Pirmence. “I wonder at his secret!”

“Perhaps you will learn it in South Ulfland. I consider your presence indispensable. After all, when one hunts important game, he calls out the old hound. I rely upon you to impose order upon the barons of the moors.”

Lord Pirmence gave a delicate cough. “I would survive not a single windy day on those desolate fells!”

“To the contrary! You will thrive in the fresh climate! ‘An Ulf lives forever-unless he is cut with steel, or chokes on his meat, or falls drunk into the mire!’ So say the Ulfs. You will soon be as hearty as ever!”

Lord Pirmence shook his head. “Truly, I am not your man! I have little tact with boors and bog-trotters. With the best will in the world I will surely do our cause a disservice.”

“Odd,” mused Aillas. “I was told that you have recently become expert in the field of secret diplomacy!”

Lord Pirmence pursed his lips, pulled at his mustache, and looked toward the ceiling. “Hum, ha! Not quite true! Still- when duty calls I must ignore all else and leap into the breach.”

“That is the response I expected from you,” said Aillas.

An hour before the flotilla’s departure, Aillas came down to the jetty to find Shimrod lounging against a stack of bales. Aillas stopped short. “What are you doing here?”

“I have been waiting for you to appear.”

“Why did you not show yourself in Miraldra? I sail on the tide for South Ulfland!”

“No difficulty there. I will accompany you, if I may.”

“Aboard the ship? To Ys?”

“That is my hope.”

“Naturally you may come.” Aillas scrutinized Shimrod keenly. “I sense a mystery here. Why your sudden yearning for the hinterlands?”

“The city Ys? Hardly a hinterland.”

“I see that you plan to tell me nothing of consequence.”

“There is nothing to tell. I have a few items of business at a place not far from Ys, and during the voyage I shall enjoy

myself in your company.”

“Come aboard, then. But you must be prepared to sleep in the bilge.”

“Any little cranny, such as the captain’s saloon, will suit me well.”

“I am happy to find you so flexible. Let us see what we can do.”

PROPELLED BY FAIR WINDS and riding sunny blue seas, the ships from Troicinet made a pleasant voyage along the Lir. On the second day they rounded Cape Farewell, then discovered three days of calms and fickle winds, while only a mile to the east rose the tall Cliffs of Kegan, bearded with white foam.

Mile by mile the flotilla made its northing until finally the shape of Cape Kellas appeared on the horizon.

Rounding the cape, past the colonnaded Temple of Atlante, the fleet entered the estuary of the Evander and dropped anchor beside the docks of the city Ys.

One by one the ships approached the docks, discharged troops and cargo, took aboard fresh water and contingents on their way home, and put out to sea again.

Aillas, conferring with his commanders, heard both good and bad news. His strictures against raids, pillaging and the prosecution of feuds had, for the most part, been heeded. Some of the barons wholeheartedly endorsed the call for public order; others seemed to be watching and waiting before committing acts which could bring them to ruin: each, in effect, waiting for someone to test the mettle of the new king. This peace, no matter how fragile and tentative, was good news.

On the other hand, the barons had not fulfilled the total scope of Aillas’ commands. Few, if any, had disbanded their companies of armed retainers that they might return to more productive work, in field, quarry and forest, and so bring some small measure of prosperity to the land.

Aillas immediately sent messengers to every castle, fortress and mountain keep, requiring that the barons, or knights, or earls, however they styled themselves, should meet with him at Stronson, the castle of Sir Helwig, high in the heart of the moors.

Aillas rode to the meeting in company with Sir Tristano, Lord Maloof, who was glum, and Lord Pirmence, who showed an airy detachment, together with an escort of thirty knights and a hundred men-at-arms. The day of the meeting was blessed with fine warm weather; the moors smelled fresh of heather, gorse and fern, with the elemental reek of the dank turf rising heavy below.

The company, assembled on the meadow to the side of Stronson Castle, made a fine spectacle, with metal gleaming and colours ablaze in the sunlight. The barons for the most part wore mail shirts and metal caps; their jupons, capes and trousers were of rich colour and fine fabric, and many wore sleeveless aprons embroidered with personal emblems or the arms of their houses. Almost all had brought heralds who held high gonfalons displaying the baronial arms.