Knight Or Knave Read online

  "Hire staff as you see fit," Ashen said. "And arrange matters as you will. I know that I cannot manage a place like this without you, having no experience in such things."

  Mollified, Ayfare did as she was told, and in an astonishingly short time had assembled the kind of staff that an important castle such as this one required for its proper functioning. Ashen found that her own duties were considerably lightened because of Ayfare's efficiency.

  A season later, when Ashen had almost forgotten about the Chieftain's demands, the second message did arrive from Snolli. Ashen knew she could postpone the inevitable no longer. After all, Snolli was Rohan's blood kindred, while she was merely the one with whom Rohan preferred to remain.

  Gaurin accompanied her on the journey southward, with a company of mounted and armed men. At first, Ashen had wanted to go alone, not wishing to draw undue attention to the fact that she had married again almost immediately after

  Obern's death. But Gaurin demurred.

  "My presence, and that of our guard, will help them remember to hold their tongues on that subject. At least until after we are gone," he added with a wry smile.

  She had been very grateful that he had prevailed when they walked into the Great

  Hall at New Void and saw Snolli's glowering face and the grim looks his followers gave them. With cold courtesy—which was to say, a manner that would have been considered unbearable rudeness to anyone not of the Sea-Rovers—he bade them sit.

  "Tell me of Obem's ending," he said.

  Ashen had thought he would immediately demand that Rohan be turned over to him.

  Thankful that this was postponed if even for a little while, she began telling of the duel between Florian and Obern.

  "A treacherous blackguard as well as a catamite!" muttered the Spirit Drummer,

  Kasai, when she came to the part about how the late King had poisoned the sword he used in the duel.

  "And you say that Obern stabbed himself with his own dagger when he learned that he had been poisoned?" Snolli said.

  "Yes. He gave me his sword for Rohan, and bade me tell you that he died well. He deprived the King of his triumph."

  "Then all is not in ruin after all." Snolli sat long in contemplation. "Yet you are at fault, and it is truly a grievous one."

  The formal tone to his speech warned Ashen that she might stand in peril.

  "Under Sea-Rover law, you bear great blame. First you lost Ob-ern's child, which would have been my grandchild, and then, because of you, Obem himself died. I will not mention the disgraceful adventure in the catamite-king's hunting lodge.

  A proper woman would have died before being taken."

  Ashen felt her face grow hot. "Your laws are no longer mine, nor did they ever apply! Do you think I went willingly to the hunting lodge? Sir, I was captured by force! Do you think I willed myself to lose my child? Sir, I almost died! And do you think that I had anything to do with the fight between Obern and Florian, when he kept his plans from me until it was too late? Sir, I lost my husband!"

  "And quickly found another," Snolli said sourly. "Too quickly, by my reckoning."

  Gaurin arose from his chair and stood before the Chieftain, his hand resting by habit on the hilt of his sword. His graceful bearing dominated the room. "My

  Lady Ashen has a measure of royal blood," he told Snolli. His tone and manner were not challenging, and yet he commanded everyone's full attention. "Because of that, she would have been a target for any malcontent in the city—indeed, in the kingdom—who wanted to make trouble for whoever came to rule. By marrying me, she could be granted a measure of peace, even as she enjoyed while she had your son to husband.

  There are larger matters at stake here, sir, than your own wounded feelings."

  An almost palpable silence filled the Hall. Beside Snolli, Kasai began stroking his drum.

  "You are in New Void, the Sea-Rovers' keep, given us by the Dowager Queen,"

  Snolli said. "That makes you subject to the laws of the Sea-Rovers. Under these laws, if I choose, I may execute Ashen for treachery."

  Gaurin tightened his grip on his sword hilt, though his tone was as mild as before. "And under my own laws, those of the land in which you live, and probably those of the Sea-Rovers as well, if you try such an outrage, I may hinder you as I can."

  Snolli seemed to become aware, as if for the first time, that Gaurin's men surrounded him and that more were stationed outside the room. "You dare threaten me in my own Hall?"

  "I do not threaten, sir, and you know it. Indeed, if any threats have been uttered this day, they were from you, against my lady wife. We seem to be at an impasse."

  Kasai's drumming grew louder, and as all eyes turned toward him, he began to speak, almost singing the words. "The peril from the North grows stronger as we grow weaker. Let not those who should be allies turn against one another. Mend your differences and drink a cup of friendship. Yes, drink, drink, and know that your quarrel is over before it is truly begun!"

  Then he fell silent. He seemed to be sleeping.

  Snolli fell silent also, thinking. "I have never known the Spirit Drummer to have a false vision," he said at last. "He spoke of the peril from the North. We gain nothing from being enemies. There may never be true friendship between us, but I will do as Kasai has said. I ask only that Rohan be returned to me, and to his people."

  The boy spoke up for the first time. "I want to stay with Ashen," he said, "for she has been kind to me. She was my mother when I had no other."

  "You are a young whelp, whose opinion means nothing," Snolli said. "I do not propose to coddle you."

  "I don't ask for coddling. But if you try to make me stay here, I will run away."

  "That complicates matters." Snolli turned to Kasai, who had awoken from his trance. "What do you say?"

  "Let me talk it over with Gaurin. He seems to have the only level head here.

  Excepting me, of course. You are too angry, and Ashen is only a woman."

  Snolli nodded, and Kasai and Gaurin retired to a private room. Lathrom moved up beside Ashen while they waited for the men to return. He was unobtrusive about it, but there was no mistaking his intent to guard his lady. He caught her eye and nodded, and then she knew that he had transferred the loyalty he had felt for Obern to her, and to Gaurin.

  In a surprisingly short time the Spirit Drummer and Gaurin came back into the

  Hall and Kasai told the Sea-Rover Chieftain of their decision. "Rohan will spend the warm seasons of the year with his father's people," he said. "In that time he will leam our ways and even, if you choose, go with us out to sea. He will spend the winter months with Ashen, when there's nothing to do anyway."

  Snolli didn't ask whether the arrangement was agreeable to either Ashen or

  Rohan. "Done," he said. He spat in his hand and gave it to Ashen to shake. Then he dismissed her and she knew that there was no real warmth between them and probably never would be.

  She kissed Rohan, assuring him that summers were short these days and would pass quickly. Then, with her companions, she left New Void, hoping never to have to return.

  At first, Ashen had been apprehensive that this arrangement would only confuse the boy and perhaps coarsen him, but Rohan seemed to thrive on it. Some quirk of breeding had given Rohan a more complicated nature than that of the ordinary

  Sea-Rover, and he seemed to draw sustenance from both her influence and his grandfather's. Perhaps that was one of the secrets of his charm.

  As the seasons passed, the Oakenkeep began to return to its former state. Gaurin purchased fine furnishings for the living quarters, and sturdy ones for the barracks. Also, he sent for weavers and embroiderers to create hangings for the walls, not only for the extra warmth they would provide, but also for beauty.

  Nor did he neglect the land. As castellan, his duty was to ensure that the people under his care prospered. He gave orders that farmers erect coverings over their fields, as he had heard of the Sea-Rovers doing. This measure met with
success, even greater when someone thought of substituting oiled paper for the heavy cloth. Though much more fragile, the paper seemed to gather even more warmth. The resulting crops, though far from bountiful, were adequate with even a little excess to put away for leaner times. Though life could not be said to be easy at the Oakenkeep, under Gaurin's management it became comfortable.

  One chilly morning, Ashen awoke, got out of bed, put on a warm robe, and looked outside. The first light snow of the year was beginning to fall. Soon the man-made portion of the "river," sheltered as it was and with little current, would freeze hard enough for children and adults alike to amuse themselves in sliding on the ice. She rushed back and snuggled into the warmth of her bed again, comfortable and content, reluctant to arise, wishing that Gaurin were with her. Then she remembered why she had roused earlier than she intended. This was the day that Rohan was coming back from New Void and Gaurin would be gone out hunting.

  A child wailed from the nursery wing of the residence in the Oakenkeep. Little

  Hegrin was awake. She would be wanting her breakfast and sometimes she would not let her nursemaid, Beatha, feed her. The baby was long since weaned and eating gruel, but also she was teething again, which made her cranky. It was time for

  Ashen to get out of bed whether she wanted to or not. The running of a household such as hers was not conductive to laziness on her part, regardless of Ayfare's indispensable presence.

  By the time she had dressed and reached the nursery, she dis-covered Hegrin contentedly hugging a stuffed toy while Beatha spooned gruel into her mouth. The nurse glanced up when Ashen entered.

  "I warmed it some, my lady," she said, smiling, "and put a bit of sugar on it.

  That seems to have made all the difference."

  The little girl clutched at the spoon, chewing on it. Ashen could hear the tiny teeth clicking on the metal. She sat down beside He-grin. "Want a nice crust of bread to chew on, sweeting?" she said, offering the baby the tidbit. Hegrin immediately abandoned the spoon in favor of the tough, chewy bread. She favored her mother with a grin so wide and happy that Ashen's heart turned over. How much she looked like Gaurin, with the same honey-colored hair and blue-green eyes!

  "She'll turn heads for fair, when she grows up," Beatha said. "Wouldn't it be nice if one day, she and Peres—"

  "We mustn't even think that," Ashen said. She put the baby on her lap and tickled her under the chin, just to hear her laugh. "The new little King's station is so much higher than ours that we might as well be living on different worlds."

  "Aye, my lady, but still, with the little King's being born just four months after his father died, and then Hegrin coming along. You and Queen Rannore being such good friends and all, it makes one to wonder."

  "Good friends or not, we all know who really rules in Rendel. I am not sure that the Dowager Queen Ysa would be very happy with the daughter of the Bog-Princess, as she calls me behind my back, for her precious grandson."

  "My little Hegrin is good enough for any old King, aren't you, sweeting?" Beatha insisted stoutly.

  Satisfied that Hegrin was thriving and happy, and well fed, Ashen handed her back to the nursemaid. "I have a busy day ahead of me. Rohan is expected back today, and I want you to make sure that Hegrin is all washed and tidy and dressed in her best. He'll want to see her."

  "Wonderful how he treats her like a little sister. Aye, my lady,

  I'll have her spotless and chuckling—if she doesn't get into the jampot."

  Both women laughed, for Hegrin's appetite for sweets had become legendary, since the time she had emptied an entire pot of jam into her lap and was discovered happily dipping her hands into the mess and sucking her fingers.

  The noise of a commotion coming from the inner ward told Ashen that Rohan had arrived. She quickly kissed Hegrin and, checking to make sure that the headdress every proper married woman wore was in place, hurried down the stairs from the residential apartment to greet him. He was just coming into Oaken-keep's Great

  Hall when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

  "Asheni" he cried. He flung his snow-spangled cloak aside and covered the distance between them in a few great bounds to grab her in a hearty hug.

  She returned the embrace and then held him at arm's length while she inspected him with a critical eye. "You've been growing again," she said. "You're taller than I am."

  "I'm supposed to be," he said, laughing. "Grandfather said that my birthday in the spring will mark the beginning of my Shield Year, so that means I am nearly a man. Where's Gaurin? And my baby sister?"

  "Gaurin should be back at any moment. He has been occupied in hunting meat to preserve for the winter, and wanted to get something particularly fine for your welcome feast this evening. As for Hegrin, she is finishing her breakfast. Then you're apt to find her anywhere at all, since she's walking everywhere. Running, actually. It takes every pair of eyes in the Residence just to keep track of her."

  Rohan laughed. Then he waved his hand and a flower appeared in it. It wasn't a real flower—just silk cleverly folded into a bud— but the trick made her smile.

  "Here, Ashen," he said, handing it to her. "I daresay that I can keep Hegrin amused for a while." He waved his hand again and, even as Ashen held the flower, it bloomed.

  "You should be wary of such things," Ashen said, sighing. Behind them, servants were carrying Rohan's baggage up the stairs to the rooms that were always kept ready for him, and a maid was wiping up the puddle left by the melting snow he had tracked in. "I do hope you didn't feel called upon to 'entertain' in

  Snolli's Hall."

  "Of course not. Grandfather has little patience for entertainments these days, let alone silly little magics that I can do. I think he may be getting old."

  "Does he still carry a grudge against me for Obem's death?"

  By this time, they had climbed a different flight of stairs and reached the solar where a table and three chairs were set and a flask of warmed, spiced cider waited. Rohan poured for both of them, sniffing appreciatively. "Ah, good!

  I've missed this. To answer your question, yes, he does, even if it's mostly out of habit by now."

  Gaurin entered the Hall at that moment, brushing a few flakes of snow off his cloak, and Rohan set his cup aside to run back downstairs and greet the lord of the Oakenkeep. Ashen went to the railing, unwilling to wait to see him until he had come to her.

  "Welcome," Gaurin said. He smiled up at Ashen. "My lady has been on pins and needles until you should arrive. Now she will be merry once more."

  As they spoke, the two men climbed the stairs to where Ashen waited.

  "Was your hunt successful?" Ashen knew the answer beforehand; Gaurin was as skillful in this as he was in any other enterprise he set his hand to accomplish.

  "We will have a good feast tonight."

  They smiled at each other. Ashen loved to see him smile, to watch the lines at the comers of his mouth meet the ones at his eyes. She touched the opalescent stone bracelet she always wore when he was away from the keep.

  "I am thinking of taking Rohan to the Bog to see Zazar, before heavy winter sets in," she said, pouring him a cup of the warmed cider. "Will you come with us?"

  Gaurin had visited Zazar's hut several times, and always in

  Ashen's company. "Of course, my dear. Is there a purpose to the visit?"

  "Rohan has told me that he will be entering his Shield Year next spring. Long ago, Zazar told me that when this time drew nigh, I was to bring him to her. She said that there was something she must do."

  "And I would like to see Grandam Zaz again as well." He put his finger beside his nose. "She pretends to hate when I call her that."

  "Then go we shall," Gaurin said, "and we should make it soon. The winters have steadily grown worse in this land, and I want us all inside where it is safe and snug before the thundersnows begin in earnest. Perhaps this time, Madame Zazar will agree to return with us, to winter in the apartment you have set aside for her."

/>   Ashen glanced through one of the windows of the Hall. Indeed, she remembered a time when a snowfall like this would have been thought of as heavy, with or without the crashing of thunder and lightning that characterized them these days. It seemed that most of the wan summer had to be spent in gathering firewood for the winter; every wall, it seemed, had wood stacked against it higher than a man could reach. All would be gone before spring came and then the search would begin anew, among the dwindling woods. Already they were having to chop down living trees, instead of gathering dead wood to preserve their sources. Some poor folk had turned to burning blocks of peat, gathered at some risk from the edges of the Bog. Not many more winters and others, including those who dwelt in the Oakenkeep, might have to do likewise. Her thoughts were interrupted by Beatha, bringing baby Hegrin into the solar from the nursery nearby.