The Knight

“How much have you heard?”

“Everything, or nearly. How did you know I was awake?”

“When you were truly asleep, you stirred in your sleep half a dozen times, and twice seemed almost to speak. Once you snored a little. When you feigned sleep, you moved not a muscle and uttered not a sound, though we were talking in ordinary tones within two strides of you. So you were awake or dead.”

“I didn’t want Svon to feel worse than he did already.”

“Admirable.”

I said, “I’m sorry I threw your sword, Svon.”

“Who caught Svon and returned him to us? Do you know?”

I had no idea. I shook my head.

Svon wiped his nose. “They gave me a message for you, Able. You are to be sure that your playmate is looking out for you.”

I suppose I gawked.

Ravd said, “Who are these friends of yours, Able?”

“I think ...”

“The outlaws?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Couldn’t it be the Aelf?”

Ravd looked thoughtful. “Svon, did you intend Able’s death?”

“Yes, I did.” There were no tears now; he drew his dagger and handed it to me. “I was going to kill you with this. You may keep it if you want to.”

I turned it over in my hands. The tip was angled down to meet a long straight edge.

“It’s a saxe.” Svon sounded as if we were sharing food and passing the time. “It’s like the knives the Frost Giants carry. Of course theirs are much bigger.”

I said, “You were going to kill me with this?” and he nodded.

Ravd asked, “Why are you telling us this now, Svon?”

“Because I was told to give their message to him as soon as he woke up, and I think they’re listening.”

“So you said.”

“I was hoping you’d go to sleep. Then I could have awakened him, and whispered it. That was what I wanted.”

“You’d never have had to tell me what happened.”

Svon nodded.

“I don’t want it,” I said. I gave him his dagger back. “I have a knife of my own, and I like mine better.”

“You may as well tell us everything,” Ravd said; and Svon did.

“I didn’t run into them like I said. I ran into a tree, and hit it hard enough that I fell down. When I could I got up again and circled around your fire, keeping it only just in sight. When I was on the side where Able was, I got as close as I dared, and that was pretty close. You said you would have heard me if I had found my sword. I don’t think so, because you didn’t hear that. I was waiting for you to go to sleep. When I was sure you were sleeping, I was going to kill him as quietly as I could and carry his body away and hide it. I wouldn’t come back until tomorrow afternoon, and you’d think he had simply run away.

“They grabbed me from behind, making less noise than I had. They had swords and bows. They took me to a clearing where I could see them a little in the moonlight, and they told me that if I hurt Able I’d belong to them. I’d have to slave for them for the rest of my life.”

Ravd stroked his chin.

“They gave me that message and made me say it seven times, and swear on my sword that I’d do everything exactly the way they said.”

“They had your sword?”

“Right.” The kind of sarcasm I was going to get to know a lot better crept into Svon’s voice. “I don’t know how they got it without your hearing, but they had it.”

Recalling things Bold Berthold had told me, I asked whether they were black.

“No. I don’t know what color they were, but it wasn’t black. They looked pale in the moonlight.”

Ravd said, “Able thinks they might be Aelf. So do I. I take it they didn’t identify themselves?”

“No, but—It could be right. I know they weren’t people like us.”

“I’ve never seen them. Have you, Able?”

I said, “Not that I remember, but Bold Berthold has. He said the ones who bothered him were like ashes or charcoal.”

Ravd turned back to Svon. “You must tell me everything you remember about them, just as truthfully as you can. Or did they caution you not to?”

Svon shook his head. “They said to give Able their message when he woke, and never to hurt him. That was all.”

“Why is Able precious to them?”

“They wouldn’t tell.”

“Able? Do you know?”

“No.” I wished then that Ravd had not seen I was awake. “They want me to do something, but I don’t know what it is.”

Svon said, “Then how do you know they do?”

I did not answer.

“Our king was born in Aelfrice,” Ravd told me, “as was his sister, Princess Morcaine. Since you didn’t recognize his face on a scield, I doubt that you knew it.”

“I didn’t,” I said.

“I don’t believe my squire credits it—or at least, I believe he did not until now, though he may have changed his opinion.”

Svon told me, “People talk as if Aelfrice were a foreign country, like Osterland. Sir Ravd says it’s really another world. If it is, I don’t see how people can come here from there. Or go there either.”

Ravd shrugged. “And I, who have never done it, cannot tell you. I can tell you, however, that it’s not wise to deny everything you can’t understand. How were your captors dressed? Could you see?”

“They weren’t, as far as I could see. They were as naked as poor children. They were tall, though—taller than I am, and thin.” His breath caught in his throat. “They had terrible eyes.”