The Knight

She wanted to sit me up, but I would not let her. I got myself up instead, and it hurt. I took the spoon away from her too, but I let her hold the bowl while I ate.

“Well, you’re doing wonderful, sir. Poor Sir Hermad’s like to die, they say, with every rib broke. An’ Sir Lud’s puking blood.” She tittered. “He’ll die, too, some says. They’re taking wagers in the kitchen, sir.”

“Sir Able’s my name. If you really care about me, call me Sir Able.”

She stood up fast and bent her knee the way women do here. “Yes, Sir Able. I didn’t mean no harm, Sir Able.”

Just hearing the words made me feel better. I said, “Of course you didn’t. Sit down again. What’s your name?”

“I’m Modguda, Sir Able.”

“Am I still in Duke Marder’s castle, Modguda?”

“Yes, sir. In Sheerwall, Sir Able. ‘Cept you’re in Master Agr’s tower of it. Master Agr’s the only one has a whole tower of it, ‘cept Her Grace. She’s got one, too, the Duchess’s Tower is what we call it, Sir Able. ‘Cept that’s not where you are, you can’t even see it from your window. This’s the Marshal’s Tower we’re in, ’cause Master Agr had his men take you ’cause they’d beat you with the lance you broke is how I heard it. So this’s where you are.”

I nodded and found out that my head did not want me to do that. “If we’re in Master Agr’s tower, he must be your boss.”

She did not understand, and I had to explain. Then she said, “That’s right, Sir Able ... sir.”

I smiled, and that did not hurt at all. “Hey, out with it. What are you scared to say?”

“Well, you’re a knight, sir.”

“Right,” I told her.

“And you knights don’t much care for my master, sir, ’cause you’ve to do what he says, ‘cept he’s not one of you, like. Or not a baron or something neither, Sir Able. ‘Cept the duke, he’s behind him. He’s the duke’s man, sir, so you knights got to.”

“You’re dead wrong about that,” I told her. “I’m not down on Master Agr. Not a bit.”

“Well anyhow, that’s what I was getting myself set to say, sir. You shouldn’t be, ’cause they had knocked you flat and their swords was out ready to kill you. ‘Cept Sir Woddet didn’t want to, sir. And Squire Yond—he’s Sir Woddet’s squire, sir—Squire Yond, he throwed himself right down over you, sir, and that’s when my master’s guards come that he’d called when him and Master Thope couldn’t stop the fight and they stabbed Master Thope, sir. That’s when his guards come. And then—”

“Wait a minute. Did you say Master Thope got stabbed? By Master Agr’s guards?”

“Oh, no, Sir Able!” She looked shocked. “Master Agr wouldn’t never tell them to do that, sir. It was one of the knights, maybe, or one of those squires. Then some varlets come to fight too, so it could of been one of them. Anyway Master Agr and Master Thope were trying to get between you and the knights sort of like what Squire Yond did. That’s when Master Thope got stabbed, Sir Able, trying to help you like Master Agr. The guards finally got you out, sir.”

My head was whirling. “Is Master Thope dead?”

“No, sir. Only he’s hurt bad, Sir Able. That’s what they say.”

“I ought to go see him, Modguda, since he got hurt trying to help me.”

“Yes, sir. Only you’re not going to do much walking for a while, Sir Able.” She got up and bent her knee as before. “He’ll be pleasured to see your face, sir, I’m sure, and I’ll show you where when you’re ready, sir.”

I was thinking, and one thing I was thinking about was what she had said, that it might be a while before I was up and around. “Can you take a message into town?”

“I’ll try, sir, or send a boy.”

“Good. I’ve got a servant named Pouk. We were staying at an inn in Forcetti. It had a bottle and seashell on the sign. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes, sir, Sir Able. That’s the Dollop and Scallop, sir.”

“Thanks. Tell Pouk I’ve been hurt, please, and where I am.”

“Yes, sir. Is that all, Sir Able? They’ll be wondering where I’ve got to.”

I waved my hand, and she hurried out.

After that I ate some bread and a bite of cheese, not sure whether eating was a big mistake or not. I drank all the ale and lay down to sleep again, pretty dizzy.

―――

In my dream Garsecg and I were in the throne room in the Tower of Glas. There was a big blue dragon on the throne, and it hissed at us and opened its mouth just like Setr had down in Muspel, and Garsecg’s face was in the dragon’s mouth. So I looked over at Garsecg to see if he had seen it too, and it was not Garsecg at all. It was Bold Berthold.

―――

I woke up feeling cold, and this time I was able to get to the window. There was no way to close it, it was just a hole in the wall, really. Bats were flying around outside, bigger ones than we have at home. They were after bugs, the way bats do, diving and zooming and all that, and yelling and yelping so high you could only just hear it. Way up toward the moon I thought I saw Khimairas, just for a minute.