The Knight

Chapter 6. Seeing Something

We reached Glennidam about midmorning, and Ravd called the people together, all the men and all the women, and some children, too. He began by driving Battlemaid into a log Svon and I fetched for him. “You are invited to swear fealty to our liege, Duke Marder,” he told them. “I won’t make you swear—you’re free to refuse if you wish to refuse. But you should know that I will report those who do not swear to him.”

After that they swore, all of them, putting their hands on the lion’s head and repeating the oath after Ravd.

“Now I would like to speak with some of you, one at a time,” he said, and chose six men and six women, and had Svon and me watch the rest while he talked to the first one in the front room of the biggest house in the village. An hour went by while he was talking to that first one, and the ones who were waiting got restless; but Svon put his hand to his sword and shouted until they quieted down.

The first man came out at last, sweating and unable to meet the eyes of the waiting eleven, and Ravd called for the first woman. She went inside trembling, and the minutes ticked by. A shiny blue fly, big with carrion, buzzed around me until I chased it, then around Svon, and at last around a little black-bearded man the rest called Toug, who seemed much too despondent to chase anything.

The woman appeared in the doorway, her face streaked with tears. “Able? Which one is Able? He wants you.”

I went in, and the woman sat down on a little milking stool in front of Ravd.

He, seated on a short bench with a back, said, “Able, this is Brega. Because she is a woman, I permit her to sit. The men stand. Brega tells me there is a man called Seaxneat who is well acquainted with the outlaws and entertains them at times. Do you understand why I asked you to come in?”

I said, “Yes, sir. Only I don’t think I can help much.”

“If we learn nothing from you, you may learn something from us.” Ravd spoke to the woman. “Now, Brega, I want to explain how things are for you. In fact, I must explain that, because I doubt that you understand it.”

Brega, thin and no longer young, snuffled and wiped her eyes with a corner of her apron.

“You are afraid that Able here will tell others what you’ve told me about Seaxneat. Isn’t that so?”

She nodded.

“He won’t, but your danger is much greater than that. Do you two know each other, by the way?”

She shook her head; I said, “No, sir.”

“You have told me about Seaxneat, and of course I will try to find him and talk to him. Those people outside will know you’ve talked to me, and the longer we’re together the more they will think you’ve told me. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Y-yes.”

“Have you yourself, or your husband, ever been robbed?”

“They knocked me down.” The tears burst forth, and flowed for some minutes.

“Do you know the name of the outlaw who knocked you down?” She shook her head.

“But if you knew it, you would tell me, wouldn’t you? It would make no sense for you to keep it from me when you have told me as much as you have. You see that, don’t you?”

“It was Egil.”

“Thank you. Brega, you’ve taken an oath, the most solemn oath a woman can take. You’ve acknowledged Duke Marder as your liege, and sworn to obey him in all things. If you break that oath, Hel will condemn your spirit to Muspel, the Circle of Fire. The sacrifices you’ve offered the Aelf can’t save you. I take it you know all that.”

She nodded.

“I am here because Duke Marder appointed me. If it were not for that, I would be sitting at my own table in Redhall, or seeing to my horses there. I speak for Duke Marder, just as if he were here in person. I am his knight.”

She sniffled. “I know.”

“Furthermore, the outlaws will avenge themselves upon you and your whole village, if they are left free to do so. Egil, who knocked you down, will do worse. This is your chance to avenge yourself, with words worth more than swords to Duke Marder and me. Do you know of anyone else here who is on good terms with the outlaws? Anyone at all?”

She shook her head.

“Only Seaxneat. What is his wife’s name?”

“Disira.”

“Really?” Ravd pursed his hps. “That’s perilously near a queen’s name some men conjure with. Do you know that name?”

“No. I don’t say it.”

“Does she? I will not use her name. The woman we are speaking of. Seaxneat’s wife. Has she alluded to that queen in your hearing?”

“No,” Brega repeated.

Ravd sighed. “Able, would you know Seaxneat if you saw him? Think before you speak.”

I said, “I’m sure I would, sir.”

“Describe him, please, Brega.”

The woman only stared.

“Is he tall?”

“Taller than I am.” She held her hands a foot apart to indicate the amount. “A dark beard?”

“Red.”

“One eye? Crooked nose? Club foot?” She shook her head to all of them. “What else can you tell us about him?”

“He’s fat,” she said thoughtfully, “and he walks like this.” She stood up and demonstrated, her toes turned in.

“I see. Able, does this square with your recollection? Fat. The red beard? The walk?”

It did.

“When we spoke earlier, you did not name Seaxneat’s wife. Was that because you didn’t know her name, or because you were too prudent to voice it?”

“Because I didn’t know it, sir. I’m not afraid to say Disira.”

“Then it would be wise for you not to say it too often. Do you know what she looks like?”

I nodded. “She’s small, with black hair, and her skin’s very white. I didn’t think her a specially pretty woman when Seaxneat was cheating Bold Berthold and me, but I’ve seen worse.”

“Brega? Does he know her?”

“I think he does.” The woman, who had been wiping her eyes, wiped them again.

“Very well. Pay attention, Able. If you will not listen to me about that woman’s name, listen to this at least. I want you to search the village for these people. When you find either, or both, bring them to me if you can. If you can’t, come back and tell me where they are. Brega will be gone by then, but I’ll be talking to others, as likely as not. Don’t hesitate to interrupt.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I want Seaxneat, of course. But I want his wife almost as much. She probably knows less, but she may tell us more. Since she has a new child, it’s quite possible she’s still here. Now go.”

At the outskirts of Glennidam, I halted to search its sprouting fields with my eyes. I had looked into every room of every one of the village’s houses, and into every barn and shed as well, all without seeing either Seaxneat or his wife. Ravd had said I was to interrupt him if I found them, but I did not think he would like being interrupted to hear that I had not.

And Ravd had been right, I told myself. A woman with a newborn would not willingly travel far. There was every chance that when she heard a knight had come to Glennidam she had fled no farther than the nearest trees, where she could sit in the shade to nurse her baby. If I left the village to look there ... Trying to settle the matter in my own mind, I called softly, “Disira? Disira?”

At once it seemed to me that I glimpsed her face among the crowding leaves where the forest began. On one level I felt sure it had been some green joke of sunlight and shadow; on another I knew that I had seen her.

Or at least that I had seen something.

I took a few steps, stopped a minute, still unsure, and hurried forward.