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diff --git a/old/67090-0.txt b/old/67090-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e253c39..0000000 --- a/old/67090-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,17904 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Worm Ouroboros, by E. R. Eddison - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Worm Ouroboros - A Romance - -Author: E. R. Eddison - -Illustrator: Keith Henderson - -Release Date: January 2, 2022 [eBook #67090] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Mary Glenn Krause, Charlene Taylor, Mark Demarest, Robert - Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORM OUROBOROS *** - - - - - - THE WORM OUROBOROS - - -[Illustration: GORICE XII. IN CARCË.] - - - - - THE WORM - OUROBOROS - - A ROMANCE BY E. R. - EDDISON, ILLUSTRATED - BY KEITH HENDERSON - - [Illustration] - - JONATHAN CAPE LTD. - ELEVEN GOWER STREET - LONDON - - - - - FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1922 - NEW AND CHEAPER - EDITION 1924 - - - - - CONTENTS - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - DEDICATION - - THE INDUCTION - - I. THE CASTLE OF LORD JUSS - - II. THE WRASTLING FOR DEMONLAND - - III. THE RED FOLIOT - - IV. CONJURING IN THE IRON TOWER - - V. KING GORICE’S SENDING - - VI. THE CLAWS OF WITCHLAND - - VII. GUESTS OF THE KING IN CARCË - - VIII. THE FIRST EXPEDITION TO IMPLAND - - IX. SALAPANTA HILLS - - X. THE MARCHLANDS OF THE MORUNA - - XI. THE BURG OF ESHGRAR OGO - - XII. KOSHTRA PIVRARCHA - - XIII. KOSHTRA BELORN - - XIV. THE LAKE OF RAVARY - - XV. QUEEN PREZMYRA - - XVI. THE LADY SRIVA’S EMBASSAGE - - XVII. THE KING FLIES HIS HAGGARD - - XVIII. THE MURTHER OF GALLANDUS BY CORSUS - - XIX. THREMNIR’S HEUGH - - XX. KING CORINIUS - - XXI. THE PARLEY BEFORE KROTHERING - - XXII. AURWATH AND SWITCHWATER - - XXIII. THE WEIRD BEGUN OF ISHNAIN NEMARTRA - - XXIV. A KING IN KROTHERING - - XXV. LORD GRO AND THE LADY MEVRIAN - - XXVI. THE BATTLE OF KROTHERING SIDE - - XXVII. THE SECOND EXPEDITION TO IMPLAND - - XXVIII. ZORA RACH NAM PSARRION - - XXIX. THE FLEET AT MUELVA - - XXX. TIDINGS OF MELIKAPHKHAZ - - XXXI. THE DEMONS BEFORE CARCË - - XXXII. THE LATTER END OF ALL THE LORDS OF WITCHLAND - - XXXIII. QUEEN SOPHONISBA IN GALING - - ARGUMENT: WITH DATES - - BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON THE VERSES - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - GORICE XII. IN CARCË - - THE LORDS JUSS, GOLDRY BLUSZCO, SPITFIRE, AND BRANDOCH DAHA - - IN KOSHTRA BELORN - - SOLDIERS OF DEMONLAND - - HIPPOGRIFF IN FLIGHT - - THE LAST CONJURING IN CARCË - - - - - True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank, - A ferlie he spied wi his ee; - And there he saw a Lady bright - Come riding down by the Eildon Tree. - - Her skirt was o the grass-green silk, - Her mantle o the velvet fyne, - At ilka tett of her horse’s mane - Hung fifty siller bells and nine. - - True Thomas he pulld aff his cap, - And louted low down on his knee: - “Hail to thee, Mary, Queen of Heaven! - For thy peer on earth could never be.” - - “O no, O no, Thomas,” she says, - “That name does not belang to me; - I’m but the Queen of fair Elfland, - That am hither come to visit thee. - - “Harp and carp, Thomas,” she says, - “Harp and carp alang wi me. - And if ye dare to kiss my lips, - Sure of your bodie I will be.” - - “Betide me weal, betide me woe, - That weird shall never daunton me.” - Syne he has kissed her rosy lips, - All underneath the Eildon Tree. - - THOMAS THE RHYMER. - - - - - _To_ W. G. E. _and to my friends_ K. H. _and_ G. C. - L. M. _I dedicate this book_ - - -It is neither allegory nor fable but a Story to be read for its own -sake. - -The proper names I have tried to spell simply. The _e_ in Carcë -is long, like that in Phryne, the _o_ in Krothering short and the -accent on that syllable: Corund is accented on the first syllable, -Prezmyra on the second, Brandoch Daha on the first and fourth, Gorice -on the last syllable, rhyming with thrice: Corinius rhymes with -Flaminius, Galing with sailing, La Fireez with desire ease: _ch_ -is always guttural, as in loch. - -_9th January 1922_ E. R. E. - - - - - THE INDUCTION - - -There was a man named Lessingham dwelt in an old low house in Wastdale, -set in a gray old garden where yew-trees flourished that had seen -Vikings in Copeland in their seedling time. Lily and rose and larkspur -bloomed in the borders, and begonias with blossoms big as saucers, red -and white and pink and lemon-colour, in the beds before the porch. -Climbing roses, honeysuckle, clematis, and the scarlet flame-flower -scrambled up the walls. Thick woods were on every side without the -garden, with a gap north-eastward opening on the desolate lake and the -great fells beyond it: Gable rearing his crag-bound head against the -sky from behind the straight clean outline of the Screes. - -Cool long shadows stole across the tennis lawn. The air was golden. -Doves murmured in the trees; two chaffinches played on the near post -of the net; a little water-wagtail scurried along the path. A French -window stood open to the garden, showing darkly a dining-room panelled -with old oak, its Jacobean table bright with flowers and silver and cut -glass and Wedgwood dishes heaped with fruit: greengages, peaches, and -green muscat grapes. Lessingham lay back in a hammock-chair watching -through the blue smoke of an after-dinner cigar the warm light on the -Gloire de Dijon roses that clustered about the bedroom window overhead. -He had her hand in his. This was their House. - -“Should we finish that chapter of Njal?” she said. - -She took the heavy volume with its faded green cover, and read: “He -went out on the night of the Lord’s day, when nine weeks were still -to winter; he heard a great crash, so that he thought both heaven and -earth shook. Then he looked into the west airt, and he thought he -saw thereabouts a ring of fiery hue, and within the ring a man on a -gray horse. He passed quickly by him, and rode hard. He had a flaming -firebrand in his hand, and he rode so close to him that he could see -him plainly. He was black as pitch, and he sung this song with a mighty -voice— - - Here I ride swift steed, - His flank flecked with rime, - Rain from his mane drips, - Horse mighty for harm; - Flames flare at each end, - Gall glows in the midst, - So fares it with Flosi’s redes - As this flaming brand flies; - And so fares it with Flosi’s redes - As this flaming brand flies. - -“Then he thought he hurled the firebrand east towards the fells before -him, and such a blaze of fire leapt up to meet it that he could not see -the fells for the blaze. It seemed as though that man rode east among -the flames and vanished there. - -“After that he went to his bed, and was senseless for a long time, but -at last he came to himself. He bore in mind all that had happened, and -told his father, but he bade him tell it to Hjallti Skeggi’s son. So he -went and told Hjallti, but he said he had seen ‘the Wolf’s Ride, and -that comes ever before great tidings.’” - -They were silent awhile; then Lessingham said suddenly, “Do you mind if -we sleep in the east wing to-night?” - -“What, in the Lotus Room?” - -“Yes.” - -“I’m too much of a lazy-bones to-night, dear,” she answered. - -“Do you mind if I go alone, then? I shall be back to breakfast. I like -my lady with me; still, we can go again when next moon wanes. My pet is -not frightened, is she?” - -“No!” she said, laughing. But her eyes were a little big. Her fingers -played with his watch-chain. “I’d rather,” she said presently, “you -went later on and took me. All this is so odd still: the House, and -that; and I love it so. And after all, it is a long way and several -years too, sometimes, in the Lotus Room, even though it is all over -next morning. I’d rather we went together. If anything happened then, -well, we’d both be done in, and it wouldn’t matter so much, would it?” - -“Both be what?” said Lessingham. “I’m afraid your language is not all -that might be wished.” - -“Well, you taught me!” said she; and they laughed. - -They sat there till the shadows crept over the lawn and up the trees, -and the high rocks of the mountain shoulder beyond burned red in the -evening rays. He said, “If you like to stroll a bit of way up the -fell-side, Mercury is visible to-night. We might get a glimpse of him -just after sunset.” - -A little later, standing on the open hillside below the hawking bats, -they watched for the dim planet that showed at last low down in the -west between the sunset and the dark. - -He said, “It is as if Mercury had a finger on me to-night, Mary. It’s -no good my trying to sleep to-night except in the Lotus Room.” - -Her arm tightened in his. “Mercury?” she said. “It is another world. It -is too far.” - -But he laughed and said, “Nothing is too far.” - -They turned back as the shadows deepened. As they stood in the dark of -the arched gate leading from the open fell into the garden, the soft -clear notes of a spinet sounded from the house. She put up a finger. -“Hark,” she said. “Your daughter playing _Les Barricades_.” - -They stood listening. “She loves playing,” he whispered. “I’m glad we -taught her to play.” Presently he whispered again, “_Les Barricades -Mystérieuses_. What inspired Couperin with that enchanted name? -And only you and I know what it really means. _Les Barricades -Mystérieuses._” - - • • • • • - -That night Lessingham lay alone in the Lotus Room. Its casements opened -eastward on the sleeping woods and the sleeping bare slopes of Illgill -Head. He slept soft and deep; for that was the House of Postmeridian, -and the House of Peace. - -In the deep and dead time of the night, when the waning moon peered -over the mountain shoulder, he woke suddenly. The silver beams shone -through the open window on a form perched at the foot of the bed: a -little bird, black, round-headed, short-beaked, with long sharp wings, -and eyes like two stars shining. It spoke and said, “Time is.” - -So Lessingham got up and muffled himself in a great cloak that lay on -a chair beside the bed. He said, “I am ready, my little martlet.” For -that was the House of Heart’s Desire. - -Surely the martlet’s eyes filled all the room with starlight. It was an -old room with lotuses carved on the panels and on the bed and chairs -and roof-beams; and in the glamour the carved flowers swayed like -water-lilies in a lazy stream. He went to the window, and the little -martlet sat on his shoulder. A chariot coloured like the halo about -the moon waited by the window, poised in air, harnessed to a strange -steed. A horse it seemed, but winged like an eagle, and its fore-legs -feathered and armed with eagle’s claws instead of hooves. He entered -the chariot, and that little martlet sat on his knee. - -With a whirr of wings the wild courser sprang skyward. The night about -them was like the tumult of bubbles about a diver’s ears diving in a -deep pool under a smooth steep rock in a mountain cataract. Time was -swallowed up in speed; the world reeled; and it was but as the space -between two deep breaths till that strange courser spread wide his -rainbow wings and slanted down the night over a great island that -slumbered on a slumbering sea, with lesser isles about it: a country of -rock mountains and hill pastures and many waters, all a-glimmer in the -moonshine. - -They landed within a gate crowned with golden lions. Lessingham came -down from the chariot, and the little black martlet circled about his -head, showing him a yew avenue leading from the gates. As in a dream, -he followed her. - - - - - I: THE CASTLE OF LORD JUSS - - OF THE RARITIES THAT WERE IN THE LOFTY PRESENCE CHAMBER FAIR AND - LOVELY TO BEHOLD, AND OF THE QUALITIES AND CONDITIONS OF THE - LORDS OF DEMONLAND: AND OF THE EMBASSY SENT UNTO THEM BY KING - GORICE XI., AND OF THE ANSWER THERETO. - - -The eastern stars were paling to the dawn as Lessingham followed his -conductor along the grass walk between the shadowy ranks of Irish yews, -that stood like soldiers mysterious and expectant in the darkness. -The grass was bathed in night-dew, and great white lilies sleeping in -the shadows of the yews loaded the air of that garden with fragrance. -Lessingham felt no touch of the ground beneath his feet, and when he -stretched out his hand to touch a tree his hand passed through branch -and leaves as though they were unsubstantial as a moonbeam. - -The little martlet, alighting on his shoulder, laughed in his ear. -“Child of earth,” she said, “dost think we are here in dreamland?” - -He answered nothing, and she said, “This is no dream. Thou, first -of the children of men, art come to Mercury, where thou and I will -journey up and down for a season to show thee the lands and oceans, -the forests, plains, and ancient mountains, cities and palaces of -this world, Mercury, and the doings of them that dwell therein. But -here thou canst not handle aught, neither make the folk ware of thee, -not though thou shout thy throat hoarse. For thou and I walk here -impalpable and invisible, as it were two dreams walking.” - -They were now on the marble steps which led from the yew walk to the -terrace opposite the great gate of the castle. “No need to unbar gates -to thee and me,” said the martlet, as they passed beneath the darkness -of that ancient portal, carved with strange devices, and clean through -the massy timbers of the bolted gate thickly riveted with silver, into -the inner court. “Go we into the lofty presence chamber and there -tarry awhile. Morning is kindling the upper air, and folk will soon -be stirring in the castle, for they lie not long abed when day begins -in Demonland. For be it known to thee, O earth-born, that this land -is Demonland, and this castle the castle of Lord Juss, and this day -now dawning his birthday, when the Demons hold high festival in Juss’s -castle to do honour unto him and to his brethren, Spitfire and Goldry -Bluszco; and these and their fathers before them bear rule from time -immemorial in Demonland, and have the lordship over all the Demons.” - -She spoke, and the first low beams of the sun smote javelin-like -through the eastern windows, and the freshness of morning breathed and -shimmered in that lofty chamber, chasing the blue and dusky shades of -departed night to the corners and recesses, and to the rafters of the -vaulted roof. Surely no potentate of earth, not Croesus, not the great -King, not Minos in his royal palace in Crete, not all the Pharaohs, not -Queen Semiramis, nor all the Kings of Babylon and Nineveh had ever a -throne room to compare in glory with that high presence chamber of the -lords of Demonland. Its walls and pillars were of snow-white marble, -every vein whereof was set with small gems: rubies, corals, garnets, -and pink topaz. Seven pillars on either side bore up the shadowy vault -of the roof; the roof-tree and the beams were of gold, curiously -carved, the roof itself of mother-of-pearl. A side aisle ran behind -each row of pillars, and seven paintings on the western side faced -seven spacious windows on the east. At the end of the hall upon a dais -stood three high seats, the arms of each composed of two hippogriffs -wrought in gold, with wings spread, and the legs of the seats the -legs of the hippogriffs; but the body of each high seat was a single -jewel of monstrous size: the left-hand seat a black opal, asparkle -with steel-blue fire, the next a fire-opal, as it were a burning coal, -the third seat an alexandrite, purple like wine by night but deep -sea-green by day. Ten more pillars stood in semicircle behind the high -seats, bearing up above them and the dais a canopy of gold. The benches -that ran from end to end of the lofty chamber were of cedar, inlaid -with coral and ivory, and so were the tables that stood before the -benches. The floor of the chamber was tesselated, of marble and green -tourmaline, and on every square of tourmaline was carven the image of a -fish: as the dolphin, the conger, the cat-fish, the salmon, the tunny, -the squid, and other wonders of the deep. Hangings of tapestry were -behind the high seats, worked with flowers, snake’s-head, snapdragon, -dragon-mouth, and their kind; and on the dado below the windows were -sculptures of birds and beasts and creeping things. - -But a great wonder of this chamber, and a marvel to behold, was how -the capital of every one of the four-and-twenty pillars was hewn from -a single precious stone, carved by the hand of some sculptor of long -ago into the living form of a monster: here was a harpy with screaming -mouth, so wondrously cut in ochre-tinted jade it was a marvel to hear -no scream from her: here in wine-yellow topaz a flying fire-drake: -there a cockatrice made of a single ruby: there a star sapphire the -colour of moonlight, cut for a cyclops, so that the rays of the star -trembled from his single eye: salamanders, mermaids, chimaeras, wild -men o’ the woods, leviathans, all hewn from faultless gems, thrice the -bulk of a big man’s body, velvet-dark sapphires, chrysolite, beryl, -amethyst, and the yellow zircon that is like transparent gold. - -To give light to the presence chamber were seven escarbuncles, great as -pumpkins, hung in order down the length of it, and nine fair moonstones -standing in order on silver pedestals between the pillars on the dais. -These jewels, drinking in the sunshine by day, gave it forth during the -hours of darkness in a radiance of pink light and a soft effulgence as -of moonbeams. And yet another marvel, the nether side of the canopy -over the high seats was encrusted with lapis lazuli, and in that -feigned dome of heaven burned the twelve signs of the zodiac, every -star a diamond that shone with its own light. - - • • • • • - -Folk now began to be astir in the castle, and there came a score of -serving men into the presence chamber with brooms and brushes, cloths -and leathers, to sweep and garnish it, and burnish the gold and jewels -of the chamber. Lissome they were and sprightly of gait, of fresh -complexion and fair-haired. Horns grew on their heads. When their -tasks were accomplished they departed, and the presence began to fill -with guests. A joy it was to see such a shifting maze of velvets, -furs, curious needleworks and cloth of tissue, tiffanies, laces, -ruffs, goodly chains and carcanets of gold: such glitter of jewels and -weapons: such nodding of the plumes the Demons wore in their hair, -half veiling the horns that grew upon their heads. Some were sitting -on the benches or leaning on the polished tables, some walking forth -and back upon the shining floor. Here and there were women among them, -women so fair one had said: it is surely white-armed Helen this one; -this, Arcadian Atalanta; this, Phryne that stood to Praxiteles for -Aphrodite’s picture; this, Thaïs, for whom great Alexander to pleasure -her fantasy did burn Persepolis like a candle; this, she that was rapt -by the Dark God from the flowering fields of Enna, to be Queen for ever -among the dead that be departed. - -Now came a stir near the stately doorway, and Lessingham beheld a Demon -of burly frame and noble port, richly attired. His face was ruddy and -somewhat freckled, his forehead wide, his eyes calm and blue like -the sea. His beard, thick and tawny, was parted and brushed back and -upwards on either side. - -“Tell me, my little martlet,” said Lessingham, “is this Lord Juss?” - -“This is not Lord Juss,” answered the martlet, “nor aught so worshipful -as he. The lord thou seest is Volle, who dwelleth under Kartadza, by -the salt sea. A great sea-captain is he, and one that did service to -the cause of Demonland, and of the whole world besides, in the late -wars against the Ghouls. - -“But cast thine eyes again towards the door, where one standeth amid -a knot of friends, tall and somewhat stooping, in a corselet of -silver, and a cloak of old brocaded silk coloured like tarnished gold; -something like to Volle in feature, but swarthy, and with bristling -black moustachios.” - -“I see him,” said Lessingham. “This then is Lord Juss!” - -“Not so,” said the martlet. “’Tis but Vizz, brother to Volle. He is -wealthiest in goods of all the Demons, save the three brethren only and -Lord Brandoch Daha.” - -“And who is this?” asked Lessingham, pointing to one of light and brisk -step and humorous eye, who in that moment met Volle and engaged him in -converse apart. Handsome of face he was, albeit somewhat long-nosed and -sharp-nosed: keen and hard and filled with life and the joy of it. - -“Here thou beholdest,” answered she, “Lord Zigg, the far-famed tamer of -horses. Well loved is he among the Demons, for he is merry of mood, and -a mighty man of his hands withal when he leadeth his horsemen against -the enemy.” - -Volle threw up his beard and laughed a great laugh at some jest that -Zigg whispered in his ear, and Lessingham leaned forward into the hall -if haply he might catch what was said. The hum of talk drowned the -words, but leaning forward Lessingham saw where the arras curtains -behind the dais parted for a moment, and one of princely bearing -advanced past the high seats down the body of the hall. His gait -was delicate, as of some lithe beast of prey newly wakened out of -slumber, and he greeted with lazy grace the many friends who hailed his -entrance. Very tall was that lord, and slender of build, like a girl. -His tunic was of silk coloured like the wild rose, and embroidered in -gold with representations of flowers and thunderbolts. Jewels glittered -on his left hand and on the golden bracelets on his arms, and on the -fillet twined among the golden curls of his hair, set with plumes of -the king-bird of Paradise. His horns were dyed with saffron, and inlaid -with filigree work of gold. His buskins were laced with gold, and -from his belt hung a sword, narrow of blade and keen, the hilt rough -with beryls and black diamonds. Strangely light and delicate was his -frame and seeming, yet with a sense of slumbering power beneath, as -the delicate peak of a snow mountain seen afar in the low red rays of -morning. His face was beautiful to look upon, and softly coloured like -a girl’s face, and his expression one of gentle melancholy, mixed with -some disdain; but fiery glints awoke at intervals in his eyes, and the -lines of swift determination hovered round the mouth below his curled -moustachios. - -“At last,” murmured Lessingham, “at last, Lord Juss!” - -“Little art thou to blame,” said the martlet, “for this misprision, for -scarce could a lordlier sight have joyed thine eyes. Yet is this not -Juss, but Lord Brandoch Daha, to whom all Demonland west of Shalgreth -and Stropardon oweth allegiance: the rich vineyards of Krothering, the -broad pasture lands of Failze, and all the western islands and their -cragbound fastnesses. Think not, because he affecteth silks and jewels -like a queen, and carrieth himself light and dainty as a silver birch -tree on the mountain, that his hand is light or his courage doubtful -in war. For years was he held for the third best man-at-arms in all -Mercury, along with these, Goldry Bluszco and Gorice X. of Witchland. -And Gorice he slew, nine summers back, in single combat, when the -Witches harried in Goblinland and Brandoch Daha led five hundred and -four-score Demons to succour Gaslark, the king of that country. And now -can none surpass Lord Brandoch Daha in feats of arms, save perchance -Goldry alone. - -“Yet, lo,” she said, as a sweet and wild music stole on the ear, and -the guests turned towards the dais, and the hangings parted, “at -last, the triple lordship of Demonland! Strike softly, music: smile, -Fates, on this festal day! Joy and safe days shine for this world and -Demonland! Turn thy gaze first on him who walks in majesty in the -midst, his tunic of olive-green velvet ornamented with devices of -hidden meaning in thread of gold and beads of chrysolite. Mark how the -buskins, clasping his stalwart calves, glitter with gold and amber. -Mark the dusky cloak streamed with gold and lined with blood-red silk: -a charmed cloak, made by the sylphs in forgotten days, bringing good -hap to the wearer, so he be true of heart and no dastard. Mark him that -weareth it, his sweet dark countenance, the violet fire in his eyes, -the sombre warmth of his smile, like autumn woods in late sunshine. -This is Lord Juss, lord of this age-remembering castle, than whom -none hath more worship in wide Demonland. Somewhat he knoweth of art -magical, yet useth not that art; for it sappeth the life and strength, -nor is it held worthy that a Demon should put trust in that art, but -rather in his own might and main. - -“Now turn thine eyes to him that leaneth on Juss’s left arm, shorter -but mayhap sturdier than he, apparelled in black silk that shimmers -with gold as he moveth, and crowned with black eagle’s feathers -among his horns and yellow hair. His face is wild and keen like a -sea-eagle’s, and from his bristling brows the eyes dart glances -sharp as a glancing spear. A faint flame, pallid like the fire of a -Will-o’-the-Wisp, breathes ever and anon from his distended nostrils. -This is Lord Spitfire, impetuous in war. - -“Last, behold on Juss’s right hand, yon lord that bulks mighty as -Hercules yet steppeth lightly as a heifer. The thews and sinews of -his great limbs ripple as he moves beneath a skin whiter than ivory; -his cloak of cloth of gold is heavy with jewels, his tunic of black -sendaline hath great hearts worked thereon in rubies and red silk -thread. Slung from his shoulders clanks a two-handed sword, the pommel -a huge star-ruby carven in the image of a heart, for the heart is his -sign and symbol. This is that sword forged by the elves, wherewith he -slew the sea-monster, as thou mayest see in the painting on the wall. -Noble is he of countenance, most like to his brother Juss, but darker -brown of hair and ruddier of hue and bigger of cheekbone. Look well on -him, for never shall thine eyes behold a greater champion than the Lord -Goldry Bluszco, captain of the hosts of Demonland.” - - • • • • • - -Now when the greetings were done and the strains of the lutes and -recorders sighed and lost themselves in the shadowy vault of the roof, -the cup-bearers did fill great gems made in form of cups with ancient -wine, and the Demons caroused to Lord Juss deep draughts in honour of -this day of his nativity. And now they were ready to set forth by twos -and threes into the parks and pleasaunces, some to take their pleasure -about the fair gardens and fishponds, some to hunt wild game among the -wooded hills, some to disport themselves at quoits or tennis or riding -at the ring or martial exercises; that so they might spend the livelong -day as befitteth high holiday, in pleasure and action without care, and -thereafter revel in the lofty presence chamber till night grew old with -eating and drinking and all delight. - -But as they were upon going forth, a trumpet was sounded without, three -strident blasts. - -“What kill-joy have we here?” said Spitfire. “The trumpet soundeth only -for travellers from the outlands. I feel it in my bones some rascal is -come to Galing, one that bringeth ill hap in his pocket and a shadow -athwart the sun on this our day of festival.” - -“Speak no word of ill omen,” answered Juss. “Whosoe’er it be, we will -straight dispatch his business and so fall to pleasure indeed. Some, -run to the gate and bring him in.” - -The serving man hastened and returned, saying, “Lord, it is an -Ambassador from Witchland and his train. Their ship made land at -Lookinghaven-ness at nightfall. They slept on board, and your soldiers -gave them escort to Galing at break of day. He craveth present -audience.” - -“From Witchland, ha?” said Juss. “Such smokes use ever to go before the -fire.” - -“Shall’s bid the fellow,” said Spitfire, “wait on our pleasure? It is -pity such should poison our gladness.” - -Goldry laughed and said, “Whom hath he sent us? Laxus, think you? -to make his peace with us again for that vile part of his practised -against us off Kartadza, detestably falsifying his word he had given -us?” - -Juss said to the serving man, “Thou sawest the Ambassador. Who is he?” - -“Lord,” answered he, “His face was strange to me. He is little of -stature and, by your highness’ leave, the most unlike to a great -lord of Witchland that ever I saw. And, by your leave, for all the -marvellous rich and sumptuous coat a weareth, he is very like a false -jewel in a rich casing.” - -“Well,” said Juss, “a sour draught sweetens not in the waiting. Call we -in the Ambassador.” - -Lord Juss sat in the high seat midmost of the dais, with Goldry on his -right in the seat of black opal, and on his left Spitfire, throned -on the alexandrite. On the dais sat likewise those other lords of -Demonland, and the guests of lower degree thronged the benches and the -polished tables as the wide doors opened on their silver hinges, and -the Ambassador with pomp and ceremony paced up the shining floor of -marble and green tourmaline. - -“Why, what a beastly fellow is this?” said Lord Goldry in his brother’s -ear. “His hairy hands reach down to his knees. A shuffleth in his walk -like a hobbled jackass.” - -“I like not the dirty face of the Ambassador,” said Lord Zigg. “His -nose sitteth flat on the face of him as it were a dab of clay, and I -can see pat up his nostrils a summer day’s journey into his head. If’s -upper lip bespeak him not a rare spouter of rank fustian, perdition -catch me. Were it a finger’s breadth longer, a might tuck it into his -collar to keep his chin warm of a winter’s night.” - -“I like not the smell of the Ambassador,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. And -he called for censers and sprinklers of lavender and rose water to -purify the chamber, and let open the crystal windows that the breezes -of heaven might enter and make all sweet. - -[Illustration: THE LORDS JUSS, GOLDRY BLUSZCO, SPITFIRE, AND BRANDOCH - DAHA.] - -So the Ambassador walked up the shining floor and stood before the -lords of Demonland that sat upon the high seats between the golden -hippogriffs. He was robed in a long mantle of scarlet velvet lined -with ermine, with crabs, woodlice, and centipedes worked thereon in -golden thread. His head was covered with a black velvet cap with a -peacock’s feather fastened with a brooch of silver. Supported by his -train-bearers and attendants, and leaning on his golden staff, he with -raucous accent delivered his mission: - -“Juss, Goldry, and Spitfire, and ye other Demons, I come before you -as the Ambassador of Gorice XI., most glorious King of Witchland, -Lord and great Duke of Buteny and Estremerine, Commander of Shulan, -Thramnë, Mingos, and Permio, and High Warden of the Esamocian Marches, -Great Duke of Trace, King Paramount of Beshtria and Nevria and Prince -of Ar, Great Lord over the country of Ojedia, Maltraëny, and of -Baltary and Toribia, and Lord of many other countries, most glorious -and most great, whose power and glory is over all the world and whose -name shall endure for all generations. And first I bid you be bound -by that reverence for my sacred office of envoy from the King, which -is accorded by all people and potentates, save such as be utterly -barbarous, to ambassadors and envoys.” - -“Speak and fear not,” answered Juss. “Thou hast mine oath. And that -hath never been forsworn, to Witch or other barbarian.” - -The Ambassador shot out his lips in an O, and threatened with his head; -then grinned, laying bare his sharp and misshapen teeth, and proceeded: - -“Thus saith King Gorice, great and glorious, and he chargeth me to -deliver it to you, neither adding any word nor taking away: ‘I have it -in mind that no ceremony of homage or fealty hath been performed before -me by the dwellers in my province of Demonland——’” - -As the rustling of dry leaves strewn in a flagged court when a sudden -wind striketh them, there went a stir among the guests. Nor might the -Lord Spitfire contain his wrath, but springing up and clapping hand to -sword-hilt, as minded to do a hurt to the Ambassador, “Province?” he -cried. “Are not the Demons a free people? And is it to be endured that -Witchland should commission this slave to cast insults in our teeth, -and this in our own castle?” - -A murmur went about the hall, and here and there folk rose from their -seats. The Ambassador drew down his head between his shoulders like a -tortoise, baring his teeth and blinking with his small eyes. But Lord -Brandoch Daha, lightly laying his hand on Spitfire’s arm, said: “The -Ambassador hath not ended his message, cousin, and thou hast frightened -him. Have patience and spoil not the comedy. We shall not lack words to -answer King Gorice: no, nor swords, if he must have them. But it shall -not be said of us of Demonland that it needeth but a boorish message to -turn us from our ancient courtesy toward ambassadors and heralds.” - -So spake Lord Brandoch Daha, in lazy half-mocking tone, as one who but -idly returneth the ball of conversation; yet clearly, so that all might -hear. And therewith the murmurs died down, and Spitfire said, “I am -tame. Say thine errand freely, and imagine not that we shall hold thee -answerable for aught thou sayest, but him that sent thee.” - -“Whose humble mouthpiece I only am,” said the Ambassador, somewhat -gathering courage; “and who, saving your reverence, lacketh not the -will nor the power to take revenge for any outrage done upon his -servants. Thus saith the King: ‘I therefore summon and command you, -Juss, Spitfire, and Goldry Bluszco, to make haste and come to me in -Witchland in my fortress of Carcë, and there dutifully kiss my toe, in -witness before all the world that I am your Lord and King, and rightful -overlord of all Demonland.’” - -Gravely and without gesture Lord Juss harkened to the Ambassador, -leaning back in his high seat with either arm thrown athwart the arched -neck of a hippogriff. Goldry, smiling scornfully, toyed with the hilt -of his great sword. Spitfire sat strained and glowering, the sparks -crackling at his nostrils. - -“Thou hast delivered all?” said Juss. - -“All,” answered the Ambassador. - -“Thou shalt have thine answer,” said Juss. “While we take rede thereon, -eat and drink;” and he beckoned the cup-bearer to pour out bright wine -for the Ambassador. But the Ambassador excused himself, saying that he -was not athirst, and that he had store of food and wine aboard of his -ship, which should suffice his needs and those of his following. - -Then said Lord Spitfire, “No marvel though the spawn of Witchland fear -venom in the cup. They who work commonly such villany against their -enemies, as witness Recedor of Goblinland whom Corsus murthered with -a poisonous draught, shake still in the knees lest themselves be so -entertained to their destruction;” and snatching the cup he quaffed it -to the dregs, and dashed it on the marble floor before the Ambassador, -so that it was shivered into pieces. - -And the lords of Demonland rose up and withdrew behind the flowery -hangings into a chamber apart, to determine of their answer to the -message sent unto them by King Gorice of Witchland. - -When they were private together, Spitfire spake and said, “Is it to be -borne that the King should put such shame and mockery upon us? Could a -not at the least have made a son of Corund or of Corsus his Ambassador -to bring us his defiance, ’stead of this filthiest of his domestics, a -gibbering dwarf fit only to make them gab and game at their tippling -bouts when they be three parts senseless with boosing?” - -Lord Juss smiled somewhat scornfully. “With wisdom,” he said, “and with -foresight hath Witchland made choice of his time to move against us, -knowing that thirty and three of our well-built ships are sunken in -Kartadza Sound in the battle with the Ghouls, and but fourteen remain -to us. Now that the Ghouls are slain, every soul, and utterly abolished -from this world, and so the great curse and peril of all this world -ended by the sword and great valour of Demonland alone, now seemeth the -happy moment unto these late mouth-friends to fall upon us. For have -not the Witches a strong fleet of ships, since their whole fleet fled -at the beginning of their fight with us against the Ghouls, leaving us -to bear the burden? And now are they minded for this new treason, to -set upon us traitorously and suddenly in this disadvantage. For the -King well judgeth we can carry no army to Witchland nor do aught in -his despite, but must be long months a-shipbuilding. And doubt not he -holdeth an armament ready aboard at Tenemos to sail hither if he get -the answer he knoweth we shall send him.” - -“Sit we at ease then,” said Goldry, “sharpening our swords; and let -him ship his armies across the salt sea. Not a Witch shall land in -Demonland but shall leave here his blood and bones to make fat our -cornfields and our vineyards.” - -“Rather,” said Spitfire, “apprehend this rascal, and put to sea to-day -with the fourteen ships left us. We can surprise Witchland in his -strong place of Carcë, sack it, and give him to the crows to peck at, -or ever he is well awake to the swiftness of our answer. That is my -counsel.” - -“Nay,” said Juss, “we shall not take him sleeping. Be certain that his -ships are ready and watching in the Witchland seas, prepared against -any rash onset. It were folly to set our neck in the noose; and little -glory to Demonland to await his coming. This, then, is my rede: I will -bid Gorice to the duello, and make offer to him to let lie on the -fortune thereof the decision of this quarrel.” - -“A good rede, if it might be fulfilled,” said Goldry. “But never will -he dare to stand with weapons in single combat ’gainst thee or ’gainst -any of us. Nevertheless the thing shall be brought about. Is not Gorice -a mighty wrastler, and hath he not in his palace in Carcë the skulls -and bones of ninety and nine great champions whom he hath vanquished -and slain in that exercise? Puffed up beyond measure is he in his own -conceit, and folk say it is a grief to him that none hath been found -this long while that durst wrastle with him, and wofully he pineth for -the hundredth. He shall wrastle a fall with me!” - -Now this seemed good to them all. So when they had talked on it awhile -and concluded what they would do, glad of heart the lords of Demonland -turned them back to the lofty presence chamber. And there Lord Juss -spake and said: “Demons, ye have heard the words which the King of -Witchland in the overweening pride and shamelessness of his heart hath -spoken unto us by the mouth of this Ambassador. Now this is our answer -which my brother shall give, the Lord Goldry Bluszco; and we charge -thee, O Ambassador, to deliver it truly, neither adding any word nor -taking away.” - -And the Lord Goldry spake: “We, the lords of Demonland, do utterly -scorn thee, Gorice XI., for the greatest of dastards, in that thou -basely fleddest and forsookest us, thy sworn confederates, in the sea -battle against the Ghouls. Our swords, which in that battle ended so -great a curse and peril to all this world, are not bent nor broken. -They shall be sheathed in the bowels of thee and thy minions, Corsus -to wit, and Corund, and their sons, and Corinius, and what other -evildoers harbour in waterish Witchland, sooner than one little -sea-pink growing on the cliffs of Demonland shall do thee obeisance. -But, that thou mayest, if so thou wilt, feel our power somewhat, I, -Lord Goldry Bluszco, make thee this offer: that thou and I do match -ourselves singly each against other to wrastle three falls at the court -of the Red Foliot, who inclineth neither to our side nor to thine in -this quarrel. And we will bind ourselves by mighty oaths to these -conditions, that if I overcome thee, the Demons shall leave you of -Witchland in peace, and ye them, and the Witches shall forswear for -ever their impudent claims on Demonland. But if thou, Gorice, win the -day, then hast thou the glory of that victory, and withal full liberty -to thrust thy claims upon us with the sword.” - -So spake the Lord Goldry Bluszco, standing in great pride and splendour -beneath the starry canopy, and scowling terribly on the Ambassador -from Witchland, so that the Ambassador was abashed and his knees smote -together. And Goldry called his scribe and made him write the message -for Gorice the King in great characters on a roll of parchment, and -the lords of Demonland sealed it with their seals, and gave it to the -Ambassador. - -The Ambassador took it and made haste to depart; but when he was come -to the stately doorway of the presence chamber, being near the door -and amongst his attendants, and away from the lords of Demonland, he -plucked up heart a little and turned and said: “Rashly and to thy -certain undoing, O Goldry Bluszco, hast thou bidden our Lord the King -to contend with thee in wrastling. For be thou never so mighty of limb, -yet hath he overthrown as mighty. And he wrastleth not for sport, but -will surely work thy life’s decay, and keep the dead bones of thee with -the bones of the ninety and nine champions whom he hath heretofore laid -low in that exercise.” - -Therewith, because Goldry and the other lords scowled upon him -terribly, and the guests near the door fell to hooting and reviling of -the Witches, the Ambassador went forth hastily and hastily down the -shining stairs and across the court, as one who fleeth along a lane -on a dark and windy night, daring not to turn his head lest his eye -behold some fearsome thing prepared to clasp him. So speeding, he was -fain to catch up about his knees the folds of his velvet cloak richly -worked with crabs and creeping things; and huge whooping and laughter -went up among the common lag of people without, to behold his long and -nerveless tail thus bared to their unfriendly gaze. Insomuch that they -fell to shouting with one accord, “Though his mouth be foul he hath a -fair tail! Saw ye not his tail? Hurrah for Gorice who hath sent us a -monkey for his Ambassador!” - -And with jibe and unmannerly yell the crowd hung lovingly upon the -Ambassador and his train all the way down from Galing castle to the -quays. So that it was like a sweet home-coming to him to come on board -his well-built ship and have her rowed amain out of Lookinghaven. So -when they had rounded Lookinghaven-ness and were free of the land, they -hoisted sail and voyaged before a favouring breeze eastward over the -teeming deep to Witchland. - - - - - II: THE WRASTLING FOR DEMONLAND - - OF THE PROGNOSTICKS WHICH TROUBLED LORD GRO CONCERNING THE MEETING - BETWEEN THE KING OF WITCHLAND AND THE LORD GOLDRY BLUSZCO; AND - HOW THEY MET, AND OF THE ISSUE OF THAT WRASTLING. - - -“How could I have fallen asleep?” cried Lessingham. “Where is the -castle of the Demons, and how did we leave the great presence chamber -where they saw the Ambassador?” For he stood on rolling uplands that -leaned to the sea, treeless on every side as far as the eye might -reach; and on three sides shimmered the sea, kissed by the sun and -roughened by the salt glad wind that charged over the downs, charioting -clouds without number through the illimitable heights of air. - -The little black martlet answered him, “My hippogriff travelleth as -well in time as in space. Days and weeks have been left behind by us, -in what seemeth to thee but the twinkling of an eye, and thou standest -in the Foliot Isles, a land happy under the mild regiment of a peaceful -prince, on the day appointed by King Gorice to wrastle with Lord Goldry -Bluszco. Terrible must be the wrastling betwixt two such champions, -and dark the issue thereof. And my heart is afraid for Goldry Bluszco, -big and strong though he be and unconquered in war; for there hath not -arisen in all the ages such a wrastler as this Gorice, and strong he -is, and hard and unwearying, and skilled in every art of attack and -defence, and subtle withal, and cruel and fell like a serpent.” - -Where they stood the down was cut by a combe that descended to the sea, -and overhanging the combe was the palace of the Red Foliot, rambling -and low, with many little towers and battlements, built of stones -hewn from the wall of the combe, so that it was hard from a distance -to discern what was palace and what native rock. Behind the palace -stretched a meadow, flat and smooth, carpeted with the close wiry turf -of the downs. At either end of the meadow were booths set up, to the -north the booths of them of Witchland, and to the south the booths of -the Demons. In the midst of the meadow was a space marked out with -withies sixty paces either way for the wrastling ground. - -Only the birds of the air and the sea-wind were abroad as then, save -those that walked armed before the Witches’ booths, six in company, -harnessed as for battle in byrnies of shining bronze, with greaves -and shields of bronze and helms that glanced in the sun. Five were -proper slender youths, the eldest of whom had not yet beard full grown, -black-browed and great of jaw; the sixth, huge as a neat, topped them -by half a head. Age had flecked with gray the beard that spread over -his big chest to his belt stiffened with studs of iron, but the vigour -of youth was in his glance and in his voice, and in the tread of his -foot, and in his fist so lightly handling his burly spear. - -“Behold, wonder, and lament,” said the martlet, “that the innocent eye -of day should be enforced still to look upon the children of night -everlasting. Corund of Witchland and his cursed sons.” - -Lessingham thought, “A most fiery politician is my little martlet: -damned fiends and angels and nothing betwixt for her. But I’ll dance to -none of their tunes, but wait for these things’ unfolding.” - -So walked those back and forth as caged lions before the Witches’ -booths, until Corund halted and leaning on his spear said to one of his -sons, “Go in and seek out Gro that I may speak with him.” And the son -of Corund went, and returned anon with Lord Gro, that came with furtive -step, yet goodly and fair to behold. The nose of him was hooked like a -sickle and his eyes great and fair like the eyes of an ox, inscrutable -as they. Lean and spare was his frame. Pale was his face and pale his -delicate hands, and his long black beard was tightly curled and bright -as the coat of a black retriever. - -Corund said, “How is it with the King?” - -Gro answered him, “He chafeth to be at it; and to pass away the time he -playeth at dice with Corinius, and the luck goeth against the King.” - -“What makest thou of that?” asked Corund. - -And Gro said, “The fortune of the dice jumpeth not commonly with the -fortune of war.” - -Corund grunted in his beard, and laying his large hand on Lord Gro’s -shoulder, “Speak to me a little apart,” he said; and when they were -private, “Darken not counsel,” said Corund, “to me and my sons. Have I -not these four years past been as a brother unto thee, and wilt thou -still be secret toward us?” - -But Gro smiled a sad smile and said, “Why should we by words of ill -omen strike yet another blow where the tree tottereth?” - -Corund groaned. “Omens,” said he, “increase upon us from that time -forth when the King accepted the challenge, evilly, and flatly against -thy counsel and mine and the counsel of all the great ones in the land. -Surely the Gods have made him fey, having ordained his destruction and -our humbling before these Demons.” And he said, “Omens thicken upon us, -O Gro. First, the night raven that went widdershins round about the -palace of Carcë, that night when the King accepted this challenge, and -we were all drunken with wine after our great feasting and surfeiting -in his halls. Next, the stumbling of the King whenas he went upon the -poop of the long ship which bare us on this voyage to these islands. -Next, the squint-eyed cup-bearer that poured out unto us yesternight. -And throughout, the devilish pride and bragging humour of the King. No -more: he is fey. And the dice fall against him.” - -Gro spake and said, “O Corund, I will not hide it from thee that my -heart is heavy as thy heart under shadow of ill to be. For as I lay -sleeping betwixt the strokes of night, a dream of the night stood by -my bed and beheld me with a glance so fell that I was all adrad and -quaking with fear. And it seemed to me that the dream smote the roof -above my bed, and the roof opened and disclosed the outer dark, and in -the dark travelled a bearded star, and the night was quick with fiery -signs. And blood was on the roof, and great gouts of blood on the -walls and on the cornice of my bed. And the dream screeched like the -screech-owl, and cried, _Witchland from thy hand, O King!_ And -methought the whole world was lighted in a lowe, and with a great cry I -awoke out of the dream.” - -“Thou art wise,” said Corund; “and belike the dream was a true dream, -sent thee through the gate of horn, and belike it forebodeth events -great and evil for the King and for Witchland.” - -Gro said, “Disclose it not to the others, for none can strive with Fate -and gain the victory, and it would but cast down their hearts. But it -is fitting we be ready against evil hap. If (which yet may the Gods -forfend) ill come of this wrastling bout, fail not every one of you ere -you act on any enterprise to take counsel of me. ‘Bare is back without -brother behind it.’ Together must we do that we do.” - -“Thou hast my firm assurance on’t,” said Corund. - -Now began a great company to come forth from the palace and take their -stand on either side of the wrastling ground. The Red Foliot sate in -his car of polished ebony, drawn by six black horses with flowing manes -and tails; before him went his musicians, pipers and minstrels doing -their craft, and behind him fifty spearmen, weighed down with armour -and ponderous shields that covered them from chin to toe. Their armour -was stained with madder, in such wise that they seemed bathed in blood. -Mild to look on was the Red Foliot, yet kingly. His skin was scarlet -like the head of the green woodpecker. He wore a diadem of silver, and -robes of scarlet trimmed with black fur. - -So when the Foliots were assembled, one stood forth with a horn at the -command of the Red Foliot and blew three blasts. Therewith came forth -from their booths the lords of Demonland and their men-at-arms, Juss, -Goldry, Spitfire, and Brandoch Daha, all armed as for battle save -Goldry, who was muffled in a cloak of cloth of gold with great hearts -worked thereon in red silk thread. And from their booths in turn came -the lords of Witchland all armed, and their fighting men, and little -love there was in the glances they and the Demons cast upon each other. -In the midst stalked the King, his great limbs muffled, like Goldry’s, -in a cloak: and it was of black silk lined with black bearskin, and -ornamented with crabs worked in diamonds. The crown of Witchland, -fashioned like a hideous crab and encrusted with jewels so thickly -that none might discern the iron whereof it was framed, weighed on -his beetling brow. His beard was black and bristly, spade-shaped and -thick: his hair close cropped. His upper lip was shaved, displaying his -sneering mouth, and from the darkness below his eyebrows looked forth -eyes that showed a green light, like those of a wolf. Corund walked at -the King’s left elbow, his giant frame an inch less in stature than -the King. Corinius went on the right, wearing a rich cloak of sky-blue -tissue over his shining armour. Tall and soldier-like was Corinius, and -young and goodly to look upon, with swaggering gait and insolent eye, -thick-lipped withal and somewhat heavy of feature, and the sun shone -brightly on his shaven jowl. - -Now the Red Foliot let sound the horn again, and standing in his ebony -car he read out the conditions, as thus: - -“O Gorice XI., most glorious King of Witchland, and O Lord Goldry -Bluszco, captain of the hosts of Demonland, it is compact betwixt you, -and made fast by mighty oaths whereof I, the Red Foliot, am keeper, -that ye shall wrastle three falls together on these conditions, namely, -that if Gorice the King be victorious, then hath he that glory and -withal full liberty to enforce with the sword his claims of lordship -over many-mountained Demonland: but if victory fall to the Lord Goldry -Bluszco, then shall the Demons let the Witches abide in peace, and they -them, and the Witches shall forswear for ever their claims of lordship -over the Demons. And you, O King, and you, O Goldry Bluszco, are -likewise bound by oath to wrastle fairly and to abide by the ruling of -me, the Red Foliot, whom ye are content to choose as your umpire. And -I do swear to judge justly between you. And the laws of your wrastling -are that neither shall strangle his adversary with his hands, nor bite -him, nor claw nor scratch his flesh, nor poach out his eyes, nor smite -him with his fists, nor do any other unfair thing against him, but in -all other respects ye shall wrastle freely together. And he that shall -be brought to earth with hip or shoulder shall be accounted fallen.” - -The Red Foliot said, “Have I spoken well, O King, and do you swear to -these conditions?” - -The King said, “I swear.” - -The Red Foliot asked in like manner, “Dost thou swear to these -conditions, O Lord Goldry Bluszco?” - -And Goldry answered him, “I swear.” - -Without more ado the King stepped into the wrastling ground on his -side, and Goldry Bluszco on his, and they cast aside their rich mantles -and stood forth naked for the wrastling. And folk stood silent for -admiration of the thews and sinews of those twain, doubting which were -mightier of build and likelier to gain the victory. The King stood -taller by a little, and was longer in the arm than Goldry. But the -great frame of Goldry showed excellent proportions, each part wedded to -each as in the body of a God, and if either were brawnier of chest it -was he, and he was thicker of neck than the King. - -Now the King mocked Goldry, saying, “Rebellious hound, it is fit that -I make demonstration unto thee, and unto these Foliots and Demons that -witness our meeting, that I am thy King and Lord not by virtue only -of this my crown of Witchland, which I thus put by for an hour, but -even by the power of my body over thine and by my might and main. Be -satisfied that I will not have done with thee until I have taken away -thy life, and sent thy soul squealing bodiless into the unknown. And -thy skull and thy marrow-bones will I have away to Carcë, to my palace, -to be a token unto all the world that I have been the bane of an -hundredth great champion by my wrastling, and thou not least among them -that I have slain in that exercise. Thereafter, when I have eaten and -drunken and made merry in my royal palace at Carcë, I will sail with my -armies over the teeming deep to many-mountained Demonland. And it shall -be my footstool, and these other Demons the slaves of me, yea, and the -slaves of my slaves.” - -But the Lord Goldry Bluszco laughed lightly and said to the Red Foliot, -“O Red Foliot, I am not come hither to contend with the King of -Witchland in windy railing, but to match my strength against his, sinew -against sinew.” - - • • • • • - -Now they stood ready, and the Red Foliot made a sign with his hand, and -the cymbals clashed for the first bout. - -At the clash the two champions advanced and clasped one another with -their strong arms, each with his right arm below and left arm above -the other’s shoulder, until the flesh shrank beneath the might of -their arms that were as brazen bands. They swayed a little this way -and that, as great trees swaying in a storm, their legs planted firmly -so that they seemed to grow out of the ground like the trunks of oak -trees. Nor did either yield ground to other, nor might either win a -master hold upon his enemy. So swayed they back and forth for a long -time, breathing heavily. And now Goldry, gathering his strength, gat -the King lifted a little from the ground, and was minded to swing him -round and so dash him to earth. But the King, in that moment when -he found himself lifted, leaned forward mightily and smote his heel -swiftly round Goldry’s leg on the outside, striking him behind and a -little above the ankle, in such wise that Goldry was fain to loosen his -hold on the King; and greatly folk marvelled that he was able in that -plight to save himself from being thrown backward by the King. So they -gripped again until red wheals rose on their backs and shoulders by -reason of the grievous clasping of their arms. And the King on a sudden -twisted his body sideways, with his left side turned from Goldry; and -catching with his leg Goldry’s leg on the inside below the great muscle -of the calf, and hugging him yet closer, he lurched mightily against -him, striving to pull Goldry backward and so fall upon him and crush -him as they fell to earth. But Goldry leaned violently forward, ever -tightening his hold on the King, and so violently bare he forward in -his strength that the King was baulked of his design; and clutched -together they fell both to earth side by side with a heavy crash, and -lay bemused while one might count half a score. - -The Red Foliot proclaimed them even in this bout, and each returned to -his fellows to take breath and rest for a space. - -Now while they rested, a flittermouse flew forth from the Witchland -booths and went widdershins round the wrastling ground and so returned -silently whence she came. Lord Gro saw her, and his heart waxed heavy -within him. He spake to Corund and said, “Needs must that I make trial -even at this late hour if there be not any means to turn the King from -further adventuring of himself, ere all be lost.” - -Corund said, “Be it as thou wilt, but it will be in vain.” - -So Gro stood by the King and said, “Lord, give over this wrastling. -Great of growth and mightier of limb than any that you did overcome -aforetime is this Demon, yet have you vanquished him. For you did throw -him, as we plainly saw, and wrongfully hath the Red Foliot adjudged -you evenly matched because in the throwing of him your majesty’s self -did fall to earth. Tempt not the fates by another bout. Yours is the -victory in this wrastling: and now we, your servants, wait but your -nod to make a sudden onslaught on these Demons and slay them, as we -may lightly overcome them taken at unawares. And for the Foliots, they -be peaceful and sheep-like folk, and will be held in awe when we have -smitten the Demons with the edge of the sword. So may you depart, O -King, with pleasure and great honour, and afterward fare to Demonland -and bring it into subjection.” - -The King looked sourly upon Lord Gro, and said, “Thy counsel is -unacceptable and unseasonable. What lieth behind it?” - -Gro answered, “There have been omens, O King.” - -And the King said, “What omens?” - -Gro answered and said, “I will not hide it from you, O my Lord the -King, that in my sleep about the darkest hour a dream of the night -came to my bed and beheld me with a glance so fell that the hairs of -my head stood up and pale terror gat hold upon me. And methought the -dream smote up the roof above my bed, and the roof yawned to the naked -air of the midnight, that laboured with fiery signs, and a bearded -star travelling in the houseless dark. And I beheld the roof and the -walls one gore of blood. And the dream screeched like the screech-owl, -crying, _Witchland from thy hand, O King!_ And therewith the whole -world seemed lighted in one flame, and with a shout I awoke sweating -from the dream.” - -But the King rolled his eyes in anger upon Lord Gro and said, “Well am -I served and faithfully by such false scheming foxes as thou. It ill -fits your turn that I should carry this deed to the end with mine own -hand only, and in the blindness of your impudent folly ye come to me -with tales made for scaring of babes, praying me gently to forgo my -glory that thou and thy fellows may make yourselves big in the world’s -eyes by deeds of arms.” - -Gro said, “Lord, it is not so.” - -But the King would not hear him, but said, “Methinks it is for loyal -subjects to seek greatness in the greatness of their King, nor desire -to shine of their own brightness. As for this Demon, when thou sayest -that I have overcome him thou speakest a gross and impudent lie. In -this bout I did but measure myself with him. But thereby know I of a -surety that when I put forth my might he will not be able to withstand -me; and all ye shall shortly behold how, as one shattereth a stalk of -angelica, I will break and shatter the limbs of this Goldry Bluszco. -As for thee, false friend, subtle fox, unfaithful servant, this long -time am I grown weary of thee slinking up and down my palace devising -darkly things I know not: thou, that art nought akin to Witchland, but -an outlander, a Goblin exile, a serpent warmed in my bosom to my hurt. -But these things shall have an end. When I have put down this Goldry -Bluszco, then shall I have leisure to put down thee also.” - -And Gro bowed in sorrow of heart before the anger of the King, and held -his peace. - -Now was the horn blown for the second bout, and they stepped into the -wrastling ground. At the clashing of the cymbals the King sprang at -Goldry as the panther springeth, and with the rush bare him backward -and well nigh forth of the wrastling ground. But when they were carried -almost among the Demons where they stood to behold the contest, Goldry -swung to the left and strove as before to get the King lifted off -his feet; but the King foiled him and bent his ponderous weight upon -him, so that Goldry’s spine was like to have been crushed beneath -the murthering violence of the King’s arms. Then did the Lord Goldry -Bluszco show forth his great power as a wrastler, for, even under the -murthering clasp of the King, he by the might that was in the muscles -of his brawny chest shook the King first to the right and then to the -left; and the King’s hold was loosened, and all his skill and mastery -but narrowly saved him from a grievous fall. Nor did Goldry delay nor -ponder how next to make trial of the King, but sudden as the lightning -he slackened his hold and turned, and with his back under the King’s -belly gave a mighty lift; and they that witnessed it stood amazed in -expectancy to see the King thrown over Goldry’s head. Yet for all his -striving might not Goldry get the King lifted clean off the ground. -Twice and three times he strove, and at each trial he seemed further -from his aim, and the King bettered his hold. And at the fourth essay -that Goldry made to lift the King over his back and fling him headlong, -the King thrust him forward and tripped him from behind, so that Goldry -was crawled on his hands and knees. And the King clung to him from -behind and passed his arms round his body beneath the armpits and so -back over the shoulders, being minded to clasp his two hands at the -back of Goldry’s neck. - -Then said Corund, “The Demon is sped already. By this hold hath the -King brought to their bane more than three score famous champions. He -delayeth only till his fingers be knit together behind the neck of the -accursed Demon to draw the head of him forward until the bones of the -neck or the breastbone be bursten asunder.” - -“He delayeth over long for my peace,” said Gro. - -The King’s breath came out of him in great puffs and grunts as he -strained to bring his fingers to meet behind Goldry’s neck. Nor was it -aught else than the hugeness of his neck and burly chest that saved the -Lord Goldry Bluszco in that hour from utter destruction. Crawled on -his hands and knees he could nowise escape from the hold of the King, -neither lay hold on him in turn; howbeit because of the bigness of -Goldry’s neck and chest it was impossible for the King to fasten that -hold upon him, for all his striving. - -When the King perceived that this was so, and that he but wasted his -strength, he said, “I will loose my hold on thee and let thee up, and -we will stand again face to face. For I deem it unworthy to grapple on -the ground like dogs.” - -So they stood up, and wrastled another while in silence. Soon the King -made trial once again of the fall whereby he had sought to throw him -in the first bout, twisting suddenly his right side against Goldry, -and catching with his leg Goldry’s leg, and therewith leaning against -him with main force. And when, as before, Goldry bare forward with -great violence, tightening his grip, the King lurched mightily against -him, and, being still ill content to have missed his hold that never -heretofore had failed him, he thrust his fingers up Goldry’s nose in -his cruel anger, scratching and clawing at the delicate inner parts -of the nostrils in such wise that Goldry was fain to draw back his -head. Therewith the King, lurching against him yet more heavily, gat -him thrown a grievous fall on his back, and himself fell atop of him, -crushing him and stunning him on the earth. - -And the Red Foliot proclaimed Gorice the King victorious in this bout. - -Therewithal the King turned him back to his Witches, that loudly -acclaimed his mastery over Goldry. He said unto Lord Gro, “It is as I -have spoken: the testing first, next the bruising, and in the last -bout the breaking and killing.” And the King looked evilly on Gro. -Gro answered him not a word, for his soul was grieved to see blood on -the nails and fingers of the King’s left hand, and he thought he knew -that the King must have been sore bested in this bout, seeing that he -must do this beastly deed or ever he might overcome the might of his -adversary. - -But the Lord Goldry Bluszco when he was come to his senses and had -gotten him up from that great fall, spake to the Red Foliot in mickle -wrath, saying, “This devil hath overcome me by craft, doing that which -it is a shame to do, in that he clawed me with his fingers up my nose.” - -The sons of Corund raised an uproar at the words of Goldry, loudly -crying that he was the greatest liar and dastard; and all they of -Witchland shouted and cursed in like manner. But Goldry shouted in a -voice like a brazen trumpet that was plain to hear above the clamour -of the Witches, “O Red Foliot, judge now fairly betwixt me and King -Gorice, as thou art sworn to do. Let him show his finger nails, if -there be not blood on them. This fall is void, and I claim that we -wrastle it anew.” And the lords of Demonland in like manner shouted -that this fall should be wrastled anew. - -Now the Red Foliot had seen somewhat of what was done, and well was -he minded to call the bout void. Yet had he forborne to do this out -of fear of King Gorice that had looked upon him with a basilisk’s -eye, threatening him. And now, while the Red Foliot was troubled in -his mind, uncertain between the angry shouts of the Witches and the -Demons whether safety lay rather with his honour or with truckling to -King Gorice, the King spake a word to Corinius, who went straightway -and standing by the Red Foliot spake privily in his ear. And Corinius -menaced the Red Foliot, and said, “Beware lest thy mind be swayed by -the brow-beating of the Demons. Rightfully hast thou adjudged the -victory in this bout unto our Lord the King, and this talk of thrusting -of fingers in the nose is but a pretext and a vile imagination of this -Goldry Bluszco, who, being thrown fairly before thine eyes and before -us all, and perceiving himself unable to stand against the King, now -thinketh with his swaggering he can bear it away, and thinketh by -cheats and subtleties to avoid defeat. If, against thine own beholding -and the witness of us and the plighted word of the King, thou art -so hardy as to harken to the guileful persuading of these Demons, -yet bethink thee that the King hath overborne ninety and nine great -champions in this exercise, and this shall be the hundredth; and -bethink thee, too, that Witchland lieth nearer to thine Isles than -Demonland by many days’ sailing. Hard shall it be for thee to abide the -avenging sword of Witchland if thou do him despite, and against thy -sworn oath as umpire incline wrongfully to his enemies in this dispute.” - -So spake Corinius; and the Red Foliot was cowed. Albeit he believed in -his heart that the King had done that whereof Goldry accused him, yet -for terror of the King and of Corinius that stood by and threatened him -he durst not speak his thought, but in sore perplexity gave order for -the horn to be blown for the third bout. - -And it came to pass at the blowing of the horn that the flittermouse -fared forth again from the booths of the Witches, and going widdershins -round about the wrastling ground returned on silent wing whence she -came. - -When the Lord Goldry Bluszco understood that the Red Foliot would pay -no heed to his accusation, he grew red as blood. A fearsome sight it -was to behold how he swelled in his wrath, and his eyes blazed like -disastrous stars at midnight, and being wood with anger he gnashed his -teeth till the froth stood at his lips and slavered down his chin. -Now the cymbals clashed for the onset. Therewith ran Goldry upon the -King as one straught of his wits, bellowing as he ran, and gripped him -by the right arm with both his hands, one at the wrist and one near -the shoulder. And so it was that, before the King might move, Goldry -spun round with his back to the King and by his mickle strength and -the strength of the anger that was in him he heaved the King over his -head, hurling him as one hurleth a ponderous spear, head-foremost to -the earth. And the King smote the ground with his head, and the bones -of his head and his spine were driven together and smashed, and blood -flowed from his ears and nose. With the might of that throw Goldry’s -wrath departed from him and left him strengthless, in such sort that -he reeled as he went from the wrastling ground. His brethren, Juss and -Spitfire, bare him up on either side, and put his cloak of cloth of -gold worked with red hearts about his mighty limbs. - -Meanwhile dismay was fallen upon the Witches to behold their King so -caught up on a sudden and dashed upon the ground, where he lay crumpled -in an heap, shattered like the stalk of an hemlock that one breaketh -and shattereth. In great agitation the Red Foliot came down from his -car of ebony and made haste thither where the King was fallen; and the -lords of Witchland came likewise thither stricken at heart, and Corund -lifted the King in his burly arms. But the King was stone dead. So -those sons of Corund made a litter with their spears and laid the King -on the litter, and spread over him his royal mantle of black silk lined -with bearskin, and set the crown of Witchland on his head, and without -word spoken bare him away to the Witches’ booths. And the other lords -of Witchland without word spoken followed after. - - - - - III: THE RED FOLIOT - - OF THE ENTERTAINMENT OF THE WITCHES IN THE PALACE OF THE RED - FOLIOT; AND OF THE WILES AND SUBTLETIES OF LORD GRO; AND HOW - THE WITCHES DEPARTED BY NIGHT OUT OF THE FOLIOT ISLES. - - -The Red Foliot gat him back into his palace and sat in his high seat. -And he sent unto the lords of Witchland and of Demonland that they -should come and see him. Nor did they delay, but came straightway and -sat on the long benches, the Witches on the eastern side of the hall -and the Demons on the west; and their fighting men stood in order on -either side behind them. So sat they in the shadowy hall, and the sun -declining to the western ocean shone through the high windows of the -hall on the polished armour and weapons of the Witches. - -The Red Foliot spake among them and said, “A great champion hath been -strook to earth this day in fair and equal combat. And according to the -solemn oaths whereby ye are bound, and whereof I am the keeper, there -is here an end to all unpeace betwixt Witchland and Demonland, and ye -of Witchland are to forswear for ever your claims of lordship over -the Demons. Now for a sealing and making fast of this solemn covenant -between you I see no likelier rede than that ye all join with me here -this day in good friendship to forget your quarrels in drinking of the -arvale of King Gorice XI., than whom hath reigned none mightier nor -more worshipful in all this world, and thereafter depart in peace to -your native lands.” - -So spake the Red Foliot, and the lords of Witchland assented thereto. - -But Lord Juss answered and said, “O Red Foliot, as to the oaths sworn -between us and the King of Witchland, thou hast spoken well; nor shall -we depart one tittle from the article of our oaths, and the Witches -may abide in peace for ever as for us if, as is clean against their -use and nature, they forbear to devise evil against us. For the nature -of Witchland was ever as a flea, that attacketh a man in the dark. But -we will not eat nor drink with the lords of Witchland, who bewrayed -and forsook us their sworn confederates at the sea-fight against the -Ghouls. Nor we will not drink the arvale of King Gorice XI., who worked -a shameful and unlawful sleight against my kinsman this day when they -wrastled together.” - -So spake Lord Juss, and Corund whispered Gro in the ear, saying, -“Were’t not for the privilege of this respected company, now were the -time to set upon them.” But Gro said, “I prithee yet have patience. -This were over hazardous, for the luck goeth against Witchland. Let us -rather take them in their beds to-night.” - -Fain would the Red Foliot turn the Demons from their resolve, but -without avail; they courteously thanking him for his hospitality which -they said they would enjoy that night in their booths, being minded on -the morrow to take to their beaked ship and fare over the unvintaged -sea to Demonland. - -Therewith stood up Lord Juss, and with him the Lord Goldry Bluszco, -that went in all his war gear, his horned helm of gold and his golden -byrny set with ruby hearts, and bare his two-handed sword forged by -the elves wherewith he slew the beast out of the sea in days gone by; -and Lord Spitfire that glared upon the lords of Witchland as a falcon -glareth, hungering for her prey; and the Lord Brandoch Daha that -looked on them, and chiefly on Corinius, with the eye of contemptuous -amusement, playing idly with the jewelled hilt of his sword, until -Corinius grew ill at ease beneath his gaze and shifted this way and -that in his seat, scowling back defiance. For all the rich array and -goodly port and countenance of Corinius, he seemed but a very boor -beside the Lord Brandoch Daha, and dearly did each hate the other. So -the lords of Demonland with their fighting men went forth from the hall. - - • • • • • - -The Red Foliot sent after them and made them in their own booths to be -served of great plenty of wine and good and delicate meats, and sent -them musicians and a minstrel to gladden them with songs and stories -of old time, that they might lack nought of entertainment. But for his -other guests he let bear in the massy cups of silver, and the great -eared wine jars holding two firkins apiece, and he let pour forth to -the Witches and the Foliots, and they drank the cup of memory unto King -Gorice XI., slain that day by the hand of Goldry Bluszco. Thereafter -when their cups were brimmed anew with foaming wine the Red Foliot -spake among them and said, “O ye lords of Witchland, will you that I -speak a dirge in honour of Gorice the King that the dark reaper hath -this day gathered?” So when they said yea to this, he called to him his -player on the theorbo and his player on the hautboy, and commanded them -saying, “Play me a solemn music.” And they played softly in the Aeolian -mode a music that was like the wailing of wind through bare branches on -a moonless night, and the Red Foliot leaned forth from his high seat -and recited this lamentation: - - I that in heill was and gladness - Am trublit now with great sickness - And feblit with infirmitie:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - - Our plesance here is all vain glory, - This fals world is but transitory, - The flesh is bruckle, the Feynd is slee:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - - The state of man does change and vary, - Now sound, now sick, now blyth, now sary, - Now dansand mirry, now like to die:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - - No state in Erd here standis sicker; - As with the wynd wavis the wicker, - So wannis this world’s vanitie:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - - Unto the Death gois all Estatis, - Princis, Prelattis, and Potestatis, - Baith rich and poor of all degree:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - - He takis the knichtis in to field - Enarmit under helm and scheild; - Victor he is at all mellie:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - - That strong unmerciful tyrand - Takis, on the motheris breast sowkand, - The babe full of benignitie:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - - He takis the campion in the stour, - The captain closit in the tour, - The lady in bour full of bewtie:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - - He spairis no lord for his piscence, - Na clerk for his intelligence; - His awful straik may no man flee:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - - Art-magicianis and astrologis, - Rethoris, logicianis, theologis, - Them helpis no conclusionis slee:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - - In medecine the most practicianis, - Leechis, surrigianis, and physicianis, - Themself from Death may nocht supplee:— - _Timor Mortis conturbat me_. - -When the Red Foliot had spoken thus far his dirge, he was interrupted -by an unseemly brawling betwixt Corinius and one of the sons of Corund. -For Corinius, who gave not a fig for music or dirges, but liked well of -carding and dicing, had brought forth his dice box to play with the son -of Corund. They played awhile to Corinius’s great content, for at every -throw he won and the other’s purse waxed light. But at this eleventh -stanza the son of Corund cried out that the dice of Corinius were -loaded. And he smote Corinius on his shaven jowl with the dice box, -calling him cheat and mangy rascal, whereupon Corinius drew forth a -bodkin to smite him in the neck withal; but some went betwixt them, and -with much ado and much struggling and cursing they were parted, and it -being shown that the dice were not loaded, the son of Corund was fain -to make amends to Corinius, and so were they set at one again. - -Now was the wine poured forth yet again to the lords of Witchland, and -the Red Foliot drank deep unto the glory of that land and the rulers -thereof. And he issued command saying, “Let my Kagu come and dance -before us, and thereafter my other dancers. For there is no pleasure -whereon the Foliots do more dearly dote than this pleasure of the -dance, and sweet to us it is to behold delightful dancing, be it the -stately splendour of the Pavane which progresseth as large clouds at -sun-down that pass by in splendour; or the graceful Allemande; or -the Fandango, which goeth by degrees from languorous beauty to the -swiftness and passion of Bacchanals dancing on the high lawns under a -summer moon that hangeth in the pine trees; or the joyous maze of the -Galliard; or the Gigue, dear to the Foliots. Therefore delay not, but -let my Kagu come, that she may dance before us.” - -Therewith hastened the Kagu into the shadowy hall, moving softly and -rolling a little in her gait, with her head thrust forward; and a -little flurried was she in her bearing as she darted this way and that -her large and beautiful eyes, mild and timid, that were like liquid -gold heated to redness. Somewhat like a heron she was, but stouter, -and shorter of leg, and her beak shorter and thicker than the heron’s; -and so long and delicate was her pale gray plumage that hard it was -to say whether it were hair or feathers. So the wind instruments and -the lutes and dulcimers played a Coranto, and the Kagu tripped up the -hall betwixt the long tables, jumping a little and bowing a little in -her step and keeping excellent time to the music; and when she came -near to the dais where the Red Foliot sat ravished with delight at her -dancing, the Kagu lengthened her step and glided smoothly and slowly -forward toward the Red Foliot; and so gliding she drew herself up in -stately wise and opened her mouth and drew back her head till her beak -lay tight against her breast, flouncing out her feathers so that they -showed like a widecut skirt with a crinoline, and the crest that was -on her head rose up erect half again her own height from the ground, -and she sailed majestically toward the Red Foliot. On this wise did the -Kagu at every turn that she took in the Coranto, forth and back along -the length of the Foliots’ hall. And they all laughed sweetly at her, -being overjoyed at her dancing. When the dance was done, the Red Foliot -called the Kagu to him and made her sit on the bench beside him, and -stroked her soft gray feathers and made much of her. All bashfully she -sat beside the Red Foliot, casting her ruby eyes in wonder upon the -Witches and their company. - -Next the Red Foliot called for his Cat-bears, that stood before him -foxy-red above but with black bellies, round furry faces, and innocent -amber eyes, and soft great paws, and tails barred alternately with -ruddy rings and creamy; and he said, “O Cat-bears, dance before us, -since dearly we delight in your dancing.” - -They asked, “Lord, will you that we perform the Gigue?” - -And he answered them, “The Gigue, and ye love me.” - -So the stringed instruments began a swift movement, and the tambourines -and triangles entered on the beat, and swiftly twinkled the feet of -the Cat-bears in the joyous dance. The music rippled and ran and the -dancers danced till the hall was awhirl with the rhythm of their -dancing, and the Witches roared applause. On a sudden the music ceased, -and the dancers were still, and standing side by side, paw in furry -paw, they bowed shyly to the company, and the Red Foliot called them -to him and kissed them on the mouth and sent them to their seats, that -they might rest and view the dances that were to follow. - -Next the Red Foliot called for his white Peacocks, coloured like -moonlight, that they might lead the Pavane before the lords of -Witchland. In glorious wise did they spread their tails for the stately -dance, and a fair and lovely sight it was to see their grace and the -grandeur of their carriage as they moved to the music chaste and noble. -With them were joined the Golden Pheasants, who spread wide their -collars of gold, and the Silver Pheasants, and the Peacock Pheasants, -and the Estridges, and the Bustards, footing it in pomp, pointing the -toes, and bowing and retiring in due time to the solemn strains of the -Pavane. Every instrument took part in the stately Pavane: the lutes and -the dulcimers, and the theorbos, and the sackbuts, and the hautboys; -the flutes sweetly warbling as birds in the upper air, and the silver -trumpets, and the horns that breathed deep melodies trembling with -mystery and tenderness that shakes the heart; and the drum that beateth -to battle, and the wild throb of the harp, and the cymbals clashing as -the clash of armies. And a nightingale sitting by the Red Foliot sang -the Pavane in passionate tones that dissolved the soul in their sweet, -mournful beauty. - -The Lord Gro covered his face with his mantle and wept to hear and -behold the divine Pavane; for as ghosts rearisen it raised up for him -old happy half-forgotten days in Goblinland, before he had conspired -against King Gaslark and been driven forth from his dear native land, -an exile in waterish Witchland. - -Thereafter let the Red Foliot give order for the Galliard. Joyously -swept forth the melody from the stringed instruments, and two dormice, -fat as butter, spun into the hall. Wilder whirled the music, and the -dormice capered ever higher till they bounded from the floor up to -the beams of the vaulted roof, and down again, and up again to the -roof-beams in the joyful dance. And the Foliots joined in the Galliard, -spinning and capering in mad delight of the dance. And into the hall -twirled six capripeds, footing it lightly as the music swept ever -faster, and a one-footer that leaped hither and thither about and -about, as the flea hoppeth, till the Witches grew hoarse with singing -and shouting and hounding of him on. Yet ever capered the dormice -higher and wilder than any else, and so swiftly flashed their little -feet to the galloping music that no eye might follow their motion. - - • • • • • - -But little enow was Lord Gro gladdened by the merry dance. Sad -melancholy sat with him for his companion, darkening his thoughts and -making joy hateful to him as sunshine to owls of the night. So that he -was well pleased to mark the Red Foliot go softly from his seat on the -dais and forth from the hall by a door behind the arras, and seeing -this, himself departed softly amid the full tide of the Galliard, forth -of that hall of swift movement and gleeful laughter, forth into the -quiet evening, where above the smooth downs the wind was lulled to -sleep in the vast silent spaces of the sky, and the west was a bower -of orange light fading to purple and unfathomable blue in the upper -heaven, and nought was heard save the murmur of the sleepless sea, and -nought seen save a flight of wildfowl flying against the sunset. In -this quietness Gro walked westward above the combe until he came to -the land’s edge and stood on the lip of a chalk cliff falling to the -sea, and was ware of the Red Foliot, alone on that high western cliff, -gazing in a study at the dying colours in the west. - -When they had stood for a while without speech, gazing over the sea, -Gro spake and said, “Consider how as day now dieth in yonder chambers -of the west, so hath the glory departed from Witchland.” - -But the Red Foliot answered him not, being in a study. - -Then Gro said, “Though Demonland lieth where thou sawest the sun -descend, yet eastward out of Witchland must thou look for the morning -splendour. Not more surely shalt thou behold the sun go up thence -to-morrow than thou shalt see shine forth in short season the glory and -honour and power of Witchland, and beneath her destructive sword her -enemies shall be as grass before the sickle.” - -The Red Foliot said, “I am in love with peace and the soft influence of -the evening air. Leave me; or if thou wilt stay, break not the charm.” - -“O Red Foliot,” said Gro, “art thou in love with peace indeed? So -should the rising again of Witchland tune sweet music to thy thought, -since we of Witchland love peace, nor are we stirrers up of strife, but -the Demons only. The war against the Ghouls, whereby the four corners -of the earth were shaken, was hatched by Demonland——” - -“Thou speakest,” said the Red Foliot, “clean against thine intention, -a great praise of them. For who ever saw the like of these man-eating -Ghouls for corruption of manners, inhuman degeneration, and deluge -of iniquities? Who every fifth year from time immemorial have had -their grand climacterical year, and but last year brake forth in -never-imagined ferocity. But if they sail now, ’tis on the dark lake -they sail, grieving no earthly seas nor rivers. Praise Demonland, -therefore, who did put them down for ever.” - -“I make no question of that,” answered Lord Gro. “But foul water, as -soon as fair, will quench hot fire. Sore against our will did we of -Witchland join with the Demons in that war, foreseeing (as hath been -bloodily approved) that the issue must be but the puffing up of the -Demons, who desire no other thing than to be lords and tyrants of all -the world.” - -“Thou,” said the Red Foliot, “wast in thy young days King Gaslark’s -man: a Goblin born and bred: his very foster-brother, nourished at the -same breast. Why must I observe thee, a plain traitor against so good -a king? Whose perfidy the common people then did openly reprove (as I -did well perceive even so lately as last autumn, when I was in the city -of Zajë Zaculo at the time of their festivities for the betrothal of -the king’s cousin german the Princess Armelline unto the Lord Goldry -Bluszco), they carrying filthy pictures of thee in the street, singing -of thee thus: - - It was pittie - One so wittie - Malcontent: - Leaving reason - Should to treason - So be bent. - - But his gifts - Were but shifts - Void of grace: - And his braverie - Was but knaverie - Vile and base.” - -Said Gro, wincing a little, “The art of it agreeth well with the -sentiment, and with the condition of those who invented it. I will not -think so noble a prince as thou art will set thy sails to the wind of -the rabble’s most partial hates and envies. For the vile addition of -traitor, I do reject and spit upon it. But true it is that, regarding -not the god of fools and women, nice opinion, I do steer by mine own -lode-star still. Howbeit, I came not to discourse to thee on so small a -matter as myself. This I would say unto thee with most sad and serious -entertain: Be not lulled to think the Demons will leave the world at -peace: that is farthest from their intent. They would not listen to thy -comfortable words nor sit at meat with us, so set be they to imagine -mischief against us. What said Juss? ‘Witchland was ever as a flea’: -ay, as a flea which he itcheth to crush betwixt his finger-nails. O, -if thou be in love with peace, a short way lieth open to thy heart’s -desire.” - -Nought spake the Red Foliot, gazing still into the dim reflections of -the sunset which lingered below a darkening sky where stars were born. -Gro said softly, as a cat purring, “Where softening unctions failed, -sharp surgery bringeth speediest ease. Wilt thou not leave it to me?” - -But the Red Foliot looked angrily upon him, saying, “What have I to do -with your enmities? You are sworn to keep the peace, and I will not -abide your violence nor your breaking of oaths in my quiet kingdom.” - -Gro said, “Oaths be of the heart, and he that breaketh them in open -fact is oft, as now, no breaker in truth, for already were they scorned -and trampled on by his opposites.” - -But the Red Foliot said again, “What have I to do with your enmities -that set you by the ears like fighting dogs? I am yet to learn that he -that hath a righteous heart, and clean hands, and hateth none, must -needs be drawn into the brawls and manslayings of such as you and the -Demons.” - -Lord Gro looked narrowly upon him, saying, “Thinkest thou that the -strait path of him that affecteth neither side lieth still open for -thee? If that were thine aim, thou shouldst have bethought thee ere -thou gavest thy judgement on the second bout. For clear as day it -was to us and to thine own people, and most of all to the Demons, -that the King played foul in that bout, and when thou calledst him -victorious thou didst loudly by that word trumpet thyself his friend, -and unfriends to Demonland. Markedst thou not, when they left the -hall, with what a snake’s eye Lord Juss beheld thee? Not with us only -but with thee he refused to eat and drink, that so his superstitious -scruples may be unhurt when he proceeds to thy destruction. For on this -are they determined. Nothing is more certain.” - -The Red Foliot sank his chin upon his breast, and stood silent for a -space. The hues of death and silence spread themselves where late the -fires of sunset glowed, and large stars opened like flowers on the -illimitable fields of the night sky: Arcturus, Spica, Gemini, and the -Little Dog, and Capella and her Kids. - -The Red Foliot said, “Witchland lieth at my door. And Demonland: how -stand I with Demonland?” - -And Gro said, “Also to-morrow’s sun goeth up out of Witchland.” - -For a while they spoke not. Then Lord Gro took forth a scroll from his -bosom, and said, “The harvest of this world is to the resolute, and he -that is infirm of purpose is ground betwixt the upper and the nether -millstone. Thou canst not turn back: so would they scorn and spurn -thee, and we Witches likewise. And now by these means only may lasting -peace be brought about, namely, by the setting of Gorice of Witchland -on the throne of Demonland, and the utter humbling of that brood -beneath the heel of the Witches.” - -The Red Foliot said, “Is not Gorice slain, and drank we not but now his -arvale, slain by a Demon? and is he not the second in order of that -line who hath so died by a Demon?” - -“A twelfth Gorice,” said Gro, “at this moment of time sitteth King in -Carcë. O Red Foliot, know thou that I am a reader of the planets of -the night and of those hidden powers that work out the web of destiny. -Whereby I know that this twelfth King of the house of Gorice in Carcë -shall be a most crafty warlock, full of guiles and wiles, who by the -might of his egromancy and the sword of Witchland shall exceed all -earthly powers that be. And ineluctable as the levin-bolt of heaven -goeth out his wrath against his enemies.” So saying, Gro stooped and -took a glow-worm from the grass, saying kindly to it, “Sweeting, thy -lamp for a moment,” and breathed upon it, and held it to the parchment, -saying, “Sign now thy royal name to these articles, which require thee -not at all to go to war, but only (in case war shall arise) to be of -our party, and against these Demons that do privily pursue thy life.” - -But the Red Foliot said, “Wherein am I certified that thou speakest not -a lie?” - -Then took Gro a writing from his purse and showed thereon a seal like -the seal of Lord Juss; and there was written: “Unto Voll al love and -truste: and fayll nat whenas thow saylest upon Wychlande to caste of -iij or iv shippes for the Folyott Isles to putt downe those and brenne -the Redd Folyott in hys hous. For if wee get nat the lyfe of these -wormes chirted owt of them the shame will stikk on us for ever.” And -Gro said, “My servant stole this from them while they spoke with thee -in thine hall to-night.” - -Which the Red Foliot believed, and took from his belt his ink-horn -and his pen, and signed his royal name to the articles of the treaty -proposed to him. - -Therewith Lord Gro put up the parchment in his bosom and said, “Swift -surgery. Needs must that we take them in their beds to-night; so shall -to-morrow’s dawn bring glory and triumph to Witchland, now fixed in an -eclipse, and to the whole world peace and soft contentment.” - -But the Red Foliot answered him, “My Lord Gro, I have signed these -articles, and thereby stand I bound in enmity to Demonland. But I -will not bewray my guests that have eaten my salt, be they never so -deeply pledged mine enemies. Be it known to thee, I have set guards on -your booths this night and on the booths of them of Demonland, that -no unpeaceful deeds may be done betwixt you. This which I have done, -by this will I stand, and ye shall both depart to-morrow in peace, -even as ye came. Because I am your friend and sworn to your party, I -and my Foliots will be on your side when war is between Witchland and -Demonland. But I will not suffer night-slayings nor murthers in my -Isles.” - -Now with these words of the Red Foliot, Lord Gro was as one that -walketh along a flowery path to his rest, and in the last steps a -gulf yawneth suddenly athwart the path, and he standeth a-gape and -disappointed at the hither side. Yet in his subtlety he made no sign, -but straight replied, “Righteously hast thou decreed and wisely, O Red -Foliot, for it was truly said: - - Let worthy minds ne’er stagger in distrust - To suffer death or shame for what is just, - -and that which we sow in darkness must unfold in the open light of day, -lest it be found withered in the very hour of maturity. Nor would I -have urged thee otherwise, but that I do throughly fear these Demons, -and all my mind was to take their plotting in reverse. Do then one -thing only for us. If we set sail homeward and they on our heels, they -will fall upon us at a disadvantage, for they have the swifter ship; -or if they get to sea before us, they will lie in wait for us on the -high seas. Suffer us then to sail to-night, and do thou on some pretext -delay them here for three days only, that we may get us home or ever -they leave the Foliot Isles.” - -“I will not gainsay thee in this,” answered the Red Foliot, “for here -is nought but what is fair and just and lieth with mine honour. I will -come to your booths at midnight and bring you down to your ship.” - - • • • • • - -When Gro came to the Witches’ booths he found them guarded even as -the Red Foliot had said, and the booths of them of Demonland in like -manner. So went he into the royal booth where the King lay in state -on a bier of spear-shafts, robed in his kingly robes over his armour -that was painted black and inlaid with gold, and the crown of Witchland -on his head. Two candles burned at the head of King Gorice and two at -his feet; and the night wind blowing through the crannies of the booth -made them flare and flicker, so that shadows danced unceasingly on -the wall and roof and floor. On the benches round the walls sat the -lords of Witchland sullen of countenance, for the wine was dead in -them. Balefully they eyed Lord Gro at his coming in, and Corinius sate -upright in his seat and said, “Here is the Goblin, father and fosterer -of our misfortunes. Come, let us slay him.” - -Gro stood among them with head erect and held Corinius with his eye, -saying, “We of Witchland are not run lunatic, my Lord Corinius, that -we should do this gladness to the Demons, to bite each at the other’s -throat like wolves. Methinks if Witchland be the land of my adoption -only, yet have I not done least among you to ward off sheer destruction -from her in this pass we stand in. If ye have aught against me, let me -hear it and answer it.” - -Corinius laughed a bitter laugh. “Harken to the fool! Are we babies and -milksops, thinkest thou, and is it not clear as day thou stoodest in -the way of our falling on the Demons when we might have done so, urging -what silly counsels I know not in favour of doing it by night? And now -is night come, and we close prisoned in our booths, and no chance to -come at them unless we would bring an hornets’ nest of Foliots about -our ears and give warning of our intent to the Demons and every living -soul in this island. And all this has come about since thy slinking off -and plotting with the Red Foliot. But now hath thy guile overreached -itself, and now we will kill thee, and so an end of thee and thy -plotting.” - -With that Corinius sprang up and drew his sword, and the other Witches -with him. But Lord Gro moved not an eyelid, only he said, “Hear mine -answer first. All night lieth before us, and ’tis but a moment’s task -to murther me.” - -Therewith stood forth the Lord Corund with his huge bulk betwixt Gro -and Corinius, saying in a great voice, “Whoso shall point weapon -’gainst him shall first have to do with me, though it were one of my -sons. We will hear him. If he clear not himself, then will we hew him -in pieces.” - -They sat down, muttering. And Gro spake and said, “First behold this -parchment, which is the articles of a solemn covenant and alliance, -and behold where the Red Foliot hath set his sign manual thereto. -True, his is a country of no might in arms, and we might tread him -down and ne’er feel the leavings stick to our boot, and little avail -can their weak help be unto us in the day of battle. But there is in -these Isles a meetly good road and riding-place for ships, which if -our enemies should occupy, their fleet were most aptly placed to do -us all the ill imaginable. Is then this treaty a light benefit where -now we stand? Next, know that when I counselled you take the Demons -in their beds ’stead of fall upon them in the Foliots’ hall, I did so -being advertised that the Red Foliot had commanded his soldiers to turn -against us or against the Demons, whichever first should draw sword -upon the other. And when I went forth from the hall it was, as Corinius -hath so deeply divined, to plot with the Red Foliot; but the aim of my -plotting I have shown you, on these articles of alliance. And indeed, -had I as Corinius vilely accuseth me practised with the Red Foliot -against Witchland, I had hardly been so simple as return into the mouth -of destruction when I might have bided safely in his palace.” - -Now when Gro perceived that the anger of the Witches against him was -appeased by his defence, wherein he spake cunningly both true words and -lies, he spake again among them saying, “Little gain have I of all my -pains and thought expended by me for Witchland. And better it were for -Witchland if my counsel were better heeded. Corund knoweth how, to mine -own peril, I counselled the King to wrastle no more after the first -bout, and if he had ta’en my rede, rather than suspect me and threaten -me with death, we should not be now to bear him home dead to the royal -catacombs in Carcë.” - -Corund said, “Truly hast thou spoken.” - -“In one thing only have I failed,” said Gro; “and it can shortly be -amended. The Red Foliot, albeit of our party, will not be won to -attack the Demons by fraud, nor will he suffer us smite them in these -Isles. Some fond simple scruples hang like cobwebs in his mind, and he -is stubborn as touching this. But I have prevailed upon him to make -them tarry here for three days’ space, while we put to sea this very -night, telling him, which he most innocently believeth, that we fear -the Demons, and would flee home ere they be let loose to take us at a -disadvantage on the high seas. And home we will indeed ere they set -sail, yet not for fear of them, but rather that we may devise a deadly -blow against them or ever they win home to Demonland.” - -“What blow, Goblin?” said Corinius. - -And Gro answered and said, “One that I will devise upon with our Lord -the King, Gorice XII., who now awaiteth us in Carcë. And I will not -blab it to a wine-bibber and a dicer who hath but now drawn sword -against a true lover of Witchland.” Whereupon Corinius leaped up in -mickle wrath to thrust his sword into Gro. But Corund and his sons -restrained him. - - • • • • • - -In due time the stars revolved to midnight, and the Red Foliot came -secretly with his guards to the Witches’ booths. The lords of Witchland -took their weapons and the men-at-arms bare the goods, and the King -went in the midst on his bier of spear-shafts. So went they picking -their way in the moonless night round the palace and down the winding -path that led to the bed of the combe, and so by the stream westward -toward the sea. Here they deemed it safe to light a torch to show -them the way. Desolate and bleak showed the sides of the combe in the -wind-blown flare; and the flare was thrown back from the jewels of the -royal crown of Witchland, and from the armoured buskins on the King’s -feet showing stark with toes pointing upward from below his bear-skin -mantle, and from the armour and the weapons of them that bare him and -walked beside him, and from the black cold surface of the little river -hurrying for ever over its bed of boulders to the sea. The path was -rugged and stony, and they fared slowly, lest they should stumble and -drop the King. - - - - - IV: CONJURING IN THE IRON TOWER - - OF THE HOLD OF CARCË, AND OF THE MIDNIGHT PRACTICES OF KING GORICE - XII. IN THE ANCIENT CHAMBER, PREPARING DOLE AND DOOM FOR THE - LORDS OF DEMONLAND. - - -When the Witches were come aboard of their ship and all stowed, and -the rowers set in order on the benches, they bade farewell to the -Red Foliot and rowed out to the deep, and there hoisted sail and put -up their helm and sailed eastward along the land. The stars wheeled -overhead, and the east grew pale, and the sun came out of the sea on -the larboard bow. Still sailed they two days and two nights, and on -the third day there was land ahead, and morning rose abated by mist -and cloud, and the sun was as a ball of red fire over Witchland in the -east. So they hung awhile off Tenemos waiting for the tide, and at -high water sailed over the bar and up the Druima past the dunes and -mud-flats and the Ergaspian mere, till they reached the bend of the -river below Carcë. Solitary marsh-land stretched on either side as -far as the eye might reach, with clumps of willow and rare homesteads -showing above the flats. Northward above the bend a bluff of land fell -sharply to the elbow of the river, and on the other side sloped gently -away for a few miles till it lost itself in the dead level of the -marshes. On the southern face of the bluff, monstrous as a mountain in -those low sedge-lands, hung square and black the fortress of Carcë. -It was built of black marble, rough-hewn and unpolished, the outworks -enclosing many acres. An inner wall with a tower at each corner formed -the main stronghold, in the south-west corner of which was the palace, -overhanging the river. And on the south-west corner of the palace, -towering sheer from the water’s edge seventy cubits and more to the -battlements, stood the keep, a round tower lined with iron, bearing -on the corbel table beneath its parapet in varying form and untold -repetition the sculptured figure of the crab of Witchland. The outer -ward of the fortress was dark with cypress trees: black flames burning -changelessly to heaven from a billowy sea of gloom. East of the keep -was the water-gate, and beside it a bridge and bridge-house across the -river, strongly fortified with turrets and machicolations and commanded -from on high by the battlements of the keep. Dismal and fearsome to -view was this strong place of Carcë, most like to the embodied soul of -dreadful night brooding on the waters of that sluggish river: by day a -shadow in broad sunshine, the likeness of pitiless violence sitting in -the place of power, darkening the desolation of the mournful fen; by -night, a blackness more black than night herself. - -Now was the ship made fast near the water-gate, and the lords of -Witchland landed and their fighting men, and the gate opened to them, -and mournfully they entered in and climbed the steep ascent to the -palace, bearing with them their sad burden of the King. And in the -great hall in Carcë was Gorice XI. laid in state for that night; and -the day wore to its close. Nor was any word from King Gorice XII. - -But when the shades of night were falling, there came a chamberlain to -Lord Gro as he walked upon the terrace without the western wall of the -palace; and the chamberlain said, “My lord, the King bids you attend -him in the Iron Tower, and he chargeth you bring unto him the royal -crown of Witchland.” - -Gro made haste to fulfil the bidding of the King, and betook himself to -the great banqueting hall, and all reverently he lifted the iron crown -of Witchland set thick with priceless gems, and went by a winding stair -to the tower, and the chamberlain went before him. When they were come -to the first landing, the chamberlain knocked on a massive door that -was forthwith opened by a guard; and the chamberlain said, “My lord, it -is the King’s will that you attend his majesty in his secret chamber -at the top of the tower.” And Gro marvelled, for none had entered that -chamber for many years. Long ago had Gorice VII. practised forbidden -arts therein, and folk said that in that chamber he raised up those -spirits whereby he gat his bane. Sithence was the chamber sealed, nor -had the late Kings need of it, since little faith they placed in art -magical, relying rather on the might of their hands and the sword of -Witchland. But Gro was glad at heart, for the opening of this chamber -by the King met his designs half way. Fearlessly he mounted the winding -stairs that were dusky with the shadows of approaching night and hung -with cobwebs and strewn with the dust of neglect, until he came to -the small low door of that chamber, and pausing knocked thereon and -harkened for the answer. - -And one said from within, “Who knocketh?” and Gro answered, “Lord, it -is I, Gro.” And the bolts were drawn and the door opened, and the King -said, “Enter.” And Gro entered and stood in the presence of the King. - -Now the fashion of the chamber was that it was round, filling the -whole space of the loftiest floor of the round donjon keep. It was -now gathering dusk, and weak twilight only entered through the deep -embrasures of the windows that pierced the walls of the tower, -looking to the four quarters of the heavens. A furnace glowing in -the big hearth threw fitful gleams into the recesses of the chamber, -lighting up strange shapes of glass and earthenware, flasks and -retorts, balances, hour-glasses, crucibles and astrolabes, a monstrous -three-necked alembic of phosphorescent glass supported on a bain-marie, -and other instruments of doubtful and unlawful aspect. Under the -northern window over against the doorway was a massive table blackened -with age, whereon lay great books bound in black leather with iron -guards and heavy padlocks. And in a mighty chair beside this table -was King Gorice XII., robed in his conjuring robe of black and gold, -resting his cheek on his hand that was lean as an eagle’s claw. The low -light, mother of shade and secrecy, that hovered in that chamber moved -about the still figure of the King, his nose hooked as the eagle’s -beak, his cropped hair, his thick close-cut beard and shaven upper -lip, his high cheek-bones and cruel heavy jaw, and the dark eaves of -his brows whence the glint of green eyes showed as no friendly lamp to -them without. The door shut noiselessly, and Gro stood before the King. -The dusk deepened, and the firelight pulsed and blinked in that dread -chamber, and the King leaned without motion on his hand, bending his -brow on Gro; and there was utter silence save for the faint purr of the -furnace. - -In a while the King said, “I sent for thee, because thou alone wast so -hardy as to urge to the uttermost thy counsel upon the King that is now -dead, Gorice XI. of memory ever glorious. And because thy counsel was -good. Marvellest thou that I wist of thy counsel?” - -Gro said, “O my Lord the King, I marvel not of this. For it is known to -me that the soul endureth, albeit the body perish.” - -“Keep thou thy lips from overspeech,” said the King. “These be -mysteries whereon but to think may snatch thee into peril, and whoso -speaketh of them, though in so secret a place as this, and with me -only, yet at his most bitter peril speaketh he.” - -Gro answered, “O King, I spake not lightly; moreover, you did tempt -me by your questioning. Nevertheless I am utterly obedient to your -majesty’s admonition.” - -The King rose from his chair and walked towards Gro, slowly. He was -exceeding tall, and lean as a starved cormorant. Laying his hands upon -the shoulders of Gro, and bending his face to Gro’s, “Art not afeared,” -he asked, “to abide me in this chamber, at the close of day? Or hast -not thought on’t, and on these instruments thou seest, their use and -purpose, and the ancient use of this chamber?” - -Gro blenched never a whit, but stoutly said, “I am not afeared, O my -Lord the King, but rather rejoiced I at your summons. For it jumpeth -with mine own designs, when I took counsel secretly in my heart after -the woes that the Fates fulfilled for Witchland in the Foliot Isles. -For in that day, O King, when I beheld the light of Witchland darkened -and her might abated in the fall of King Gorice XI. of glorious memory, -I thought on you, Lord, the twelfth Gorice raised up King in Carcë; and -there was present to my mind the word of the soothsayer of old, where -he singeth: - - Ten, eleven, twelf I see - In sequent varietie - Of puissaunce and maistrye - With swerd, sinwes, and grammarie, - In the holde of Carcë - Lordinge it royally. - -And being minded that he singleth out you, the twelfth, as potent in -grammarie, all my care was that these Demons should be detained within -reach of your spells until we should have time to win home to you and -to apprise you of their farings, that so you might put forth your -power and destroy them by art magic or ever they come safe again to -many-mountained Demonland.” - -The King took Gro to his bosom and kissed him, saying, “Art thou not a -very jewel of wisdom and discretion? Let me embrace thee and love thee -for ever.” - -Then the King stood back from him, keeping his hands on Gro’s -shoulders, and gazed piercingly upon him for a space in silence. Then -kindled he a taper that stood in an iron candlestick by the table -where the books lay, and held it to Gro’s face. And the King said, -“Ay, wise thou art and of good discretion, and some courage hast thou. -But if thou be to serve me this night, needs must I try thee first -with terrors till thou be inured to them, as tried gold runneth in the -crucible; or if thou be base metal only, till that thou be eaten up by -them.” - -Gro said unto the King, “For many years, Lord, or ever I came to Carcë, -I fared up and down the world, and I am acquainted with objects of -terror as a child with his toys. I have seen in the southern seas, -by the light of Achernar and Canopus, giant sea-horses battling with -eight-legged cuttle-fishes in the whirlpools of the Korsh. Yet was I -unafraid. I was in the isle Ciona when the fires of the pit brast forth -in that isle and split it as a man’s skull is split with an axe, and -the green gulfs of the sea swallowed that isle, and the stench and the -steam hung in the air for days where the burning rock and earth had -sizzled in the ocean. Yet was I unafraid. Also was I with Gaslark in -the flight out of Zajë Zaculo, when the Ghouls took the palace over -our heads, and portents walked in his halls in broad daylight, and -the Ghouls conjured the sun out of heaven. Yet was I unafraid. And -for thirty days and thirty nights wandered I alone on the face of the -Moruna in Upper Impland, where scarce a living soul hath been: and -there the evil wights that people the air of that desert dogged my -steps and gibbered at me in darkness. Yet was I unafraid; and came -in due time to Morna Moruna, and thence, standing on the lip of the -escarpment as it were on the edge of the world, looked southaway where -never mortal eye had gazed aforetime, across the untrodden forests of -the Bhavinan. And in that skyey distance, pre-eminent beyond range -on range of ice-robed mountains, I beheld two peaks throned for ever -between firm land and heaven in unearthly loveliness: the spires and -airy ridges of Koshtra Pivrarcha, and the wild precipices that soar -upward from the abysses to the queenly silent snow-dome of Koshtra -Belorn.” - -When Gro had ended, the King turned him away and, taking from a shelf -a retort filled with a dark blue fluid, set it on a bain-marie, and -a lamp thereunder. Fumes of a faint purple hue came forth from the -neck of the retort, and the King gathered them in a flask. He made -signs over the flask and shook forth into his hand therefrom a fine -powder. Then said he unto Gro, holding out the powder in the open palm -of his hand, “Look narrowly at this powder.” And Gro looked. The King -muttered an incantation, and the powder moved and heaved, and was like -a crawling mass of cheesemites in an overripe cheese. It increased -in volume in the King’s hand, and Gro perceived that each particular -grain had legs. The grains grew before his eyes, and became the size -of mustard seeds, and then of barleycorns, swiftly crawling each over -other. And even as he marvelled, they waxed great as kidney beans, and -now was their shape and seeming clear to him, so that he beheld that -they were small frogs and paddocks; and they overflowed from the King’s -hand as they waxed swiftly in size, pouring on to the floor. And they -ceased not to increase and grow; and now were they large as little -dogs, nor might the King retain more than a single one, holding his -hand under its belly while it waved its legs in the air; and they were -walking on the tables and jostling on the floor. Pallid they were, and -permeable to light like thin horn, and their hue a faint purple, even -as the hue of the vapour whence they were engendered. And now was the -room filled with them so that they mounted perforce one on another’s -shoulders, and they were of the bigness of well fatted hogs; and they -goggled their eyes at Gro and croaked. The King looked narrowly on Gro, -who stood in the presence of that spectacle, the crown of Witchland in -his hands; and the King marked that the crown trembled not a whit in -Gro’s hands that held it. So he said a certain word, and the paddocks -and the frogs grew small again, shrinking more swiftly than they had -grown, and so vanished. - -The King now took from the shelf a ball the size of the egg of an -estridge, of dark green glass. He said unto Gro, “Look well at this -glass and tell me what thou seest.” Gro answered him, “I see a shifting -shadow within.” The King commanded him saying, “Dash it down with all -thy strength upon the floor.” The Lord Gro lifted the ball with both -hands above his head, and it was ponderous as a ball of lead, and -according to the command of Gorice the King he hurled it on the floor, -so that it was pashed in pieces. And, behold, a puff of thick smoke -burst forth from the fragments of the ball and took the form of one -of human shape and dreadful aspect, whose two legs were two writhing -snakes; and it stood in the chamber so tall that the head of it touched -the vaulted ceiling, viewing the King and Gro malevolently and menacing -them. The King caught down a sword that hung against the wall, and put -it in Gro’s hand, shouting, “Smite off the legs of it! and delay not, -or thou art but dead!” Gro smote and cut off the left leg of the evil -wight, easily, as it were cutting of butter. But from the stump came -forth two fresh snakes a-writhing; and so it fared likewise with the -right leg, but the King shouted, “Smite and cease not, or thou art but -a dead dog!” and ever as Gro hewed a snake in twain forth came two -more from the wound, till the chamber was a maze of their wriggling -forms. And still Gro hewed with a will, until the sweat stood on his -brow, and he said, panting between the strokes, “O King, I have made -him many-legged as a centipede: must I make him a myriapod ere night’s -decline?” And the King smiled, and spake a word of hidden meaning; and -therewith the turmoil was gone as a gust of wind departeth, and nought -left save the shivered splinters of the green ball on the chamber floor. - -“Wast not afeared?” asked the King, and when Gro said nay, “Methinks -these sights of terror should much afflict thee,” said the King, “since -well I know thou art not skilled in art magical.” - -“Yet am I a philosopher,” answered Lord Gro; “and somewhat know I of -alchymy and the hidden properties of this material world: the virtues -of herbs, plants, stones, and minerals, the ways of the stars in their -courses, and the influences of those heavenly bodies. And I have held -converse with birds and fishes in their degree, and that generation -which creepeth on the earth is not held in scorn by me, but oft talk I -in sweet companionship with the eft of the pond, and the glow-worm, and -the lady-bird, and the pismire, and their kind, making them my little -gossips. So have I a certain lore which lighteth me in the outer court -of the secret temple of grammarie and art forbid, albeit I have not -peered within that temple. And by my philosophy, O King, I am certified -concerning these apparitions which you have raised for me, that they -be illusions and phantasms only, able to terrify the soul indeed of -him that knoweth not divine philosophy, but without bodily power or -essence. Nor is aught to fear in such, save the fear itself wherewith -they strike the simple.” - -Then said the King, “By what token knowest thou this?” - -And the Lord Gro made answer unto him, “O King, as a child weaveth a -daisy-chain, thus easily did you conjure up these shapes of terror. Not -in such wise fareth he that calleth out of the deep the deadly terror -indeed; but with toil and sweat and with straining of thought, will, -heart, and sinew fareth he.” - -The King smiled. “Thou sayest true. Now, therefore, since -phantasmagoria maketh not thy heart to quail, I present thee a more -material horror.” - -And he lighted the candles in the great candlesticks of iron and -opened a little secret door in the wall of the chamber near the floor; -and Gro beheld iron bars within the little door, and heard a hissing -from behind the bars. The King took a key of silver of delicate -construction, the handle slender and three spans in length, and opened -the iron grated door. And the King said, “Behold and see, that which -sprung from the egg of a cock, hatched by the deaf adder. The glance -of its eye sufficeth to turn to stone any living thing that standeth -before it. Were I but for one instant to loose my spells whereby I hold -it in subjection, in that moment would end my life days and thine. So -strong in properties of ill is this serpent which the ancient Enemy -that dwelleth in darkness hath placed upon this earth, to be a bane -unto the children of men, but an instrument of might in the hand of -enchanters and sorcerers.” - -Therewith came forth that offspring of perdition from its hole, -strutting erect on its two legs that were the legs of a cock; and a -cock’s head it had, with rosy comb and wattles, but the face of it -like no fowl’s face of middle-earth but rather a gorgon’s out of Hell. -Black shining feathers grew on its neck, but the body of it was the -body of a dragon with scales that glittered in the rays of the candles, -and a scaly crest stood on its back; and its wings were like bats’ -wings, and its tail the tail of an aspick with a sting in the end -thereof, and from its beak its forked tongue flickered venomously. And -the stature of the thing was a little above a cubit. Now because of -the spells of King Gorice whereby he held it ensorcelled it might not -cast its baneful glance upon him, nor upon Gro, but it walked back and -forth in the candle light, averting its eyes from them. The feathers -on its neck were fluffed up with anger and wondrous swiftly twirled -its scaly tail, and it hissed ever more fiercely, irked by the bonds -of the King’s enchantment; and the breath of it was noisome, and hung -in sluggish wreaths about the chamber. So for a while it walked before -them, and as it looked sidelong past him Gro beheld the light of its -eyes that were as sick moons burning poisonously through a mist of -greenish yellow in the dusk of night. And strong loathing seized him, -so that his gorge rose to behold the thing, and his brow and the palms -of his hands became clammy, and he said, “My Lord the King, I have -looked steadfastly on this cockatrice and it affrighteth me no whit, -but it is loathly in my sight, so that my gorge riseth because of it,” -and with that he fell a-vomiting. And the King commanded that serpent -back into its hole, whither it returned, hissing wrathfully. - -Now the King poured forth wine, speaking a charm over the cup, and -when the bright wine had revived Lord Gro, the King spake saying, “It -is well, O Gro, that thou hast shown thyself a philosopher indeed, and -of heart intrepid. Yet even as no blade is utterly tried until one -try it in very battle, where if it snap woe and doom wait on the hand -that wields it, so must thou in this midnight suffer a yet fiercer -furnace-heat of terror, wherein if thou be reduced we are both lost -eternally, and this Carcë and all Witchland blasted with us for ever in -ruin and oblivion. Durst abide this trial?” - -Gro answered, “I am hot to obey your word, O King. For well know I that -it is idle to hope by phantoms and illusions to appal the Demons, and -that against the Demons the deadly eye of thy cockatrice were turned -in vain. Stout of heart are they, and instructed in all lore, and -Juss a sorcerer of ancient power, who hath charms to blunt the glance -of basilisk or cockatrice. He that would strike down the Demons must -conjure indeed.” - -“Great,” said the King, “is the strength and cunning of the seed of -Demonland. By main strength have they now shown mastery over us, as -sadly witnesseth the overthrow of Gorice XI., ’gainst whom no mortal -could stand up and wrastle and not die, till cursed Goldry, drunk -with spleen and envy, slew him in the Foliot Isles. Nor was there any -aforetime to outdo us in feats of arms, and Gorice X., victorious in -single combats without number, made our name glorious over all the -world. Yet at the last he gat his death, out of all expectation and by -what treacherous sleight I know not, standing in single combat against -the curled step-dancer from Krothering. But I, that am skilled in -grammarie, do bear a mightier engine against the Demons than brawny -sinews or the sword that smiteth asunder. Yet is mine engine perilous -to him that useth it.” - -Therewith the King unlocked the greatest of those books that lay by -on the massive table, saying in Gro’s ear, as one who would not be -overheard, “This is that awful book of grammarie wherewith in this same -chamber, on such a night, Gorice VII. stirred the vasty deep. And know -that from this circumstance alone ensued the ruin of King Gorice VII., -in that, having by his hellish science conjured up somewhat from the -primaeval dark, and being utterly fordone with the sweat and stress of -his conjuring, his mind was clouded for a moment, in such sort that -either he forgot the words writ in this grammarie, or the page whereon -they were writ, or speech failed him to speak those words that must -be spoken, or might to do those things which must be done to complete -the charm. Wherefore he kept not his power over that which he had -called out of the deep, but it turned upon him and tare him limb from -limb. Such like doom will I avoid, renewing in these latter days those -self-same spells, if thou durst stand by me undismayed the while I -utter my incantations. And shouldst thou mark me fail or waver ere all -be accomplished, then shalt thyself lay hand on book and crucible and -fulfil whatsoever is needful, as I shall first show thee. Or quailest -thou at this?” - -Gro said, “Lord, show me my task. And I will carry it, though all the -Furies of the pit flock to this chamber to say me nay.” - -So the King instructed Gro, rehearsing to him those acts that were -needful, and making known unto him the divers pages of the grammarie -whereon were writ those words which must be spoken each in its due -time and sequence. But the King pronounced not yet those words, -pointing only to them in the book, for whoso speaketh those words in -vain and out of season is lost. And now when the retorts and beakers -with their several necks and tubes and the appurtenances thereof were -set in order, and the unhallowed processes of fixation, conjunction, -deflagration, putrefaction, and rubefication were nearing maturity, -and the baleful star Antares standing by the astrolabe within a little -of the meridian signified the instant approach of midnight, the -King described on the floor with his conjuring rod three pentacles -inclosed within a seven-pointed star, with the signs of Cancer and -of Scorpio joined by certain runes. And in the midst of the star he -limned the image of a green crab eating of the sun. And turning to the -seventy-third page of his great black grammarie the King recited in a -mighty voice words of hidden meaning, calling on the name that it is a -sin to utter. - -Now when he had spoken the first spell and was silent, there was a -deadly quiet in that chamber, and a chill in the air as of winter. And -in the quiet Gro heard the King’s breath coming and going, as of one -who hath rowed a course. Now the blood rushed back to Gro’s heart and -his hands and feet became cold and a cold sweat brake forth on his -brow. But for all that, he held yet his courage firm and his brain -ready. The King motioned to Gro to break off the tail of a certain drop -of black glass that lay on the table; and with the snapping of its -tail the whole drop fell in pieces in a coarse black powder. Gro by -the King’s direction gathered that powder and dropped it in the great -alembic wherein a green fluid seethed and bubbled above the flame of a -lamp; and the fluid became red as blood, and the body of the alembic -filled with a tawny smoke, and sparks of sun-like brilliance flashed -and crackled through the smoke. Thereupon distilled from the neck of -the alembic a white oil incombustible, and the King dipped his rod in -that oil and described round the seven-pointed star on the floor the -figure of the worm Ouroboros, that eateth his own tail. And he wrote -the formula of the crab below the circle, and spake his second spell. - -When that was done, yet more biting seemed the night air and yet more -like the grave the stillness of the chamber. The King’s hand shook as -with an ague as he turned the pages of the mighty book. Gro’s teeth -chattered in his head. He gritted them together and waited. And now -through every window came a light into the chamber as of skies paling -to the dawn. Yet not wholly so; for never yet came dawn at midnight, -nor from all four quarters of the sky at once, nor with such swift -strides of increasing light, nor with a light so ghastly. The candle -flames burned filmy as the glare waxed strong from without: an evil -pallid light of bale and corruption, wherein the hands and faces of the -King Gorice and his disciple showed death-pale, and their lips black as -the dark skin of a grape where the bloom has been rubbed off from it. -The King cried terribly, “The hour approacheth!” And he took a phial of -crystal containing a decoction of wolf’s jelly and salamander’s blood, -and dropped seven drops from the alembic into the phial and poured -forth that liquor on the figure of the crab drawn on the floor. Gro -leaned against the wall, weak in body but with will unbowed. So bitter -was the cold that his hands and feet were benumbed, and the liquor from -the phial congealed where it fell. Yet the sweat stood in beads on the -forehead of the King by reason of the mighty striving that was his, and -in the overpowering glare of that light from the underskies he stood -stiff and erect, hands clenched and arms outstretched, and spake the -words LURO VOPO VIR VOARCHADUMIA. - -Now with those words spoken the vivid light departed as a blown-out -lamp, and the midnight closed down again without. Nor was any sound -heard save the thick panting of the King; but it was as if the night -held its breath in expectation of that which was to come. And the -candles sputtered and burned blue. The King swayed and clutched the -table with his left hand; and again the King pronounced terribly the -word VOARCHADUMIA. - -Thereafter for the space of ten heart-beats silence hung like a kestrel -poised in the listening night. Then went a crash through earth and -heaven, and a blinding wildfire through the chamber as it had been -a thunderbolt. All Carcë quaked, and the chamber was filled with -a beating of wings, like the wings of some monstrous bird. The air -that was wintry cold waxed on a sudden hot as the breath of a burning -mountain, and Gro was near choking with the smell of soot and the smell -of brimstone. And the chamber rocked as a ship riding in a swell with -the wind against the tide. But the King, steadying himself against the -table and clutching the edge of it till the veins on his lean hand -seemed nigh to bursting, cried in short breaths and with an altered -voice, “By these figures drawn and by these spells enchanted, by the -unction of wolf and salamander, by the unblest sign of Cancer now -leaning to the sun, and by the fiery heart of Scorpio that flameth in -this hour on night’s meridian, thou art my thrall and instrument. Abase -thee and serve me, worm of the pit. Else will I by and by summon out of -ancient night intelligences and dominations mightier far than thou, and -they shall serve mine ends, and thee shall they chain with chains of -quenchless fire and drag thee from torment to torment through the deep.” - -Therewith the earthquake was stilled, and there remained but a -quivering of the walls and floor and the wind of those unseen wings and -the hot smell of soot and brimstone burning. And speech came out of the -teeming air of that chamber, strangely sweet, saying, “Accursed wretch -that troublest our quiet, what is thy will?” The terror of that speech -made the throat of Gro dry, and the hairs on his scalp stood up. - -The King trembled in all his members like a frightened horse, yet was -his voice level and his countenance unruffled as he said hoarsely, -“Mine enemies sail at day-break from the Foliot Isles. I loose thee -against them as a falcon from my wrist. I give thee them. Turn them to -thy will: how or where it skills not, so thou do but break and destroy -them off the face of the world. Away!” - -But now was the King’s endurance clean spent, so that his knees failed -him and he sank like a sick man into his mighty chair. But the room -was filled with a tumult as of rushing waters, and a laughter above -the tumult like to the laughter of souls condemned. And the King was -reminded that he had left unspoken that word which should dismiss his -sending. But to such weariness was he now come and so utterly was his -strength gone out from him in the exercise of his spells, that his -tongue clave to the roof of his mouth, so that he might not speak the -word; and horribly he rolled up the whites of his eyes beckoning to -Gro, the while his nerveless fingers sought to turn the heavy pages -of the grammarie. Then sprang Gro forth to the table, and against it -sprawling, for now was the great keep of Carcë shaken anew as one -shaketh a dice box, and lightnings opened the heavens, and the thunder -roared unceasingly, and the sound of waters stunned the ear in that -chamber, and still that laughter pealed above the turmoil. And Gro knew -that it was now with the King even as it had been with Gorice VII. in -years gone by, when his strength gave forth and the spirit tare him and -plastered those chamber-walls with his blood. Yet was Gro mindful, even -in that hideous storm of terror, of the ninety-seventh page whereon -the King had shown him the word of dismissal, and he wrenched the book -from the King’s palsied grasp and turned to the page. Scarce had his -eye found the word, when a whirlwind of hail and sleet swept into the -chamber, and the candles were blown out and the tables overset. And in -the plunging darkness beneath the crashing of the thunder Gro pitching -headlong felt claws clasp his head and body. He cried in his agony the -word, that was the word TRIPSARECOPSEM, and so fell a-swooning. - - • • • • • - -It was high noon when the Lord Gro came to his senses in that chamber. -The strong spring sunshine poured through the southern window, lighting -up the wreckage of the night. The tables were cast down and the -floor strewn and splashed with costly essences and earths spilt from -shattered phials and jars and caskets: aphroselmia, shell of gold, -saffron of gold, asem, amianth, stypteria of Melos, confounded with -mandragora, vinum ardens, sal armoniack, devouring aqua regia, little -pools and scattered globules of quicksilver, poisonous decoctions -of toadstools and of yewberries, monkshood, thornapple, wolf’s bane -and black hellebore, quintessences of dragon’s blood and serpent’s -bile; and with these, splashed together and wasted, elixirs that -wise men have died a-dreaming of: spiritus mundi, and that sovereign -alkahest which dissolveth every substance dipped therein, and that -aurum potabile which being itself perfect induceth perfection in the -living frame. And in this welter of spoiled treasure were the great -conjuring books hurled amid the ruin of retorts and aludels of glass -and lead and silver, sand-baths, matrasses, spatulae, athanors, and -other instruments innumerable of rare design, tossed and broken on -the chamber floor. The King’s chair was thrown against the furnace, -and huddled against the table lay the King, his head thrown back, his -black beard pointing skyward, showing his sinewy hairy throat. Gro -looked narrowly at him; saw that he seemed unhurt and slept deep; and -so, knowing well that sleep is a present remedy for every ill, watched -by the King in silence all day till supper time, for all he was sore -an-hungered. - -When at length the King awoke, he looked about him in amaze. “Methought -I tripped at the last step of last night’s journey,” he said. “And -truly strange riot hath left its footprints in my chamber.” - -Gro answered, “Lord, sorely was I tried; yet fulfilled I your behest.” - -The King laughed as one whose soul is at ease, and standing upon his -feet said unto Gro, “Take up the crown of Witchland and crown me. And -that high honour shalt thou have, because I do love thee for this night -gone by.” - -Now without were the lords of Witchland assembled in the courtyard, -being bound for the great banqueting hall to eat and drink, unto -whom the King came forth from the gate below the keep, robed in his -conjuring robe. Wondrous bright sparkled the gems of the iron crown -of Witchland above the heavy brow and cheek-bones and the fierce -disdainful lip of the King, as he stood there in his majesty, and Gro -with the guard of honour stood in the shadow of the gate. And the King -said, “My lords Corund and Corsus and Corinius and Gallandus, and ye -sons of Corsus and of Corund, and ye other Witches, behold your King, -the twelfth Gorice, crowned with this crown in Carcë to be King of -Witchland and of Demonland. And all countries of the world and the -rulers thereof, so many as the sun doth spread his beams over, shall do -me obeisance, and call me King and Lord.” - -All they shouted assent, praising the King and bowing down before him. - -Then said the King, “Imagine not that oaths sworn unto the Demons by -Gorice XI. of memory ever glorious bind me any whit. I will not be at -peace with this Juss and his brethren, but do account them all mine -enemies. And this night have I made a sending to take them on the waste -of waters as they sail homeward to many-mountained Demonland.” - -Corund said, “Lord, your words are as wine unto us. And well we guessed -that the principalities of darkness were afoot last night, seeing all -Carcë rocked and the foundations thereof rose and fell as the breast of -the large earth a-breathing.” - -When they were come into the banqueting hall, the King said, “Gro -shall sit at my right hand this night, since manfully hath he served -me.” And when they scowled at this, and spake each in the other’s ear, -the King said, “Whoso among you shall so serve me and so water the -growth of this Witchland as hath Gro in this night gone by, unto him -will I do like honour.” But unto Gro he said, “I will bring thee home -to Goblinland in triumph, that wentest forth an exile. I will pluck -Gaslark from his throne, and make thee king in Zajë Zaculo, and all -Goblinland shalt thou hold for me in fee, exercising dominion over it.” - - - - - V: KING GORICE’S SENDING - - OF KING GASLARK, AND OF THE COMING OF THE SENDING UPON THE DEMONS - ON THE HIGH SEAS; WITH HOW THE LORD JUSS BY THE EGGING ON OF - HIS COMPANIONS WAS PERSUADED TO AN UNADVISED RASHNESS. - - -The next morning following that night when King Gorice XII. sat crowned -in Carcë as is aforesaid, was Gaslark a-sailing on the middle sea, -homeward from the east. Seven ships of war he had, and they steered -in column south-westward close hauled on the starboard tack. Greatest -and fairest among them was she who led the line, a great dragon of war -painted azure of the summer sea with towering head of a worm, plated -with gold and wrought with overlapping scales, gaping defiance from her -bows, and a worm’s tail erect at the poop. Seventy and five picked men -of Goblinland sailed on that ship, clad in gay kirtles and byrnies of -mail and armed with axes, spears, and swords. Their shields, each with -his device, hung at the bulwarks. On the high poop sat King Gaslark, -his sturdy hands grasping the great steering paddle. Goodly of mien and -well knit were all they of Goblinland that went on that great ship, -yet did Gaslark outdo them all in goodliness and strength and all -kingliness. He wore a silken kirtle of Tyrian purple. Broad wristlets -of woven gold were on his wrists. Dark-skinned was he as one that hath -lived all his days in the hot sunshine: clean-cut of feature, somewhat -hooky-nosed, with great eyes and white teeth and tight-curled black -moustachios. Nought restful was there in his presence and bearing, but -rashness and impetuous fire; and he was wild to look on, swift and -beautiful as a stag in autumn. - -Teshmar, that was the skipper of his ship, stood at his elbow. Gaslark -said to him, “Is it not one of the three gallant spectacles of the -world, a good ship treading the hastening furrows of the sea like a -queen in grace and beauty, scattering up the wave-crests before her -stem in a glittering rain?” - -“Yea, Lord,” answered he; “and what be the other two?” - -“One that I most unhappily did miss, whereof but yesterday we had -tidings: to behold such a battling of great champions and such a -victory as Lord Goldry obtained upon yonder vaunting tyrant.” - -“The third shall be seen, I think,” said Teshmar, “when the Lord Goldry -Bluszco shall in your royal palace of Zajë Zaculo, amid pomp and high -rejoicing, wed the young princess your cousin: most fortunate lord, -that must be lord of her whom all just censure doth acknowledge the -ornament of earth, the model of heaven, the queen of beauty.” - -“Kind Gods hasten the day,” said Gaslark. “For truly ’tis a most sweet -lass, and those kinsmen of Demonland my dearest friends. But for whose -great upholding time and again, Teshmar, in days gone by, where were -I to-day and my kingdom, and where thou and all of you?” The king’s -brow darkened a little with thought. After a time he began to say, “I -must have more great action: these trivial harryings, spoils of Nevria, -chasing of Esamocian black-a-moors, be toys not worthy of our great -name and renown among the nations. Something I would enact that shall -embroil and astonish the world, even as the Demons when they purged -earth of the Ghouls, ere I go down into silence.” - -Teshmar was staring toward the southern bourne. He pointed with his -hand: “There rideth a great ship, O king. And methinks she hath a -strange look.” - -Gaslark gazed earnestly at her for an instant, then straightway shifted -his helm and steered towards her. He spake no more, staring ever as he -sailed, marking ever as the distance lessened more and more particulars -of that ship. Her silken sail fluttered in tatters from the yard; she -rowed feebly, as one groping in darkness, with barely strength to stay -her from drifting stern-foremost before the wind. So hung she on the -sea, as one struck stupid by some blow, doubting which way her harbour -lay or which way her course. As a thing which hath been held in the -flame of a monstrous candle, so seemed she, singed and besmirched with -soot. Smashed was her proud figure-head, and smashed was her high -forecastle, and burned and shattered the carved timbers of the poop and -the fair seats that were thereon. She leaked, so that a score of her -crew must be still a-baling to keep her afloat. Of her fifty oars, half -were broken or gone adrift, and many of the ship’s company lay wounded -and some slain under her thwarts. - -And now was King Gaslark ware as he drew near that here was the Lord -Juss on her ruined poop a-steering, and by him Spitfire and Brandoch -Daha. Their jewelled arms and gear and rich attire were black with most -stinking soot, and it was as though admiration and grief and anger were -so locked and twined within them that none of these passions might win -forth to outward showing on their frozen countenances. - -When they were within hailing distance, Gaslark hailed them. They -answered him not, only beholding him with alien eyes. But they stopped -the ship, and Gaslark lay aboard of her and came on board and went up -on the poop and greeted them. And he said, “Well met in an ill hour. -What’s the matter?” - -The Lord Juss made as if to speak, but no word came. Only he took -Gaslark by both hands and sat down with a great groan on the poop, -averting his face. Gaslark said, “O Juss, for so many a time as thou -hast borne part in my evils and succoured me, surely right requireth I -have part of thine?” - -But Juss answered in a thick, strange voice all unlike himself, “Mine, -sayest thou, O Gaslark? What in the stablished world is mine, that -am thus in a moment reived of him that was mine own heartstring, my -brother, the might of mine arm, the chiefest citadel of my dominion?” -And he burst into a great passion of weeping. - -King Gaslark’s rings were driven into the flesh of his fingers by the -grip of Juss’s strong hands on his. But he scarce wist of the pain, -such agony of mind was in him for the loss of his friend, and for the -bitterness and wonder that it was to behold these three great lords of -Demonland weep like frightened women, and all their ship’s company of -tried men of war weeping and wailing besides. And Gaslark saw well that -their lordly souls were unseated for a season because of some dreadful -fact, the havoc whereof his eyes most woefully beheld, while its -particulars were yet dark to him, yet with a terror in darkness that -might well make his heart to quail. - -By much questioning he was at last well advertised of what had -befallen: how they the day before, in broad noon, on such a summer sea, -had heard a noise like the flapping of wings outstretched from one -edge of the sky to another, and in a moment the calm sea was lifted -up and fell again and the whole sea clashed together and roared, yet -was the ship not sunken. And there was a tumult about them of thunder -and raging waters and black night and wildfire in the night; which -presently passing away and the darkness lifting, the sea lay solitary -as far as eye might reach. “And nothing is more certain,” said Juss, -“than that this is a sending of King Gorice XII. spoken of by the -prophets as a great clerk of necromancy beyond all other this world -hath seen. And this is his vengeance for the woes we wrought for -Witchland in the Foliot Isles. Against such a peril I had provided -certain amulets made of the stone alectorian, which groweth in the -gizzard of a cock hatched on a moonless night when Saturn burneth in a -human sign and the lord of the third house is in the ascendant. These -saved us, albeit sorely buffeted, from destruction: all save Goldry -alone. He, by some cursed chance, whether he neglected to wear the -charm I gave him, or the chain of it was broken in the plunging of the -ship, or by some other means ’twas lost: when daylight came again, we -stood but three on this poop where four had stood. More I know not.” - -“O Gaslark,” said Spitfire, “our brother that is stolen from us, with -us it surely lieth to find him and set him free.” - -But Juss groaned and said, “In which star of the unclimbed sky wilt -thou begin our search? Or in which of the secret streams of ocean where -the last green rays are quenched in oozy darkness?” - -Gaslark was silent for a while. Then he said, “I think nought likelier -than this, that Gorice hath caught away Goldry Bluszco into Carcë, -where he holdeth him in duress. And thither must we straightway to -deliver him.” - -Juss answered no word. But Gaslark seized his hand, saying, “Our -ancient love and your oft succouring of Goblinland in days gone by make -this my quarrel. Hear now my rede. As I fared from the east through -the Straits of Rinath I beheld a mighty company of forty sail, bound -eastward to the Beshtrian sea. Well it was they marked us not as we lay -under the isles of Ellien in the dusk of evening. For touching later at -Norvasp in Pixyland we learned that there sailed Laxus with the whole -Witchland fleet, being minded to work evil deeds among the peaceful -cities of the Beshtrian seaboard. And as well met were an antelope -with a devouring lion, as I and my seven ships with those ill-doers in -such strength on the high seas. But now, behold how wide standeth the -door to our wishes. Laxus and that great armament are safe harrying -eastward-ho. I make question whether at this moment more than nine -score or ten score fighting men be left in Carcë. I have here of mine -own nigh on five hundred. Never was fairer chance to take Witchland -with his claws beneath the table, and royally may we scratch his face -ere he get them forth again.” And Gaslark laughed for joy of battle, -and cried, “O Juss, smiles it not to thee, this rede of mine?” - -“Gaslark,” said Lord Juss, “nobly and with that open hand and heart -that I have loved in thee from of old hast thou made this offer. Yet -not so is Witchland to be overcome, but after long days of labour only, -and laying of schemes and building of ships and gathering of hosts -answerable to the strength we bare of late against the Ghouls when we -destroyed them.” - -Nor for all his urging might Gaslark move him any whit. - -But Spitfire sat by his brother and spake privately to him: “Kinsman, -what ails thee? Is all high heart and swiftness to action crushed out -of Demonland, and doth but the unserviceable juiceless skin remain to -us? Thou art clean unlike that thou hast ever been, and could Witchland -behold us now well might he judge that base fear had ta’en hold upon -us, seeing that with the odds of strength so fortunately of our side we -shrink from striking at him.” - -Juss said in Spitfire’s ear, “This it is, that I do misdoubt me of the -steadfastness of the Goblins. Too like to fire among dead leaves is the -sudden flame of their valour, a poor thing to rely on if once they be -checked. So do I count it folly trusting in them for our main strength -to go up against Carcë. Also it is but a wild fancy that Goldry hath -been transported into Carcë.” - -But Spitfire leaped up a-cursing, and cried out, “O Gaslark, thou wert -best fare home to Goblinland. But we will sail openly to Carcë and -crave audience of the great King, entreating him suffer us to kiss his -toe, and acknowledging him to be our King and us his ill-conditioned, -disobedient children. So may he haply restore unto us our brother, when -he hath chastised us, and haply of his mercy send us home to Demonland, -there to fawn upon Corsus or vile Corinius, or whomsoever he shall -set up in Galing for his Viceroy. For with Goldry hath all manliness -departed out of Demonland, and we be milksops that remain, and objects -of scorn and spitting.” - -Now while Spitfire spake thus in wrath and sorrow of heart, the Lord -Brandoch Daha fared fore and aft on the gangway about and about, as a -caged panther fareth when feeding time is long overdue. And at whiles -he clapped hand to the hilt of his long and glittering sword and -rattled it in the scabbard. At length, standing over against Gaslark, -and eyeing him with a mocking glance, “O Gaslark,” he said, “this -that hath befallen breedeth in me a cruel perturbation which carries -my spirits outwards, stirring up a tempest in my mind and preparing -my body to melancholy, and madness itself. The cure of this is only -fighting. Wherefore if thou love me, Gaslark, out with thy sword and -ward thyself. Fight I must, or this passion will kill me quite out. -’Tis pity to draw upon my friend, but sith we be banned from fighting -with our enemies, what choice remaineth?” - -Gaslark laughed and seized him playfully by the arms, saying, “I will -not fight with thee, how prettily soe’er thou ask it, Brandoch Daha, -that savedst Goblinland from the Witches”; but straight grew grave -again and said to Juss, “O Juss, be ruled. Thou seest what temper thy -friends are in. All we be as hounds tugging against the leash to be -loosed against Carcë in this happy hour, that likely cometh not again.” - -Now when Lord Juss perceived them all against him, and hot-mouthed -for that attempt, he smiled scornfully and said, “O my brother and my -friends, what echoes and quail-pipes are you become who seem to catch -wisdom by imitating her voice? But ye be mad like March hares, every -man of you, and myself too. Break ice in one place, ’twill crack in -more. And truly I care not greatly for my life now that Goldry is -gone from me. Cast we lots, then, which of us three shall fare home -to Demonland with this our ship, that is but a lame duck since this -sending. And he on whom the lot shall fall must fare home to concert -the raising of a mighty fleet and armament to carry on our war against -the Witches.” - -So spake Lord Juss, and all they who had but a short hour ago -felt themselves in such point that there was in them no hope of -convalescence nor of life, had now their spirits raised in a seeming -drunkenness, and thought only on the gladness of battle. - -The lords of Demonland marked each his lot and cast it in the helm of -Gaslark, and Gaslark shook the helm, and there leapt forth the lot of -the Lord Spitfire. Right wrathful was he. So the lords of Demonland did -off their armour and their costly apparel that was black with soot, and -let cleanse it. Sixty of their fighting men that were unscathed by the -sending went aboard one of Gaslark’s ships, and the crew of that ship -manned the ship of Demonland, and Spitfire took the steering paddle, -and the Demons that were hurt lay in the hold of the hollow ship. They -brought forth a spare sail and hoisted it in place of that that was -destroyed; so in sore discontent, yet with a cheerful countenance, the -Lord Spitfire set sail for the west. And Gaslark the king sat by the -steering paddle of his fair dragon of war, and by him the Lord Juss and -the Lord Brandoch Daha, who was like a war-horse impatient for battle. -Her prow swung north and so round eastaway, and her sail broidered -with flower-de-luces smote the mast and filled to the north-west wind, -and those other six fared after her in line ahead with white sails -unfurled, striding majestic over the full broad billows. - - - - - VI: THE CLAWS OF WITCHLAND - - OF KING GASLARK’S LEADING IN THE ATTEMPT ON CARCË IN THE DARK, AND - HOW HE PROSPERED THEREIN, AND OF THE GREAT STAND OF LORD JUSS - AND LORD BRANDOCH DAHA. - - -On the evening of the third day, whenas they drew near to within -sight of the Witchland coast, they brailed up their sails and waited -for the night, that so they might make the landfall after dark; for -little to their mind it was that the King should have news of their -farings. This was their plan, to beach their ships on the lonely shore -some two leagues north of Tenemos, whence it was but two hours’ march -across the fen to Carcë. So when the sun set and all the ways were -darkened they muffled their oars and rowed silently to the low shore -that showed strangely near in the darkness, yet ever seemed to flee and -keep its distance as they rowed toward it. Coming at length ashore, -they drew their ships up on the beach. Some fifty men of the Goblins -they left to guard the ships, while the rest took their weapons. And -when they were marshalled they marched inland over the sand-dunes and -so on to the open fen; and seeing that the most of them by far were of -Goblinland, it was agreed between those three, Juss, Brandoch Daha, and -Gaslark, that Gaslark should have command of this emprise. So fared -they silently across the marshes, that were firm enough for marching so -it were done circumspectly, rounding the worst moss-hags and the small -lochs that were scattered here and there. For the weather had been fine -for a season, and little new water stood on the marsh. But as they drew -near to Carcë the weather worsened and fine rain began to fall. And -albeit there was little comfort marching through the drizzling murk of -night towards that fortress of evil name, yet was Lord Juss glad at the -rain, since it favoured surprise, and on surprise hung all their hopes. - -About the middle night they halted within four hundred paces of the -outer walls of Carcë, that loomed ghostly through the watery curtain, -silent as it had been a tomb where Witchland lay in death, rather than -the mailed shell wherein so great a power sat waiting. The sight of -that vast bulk couched shadowy in the rain lighted the fire of battle -in the breast of Gaslark, nor would aught please him save that they -should go forthwith up to the walls with all their force, and so march -round them seeking where they might break suddenly in and seize the -place. Nor would he listen to the counsel of Lord Juss, who would send -forth detachments to select a spot for assault and bring back word -before the whole force advanced. “Be sure,” said Gaslark, “that they -within are all foxed and cupshotten the third night with swilling of -wine, in honour of such triumph as he hath gotten by his sending, and -but a sorry watch is kept on such a night. For who, say they, shall -come up against Carcë now that the power of Demonland is stricken in -pieces? The scorned Goblins, ha? A motion for laughter and derision. -But thine advance guard might give them warning or ever our main force -could seize the occasion. Nay, but as the Ghouls in an evil day coming -suddenly upon me in Zajë Zaculo gat my palace taken ere we were well -ware of their coming, so must we take this hold of Carcë. And if thou -fearest a sally, right hotly do I desire it. For if they open the gate -we are enough to force an entry in despite of any numbers they are like -to have within.” - -Now Juss thought ill of this counsel, yet, for a strange languor that -still hung about his wits, he would not gainsay Gaslark. So crept they -in stealth near to the great walls of Carcë. Softly ever fell the rain, -and breathless stood the cypresses within the outer ward, and blank and -dumb and untenanted frowned the black marble walls of that sleeping -castle. And dour midnight waited over all. - -Now Gaslark issued command, bidding them march warily round the walls -northward, for no way was betwixt the lofty walls and the river on the -south and east, but to the north-east was he hopeful to find a likely -place to win into the hold. In such order went they that Gaslark with -an hundred of his ablest men led the van, and after him came the -Demons. The main strength of the Goblins followed after, with Teshmar -for their captain. Warily they marched, and now were they on the rising -ground that ran back north and west from the bluff of Carcë to the fen. -Full eager were they of Goblinland and flown with the intoxication of -impending battle, and they of the vanguard fared apace, outstripping -the Demons, so that Juss was fain to hasten after them lest they should -lose touch and fall to confusion. But Teshmar’s men feared greatly to -be left behind, nor might he hold them back, but they must run betwixt -the Demons and the walls, meaning to join with Gaslark. Juss swore -under his breath, saying, “See the unruly rabble of Goblinland. And -they will yet be our undoing.” - -In such case stood they, nor were Teshmar’s folk more than twenty paces -from the walls, when, sudden as night-lightning, flares were kindled -along the walls, dazzling the Goblins and the Demons and brightly -lighting them for those that manned the walls, who fell a-shooting -at them with spears and arrows and a-slinging of stones. In the same -moment opened a postern gate, whence sallied forth the Lord Corinius -with an hundred and fifty stout lads of Witchland, shouting, “He that -would sup of the crab of Witchland must deal with the nippers ere he -essay the shell”; and charging Gaslark’s army in the flank he cut them -clean in two. As one wood fared forth Corinius, smiting on either -hand with a two-edged axe with heft lapped with bronze; and greatly -though the folk of Gaslark outnumbered him, yet were they so taken at -unawares and confounded by the sudden onslaught of Corinius that they -might not abide him but everywhere gave ground before his onslaught. -And many were wounded and some were slain; and with these Teshmar of -Goblinland, the master of Gaslark’s ship. For smiting at Corinius and -missing of his aim he louted forward with the blow, and Corinius hewed -at him with his axe and the blow came on Teshmar’s neck and so hewed -off his head. Now Gaslark with the best of his fighting men was come -some way past the postern, but whenas they fell to fighting he turned -back straightway to meet Corinius, calling loudly on his men to rally -against the Witches and drive them back within the walls. So when -Gaslark was gotten through the press to within reach of Corinius, he -thrust at Corinius with a spear, wounding him in the arm. But Corinius -smote the spear-shaft asunder with his axe, and leapt upon Gaslark, -giving him a great wound on the shoulder. And Gaslark took to his -sword, and many blows they bandied that made either stagger, till -Corinius struck Gaslark on the helm a great down-stroke of his axe, -as one driveth a pile with a wooden mallet. And because of the good -helm he wore, given by Lord Juss in days gone by as a gift of love and -friendship, was Gaslark saved and his head not cloven asunder; for on -that helm Corinius’s axe might not bite. Yet with that great stroke -were Gaslark’s senses driven forth of him for a season, so that he fell -senseless to the earth. And with his fall came dismay upon them of -Goblinland. - -All this befell in the first brunt of the battle, nor were the lords -of Demonland yet fully joined in the mellay, for the great press of -Gaslark’s men were between them and the Witches; but now Juss and -Brandoch Daha went forth mightily with their following, and took up -Gaslark that lay like one dead, and Juss bade a company of the Goblins -bear him to the ships, and there was he bestowed safe and sound. But -the Witches shouted loudly that King Gaslark was slain; and at this -chosen time Corund, that was come privily forth of a hidden door on the -western side of Carcë with fifty men, took the Goblins mightily in the -rear. So they, still falling back before Corinius and Corund, and their -hearts sick at the supposed slaying of Gaslark, waxed full of doubt and -dejection; for in the watery darkness they might nowise perceive by -how much they outwent in numbers the men of Witchland. And panic took -them, so that they broke and fled before the Witches, that came after -them resolute, as a stoat holdeth by a rabbit, and slew them by scores -and by fifties as they fled from Carcë. Scarce three score men of that -brave company of Goblinland that went up with Gaslark against Carcë -won away into the marshes and came to their ships, escaping pitiless -destruction. - -But Corund and Corinius and their main force turned without more ado -against the Demons, and bitter was the battle that befell betwixt them, -and great the clatter of their blows. And now were the odds clean -changed about with the putting of the Goblins out of the battle, since -but few of Witchland were fallen, and they were as four to one against -the Demons, hemming them in and having at them from every side. And -some shot at them from the wall, until a chance shot came that was like -to have stove in Corund’s helm, who straightway sent word that when -the rout was ended he would make lark-pies of the cow-headed doddipole -whosoever he might be that had set them thus a-shooting, spoiling sport -for their comrades and dangering their lives. Therewith ceased the -shooting from the wall. - -And now grim and woundsome grew the battle, for the Demons mightily -withstood the onset of the Witches, and the Lord Brandoch Daha rushed -with an onslaught ever and anon upon Corund or upon Corinius, nor might -either of those great captains bear up long against him, but every -time gave back before Lord Brandoch Daha; and bitterly cursed they one -another as each in turn was fain to save himself amid the press of -their fighting men. Nor could one hope in one night’s space to behold -such deeds of derring-do as were done that night by Lord Brandoch Daha, -that played his sword lightly as one handleth a willow wand; yet death -sat on the point thereof. In such wise that eleven stout sworders of -Witchland were slain by him, and fifteen besides were sorely wounded. -And at the last, Corinius, stung by Corund’s taunts as by a gadfly, -and well nigh bursting for grief and shame at his ill speeding, leapt -upon Lord Brandoch Daha as one reft of his wits, aiming at him a great -two-handed blow that was apt enough to cleave him to the brisket. But -Brandoch Daha slipped from the blow lightly as a kingfisher flying -above an alder-shadowed stream avoideth a branch in his flight, and -ran Corinius through the right wrist with his sword. And straight was -Corinius put out of the fight. Nor had they greater satisfaction that -went against Lord Juss, who mowed at them with great swashing blows, -beheading some and hewing some asunder in the midst, till they were -fain to keep clear of his reaping. So fought the Demons in the glare -and watery mist, greatly against great odds, until all were smitten to -earth save those two lords alone, Juss and Brandoch Daha. - -Now stood King Gorice on the outer battlements of Carcë, all armed in -his black armour inlaid with gold; and he beheld those twain how they -fought back to back, and how the Witches beset them on every side yet -nowise might prevail against them. And the King said unto Gro that was -by him on the wall, “Mine eyes dazzle in the mist and torchlight. What -be these that maintain so bloody an advantage upon my kemperie-men?” - -Gro answered him, “Surely, O King, these be none other than Lord Juss -and Lord Brandoch Daha of Krothering.” - -The King said, “So by degrees cometh my sending home to me. For by my -art I have intelligence, albeit not certainly, that Goldry was taken -by my sending; so have I my desire on him I hold most in hate. And -these, saved by their enchantments from like ruin, have been driven mad -to rush into the open mouth of my vengeance.” And when he had gazed -awhile, the King sneered and said unto Gro, “A sweet sight, to behold -an hundred of my ablest men flinch and duck before these twain. Till -now methought there was a sword in Witchland, and methought Corinius -and Corund not simple braggarts without power or heart, as here -appeareth, since like boys well birched they do cringe from the shining -swords of Juss and the vile upstart from Krothering.” - -But Corinius, who stood no longer in the battle but by the King, full -of spleen and his wrist all bloody, cried out, “You do us wrong, O -King. Juster it were to praise my great deed in ambushing this mighty -company of our enemies and putting them all to the slaughter. And if -I prevailed not against this Brandoch Daha your majesty needs not to -marvel, since a greater than I, Gorice X. of memory ever glorious, -was lightly conquered by him. Wherein methinks I am the luckier, to -have but a gored wrist and not my death. As for these twain, they be -stick-frees, on whom no point or edge may bite. And nought were more to -be looked for, since we deal with such a sorcerer as this Juss.” - -“Rather,” said the King, “are ye all grown milksops. But I have no -further stomach for this interlude, but straight will end it.” - -Therewith the King called to him the old Duke Corsus, bidding him take -nets and catch the Demons therein. And Corsus, faring forth with nets, -by sheer weight of numbers and with the death of near a score of the -Witches at length gat this performed, and Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch -Daha well tangled in the nets, and lapped about as silkworms in their -cocoons, and so drawn into Carcë. Soundly were they bumped along the -ground, and glad enow were the Witches to have gotten those great -fighters scotched at last. For utterly spent were Corund and his men, -and fain to drop for very weariness. - -So when they were gotten into Carcë, the King let search with torches -and bring in them of Witchland that lay hurt before the walls; and any -Demons or Goblins that were happed upon in like case he let slay with -the sword. And the Lord Juss and the Lord Brandoch Daha, still lapped -tightly in their nets, he let fling into a corner of the inner court of -the palace like two bales of damaged goods, and set a guard upon them -until morning. - -As the lords of Witchland were upon going to bed they beheld westward -by the sea a red glow, and tongues of fire burning in the night. -Corinius said unto Lord Gro, “Lo where thy Goblins burn their ships, -lest we pursue them as they flee shamefully homeward in the ship they -keep from the burning. One ship sufficeth, for most of them be dead.” - -And Corinius betook him sleepily to bed, pausing on the way to kick at -the Lord Brandoch Daha, that lay safely swathed in his net powerless as -then to do him harm. - - - - - VII: GUESTS OF THE KING IN CARCË - - OF THE TWO BANQUET HALLS THAT WERE IN CARCË, THE OLD AND THE NEW, - AND OF THE ENTERTAINMENT GIVEN BY KING GORICE XII. IN THE ONE - HALL TO LORD JUSS AND LORD BRANDOCH DAHA AND IN THE OTHER - TO THE PRINCE LA FIREEZ; AND OF THEIR LEAVE-TAKING WHEN THE - BANQUET WAS DONE. - - -The morrow of that battle dawned fair on Carcë. Folk lay long abed -after their toil, and until the sun was high nought stirred before the -walls. But toward noon came forth a band sent by King Gorice to bring -in the spoil; and they took up the bodies of the slain and laid them -in howe on the right bank of the river Druima half a mile below Carcë, -Witches, Demons, and Goblins in one grave together, and raised up a -great howe over them. - -Now was the sun’s heat strong, but the shadow of the great keep -rested still on the terrace without the western wall of the palace. -Cool and redolent of ease and soft repose was that terrace, paved -with flagstones of red jasper, with spleenwort, assafoetida, livid -toadstools, dragons’ teeth, and bitter moon-seed growing in the joints. -On the outer edge of the terrace were bushes of arbor vitae planted in -a row, squat and round like sleeping dormice, with clumps of choke-pard -aconite in the interspaces. Many hundred feet in length was the terrace -from north to south, and at either end a flight of black marble steps -led down to the level of the inner ward and its embattled wall. - -Benches of green jasper massily built and laden with velvet cushions -of many colours stood against the palace wall facing to the west, and -on the bench nearest the Iron Tower a lady sat at ease, eating cream -wafers and a quince tart served by her waiting-women in dishes of pale -gold for her morning meal. Tall was that lady and slender, and beauty -dwelt in her as the sunshine dwells in the red floor and gray-green -trunks of a beech wood in early spring. Her tawny hair was gathered -in deep folds upon her head and made fast by great silver pins, their -heads set with anachite diamonds. Her gown was of cloth of silver with -a knotted cord-work of black silk embroidery everywhere decked with -little moonstones, and over it she wore a mantle of figured satin the -colour of the wood-pigeon’s wing, tinselled and overcast with silver -threads. White-skinned she was, and graceful as an antelope. Her eyes -were green, with yellow fiery gleams. Daintily she ate the tart and -wafers, sipping at whiles from a cup of amber, artificially carved, -white wine cool from the cellars below Carcë; and a maiden sitting at -her feet played on a seven-stringed lute, singing very sweetly this -song: - - Aske me no more where Jove bestowes, - When June is past, the fading rose; - For in your beautie’s orient deepe, - These flowers, as in their causes, sleepe. - - Aske me no more whether doth stray - The golden atomes of the day; - For in pure love heaven did prepare - Those powders to inrich your haire. - - Aske me no more whether doth hast - The nightingale when May is past; - For in your sweet dividing throat - She winters and keepes warme her note. - - Aske me no more where those starres light, - That downewards fall in dead of night; - For in your eyes they sit, and there - Fixed become as in their sphere. - - Aske me no more if east or west - The Phenix builds her spicy nest; - For unto you at last shee flies, - And in your fragrant bosome dyes. - -“No more,” said the lady; “thy voice is cracked this morning. Is none -abroad yet thou canst find to tell me of last night’s doings? Or are -all gone my lord’s gate, that I left sleeping still as though all the -poppies of all earth’s gardens breathed drowsiness about his head?” - -“One cometh, madam,” said the damosel. - -The lady said, “The Lord Gro. He may resolve me. Though were he in the -stour last night, that were a wonder indeed.” - -Therewith came Gro along the terrace from the north, clad in a mantle -of dun-coloured velvet with a collar of raised work of gold upon silver -purl; and his long black curly beard was perfumed with orange-flower -water and angelica. When they had greeted one another and the lady had -bidden her women stand apart, she said, “My lord, I thirst for tidings. -Recount to me all that befell since sundown. For I slept soundly till -the streaks of morning showed through my chamber windows, and then -I awoke from a flying dream of sennets sounding to the onset, and -torches in the night, and war’s alarums. And there were torches indeed -in my chamber lighting my lord to bed, that answered me no word but -straightway fell asleep as in utter weariness. Some slight scratches he -hath, but else unhurt. I would not wake him, for balm is in slumber; -also is he ill to do with if one wake him so. But the tattle and wild -surmise of the servants bloweth as ever to all points of wonder: as -that a great armament of Demonland is disembarked at Tenemos, and -all routed last night by my lord and by Corinius, and Goldry Bluszco -slain in single combat with the King. Or that Juss hath set a charm -on Laxus and all our fleet, making them sail like parricides against -this land, Juss and the other Demons leading them; and all slain save -Laxus and Goldry Bluszco, but these brought bound into Carcë, stark -mad and frothing at the lips, and Corinius dead of his wounds after -slaying of Brandoch Daha. Or, foolishly,” and her green eyes lightened -dangerously, “that it was my brother risen in revolt to wrest Pixyland -from the overlordship of Gorice, and joined with Gaslark to that end, -and their army overthrown and both ta’en prisoner.” - -Gro laughed and said, “Surely, O my Lady Prezmyra, truth masketh in -many a strange disguise when she rideth rumour’s broomstick through -kings’ palaces. But somewhat of herself hath she shown thee, if thou -conclude that an event was brought to birth betwixt dark and sunrise to -stagger the world, and that the power of Witchland bloomed forth this -night into unbeholden glory.” - -“Thou speakest big, my lord,” said the lady. “Were the Demons in it?” - -“Ay, madam,” he said. - -“And triumphed on? and slain?” - -“All slain save Juss and Brandoch Daha, and they taken,” said Gro. - -“Was this my lord’s doing?” she asked. - -“Greatly, as I think,” said Gro; “though Corinius claimeth for himself, -as commonly, the main honour of it.” - -Prezmyra said, “He claimeth overmuch.” And she said, “There were none -in it save Demons?” - -Gro, knowing her thought, smiled and made answer, “Madam, there were -Witches.” - -“My Lord Gro,” she cried, “thou dost ill to mock me. Thou art my -friend. Thou knowest the Prince my brother proud and sudden to anger. -Thou knowest it chafeth him to have Witchland over him. Thou knowest -the time is many days overpast when he should bring his yearly tribute -to the King.” - -Gro’s great ox-eyes were soft as he looked upon the Lady Prezmyra, -saying, “Most assuredly am I thy friend, madam. Belike, if truth were -told, thou and thy lord are all the true friends I have in waterish -Witchland: you two, and the King: but who sleepeth safe in the favour -of kings? Ah, madam, none of Pixyland stood in the battle yesternight. -Therefore let thy soul be at ease. But my task it was, standing on the -battlements beside the King, to smile and smile while Corinius and our -fighting men made a bloody havoc of four or five hundred of mine own -kinsfolk.” - -Prezmyra caught her breath and was silent a moment. Then, “Gaslark?” - -“The main force was his, it appeareth,” answered Lord Gro. “Corinius -braggeth himself his banesman, and certain it is he felled him to -earth. But I am secretly advertised he was not among the dead taken up -this morning.” - -“My lord,” she said, “my desire for news drinks deep while thou art -fasting. Some, bring meat and wine for my Lord Gro.” And two damosels -ran and returned with sparkling golden wine in a beaker, and a dish of -lampreys with hippocras sauce. So Gro sat him down on the jasper bench -and, while he ate and drank, rehearsed to the Lady Prezmyra the doings -of the night. - -When he had ended she said, “How hath the King dealt with those twain, -Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha?” - -Gro answered, “He hath them clapped up in the old banqueting hall in -the Iron Tower.” And his brow darkened, and he said, “’Tis pity thy -lord lay thus long abed, and so came not to the council, where Corsus -and Corinius, backed by thy step-sons and the sons of Corsus, egged -on the King to use shamefully these lords of Demonland. True is that -distich which admonisheth us— - - Know when to speak, for many times it brings - Danger to give the best advice to Kings; - -and little for my health, and little gain withal, had it been had I -then openly withstood them. Corinius is ever watchful to fling Goblin -in my teeth. But Corund weigheth in their councils as his hand weigheth -in battle.” - -Now as Gro spake came the Lord Corund on the terrace, calling for still -wine to cool his throat withal. Prezmyra poured forth to him: “Thou -art blamed to me for keeping thy bed, my lord, that shouldst have been -devising with the King touching our enemies ta’en captive in this night -gone by.” - -Corund sat by his lady on the bench and drank. “If that be all, madam,” -said he, “then have I little to charge my conscience withal. For nought -lies readier than strike off their heads, and so bring all to a fit and -happy ending.” - -“Far otherwise,” said Gro, “hath the King determined. He let drag -before him Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha, and with many fleers -and jibes, ‘Welcome,’ he saith, ‘to Carcë. Your table shall not lack -store of delicates while ye are my guests; albeit ye come unbidden.’ -Therewith he let drag them to the old banquet hall. And he bade his -smiths drive great iron staples into the wall, whereon he let hang up -the Demons by their wrists, spread-eagled against the wall, making both -wrists and ankles fast to the staples with gyves of iron. And the King -let dight the table before their feet as for a banquet, that the sight -and the savour might torment them. And he called all us of his council -thither that we might praise his conceit and mock them anew.” - -Said Prezmyra, “A great king should rather be a dog that killeth clean, -than a cat that patteth and sporteth with his prey.” - -“True it is,” said Corund, “that they were safer slain.” He rose from -his seat. “’Twere not amiss,” he said, “that I had word with the King.” - -“Wherefore so?” asked Prezmyra. - -“He that sleepeth late,” said Corund, eyeing her humorously, “sometimes -hath news for her that riseth betimes to sit on the western terrace. -And this was I come to tell thee, that I but now beheld eastward from -our chamber window, riding toward Carcë out of Pixyland down the Way of -Kings——” - -“La Fireez?” she said. - -“Mine eyes be strong enow and clear enow,” said Corund, “but thou’dst -scarce require me swear to mine own brother at three miles’ distance. -And as for thine, I leave thee the swearing.” - -“Who should ride down the Way of Kings from Pixyland,” cried Prezmyra, -“but La Fireez?” - -“That, madam, let Echo answer thee,” said Corund. “And it sticketh in -my mind, that the Prince my brother-in-law is one that tieth to his -heartstrings the remembrance of past benefits. This too, that none did -him ever a greater benefit than Juss, that saved his life six winters -back in Impland the More. Wherefore, if La Fireez be to share our -revels this night, needful it is that the King command these gabblers -to keep silence touching our entertainment of these lords in the old -banquet hall, and in general touching the share of Demonland in this -fighting.” - -Prezmyra said, “Come, I’ll go with thee.” - -They found the King on the topmost battlements above the water-gate -with his lords about him, gazing eastaway toward the long low hills -beyond which lay Pixyland. But when Corund began to open his mind -to the King, the King said, “Thou growest old, O Corund, and like a -good-for-nothing chapman bringest not thy wares to market ere the -market be done. I have already ta’en order for this, and straitly -charged my people that nought befell last night save a faring of the -Goblins against Carcë, and their overthrow, and my chasing of them with -a great slaughter into the sea. Whoso by speech or sign shall reveal to -La Fireez that the Demons were in it, or that these enemies of mine are -thus entertained by me to their discomfort in the old banquet hall, he -shall lose nothing but his life.” - -Corund said, “It is well, O King.” - -The King said, “Captain general, what is our strength?” - -Corinius answered, “Seventy and three were slain, and the others for -the most part hurt: I among them, that am thus one-handed for the -while. I will not engage to find you, O King, fifty sound men in Carcë.” - -“My Lord Corund,” said the King, “thine eyes pierced ever a league -beyond the best among us, young or old. How many makest thou yon -company?” - -Corund leaned on the parapet and shaded his eyes with his hand that -was broad as a smoked haddock and covered on the back with yellow -hairs growing somewhat sparsely, as the hairs on the skin of a young -elephant. “He rideth with three score horse, O King. One or two more -I give you for good luck, but if a have a horseman fewer than sixty, -never love me more.” - -The King muttered an imprecation. “It is the curse of chance bringeth -him thus pat when I have my powers abroad and am left with too little -strength to awe him if he prove irksome. One of thy sons, O Corund, -shall take horse and ride south to Zorn and Permio and muster a few -score fighting men from the herdsmen and farmers with what speed he -may. It is commanded.” - - • • • • • - -Now was the afternoon wearing to evening when the Prince La Fireez -was come in with all his company, and greetings done, and the tribute -safe bestowed, and sleeping room appointed for him and his. And now -were all gathered together in the great banquet hall that was built by -Gorice XI., when he was first made King, in the south-east corner of -the palace; and it far exceeded in greatness and magnificence the old -hall where Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha were held in duress. Seven -equal walls it had, of dark green jasper, specked with bloody spots. -In the midst of one wall was the lofty doorway, and in the walls right -and left of this and in those that inclosed the angle opposite the door -were great windows placed high, giving light to the banquet hall. In -each of the seven angles of the wall a caryatide, cut in the likeness -of a three-headed giant from ponderous blocks of black serpentine, -bowed beneath the mass of a monstrous crab hewn out of the same stone. -The mighty claws of those seven crabs spreading upwards bare up the -dome of the roof, that was smooth and covered all over with paintings -of battles and hunting scenes and wrastling bouts in dark and smoky -colours answerable to the gloomy grandeur of that chamber. On the walls -beneath the windows gleamed weapons of war and of the chase, and on the -two blind walls were nailed up all orderly the skulls and dead bones -of those champions which had wrastled aforetime with King Gorice XI. -or ever he appointed in an evil hour to wrastle with Goldry Bluszco. -Across the innermost angle facing the door was a long table and a -carven bench behind it, and from the two ends of that table, set square -with it, two other tables yet longer and benches by them on the sides -next the wall stretched to within a short space of the door. Midmost of -the table to the right of the door was a high seat of old cypress wood, -great and fair, with cushions of black velvet broidered with gold, and -facing it at the opposite table another high seat, smaller, and the -cushions of it sewn with silver. In the space betwixt the tables five -iron braziers, massive and footed with claws like an eagle’s, stood in -a row, and behind the benches on either side were nine great stands for -flamboys to light the hall by night, and seven behind the cross bench, -set at equal distances and even with the walls. The floor was paved -with steatite, white and creamy, with veins of rich brown and black and -purple and splashes of scarlet. The tables resting on great trestles -were massy slabs of a dusky polished stone, powdered with sparks of -gold as small as atoms. - -The women sat on the cross-bench, and midmost of them the Lady -Prezmyra, who outwent the rest in beauty and queenliness as Venus the -lesser planets of the night. Zenambria, wife to Duke Corsus, sat on her -left, and on her right Sriva, daughter to Corsus, strangely fair for -such a father. On the upper bench, to the right of the door, the lords -of Witchland sat above and below the King’s high seat, clad in holiday -attire, and they of Pixyland had place over against them on the lower -bench. The high seat on the lower bench was set apart for La Fireez. -Great plates and dishes of gold and silver and painted porcelain were -set in order on the tables, laden with delicacies. Harps and bagpipes -struck up a barbaric music, and the guests rose to their feet, as the -shining doors swung open and Gorice the King followed by the Prince his -guest entered that hall. - -Like a black eagle surveying earth from some high mountain the King -passed by in his majesty. His byrny was of black chain mail, its -collar, sleeves, and skirt edged with plates of dull gold set with -hyacinths and black opals. His hose were black, cross-gartered with -bands of sealskin trimmed with diamonds. On his left thumb was his -great signet ring fashioned in gold in the semblance of the worm -Ouroboros that eateth his own tail: the bezel of the ring the head of -the worm, made of a peach-coloured ruby of the bigness of a sparrow’s -egg. His cloak was woven of the skins of black cobras stitched together -with gold wire, its lining of black silk sprinkled with dust of gold. -The iron crown of Witchland weighed on his brow, the claws of the crab -erect like horns; and the sheen of its jewels was many-coloured like -the rays of Sirius on a clear night of frost and wind at Yule-tide. - -The Prince La Fireez went in a mantle of black sendaline sprinkled -everywhere with spangles of gold, and the tunic beneath it of rich -figured silk dyed deep purple of the Pasque flower. From the golden -circlet on his head two wings sprung aloft exquisitely fashioned in -plates of beaten copper veneered with jewels and enamels and plated -with precious metals to the semblance of the wings of the oleander -hawk-moth. He was something below the common height, but stout and -strong and sturdily knit, with red crisp curly hair, broad-faced and -ruddy, clean-shaved, with high wide-nostrilled nose and bushy red heavy -eyebrows, whence his eyes, most like his lady sister’s, sea-green and -fiery, shot glances like a lion’s. - -When the King was come into his high seat, with Corund and Corinius -on his left and right in honour of their great deeds of arms, and La -Fireez facing him in the high seat on the lower bench, the thralls -made haste to set forth dishes of pickled grigs and oysters in the -shell, and whilks, snails, and cockles fried in olive oil and swimming -in red and white hippocras. And the feasters delayed not to fall to -on these dainties, while the cup-bearer bore round a mighty bowl of -beaten gold filled with sparkling wine the hue of the yellow sapphire, -and furnished with six golden ladles resting their handles in six -half-moon shaped nicks in the rim of that great bowl. Each guest when -the bowl was brought to him must brim his goblet with the ladle, and -drink unto the glory of Witchland and the rulers thereof. - -Somewhat greenly looked Corinius on the Prince, and whispering Heming, -Corund’s son, in the ear, who sat next him, he said, “True it is that -La Fireez is the showiest of men in all that belongeth to gear and -costly array. Mark with what ridiculous excess he affecteth Demonland -in the great store of jewels he flaunteth, and with what an apish -insolence he sitteth at the board. Yet this lobcock liveth only by our -sufferance, and I see a hath not forgot to bring with him to Witchland -the price of our hand withheld from twisting of his neck.” - -Now were borne round dishes of carp, pilchards, and lobsters, and -thereafter store enow of meats: a fat kid roasted whole and garnished -with peas on a spacious silver charger, kid pasties, plates of neats’ -tongues and sweetbreads, sucking rabbits in jellies, hedgehogs baked -in their skins, hogs’ haslets, carbonadoes, chitterlings, and dormouse -pies. These and other luscious meats were borne round continually by -thralls who moved silent on bare feet; and merry waxed the talk as the -edge of hunger became blunted a little, and the cockles of men’s hearts -were warmed with wine. - -“What news in Witchland?” asked La Fireez. - -“I have heard nought newer,” said the King, “than the slaying of -Gaslark.” And the King recounted the battle in the night, setting forth -as in a frank and open honesty every particular of numbers, times, and -comings and goings; save that none might have guessed from his tale -that any of Demonland had part or interest in that battle. - -La Fireez said, “Strange it is that he should so attack you. An enemy -might smell some cause behind it.” - -“Our greatness,” said Corinius, looking haughtily at him, “is a lamp -whereat other moths than he have been burnt. I count it no strange -matter at all.” - -Prezmyra said, “Strange indeed, were it any but Gaslark. But sure with -him no wild sudden fancy were too light but it should chariot him like -thistle-down to storm heaven itself.” - -“A bubble of the air, madam: all fine colours without and empty wind -within. I have known other such,” said Corinius, still resting his gaze -with studied insolence on the Prince. - -Prezmyra’s eye danced. “O my Lord Corinius,” said she, “change first -thine own fashion, I pray thee, ere thou convince gay attire of inward -folly, lest beholding thee we misdoubt thy precept—or thy wisdom.” - -Corinius drank his cup to the drains and laughed. Somewhat reddened -was his insolent handsome face about the cheeks and shaven jowl, for -surely was none in that hall more richly apparelled than he. His ample -chest was cased in a jerkin of untanned buckskin plated with silver -scales, and he wore a collar of gold that was rough with smaragds and -a long cloak of sky-blue silk brocade lined with cloth of silver. On -his left wrist was a mighty ring of gold, and on his head a wreath of -black bryony and sleeping nightshade. Gro whispered Corund in the ear, -“He bibbeth it down apace, and the hour is yet early. This presageth -trouble, since ever with him indiscretion treadeth hard on the heels of -surliness as he waxeth drunken.” - -Corund grunted assent, saying aloud, “To all peaks of fame might -Gaslark have climbed, but for this same rashness. Nought more pitiful -hath been heard to tell of than his great sending into Impland, ten -years ago, when, on a sudden conceit that a should lay all Impland -under him and become the greatest king in all the world, he hired -Zeldornius and Helteranius and Jalcanaius Fostus——” - -“The three most notable captains found on earth,” said La Fireez. - -“Nothing is more true,” said Corund. “These he hired, and brought ’em -ships and soldiers and horses and such a clutter of engines of war as -hath not been seen these hundred years, and sent ’em—whither? To the -rich and pleasant lands of Beshtria? No. To Demonland? Not a whit. To -this Witchland, where with a twentieth part the power a hath now risked -all and suffered death and doom? No! but to yonder hell-besmitten -wilderness of Upper Impland, treeless, waterless, not a soul to pay him -tribute had he laid it under him save wandering bands of savage Imps, -with more bugs on their bodies than pence in their purses, I warrant -you. Or was he minded to be king among the divels of the air, ghosts, -and hob-thrushes that be found in that desert?” - -“Without controversy there be seventeen several sorts of divels on -the Moruna,” said Corsus, very loud and sudden, so that all turned -to look on him; “fiery divels, divels of the air, terrestrial divels, -as you may say, and watery divels, and subterranean divels. Without -controversy there be seven seen sorts, seventeen several sorts of -hob-thrushes, and several sorts of divels, and if the humour took me I -could name them all by rote.” - -Wondrous solemn was the heavy face of Corsus, his eyes, baggy -underneath and somewhat bloodshed, his pendulous cheeks, thick blubber -under-lip, and bristly gray moustachios and whiskers. He had eaten, -mainly to provoke thirst, pickled olives, capers, salted almonds, -anchovies, fumadoes, and pilchards fried with mustard, and now awaited -the salt chine of beef to be a pillow and a resting place for new -potations. - -The Lady Zenambria asked, “Knoweth any for certain what fate befell -Jalcanaius and Helteranius and Zeldornius and their armies?” - -“Heard I not,” said Prezmyra, “that they were led by Will-o’-the-Wisps -to the regions Hyperborean, and there made kings?” - -“Told thee by the madge-howlet, I fear me, sister,” said La Fireez. -“Whenas I fared through Impland the More, six years ago, there was many -a wild tale told me hereof, but nought within credit.” - -Now was the chine served in amid shallots on a great dish of gold, -borne by four serving men, so weighty was the dish and its burden. Some -light there glowed in the dull eye of Corsus to see it come, and Corund -rose up with brimming goblet, and the Witches cried, “The song of the -chine, O Corund!” Great as a neat stood Corund in his russet velvet -kirtle, girt about with a broad belt of crocodile hide edged with gold. -From his shoulders hung a cloak of wolf’s skin with the hair inside, -the outside tanned and diapered with purple silk. Daylight was nigh -gone, and through a haze of savours rising from the feast the flamboys -shone on his bald head set about with thick grizzled curls, and on his -keen gray eyes, and his long and bushy beard. He cried, “Give me a -rouse, my lords! and if any fail to bear me out in the refrain, I’ll -ne’er love him more.” And he sang this song of the chine in a voice -like the sounding of a gong; and all they roared in the refrain till -the piled dishes on the service tables rang: - - Bring out the Old Chyne, the Cold Chyne to me, - And how Ile charge him come and see, - Brawn tusked, Brawn well sowst and fine, - With a precious cup of Muscadine: - - _How shall I sing, how shall I look, - In honour of the Master-Cook_? - - The Pig shall turn round and answer me, - Canst thou spare me a shoulder? a wy, a wy. - The Duck, Goose, and Capon, good fellows all three, - Shall dance thee an antick, so shall the Turkey: - But O! the Cold Chyne, the Cold Chyne for me: - - _How shall I sing, how shall I look, - In honour of the Master-Cook_? - - With brewis Ile noynt thee from head to th’ heel, - Shal make thee run nimbler than the new oyld wheel; - With Pye-crust wee’l make thee - The eighth wise man to be; - But O! the Old Chyne, the Cold Chyne for me: - - _How shall I sing, how shall I look, - In honour of the Master-Cook_? - -When the chine was carved and the cups replenished, the King issued -command saying, “Call hither my dwarf, and let him act his antick -gestures before us.” - -Therewith came the dwarf into the hall, mopping and mowing, clad in a -sleeveless jerkin of striped yellow and red mockado. And his long and -nerveless tail dragged on the floor behind him. - -“Somewhat fulsome is this dwarf,” said La Fireez. - -“Speak within door, Prince,” said Corinius. “Know’st not his quality? -A hath been envoy extraordinary from King Gorice XI. of memory ever -glorious unto Lord Juss in Galing and the lords of Demonland. And ’twas -the greatest courtesy we could study to do them, to send ’em this looby -for our ambassador.” - -The dwarf practised before them to the great content of the lords of -Witchland and their guests, save for his japing upon Corinius and the -Prince, calling them two peacocks, so like in their bright plumage that -none might tell either from other; which somewhat galled them both. - -And now was the King’s heart waxen glad with wine, and he pledged Gro, -saying, “Be merry, Gro, and doubt not that I will fulfil my word I -spake unto thee, and make thee king in Zajë Zaculo.” - -“Lord, I am yours for ever,” answered Gro. “But methinks I am little -fitted to be a king. Methinks I was ever a better steward of other -men’s fortunes than of mine own.” - -Whereat the Duke Corsus, that was sprawled on the table well nigh -asleep, cried out in a great voice but husky withal, “A brace of divels -broil me if thou sayst not sooth! If thine own fortunes come off but -bluely, care not a rush. Give me some wine, a full weeping goblet. -Ha! Ha! whip it away! Ha! Ha! Witchland! When wear you the crown of -Demonland, O King?” - -“How now, Corsus,” said the King, “art thou drunk?” - -But La Fireez said, “Ye sware peace with the Demons in the Foliot -Isles, and by mighty oaths are ye bound to put by for ever your claims -of lordship over Demonland. I hoped your quarrels were ended.” - -“Why so they are,” said the King. - -Corsus chuckled weakly. “Ye say well: very well, O King, very well, -La Fireez. Our quarrels are ended. No room for more. For, look you, -Demonland is a ripe fruit ready to drop me thus in our mouth.” Leaning -back he gaped his mouth wide open, suspending by one leg above it an -hortolan basted with its own dripping. The bird slipped through his -fingers, and fell against his cheek, and so on to his bosom, and so -on the floor, and his brazen byrny and the sleeves of his pale green -kirtle were splashed with the gravy. - -Whereat Corinius let fly a great peal of laughter; but La Fireez -flushed with anger and said, scowling, “Drunkenness, my lord, is a jest -for thralls to laugh at.” - -“Then sit thou mum, Prince,” said Corinius, “lest thy quality be called -in question. For my part I laugh at my thoughts, and they be very -choice.” - -But Corsus wiped his face and fell a-singing: - - Whene’er I bib the wine down, - Asleepe drop all my cares. - A fig for fret, - A fig for sweat, - A fig care I for cares. - Sith death must come, though I say nay, - Why grieve my life’s days with affaires? - - Come, bib we then the wine down - Of Bacchus faire to see; - For alway while we bibbing be, - Asleepe drop all our cares. - -With that, Corsus sank heavily forward again on the table. And the -dwarf, whose japes all else in that company had taken well even when -themselves were the mark thereof, leaped up and down, crying, “Hear a -wonder! This pudding singeth. When with two platters, thralls! ye have -served it o’ the board without a dish. One were too little to contain -so vast a deal of bullock’s blood and lard. Swift, and carve it ere the -vapours burst the skin.” - -“I will carve thee, filth,” said Corsus, lurching to his feet; and -catching the dwarf by the wrist with one hand he gave him a great box -on the ear with the other. The dwarf squealed and bit Corsus’s thumb to -the bone, so that he loosed his hold; and the dwarf fled from the hall, -while the company laughed pleasantly. - -“So flieth folly before wisdom which is in wine,” said the King. “The -night is young: bring me botargoes, and caviare and toast. Drink, -Prince. The red Thramnian wine that is thick like honey wooeth the soul -to divine philosophy. How vain a thing is ambition. This was Gaslark’s -bane, whose enterprises of such pitch and moment have ended thus, -in a kind of nothing. Or what thinkest thou, Gro, thou which art a -philosopher?” - -“Alas, poor Gaslark,” said Gro. “Had all grown to his mind, and had he -’gainst all expectation gotten us overthrown, even so had he been no -nearer to his heart’s desire than when he first set forth. For he had -of old in Zajë Zaculo eating and drinking and gardens and treasure and -musicians and a fair wife, all soft ease and contentment all his days. -And at the last, howsoe’er we shape our course, cometh the poppy that -abideth all of us by the harbour of oblivion hard to cleanse. Dry -withered leaves of laurel or of cypress tree, and a little dust. Nought -else remaineth.” - -“With a sad brow I say it,” said the King: “I hold him wise that -resteth happy, even as the Red Foliot, and tempteth not the Gods by -over-mounting ambition to his dejection.” - -La Fireez had thrown himself back in his high seat with his elbows -resting on its lofty arms and his hands dangling idly on either side. -With head held high and incredulous smile he harkened to the words of -Gorice the King. - -Gro said in Corund’s ear, “The King hath found strange kindness in the -cup.” - -“I think thou and I be clean out o’ fashion,” answered Corund, -whispering, “that we be not yet drunken; the cause whereof is that thou -drinkest within measure, which is good, and me this amethyst at my belt -keepeth sober, were I never so surfeit-swelled with wine.” - -La Fireez said, “You are pleased to jest, O King. For my part, I had as -lief have this musk-million on my shoulders as a head so blockish as to -want ambition.” - -“If thou wert not our princely guest,” said Corinius, “I had called -that spoke in the right fashion of a little man. Witchland affecteth -not such vaunts, but can afford to speak as our Lord the King in proud -humility. Turkey cocks do strut and gobble; not so the eagle, who -holdeth the world at his discretion.” - -“Pity on thee,” cried the Prince, “if this cheap victory turn thee so -giddy. Goblins!” - -Corinius scowled. Corsus chuckled, saying to himself but loud enough -for all to hear, “Goblins, quotha? They were small game had they been -all. Ay, there it is: had they been all.” - -The King’s brow was like a foul black cloud. The women held their -breath. But Corsus, blandly insensible of these gathering thunders, -beat time on the table with his cup, drowsily chanting to a most -mournful air: - - When birds in water deepe do lie, - And fishes in the air doe flie, - When water burns and fire doth freeze, - And oysters grow as fruits on trees— - -A resounding hecup brought him to a full close. - -The talk had died down, the lords of Witchland, ill at ease, studying -to wear their faces to the bent of the King’s looks. But Prezmyra -spake, and the music of her voice came like a refreshing shower. “This -song of my Lord Corsus,” she said, “made me hopeful for an answer to a -question in philosophy; but Bacchus, you see, hath ta’en his soul into -Elysium for a season, and I fear me nor truth nor wisdom cometh from -his mouth to-night. And this was my question, whether it be true that -all animals of the land are in their kind in the sea? My Lord Corinius, -or thou, my princely brother, can you resolve me?” - -“Why, so it is received, madam,” said La Fireez. “And inquiry will -show thee many pretty instances: as the sea-frog, the sea-fox, the -sea-dog, the sea-horse, the sea-lion, the sea-bear. And I have known -the barbarous people of Esamocia eat of a conserve of sea-mice mashed -and brayed in a mortar with the flesh of that beast named _bos -marinus_, seasoned with salt and garlic.” - -“Foh! speak to me somewhat quickly,” cried the Lady Sriva, “ere in -imagination I taste such nasty meat. Prithee, yonder gold peaches and -raisins of the sun as an antidote.” - -“Lord Gro will instruct thee better than I,” said La Fireez. “For my -part, albeit I think nobly of philosophy, yet have I little leisure -to study it. Oft have I hunted the badger, yet never answered that -question of the doctors whether he hath the legs of one side shorter -than of the other. Neither know I, for all the lampreys I have eat, how -many eyes the lamprey hath, whether it be nine or two.” - -Prezmyra smiled: “O my brother, thou art too too smoored, I fear me, -in the dust of action and the field to be at accord with these nice -searchings. But be there birds under the sea, my Lord Gro?” - -Gro made answer, “In rivers, certainly, though it be but birds of the -air sojourning for a season. As I myself have found them in Outer -Impland, asleep in winter time at the bottom of lakes and rivers, two -together, mouth to mouth, wing to wing. But in the spring they revive -again, and by and by are the woods full of their singing. And for the -sea, there be true sea-cuckows, sea-thrushes, and sea-sparrows, and -many more.” - -“It is passing strange,” said Zenambria. - -Corsus sang: - - When sorcerers do leave their charme, - When spiders do the fly no harme. - -Prezmyra turned to Corund saying, “Was there not a merry dispute -betwixt you, my lord, concerning the toad and the spider, thou -maintaining that they do poisonously destroy one another, and my Lord -Gro that he would show thee to the contrary?” - -“’Twas even so, lady,” said Corund, “and it is yet in controversy.” - -Corsus sang: - - And when the blackbird leaves to sing, - And likewise serpents for to sting, - Then you may saye, and justly too, - The old world now is turned anew: - -and so sank back into bloated silence. - -“My Lord the King,” cried Prezmyra, “I beseech you give order for the -ending of this difference between two of your council, ere it wax to -dangerous heat. Let them be given a toad, O King, and spiders without -delay, that they may make experiment before this goodly company.” - -Therewith all fell a-laughing, and the King commanded a thrall, who -shortly brought fat spiders to the number of seven and a crystal -wine-cup, and inclosed with them beneath the cup a toad, and set all -before the King. And all beheld them eagerly. - -“I will wager two firkins of pale Permian wine to a bunch of radishes,” -said Corund, “that victory shall be given unto the spiders. Behold how -without resistance they do sit upon his head and pass all over his -body.” - -Gro said, “Done.” - -“Thou wilt lose the wager, Corund,” said the King. “This toad taketh no -hurt from the spiders, but sitteth quiet out of policy, tempting them -to security, that upon advantage he may swallow them down.” - -While they watched, fruits were borne in: queen-apples, almonds, -pomegranates and pistick nuts; and fresh bowls and jars of wine, and -among them a crystal flagon of the peach-coloured wine of Krothering -vintaged many summers ago in the vineyards that stretch southward -toward the sea from below the castle of Lord Brandoch Daha. - -Corinius drank deep, and cried, “’Tis a royal drink, this wine of -Krothering! Folk say it will be good cheap this summer.” - -Whereat La Fireez shot a glance at him, and the King marking it said in -Corinius’s ear, “Wilt thou be prudent? Let not thy pride flatter thee -to think aught shall avail thee, any more than my vilest thrall, if by -thy doing this Prince smell out my secrets.” - -By then was the hour waxing late, and the women took their leave, -lighted to the doors in great state by thralls with flamboys. In a -while, when they were gone, “A plague of all spiders!” cried Corund. -“Thy toad hath swallowed one already.” - -“Two more!” said Gro. “Thy theoric crumbleth apace, O Corund. He hath -two at a gulp, and but four remain.” - -The Lord Corinius, whose countenance was now aflame with furious -drinking, held high his cup and catching the Prince’s eye, “Mark well, -La Fireez,” he cried, “a sign and a prophecy. First one; next two at a -mouthful; and early after that, as I think, the four that remain. Art -not afeared lest thou be found a spider when the brunt shall come?” - -“Hast drunk thyself horn-mad, Corinius?” said the King under his -breath, his voice shaken with anger. - -“He is as witty a marmalade-eater as ever I conversed with,” said La -Fireez, “but I cannot tell what the dickens he means.” - -“That,” answered Corinius, “which should make thy smirking face -turn serious. I mean our ancient enemies, the haskardly mongrels of -Demonland. First gulp, Goldry, taken heaven knows whither by the King’s -sending in a deadly scud of wind——” - -“The devil damn thee!” cried the King, “what drunken brabble is this?” - -But the Prince La Fireez waxed red as blood, saying, “This it is then -that lieth behind this hudder mudder, and ye go to war with Demonland? -Think not to have my help therein.” - -“We shall not sleep the worse for that,” said Corinius. “Our mouth -is big enough for such a morsel of marchpane as thou, if thou turn -irksome.” - -“Thy mouth is big enough to blab the secretest intelligence, as we now -most laughably approve,” said La Fireez. “Were I the King, I would draw -lobster’s whiskers on thy skin, for a tipsy and a prattling popinjay.” - -“An insult!” cried the Lord Corinius, leaping up. “I would not take -an insult from the Gods in heaven. Reach me a sword, boy! I will make -Beshtrian cut-works in his guts.” - -“Peace, on your lives!” said the King in a great voice, while Corund -went to Corinius and Gro to the Prince to quiet them. “Corinius is -wounded in the wrist and cannot fight, and belike his brain is fevered -by the wound.” - -“Heal him, then, of this carving the Goblins gave him, and I will carve -him like a capon,” said the Prince. - -“Goblins!” said Corinius fiercely. “Know, vile fellow, the best -swordsman in the world gave me this wound. Had it been thou that stood -before me, I had cut thee into steaks, that art caponed already.” - -But the King stood up in his majesty, saying, “Silence, on your lives!” -And the King’s eyes glittered with wrath, and he said, “For thee, -Corinius, not thy hot youth and rebellious blood nor yet the wine thou -hast swilled into that greedy belly of thine shall mitigate the rigour -of my displeasure. Thy punishment I reserve unto to-morrow. And thou, -La Fireez, look thou bear thyself more humbly in my halls. Over pert -was the message brought me by thine herald at thy coming hither this -morning, and too much it smacked of a greeting from an equal to an -equal, calling thy tribute a gift, though it, and thou, and all thy -principality are mine by right to deal with as seems me good. Yet did I -bear with thee: unwisely, as I think, since thy pertness nourished by -my forbearance springeth up yet ranker at my table, and thou insultest -and brawlest in my halls. Be advised, lest my wrath forge thunderbolts -against thee.” - -The Prince La Fireez answered and said, “Keep frowns and threats for -thine offending thralls, O King, since me they affright not, and I -laugh them to scorn. Nor am I careful to answer thine injurious words; -since well thou knowest my old friendship unto thine house, O King, -and unto Witchland, and by what bands of marriage I am bound in love -to the Lord Corund, to whom I gave my lady sister. If it suit not my -stomach to proclaim like a servile minister thy suzerainty, yet needest -thou not to carp at this, since thy tribute is paid thee, ay, and in -over-measure. But unto Demonland am I bound, as all the world knoweth, -and sooner shalt thou prevail upon the lamps of heaven to come down -and fight for thee against the Demons than upon me. And unto Corinius -that so boasteth I say that Demonland hath ever been too hard for you -Witches. Goldry Bluszco and Brandoch Daha have shown you this. This is -my counsel unto thee, O King, to make peace with Demonland: my reasons, -first that thou hast no just cause of quarrel with them, next (and this -should sway thee more) that if thou persist in fighting against them it -will be the ruin of thee and of all Witchland.” - -The King bit his fingers with signs of wonderful anger, and for a -minute’s time no sound was in that hall. Only Corund spake privately to -the King saying, “Lord, O for all sakes swallow your royal rage. You -may whip him when my son Hacmon returneth, but till then he outnumbers -us, and your own party so overwhelmed with wine that, trust me, I -would not adventure the price of a turnip on our chances if it come to -fighting.” - -Troubled at heart was Corund, for well he knew how dear beyond account -his lady wife held the keeping of the peace betwixt La Fireez and the -Witches. - -In this moment Corsus, somewhat roused in an evil hour out of lethargy -by the loud talk and movement, began to sing: - - When all the prisons hereabout - Have justled all their prisoners out, - Because indeed they have no cause - To keepe ’em in by common laws. - -Whereat Corinius, in whom wine and quarrelling and the King’s rebukes -had lighted a fire of reckless and outrageous malice before which all -counsels of prudence or policy were dissipated like wax in a furnace, -shouted loudly, “Wilt see our prisoners, Prince, i’ the old banquet -hall, to prove thyself an ass?” - -“What prisoners?” cried the Prince, springing to his feet. “Hell’s -furies! I am weary of these dark equivocations and will know the -truth.” - -“Why wilt thou rage so beastly?” said the King. “The man is drunk. No -more wild words.” - -“Thou canst not daff me so. I will know the truth,” said La Fireez. - -“So thou shalt,” said Corinius. “This it is: that we Witches be better -men than thou and thy hen-hearted Pixies, and better men than the -accursed Demons. No need to hide it further. Two of that brood we have -laid by the heels, and nailed ’em up on the wall of the old banquet -hall, as farmers nail up weasels and polecats on a barn door. And there -shall they bide till they be dead: Juss and Brandoch Daha.” - -“O most villanous lie!” said the King. “I’ll have thee hewn in pieces.” - -But Corinius said, “I nurse your honour, O King. We must no longer -skulk before these Pixies.” - -“Thou diest for it,” said the King, “and it is a lie.” - -Now was dead silence for a space. At last the Prince sat down slowly. -His face was white and drawn, and he spake unto the King, slowly and -in a quiet voice: “O King, that I was somewhat hot with you, forgive -me. And if I have omitted any form of allegiance due to you, think -rather that in my blood it is to chafe at such ceremonies than that I -had any lack of friendship unto you or ever dreamed of questioning your -over-lordship. Aught that you shall require of me and that lieth with -mine honour, aught of ceremony or fealty, will I with joy perform. And, -save against Demonland, is my sword ready against your enemies. But -here, O King, tottereth a tower ready to fall athwart our friendship -and pash it in pieces. It is known to you, O King, and to all the -lords of Witchland, that my bones were whitening these six years in -Impland the More if Lord Juss had not saved me from the barbarous Imps -that followed Fax Fay Faz, who besieged me four months with my small -following shut up in Lida Nanguna. My friendship shall you have, O -King, if you yield me up my friends.” - -But the King said, “I have not thy friends.” - -“Show me then the old banquet hall,” said the Prince. - -The King said, “I will show it thee anon.” - -“I will see it now,” said the Prince, and he rose from his seat. - -“I will dissemble with thee no longer,” said the King. “I do love thee -well. But when thou askest me to yield up to thee Juss and Brandoch -Daha, thou askest a thing all Pixyland and thy dear heart’s blood were -unable to purchase from me. These be my worst enemies. Thou knowest not -at what cost of toil and danger I have at last laid hand on them. And -now let not thy hopes make thee an unbeliever, when I swear to thee -that Juss and Brandoch Daha shall rot and die in prison.” - -And for all his gentle speeches, and offers of wealth and rich -advantage and upholding in peace and war, might not La Fireez shake the -King. And the King said, “Forbear, La Fireez, or thou wilt vex me. They -must rot.” - -So when the Prince La Fireez saw that he might not move the King by -soft words, he took up his fair crystal goblet, egg-shaped with three -claws of gold to stand withal welded to a collar of gold about its -middle bossed with topazes, and hurled it at Gorice the King, so that -the goblet smote him on the forehead, and the crystal was brast asunder -with the force of the blow, and the King’s forehead laid open, and the -King strook senseless. - -Therewith was huge uproar in the banquet hall; nor would Corund that -any should have speedier hand therein than he, but catching up his -two-edged sword and crying, “Look to the King, Gro! Here’s distressful -revels!” he leaped upon the table. And his sons likewise and Gallandus -and the other Witches seized their weapons, and in like manner did La -Fireez and his men; and there was battle in the great hall in Carcë. -Corinius, whose left hand only might as now wield weapon, even so -sprang forth in most gallant wise, calling upon the Prince with many -vile words to abide his onset. But the fumes of unbridled potations, -that being flown to his brain had made him frantic mad, wrought in -his legs more foggily, dulling their wonted nimbleness. And his foot -sliding in a puddle of spilt wine he fell backward a grievous fall, -striking his head against the polished table. And Corsus that was now -well nigh speechless and quite stupefied with drink, so that a baby -might tell as well as he what meant this hubbub, reeled cup in hand, -shouting, “Drunkenness is better for the body than physic! Drink -always, and you shall never die!” So shouting he was smitten square -in the mouth by a breast of veal flung at him by Elaron of Pixyland, -the captain of the Prince’s bodyguard, and so fell like a hog athwart -Corinius, and there lay without sense or motion. Then were the tables -overset, and wounds given and taken, and swiftly ran the tide of -vantage against the Witches. For albeit the Pixies were none such great -soldiers as they of Witchland, yet this served them mightily that they -were well nigh sober and their foes as so many casks filled with wine, -staggering and raving for the most part from their long tippling and -quaffing. Nor did Corund’s amethyst avail him throughly, but the wine -clogged his veins so that he waxed scant of breath and his strokes -lighter and slower than they were wont. - -Now for the love he bare his sister Prezmyra and for his old kindness -sake for Witchland, the Prince charged his men to fight only for the -overpowering of the Witches, slaying none if so it might be, and on -their lives to look to it that the Lord Corund took no hurt. And when -they had fairly gotten the mastery, La Fireez made certain of his folk -take jars of wine and therewith souse Corund and his men most lustily -in the face, while others held them at weapon’s point, until by the -power of the wine both within and without they were well brought under. -And they barricaded the great doorway of the hall with the benches and -table tops and heavy oaken trestles, and La Fireez charged Elaron hold -the door with the most of his following, and set guards without each -window that none might come forth from the hall. - -But the Prince himself took flamboys and went six in company to the old -banquet hall, overpowered the guard, brake open the doors, and so stood -before Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha that hung shackled to the wall -side by side. Something dazzled they were in the sudden torch-light, -but Lord Brandoch Daha spake and hailed the Prince, and his mocking -haughty lazy accents were scarcely touched with hollowness, for all -his hunger-starving and long watching and the cark and care of his -affliction. “La Fireez!” he said. “Day ne’er broke up till now. And -methought ye were yonder false fitchews fostered in filth and fen, the -spawn of Witchland, returned again to fleer and flout at us.” - -La Fireez told them how things had gone, and he said, “Occasion -gallopeth apace. Upon this bargain do I loose you, that ye come -incontinently with me out of Carcë, and seek no revenge to-night upon -the Witches.” - -Juss said yea to this; and Brandoch Daha laughed, saying, “Prince, I -so love thee, I could refuse thee nothing, were it shave half my beard -and go in fustian till harvest-time, sleep in my clothes, and discourse -pious nothings seven hours a day with my lady’s lap-dog. This night we -be utterly thine. An instant only bear with us: this fare shows too -good to rest untasted after so much looking on. It were discourteous -too to leave it so.” Therewith, their chains being now stricken off, he -eat a great slice of turkey and three quails boned and served in jelly, -and Juss a dozen plovers’ eggs and a cold partridge. Lord Brandoch Daha -said, “I prithee break the egg-shells, Juss, when the meat is out, lest -some sorcerer should prick or write thy name thereon, and so mischief -thy person.” And pouring out a stoup of wine, he quaffed it off, and -filling it again, “Perdition catch me if it be not mine own wine of -Krothering! Saw any a carefuller host than King Gorice?” And he pledged -Lord Juss in the second cup, saying, “I will drink with thee next in -Carcë when the King of Witchland and all the lords thereof are slain.” - -Thereafter they took their weapons that lay by on the table, set there -to distress their souls and with little expectation they should so take -them up again; and glad at heart albeit somewhat stiff of limb they -went forth with La Fireez from that banquet hall. - -When they were come into the court-yard Juss spake and said, “Herein -might honour hold us back even hadst thou made no bargain with us, La -Fireez. For great shame it were to us and we fell upon the lords of -Witchland when they were drunk and unable to meet us in equal battle. -But let us ere we be gone from Carcë ransack this hold for my kinsman -Goldry Bluszco, since for his sake only and in hope to find him here we -fared on this journey.” - -“So you touch no other thing but only Goldry if ye shall find him, I am -content,” said the Prince. - -So when they had found keys they ransacked all Carcë, even to the dread -chamber where the King had conjured and the vaults and cellars below -the river. But it availed not. - -And as they stood in the court-yard in the torch-light there came forth -on a balcony the Lady Prezmyra in her nightgown, disturbed by this -ransacking. Ethereal as a cloud she seemed, pavilioned in the balmy -night, as a cloud touched by the exhalations of the unrisen moon. -“What transformation is this?” said she. “Demons loose in the court?” - -“Content thee, dear heart,” said the Prince. “Thy man is safe, and all -else beside as I think; save that the King hath a broken head, the -which I lament, and will without question soon be healed. They lie all -in the banquet hall to-night, being too sleepy-sodden with the feast to -take their chambers.” - -Prezmyra cried, “My fears are fallen upon me. Art thou broken with -Witchland?” - -“That may I not forejudge,” he answered. “Tell them to-morrow that -nought I did in hatred, and nought but what I was by circumstance -enforced to. For I am not such a coward nor so great a villain as leave -my friends caged up while strength is left me to work for their setting -free.” - -“You must straightway forth from Carcë,” said Prezmyra, “and that o’ -the instant. My step-son Hacmon, which was sent to gather strength -to awe thee if need were, rideth by now from the south with a great -company. Thy horses are fresh, and ye may well outdistance the King’s -men if they ride after you. If thou wilt not yet raise up a river of -blood betwixt us, begone.” - -“Why fare thee well, then, sister. And doubt it not, these rifts ’tween -me and Witchland shall soon be patched up and forgot.” So spake the -Prince with a merry voice, yet grieved at heart. For well he weened the -King should never pardon him that blow, nor his robbing him of his prey. - -But she said, sadly, “Farewell, my brother. And my heart tells me I -shall never see thee more. When thou took’st these from prison, thou -didst dig up two mandrakes shall bring sorrow and death to thee and to -me and to all Witchland.” - -The Prince was silent, but Lord Juss bowed to Prezmyra saying, “Madam, -these things be on the knees of Fate. But imagine not that while life -and breath be in us we shall leave to uphold the Prince thy brother. -His foes be our foes for this night sake.” - -“Thou swearest it?” she said. - -He answered, “Madam, I swear it unto thee and unto him.” - -The Lady Prezmyra withdrew sadly to her chamber. And in short space she -heard their horse-hooves on the bridge, and looking forth beheld where -they galloped on the Way of Kings dim in the coppery light of a waning -moon rising over Pixyland. So sate she by the window of Corund’s lofty -bed-chamber gazing through the night, long after her brother and the -lords of Demonland and her brother’s men were ridden beyond her seeing, -long after their last hoof-beat had ceased to echo on the road. In a -while fresh horse-hooves sounded from the south, and a noise as of many -riding in company; and she knew it was young Hacmon back from Permio. - - - - - VIII: THE FIRST EXPEDITION TO IMPLAND - - OF THE HOME-COMING OF THE DEMONS, AND HOW LORD JUSS WAS TAUGHT IN - A DREAM WHITHER HE MUST SEEK FOR TIDINGS OF HIS DEAR BROTHER. - AND HOW THEY TOOK COUNSEL AT KROTHERING, AND DETERMINED OF - THEIR EXPEDITION TO IMPLAND. - - -Midsummer night, ambrosial, starry-kirtled, walked on the sea, as the -ship that brought the Demons home drew nigh to her journey’s end. The -cloaks of Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha, who slept on the poop, -were wet with dew. Smoothly they had passage through that charmed -night, where winds were hushed asleep and nought was heard save the -waves talking beneath the bows of the ship, the lilting changeless -song of the steersman, and the creak, dip, and swash of oars keeping -time to his singing. Vega burned like a sapphire near the zenith, and -Arcturus low in the north-west, beaconing over Demonland. In the remote -south-east Fomalhaut rose from the sea, a lonely splendour in the dim -region of Capricorn and the Fishes. - -So rowed they till day broke, and a light wind sprang up fresh and -keen. Juss waked, and stood up to scan the gray glassy surface of -the sea spread to vast distances where sky and water faded into one. -Astern, great clouds bridged the gates of day, boiling upwards into -crags of wine-dark vapour and burning plumes of sunrise. In the -stainless spaces of the sky above these sailed the horned moon, frail -and wan as a white foam-flower blown from the waves. Westward, facing -the thunder-smoke of dawn, the fine far ridge of Kartadza was like cut -crystal against the sky: the first island sentinel of many-mountained -Demonland, his topmost cliffs dawn-illumined with pale gold and -amethyst while yet the lesser heights lay obscure, lapped in the folds -of night. And with the opening day the mists swathing the mountain’s -skirts were lifted up in billowy masses that grew and shrank and grew -again, made restless by the wayward winds which morning waked in the -hollow mountain side, and torn by them into wisps and streamers. Some -were blown upward, steaming up the great gullies in the rocks below -the peak, while now and then a puff of cloud swam free for a minute, -floated a minute’s space as ready to sail skyward, then indolently -stooped again to the mountain wall to veil it in an unsubstantial -fleece of golden vapour. And now all the western seaboard of Demonland -lay clear to view, stretching fifty miles and more from Northhouse -Skerries past the Drakeholms and the low downs of Kestawick and Byland, -beyond which tower the mountains of the Scarf, past the jagged sky-line -of the Thornbacks and the far Neverdale peaks overhanging the wooded -shores of Onwardlithe and Lower Tivarandardale, to the extreme southern -headland, filmy-pale in the distance, where the great range of Rimon -Armon plunges its last wild bastion in the sea. - -As a lover gazing on his mistress, so gazed Lord Juss on Demonland -rising from the sea. No word spake he till they came off -Lookinghaven-ness and could see where beyond the beaked promontory the -sound opened between Kartadza and the mainland. Albeit the outer sea -was calm, the air in the sound was thick with spray from the churning -of the waters among the reefs and swallowing shoals. For the tide ran -like a mill-race through that sound, and the roaring of it was plain -to hear at two miles’ distance where they sailed. Juss said, “Mindest -thou my shepherding of the Ghoul fleet into yonder jaws? I would not -tell thee for shame whenas the fit was on me. But this is the first day -since the sending came upon us that I have not wished in my heart that -the Races of Kartadza had gulped me down also and given me one ending -with the accursed Ghouls.” - -Lord Brandoch Daha looked swiftly upon him and was silent. - -Now in a short while was the ship come into Lookinghaven and alongside -of the marble quay. There amid his folk stood Spitfire, who greeted -them, saying, “I made all ready to bring three of you home in triumph -from your ship, but Volle counselled against it. Glad am I that I took -his counsel, and put by those things I had prepared. They had cut me to -the heart to see them now.” - -Juss answered him, “O my brother, this noise of hammers in -Lookinghaven, and these ten keels laid on the slips, show me ye -have been busied on things nearer our needs than bay-leaves and the -instruments of joy since thou camest home.” - -So they took horse, and while they rode they related to Spitfire all -that had befallen since their faring to Carcë. In such wise came they -north past the harbour, and so over Havershaw Tongue to Beckfoot where -they took the upper path that climbs into Evendale close under the -screes of Starksty Pike, and so came a little before noon to Galing. - -The black rock of Galing stands at the end of the spur that runs down -from the south ridge of Little Drakeholm, dividing Brankdale from -Evendale. On three sides the cliffs fall sheer from the castle walls to -the deep woods of oak and birch and rowan tree which carpet the flats -of Moongarth Bottom and feather the walls of the gill through which -the Brankdale beck plunges in waterfall after waterfall. Only on the -north-east may aught save a winged thing come at the castle, across a -smooth grass-grown saddle less than a stone’s throw in width. Over that -saddle runs the paven way leading from the Brankdale road to the Lion -Gate, and within the gate is that garden of the grass walk between the -yews where Lessingham stood with the martlet nine weeks before, when -first he came to Demonland. - - • • • • • - -When night fell and supper was done, Juss walked alone on the walls of -his castle, watching the constellations burn in the moonless sky above -the mighty shadows of the mountains, listening to the hooting of the -owls in the woods below and the faint distant tinkle of cow-bells, and -breathing the fragrance borne up from the garden on the night wind that -even in high summer tasted keen of the mountains and the sea. These -sights and scents and voices of the holy night so held him in thrall -that it wanted but an hour of midnight when he left the battlements, -and called the sleepy house-carles to light him to his chamber in the -south tower of Galing. - -Wondrous fair was the great four-posted bed of the Lord Juss, builded -of solid gold, and hung with curtains of dark-blue tapestry whereon -were figured sleep-flowers. The canopy above the bed was a mosaic of -tiny stones, jet, serpentine, dark hyacinth, black marble, bloodstone, -and lapis lazuli, so confounded in a maze of altering hue and lustre -that they might mock the palpitating sky of night. And therein was the -likeness of the constellation of Orion, held by Juss for guardian of -his fortunes, the stars whereof, like those beneath the golden canopy -in the presence chamber, were jewels shining of their own light, yet -with a milder radiance, as glow-worms’ sheen or dead wood glimmering in -the dark. For Betelgeuze was a ruby shining, and a diamond for Rigel, -and pale topazes for the other stars. The four posts of the bed were -of the thickness of a man’s arm in their upper parts, but their lower -parts great as his waist and carven in the image of birds and beasts: -at the foot of the bed a lion for courage and an owl for wisdom, and -at the head an alaunt for faithfulness of heart and a kingfisher for -happiness. On the cornice of the bed and on the panels above the pillow -against the wall were carved Juss’s deeds of derring-do; and the latest -carving was of the sea-fight with the Ghouls. To the right of the bed -stood a table with old books of songs and books of the stars and of -herbs and beasts and travellers’ tales, and there was Juss wont to lay -his sword beside him while he slept. All the walls were panelled with -dark sweet-smelling wood, and armour and weapons hung thereon. Mighty -chests and almeries hasped and bound with gold stood against the wall, -wherein he kept his rich apparel. Windows opened to the west and south, -and on each window-ledge stood a bowl of palest jade filled with white -roses; and the air entering the bed-chamber was laden with their scent. - -About cock-crow came a dream unto Lord Juss, standing by his head and -touching his eyes so that he seemed to wake and look about the chamber. -And he seemed to behold an evil beast all burning as a drake, busy in -his chamber, with many heads, the most venomous that ever he the days -of his life had seen, and about it its five fawns, like to itself but -smaller. It seemed to Juss that in place of his sword there lay a great -spear of fair workmanship on the table by his bed; and it seemed to -him in his dream that this spear had been his all his life, and was -his greatest treasure, and that with it he might accomplish all things -and without it scarcely aught to his mind. He laboured to reach out -his hand to the spear, but some power withheld him so that for all his -striving he might not stir. But that beast took up the spear in its -jaws, and went with it forth from the chamber. It seemed to Juss that -the power that held him departed with the departing of the beast, so -that he leaped up and snatched down weapons from the wall and made an -onslaught on the fawns of that fell beast that were tearing down the -woven hangings and marring with their fiery breath the figure of the -kingfisher at the head of his bed. All the chamber was full of the reek -of burning, and he thought his friends were with him in the chamber, -Volle and Vizz and Zigg and Spitfire and Brandoch Daha, fighting with -the beasts, and the beasts prevailed against them. Then it seemed to -him that the bedpost carven in the likeness of an owl spake to him in -his dream in human speech; and the owl said, “O fool, that shalt justly -be put in great misery without end, except thou bring back the spear. -Hast thou forgot that this only is thy greatest treasure and most -worthiest thy care?” - -Therewith came back that grim and grisful beast into the chamber, and -Juss assailed it, crying to the owl, “Uncivil owl, where then must I -find my spear that this beast hath hidden?” - -And it seemed to him that the owl made answer, “Inquire in Koshtra -Belorn.” - -So tumultuous was Lord Juss’s dream that he was flung at waking out -of bed on to the deerskin carpets of the floor, and his right hand -clutched the hilt of his great sword where it lay on the table by his -bed, whereas in his dream he had beheld the spear. Mightily moved was -he; and forthwith clothed himself, and faring through the dim corridors -came to Spitfire’s chamber, and sat on the bed and waked him. And -Juss told him his dream, and said, “I hold myself clean of all blame -hereabout, for from that day forth this only hath been my care, how to -find my dear brother and fetch him home, and only then to wreak myself -on the Witches. And what was this spear in my dream if not Goldry? This -vision of the night kindleth for us a beacon fire we needs must seek -to. It bade me inquire in Koshtra Belorn, and till that be done never -will I rest nor so much as think on aught besides.” - -Spitfire answered and said, “Thou beest our oldest brother, and I shall -follow and obey thee in all that thou wilt do or shalt ordain hereof.” - -Then fared Juss to the guest-chamber, where Lord Brandoch Daha lay -a-sleeping, and waked him and told him all. Brandoch Daha snuggled him -under the bedclothes and said, “Let me be and let me sleep yet two -hours. Then will I rise and bathe and array myself and eat my morning -meal, and thereafter will I take rede with thee and tell thee somewhat -for thine advantage. I have not slept in a goose-feather bed and -sheets of lawn these many weeks. If thou plague me now, by God, I will -incontinently take horse over the Stile to Krothering, and let thee and -thine affairs go to the devil.” - -So Juss laughed and left him in peace. And later when they had eaten -they walked in a plashed alley, where the air was cool and the purple -shadow on the path was dappled with bright flecks of sunshine. Lord -Brandoch Daha said, “Thou knowest that Koshtra Belorn is a great -mountain, beside which our mountains of Demonland would seem but little -hills unremarked, and that it standeth in the uttermost parts of earth -beyond the wastes of Upper Impland, and thou mightest search a year -through all the peopled countries of the world and not find one living -soul who had so much as beheld it from afar.” - -“This much I know,” said Lord Juss. - -“Is thine heart utterly bent on this journey?” said Brandoch Daha. “Or -is it not preposterous, and a thing to comfort our enemies, that we -should thus at the bidding of a dream fly to far and perilous lands, -rather than pay Witchland presently for the shame he hath done us?” - -Juss answered him, “My bed is hallowed by spells of such a virtue that -no naughty dream flown through the ivory gate nor no noisome wizardry -hath power to trouble his sleep who sleepeth there. This dream is -true. For Witchland there is time enow. If thou wilt not go with me to -Koshtra Belorn, I must go without thee.” - -“Enough,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “Thou knowest for thee I tie my -purse with a spider’s thread. Then fare we must to Impland, and herein -may I help thee. For listen while I tell thee a thing. Whenas I slew -Gorice X. in Goblinland, Gaslark gave me, along with other good gifts, -a great curiosity: a treatise or book copied out on parchment by -Bhorreon his secretary, wherein it speaketh of all the ways to Impland -and what countries and kingdoms lie next to the Moruna and the fronts -thereof, and the marvels that be found in those lands. And all that is -writ in this book was set down faithfully by Bhorreon after the telling -of Gro, the same which now hath part with the Witchlanders. Great -honour had Gro as then from Gaslark for his far journeyings and for -that which is written in this book of wonders; and this it was that had -first put it in Gaslark’s mind to send that expedition into Impland, -which so reduced him and came so wretchedly to nought. If then thou -wilt seek to Koshtra Belorn, come home with me to-day and I will show -thee my book.” - -So spake Lord Brandoch Daha, and Lord Juss straightway ordered forth -the horses, and sent messengers to Volle under Kartadza and to Vizz at -Darklairstead bidding them meet him at Krothering with what speed they -might. It was four hours before noon when Juss, Spitfire, and Brandoch -Daha rode down from Galing and through the woods of Moongarth Bottom -at the foot of the lake, taking the main bridle road up Breakingdale, -that runs by the western margin of Moonmere under the buttresses of -the Scarf. They rode slowly, for the sun was strong on their backs. -Glassy was the lake and like a turquoise, and the birch-clad slopes -to the east and north and the bare rugged ridges of Stathfell and -Budrafell beyond were mirrored in its depths. On the left as they -rode, the spurs of the Scarf impended from on high in piled bastions -of black porphyry like giants’ castles; and little valleys choked with -monstrous boulders, among which the silver birches crowding showed -like tiny garden plants, ran steeply back between the spurs. Up those -valleys appeared successively the main summits of the Scarf, savage and -remote, frowning downward as it were between their own knees: Glaumry -Pike, Micklescarf, and Illstack. By noon they had climbed to the -extreme head of Breakingdale, and halted on the Stile, a little beyond -the water-shed, under the sheer northern wall of Ill Drennock. Before -them the pass plunged steeply into Amadardale. The lower reach of -Switchwater shone fifteen miles or more to the west, well nigh hidden -in the heat-haze. Nearer at hand in the north-west lay Rammerick Mere, -bosomed among the smooth-backed Kelialand hills and the easternmost -uplands of Shalgreth Heath, with the sea beyond; and on the valley -floor, near the watersmeet where Transdale runs into Amadardale, it -was possible to descry the roofs of Zigg’s house at Many Bushes. - -When they came down thither, Zigg was out a-hunting. So they left word -with his lady wife and drank a stirrup cup and rode on, up Switchwater -Way, and for twelve miles and more along the southern shore of -Switchwater. So dropped they into Gashterndale, and thence rounding the -western slopes of Erngate End came up on to Krothering Side when the -shadows were lengthening in the golden summer evening. The Side ran -gently west for a league or more to where Thunderfirth lay like beaten -gold beneath the sun. Across the Firth the pine-forests of Westmark, -old as the world, rose toward Brocksty Edge and Gemsar Edge: a -far-flung amphitheatre of bare cliff and scree shutting in the prospect -to the north. High on the left towered the precipices of Erngate End; -southward and south-eastward lay the sea. So rode they down the Side, -through deep peaceful meadows fair with white ox-eye daisies, bluebells -and yellow goatsbeard and sea campion, deep-blue gentians, agrimony and -wild marjoram, and pink clover and bindweed and great yellow buttercups -feasting on the sun. And on an eminence beyond which the land fell away -more steeply toward the sea, the onyx towers of Krothering standing -above woods and gardens showed milk-white against heaven and the clear -hyaline. - -When they were now but half a mile from the castle Juss said, “Behold -and see. The Lady Mevrian hath espied us from afar, and rideth forth to -bring thee home.” - -Brandoch Daha cantered ahead to meet her: a lady light of build and -exceeding fair to look upon, brave of carriage like a war-horse, soft -of feature, clear-browed, gray-eyed and proud-eyed: sweet-mouthed, but -not as one who can speak nought but sweetness. Her robe was of pale -buff-coloured silk, with corsage covered as by a spider’s web with fine -golden threads; and she wore a point-lace ruffle stiffened with gold -and silver wire and spangled with little diamonds. Her deep hair, black -as the raven’s wing, was fastened with pins of gold, and a yellow rose -that nestled in its coils was as the moon looking forth among thick -clouds of night. - -“Doings be afoot, my lady sister,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “One King -of Witchland have we done down since we sailed hence; and guested in -Carcë with another, little to our content. All which things I’ll tell -thee anon. Now lieth our road south for Impland, and Krothering is but -our caravanserai.” - -She turned her horse, and they rode all in company into the shadow of -the ancient cedars that clustered to the north of the home-meads and -pleasure gardens, stately, gaunt-limbed, flat-browed, bleak against -the sky. On the left a lily-paven lake slept cool beneath mighty -elms, with a black swan near the bank and her four cygnets dozing in -a row, their heads tucked beneath their wings, so that they looked -like balls of gray-brown froth floating on the water. The path leading -to the bridge-gate zig-zagged steeply up the mound between low broad -balustrades of white onyx bearing at intervals square onyx pots, -planted some with yellow roses and some with wondrous flowers, great -and delicate, with frail white shell-like petals. Deep, mysterious -centres had those flowers, thick with soft hairs within, and dark -within with velvety purple streaked with black and blood colour and -dust of gold. - -The castle of Lord Brandoch Daha standing at the top of the mound was -circled by a ditch both broad and deep. The gate before the drawbridge -was of iron gilded and richly wrought. The towers and gate-house -were of white onyx like the castle itself, and on either hand before -the gate was a colossal marble hippogriff, standing more than thirty -feet high at the withers; and the wings and hooves and talons of the -hippogriffs and their manes and forelocks were overlaid with gold, and -their eyes carbuncles of purest lustre. Over the gate was written in -letters of gold: - - Ye braggers an’ a’, - Be skeered and awa’ - Frae Brandoch Daha. - -But to tell even a tenth part of the marvels rich and beautiful that -were in the house of Krothering: its cool courts and colonnades rich -with gems and fragrant with costly spices and strange blooms: its -bed-chambers where, caught like Aphrodite in her golden net, the -spirit of sleep seemed ever to shake slumber from its plumes, and none -might be waking long in those chambers but sweet sleep overcame their -eyelids: the Chamber of the Sun and the Chamber of the Moon, and the -great middle hall with its high gallery and ivory stair: to tell of -all these were but to cloy imagination with picturing in one while of -over-much glory and splendour. - - • • • • • - -Nought befell that night save the coming of Zigg before sun-down, and -of those brethren Volle and Vizz in the night, having ridden hard in -obedience to the word of Juss. In the morning when they had eaten their -day-meal the lords of Demonland went down into the pleasaunces, and -with them the Lady Mevrian. And in an alley that was roofed with beams -of cedar resting on marble pillars, the beams and pillars smothered -with dark-red roses, they sat looking eastward across a sunk garden. -The weather was sweet and gracious, and thick dew lay on the pale -terraced lawns that led down among flower beds to the fish-pond in the -midst. The water made a cool mirror whereon floated yellow and crimson -water-lilies opening to the sky. All the greens and flower-colours -glowed warm and clean, but soft withal and shadowy, veiled in the gray -haze of the summer morning. - -They sat here and there as they listed on chairs and benches, near a -huge tank or vase of dark green jade where sulphur-coloured lilies grew -in languorous beauty, their back-curled petals showing the scarlet -anthers; and all the air was heavy with their sweetness. The great jade -vase was round and flat like the body of a tortoise, open at the top -where the lilies grew. It was carved with scales, as it were the body -of a dragon, and a dragon’s head a-gaping reared itself at one end, and -at the other the tail curved up and over like the handle of a basket, -and the tail had little fore and hind feet with claws, and a smaller -head at the end of the tail gaped downwards biting at the large head. -Four legs supported the body, and each leg was a small dragon standing -on its hind feet, its head growing into the parent body as the thigh or -shoulder joint should join the trunk. In the curve of the creature’s -neck, his back propped against its head, sat the Lord Brandoch Daha in -graceful ease, one foot touching the ground, the other swinging free; -and in his hands was the book, bound in dark puce-coloured goatskin and -gold, given him by Gaslark in years gone by. Zigg watched him idly turn -the pages while the others talked. Leaning toward Mevrian he whispered -in her ear, “Is not he able and shapen for to subdue and put under him -all the world: thy brother? A man of blood and peril, and yet so fair -to behold that it is a marvel?” - -Her eyes danced. She said, “It is pure truth, my lord.” - -Now spake Spitfire saying, “Read forth to us, I pray thee, the book of -Gro; for my soul is afire to set forth on this faring.” - -“’Tis writ somewhat crabbedly,” said Brandoch Daha, “and most damnably -long. I spent half last night a-searching on’t, and ’tis most apparent -no other way lieth to these mountains save by the Moruna, and across -the Moruna is (if Gro say true) but one way, and that from the Gulf of -Muelva: ‘a xx dayes journeye from northe by south-est.’ For here he -telleth of watersprings by the way, but he saith in other parts of the -desert be no watersprings, save only springs venomous, where ‘The water -riketh like a sething potte continually, having sumwhat a sulphureous -and sumwhat onpleasant savor,’ and, ‘The grownd nurysheth here no -plante nor herbe except yt bee venomous champinions or tode stooles.’” - -“If he say true?” said Spitfire. “He is a turncoat and a renegado. -Wherefore not therefore a liar?” - -“But a philosopher,” answered Juss. “I knew him well of old in -Goblinland, and I judge him to be one who is not false save only in -policy. Subtle of mind he is, and dearly loveth plotting and scheming, -and, as I think, perversely affecteth ever the losing side if he be -brought into any quarrel; and this hath dragged him oft-times to -misfortune. But in this book of his travels he must needs speak truth, -as it seemeth to me, to be true to his own self.” - -The Lady Mevrian looked approvingly on Lord Juss and her eye twinkled. -For well it liked her humour to hear men’s natures so divined. - -“O Juss, friend of my heart,” said Lord Brandoch Daha, “thy words -proceed, as ever they did, from the true fount of wisdom, and I -embrace them and thee. This book is a guide which we shall follow not -helter-skelter but as old men of war. If then the right road to Morna -Moruna lie from the Gulf of Muelva, were we not best sail straight -thitherward and lay up our ships in that Gulf where the coast and the -country side be without habitation, rather than fare to some nearer -haven of Outer Impland such as Arlan Mouth whither thou and Spitfire -fared six summers ago?” - -“Not Arlan Mouth, o’ this journey,” said Juss. “Some sport perchance -we might obtain there had we leisure for fighting with the accursed -inhabitants, but every day’s delay we now do make holdeth my brother -another day in bondage. The princes and Fazes of the Imps have many -strong walled towns and towers in all those coastlands, and hard by in -a mediamnis of the river Arlan, in Orpish, is the great castle of Fax -Fay Faz, whereto Goldry and I drave him home from Lida Nanguna.” - -“’Tis an ill coast too, to find a landing,” said Brandoch Daha, turning -the leaves of the book. “As he saith, ‘Ymplande the More beginnith at -the west syde of the mowth of Arlan and occupiethe all the lond unto -the hedeland Sibrion, and therefro sowth awaye to the Corshe, by gesse -a vij hundered myles, wherby the se is not ther of nature favorable nor -no haven is or cumming yn meete for shippes.’” - -So after some talk and searching of that book of Gro they determined -this should be their plan: to fare to Impland by way of the Straits -of Melikaphkhaz and the Didornian Sea, and so lay up their ships in -the Gulf of Muelva, and landing there start straightway across the -wilderness to Morna Moruna, even as Gro had described the way. - -“Ere we leave it,” said Brandoch Daha, “hear what he speaketh -concerning Koshtra Belorn. This he beheld from Morna Moruna, whereof -he saith: ‘The contery is hylly, sandy, and baren of wood and corne, -as forest ful of lynge, mores, and mosses, with stony hilles. Here -is a mighty stronge and usid borow for flying serpens in sum baren, -hethy, and sandy grownd, and thereby the litle round castel of Morna -Moruna stondith on Omprenne Edge, as on the limit of the worlde, sore -wether beten and yn ruine. This castelle was brent in tyme of warre, -spoyled and razyd by Kynge Goriyse the fourt of Wytchlande in auncient -dayes. And they say there was blamelesse folke dwellid therein and -ryghte gentle, nor was ther any need for Goriyse to have usid them so -cruellie, when hee cawsyd the hole howsholde there to appere before -hym and then slawe sum owt of hande, and the residew he throughe all -downe the steep cliffe. And but few supervivid after the gret falle, -and these fled awaye thorough the untrodden forests of Bavvynaune and -withoute question perysht ther yn great sorwe and miserie. Sum fable -that it was for thys cruel facte sake that King Goriyse was eat by -divels on the Moruna with al hys hoste, one man onely cumming home -again to tell of these thynges bifallen.’ Now mark: ‘From Morna Moruna -I behelde sowthawaye two grete mowntaynes standing over Bavvinane as -two Queenes in bewty seted in the skye by estimacion xx legues fro -hence above meny more ise robed mowntaines supereminente. The wyche as -I lernyd was Coschtre Belourne the one and the othere Koshtre Pivrarca. -And I veuyed them continuallie unto the going downe of the sun, and -that was the fayrest sighte and the most bewtifullest and gallant -marvaille that mine eyen hath sene. Therewith talkid I with the smaule -thynges that dwell there in the ruines and in the busschis growing -round abowte as it ys my wonte, and amongst them one of those byrdes -cawld martlettes that have feete so litle that they seime to have none. -And thys litle martlette sittynge in a frambousier or raspis busche -tolde mee that none may come alive unto Coschtra Beloorn, for the -mantycores of the mowntaines will certeynely ete his brains ere he come -thither. And were he so fortunate as scape these mantycores, yet cowlde -hee never climbe up the gret cragges of yce and rocke on Koschtre -Beloorn, for none is so stronge as to scale them but by art magicall, -and such is the vertue of that mowntayne that no magick avayleth there, -but onlie strength and wisdome alone, and as I seye these woulde not -avayl to climbe those cliffes and yce ryvers.’” - -“What be these mantichores of the mountains that eat men’s brains?” -asked the Lady Mevrian. - -“This book is so excellent well writ,” said her brother, “that thine -answer appeareth on this same page: ‘The beeste Mantichora, whych is -as muche as to saye devorer of menne, rennith as I herde tell, on the -skirt of the mowntaynes below the snow feldes. These be monstrous -bestes, ghastlie and ful of horrour, enemies to mankinde, of a red -coloure, with ij rowes of huge grete tethe in their mouthes. It hath -the head of a man, his eyen like a ghoot, and the bodie of a lyon -lancing owt sharpe prickles fro behinde. And hys tayl is the tail of a -scorpioun. And is more delyverer to goo than is fowle to flee. And hys -voys is as the roaryng of x lyons.’” - -“These beasts,” said Spitfire, “were alone enough to draw me thither. I -shall bring thee home a small one, madam, to keep chained in the court.” - -“That should dash me from thy friendship for ever, cousin,” said -Mevrian, stroking the feathery ears of her little marmoset that -cuddled in her lap. “That which feedeth on brains were overnourished in -Demonland, and belike would overrun the whole country-side.” - -“Send it to Witchland,” said Zigg. “Where when it hath eat up Gro and -Corund it may sup lightly on the King, and then most fortunately starve -for lack of its proper nutriment.” - -Juss stood up from his seat. “Thou and I and Spitfire,” said he to -Brandoch Daha, “must to work roundly and gather strength, for ’tis -already midsummer. You, Vizz, Volle, and Zigg, must have the warding of -our homes whiles we be gone. We cannot be less than two thousand swords -on this faring.” - -“How many ships, Volle,” asked Lord Brandoch Daha, “canst thou give us, -busked and boun, ere this moon wane?” - -“There be fourteen afloat,” said Volle. “Besides these, ten keels lie -on the slips at Lookinghaven, and nine more hath Spitfire but now laid -down on the beach before his house at Owlswick.” - -“Thirty and three in sum,” said Spitfire. “You see we have not twiddled -our thumbs whilst ye were gone.” - -Juss paced back and forth with great strides, his brow clouded and -his jaw clenched. In a while he said, “Laxus hath forty sail, dragons -of war. I am not so idle-headed as fare without an army into Impland, -but certain it is that if our ill-willers would move war against us we -stand in apparent weakness, here or abroad, to throw back their onset.” - -Volle said, “Of these nineteen ships a-building no more than two can -take the water before a month be past, and but seven more ere six -months’ time, push we never so mightily the work.” - -“The season weareth, and my brother wasteth in duress. We must sail ere -another moon grow old,” said Juss. - -Volle said, “Then with sixteen sail thou sailest, O Juss; and then thou -leavest us not one ship at home till more be finished and launched.” - -“How can we leave you so?” cried Spitfire. - -But Brandoch Daha looked towards his lady sister, met her glance, and -was satisfied. “The choice lieth fair before us,” said he. “If we will -eat the egg, little need to debate whether the shell must go.” - -Mevrian rose from her seat laughing, and said, “Then let the council -rise, my lords.” And her eyes grew serious, and she said, “Shall they -make rhymes upon us that we of Demonland, whom men repute and hold -the mightiest lords in all the world, hung sheepishly back from this -high needful enterprise lest, our greatest captains being abroad, our -enemies might haply take us at home at disadvantage? It shall not be -said of the women of Demonland that they upheld such counsels.” - - - - - IX: SALAPANTA HILLS - - OF THE LANDING OF LORD JUSS AND HIS COMPANIONS IN OUTER IMPLAND - AND THEIR MEETING WITH ZELDORNIUS, HELTERANIUS, AND JALCANAIUS - FOSTUS; AND OF THE TIDINGS TOLD BY MIVARSH, AND THE DEALINGS OF - THE THREE GREAT CAPTAINS ON THE HILLS OF SALAPANTA. - - -On the thirty and first day after that council held in Krothering, the -fleet of Demonland put to sea from Lookinghaven: eleven dragons of war -and two great ships of burthen, bound for the uttermost seas of earth -in quest of the Lord Goldry Bluszco. Eighteen hundred Demons fared -on that expedition, and not a man among them that was not a complete -soldier. For five days they rowed southaway on a windless sea, and on -the sixth the sea-cliffs of Goblinland came out of the haze on their -starboard bow. They rowed south along the land, and on the tenth day -out from Lookinghaven passed under the Ness of Ozam, journeying thence -four days with a favouring wind over the open seas to Sibrion. But now, -when they had rounded that dark promontory and were about steering east -along the coast of Impland the More, and less than ten days’ journey -lay betwixt them and their haven in Muelva, a dismal tempest suddenly -surprised them. For forty days it swept them in hail and sleet over -wide-wallowing ocean, without a star, without a course; till, on a -fierce midnight of wind and darkness and roaring waters was Juss’s -and Spitfire’s ship and other four in her company driven on the rocks -on a lee shore and broken in pieces. Hardly, and after long battling -among great waves, those brethren won ashore, weary and hurt. In the -inhospitable light of a wet and windy dawn they mustered on the beach -such of their folk as had escaped out of the mouth of destruction; and -they were three hundred and thirty and three. - -Spitfire, beholding these things, spake and said, “This land hath a -villanous look stirreth my remembrance, as but to behold verjuice -soureth the mouth of him who once tasted thereof. Rememberest thou this -land?” - -Juss scanned the low long coast-line that swept north and west to an -estuary, and beyond ran westwards till it was lost in the scud and -driving spray. Desolate birds flew above the welter of the surges. He -said, “Certainly this is Arlan Mouth, where least of all I had choosed -to come a-land with so small a head of men. Yet shalt thou prove here, -as it hath ever been, how all occasions are but steps for us to climb -fame by.” - -“Our ships lost,” cried Spitfire, “and the more part of our men, and -worst of all, Brandoch Daha that is worth ten thousand. Easilier shall -a little ant bib this ocean dry, than shall we in this taking perform -our enterprise.” And he cursed and blasphemed, saying, “Cursed be the -malice of the sea, which, having broke our power, now speweth us ashore -here to our mere undoing; and so hath done great succour to the King of -Witchland, and unto all the world beside great damage.” - -But Juss answered him, “Think not that these contrary winds come of -fortune or by the influence of malignant and combustive stars. This -weather bloweth out of Carcë. Even as these very waves thou beholdest -have each his back-wash or undertow, so followeth after every sending -an undertow of evil hap, whereby, albeit in essence a less deadly -thing, many have been drowned and washed away who stood unremoved -against the main stroke of the breaker. So were we twice since that day -brought near to our bane: first, when our judgement being darkened with -a strange distraction we went up with Gaslark against Carcë; next, when -this storm wrecked us here by Arlan Mouth. Though by mine art I rebated -the King’s sending, yet against the maleficial undertow that followed -it my charms avail not, nor the virtues of all sorcerous herbs that -grow.” - -“Are these things so, and wilt thou yet be temperate?” said Spitfire. - -“Content thee,” said Juss. “The sands run down. A certain time only -runneth this stream for our hurt; it must now have well nigh spent -itself, and it were too perilous for him to conjure a second time, as -last May he conjured in Carcë.” - -“Who told thee that?” asked Spitfire. - -“I do but conjecture it,” answered he, “from my studying of certain -prophetic writings touching the princes of that blood and line. Whereby -it appeareth (yet not clearly, but riddlewise) that if one and the same -King, essaying a second time in his own person an enterprise in that -kind, should fail, and the powers of darkness destroy him, then is not -his life spilt alone (as it fortuned aforetime unto Gorice VII. at his -first attempt), but there shall be an end for ever of the whole house -of Gorice which hath for so many generations reigned in Carcë.” - -“Well,” said Spitfire, “so stand we to our chance. Old muckhills will -bloom at last.” - - • • • • • - -Now for nineteen days fared those brethren and their company eastward -through Outer Impland: first across a country of winding sleepy rivers -and reedy lakes innumerable, then by rolling uplands and champaign -ground. At length, on an even, they came upon a heath running up -eastward to a range of tumbled hills. The hills were not lofty nor -steep, but rugged of outline and their surface rough with crags and -boulders, so that it was a maze of little eminences and valleys grown -upon by heather and fern and rank sad-coloured grass, with stunted -thorn trees and junipers harbouring in the clefts of the rocks. On the -water-shed, as on an horse’s withers, looking west to the red October -sunset and south to the far line of the Didornian Sea, they came upon a -spy-fortalice, old and desolate, and one sitting in the gate. For very -joy their hearts melted within them, when they knew him for none other -than Brandoch Daha. - -So they embraced him as one beyond hope risen from the grave. And he -said, “Through the Straits of Melikaphkhaz was I borne, and wrecked at -last on the lonely shore ten leagues southward from this spot, whither -I won alone, having lost my ship and all my dear companions. In my -mind it was that ye must fare by this road to Muelva if ye suffered -shipwreck in the outer coasts of Impland. - -“Harken,” he said, “and I will tell you a wonder. A seven-night have -I awaited you in this roosting-stead of daws and owls. And it is a -caravanserai of great armies that pass by in the wilderness, and -having parleyed with two I await the third. For well I think that -here I have made discovery of a great mystery, one that hath engaged -the speculations of wise men for years. For on that day of my coming -hither, when sunset was red, as now you see it, behold an army marching -up from the east with great flags a-flaunting in the wind and all kinds -of music. Which I beholding, methought if these be enemies, then goeth -down my life’s days with honour, and if friends, then cometh provender -from those waggons of burthen that follow this army. A weighty -argument; since not so much as the smell of victuals had I, save nasty -nuts and berries of the open field, since I came forth of the sea. -So went I, taking my weapons, on the walls of this spy-fortalice and -hailed them, bidding them say forth their quality. And he that was -their captain rode up under the walls, and hailed me with all courtesy -and noble port. And who think ye ’twas?” - -They answered nought. - -“One that hath been famous,” said he, “up and down the earth for a -marvellous valorous and brave soldier of fortune. Have ye forgot that -enterprise of Gaslark that had its burying in Impland?” - -“Was he little and dark,” asked Juss, “like a keen dagger suddenly -unsheathed at midnight? Or bright with the splendour of a pennoned -spear at a jousting on high holiday? Or was he dangerous of aspect like -an old sword, rusty in the midst but bright at point and edge, brought -forth for deeds of destiny at the fated day?” - -“Thine arrow striketh in the triple ring o’ the mark,” said Lord -Brandoch Daha. “Great of growth he was, and a very peacock of splendour -in his panoply of war; and a great pitch-black stallion bare him. So I -spake him fair, saying, ‘O most magnificent and godlike Helteranius, -conqueror in an hundred fights, what makest thou these long years in -Outer Impland with this great head of men? And what dark lodestone -draws you these nine years, since with great sound of trumpets and -tramp of horses thou and Zeldornius and Jalcanaius Fostus went forth -to make Impland Gaslark’s footstool; since which time all the world -believeth you lost and dead?’ And he beheld me with alien eyes, and -made answer, ‘O Brandoch Daha, the world journeyeth to its silly will, -but I fare alway with my purpose before me. Be it nine years, or but -nine moons, or nine ages, what care I? Zeldornius would I encounter -and engage him in battle, that still fleeth before my face. Eat and -drink with me to-night; but think not to detain me nor to turn me to -idle thoughts beside my purpose. For with the dawning of the day I must -forth again in quest of Zeldornius.’ - -“So I ate and drank and was merry that night with Helteranius in his -pavilion of silk and gold. And with the dawn he marshalled his army and -marched westward toward the plains. - -“And on the third day, as I sat without this wall, cursing your slow -coming, behold an army marching from the east and one leading them -mounted on a small dun horse; and he was clad in black armour shining -like the raven’s wing, with black eagle’s plumes in his helm, and eyes -like the eyes of a cat-a-mountain, full of sparkling flame. Little was -he, and fierce of face, and lithe, and hard to look on and tireless to -look on like a stoat. And I hailed him from where I sat, saying, ‘O -most notable and puissant Jalcanaius Fostus, shatterer of the hosts of -men, whitherward over the lonely heaths forlorn, thou and thy great -armament?’ And he lighted down from his horse, and took me by the arms -with both his hands, and said, ‘If a man dream, to speak with dead -men betokens profit. And art not thou of the dead, O Brandoch Daha? -For in forgotten days, that now spring up in my mind as flowers in a -weed-choked garden after many years, so bloomest thou in my memory: -great among the great ones of the world that was, thou and thine house -in Krothering above the sea-lochs in many-mountained Demonland. But -oblivion, like a sounding sea, soundeth betwixt me and those days; -and the noise of the surf stoppeth mine ears, and the mist of the sea -darkeneth mine eyes that strain for a sight of those far times and the -deeds thereof. Yet for those dead days’ sake, eat with me and drink -with me to-night, since here for a night once more I pitch my moving -tent on Salapanta Hills. And to-morrow I fare onward. For never may -rest bring balm to my soul until I find out Helteranius and smite his -head from his shoulders. Great shame to him but little marvel is it, -that he still courseth before me as an hare. For traitors were ever -dastards. And who ever heard tell of a more hellish devilish damned -traitor than he? Nine years ago, when Zeldornius and I made ready to -decide our quarrels by battle, word came to me in a lucky hour how -that this Helteranius with cunning colubrine and malice viperine and -sleights serpentine went about to attack me in the rear. So turned I -right about to crush him, but the fat chuff-cat was fled.’ - -“So spake Jalcanaius Fostus; and I ate and drank with him that night, -and caroused with him in his tent. And at break of day he struck camp -and rode westaway with his army.” - -Brandoch Daha ceased, and looked eastward toward the gates of night. -And lo, an army faring up from the lower moor-lands, toward them on -the ridge, horsemen and footmen in dense array, and their captain on a -great brown horse riding in the van. Long-limbed he was and lean, all -armed in dusty rusty armour hacked and dinted in an hundred fights, -with worn leather gauntlets on his hands and a faded campaigning -cloak thrown back from his shoulders. He carried his casque at his -saddle-bow and his head was bare: the head of an old lean hunting-dog, -with white hair swept back from a rugged brow where blue veins showed; -great-nosed and bony-faced, with huge bushy white moustachios and -eyebrows, and blue eyes gleaming from cavernous eye-sockets. His horse -was curst-looking, with ears laid back and blood-shed dangerous eyes, -and he in the saddle sat erect and unyielding as a lance. - -When he and his army came up upon the ridge, he drew rein and hailed -the Demons. And he said, “On every ninth day these nine years have I -beheld this lonely place of earth, as I pursued after Jalcanaius Fostus -that still eludeth me and still fleeth before me; and this is strange, -since he was ever a great fighter and engaged these nine years past -to do battle with me. And now fear cometh upon me that eld draweth a -veil of illusion athwart mine eyes, portending the approach of death -or ever I perform my will. For here in the uncertain light of evening -rise up before me shapes and semblances as of guests of Gaslark the -king in Zajë Zaculo in days gone by: old friends of Gaslark’s out -of many-mountained Demonland: Brandoch Daha, that slew the King of -Witchland, and Spitfire of Owlswick, and Juss his brother, the same -which had lordship over all the Demons ere we fared to Impland. Ghosts -and back-comers of a world forgot. But if ye be right flesh and blood, -speak and discover yourselves.” - -Juss answered him, “O most redoubtable Zeldornius and in war -invincible, well might a man expect spirits of the dead on these quiet -hills about cockshut time. And if thou deem us such, how much more -shall we, that be wanderers new-shipwrecked out of hungry seas, suppose -thee but a shade, and these great hosts of thine but fetches of the -dead that be departed, steaming up from Erebus as daylight dies?” - -“O most renowned and redoubtable Zeldornius,” said Brandoch Daha, “thou -wast once my guest in Krothering. To resolve thy doubts and ours, bid -us to supper. It were matter indeed if spirits bodiless were able to -bib wine and eat up earthly bake-meats.” - -So Zeldornius let pitch his tents, and appointed the fifth hour before -midnight for those lords of Demonland to sup with him. Ere they -forgathered in Zeldornius’s tent they spake among themselves, and -Spitfire said, “Was ever such a wonder or such a pitiful trick o’ the -Fates as bringeth these three great captains to waste the remnant of -their days in this remote wilderness? Doubt not but there’s practice in -it, that maketh them march these long years this changeless round, each -fleeing one that would fain encounter him, and still seeking another -that flies before him.” - -“Never went man with that look of the eyes Zeldornius hath,” said Juss, -“but he was a man ensorcelled.” - -“With such a look,” said Brandoch Daha, “went Helteranius and -Jalcanaius. But mark our interest. ’Twere good to break the charm and -claim their help for our pains. Shall’s show the old lion all the truth -of this fact to-night?” - -So spake Lord Brandoch Daha, and those brethren deemed his counsel -good. So at supper, when men’s hearts were gladdened with good cheer, -the Lord Juss sate him down by Zeldornius and opened to him this -matter, saying, “O renowned Zeldornius, how befalleth it that these -nine years thou pursuest after Jalcanaius Fostus, shatterer of hosts, -and what was your difference betwixt you that set you by the ears?” - -Zeldornius said, “O Juss, must I answer thee by reasons in this matter -that is ruled by the high stars and Fate that lays men at their length? -Enough for thee that unpeace befell betwixt me and Jalcanaius mighty -in war, and it was confirmed between us that by the arbitrament of the -bloody field we should end our difference. But he abode me not; and -these nine years I seek to meet with him in vain.” - -“There was a third of you,” said Juss. “What tidings hast thou of -Helteranius?” - -Zeldornius answered him, “No tidings.” - -“Wilt thou,” said Juss, “that I enlighten thee hereon?” - -Zeldornius said, “Thou and thy fellows alone of the children of men -have spoken with me since these things began. For they that dwelt in -this region fled years ago, accounting the place accursed. A paltry -crew they were, and mean meat enow for our swords. Speak then, if thou -meanest me well, and show me all.” - -“Helteranius,” said Lord Juss, “pursueth thee these nine years, as -thou pursuest Jalcanaius Fostus. My cousin here hath seen him but six -days ago, in this same place, and talked with him, and shook him by -the hand, and knew his mind. Surely ye be all three holden by some -enchantment, that being old comrades in arms so strangely and to so -little purpose do pursue each the other’s life. I prithee let us be -a mean betwixt you all to set you at one again, and free you from so -strange a thraldom.” - -But with those words spoken was Zeldornius grown red as blood. In a -while he said, “It were black treachery. I’ll not credit it.” - -But Lord Brandoch Daha answered him, “From his own lips I received -it, O Zeldornius. And thereto I plight my troth. This besides, that -Jalcanaius Fostus was turned from battling with thee nine years ago (as -he himself hath told me, and made firm his saying with most fearful -oaths), by intelligence brought him that Helteranius was in that hour -minded to take him in the rear.” - -“Ay,” said Spitfire, “and unto this day he marcheth on Helteranius’s -track as thou on his.” - -With those words spoken was Zeldornius grown yellow as old parchment, -and his white moustachios bristled like a lion’s. He sat silent awhile, -then, resting upon Juss the cold and steady gaze of his blue eyes, “The -world comes back to me,” he said, “and this memory therewith, that they -of Demonland were truth-tellers whether to friend or foe, and ever -held it shame to cog and lie.” All they bowed gravely and he said with -a great lowe of anger in his eyes, “This Helteranius deviseth against -me, it well appeareth, the self-same treachery whereof he was falsely -accused to Jalcanaius Fostus. There were no likelier place to crush -him than here on Salapanta ridge. If I stand here to abide his onset, -the lie of the ground befriendeth me, and Jalcanaius cometh at his -heels to gather the broken meats after I have made my feast.” - -Brandoch Daha said in Juss’s ear, “Our peacemaking taketh a pretty -turn. Heels i’ the air: monstrous unladylike!” - -But nought they could say would move Zeldornius. So in the end they -offered him their backing in this adventure. “And when the day is won, -then shalt thou lend us thy might in our enterprise, and aid us in our -wars with Witchland that be for to come.” - -But Zeldornius said, “O Juss and ye lords of Demonland, I yield you -thanks; but ye shall not meddle in this battle. For we came three -captains with our hosts unto this land, and beheld the land, and laid -it under us. Ours it is, and if any meddle or make with us, were we -never so set at enmity one with another, we must join together in -his despite and bring him to bane. Be still then, and behold and -see what birth fate shall bring forth on Salapanta Hills. But if I -live, thereafter shall ye have my friendship and my help in all your -enterprises whatsoever.” - -For awhile he sat without speech, his stark veined hands clenched on -the board before him; then rising, went without word to the door of -his pavilion to study the night. Then turned he back to Lord Juss, and -spake to him: “Know that when this moon now past was but three days -old I began to be troubled with a catarrh or rheum which yet troubleth -me; and well thou wottest that whoso falleth sick on the third day -of the moon’s age, he will die. To-night also is a new moon, and of -a Saturday; and that betokeneth fighting and bloodshed. Also the -wind bloweth from the south; and he that beginneth that game with a -south wind shall have the victory. With such uncertain blackness and -brightness openeth the door of Fate before me.” - -Juss bowed his head, and said, “O Zeldornius, thy speech is sooth.” - -“I was ever a fighter,” said Zeldornius. - -Far into the night sat they in the tent of renowned Zeldornius, -drinking and talking of life and destiny and old wars and the chances -of war and great adventure; and an hour after midnight they parted, and -Juss and Spitfire and Brandoch Daha betook them to their rest in the -watch-tower on the ridge of Salapanta. - - • • • • • - -On such wise passed three days by, Zeldornius waiting with his army on -the hill, and the Demons supping with him nightly. And on the third -day he drew out his army as for battle, expecting Helteranius. But -neither that day nor the next nor the next day following brought sight -nor tidings of Helteranius, and strange it seemed to them and hard to -guess what turn of fortune had delayed his coming. The sixth night was -overcast, and mirk darkness covered the earth. When supper was done, -as the Demons betook themselves to their sleeping place, they heard -a scuffle and the voice of Brandoch Daha, who went foremost of them, -crying, “Here have I caught a heath-dog’s whelp. Give me a light. What -shall I do with him?” - -Men were roused and lights brought, and Brandoch Daha surveyed that -which he held pinioned by the arms, caught by the entrance to the -fortalice: one with scared wild-beast eyes in a swart face, golden -ear-rings in his ears, and a thick close-cropped beard interlaced -with gold wire twisted among its curls; bare-armed, with a tunic of -otter-skin and wide hairy trousers cross-stitched with silver thread, -a circlet of gold on his head, and frizzed dark hair plaited in two -thick tails that hung forward over his shoulders. His lips were drawn -back, like a cross-grained dog’s snarling betwixt fear and fierceness, -and his white pointed teeth and the whites of his eyes flashed in the -torch-light. - -So they had him with them into the tower, and set him before them, and -Juss said, “Fear not, but tell forth unto us thy name and lineage, and -what brings thee lurking in the night about our lodging. We mean thee -no hurt, so thou practise not against us and our safety. Art thou a -dweller in this Impland, or a wanderer, like as we be, from countries -beyond the seas? hast thou companions, and if so, where be they, and -what, and how many?” - -And the stranger gnashed upon them with his teeth, and said, “O devils -transmarine, mock not but slay.” - -Juss entreated him kindly, giving him meat and drink, and in a while -made question of him once more, “What is thy name?” - -Whereto he replied, “O devil transmarine, pity of thine ignorance sith -thou know’st not Mivarsh Faz.” And he fell into a great passion of -weeping, crying aloud, “Woe worth the woe that is fallen upon all the -land of Impland!” - -“What’s the matter?” said Juss. - -But Mivarsh ceased not to wail and to lament, saying, “Out harrow and -alas for Fax Fay Faz and Illarosh Faz and Lurmesh Faz and Gandassa -Faz and all the great ones in the land!” And when they would have -questioned him he cried again, “Curse ye bitterly Philpritz Faz, which -betrayed us into the hand of the devil ultramontane in the castle of -Orpish.” - -“What devil is this thou speakest of?” asked Juss. - -“He hath come,” he answered, “over the mountains out of the north -country, that alone was able to answer Fax Fay Faz. And the voice of -his speech is like unto the roaring of a bull.” - -“Out of the north?” said Juss, giving him more wine, and exchanging -glances with Spitfire and Brandoch Daha. “I would hear more of this.” - -Mivarsh drank, and said, “O devils transmarine, ye give me strong -waters which comfort my soul, and ye speak me soft words. But shall I -not fear soft words? Soft words were spoke by this devil ultramontane, -when he and cursed Philpritz spake soft words unto us in Orpish: unto -me, and unto Fax Fay Faz, and Gandassa, and Illarosh, and unto all of -us, after our overthrow in battle against him by the banks of Arlan.” - -Juss asked, “Of what fashion is he to look on?” - -“He hath a great yellow beard beflecked with gray,” said Mivarsh, “and -a bald shiny pate, and standeth big as a neat.” - -Juss spake apart to Brandoch Daha, “There’s matter in it if this be -true.” And Brandoch Daha poured forth unto Mivarsh and bade him drink -again, saying, “O Mivarsh Faz, we be strangers and guests in wide-flung -Impland. Be it known to thee that our power is beyond ken, and our -wealth transcendeth the imagination of man. Yet is our benevolence of -like measure with our power and riches, overflowing as honey from our -hearts unto such as receive us openly and tell us that which is. Only -be warned, that if any lie to us or assay craftily to delude us, not -the mantichores that lodge beyond the Moruna were more dreadful to that -man than we.” - -Mivarsh quailed, but answered him, “Use me well, you were best, and you -shall hear from me nought but what is true. First with the sword he -vanquished us, and then with subtle words invited us to talk with him -in Orpish, pretending friendship. But they are all dead that harkened -to him. For when he held them closed up in the council room in Orpish, -himself went secretly forth, while his men laid hands on Gandassa Faz -and on Illarosh Faz, and on Fax Fay Faz that was greatest amongst us, -and on Lurmesh Faz, and cut off their heads and set them up on poles -without the gate. And our armies that waited without were dismayed -to see the heads of the Fazes of Impland so set on poles, and the -armies of the devils ultramontane still threatening us with death. And -this big bald bearded devil spake them of Impland fair, saying these -that he had slain were their oppressors and he would give them their -hearts’ desire if they would be his men, and he would make them free, -every man, and share out all Impland amongst them. So were the common -sort befooled and brought under by this bald devil from beyond the -mountains, and now none withstandeth him in all Impland. But I that -had held back from his council in Orpish, fearing his guile, hardly -escaped from my folk that rose against me. And I fled into the woods -and wildernesses.” - -“Where last saw ye him?” asked Juss. - -Mivarsh answered him, “A three days’ journey north-west of this, at -Tormerish in Achery.” - -“What made he there?” asked Juss. - -Mivarsh answered, “Still devising evil.” - -“Against whom?” asked Juss. - -Mivarsh answered, “Against Zeldornius, which is a devil transmarine.” - -“Give me some more wine,” said Juss, “and fill again a beaker for -Mivarsh Faz. I do love nought so much as tale-telling a-nights. With -whom devised he against Zeldornius?” - -Mivarsh answered, “With another devil from beyond seas; I have forgot -his name.” - -“Drink and remember,” said Juss; “or if ’tis gone from thee, paint me -his picture.” - -“He hath about my bigness,” said Mivarsh, that was little of stature. -“His eyes be bright, and he somewhat favoureth this one,” pointing -at Spitfire, “though belike he hath not all so fierce a face. He is -lean-faced and dark of skin. He goeth in black iron.” - -“Is he Jalcanaius Fostus?” asked Juss. - -And Mivarsh answered, “Ay.” - -“There’s musk and amber in thy speech,” said Juss. “I must have more of -it. What mean they to do?” - -“This,” said Mivarsh: “As I sat listening in the dark without their -tent, it was made absolute that this Jalcanaius had been deceived in -supposing that another devil transmarine, whom men call Helteranius, -had been minded to do treacherously against him; whereas, as the -bald devil made him believe, ’twas no such thing. And so it was -concluded that Jalcanaius should send riders after Helteranius to make -peace between them, and that they two should forthwith join to kill -Zeldornius, one falling on him in the front and the other in the rear.” - -“So ’tis come to this?” said Spitfire. - -“And when they have Zeldornius slain,” said Mivarsh, “then must they -help this bald-pate in his undertakings.” - -“And so pay him for his redes?” said Juss. - -And Mivarsh answered, “Even so.” - -“One thing more I would know,” said Juss. “How great a following hath -he in Impland?” - -“The greatest strength that he can make,” answered Mivarsh, “of devils -ultramontane is as I think two score hundred. Many Imps beside will -follow him, but they have but our country weapons.” - -Lord Brandoch Daha took Juss by the arm and went forth with him into -the night. The frosted grass crunched under their tread: strange stars -blinked in the south in a windy space betwixt cloud and sleeping earth, -Achernar near the meridian bedimming all lesser fires with his pure -radiance. - -“So cometh Corund upon us as an eagle out of the sightless blue,” said -Brandoch Daha, “with twelve times our forces to let us the way to the -Moruna, and all Impland like a spaniel smiling at his heel; if indeed -this simple soul say true, as I think he doth.” - -“Thou fallest all of a holiday mood,” said Juss, “at the first scenting -of this great hazard.” - -“O Juss,” cried Brandoch Daha, “thine own breath lighteneth at it, and -thy words come more sprightly forth. Are not all lands, all airs, one -country unto us, so there be great doings afoot to keep bright our -swords?” - -Juss said, “Ere we sleep I will inform Zeldornius how the wind -shifteth. He must face both ways now, till this field be cut. This -battle must not go against him, for his enemies be engaged (if Mivarsh -say true) to give the help of their swords to Corund.” - -So fared they to Zeldornius’s tent, and Juss said by the way, “Of -this be satisfied: Corund bareth not blade on the hills of Salapanta. -The King hath intelligencers to keep him advertised of all enchanted -circles of the world, and well he knoweth what influences move here, -and with what danger to themselves outlanders draw sword here, as -witness the doom fulfilled these nine years by these three captains. -Therefore will Corund, instructed in these things by his master that -sent him, look to deal with us otherwhere than in this charmed corner -of the earth. And he were as well take a bear by the tooth as meddle -in the fight that now impendeth, and so bring upon him these three -seasoned armies joined in one for his destruction.” - -They passed the guard with the watchword, and waked Zeldornius and told -him all. And he, muffled in his great faded cloak, went forth to see -guards were set and all sure against an onslaught from either side. And -standing by his tent to give good night to those lords of Demonland, he -said, “It likes me better so. I ever was a fighter; so, one fight more.” - - • • • • • - -The morrow dawned and passed uneventful, and the morrow’s morrow. But -on the third morning after the coming of Mivarsh, behold, east and -west, great armies marching from the plains, and Zeldornius’s array -drawn up to meet them on the ridge, with weapons gleaming and horses -champing and trumpets blowing the call of battle. No greetings were -betwixt them, nor so much as a message of challenge or defiance, but -Jalcanaius with his black riders rushed to the onset from the west -and Helteranius from the east. But Zeldornius, like a gray old wolf, -snapping now this way now that, stemmed the tide of their onslaught. So -began the battle great and fell, and continued the livelong day. Thrice -on either side Zeldornius went forth with a great strength of chosen -men, in so much that his enemies fled before him as the partridge -doth before the sparrow-hawk; and thrice did Helteranius and thrice -Jalcanaius Fostus rally and hurl him back, mounting the ridge anew. - -But when it drew near to evening, and the dark day darkened toward -night, the battle ceased, dying down suddenly into silence. Those lords -of Demonland came down from their tower, and walked among the heaps of -dead men slain toward a place of slabby rock in the neck of the ridge. -Here, alone on that field, Zeldornius leaned upon his spear, gazing -downward in a study, his arm cast about the neck of his old brown horse -who hung his head and sniffed the ground. Through a rift in the western -clouds the sun glared forth; but his beams were not so red as the ling -and bent of Salapanta field. - -As Juss and his companions drew near, no sound was heard save from the -fortalice behind them: a discordant plucking of a harp, and the voice -of Mivarsh where he walked and harped before the walls, singing this -ditty: - - The hag is astride - This night for to ride; - The devill and shee together: - Through thick and through thin, - Now out and then in, - Though ne’er so foule be the weather. - - A thorn or a burr - She takes for a spurre, - With a lash of a bramble she rides now; - Through brakes and through bryars, - O’re ditches and mires, - She followes the spirit that guides now. - - No beast for his food - Dares now range the wood, - But husht in his laire he lies lurking; - While mischeifs, by these, - On land and on seas, - At noone of night are a working. - - The storme will arise - And trouble the skies; - This night, and more for the wonder, - The ghost from the tomb - Affrighted shall come, - Cal’d out by the clap of the thunder. - -When they were come to Zeldornius, the Lord Juss spake saying, “O most -redoubtable Zeldornius, renowned in war, surely thy prognostications by -the moon were true. Behold the noble victory thou hast obtained upon -thine enemies.” - -But Zeldornius answered him not, still gazing downwards before his -feet. And there was Helteranius fallen, the sword of Jalcanaius Fostus -standing in his heart, and his right hand grasping still his own sword -that had given Jalcanaius his bane-sore. - -So looked they awhile on those two great captains slain. And Zeldornius -said, “Speak not comfortably to me of victory, O Juss. So long as that -sword, and that, had his master alive, I did not more desire mine own -safety than their destruction who with me in days gone by made conquest -of wide Impland. And see with what a poisoned violence they laboured my -undoing, and in what an unexpected ruin are they suddenly broken and -gone.” And as one grown into a deep sadness he said, “Where were all -heroical parts but in Helteranius? and a man might make a garment for -the moon sooner than fit the o’erleaping actions of great Jalcanaius, -who now leaveth but his body to bedung that earth that was lately -shaken at his terror. I have waded in red blood to the knee; and in -this hour, in my old years, the world is become for me a vision only -and a mock-show.” - -Therewith he looked on the Demons, and there was that in his eyes that -stayed their speech. - -In a while he spake again, saying, “I sware unto you my furtherance if -I prevailed. But now is mine army passed away as wax wasteth before the -fire, and I wait the dark ferryman who tarrieth for no man. Yet, since -never have I wrote mine obligations in sandy but in marble memories, -and since victory is mine, receive these gifts: and first thou, O -Brandoch Daha, my sword, since before thou wast of years eighteen -thou wast accounted the mightiest among men-at-arms. Mightily may it -avail thee, as me in time gone by. And unto thee, O Spitfire, I give -this cloak. Old it is, yet may it stand thee in good stead, since this -virtue it hath that he who weareth it shall not fall alive into the -hand of his enemies. Wear it for my sake. But unto thee, O Juss, give I -no gift, for rich thou art of all good gifts: only my good will give I -unto thee, ere earth gape for me.” - -So they thanked him well. And he said, “Depart from me, since now -approacheth that which must complete this day’s undoing.” - -So they fared back to the spy-fortalice, and night came down on the -hills. A great wind moaning out of the hueless west tore the clouds -as a ragged garment, revealing the lonely moon that fled naked -betwixt them. As the Demons looked backward in the moonlight to where -Zeldornius stood gazing on the dead, a noise as of thunder made the -firm land tremble and drowned the howling of the wind. And they beheld -how earth gaped for Zeldornius. - -After that, the dark shut down athwart the moon, and night and silence -hung on the field of Salapanta. - - - - - X: THE MARCHLANDS OF THE MORUNA - - OF THE JOURNEY OF THE DEMONS FROM SALAPANTA TO ESHGRAR OGO: - WHEREIN IS SET DOWN CONCERNING THE LADY OF ISHNAIN NEMARTRA, - AND OTHER NOTABLE MATTERS. - - -Mivarsh Faz came betimes on the morrow to the lords of Demonland, and -found them ready for the road. So he asked them where their journey -lay, and they answered, “East.” - -“Eastward,” said Mivarsh, “all ways lead to the Moruna. None may go -thither and not die.” - -But they laughed and answered him, “Do not too narrowly define our -power, sweet Mivarsh, restraining it to thy capacities. Know that -our journey is a matter determined of, and it is fixed with nails of -diamond to the wall of inevitable necessity.” - -They took leave of him and went their ways with their small army. For -four days they journeyed through deep woods carpeted with the leaves -of a thousand autumns, where at midmost noon twilight dwelt among -hushed woodland noises, and solemn eyeballs glared nightly between the -tree-trunks, gazing on the Demons as they marched or took their rest. - -The fifth day, and the sixth and the seventh, they journeyed by the -southern margin of a gravelly sea, made all of sand and gravel and no -drop of water, yet ebbing and flowing alway with great waves as another -sea doth, never standing still and never at rest. And always by day and -night as they came through the desert was a great noise very hideous -and a sound as it were of tambourines and trumpets; yet was the place -solitary to the eye, and no living thing afoot there save their company -faring to the east. - -On the eighth day they left the shore of that waterless sea and came -by broken rocky ground to the descent to a wide vale, shelterless and -unfruitful, with the broad stony bed of a little river winding in the -strath. Here, looking eastward, they beheld in the lustre of a late -bright-shining sun a castle of red stone on a terrace of the fell-side -beyond the valley. Juss said, “We can be there before nightfall, and -there will we take guesting.” When they drew near they were ware, -betwixt sunset and moonlight, of one sitting on a boulder in their path -about a furlong from the castle, as if gazing on them and awaiting -their coming. But when they came to the boulder there was no such -person. So they passed on their way toward the castle, and when they -looked behind them, lo, there was he sitting on the boulder bearing his -head in his hands: a strange thing, which would cause any man to abhor. - -The castle gate stood open, and they entered in, and so by the -court-yard to a great hall, with the board set as for a banquet, and -bright fires and an hundred candles burning in the still air; but no -living thing was there to be seen, nor voice heard in all that castle. -Lord Brandoch Daha said, “In this land to fail of marvels only for an -hour were the strangest marvel. Banquet we lightly and so to bed.” -So they sat down and ate, and drank of the honey-sweet wine, till -all thoughts of war and hardship and the unimagined perils of the -wilderness and Corund’s great army preparing their destruction faded -from their minds, and the spirit of slumber wooed their weary frames. - -Then a faint music, troublous in its voluptuous wild sweetness, floated -on the air, and they beheld a lady enter on the dais. Beautiful she -seemed beyond the beauty of mortal women. In her dark hair was the -likeness of the horned moon in honey-coloured cymophanes every stone -whereof held a straight beam of light imprisoned that quivered and -gleamed as sunbeams quiver wading in the clear deeps of a summer sea. -She wore a coat-hardy of soft crimson silk, close fitting, so that she -did truly apparel her apparel and with her own loveliness made it more -sumptuous. She said, “My lords and guests in Ishnain Nemartra, there be -beds of down and sheets of lawn for all of you that be aweary. But know -that I keep a sparrow-hawk sitting on a perch in the eastern tower, and -he that will wake my sparrow-hawk this night long, alone without any -company and without sleep, I shall come to him at the night’s end and -shall grant unto him the first thing that he will ask me of earthly -things.” So saying she departed like a dream. - -Brandoch Daha said, “Cast we lots for this adventure.” - -But Juss spake against it, saying, “There’s likely some guile herein. -We must not in this accursed land suffer aught to seduce our minds, but -follow our set purpose. We must not be of those who go forth for wool -and come home shorn.” - -Brandoch Daha and Spitfire mocked at this, and cast lots between -themselves. And the lot fell upon Lord Brandoch Daha. “Thou shalt not -deny me this,” said he to Lord Juss, “else will I never more do thee -good.” - -“I never could yet deny thee anything,” answered Juss. “Art not thou -and I finger and thumb? Only forget not, whatsoe’er betide, wherefore -we be come hither.” - -“Art not thou and I finger and thumb?” said Brandoch Daha. “Fear -nothing, O friend of my heart. I’ll not forget it.” - -So while the others slept, Brandoch Daha waked the sparrow-hawk, -night-long in the eastern chamber. For all that the cold hillside -without was rough with hoar-frost the air was warm in that chamber and -heavy, disposing strongly to sleep. Yet he closed not an eye, but still -beheld the sparrow-hawk, telling it stories and tweaking it by the tail -ever and anon as it grew drowsy. And it answered shortly and boorishly, -looking upon him malevolently. - -And with the golden dawn, behold that lady in the shadowy doorway. At -her entering in, the sparrow-hawk clicked its wings as in anger, and -without more ado tucked its beak beneath its wing and went to sleep. -But that bright lady, looking on the Lord Brandoch Daha, spake and -said, “Require it of me, my Lord Brandoch Daha, that which thou most -desirest of earthly things.” - -But he, as one bedazzled, stood up saying, “O lady, is not thy beauty -at the dawn of day an irradiation that might dispel the mists of hell? -My heart is ravished with thy loveliness and only fed with thy sight. -Therefore thy body will I have, and none other thing earthly.” - -“Thou art a fool,” she cried, “that knowest not what thou askest. -Of all things earthly mightest thou have taken choose; but I am not -earthly.” - -He answered, “I will have nought else.” - -“Thou dost embrace then a great danger,” said she, “and loss of all thy -good luck, for thee and thy friends beside.” - -But Brandoch Daha, seeing how her face became on a sudden such as -are new-blown roses at the dawning, and her eyes wide and dark with -love-longing, came to her and took her in his arms and fell to kissing -and embracing of her. On such wise they abode for awhile, that he was -ware of no thing else on earth save only the sense-maddening caress of -that lady’s hair, the perfume of it, the kiss of her mouth, the swell -and fall of that lady’s breast straining against his. She said in his -ear softly, “I see thou art too masterful. I see thou art one who -will be denied nothing, on whatsoever thine heart is set. Come.” And -they passed by a heavy-curtained doorway into an inner chamber, where -the air was filled with the breath of myrrh and nard and ambergris, a -fragrancy as of sleeping loveliness. Here, amid the darkness of rich -hangings and subdued glints of gold, a warm radiance of shaded lamps -watched above a couch, great and broad and downy-pillowed. And here for -a long time they solaced them with love and all delight. - -Even as all things have an end, he said at the last, “O my lady, -mistress of hearts, here would I abide ever, abandoning all else for -thy love sake. But my companions tarry for me in thine halls below, -and great matters wait on my direction. Give me thy divine mouth once -again, and bid me adieu.” - -She was lying as if asleep across his breast: smooth-skinned, white, -warm, with shapely throat leaned backward against the spice-odorous -darknesses of her unbound hair; one tress, heavy and splendid like -a python, coiled between white arm and bosom. Swift as a snake she -turned, clinging fiercely about him, pressing fiercely again to his -her insatiable sweet fervent lips, crying that here must he dwell unto -eternity in the intoxication of perfect love and pleasure. - -But when in the end, gently constraining her to loose him and let him -go, he arose and clothed and armed him, that lady caught about her a -translucent robe of silvery sheen, as when the summer moon veils but -not hides with a filmy cloud her beauties’ splendour, and so standing -before him spake and said, “Go then. This is got by casting of pearls -to hogs. I may not slay thee, since over thy body I have no other -power. But because thou shalt not laugh overmuch, having required me -of that which was beyond the pact and being enjoyed is now slighted of -thee and abused, therefore know, proud man, that three gifts I here -will grant thee thereto of mine own choosing. Thou shalt have war and -not peace. He that thou worst hatest shall throw down and ruin thy fair -lordship, Krothering Castle and the mains thereof. And though vengeance -shall overtake him at the last, by another’s hand than thine shall it -come, and to thine hand shall it be denied.” - -Therewith she fell a-weeping. And the Lord Brandoch Daha, with great -resolution, went forth from the chamber. And looking back from the -threshold he beheld both that and the outer chamber void of lady and -sparrow-hawk both. And a great weariness came suddenly upon him. So, -going down, he found Lord Juss and his companions sleeping on the -cold stones, and the banquet hall empty of all gear and dank with -moss and cobwebs, and bats sleeping head-downward among the crumbling -roof-beams; nor was any sign of last night’s banqueting. So Brandoch -Daha roused his companions, and told Juss how he had fared, and of the -weird laid on him by that lady. - -And they went greatly wondering forth of the accursed castle of Ishnain -Nemartra, glad to come off so scatheless. - - • • • • • - -On that ninth day of their journey from Salapanta they came through -waste lands of stone and living rock, where not so much as an -earth-louse stirred with life. Gorges split the earth here and there: -rock-walled labyrinths of gloom, unvisited for ever by sunbeam or -moonbeam, turbulent in their depths with waters that leaped and churned -for ever, never still and never silent. So was that day’s journey -tortuous, turning now up now down along those river banks to find -crossing places. - -When they were halted at noon by the deepest rift they had yet beheld, -there came one hastening to them and fell down by Juss and lay panting -face to earth as breathless from long running. And when they raised -him up, behold Mivarsh Faz, harnessed in the gear of a black rider -of Jalcanaius Fostus and armed with axe and sword. Great was his -agitation, and he speechless for lack of breath. They used him kindly, -and gave him to drink from a great skin of wine, Zeldornius’s gift, -and anon he said, “He hath armed countless hundreds of our folk with -weapons taken from Salapanta field. These, led by the devils his sons, -with Philpritz cursed of the gods, be gone before to hold all the -ways be-east of you. Night and day have I ridden and run to warn you. -Himself, with his main strength of devils ultramontane, rideth hot on -your tracks.” - -They thanked him well, marvelling much that he should be at such pains -to advertise them of their danger. “I have eat your salt,” answered he, -“and moreover ye are against this naughty wicked baldhead that came -over the mountains to oppress us. Therefore I would do you good. But -I can little. For I am poor, that was rich in land and fee. And I am -alone, that had formerly five hundred spearmen lodging in my halls to -do my pleasure.” - -“There’s need to do quickly that we do,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “How -great start of him hadst thou?” - -“He must be upon you in an hour or twain,” said Mivarsh, and fell -a-weeping. - -“To cope him in the open,” said Juss, “were great glory, and our -certain death.” - -“Give me to think, but a minute’s while,” said Brandoch Daha. And while -they busked them he walked musing by the lip of that ravine, switching -pebbles over the edge with his sword. Then he said, “This is without -doubt that stream Athrashah spoken of by Gro. O Mivarsh, runneth not -this flood of Athrashah south to the salt lakes of Ogo Morveo, and was -there not thereabout a hold named Eshgrar Ogo?” - -Mivarsh answered, “This is so. But never heard I of any so witless -as go thither. Here where we stand is the land fearsome enough; but -Eshgrar Ogo standeth at the very edge of the Moruna. No man hath -harboured there these hundred years.” - -“Standeth it yet?” said Brandoch Daha. - -“For all I wot of,” answered Mivarsh. - -“Is it strong?” he asked. - -“In old times it was thought no place stronger,” answered Mivarsh. “But -ye were as well die here by the hand of the devils ultramontane, as -there be torn in pieces by bad spirits.” - -Brandoch Daha turned him about to Juss. “It is resolved?” said he. Juss -answered, “Yea;” and forthwith they started at a great pace south along -the river. - -“Methought you should have been gotten clean away ere this,” said -Mivarsh as they went. “This is but nine or ten days’ journey, and ’tis -now the sixteenth day since ye did leave me on Salapanta Hills.” - -Brandoch Daha laughed. “Sixteenth!” said he. “Thou’lt be rich, Mivarsh, -if thou reckon gold pieces o’ this fashion thou dost days. This is but -our ninth day’s journey.” - -But Mivarsh stood stoutly to it, saying that was the seventh day after -their departure when Corund first came to Salapanta, “And I fleeing now -nine days before his face chanced on your tracks, and now out of all -expectation on you.” Nor for all their mocking would he be turned from -this. And when, as they still pressed through the desert southward, the -sun declined and set in a clear sky, behold the moon a little past her -full: and Juss saw that she was seven days older than on that night she -was when they came to Ishnain Nemartra. So he showed this wonder to -Brandoch Daha and Spitfire, and much they marvelled. - -“You are much to thank me,” said Brandoch Daha, “that I kept you not a -full year awaiting of me. Beshrew me, but that seven days’ space seemed -to me but an hour!” - -“Likely enow, to thee,” said Spitfire somewhat greenly. “But all we -slept the week out on the cold stones, and I am half lamed yet with the -ache on’t.” - -“Nay,” said Juss, laughing; “I will not have thee blame him.” - -The moon was high when they came to the salt lakes that lay one a -little above the other in rocky basins. Their waters were like rough -silver, and the harsh face of the wilderness was black and silver in -the moonlight; and it was as a country of dead bones, blind and sterile -beneath the moon. Betwixt the lakes a rib of rock rose monstrous to -an eminence crag-begirt on every side, with dark walls ringing it -round above the cliffs. Thither they hastened, and as they climbed and -stumbled among the crags a she-owl squeaked on the battlements and took -wing ghost-like above their heads. The teeth of Mivarsh Faz chattered, -but right glad were the Demons as they won up the rocks and entered at -last into that deserted burg. Without, the night was still; but fires -were burning in the desert eastward, and others as they watched were -kindled in the west, and soon was the circle joined of twinkling points -of red round about Eshgrar Ogo and the lakes. - -Juss said, “By an hour have we forestalled them. And behold how he -ringeth us about as men ring a scorpion in flame.” - -So they made all sure, and set the guard, and slept until past dawn. -But Mivarsh slept not, for terror of hob-thrushes from the Moruna. - - - - - XI: THE BURG OF ESHGRAR OGO - - OF THE LORD CORUND’S BESIEGING OF THE BURG ABOVE THE LAKES OF OGO - MORVEO, AND WHAT BEFELL THERE BETWIXT HIM AND THE DEMONS; - WHEREIN IS ALSO AN EXAMPLE HOW THE SUBTLE OF HEART STANDETH AT - WHILES IN GREAT DANGER OF HIS DEATH. - - -When the Lord Corund knew of a surety that he held them of Demonland -shut up in Eshgrar Ogo, he let dight supper in his tent, and made a -surfeit of venison pasties and heath-cocks and lobsters from the lakes. -Therewith he drank nigh a skinful of sweet dark Thramnian wine, in such -sort that an hour before midnight, becoming speechless, he was holpen -by Gro to his couch and slept a great deep sleep till morning. - -Gro watched in the tent, his right elbow propped on the table, his -cheek resting on his hand, his left hand reaching forward with delicate -fingers toying now with the sleek heavy perfumed masses of his beard, -now with the goblet whence he sipped ever and anon pale wine of -Permio. His thoughts inconstant as insects in a summer garden flitted -ever round and round, resting now on the scene before him, the great -form of his general wrapt in slumber, now on other scenes sundered by -great gulfs of time or weary leagues of perilous ways. So that in one -instant he saw in fancy that lady in Carcë welcoming her lord returned -in triumph, and him, may be, crowned king of new-vanquished Impland; -and in the next, swept from the future to the past, beheld again the -great sending-off in Zajë Zaculo, Gaslark in his splendour on the -golden stairs saying adieu to those three captains and their matchless -armament foredoomed to dogs and crows on Salapanta Hills; and always, -like a gloomy background darkening his mind, loomed the yawning void, -featureless and vast, beyond the investing circle of Corund’s armies: -the blind blasted emptiness of the Moruna. - -With such fancies, melancholy like a great bird settled upon his soul. -The lights flickered in their sockets, and for very weariness Gro’s -eyelids closed at length over his large liquid eyes; and, too tired to -stir from his seat to seek his couch, he sank forward on the table, his -head pillowed on his arms. The red glow of the brazier slumbered ever -dimmer and dimmer on the slender form and black shining curls of Gro, -and on the mighty frame of Corund where he lay with one great spurred -booted leg stretched along the couch, and the other flung out sideways -resting its heel on the ground. - - • • • • • - -It wanted but two hours of noon when a sunbeam striking through an -opening in the hangings of the tent shone upon Corund’s eyelids, and -he awoke fresh and brisk as a youth on a hunting morn. He waked Gro, -and giving him a clap on the shoulder, “Thou wrongest a fair morn,” he -said. “The devil damn me black as buttermilk if it be not great shame -in thee; and I, that was born this day six and forty years as the years -come about, busy with mine affairs since sunrise.” - -Gro yawned and smiled and stretched himself. “O Corund,” he said, -“counterfeit a livelier wonder in thine eyes if thou wilt persuade me -thou sawest the sunrise. For I think that were as new and unexampled a -sight for thee as any I could produce to thee in Impland.” - -Corund answered, “Truly I was seldom so uncivil as surprise Madam -Aurora in her nightgown. And the thrice or four times I have been -forced thereto, taught me it is an hour of crude airs and mists which -breed cold dark humours in the body, an hour when the torch of life -burns weakest. Within there! bring me my morning draught.” - -The boy brought two cups of white wine, and while they drank, “A -thin ungracious drink is the well-spring,” said Corund: “a drink for -queasy-stomached skipjacks: for sand-levericks, not for men. And -like it is the day-spring: an ungrateful sapless hour, an hour for -stab-i’-the-backs and cold-blooded betrayers. Ah, give me wine,” he -cried, “and noon-day vices, and brazen-browed iniquities.” - -“Yet there’s many a deed of profit done by owl-light,” said Gro. - -“Ay,” said Corund: “deeds of darkness: and there, my lord, I’m still -thy scholar. Come, let’s be doing.” And taking his helm and weapons, -and buckling about him his great wolfskin cloak, for the air was eager -and frosty without, he strode forth. Gro wrapped himself in his fur -mantle, drew on his lambskin gloves, and followed him. - -“If thou wilt take my rede,” said Lord Gro, as they looked on Eshgrar -Ogo stark in the barren sunlight, “thou’lt do this honour to Philpritz, -which I question not he much desireth, to suffer him and his folk take -first knock at this nut. It hath a hard look. Pity it were to waste -good Witchland blood in a first assault, when these vile instruments -stand ready to our purpose.” - -Corund grunted in his beard, and with Gro at his elbow paced in silence -through the lines, his keen eyes searching ever the cliffs and walls of -Eshgrar Ogo, till in some half-hour’s space he halted again before his -tent, having made a complete circuit of the burg. Then he spake: “Put -me in yonder fighting-stead, and if it were only but I and fifty able -lads to man the walls, yet would I hold it against ten thousand.” - -Gro held his peace awhile, and then said, “Thou speakest this in all -sadness?” - -“In sober sadness,” answered Corund, squaring his shoulders at the burg. - -“Then thou’lt not assault it?” - -Corund laughed. “Not assault it, quotha! That were a sweet tale ’twixt -the boiled and the roast in Carcë: I’d not assault it!” - -“Yet consider,” said Gro, taking him by the arm. “So shapeth the matter -in my mind: they be few and shut up in a little place, in this far -land, out of reach and out of mind of all succour. Were they devils -and not men, the multitude of our armies and thine own tried qualities -must daunt them. Be the place never so cocksure, doubt not some doubts -thereof must poison their security. Therefore before thou risk a -repulse which must dispel those doubts use thine advantage. Bid Juss to -a parley. Offer him conditions: it skills not what. Bribe them out into -the open.” - -“A pretty plan,” said Corund. “Thou’lt merit wisdom’s crown if thou -canst tell me what conditions we can offer that they would take. And -whilst thou riddlest that, remember that though thou and I be masters -hereabout, another reigns in Carcë.” - -Lord Gro laughed gently. “Leave jesting,” he said, “O Corund, and never -hope to gull me to believe thee such a babe in policy. Shall the King -blame us though we sign away Demonland, ay and the wide world besides, -to Juss to lure him forth? Unless indeed we were so neglectful of our -interest as suffer him, once forth, to elude our clutches.” - -“Gro,” said Corund, “I love thee. But hardly canst thou receive things -as I receive them that have dealt all my days in great stripes, given -and taken in the open field. I sticked not to take part in thy notable -treason against these poor snakes of Impland that we trapped in Orpish. -All’s fair against such dirt. Besides, great need was upon us then, and -hard it is for an empty sack to stand straight. But here is far other -matter. All’s won here but the plucking of the apple: it is the very -main of my ambition to humble these Demons openly by the terror of my -sword: wherefore I will not use upon them cogs and stops and all thy -devilish tricks, such as should bring me more of scorn than of glory in -the eyes of aftercomers.” - -So speaking, he issued command and sent an herald to go forth beneath -the battlements with a flag of truce. And the herald cried aloud and -said: “From Corund of Witchland unto the lords of Demonland: thus saith -the Lord Corund, ‘I hold this burg of Eshgrar Ogo as a nut betwixt the -crackers. Come down and speak with me in the batable land before the -burg, and I swear to you peace and grith while we parley, and thereto -pledge I mine honour as a man of war.’” - -So when the due ceremonies were performed, the Lord Juss came down -from Eshgrar Ogo and with him the lords Spitfire and Brandoch Daha and -twenty men to be their bodyguard. Corund went to meet them with his -guard about him, and his four sons that fared with him to Impland, -Hacmon, namely, and Heming and Viglus and Dormanes: sullen and dark -young men, likely of look, of a little less fierceness than their -father. Gro, fair to see and slender as a racehorse, went at his side, -muffled to the ears in a cloak of ermine; and behind came Philpritz -Faz helmed with a winged helm of iron and gold. A gilded corselet had -Philpritz, and trousers of panther’s skin, and he came a-slinking at -Corund’s heel as the jackal slinks behind the lion. - -When they were met, Juss spake and said, “This would I know first, my -Lord Corund, how thou comest hither, and why, and by what right thou -disputest with us the ways eastward out of Impland.” - -Corund answered, leaning on his spear, “I need not answer thee in this. -And yet I will. How came I? I answer thee, over the cold mountain -wall of Akra Skabranth. And ’tis a feat hath not his fellow in man’s -remembrance until now, with so great a force and in so short a space of -time.” - -“’Tis well enough,” said Juss. “I’ll grant thee thou hast outrun mine -expectations of thee.” - -“Next thou demandest why,” said Corund. “Suffice it for thee that the -King hath had advertisement of your farings into Impland and your -designs therein. For to bring these to nought am I come.” - -“There was many firkins of wine drunk dry in Carcë,” said Hacmon, “and -many a noble person senseless and spewing on the ground ere morn for -pure delight, when cursed Goldry was made away. We were little minded -these healths should be proved vain at last.” - -“Was that ere thou rodest from Permio?” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “The -merry god wrought of our side that night, if my memory cheat not.” - -“Thou demandest last,” said Corund, “my Lord Juss, by what right I -bar your passage eastaway. Know, therefore, that not of mine own -self speak I unto you, but as vicar in wide-fronted Impland of our -Lord Gorice XII., King of Kings, most glorious and most great. There -remaineth no way out for you from this place save into the rigour of -mine hands. Therefore let us, according to the nature of great men, -agree to honourable conditions. And this is mine offer, O Juss. Yield -up this burg of Eshgrar Ogo, and therewith thy sealed word in a writing -acknowledging our Lord the King to be King of Demonland and all ye his -quiet and obedient subjects, even as we be. And I will swear unto you -of my part, and in the name of our Lord the King, and give you hostages -thereto, that ye shall depart in peace whither you list with all love -and safety.” - -The Lord Juss scowled fiercely on him. “O Corund,” he said, “as little -as we do understand the senseless wind, so little we understand thy -word. Oft enow hath gray silver been in the fire betwixt us and you -Witchlanders; for the house of Gorice fared ever like the foul toad, -that may not endure to smell the sweet savour of the vine when it -flourisheth. So for this time we will abide in this hold, and withstand -your most grievous attempts.” - -“With free honesty and open heart,” said Corund, “I made thee this -offer; which if thou refuse I am not thy lackey to renew it.” - -Gro said, “It is writ and sealed, and wanteth but thy sign-manual, my -Lord Juss,” and with the word he made sign to Philpritz Faz that went -to Lord Juss with a parchment. Juss put the parchment by, saying, “No -more: ye are answered,” and he was turning on his heel when Philpritz, -louting forward suddenly, gave him a great yerk beneath the ribs with a -dagger slipped from his sleeve. But Juss wore a privy coat that turned -the dagger. Howbeit with the greatness of that stroke he staggered -aback. - -Now Spitfire clapped hand to sword, and the other Demons with him, but -Juss loudly shouted that they should not be truce-breakers but know -first what Corund would do. And Corund said, “Dost hear me, Juss? I had -neither hand nor part in this.” - -Brandoch Daha drew up his lip and said, “This is nought but what was to -be looked for. It is a wonder, O Juss, that thou shouldst hold out to -such mucky dogs a hand without a whip in it.” - -“Such strokes come home or miss merely,” said Gro softly in Corund’s -ear, and he hugged himself beneath his cloak, looking with furtive -amusement on the Demons. But Corund with a face red in anger said, -“It is thine answer, O Juss?” And when Juss said, “It is our answer, -O Corund,” Corund said violently, “Then red war I give you; and this -withal to testify our honour.” And he let lay hands on Philpritz Faz -and with his own hand hacked the head from his body before the eyes -of both their armies. Then in a great voice he said, “As bloodily as -I have revenged the honour of Witchland on this Philpritz, so will I -revenge it on all of you or ever I draw off mine armies from these -lakes of Ogo Morveo.” - -So the Demons went up into the burg, and Gro and Corund home to their -tents. “This was well thought on,” said Gro, “to flaunt the flag of -seeming honesty, and with the motion rid us of this fellow that -promised ever to grow thorns to make uneasy our seat in Impland.” - -Corund answered him not a word. - -In that same hour Corund marshalled his folk and assaulted Eshgrar Ogo, -placing those of Impland in the van. They prospered not at all. Many a -score lay slain without the walls that night; and the obscene beasts -from the desert feasted on their bodies by the light of the moon. - - • • • • • - -Next morning the Lord Corund sent an herald and bade the Demons again -to a parley. And now he spake only to Brandoch Daha, bidding him -deliver up those brethren Juss and Spitfire, “And if thou wilt yield -them to my pleasure, then shalt thou and all thy people else depart in -peace without conditions.” - -“An offer indeed,” said Lord Brandoch Daha; “if it be not in mockery. -Say it loud, that my folk may hear.” - -Corund did so, and the Demons heard it from the walls of the burg. - -Lord Brandoch Daha stood somewhat apart from Juss and Spitfire and -their guard. “Libel it me out,” he said. “For good as I now must deem -thy word, thine hand and seal must I have to show my followers ere they -consent with me in such a thing.” - -“Write thou,” said Corund to Gro. “To write my name is all my -scholarship.” And Gro took forth his ink-horn and wrote in a great -fair hand this offer on a parchment. “The most fearfullest oaths thou -knowest,” said Corund; and Gro wrote them, whispering, “He mocketh us -only.” But Corund said, “No matter: ’tis a chance worth our chancing,” -and slowly and with labour signed his name to the writing, and gave it -to Lord Brandoch Daha. - -Brandoch Daha read it attentively, and tucked it in his bosom beneath -his byrny. “This,” he said, “shall be a keepsake for me of thee, my -Lord Corund. Reminding me,” and here his eyes grew terrible, “so long -as there surviveth a soul of you in Witchland, that I am still to teach -the world throughly what that man must abide that durst affront me with -such an offer.” - -Corund answered him, “Thou art a dapper fellow. It is a wonder that -thou wilt strut in the tented field with all this womanish gear. Thy -shield: how many of these sparkling baubles thinkest thou I’d leave in -it were we once come to knocks?” - -“I’ll tell thee,” answered Lord Brandoch Daha. “For every jewel that -hath been beat out of my shield in battle, never yet went I to war that -I brought not home an hundredfold to set it fair again, from the spoils -I obtained from mine enemies. Now this will I bid thee, O Corund, for -thy scornful words: I will bid thee to single combat, here and in this -hour. Which if thou deny, then art thou an open and apparent dastard.” - -Corund chuckled in his beard, but his brow darkened somewhat. “I pray -what age dost thou take me of?” said he. “I bare a sword when thou was -yet in swaddling clothes. Behold mine armies, and what advantage I hold -upon you. Oh, my sword is enchanted, my lord: it will not out of the -scabbard.” - -Brandoch Daha smiled disdainfully, and said to Spitfire, “Mark well, I -pray thee, this great lord of Witchland. How many true fingers hath a -Witch on his left hand?” - -“As many as on his right,” said Spitfire. - -“Good. And how many on both?” - -“Two less than a deuce,” said Spitfire; “for they be false fazarts to -the fingers’ ends.” - -“Very well answered,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. - -“You’re pleasant,” Corund said. “But your fusty jibes move me not a -whit. It were a simple part indeed to take thine offer when all wise -counsels bid me use my power and crush you.” - -“Thou’dst kill me soon with thy mouth,” said Brandoch Daha. “In sum, -thou art a brave man when it comes to roaring and swearing: a big -bubber of wine, as men say to drink drunk is an ordinary matter with -thee every day in the week; but I fear thou durst not fight.” - -“Doth not thy nose swell at that?” said Spitfire. - -But Corund shrugged his shoulders. “A footra for your baits!” he -answered. “I am scarce bounden to do such a kindness to you of -Demonland as lay down mine advantage and fight alone, against a -sworder. Your old foxes are seldom taken in springes.” - -“I thought so,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “Surely the frog will have -hair sooner than any of you Witchlanders shall dare to stand me.” - -So ended the second parley before Eshgrar Ogo. The same day Corund -essayed again to storm the hold, and grievous was the battle and hard -put to it were they of Demonland to hold the walls. Yet in the end were -Corund’s men thrown back with great slaughter. And night fell, and they -returned to their tents. - - • • • • • - -“Mine invention,” said Gro, when on the next day they took counsel -together, “hath yet some contrivance in her purse which shall do us -good, if it fall but out to our mind. But I doubt much it will dislike -thee.” - -“Well, say it out, and I’ll give thee my censure on’t,” said Corund. - -Gro spake: “It hath been shown we may not have down this tree by -hewing above ground. Let’s dig about the roots. And first give them a -seven-night’s space for reckoning up their chances, that they may see -morning and evening from the burg thine armies set down to invest them. -Then, when their hopes are something sobered by that sight, and want of -action hath trained their minds to sad reflection, call them to parley, -going straight beneath the wall; and this time shalt thou address -thyself only to the common sort, offering them all generous and free -conditions thou canst think on. There’s little they can ask that we’d -not blithely grant them if they’ll but yield us up their captains.” - -“It mislikes me,” answered Corund. “Yet it may serve. But thou shalt be -my spokesman herein. For never yet went I cap in hand to ask favour of -the common muck o’ the world, nor I will not do it now.” - -“O but thou must,” said Gro. “Of thee they will receive in good faith -what in me they would account but practice.” - -“That’s true enough,” said Corund. “But I cannot stomach it. Withal, I -am too rough spoken.” - -Gro smiled. “He that hath need of a dog,” he said, “calleth him ‘Sir -Dog.’ Come, come, I’ll school thee to it. Is it not a smaller thing -than months of tedious hardship in this frozen desert? Bethink thee -too what honour it were to thee to ride home to Carcë with Juss and -Spitfire and Brandoch Daha bounden in a string.” - -Not without much persuasion was Corund won to this. Yet at the last -he consented. For seven days and seven nights his armies sat before -the burg without sign; and on the eighth day he bade the Demons to -a parley, and when that was granted went with his sons and twenty -men-at-arms up the great rib of rock between the lakes, and stood below -the east wall of the burg. Bitter chill was the air that day. Powdery -snow light-fallen blew in little wisps along the ground, and the rocks -were slippery with an invisible coat of ice. Lord Gro, being troubled -with an ague, excused himself from that faring and kept his tent. - -Corund stood beneath the walls with his folk about him. “I have -matter of import,” he cried, “and ’tis needful it be heard both by -the highest and the lowest amongst you. Ere I begin, summon them all -to this part of the walls: a look-out is enow to shield you of the -other parts from any sudden onslaught, which besides I swear to you is -clean without my purpose.” So when they were thick on the wall above -him, he began to say, “Soldiers of Demonland, against you had I never -quarrel. Behold how in this Impland I have made freedom flourish as a -flower. I have strook off the heads of Philpritz Faz, and Illarosh, -and Lurmesh, and Gandassa, and Fax Fay Faz, that were the lords and -governors here aforetime, abounding in all the bloody and crying sins, -oppression, gluttony, idleness, cruelty, and extortion. And of my -clemency I delivered all their possessions unto their subjects to hold -and order after their own will alone, who before did put on patience -and endured with much heart-burning the tyranny of these Fazes, until -by me they found a remedy for their more freedom. In like manner, not -against you do I war, O men of Demonland; but against the tyrants that -enforced you for their private gain to suffer hardship and death in -this remote country: namely, against Juss and Spitfire that came hither -in quest of their cursed brother whom the might of the great King hath -happily removed. And against Brandoch Daha am I come, of insolence -untamed, who liveth a chambering idle life eating and drinking and -exercising tyranny, while the pleasant lands of Krothering and Failze -and Stropardon, and the dwellers in the isles, Sorbey, Morvey, Strufey, -Dalney, and Kenarvey, and they of Westmark and all the western parts -of Demonland groan and wax lean to feed his luxury. To your hurt only -have these three led you, as cattle to the slaughter. Deliver them to -me, that I may chastise them, and I, that am great viceroy of Impland, -will make you free and grant you lordships: a lordship for every man of -you in this my realm of Impland.” - -While Corund spake, the Lord Brandoch Daha went among the soldiers -bidding them hold their peace and not murmur against Corund. But those -that were most hot for action he sent about an errand preparing what he -had in mind. So that when the Lord Corund ceased from his declaiming, -all was ready to hand, and with one voice the soldiers of Lord Juss -that stood upon the wall cried out and said, “This is thy word, O -Corund, and this our answer,” and therewith flung down upon him from -pots and buckets and every kind of vessel a deluge of slops and offal -and all filth that came to hand. A bucketful took Corund in the mouth, -befouling all his great beard, so that he gave back spitting. And he -and his, standing close beneath the wall, and little expecting so -sudden and ill an answer, fared shamefully, being all well soused and -bemerded with filth and lye. - -Therewith went up great shouts of laughter from the walls. But Corund -cried out, “O filth of Demonland, this is my latest word with you. And -though ’twere ten years I must besiege this hold, yet will I take it -over your heads. And very ill to do with shall ye find me in the end, -and very puissant, proud, mighty, cruel, and bloody in my conquest.” - -“What, lads?” said Lord Brandoch Daha, standing on the battlements, -“have we not fed this beast with pig-wash enow, but he must still be -snuffing and snouking at our gate? Give me another pailful.” - -So the Witches returned to their tents with great shame. So hot was -Corund in anger against the Demons, that he stayed not to eat nor drink -at his coming down from Eshgrar Ogo, but straight gathered force and -made an assault upon the burg, the mightiest he had yet essayed; and -his picked men of Witchland were in that assault, and he himself to -lead them. Thrice by main fury they won up into the hold, but all were -slain who set foot therein, and Corund’s young son Dormanes wounded -to the death. And at even they drew off from the battle. There fell -in that fight an hundred and four-score Demons, and of the Imps five -hundred, and of the Witches three hundred and ninety and nine. And many -were hurt of either side. - - • • • • • - -Wrath sat like thunder on Corund’s brow at supper-time. He ate his meat -savagely, thrusting great gobbets in his mouth, crunching the bones -like a beast, taking deep draughts of wine with every mouthful, which -yet dispelled not his black mood. Over against him Gro sat silent, -shivering now and then for all that he kept his ermine cloak about him -and the brazier stood at his elbow. He made but a poor meal, drinking -mulled wine in little sips and dipping little pieces of bread in it. - -So wore without speech that cheerless and unkindly meal, until the Lord -Corund, looking suddenly across the board at Gro and catching his eye -studying him, said, “That was a bright star of thine and then shined -clear upon thee when thou tookest this bout of shivering fits and so -wentest not with me to be soused with muck before the burg.” - -“Who would have dreamed,” answered Gro, “of their using so base and -shameful a part?” - -“Not thou, I’ll swear,” said Corund, looking evilly upon him and -marking, as he thought, a twinkling light in Gro’s eyes. Gro shivered -again, sipped his wine, and shifted his glance uneasily under that -unfriendly stare. - -Corund drank awhile in silence, then flushing suddenly a darker red, -said, leaning heavily across the board at him, “Dost know why I said -‘not thou’?” - -“’Twas scarce needful, to thy friend,” said Gro. - -“I said it,” said Corund, “because I know thou didst look for another -thing when thou didst skulk shamming here.” - -“Another thing?” - -“Sit not there like some prim-mouthed miss feigning an innocence -all know well thou hast not,” said Corund, “or I’ll kill thee. Thou -plottedst my death with the Demons. And because thyself hast no shred -of honour in thy soul, thou hadst not the wit to perceive that their -nobility would shrink from such a betrayal as thy hopes entertained.” - -Gro said, “This is a jest I cannot laugh at; or else ’tis madman’s -brabble.” - -“Dissembling cur,” said Corund, “be sure that I hold him not less -guilty that holds the ladder than him that mounts the wall. It was thy -design they should smite us at unawares when we went up to them with -this proposal thou didst urge on me so hotly.” - -Gro made as if to rise. “Sit down!” said Corund. “Answer me; didst not -thou egg on the poor snipe Philpritz to that attempt on Juss?” - -“He told me on’t,” said Gro. - -“O, thou art cunning,” said Corund. “There too I see thy treachery. -Had they fallen upon us, thou mightest have thrown thyself safely upon -their mercy.” - -“This is foolishness,” said Gro. “We were far stronger.” - -“’Tis so,” said Corund. “When did I charge thee with wisdom and sober -judgement? With treachery I know thou art soaked wet.” - -“And thou art my friend!” said Gro. - -Corund said in a while, “I have long known thee to be both a subtle and -dissembling fox, and now I durst trust thee no more, for fear I should -fall further into thy danger. I am resolved to murther thee.” - -Gro fell back in his chair and flung out his arms. “I have been here -before,” he said. “I have beheld it, in moonlight and in the barren -glare of day, in fair weather and in hail and snow, with the great -winds charging over the wastes. And I knew it was accursed. From Morna -Moruna, ere I was born or thou, O Corund, or any of us, treason and -cruelty blacker than night herself had birth, and brought death to -their begetter and all his folk. From Morna Moruna bloweth this wind -about the waste to blast our love and bring us destruction. Ay, kill -me; I’ll not ward myself, not i’ the smallest.” - -“’Tis small matter, Goblin,” said Corund, “whether thou shouldst or no. -Thou art but a louse between my fingers, to kill or cast away as shall -seem me good.” - -“I was King Gaslark’s man,” said Gro, as if talking in a dream; “and -between a man and a boy near fifteen years I served him true and -costly. Yet it was my fortune in all that time and at the ending -thereof only to get a beard on my chin and remorse at heart. To -what scorned purpose must I plot against him? Pity of Witchland, of -Witchland sliding as then into the pit of adverse luck, ’twas that -made force upon me. And I served Witchland well: but fate ever fought -o’ the other side. I it was that counselled King Gorice XI. to draw -out from the fight at Kartadza. Yet wanton Fortune trod down the scale -for Demonland. I prayed him not wrastle with Goldry in the Foliot -Isles. Thou didst back me. Nought but rebukes and threats of death -gat I therefrom; but because my redes were set at nought, evil fell -upon Witchland. I helped our Lord the King when he conjured and made a -sending against the Demons. He loved me therefor and upheld me, but -great envy was raised up against me in Carcë for that fact. Yet I bare -up, for thy friendship and thy lady wife’s were as bright fires to warm -me against all the frosts of their ill-will. And now, for love of thee, -I fared with thee to Impland. And here by the Moruna where in old days -I wandered in danger and in sorrow, it is fitting I behold at length -the emptiness of all my days.” - -Therewith Gro fell silent a minute, and then began to say: “O Corund, -I’ll strip bare my soul to thee before thou kill me. It is most true -that until now, sitting before Eshgrar Ogo, it hath been present to -my heart how great an advantage we held against the Demons, and the -glory of their defence, so little a strength against us so many, and -the great glory of their flinging of us back, these things were a -splendour to my soul beholding them. Such glamour hath ever shone to me -all my life’s days when I behold great men battling still beneath the -bludgeonings of adverse fortune that, howsoever they be mine enemies, -it lieth not in my virtue to withhold from admiration of them and well -nigh love. But never was I false to thee, nor much less ever thought, -as thou most unkindly accusest me, to compass thy destruction.” - -“Thou dost whine like a woman for thy life,” said Corund. “Cowardly -hounds never stirred pity in me.” Yet he moved not, only looking dourly -on Gro. - -Gro plucked forth his own sword, and pushed it towards Corund -hilt-foremost across the board. “Such words are worse than -sword-thrusts betwixt us twain,” said he. “Thou shalt see how I’ll -welcome death. The King will praise thee, when thou showest the cause. -And it will be sweet news to Corinius and them that have held me in -their hate, that thy love hath cast me off, and thou hast rid them of -me at last.” - -But Corund stirred not. After a space, he filled another cup, and -drank, and sat on. And Gro sat motionless before him. At last Corund -rose heavily from his seat, and pushing Gro’s sword back across the -table, “Thou’dst best to bed,” said he. “But the night air’s o’er -shrewd for thine ague. Sleep on my couch to-night.” - - • • • • • - -The day dawned cold and gray, and with the dawn Corund ordered his -lines round about Eshgrar Ogo and sat down for a siege. For ten days -he sat before the burg, and nought befell from dawn till night, from -night till dawn: only the sentinels walked on the walls and Corund’s -folk guarded their lines. On the eleventh day came a bank of fog -rolling westward from the Moruna, chill and dank, blotting out the -features of the land. Snow fell, and the fog hung on the land, and -night came of such a pitchy blackness that even by torch-light a man -might not see his hand stretched forth at arm’s length before him. Five -days the fog held. On the fifth night, it being the twenty-fourth of -November, in the darkness of the third hour after midnight, the alarm -was sounded and Corund summoned by a runner from the north with word -that a sally was made from Eshgrar Ogo, and the lines bursten through -in that quarter, and fighting going forward in the mirk. Corund was -scarce harnessed and gotten forth into the night, when a second runner -came hot-foot from the south with tidings of a great fight thereaway. -All was confounded in the dark, and nought certain, save that the -Demons were broken out from Eshgrar Ogo. In a space, as Corund came -with his folk to the northern quarter and joined in the fight, came a -message from his son Heming that Spitfire and a number with him were -broken out at the other side and gotten away westward, and a great band -chasing him back towards Outer Impland; and therewith that more than -an hundred Demons were surrounded and penned in by the shore of the -lakes, and the burg entered and taken by Corund’s folk; but of Juss and -Brandoch Daha no certain news, save that they were not of Spitfire’s -company, but were with those against whom Corund went in person, -having fared forth northaway. So went the battle through the night. -Corund himself had sight of Juss, and exchanged shots with him with -twirl-spears in a lifting of the fog toward dawn, and a son of his bare -witness of Brandoch Daha in that same quarter, and had gotten a great -wound from him. - -When night was past, and the Witches returned from the pursuit, -Corund straitly questioned his officers, and went himself about the -battlefield hearing each man’s story and viewing the slain. Those -Demons that were hemmed against the lakes had all lost their lives, -and some were taken up dead in other parts, and some few alive. These -would his officers let slay, but Corund said, “Since I am king in -Impland, till that the King receive it of me, it is not this handful -of earth-lice shall shake my safety here; and I may well give them -their lives, that fought sturdily against us.” So he gave them peace. -And he said unto Gro, “Better that for every Demon dead in Ogo Morveo -ten should rise up against us, if but Juss only and Brandoch Daha were -slain.” - -“I’ll be in the tale with thee, if thou wilt proclaim them dead,” said -Gro. “And nothing is likelier, if they be gone with but two or three on -to the Moruna, than that such a tale should come true ere it were told -in Carcë.” - -“Pshaw!” said Corund, “to the devil with such false feathers. What’s -done shows brave enow without them: Impland conquered, Juss’s army -minced to a gallimaufry, himself and Brandoch Daha chased like runaway -thralls up on the Moruna. Where if devils tear them, ’tis my best wish -come true. If not, thou’lt hear of them, be sure. Dost think these can -survive on earth and not raise a racket that shall be heard from hence -to Carcë?” - - - - - XII: KOSHTRA PIVRARCHA - - OF THE COMING OF THE LORDS OF DEMONLAND TO MORNA MORUNA, WHENCE - THEY BEHELD THE ZIMIAMVIAN MOUNTAINS, SEEN ALSO BY GRO IN YEARS - GONE BY; AND OF THE WONDERS SEEN BY THEM AND PERILS UNDERGONE - AND DEEDS DONE IN THEIR ATTEMPT ON KOSHTRA PIVRARCHA, THE - WHICH ALONE OF ALL EARTH’S MOUNTAINS LOOKETH DOWN UPON KOSHTRA - BELORN; AND NONE SHALL ASCEND UP INTO KOSHTRA BELORN THAT HATH - NOT FIRST LOOKED DOWN UPON HER. - - -Now it is to be said of Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha that they, -finding themselves parted from their people in the fog, and utterly -unable to find them, when the last sound of battle had died away -wiped and put up their bloody swords and set forth at a great pace -eastward. Only Mivarsh fared with them of all their following. His -lips were drawn back a little, showing his teeth, but he carried -himself proudly as one who being resolved to die walks with a quiet -mind to his destruction. Day after day they journeyed, sometimes in -clear weather, sometimes in mist or sleet, over the changeless desert, -without a landmark, save here a little sluggish river, or here a piece -of rising ground, or a pond, or a clump of rocks: small things which -faded from sight amid the waste ere they were passed by a half-mile’s -distance. So was each day like yesterday, drawing to a morrow like to -it again. And always fear walked at their heel and sat beside them -sleeping: clanking of wings heard above the wind, a brooding hush of -menace in the sunshine, and noises out of the void of darkness as of -teeth chattering. So came they on the twentieth day to Morna Moruna, -and stood at even in the sorrowful twilight by the little round castle, -silent on Omprenne Edge. - -From their feet the cliffs dropped sheer. Strange it was, standing on -that frozen lip of the Moruna, as on the limit of the world, to gaze -southward on a land of summer, and to breathe faint summer airs blowing -up from blossoming trees and flower-clad alps. In the depths a carpet -of huge tree-tops clothed a vast stretch of country, through the midst -of which, seen here and there in a bend of silver among the woods, the -Bhavinan bore the waters of a thousand secret mountain solitudes down -to an unknown sea. Beyond the river the deep woods, blue with distance, -swelled to feathery hill-tops with some sharper-featured loftier -heights bodying cloudily beyond them. The Demons strained their eyes -searching the curtain of mystery behind and above those foot-hills; but -the great peaks, like great ladies, shrouded themselves against their -curious gaze, and no glimpse was shown them of the snows. - -Surely to be in Morna Moruna was to be in the death chamber of some -once lovely presence. Stains of fire were on the walls. The fair -gallery of open wood-work that ran above the main hall was burnt -through and partly fallen in ruin, the blackened ends of the beams that -held it jutting blindly in the gap. Among the wreck of carved chairs -and benches, broken and worm-eaten, some shreds of figured tapestries -rotted, the home now of beetles and spiders. Patches of colour, faded -lines, mildewed and damp with the corruption of two hundred years, -lingered to be the memorials, like the mummied skeleton of a king’s -daughter long ago untimely dead, of sweet gracious paintings on the -walls. Five nights and five days the Demons and Mivarsh dwelt in Morna -Moruna, inured to portents till they marked them as little as men mark -swallows at their window. In the still night were flames seen, and -flying forms dim in the moonlit air; and in moonless nights unstarred, -moans heard and gibbering accents: prodigies beside their beds, and -ridings in the sky, and fleshless fingers plucking at Juss unseen when -he went forth to make question of the night. - -Cloud and mist abode ever in the south, and only the foot-hills showed -of the great ranges beyond Bhavinan. But on the evening of the sixth -day before Yule, it being the nineteenth of December when Betelgeuze -stands at midnight on the meridian, a wind blew out of the north-west -with changing fits of sleet and sunshine. Day was fading as they -stood above the cliff. All the forest land was blue with shades of -approaching night: the river was dull silver: the wooded heights -afar mingled their outlines with the towers and banks of turbulent -deep blue vapour that hurtled in ceaseless passage through the upper -air. Suddenly a window opened in the clouds to a space of clean wan -wind-swept sky high above the shaggy hills. Surely Juss caught his -breath in that moment, to see those deathless ones where they shone -pavilioned in the pellucid air, far, vast, and lonely, most like to -creatures of unascended heaven, of wind and of fire all compact, too -pure to have aught of the gross elements of earth or water. It was as -if the rose-red light of sun-down had been frozen to crystal and these -hewn from it to abide to everlasting, strong and unchangeable amid -the welter of earthborn mists below and tumultuous sky above them. -The rift ran wider, eastward and westward, opening on more peaks and -sunset-kindled snows. And a rainbow leaning to the south was like a -sword of glory across the vision. - -Motionless, like hawks staring from that high place of prospect, Juss -and Brandoch Daha looked on the mountains of their desire. - -Juss spake, haltingly as one talking in a dream. “The sweet smell, -this gusty wind, the very stone thy foot standeth on: I know them all -before. There’s not a night since we sailed out of Lookinghaven that I -have not beheld in sleep these mountains and known their names.” - -“Who told thee their names?” asked Lord Brandoch Daha. - -“My dream,” Juss answered. “And first I dreamed it in mine own bed in -Galing when I came home from guesting with thee last June. And they be -true dreams that are dreamed there.” And he said, “Seest thou where the -foot-hills part to a dark valley that runneth deep into the chain, and -the mountains are bare to view from crown to foot? Mark where, beyond -the nearer range, bleak-visaged precipices, cobweb-streaked with huge -snow corridors, rise to a rampart where the rock towers stand against -the sky. This is the great ridge of Koshtra Pivrarcha, and the loftiest -of those spires his secret mountain-top.” - -As he spoke, his eye followed the line of the eastern ridge, where the -towers, like dark gods going down from heaven, plunge to a parapet -which runs level above a curtain of avalanche-fluted snow. He fell -silent as his gaze rested on the sister peak that east of the gap -flamed skyward in wild cliffs to an airy snowy summit, soft-lined as a -maiden’s cheek, purer than dew, lovelier than a dream. - -While they looked the sunset fires died out upon the mountains, leaving -only pale hues of death and silence. “If thy dream,” said Lord Brandoch -Daha, “conducted thee down this Edge, over the Bhavinan, through -yonder woods and hills, up through the leagues of ice and frozen rock -that stand betwixt us and the main ridge, up by the right road to the -topmost snows of Koshtra Belorn: that were a dream indeed.” - -“All this it showed me,” said Juss, “up to the lowest rocks of the -great north buttress of Koshtra Pivrarcha, that must first be scaled -by him that would go up to Koshtra Belorn. But beyond those rocks not -even a dream hath ever climbed. Ere the light fades, I’ll show thee our -pass over the nearer range.” He pointed where a glacier crawled betwixt -shadowy walls down from a torn snow-field that rose steeply to a -saddle. East of it stood two white peaks, and west of it a sheer-faced -and long-backed mountain like a citadel, squat and dark beneath the -wild sky-line of Koshtra Pivrarcha that hung in air beyond it. - -“The Zia valley,” said Juss, “that runneth into Bhavinan. There lieth -our way: under that dark bastion called by the Gods Tetrachnampf.” - - • • • • • - -On the morrow Lord Brandoch Daha came to Mivarsh Faz and said, “It is -needful that this day we go down from Omprenne Edge. I would for no -sake leave thee on the Moruna, but ’tis no walking matter to descend -this wall. Art thou a cragsman?” - -“I was born,” answered he, “in the high valley of Perarshyn by the -upper waters of the Beirun in Impland. There boys scarce toddle -ere they can climb a rock. This climb affrights me not, nor those -mountains. But the land is unknown and terrible, and many loathly -ones inhabit it, ghosts and eaters of men. O devils transmarine, and -my friends, is it not enough? Let us turn again, and if the Gods save -our lives we shall be famous for ever, that came unto Morna Moruna and -returned alive.” - -But Juss answered and said, “O Mivarsh Faz, know that not for fame -are we come on this journey. Our greatness already shadoweth all the -world, as a great cedar tree spreading his shadow in a garden; and -this enterprise, mighty though it be, shall add to our glory only so -much as thou mightest add to these forests of the Bhavinan by planting -of one more tree. But so it is, that the great King of Witchland, -practising in darkness in his royal palace of Carcë such arts of -grammarie and sendings magical as the world hath not been grieved -with until now, sent an ill thing to take my brother, the Lord Goldry -Bluszco, who is dear to me as mine own soul. And They that dwell in -secret sent me word in a dream, bidding me, if I would have tidings of -my dear brother, inquire in Koshtra Belorn. Therefore, O Mivarsh, go -with us if thou wilt, but if thou wilt not, why, fare thee well. For -nought but my death shall stay me from going thither.” - -And Mivarsh, bethinking him that if the mantichores of the mountains -should devour him along with those two lords, that were yet a kindlier -fate than all alone to abide those things he wist of on the Moruna, put -on the rope, and after commending himself to the protection of his gods -followed Lord Brandoch Daha down the rotten slopes of rock and frozen -earth at the head of a gully leading down the cliff. - -For all that they were early afoot, yet was it high noon ere they were -off the rocks. For the peril of falling stones drove them out from -the gully’s bed first on to the eastern buttress and after, when that -grew too sheer, back to the western wall. And in an hour or twain the -gully’s bed grew shallow and it narrowed to an end, whence Brandoch -Daha gazed between his feet to where, a few spear’s lengths below, the -smooth slabs curved downward out of sight and the eye leapt straight -from their clean-cut edge to shimmering tree-tops that showed tiny -as mosses beyond the unseen gulf of air. So they rested awhile; then -returning a little up the gully forced a way out on to the face and -made a hazardous traverse to a new gully westward of the first, and so -at last plunged down a long fan of scree and rested on soft fine turf -at the foot of the cliffs. - -Little mountain gentians grew at their feet; the pathless forest -lay like the sea below them; before them the mountains of the Zia -stood supreme: the white gables of Islargyn, the lean dark finger of -Tetrachnampf nan Tshark lying back above the Zia Pass pointing to the -sky, and west of it, jutting above the valley, the square bastion -of Tetrachnampf nan Tsurm. The greater mountains were for the most -part sunk behind this nearer range, but Koshtra Belorn still towered -above the Pass. As a queen looking down from her high window, so -she overlooked those green woods sleeping in the noon-day; and on -her forehead was beauty like a star. Behind them where they sat, the -escarpment reared back in cramped perspective, a pile of massive -buttresses cleft with ravines leading upward from that land of leaves -and waters to the hidden wintry flats of the Moruna. - - • • • • • - -That night they slept on the fell under the stars, and next day, going -down into the woods, came at dusk to an open glade by the waters of the -broad-bosomed Bhavinan. The turf was like a cushion, a place for elves -to dance in. The far bank full half a mile away was wooded to the water -with silver birches, dainty as mountain nymphs, their limbs gleaming -through the twilight, their reflections quivering in the depths of the -mighty river. In the high air day lingered yet, a faint warmth tingeing -the great outlines of the mountains, and westward up the river the -young moon stooped above the trees. East of the glade a little wooded -eminence, no higher than a house, ran back from the river bank, and in -its shoulder a hollow cave. - -“How smiles it to thee?” said Juss. “Be sure we shall find no better -place than this thou seest to dwell in until the snows melt and we -may on. For though it be summer all the year round in this fortunate -valley, it is winter on the great hills, and until the spring we were -mad to essay our enterprise.” - -“Why then,” said Brandoch Daha, “turn we shepherds awhile. Thou shalt -pipe to me, and I’ll foot thee measures shall make the dryads think -they ne’er went to school. And Mivarsh shall be a goat-foot god to -chase them; for to tell thee truth country wenches are long grown -tedious to me. O, ’tis a sweet life. But ere we fall to it, bethink -thee, O Juss: time marcheth, and the world waggeth: what goeth forward -in Demonland till summer be come and we home again?” - -“Also my heart is heavy because of my brother Spitfire,” said Juss. “O, -’twas an ill storm, and ill delays.” - -“Away with vain regrettings,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “For thy sake -and thy brother’s fared I on this journey, and it is known to thee that -never yet stretched I out mine hand upon aught that I have not taken -it, and had my will of it.” - -So they made their dwelling in that cave beside deep-eddying Bhavinan, -and before that cave they ate their Yule feast, the strangest they -had eaten all the days of their lives: seated, not as of old, on -their high seats of ruby or of opal, but on mossy banks where daisies -slept and creeping thyme; lighted not by the charmed escarbuncle of -the high presence chamber in Galing, but by the shifting beams of a -brushwood fire that shone not on those pillars crowned with monsters -that were the wonder of the world but on the mightier pillars of the -sleeping beechwoods. And in place of that feigned heaven of jewels -self-effulgent beneath the golden canopy at Galing, they ate pavilioned -under a charmed summer night, where the great stars of winter, Orion, -Sirius, and the Little Dog, were raised up near the zenith, yielding -their known courses in the southern sky to Canopus and the strange -stars of the south. When the trees spake, it was not with their winter -voice of bare boughs creaking, but with whisper of leaves and beetles -droning in the fragrant air. The bushes were white with blossom, not -with hoar-frost, and the dim white patches under the trees were not -snow, but wild lilies and wood anemones sleeping in the night. - -All the creatures of the forest came to that feast, for they were -without fear, having never looked upon the face of man. Little -tree-apes, and popinjays, and titmouses, and coalmouses, and wrens, and -gentle round-eyed lemurs, and rabbits, and badgers, and dormice, and -pied squirrels, and beavers from the streams, and storks, and ravens, -and bustards, and wombats, and the spider-monkey with her baby at her -breast: all these came to gaze with curious eye upon those travellers. -And not these alone, but fierce beasts of the woods and wildernesses: -the wild buffalo, the wolf, the tiger with monstrous paws, the bear, -the fiery-eyed unicorn, the elephant, the lion and she-lion in their -majesty, came to behold them in the firelight in that quiet glade. - -“It seems we hold court in the woods to-night,” said Lord Brandoch -Daha. “It is very pleasant. Yet hold thee ready with me to put some -fire-brands amongst ’em if need befall. ’Tis likely some of these great -beasts are little schooled in court ceremonies.” - -Juss answered, “And thou lovest me, do no such thing. There lieth this -curse upon all this land of the Bhavinan, that whoso, whether he be man -or beast, slayeth in this land or doeth here any deed of violence, -there cometh down a curse upon him that in that instant must destroy -and blast him for ever off the face of the earth. Therefore it was -I took away from Mivarsh his bow and arrows when we came down from -Omprenne Edge, lest he should kill game for us and so a worse thing -befall him.” - -Mivarsh harkened not, but sat all a-quake, looking intently on a -crocodile that came ponderously out upon the bank. And now he began to -scream with terror, crying, “Save me! let me fly! give me my weapons! -It was foretold me by a wise woman that a cocadrill-serpent must devour -me at last!” Whereat the beasts drew back uneasily, and the crocodile, -his small eyes wide, startled by Mivarsh’s cries and violent gestures, -lurched with what speed he might back into the water. - - • • • • • - -Now in that place Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha and Mivarsh Faz -abode for four moons’ space. Nothing they lacked of meat and drink, -for the beasts of the forest, finding them well disposed, brought them -of their store. Moreover, there came flying from the south, about the -ending of the year, a martlet which alighted in Juss’s bosom and said -to him, “The gentle Queen Sophonisba, fosterling of the Gods, had news -of your coming. And because she knoweth you both mighty men of your -hands and high of heart, therefore by me she sent you greeting.” - -Juss said, “O little martlet, we would see thy Queen face to face, and -thank her.” - -“Ye must thank her,” said the bird, “in Koshtra Belorn.” - -Brandoch Daha said, “That shall we fulfil. Thither only do our thoughts -intend.” - -“Your greatness,” said the martlet, “must approve that word. And know -that it is easier to lay under you all the world in arms than to ascend -up afoot into that mountain.” - -“Thy wings were too weak to lift me, else I’d borrow them,” said -Brandoch Daha. - -But the martlet answered, “Not the eagle that flieth against the sun -may alight on Koshtra Belorn. No foot may tread her, save of those -blessed ones to whom the Gods gave leave ages ago, till they be come -that the patient years await: men like unto the Gods in beauty and in -power, who of their own might and main, unholpen by magic arts, shall -force a passage up to her silent snows.” - -Brandoch Daha laughed. “Not the eagle?” he cried, “but thou, little -flitter-jack?” - -“Nought that hath feet,” said the martlet. “I have none.” - -The Lord Brandoch Daha took it tenderly in his hand and held it high in -the air, looking to the high lands in the south. The birches swaying -by the Bhavinan were not more graceful nor the distant mountain-crags -behind them more untameable to behold than he. “Fly to thy Queen,” he -said, “and say thou spakest with Lord Juss beside the Bhavinan and with -Lord Brandoch Daha of Demonland. Say unto her that we be they that were -for to come; and that we, of our own might and main, ere spring be well -turned summer, will come up to her in Koshtra Belorn to thank her for -her gracious sendings.” - - • • • • • - -Now when it was April, and the sun moving among the signs of heaven was -about departing out of Aries and entering into Taurus, and the melting -of the snows in the high mountains had swollen all the streams to -spate, filling the mighty river so that he brimmed his banks and swept -by like a tide-race, Lord Juss said, “Now is the season propitious -for our crossing of the flood of Bhavinan and setting forth into the -mountains.” - -“Willingly,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “But shall’s walk it, or swim it, -or take to us wings? To me, that have many a time swum back and forth -over Thunderfirth to whet mine appetite ere I brake my fast, ’tis a -small matter of this river stream howso swift it runneth. But with our -harness and weapons and all our gear, that were far other matter.” - -“Is it for nought we are grown friends with them that do inhabit these -woods?” said Juss. “The crocodile shall bear us over Bhavinan for the -asking.” - -“It is an ill fish,” said Mivarsh; “and it sore dislikes me.” - -“Then here thou must abide,” said Brandoch Daha. “But be not dismayed, -I will go with thee. The fish may bear us both at a draught and not -founder.” - -“It was a wise woman foretold it me,” answered Mivarsh, “that such a -kind of serpent must be my bane. Yet be it according to your will.” - -So they whistled them up the crocodile; and first the Lord Juss fared -over Bhavinan, riding on the back of that serpent with all his gear and -weapons of war, and landed several hundred paces down stream for the -stream was very strong; and thereafter the crocodile returning to the -north bank took the Lord Brandoch Daha and Mivarsh Faz and put them -across in like manner. Mivarsh put on a gallant face, but rode as near -the tail as might be, fingering certain herbs from his wallet that were -good against serpents, his lips moving in urgent supplication to his -gods. When they were come ashore they thanked the crocodile and bade -him farewell and went their way swiftly through the woods. And Mivarsh, -as one new loosed from prison, went before them with a light step, -singing and snapping his fingers. - -Now had they for three days or four a devious journey through the -foot-hills, and thereafter made their dwelling for forty days’ space -in the Zia valley, above the gorges. Here the valley widens to a -flat-floored amphitheatre, and lean limestone crags tower heavenward on -every side. High in the south, couched above great gray moraines, the -Zia glacier, wrinkle-backed like some dragon survived out of the elder -chaos, thrusts his snout into the valley. Here out of his caves of -ice the young river thunders, casting up a spray where rainbows hover -in bright weather. The air blows sharp from the glacier, and alpine -flowers and shrubs feed on the sunlight. - -Here they gathered them good store of food. And every morning they were -afoot before the sunrise, to ascend the mountains and make sure their -practice ere they should attempt the greater peaks. So they explored -all the spurs of Tetrachnampf and Islargyn, and those peaks themselves; -the rock peaks of the lower Nuanner range overlooking Bhavinan; the -snow peaks east of Islargyn: Avsek, Kiurmsur, Myrsu, Byrshnargyn, and -Borch Mehephtharsk, loftiest of the range, by all his ridges, dwelling -a week on the moraines of the Mehephtharsk glacier above the upland -valley of Foana; and westward the dolomite group of Burdjazarshra and -the great wall of Shilack. - -Now were their muscles by these exercises grown like bands of iron, -and they hardy as mountain bears and sure of foot as mountain goats. -So on the ninth day of May they crossed the Zia Pass and camped on the -rocks under the south wall of Tetrachnampf nan Tshark. The sun went -down, like blood, in a cloudless sky. On either hand and before them, -the snows stretched blue and silent. The air of those high snowfields -was bitter cold. A league and more to the south a line of black cliffs -bounded the glacier-basin. Over that black wall, twelve miles away, -Koshtra Belorn and Koshtra Pivrarcha towered against an opal heaven. - -While they supped in the fading light, Juss said, “The wall thou seest -is called the Barriers of Emshir. Though over it lieth the straight -way to Koshtra Pivrarcha, yet is it not our way, but an ill way. For, -first, that barrier hath till now been held unclimbable, and so proven -even by half-gods that alone assayed it.” - -“I await not thy second reason,” said Brandoch Daha. “Thou hast had thy -way until now, and now thou shalt give me mine in this, to come with me -to-morrow and show how thou and I make of such barriers a puff of smoke -if they stand in the path between us and our fixed ends.” - -“Were it only this,” answered Juss, “I would not gainsay thee. But -not senseless rocks alone are we set to deal with if we take this -road. Seest thou where the Barriers end in the east against yonder -monstrous pyramid of tumbled crags and hanging glaciers that shuts -out our prospect eastaway? Menksur men call it, but in heaven it -hath a more dreadful name: Ela Mantissera, which is to say, the Bed -of the Mantichores. O Brandoch Daha, I will climb with thee what -unscaled cliff thou list, and I will fight with thee against the most -grisfullest beasts that ever grazed by the Tartarian streams. But -both these things in one moment of time, that were a rash part and a -foolish.” - -But Brandoch Daha laughed, and answered him, “To nought else may I -liken thee, O Juss, but to the sparrow-camel. To whom they said, ‘Fly,’ -and it answered, ‘I cannot, for I am a camel’; and when they said, -‘Carry,’ it answered, ‘I cannot, for I am a bird.’” - -“Wilt thou egg me on so much?” said Juss. - -“Ay,” said Brandoch Daha, “if thou wilt be assish.” - -“Wilt thou quarrel?” said Juss. - -“Thou knowest me,” said Brandoch Daha. - -“Well,” said Juss, “thy counsel hath been right once and saved us, for -nine times that it hath been wrong, and my counsel saved thee from an -evil end. If ill behap us, it shall be set down that it had from thy -peevish will original.” And they wrapped them in their cloaks and slept. - -On the morrow they rose betimes and set forth south across the snows -that were crisp and hard for the frosts of the night. The Barriers, as -it were but a stone’s-throw removed, stood black before them; starlight -swallowed up size and distance that showed only by walking, as still -they walked and still that wall seemed no nearer nor no larger. Twice -and thrice they dipped into a valley or crossed a raised-up fold of -the glacier; till they stood at break of day below the smooth blank -wall frozen and bleak, with never a ledge in sight great enough to bear -snow, barring their passage southward. - -They halted and ate and scanned the wall before them. And ill to do -with it seemed. So they searched for an ascent, and found at last a -spot where the glacier swelled higher, a mile or less from the western -shoulder of Ela Mantissera. Here the cliff was but four or five hundred -feet high; yet smooth enow and ill enow to look on; yet their likeliest -choice. - -Some while it was ere they might get a footing on that wall, but at -length Brandoch Daha, standing on Juss’s shoulder, found him a hold -where no hold showed from below, and with great travail fought a -passage up the rock to a stance some hundred feet above them, whence -sitting sure on a broad ledge great enough to hold six or seven folk -at a time he played up Lord Juss on the rope and after him Mivarsh. An -hour and a half it cost them for that short climb. - -“The north-east buttress of Ill Stack was children’s gruel to this,” -said Lord Juss. - -“There’s more aloft,” said Lord Brandoch Daha, lying back against the -precipice, his hands clasped behind his head, his feet a-dangle over -the ledge. “In thine ear, Juss: I would not go first on the rope again -on such a pitch for all the wealth of Impland.” - -“Wilt repent and return?” said Juss. - -“If thou’lt be last down,” he answered. “If not, I’d liever risk what -waits untried above us. If it prove worse, I am confirmed atheist.” - -Lord Juss leaned out, holding by the rock with his right hand, -scanning the wall beside and above them. An instant he hung so, then -drew back. His square jaw was set, and his teeth glinted under his dark -moustachios something fiercely, as a thunder-beam betwixt dark sky and -sea in a night of thunder. His nostrils widened, as of a war-horse at -the call of battle; his eyes were like the violet levin-brand, and all -his body hardened like a bowstring drawn as he grasped his sharp sword -and pulled it forth grating and singing from its sheath. - -Brandoch Daha sprang afoot and drew his sword, Zeldornius’s loom. “What -stirreth?” he cried. “Thou look’st ghastly. That look thou hadst when -thou tookest the helm and our prows swung westward toward Kartadza -Sound, and the fate of Demonland and all the world beside hung in thine -hand for wail or bliss.” - -“There’s little sword-room,” said Juss. And again he looked forth -eastward and upward along the cliff. Brandoch Daha looked over his -shoulder. Mivarsh took his bow and set an arrow on the string. - -“It hath scented us down the wind,” said Brandoch Daha. - -Small time was there to ponder. Swinging from hold to hold across the -dizzy precipice, as an ape swingeth from bough to bough, the beast drew -near. The shape of it was as a lion, but bigger and taller, the colour -a dull red, and it had prickles lancing out behind, as of a porcupine; -its face a man’s face, if aught so hideous might be conceived of -human kind, with staring eyeballs, low wrinkled brow, elephant ears, -some wispy mangy likeness of a lion’s mane, huge bony chaps, brown -blood-stained gubber-tushes grinning betwixt bristly lips. Straight for -the ledge it made, and as they braced them to receive it, with a great -swing heaved a man’s height above them and leaped down upon their ledge -from aloft betwixt Juss and Brandoch Daha ere they were well aware of -its changed course. Brandoch Daha smote at it a great swashing blow and -cut off its scorpion tail; but it clawed Juss’s shoulder, smote down -Mivarsh, and charged like a lion upon Brandoch Daha, who, missing his -footing on the narrow edge of rock, fell backwards a great fall, clear -of the cliff, down to the snow an hundred feet beneath them. - -As it craned over, minded to follow and make an end of him, Juss smote -it in the hinder parts and on the ham, shearing away the flesh from -the thigh bone, and his sword came with a clank against the brazen -claws of its foot. So with a horrid bellow it turned on Juss, rearing -like a horse; and it was three heads greater than a tall man in stature -when it reared aloft, and the breadth of its chest like the chest of -a bear. The stench of its breath choked Juss’s mouth and his senses -sickened, but he slashed it athwart the belly, a great round-armed -blow, cutting open its belly so that the guts fell out. Again he -hewed at it, but missed, and his sword came against the rock, and was -shivered into pieces. So when that noisome vermin fell forward on -him roaring like a thousand lions, Juss grappled with it, running in -beneath its body and clasping it and thrusting his arms into its inward -parts, to rip out its vitals if so he might. So close he grappled it -that it might not reach him with its murthering teeth, but its claws -sliced off the flesh from his left knee downward to the ankle bone, -and it fell on him and crushed him on the rock, breaking in the bones -of his breast. And Juss, for all his bitter pain and torment, and for -all he was well nigh stifled by the sore stink of the creature’s breath -and the stink of its blood and puddings blubbering about his face and -breast, yet by his great strength wrastled with that fell and filthy -man-eater. And ever he thrust his right hand, armed with the hilt and -stump of his broken sword, yet deeper into its belly until he searched -out its heart and did his will upon it, slicing the heart asunder like -a lemon and severing and tearing all the great vessels about the heart -until the blood gushed about him like a spring. And like a caterpillar -the beast curled up and straightened out in its death spasms, and it -rolled and fell from that ledge, a great fall, and lay by Brandoch -Daha, the foulest beside the fairest of all earthly beings, reddening -the pure snow with its blood. And the spines that grew on the hinder -parts of the beast went out and in like the sting of a new-dead wasp -that goes out and in continually. It fell not clean to the snow, as by -the care of heaven was fallen Brandoch Daha, but smote an edge of rock -near the bottom, and that strook out its brains. There it lay in its -blood, gaping to the sky. - -Now was Juss stretched face downward as one dead, on that giddy edge of -rock. Mivarsh had saved him, seizing him by the foot and drawing him -back to safety when the beast fell. A sight of terror he was, clotted -from head to toe with the beast’s blood and his own. Mivarsh bound his -wounds and laid him tenderly as he might back against the cliff, then -peered down a long while to know if the beast were dead indeed. - -When he had gazed downward earnestly so long that his eyes watered -with the strain, and still the beast stirred not, Mivarsh prostrated -himself and made supplication saying aloud, “O Shlimphli, Shlamphi, -and Shebamri, gods of my father and my father’s fathers, have pity of -your child, if as I dearly trow your power extendeth over this far and -forbidden country no less than over Impland, where your child hath -ever worshipped you in your holy places, and taught my sons and my -daughters to revere your holy names, and made an altar in mine house, -pointed by the stars in manner ordained from of old, and offered up my -seventh-born son and was minded to offer up my seventh-born daughter -thereon, in meekness and righteousness according to your holy will; but -this I might not do, since you vouchsafed me not a seventh daughter, -but six only. Wherefore I beseech you, of your holy names’ sake, -strengthen my hand to let down this my companion safely by the rope, -and thereafter bring me safely down from this rock, howsoever he be a -devil and an unbeliever; O save his life, save both their lives. For -I am sure that if these be not saved alive, never shall your child -return, but in this far land starve and die like an insect that dureth -but for a day.” - -So prayed Mivarsh. And belike the high Gods were moved to pity of his -innocence, hearing him so cry for help unto his mumbo-jumbos, where no -help was; and belike they were not minded that those lords of Demonland -should there die evilly before their time, unhonoured, unsung. -Howsoever, Mivarsh arose and made fast the rope about Lord Juss, -knotting it cunningly beneath the arms that it might not tighten in the -lowering and crush his breast and ribs, and so with much ado lowered -him down to the foot of the cliff. Thereafter came Mivarsh himself down -that perilous wall, and albeit for many a time he thought his bane was -upon him, yet by good cragsmanship spurred by cold necessity he gat him -down at last. Being down, he delayed not to minister to his companions, -who came to themselves with heavy groaning. But when Lord Juss was come -to himself he did his healing art both on himself and on Lord Brandoch -Daha, so that in a while they were able to stand upon their feet, -albeit something stiff and weary and like to vomit. And it was by then -the third hour past noon. - -While they rested, beholding where the beast mantichora lay in his -blood, Juss spake and said, “It is to be said of thee, O Brandoch Daha, -that thou to-day hast done both the worst and the best. The worst, -when thou wast so stubborn set to fare upon this climb which hath come -within a little of spilling both thee and me. The best, whenas thou -didst smite off his tail. Was that by policy or by chance?” - -“Why,” said he, “I was never so poor a man of my hands that I need turn -braggart. ’Twas handiest to my sword, and it disliked me to see it -wagging. Did aught lie on it?” - -“The sting of his tail,” answered Juss, “were competent for thine or my -destruction, and it grazed but our little finger.” - -“Thou speakest like a book,” said Brandoch Daha. “Else might I scarce -know thee for my noble friend, being berayed with blood as a buffalo -with mire. Be not angry with me, if I am most at ease to windward of -thee.” - -Juss laughed. “If thou be not too nice,” he said, “go to the beast -and dabble thyself too with the blood of his bowels. Nay, I mock not; -it is most needful. These be enemies not of mankind only, but each of -other: walking every one by himself, loathing every one his kind living -or dead, so that in all the world there abideth nought loathlier unto -them than the blood of their own kind, the least smell whereof they do -abhor as a mad dog abhorreth water. And ’tis a clinging smell. So are -we after this encounter most sure against them.” - - • • • • • - -That night they camped at the foot of a spur of Avsek, and set forth at -dawn down the long valley eastward. All day they heard the roaring of -mantichores from the desolate flanks of Ela Mantissera that showed now -no longer as a pyramid but as a long-backed screen, making the southern -rampart of that valley. It was ill going, and they somewhat shaken. Day -was nigh gone when beyond the eastern slopes of Ela they came where the -white waters of the river they followed thundered together with a black -water rushing down from the south-west. Below, the river ran east in a -wide valley dropping afar to tree-clad depths. In the fork above the -watersmeet the rocks enclosed a high green knoll, like some fragment of -a kindlier clime that over-lived into an age of ruin. - -“Here, too,” said Juss, “my dream walked with me. And if it be ill -crossing there where this stream breaketh into a dozen branching -cataracts a little above the watersmeet, yet well I think ’tis our only -crossing.” So, ere the light should fade, they crossed that perilous -edge above the water-falls, and slept on the green knoll. - -That knoll Juss named Throstlegarth, after a thrush that waked them -next morning, singing in a little wind-stunted mountain thorn that -grew among the rocks. Strangely sounded that homely song on the cold -mountain side, under the unhallowed heights of Ela, close to the -confines of those enchanted snows which guard Koshtra Belorn. - -No sight of the high mountains had they from Throstlegarth, nor, for -a long while, from the bed of that straight steep glen of the black -waters up which now their journey lay. Rugged spurs and buttresses shut -them in. High on the left bank above the cataracts they made their way, -buffeted by the wind that leaped and charged among the crags, their -ears sated with the roaring sound of waters, their eyes filled with the -spray blown upward. And Mivarsh followed after them. Silent they fared, -for the way was steep and in such a wind and such a noise of torrents -a man must shout lustily if he would be heard. Very desolate was that -valley, having a dark aspect and a ghastful, such as a man might look -for in the infernal glens of Pyriphlegethon or Acheron. No living thing -they saw, save at whiles high above them an eagle sailing down the -wind, and once a beast’s form running in the hollow mountain side. This -stood at gaze, lifting up its foul human platter-face with glittering -eyes bloody and great as saucers; scented its fellow’s blood, started, -and fled among the crags. - -So fared they for the space of three hours, and so, coming suddenly -round a shoulder of the hill, stood on the upper threshold of that -glen at the gates of a flat upland valley. Here they beheld a sight -to darken all earth’s glories and strike dumb all her singers with -its grandeur. Framed in the crags of the hillsides, canopied by blue -heaven, Koshtra Pivrarcha stood before them. So huge he was that even -here at six miles’ distance the eye might not at a glance behold him, -but must sweep back and forth as over a broad landscape from the -ponderous roots of the mountain where they sprang black and sheer from -the glacier, up the vast face, where buttress was piled upon buttress -and tower upon tower in a blinding radiance of ice-hung precipice and -snow-filled gully, to the lone heights where like spears menacing high -heaven the white teeth of the summit-ridge cleft the sky. From right to -left he filled nigh a quarter of the heavens, from the graceful peak -of Ailinon looking over his western shoulder, to where on the east the -snowy slopes of Jalchi shut in the prospect, hiding Koshtra Belorn. - -They camped that evening on the left moraine of the High Glacier of -Temarm. Long spidery streamers of cloud, filmy as the gauze of a lady’s -veil, blew eastward from the spires on the ridge, signs of wild weather -aloft. - -Juss said, “Glassy clear is the air. That forerunneth not fair weather.” - -“Well, time shall wait for us if need be,” said Brandoch Daha. “So -mightily my desire crieth unto me from those horns of ice that, having -once looked on them, I had as lief die as leave them unclimbed. But of -thee, O Juss, I make some marvel. Thou wast bidden inquire in Koshtra -Belorn, and sure she were easier won than Koshtra Pivrarcha, going -behind Jalchi by the snowfields and so avoiding her great western -cliffs.” - -“There is a saw in Impland,” answered Juss, “‘Ware of a tall wife.’ -Even so there lieth a curse on any that shall attempt Koshtra Belorn -that hath not first looked down upon her; and he shall have his death -or ever he have his will. And from one point only of earth may a man -look down on Koshtra Belorn; and ’tis from yonder unascended tooth -of ice where thou seest the last beam burn. For that is the topmost -pinnacle of Koshtra Pivrarcha. And it is the highest point of the -stablished earth.” - -They were silent a minute’s space. Then Juss spake: “Thou wast ever -greatest amongst us as a mountaineer. Which way likes thee best for our -climbing up him?” - -“O Juss,” said Brandoch Daha, “on ice and snow thou art my master. -Therefore give me thy rede. For mine own choice and pleasure, I have -settled it this hour and more: namely to ascend into the gap between -the two mountains, and thence turn westward up the east ridge of -Pivrarcha.” - -“It is the fearsomest climb to look on,” said Juss, “and belike the -grandest, and for both counts I had wagered it thy choice. That gap -hight the Gates of Zimiamvia. It, and the Koshtra glacier that runneth -up to it, lieth under the weird I told thee of. It were our death to -adventure there ere we had looked down upon Koshtra Belorn; which done, -the charm is broke for us, and from that time forth it needeth but -our own might and skill and a high heart to accomplish whatsoever we -desire.” - -“Why then, the great north buttress,” cried Brandoch Daha. “So shall -she not behold us as we climb, until we come forth on the highest tooth -and overlook her and tame her to our will.” - -So they supped and slept. But the wind cried among the crags all night -long, and in the morning snow and sleet blotted out the mountains. All -day the storm held, and in a lull they struck camp and came down again -to Throstlegarth, and there abode nine days and nine nights in wind and -rain and battering hail. - -On the tenth day the weather abated, and they went up and crossed the -glacier and lodged them in a cave in the rock at the foot of the great -north buttress of Koshtra Pivrarcha. At dawn Juss and Brandoch Daha -went forth to survey the prospect. They crossed the mouth of the steep -snow-choked valley that ran up to the main ridge betwixt Ashnilan -on the west and Koshtra Pivrarcha on the east, rounded the base of -Ailinon, and climbed from the west to a snow saddle some three thousand -feet up the ridge of that mountain, whence they might view the buttress -and choose their way for their attempt. - -“’Tis a two days’ journey to the top,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “If -night on the ridge freeze us not to death, I dread no other hindrance. -That black rib that riseth half a mile above our camp, shall take us -clean up to the crest of the buttress, striking it above the great -tower at the northern end. If the rocks be like those we camped on, -hard as diamond and rough as a sponge, they shall not fail us but by -our own neglect. As I live, I ne’er saw their like for climbing.” - -“So far, well,” said Juss. - -“Above,” said Brandoch Daha, “I’d drive thee a chariot until we come -to the first great kick o’ the ridge. That must we round, or ne’er -go further, and on this side it showeth ill enough, for the rocks -shelve outward. If they be iced, there’s work indeed. Beyond that, I’ll -prophesy nought, O Juss, for I can see nought clear save that the ridge -is hacked into clefts and steeples. How we may overcome them must be -put to the proof. It is too high and too far to know. This only: where -we would go, there have we gone until now. And by that ridge lieth, if -any way there lieth, the way to this mountain top that we crossed the -world to climb.” - - • • • • • - -Next day with the first paling of the skies they arose all three and -set forth southward over the crisp snows. They roped at the foot of the -glacier that came down from the saddle, some five thousand feet above -them, where the main ridge dips between Ashnilan and Koshtra Pivrarcha. -Ere the brighter stars were swallowed in the light of morning they -were cutting their way among the labyrinthine towers and chasms of the -ice-fall. Soon the new daylight flooded the snowfields of the High -Glacier of Temarm, dyeing them green and saffron and palest rose. The -snows of Islargyn glowed far away in the north to the right of the -white dome of Emshir. Ela Mantissera blocked the view north-eastward. -The buttress that bounded their valley on the east plunged it in shadow -blue as a summer sea. High on the other side the great twin peaks of -Ailinon and Ashnilan, roused by the warm beams out of their frozen -silence of the night, growled at whiles with avalanches and falling -stones. - -Juss was their leader in the ice-fall, guiding them now along high -knife-edges that fell away on either hand to unsounded depths, -now within the very lips of those chasms, along the bases of the -ice-towers. These, five times a man’s height, some square, some -pinnacled, some shattered or piled with the ruins of their kind, leaned -above the path, as ready to fall and overwhelm the climbers and dash -their bones for ever down to those blue-green secret places of frost -and silence where the chips of ice chinked hollow as Juss pressed -onward, cutting his steps with Mivarsh’s axe. At length the slope eased -and they walked out on the unbroken surface of the glacier, and passing -by a snow-bridge over the great rift betwixt the glacier and the -mountain side came two hours before noon to the foot of the rock-rib -that they had scanned from Ailinon. - -Now was Brandoch Daha to lead them. They climbed face to the rock, -slowly and without rest, for sound and firm as the rocks were the holds -were small and few and the cliffs steep. Here and there a chimney gave -them passage upward, but the climb was mainly by cracks and open faces -of rock, a trial of main strength and endurance such as few might -sustain for a short while only: but this wall was three thousand feet -in height. By noon they gained the crest, and there rested on the rocks -too weary to speak, looking across the avalanche-swept face of Koshtra -Pivrarcha to the corniced parapet that ended against the western -precipices of Koshtra Belorn. - -For some way the ridge of the buttress was broad and level. Then it -narrowed suddenly to the width of a horse’s back, and sprang skyward -two thousand feet and more. Brandoch Daha went forward and climbed a -few feet up the cliff. It bulged out above him, smooth and holdless. He -tried it once and again, then came down saying, “Nought without wings.” - -Then he went to the left. Here hanging glaciers overlooked the face -from on high, and while he gazed an avalanche of ice-blocks roared down -it. Then he went to the right, and here the rocks sloped outward, and -the sloping ledges were piled with rubbish and the rocks rotten and -slippery with snow and ice. So having gone a little way he returned, -and, “O Juss,” he said, “wilt take it right forth, and that must be -by flying, for hold there is none: or wilt go east and dodge the -avalanche: or west, where all is rotten and slither and a slip were our -destruction?” - -So they debated, and at length decided on the eastern road. It was an -ill step round the jutting corner of the tower, for little hold there -was, and the rocks were undercut below, so that a stone or a man loosed -from that place must fall clear at a bound three or four thousand feet -to the Koshtra glacier and there be dashed in pieces. Beyond, wide -ledges gave them passage along the wall of the tower, that now swept -inward, facing south. Far overhead, dazzling white in the sunshine, -the broken glacier-edges and splinters jutted against the blue, and -icicles greater than a man hung glittering from every ledge: a sight -heavenly fair, whereof they yet had little joy, hastening as they had -not hastened in their lives before to be out of the danger of that -ice-swept face. - -Suddenly was a noise above them like the crack of a giant whip, and -looking up they beheld against the sky a dark mass which opened like -a flower and spread into a hundred fragments. The Demons and Mivarsh -hugged the cliffs where they stood, but there was little cover. All -the air was filled with the shrieking of the stones, as they swept -downwards like fiends returning to the pit, and with the crash of them -as they dashed against the cliffs and burst in pieces. The echoes -rolled and reverberated from cliff to distant cliff, and the limbs of -the mountain seemed to writhe as under a scourge. When it was done, -Mivarsh was groaning for pain of his left wrist sore hurt with a stone. -The others were scatheless. - -Juss said to Brandoch Daha, “Back, howsoever it dislike thee.” - -Back they went; and an avalanche of ice crashed down the face which -must have destroyed them had they proceeded. “Thou dost misjudge me,” -said Brandoch Daha, laughing. “Give me where my life lieth on mine own -might and main; then is danger meat and drink to me, and nought shall -turn me back. But here on this cursed cliff, on the ledges whereof a -cripple might walk at ease, we be the toys of chance. And it were pure -folly to abide upon it a moment longer.” - -“Two ways be left us,” said Juss. “To turn back, and that were our -shame for ever; and to essay the western traverse.” - -“And that should be the bane of any save of me and thee,” said Brandoch -Daha. “And if our bane, why, we shall sleep sound.” - -“Mivarsh,” said Juss, “is nought so bounden to this adventure. He hath -bravely held by us, and bravely stood our friend. Yet here we be come -to such a pass, I sore misdoubt me if it were less danger of his life -to come with us than seek safety alone.” - -But Mivarsh put on a hardy face. Never a word he spake, but nodded his -head, as who should say, “Forward.” - -“First I must be thy leech,” said Juss. And he bound up Mivarsh’s -wrist. And because the day was now far spent, they camped under the -great tower, hoping next day to reach the top of Koshtra Pivrarcha that -stood unseen some six thousand feet above them. - - • • • • • - -Next morning, when it was light enough to climb, they set forth. For -two hours’ space on that traverse not a moment passed but they were -in instant peril of death. They were not roped, for on those slabbery -rocks one man had dragged a dozen to perdition had he made a slip. The -ledges sloped outward; they were piled with broken rock and mud; the -soft red rock broke away at a hand’s touch and plunged at a leap to the -glacier below. Down and up and along, and down and up and up again they -wound their way, rounding the base of that great tower, and came at -last by a rotten gully safe to the ridge above it. - -While they climbed, white wispy clouds which had gathered in the high -gullies of Ailinon in the morning had grown to a mass of blackness that -hid all the mountains to the west. Great streamers ran from it across -the gulf below, joined and boiled upward, lifting and sinking like a -full-tided sea, rising at last to the high ridge where the Demons stood -and wrapping them in a cloak of vapour with a chill wind in its folds, -and darkness in broad noon-day. They halted, for they might not see -the rocks before them. The wind grew boisterous, shouting among the -splintered towers. Snow swept powdery and keen across the ridge. The -cloud lifted and plunged again like some great bird shadowing them with -its wings. From its bosom the lightning flared above and below. Thunder -crashed on the heels of the lightning, sending the echoes rolling among -the distant cliffs. Their weapons, planted in the snow, sizzled with -blue flame; Juss had counselled laying them aside lest they should -perish holding them. Crouched in a hollow of the snow among the rocks -of that high ridge of Koshtra Pivrarcha, Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch -Daha and Mivarsh Faz weathered that night of terror. When night came -they knew not, for the storm brought darkness on them hours before -sun-down. Blinding snow and sleet and fire and thunder, and wild winds -shrieking in the gullies till the firm mountain seemed to rock, kept -them awake. They were near frozen, and scarce desired aught but death, -which might bring them ease from that hellish roundelay. - -Day broke with a weak gray light, and the storm died down. Juss stood -up weary beyond speech. Mivarsh said, “Ye be devils, but of myself I -marvel. For I have dwelt by snow mountains all my days, and many I -wot of that have been benighted on the snows in wild weather. And not -one but was starved by reason of the cold. I speak of them that were -found. Many were not found, for the spirits devoured them.” - -Whereat Lord Brandoch Daha laughed aloud, saying, “O Mivarsh, I fear me -that in thee I have but a graceless dog. Look on him, that in hardihood -and bodily endurance against all hardships of frost or fire surpasseth -me as greatly as I surpass thee. Yet is he weariest of the three. -Wouldst know why? I’ll tell thee: all night he hath striven against -the cold, chafing not himself only but me and thee to save us from -frost-bite. And be sure nought else had saved thy carcase.” - -By then was the mist grown lighter, so that they might see the ridge -for an hundred paces or more where it went up before them, each -pinnacle standing out shadowy and unsubstantial against the next -succeeding one more shadowy still. And the pinnacles showed monstrous -huge through the mist, like mountain peaks in stature. - -They roped and set forth, scaling the towers or turning them, now on -this side now on that; sometimes standing on teeth of rock that seemed -cut off from all earth else, solitary in a sea of shifting vapour; -sometimes descending into a deep gash in the ridge with a blank wall -rearing aloft on the further side and empty air yawning to left and -right. The rocks were firm and good, like those they had first climbed -from the glacier. But they went but a slow pace, for the climbing was -difficult and made dangerous by new snow and by the ice that glazed the -rocks. - -As the day wore the wind was fallen, and all was still when they stood -at length before a ridge of hard ice that shot steeply up before them -like the edge of a sword. The east side of it on their left was almost -sheer, ending in a blank precipice that dropped out of sight without a -break. The western slope, scarcely less steep, ran down in a white even -sheet of frozen snow till the clouds engulfed it. - -Brandoch Daha waited on the last blunt tooth of rock at the foot of the -ice-ridge. “The rest is thine,” he cried to Lord Juss. “I would not -that any save thou should tread him first, for he is thy mountain.” - -“Without thee I had never won up hither,” answered Juss; “and it is not -fitting that I should have that glory to stand first upon the peak when -thine was the main achievement. Go thou before.” - -“I will not,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “And it is not so.” - -So Juss went forward, smiting with his axe great steps just below the -backbone of the ridge on the western side, and Lord Brandoch Daha and -Mivarsh Faz followed in the steps. - -Presently a wind arose in the unseen spaces of the sky, and tore the -mist like a rotten garment. Spears of sunlight blazed through the -rifts. Distant sunny lands shimmered in the unimaginable depths to the -southward, seen over the crest of a tremendous wall that stood beyond -the abyss: a screen of black rock buttresses seamed with a thousand -gullies of glistening snow, and crowned as with battlements with a row -of mountain peaks, savage and fierce of form, that made the eye blink -for their brightness: the lean spires of the summit-ridge of Koshtra -Pivrarcha. These, that the Demons had so long looked up to as in -distant heaven, now lay beneath their feet. Only the peak they climbed -still reared itself above them, clear now and near to view, showing a -bare beetling cliff on the north-east, overhung by a cornice of snow. -Juss marked the cornice, turned him again to his step-cutting, and in -half an hour from the breaking of the clouds stood on that unascended -pinnacle, with all earth beneath him. - - • • • • • - -They went down a few feet on the southern side and sat on some rocks. -A fair lake studded with islands lay bosomed in wooded and crag-girt -hills at the foot of a deep-cut valley which ran down from the Gates -of Zimiamvia. Ailinon and Ashnilan rose near by in the west, with -the delicate white peak of Akra Garsh showing between them. Beyond, -mountain beyond mountain like the sea. - -Juss looked southward where the blue land stretched in fold upon fold -of rolling country, soft and misty, till it melted in the sky. “Thou -and I,” said he, “first of the children of men, now behold with living -eyes the fabled land of Zimiamvia. Is that true, thinkest thou, which -philosophers tell us of that fortunate land: that no mortal foot may -tread it, but the blessed souls do inhabit it of the dead that be -departed, even they that were great upon earth and did great deeds -when they were living, that scorned not earth and the delights and -the glories thereof, and yet did justly and were not dastards nor yet -oppressors?” - -“Who knoweth?” said Brandoch Daha, resting his chin in his hand and -gazing south as in a dream. “Who shall say he knoweth?” - -They were silent awhile. Then Juss spake saying, “If thou and I come -thither at last, O my friend, shall we remember Demonland?” And when he -answered him not, Juss said, “I had rather row on Moonmere under the -stars of a summer’s night, than be a King of all the land of Zimiamvia. -And I had rather watch the sunrise on the Scarf, than dwell in gladness -all my days on an island of that enchanted Lake of Ravary, under -Koshtra Belorn.” - -Now the curtain of cloud that had hung till now about the eastern -heights was rent into shreds, and Koshtra Belorn stood like a bride -before them, two or three miles to eastward, facing the slanting rays -of the sun. On all her vast precipices scarce a rock showed bare, so -encrusted were they with a dazzling robe of snow. More lovely she -seemed and more graceful in her airy poise than they had yet beheld -her. Juss and Brandoch Daha rose up, as men arise to greet a queen in -her majesty. In silence they looked on her for some minutes. - -Then Brandoch Daha spake, saying, “Behold thy bride, O Juss.” - - - - - XIII: KOSHTRA BELORN - - HOW THE LORD JUSS ACCOMPLISHED AT LENGTH HIS DREAM’S BEHEST, - TO INQUIRE IN KOSHTRA BELORN; AND WHAT MANNER OF ANSWER HE - RECEIVED. - - -That night they spent safely, by favour of the Gods, under the highest -crags of Koshtra Pivrarcha, in a sheltered hollow piled round with -snow. Dawn came like a lily, saffron-hued, smirched with smoke-gray -streaks that slanted from the north. The great peaks stood as islands -above a main of level cloud, out of which the sun walked flaming, a -ball of red-gold fire. An hour before his face appeared, the Demons -and Mivarsh were roped and started on their eastward journey. Ill to -do with as was the crest of the great north buttress by which they had -climbed the mountain, seven times worse was this eastern ridge, leading -to Koshtra Belorn. Leaner of back it was, flanked by more profound -abysses, deeplier gashed, too treacherous and too sudden in its changes -from sure rock to rotten and perilous: piled with tottering crags, -hung about with cornices of uncertain snow, girt with cliffs smooth -and holdless as a castle wall. Small marvel that it cost them thirteen -hours to come down that ridge. The sun wheeled towards the west when -they reached at length that frozen edge, sharp as a sickle, that was in -the Gates of Zimiamvia. Weary they were, and ropeless; for by no means -else might they come down from the last great tower save by the rope -made fast from above. A fierce north-easter had swept the ridges all -day, bringing snow-storms on its wings. Their fingers were numbed with -cold, and the beards of Lord Brandoch Daha and Mivarsh Faz stiff with -ice. - -Too weary to halt, they set forth again, Juss leading. It was many -hundred paces along that ice-edge, and the sun was near setting when -they stood at last within a stone’s throw of the cliffs of Koshtra -Belorn. Since before noon avalanches had thundered ceaselessly down -those cliffs. Now, in the cool of the evening, all was still. The wind -was fallen. The deep blue sky was without a cloud. The fires of sunset -crept down the vast white precipices before them till every ledge and -fold and frozen pinnacle glowed pink colour, and every shadow became -an emerald. The shadow of Koshtra Pivrarcha lay cold across the lower -stretches of the face on the Zimiamvian side. The edge of that shadow -was as the division betwixt the living and the dead. - -“What dost think on?” said Juss to Brandoch Daha, that leaned upon his -sword surveying that glory. - -Brandoch Daha started and looked on him. “Why,” said he, “on this: that -it is likely thy dream was but a lure, sent thee by the King to tempt -us on to mighty actions reserved for our destruction. On this side at -least ’tis very certain there lieth no way up Koshtra Belorn.” - -“What of the little martlet,” said Juss, “who, whiles we were yet -a great way off, flew out of the south to greet us with a gracious -message?” - -“Well if it were not a devil of his,” said Brandoch Daha. - -“I will not turn back,” said Juss. “Thou needest not to come with me.” -And he turned again to look on those frozen cliffs. - -“No?” said Brandoch Daha. “Nor thou with me. Thou’lt make me angry if -thou wilt so vilely wrest my words. Only fare not too securely; and let -that axe still be ready in thine hand, as is my sword, for kindlier -work than step-cutting. And if thou embrace the hope to climb her by -this wall before us, then hath the King’s enchantery made thee fey.” - -By then was the sun gone down. Under the wings of night uplifted from -the east, the unfathomable heights of air turned a richer blue; and -here and there, most dim and hard to see, throbbed a tiny point of -light: the greater stars opening their eyelids to the gathering dark. -Gloom crept upward, brimming the valleys far below like a rising tide -of the sea. Frost and stillness waited on the eternal night to resume -her reign. The solemn cliffs of Koshtra Belorn stood in tremendous -silence, death-pale against the sky. - -Juss came backward a step along the ridge, and laying his hand on -Brandoch Daha’s, “Be still,” he said, “and behold this marvel.” A -little up the face of the mountain on the Zimiamvian side, it was as if -some leavings of the after-glow had been entangled among the crags and -frozen curtains of snow. As the gloom deepened, that glow brightened -and spread, filling a rift that seemed to go into the mountain. - -“It is because of us,” said Juss, in a low voice. “She is afire with -expectation of us.” - -No sound was there save of their breath coming and going, and of the -strokes of Juss’s axe, and of the chips of ice chinking downwards -into silence as he cut their way along the ridge. And ever brighter, -as night fell, burned that strange sunset light above them. Perilous -climbing it was for fifty feet or more from the ridge, for they had no -rope, the way was hard to see, and the rocks were steep and iced and -every ledge deep in snow. Yet came they safe at length up by a steep -short gully to the gully’s head where it widened to that rift of the -wondrous light. Here might two walk abreast, and Lord Juss and Lord -Brandoch Daha took their weapons and entered abreast into the rift. -Mivarsh was fain to call to them, but he was speechless. He came after, -close at their heels like a dog. - -For some way the bed of the cave ran upwards, then dipped at a gentle -slope deep into the mountain. The air was cold, yet warm after the -frozen air without. The rose-red light shone warm on the walls and -floor of that passage, but none might say whence it shone. Strange -sculptures glimmered overhead, bull-headed men, stags with human faces, -mammoths, and behemoths of the flood: vast forms and uncertain carved -in the living rock. For hours Juss and his companions pursued their -way, winding downward, losing all sense of north and south. Little by -little the light faded, and after an hour or two they went in darkness: -yet not in utter darkness, but as of a starless night in summer where -all night long twilight lingers. They went a soft pace, for fear of -pitfalls in the way. - -After a while Juss halted and sniffed the air. “I smell new-mown hay,” -he said, “and flower-scents. Is this my fantasy, or canst thou smell -them too?” - -“Ay, and have smelt it this half-hour past,” answered Brandoch Daha; -“also the passage wideneth before us, and the roof of it goeth higher -as we journey.” - -“This,” said Juss, “is a great wonder.” - -They fared onward, and in a while the slope slackened, and they felt -loose stones and grit beneath their feet, and in a while soft earth. -They bent down and touched the earth, and there was grass growing, and -night-dew on the grass, and daisies folded up asleep. A brook tinkled -on the right. So they crossed that meadow in the dark, until they stood -below a shadowy mass that bulked big above them. In a blind wall so -high the top was swallowed up in the darkness a gate stood open. They -crossed that threshold and passed through a paved court that clanked -under their tread. Before them a flight of steps went up to folding -doors under an archway. - -Lord Brandoch Daha felt Mivarsh pluck him by the sleeve. The little -man’s teeth were chattering together in his head for terror. Brandoch -Daha smiled and put an arm about him. Juss had his foot on the lowest -step. - -In that instant came a sound of music playing, but of what instruments -they might not guess. Great thundering chords began it, like trumpets -calling to battle, first high, then low, then shuddering down to -silence; then that great call again, sounding defiance. Then the keys -took new voices, groping in darkness, rising to passionate lament, -hovering and dying away on the wind, until nought remained but a roll -as of muffled thunder, long, low, quiet, but menacing ill. And now out -of the darkness of that induction burst a mighty form, three ponderous -blows, as of breakers that plunge and strike on a desolate shore; a -pause; those blows again; a grinding pause; a rushing of wings, as of -Furies steaming up from the pit; another flight of them dreadful in its -deliberation; then a wild rush upward and a swooping again; confusion -of hell, raging serpents blazing through night sky. Then on a sudden -out of a distant key, a sweet melody, long-drawn and clear, like a -blaze of low sunshine piercing the dust-clouds above a battle-field. -This was but an interlude to the terror of the great main theme that -came in tumultuous strides up again from the deeps, storming to a grand -climacteric of fury and passing away into silence. Now came a majestic -figure, stately and calm, born of that terror, leading to it again: -battlings of these themes in many keys, and at last the great triple -blow, thundering in new strength, crushing all joy and sweetness as -with a mace of iron, battering the roots of life into a general ruin. -But even in the main stride of its outrage and terror, that great power -seemed to shrivel. The thunder-blasts crashed weaklier, the harsh blows -rattled awry, and the vast frame of conquest and destroying violence -sank down panting, tottered and rumbled ingloriously into silence. - -Like men held in a trance those lords of Demonland listened to the -last echoes of the great sad chord where that music had breathed out -its heart, as if the very heart of wrath were broken. But this was not -the end. Cold and serene as some chaste virgin vowed to the Gods, with -clear eyes which see nought below high heaven, a quiet melody rose from -that grave of terror. Weak it seemed at first, a little thing after -that cataclysm; a little thing, like spring’s first bud peeping after -the blasting reign of cold and ice. Yet it walked undismayed, gathering -as it went beauty and power. And on a sudden the folding doors swung -open, shedding a flood of radiance down the stairs. - -Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha watched, as men watch for a star to -rise, that radiant portal. And like a star indeed, or like the tranquil -moon appearing, they beheld after a while one crowned like a Queen with -a diadem of little clouds that seemed stolen from the mountain sunset, -scattering soft beams of rosy brightness. She stood alone under that -mighty portico with its vast shadowy forms of winged lions in shining -stone black as jet. Youthful she seemed, as one that hath but just -bidden adieu to childhood, with grave sweet lips and grave black eyes -and hair like the night. Little black martlets perched on her either -shoulder, and a dozen more skimmed the air above her head, so swift of -wing that scarcely the eye might follow them. Meantime, that delicate -and simple melody mounted from height to height, until in a while it -burned with all the fires of summer, burned as summer to the uttermost -ember, fierce and compulsive in its riot of love and beauty. So that, -before the last triumphant chords died down in silence, that music had -brought back to Juss all the glories of the mountains, the sunset fires -on Koshtra Belorn, the first great revelation of the peaks from Morna -Moruna; and over all these, as the spirit of that music to the eye made -manifest, the image of that Queen so blessed-fair in her youth and -her clear brow’s sweet solemn respect and promise: in every line and -pose of her fair form, virginal dainty as a flower, and kindled from -withinward as never flower was with that divinity before the face of -which speech and song fall silent and men may but catch their breath -and worship. - -When she spoke, it was with a voice like crystal: “Thanks be and praise -to the blessed Gods. For lo, the years depart, and the fated years -bring forth as the Gods ordain. And ye be those that were for to come.” - -Surely those great lords of Demonland stood like little boys before -her. She said again, “Are not ye Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha of -Demonland, come up to me by the way banned to all mortals else, come up -into Koshtra Belorn?” - -Then answered Lord Juss for them both and said, “Surely, O Queen -Sophonisba, we be they thou namest.” - -Now the Queen carried them into her palace, and into a great hall where -was her throne and state. The pillars of the hall were as vast towers, -and there were galleries above them, tier upon tier, rising higher than -sight could reach or the light of the gentle lamps in their stands that -lighted the tables and the floor. The walls and the pillars were of a -sombre stone unpolished, and on the walls strange portraitures: lions, -dragons, nickers of the sea, spread-eagles, elephants, swans, unicorns, -and other, lively made and richly set forth with curious colours of -painting: all of giant size beyond the experience of human kind, so -that to be in that hall was as it were to shelter in a small spot of -light and life, canopied, vaulted, and embraced by the circumambient -unknown. - -The Queen sate on her throne that was bright like the face of a river -ruffled with wind under a silver moon. Save for those little martlets -she was unattended. She made those lords of Demonland sit down before -her face, and there were brought forth by the agency of unseen hands -tables before them and precious dishes filled with unknown viands. And -there played a soft music, made in the air by what unseen art they knew -not. - -The Queen said, “Behold, ambrosia which the Gods do eat and nectar -which they drink; on which meat and wine myself do feed, by the bounty -of the blessed Gods. And the savour thereof wearieth not, and the glow -thereof and the perfume thereof dieth not for ever.” - -So they tasted of the ambrosia, that was white to look on and crisp to -the tooth and sweet, and being eaten revived strength in the body more -than a surfeit of bullock’s flesh, and of the nectar that was all afoam -and coloured like the inmost fires of sunset. Surely somewhat of the -peace of the Gods was in that nectar divine. - -The Queen said, “Tell me, why are ye come?” - -Juss answered, “Surely there was a dream sent me, O Queen Sophonisba, -through the gate of horn, and it bade me inquire hither after him I -most desire, for want of whom my whole soul languisheth in sorrow this -year gone by: even after my dear brother, the Lord Goldry Bluszco.” - -His words ceased in his throat. For with the speaking of that name the -firm fabric of that palace quivered like the leaves of a forest under a -sudden squall. Colour went from the scene, like the blood chased from -a man’s face by fear, and all was of a pallid hue, like the landscape -which one beholds of a bright summer day after lying with eyes closed -for a space face-upward under the blazing sun: all gray and cold, the -warm colours burnt to ashes. Withal, followed the appearance of hateful -little creatures issuing from the joints of the paving stones and the -great blocks of the walls and pillars: some like grasshoppers with -human heads and wings of flies, some like fishes with stings in their -tails, some fat like toads, some like eels a-wriggling with puppy-dogs’ -heads and asses’ ears: loathly ones, exiles of glory, scaly and obscene. - -The horror passed. Colour returned. The Queen sat like a graven statue, -her lips parted. After a while she said with a shaken voice, low and -with downcast eyes, “Sirs, you demand of me a very strange matter, such -as wherewith never hitherto I have been acquainted. As you are noble, I -beseech you speak not that name again. In the name of the blessed Gods, -speak it not again.” - -Lord Juss was silent. Nought good were his thoughts within him. - -In due time a little martlet by the Queen’s command brought them to -their bed-chambers. And there in great beds soft and fragrant they went -to rest. - -[Illustration: IN KOSHTRA BELORN.] - -Juss waked long in the doubtful light, troubled at heart. At length he -fell into a troubled sleep. The glimmer of the lamps mingled with his -dreams and his dreams with it, so that scarce he wist whether asleep -or waking he beheld the walls of the bed-chamber dispart in sunder, -disclosing a prospect of vast paths of moonlight, and a solitary -mountain peak standing naked out of a sea of cloud that gleamed white -beneath the moon. It seemed to him that the power of flight was upon -him, and that he flew to that mountain and hung in air beholding it -near at hand, and a circle as the appearance of fire round about it, -and on the summit of the mountain the likeness of a burg or citadel -of brass that was green with eld and surface-battered by the frosts -and winds of ages. On the battlements was the appearance of a great -company both men and women, never still, now walking on the wall with -hands lifted up as in supplication to the crystal lamps of heaven, -now flinging themselves on their knees or leaning against the brazen -battlements to bury their faces in their hands, or standing at gaze as -night-walkers gazing into the void. Some seemed men of war, and some -great courtiers by their costly apparel, rulers and kings and kings’ -daughters, grave bearded counsellors, youths and maidens and crowned -queens. And when they went, and when they stood, and when they seemed -to cry aloud bitterly, all was noiseless even as the tomb, and the -faces of those mourners pallid as a dead corpse is pallid. - -Then it seemed to Juss that he beheld a keep of brass flat-roofed -standing on the right, a little higher than the walls, with battlements -about the roof. He strove to cry aloud, but it was as if some devil -gripped his throat stifling him, for no sound came. For in the midst -of the roof, as it were on a bench of stone, was the appearance of one -reclining; his chin resting in his great right hand, his elbow on an -arm of the bench, his cloak about him gorgeous with cloth of gold, his -ponderous two-handed sword beside him with its heart-shaped ruby pommel -darkly resplendent in the moonlight. Nought otherwise looked he than -when Juss last beheld him, on their ship before the darkness swallowed -them; only the ruddy hues of life seemed departed from him, and his -brow seemed clouded with sorrow. His eye met his brother’s, but with no -look of recognition, gazing as if on some far point in the deeps beyond -the star-shine. It seemed to Juss that even so would he have looked to -find his brother Goldry as he now found him; his head unbent for all -the tyranny of those dark powers that held him in captivity: keeping -like a God his patient vigil, heedless alike of the laments of them -that shared his prison and of the menace of the houseless night about -him. - -The vision passed; and Lord Juss perceived himself in his bed again, -the cold morning light stealing between the hangings of the windows and -dimming the soft radiance of the lamps. - - • • • • • - -Now for seven days they dwelt in that palace. No living thing they -encountered save only the Queen and her little martlets, but all -things desirous were ministered unto them by unseen hands and all -royal entertainment. Yet was Lord Juss heavy at heart, for as often -as he would question the Queen of Goldry, so she would ever put him -by, praying him earnestly not a second time to pronounce that name of -terror. At last, walking with her alone in the cool of the evening on -a trodden path of a meadow where asphodel grew and other holy flowers -beside a quiet stream, he said, “So it is, O Queen Sophonisba, that -when first I came hither and spake with thee I well thought that by -thee my matter should be well sped. And didst not thou then promise me -thy goodness and grace from thee thereafter?” - -“This is very true,” said the Queen. - -“Then why,” said he, “when I would question thee of that I make most -store of, wilt thou always daff me and put me by?” - -She was silent, hanging her head. He looked sidelong for a minute at -her sweet profile, the grave clear lines of her mouth and chin. “Of -whom must I inquire,” he said, “if not of thee, which art Queen in -Koshtra Belorn and must know this thing?” - -She stopped and faced him with dark eyes that were like a child’s for -innocence and like a God’s for splendour. “My lord, that I have put -thee off, ascribe it not to evil intent. That were an unnatural part -indeed in me unto you of Demonland who have fulfilled the weird and set -me free again to visit again the world of men which I so much desire, -despite all my sorrows I there fulfilled in elder time. Or shall I -forget you are at enmity with the wicked house of Witchland, and -therefore doubly pledged my friends?” - -“That the event must prove, O Queen,” said Lord Juss. - -“O saw ye Morna Moruna?” cried she. “Saw ye it in the wilderness?” And -when he looked on her still dark and mistrustful, she said, “Is this -forgot? And methought it should be mention and remembrance made thereof -unto the end of the world. I pray thee, my lord, what age art thou?” - -“I have looked upon this world,” answered Lord Juss, “for thrice ten -years.” - -“And I,” said the Queen, “but seventeen summers. Yet that same age had -I when thou wast born, and thy grandsire before thee, and his before -him. For the Gods gave me youth for ever more, when they brought me -hither after the realm-rape that befell our house, and lodged me in -this mountain.” - -She paused, and stood motionless, her hands clasped lightly before -her, her head bent, her face turned a little away so that he saw only -the white curve of her neck and her cheek’s soft outline. All the air -was full of sunset, though no sun was there, but a scattered splendour -only, shed from the high roof of rock that was like a sky above them -self-effulgent. Very softly she began again to speak, the crystal -accents of her voice sounding like the faint notes of a bell borne from -a great way off on the quiet air of a summer evening. “Surely time past -is gone by like a shadow since those days, when I was Queen in Morna -Moruna, dwelling there with my lady mother and the princes my cousins -in peace and joy. Until Gorice III. came out of the north, the great -King of Witchland, desiring to explore these mountains, for his pride -sake and his insolent heart; which cost him dear. ’Twas on an evening -of early summer we beheld him and his folk ride over the flowering -meadows of the Moruna. Nobly was he entertained by us, and when we -knew what way he meant to go, we counselled him turn back, and the -mantichores must tear him if he went. But he mocked at our advisoes, -and on the morrow departed, he and his, by way of Omprenne Edge. And -never again were they seen of living man. - -“That had been small loss; but hereof there befell a great and horrible -mischief. For in the spring of the year came Gorice IV. with a great -army out of waterish Witchland, saying with open mouth of defamation -that we were the dead King’s murtherers: we that were peaceful folk, -and would not entertain an action should call us villain for all -the wealth of Impland. In the night they came, when all we save the -sentinels upon the walls were in our beds secure in a quiet conscience. -They took the princes my cousins and all our men, and before our eyes -most cruelly murthered them. So that my mother seeing these things fell -suddenly into deadly swoonings and was presently dead. And the King -commanded them burn the house with fire, and he brake down the holy -altars of the Gods, and defiled their high places. And unto me that was -young and fair to look on he gave this choice, to go with him and be -his slave, other else to be cast down from the Edge and all my bones be -broken. Surely I chose this rather. But the Gods, that do help every -rightful true cause, made light my fall, and guided me hither safe -through all perils of height and cold and ravening beasts, granting me -youth and peaceful days for ever, here on the borderland between the -living and the dead. - -“And the Gods blew upon all the land of the Moruna in the fire of their -wrath, to make it desolate, and man and beast cut off therefrom, for -a witness of the wicked deeds of Gorice the King, even as Gorice the -King made desolate our little castle and our pleasant places. The face -of the land was lifted up to high airs where frosts do dwell, so that -the cliffs of Omprenne Edge down which ye came are ten times the height -they were when Gorice III. came down them. So was an end of flowers on -the Moruna, and an end there of spring and of summer days for ever.” - -The Queen ceased speaking, and Lord Juss was silent for a space, -greatly marvelling. - -“Judge now,” said she, “if your foes be not my foes. It is not hidden -from me, my lord, that you deem me but a lukewarm friend and no helper -at all in your enterprise. Yet have I ceased not since ye were here to -search and to inquire, and sent my little martlets west and east and -south and north after tidings of him thou namedst. They are swift, even -as wingy thoughts circling the stablished world; and they returned to -me on weary wings, yet with never a word of thy great kinsman.” - -Juss looked at her eyes that were moist with tears. Truth sat in them -like an angel. “O Queen,” he cried, “why need thy little minions scour -the world, when my brother is here in Koshtra Belorn?” - -She shook her head, saying, “This I will swear to thee, there hath no -mortal come up into Koshtra Belorn save only thee and thy companions -these two hundred years.” - -But Juss said again, “My brother is here in Koshtra Belorn. Mine eyes -beheld him that first night, hedged about with fires. And he is held -captive on a tower of brass on a peak of a mountain.” - -“There be no mountains here,” said she, “save this in whose womb we -have our dwelling.” - -“Yet so I beheld my brother,” said Juss, “under the white beams of the -full moon.” - -“There is no moon here,” said the Queen. - -So Lord Juss rehearsed to her his vision of the night, telling her -point to point of everything. She harkened gravely, and when he had -done, trembled a little and said, “This is a mystery, my lord, beyond -my resolution.” - -She fell silent awhile. Then she began to say in a hushed voice, as -if the very words and breath might breed some dreadful matter: “Taken -up in a sending maleficial by King Gorice XII. So it hath ever been, -that whensoever there dieth one of the house of Gorice there riseth -up another in his stead, and so from strength to strength. And death -weakeneth not this house of Witchland, but like the dandelion weed -being cut down and bruised it springeth up the stronger. Dost thou know -why?” - -He answered, “No.” - -“The blessed Gods,” said she, speaking yet lower, “have shown me many -hidden matters which the sons of men know not neither imagine. Behold -this mystery. There is but One Gorice. And by the favour of heaven -(that moveth sometimes in a manner our weak judgement seeketh in vain -to justify) this cruel and evil One, every time whether by the sword or -in the fulness of his years he cometh to die, departeth the living soul -and spirit of him into a new and sound body, and liveth yet another -lifetime to vex and to oppress the world, until that body die, and the -next in his turn, and so continually; having thus in a manner life -eternal.” - -Juss said, “Thy discourse, O Queen Sophonisba, is in a strain above -mortality. This is a great wonder thou tellest me; whereof some -little part I guessed aforetime, but the main I knew not. Rightfully, -having such a timeless life, this King weareth on his thumb that worm -Ouroboros which doctors have from of old made for an ensample of -eternity, whereof the end is ever at the beginning and the beginning at -the end for ever more.” - -“See then the hardness of the thing,” said the Queen. “But I forget -not, my lord, that thou hast a matter nearer thine heart than this: -to set free him (name him not!) concerning whom thou didst inquire of -me. Touching this, know it for thy comfort, some ray of light I see. -Question me no more till I have made trial thereof, lest it prove but a -false dawn. If it be as I think, ’tis a trial yet abideth thee should -make the stoutest blench.” - - - - - XIV: THE LAKE OF RAVARY - - OF THE FURTHERANCE GIVEN BY QUEEN SOPHONISBA, FOSTERLING OF THE - GODS, TO LORD JUSS AND LORD BRANDOCH DAHA; WITH HOW THE - HIPPOGRIFF’S EGG WAS HATCHED BESIDE THE ENCHANTED LAKE, AND - WHAT ENSUED THEREFROM. - - -Next day the Queen came to Lord Juss and Lord Brandoch Daha and made -them go with her, and Mivarsh with them to serve them, over the meadows -and down a passage like that whereby they had entered the mountain, but -this led downward. “Ye may marvel,” she said, “to see daylight in the -heart of this great mountain. Yet it is but the hidden work of Nature. -For the rays of the sun, striking all day upon Koshtra Belorn and upon -her robe of snow, sink into the snow like water, and so soaking through -the secret places of the rocks shine again in this hollow chamber where -we dwell and in these passages cleft by the Gods to give us our goings -out and our comings in. And as sunset followeth broad day with coloured -fires, and moonlight or darkness followeth sunset, and dawn followeth -night ushering the bright day once more, so these changes of the dark -and light succeed one another within the mountain.” - -They passed on, ever downward, till after many hours they came -suddenly forth into dazzling sunlight. They stood at a cave’s mouth -on a beach of sand white and clean, that was lapped by the ripples of -a sapphire lake: a great lake, sown with islets craggy and luxuriant -with trees and flowering growths. Many-armed was the lake, winding -everywhere in secret reaches behind promontories that were spurs of the -mountains that held it in their bosom: some wooded or green with lush -flower-spangled turf to the water’s edge, some with bare rocks abrupt -from the water, some crowned with rugged lines of crag that sent down -scree-slopes into the lake below. It was mid-afternoon, sweet-aired, a -day of dappled cloud-shadows and changing lights. White birds circled -above the lake, and now and then a kingfisher flashed by like a streak -of azure flame. That was a westward facing beach, at the end of a -headland that ran down clothed with pine-forests with open primrose -glades from a spur of Koshtra Belorn. Northward the two great mountains -stood at the head of a straight narrow valley that ran up to the Gates -of Zimiamvia. Vaster they seemed than the Demons had yet beheld them, -showing at but six or seven miles’ distance a clear sixteen thousand -feet above the lake. Nor from any other point of prospect were they -more lovely to behold: Koshtra Pivrarcha like an eagle armed, shadowing -with wings, and Koshtra Belorn as a Goddess fallen a-dreaming, gracious -as the morning star of heaven. Wondrous bright were their snows in the -sunshine, yet ghostly and unsubstantial to view seen through the hazy -summer air. Olive trees, gray and soft-outlined like embodied mist, -grew in the lower valleys; woods of oak and birch and every forest tree -clothed the slopes; and in the warmer folds of the mountain sides belts -of creamy rhododendrons straggled upwards even to the moraines above -the lower glaciers and the very margin of the snows. - -The Queen watched Lord Juss as his gaze moved to the left past Koshtra -Pivrarcha, past the blunt lower crest of Gôglio, to a great lonely -peak many miles distant that frowned over the rich maze of nearer -ridges which stood above the lake. Its southern shoulder swept in a -long majestic line of cliffs up to a clean sharp summit; northward it -fell steeplier away. Little snow hung on the sheer rock faces, save -where the gullies cleft them. For grace and beauty scarce might Koshtra -Belorn herself surpass that peak: but terrible it looked, and as a -mansion of old night, that not high noon-day could wholly dispossess of -darkness. - -“There standeth a mountain great and fair,” said Lord Brandoch Daha, -“which was hid in cloud when we were on the high ridges. It hath the -look of a great beast couchant.” - -Still the Queen watched Lord Juss, who looked still on that peak. -Then he turned to her, his hands clenched on the buckles of his -breast-plates. She said, “Was it as I think?” - -He took a great breath. “It was so I beheld it in the beginning,” -he said, “as from this place. But here are we too far off to see -the citadel of brass, or know if it be truly there.” And he said to -Brandoch Daha, “This remaineth, that we climb that mountain.” - -“That can ye never do,” said the Queen. - -“That shall be shown,” said Brandoch Daha. - -“List,” said she. “Nameless is yonder mountain upon earth, for until -this hour, save only for me and you, the eye of living man hath not -looked upon it. But unto the Gods it hath a name, and unto the spirits -of the blest that do inhabit this land, and unto those unhappy souls -that are held in captivity on that cold mountain top: Zora Rach nam -Psarrion, standing apart above the noiseless lifeless snow-fields that -feed the Psarrion glaciers; loneliest and secretest of all earth’s -mountains, and most accursed. O my lords,” she said, “Think not to -climb up Zora. Enchantments ring round Zora, so that ye should not -get so near as to the edges of the snow-fields at her feet ere ruin -gathered you.” - -Juss smiled. “O Queen Sophonisba, little thou knowest our mind, if thou -think this shall turn us back.” - -“I say it,” said the Queen, “with no such vain purpose; but to show you -the necessity of that way I shall now tell you of, since well I know ye -will not give over this attempt. To none save to a Demon durst I have -told it, lest heaven should hold me answerable for his death. But unto -you I may with the less danger commit this dangerous counsel if it be -true, as I was taught long ago, that the hippogriff was seen of old in -Demonland.” - -“The hippogriff?” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “What else is it than the -emblem of our greatness? A thousand years ago they nested on Neverdale -Hause, and there abide unto this day in the rocks the prints of their -hooves and talons. He that rode it was a forefather of mine and of Lord -Juss.” - -“He that shall ride it again,” said Queen Sophonisba, “he only of -mortal men may win to Zora Rach, and if he be man enough of his hands -may deliver him we wot of out of bondage.” - -“O Queen,” said Juss, “somewhat I know of grammarie and divine -philosophy, yet must I bow to thee for such learning, that dwellest -here from generation to generation and dost commune with the dead. -How shall we find this steed? Few they be, and high they fly above the -world, and come to birth but one in three hundred years.” - -She answered, “I have an egg. In all lands else must such an egg lie -barren and sterile, save in this land of Zimiamvia which is sacred -to the lordly races of the dead. And thus cometh this steed to the -birth: when one of might and heart beyond the wont of man sleepeth -in this land with the egg in his bosom, greatly desiring some high -achievement, the fire of his great longing hatcheth the egg, and the -hippogriff cometh out therefrom, weak-winged at first as thou hast seen -a butterfly new-hatched out his chrysalis. Then only mayst thou mount -him, and if thou be man enow to turn him to thy will he shall bear thee -to the uttermost parts of earth unto thine heart’s desire. But if thou -be aught less than greatest, beware that steed, and mount only earthly -coursers. For if there be aught of dross within thee, and thine heart -falter, or thy purpose cool, or thou forget the level aim of thy glory, -then will he toss thee to thy ruin.” - -“Thou hast this thing, O Queen?” said Lord Juss. - -“My lord,” she said softly, “more than an hundred years ago I found -it, while I rambled on the cliffs that are about this charmed Lake of -Ravary. And here I hid it, being taught by the Gods what thing I had -found and knowing what was foreordained, that certain of earth should -come at last to Koshtra Belorn. Thinking in my heart that he that -should come might be of those who bare some great unfulfilled desire, -and might be of such might as could ride to his desire on such a steed.” - -They abode, talking little, by the charmed lake’s shore till evening. -Then they arose, and went with her to a pavilion by the lake, built in -a grove of flowering trees. Ere they went to rest, she brought them the -hippogriff’s egg, great as a man’s body, yet light of weight, rough and -coloured like gold. And she said, “Which of you, my lords?” - -Juss answered, “He, if might and a high heart should only count; but I, -because my brother it is that we must free from his dismal place.” - -So the Queen gave the egg to Lord Juss; and he, bearing it in his arms, -bade her good-night, saying, “I need no other laudanum than this to -make me sleep.” - -And the ambrosial night came down. And gentle sleep, softer than sleep -is on earth, closed their eyes in that pavilion beside the enchanted -lake. - - • • • • • - -Mivarsh slept not. Small joy had he of that Lake of Ravary, caring for -none of its beauties but mindful still of certain lewd bulks he had -seen basking by its shores all through the golden afternoon. He had -questioned one of the Queen’s martlets concerning them, who laughed at -him and let him know that these were crocodiles, wardens of the lake, -tame and gentle toward the heroes of bliss who resorted thither to -bathe and disport themselves. “But should such an one as thou,” she -said, “adventure there, they would chop thee up at a mouthful.” This -saddened him. And indeed, little ease of heart had he since he came out -of Impland, and dearly he desired his home, though it were sacked and -burnt, and the men of his own blood, though they should prove his foes. -And well he thought that if Juss should fly with Brandoch Daha mounted -on hippogriff to that cold mountain top where souls of the great were -held in bondage, he should never win back alone to the world of men, -past the frozen mountains, and the mantichores, and past the crocodile -that dwelt beside Bhavinan. - -He lay awake an hour or twain, weeping quietly, until out of the giant -heart of midnight came to him with fiery clearness the words of the -Queen, saying that by the heat of great longing in his heart that -claspeth it must that egg be hatched, and that that man should then -mount and ride on the wind unto his heart’s desire. Therewith Mivarsh -sat up, his hands clammy with mixed fear and longing. It seemed to him, -awake and alone among the sleepers in that breathless night, that no -longing could be greater than his longing. He said in his heart, “I -will arise, and take the egg privily from the devil transmarine and -clasp it myself. I do him no wrong thereby, for said she not it was -perilous? Also every man raketh the embers to his own cake.” - -So he arose, and came secretly to Juss where he lay with his strong -arms circling the egg. A beam of the moon came in by a window, shining -on the face of Juss, that was as the face of a God. Mivarsh bent over -him and teased the egg gently from his embrace, praying fervently the -while. And, for Juss was in a profound slumber, his soul mounting in -vision far from earth, far from that shore divine, to lone regions -where Goldry watched still in frozen mournful patience on the heights -of Zora, at last Mivarsh gat the egg and bare it to his bed. Very warm -it was, crackling to his ear as he embraced it, as of a power moving -from withinwards. - -In such wise Mivarsh fell asleep, clasping the egg as a man should -clasp his dearest. And a little before dawn it hatched in his arms -and fell asunder, and he started awake, his arms about the neck of a -strange steed. It went forth into the pale light before the sunrise, -and he with it, holding it fast. The sheen of its hair was like the -peacock’s neck; its eyes like the changing fires of a star of a windy -night. Its nostrils widened to the breath of the dawn. Its wings -unfolded and grew stiff, their feathers like the tail-feathers of the -peacock pheasant, white with purple eyes, and hard to the touch as -iron blades. Mivarsh was mounted on its back, seizing the shining mane -with both hands, trembling. And now was he fain to descend, but the -hippogriff snorted and reared, and he, fearing a great fall, clung -closer. It stamped with its silver hoofs, flapping its wings, ramping -like a lioness, tearing up the grass with its claws. Mivarsh screamed, -torn between hope and fear. It plunged forward and leaped into the air -and flew. - -The Demons, waked by the whirring of wings, rushed from the pavilion, -to behold that marvel flown against the obscure west. Wild was its -flight, like a snipe dipping and plunging. And while they looked, they -saw the rider flung from his seat and heard, some moments after, a dull -flop and splash of a body fallen in the lake. - -The wild steed vanished, winging toward the upper air. Rings ran -outward from the splash, troubling the surface of the lake, marring the -dark reflection of Zora Rach mirrored in the sleeping waters. - -“Poor Mivarsh!” cried Lord Brandoch Daha. “After all the weary leagues -I made him go with me.” And he threw off his cloak, took a dagger in -his teeth, and swam with great over-arm strokes out to the spot where -Mivarsh fell. But nought he found of Mivarsh. Only he saw near by on -an island beach a crocodile, big and bloated, that eyed him guiltily -and stayed not for his coming, but lumbering into the water dived and -disappeared. So Brandoch Daha turned and swam ashore again. - -Lord Juss stood as a man stricken to stone. As one despaired he turned -to the Queen, who now came forth to them wrapped in a mantle of -swansdown; yet high he held his head. “O Queen Sophonisba, here is that -secret glome or bottom of our days, come when we sniffed the sweetness -of the morning.” - -“My lord,” said she, “the flies hemerae take life with the sun and die -with the dew. But thou, if thou be truly great, join not hands with -desperation. Let the sad ending of this poor servant of thine be to -thee a monument against such folly. Earth is not ruined for a single -shower. Come back with me to Koshtra Belorn.” - -He looked at the grand peak of Zora, dark against the wakening east. -“Madam,” he said, “thou hast little more than half my years, and yet -by another computation thou art seven times mine age. I am not light -of will, nor thou shalt not find me a fool to thee. Let us go back to -Koshtra Belorn.” - -They brake their fast quietly and returned by the way they came. And -the Queen said, “My lords Juss and Brandoch Daha, there be few steeds -of such a kind to carry you to Zora Rach nam Psarrion, and not ye, -though ye be beyond the half-gods in your might and virtue, might have -power to ride them but if ye take them from the egg. So high they fly, -so shy they are, ye should not catch them though ye waited ten men’s -lifetimes. I will send my martlets to see if there be another egg in -the world.” - -So she despatched them, north and west and south and east. And in due -time those little birds returned on weary wing, all save one, without -tidings. - -“All have come back to me,” said the Queen, “save Arabella alone. -Dangers attend them in the world: birds of prey, men that slay little -birds for their sport. Yet hope with me that she may come back at last.” - -But the Lord Juss spake and said, “O Queen Sophonisba, to hope and wait -lieth not in my nature, but to be swift, resolute, and exact whensoever -I see my way before me. This have I ever approved, that the strawberry -groweth underneath the nettle still. I will assay the ascent of Zora.” - -Nor might all her prayers turn him from this rashness, wherein the -Lord Brandoch Daha besides did most eagerly second him. - -Two nights and two days they were gone, and the Queen abode them in -great trouble of heart in her pavilion by the enchanted lake. The third -evening came Brandoch Daha back to the pavilion, bringing with him Juss -that was like a man at point of death, and himself besides deadly sick. - -“Tell me not anything,” said the Queen. “Forgetfulness is the only -sovran remedy, which with all my art I will strive to induce in thy -mind and in his. Surely I despaired ever to see you in life again, so -rashly entered into those regions forbid.” - -Brandoch Daha smiled, but his look was ghastly. “Blame us not overmuch, -dear Queen. Who shoots at the mid-day sun, though he be sure he shall -never hit the mark, yet as sure he is he shall shoot higher than who -aims but at a bush.” His voice broke in his throat; the whites of his -eyes rolled up; he caught at the Queen’s hand like a frightened child. -Then with a mighty effort mastering himself, “I pray bear with me a -little,” he said. “After a little good meats and drinks taken ’twill -pass. I pray look to Juss: is a dead, think you?” - -Days passed, and months, and the Lord Juss lay yet as it were in -the article of death tended by his friend and by the Queen in that -pavilion by the lake. At length when winter was gone in middle earth, -and the spring far spent, back came that last little martlet on weary -wing, she they had long given up for lost. She sank in her mistress’s -bosom, almost dead indeed for weariness. But the Queen cherished her, -and gave her nectar, so that she gathered strength and said, “O Queen -Sophonisba, fosterling of the Gods, I flew for thee east and south -and west and north, by sea and by land, in heat and frost, unto the -frozen poles, about and about. And at the last came to Demonland, to -the range of Neverdale. There is a tarn among the mountains, that men -call Dule Tarn. Very deep it is, and men that live by bread do hold -it for bottomless. Yet hath it a bottom, and on the bottom lieth an -hippogriff’s egg, seen by me, for I flew at a great height above it.” - -“In Demonland!” said the Queen. And she said to Lord Brandoch Daha, “It -is the only one. Ye must go home to fetch it.” - -Brandoch Daha said, “Home to Demonland? After we spent our powers and -crossed the world to find the way?” - -But when Lord Juss knew of it, straightway with hope so renewed began -his sickness to depart from him, so that he was in a few weeks’ space -very well recovered. - -And it was now a full year gone by since first the Demons came up into -Koshtra Belorn. - - - - - XV: QUEEN PREZMYRA - - HOW THE LADY PREZMYRA DISCOVERED TO LORD GRO WHAT SHE WOULD HAVE - BROUGHT ABOUT FOR DEMONLAND, IN WHICH SHOULD ALSO APPEAR HER - LORD’S YET MORE GREATNESS AND ADVANCEMENT: AND HOW HER TOO - LOUD SPEAKING OF HER PURPOSE WAS THE OCCASION WHEREBY THE LORD - CORINIUS WAS TO LEARN THE SWEETNESS OF BLISS DEFERRED. - - -On that same twenty-sixth night of May, when Lord Juss and Lord -Brandoch Daha beheld from earth’s loftiest pinnacle the land of -Zimiamvia and Koshtra Belorn, Gro walked with the Lady Prezmyra on -the western terrace in Carcë. It wanted yet two hours of midnight. -The air was warm, the sky a bower of moonbeam and starbeam. Now and -then a faint breeze stirred as if night turned in her sleep. The walls -of the palace and the Iron Tower cut off the terrace from the direct -moonlight, and flamboys spreading their wobbling light made alternating -regions of brightness and gloom. Galloping strains of music and the -noise of revelry came from within the palace. - -Gro spake: “If thy question, O Queen, overlie a wish to have me gone, I -am as lightning to obey thee howsoe’er it grieve me.” - -“’Twas an idle wonder only,” she said. “Stay and it like thee.” - -“It is but a native part of wisdom,” said he, “to follow the light. -When thou wast departed from the hall methought all the bright lights -were bedimmed.” He looked at her sidelong as they passed into the -radiance of a flamboy, studying her countenance that seemed clouded -with grievous thought. Fair of all fairs she seemed, stately and -splendid; crowned with a golden crown set about with dark amethysts. A -figure of a crab-fish topped it above the brow, curiously wrought in -silver and bearing in either claw a ball of chrysolite the bigness of a -thrush’s egg. - -Lord Gro said, “This too was part of my mind, to behold those stars in -heaven that men call Berenice’s Hair, and know if they can outshine in -glory thine hair, O Queen.” - -They paced on in silence. Then, “These phrases of forced gallantry,” -she said, “sort ill with our friendship, my Lord Gro. If I be not -angry, think it is because I father them on the deep healths thou hast -caroused unto our Lord the King on this night of nights, when the -returning year bringeth back the date of his sending, and our vengeance -upon Demonland.” - -“Madam,” he said, “I would but have thee give over this melancholy. -Seemeth it to thee a little thing that the King hath pleased so -singularly to honour Corund thy husband as give him a king’s style -and dignity and all Impland to hold in fee? All took notice of it how -uncheerfully thou didst receive this royal crown when the King gave -it thee to-night, in honour of thy great lord, to wear in his stead -till he come home to claim it; this, and the great praise spoke by the -King of Corund, which methinks should bring the warmth of pride to thy -cheeks. Yet are all these things of as little avail against thy frozen -scornful melancholy as the weak winter sun availeth against congealed -pools in a black frost.” - -“Crowns are cheap trash to-day,” said Prezmyra; “whenas the King, with -twenty kings to be his lackeys, raiseth up now his lackeys to be kings -of the earth. Canst wonder if my joyance in this crown were dashed some -little when I looked on that other given by the King to Laxus?” - -“Madam,” said Gro, “thou must forgive Laxus in his own particular. Thou -knowest he set not so much as a foot in Pixyland; and if now he must be -called king thereof, that should rather please thee, being in despite -of Corinius that carried war there and by whatsoever means of skill or -fortune overcame thy noble brother and drave him into exile.” - -“Corinius,” she answered, “tasteth in that miss that bane or ill-hap -which I dearly pray all they may groan under who would fatten by my -brother’s ruin.” - -“Then should Corinius’s grief lift up thy joy,” said Gro. “Yet certain -it is, Fate is a blind puppy: build not on her next turn.” - -“Am not I a Queen?” said Prezmyra. “Is not this Witchland? Have we not -strength to make curses strong, if Fate be blind indeed?” - -They halted at the head of a flight of steps leading down to the inner -ward. The Lady Prezmyra leaned awhile on the black marble balustrade, -gazing seaward over the level marshes rough with moonlight. “What care -I for Laxus?” she said at last. “What care I for Corinius? A cast of -hawks flown by the King against a quarry that in dearworthiness and -nobility outshineth an hundred such as they. Nor I will not suffer mine -indignation so to witwanton with fair justice as persuade me to put -the wite on Witchland. It is most true the Prince my brother practised -with our enemies the downthrow of our fortunes, breaking open, had he -but known it, the gate of destruction for himself and us, that night -when our banquet was turned by him to a battle and our winey mirths to -bloody rages.” She was silent for a time, then said, “Oathbreakers: a -most odious name, flat against all humanity. Two faces in one hood. O -that earth would start up and strike the sins that tread on her!” - -“I see thou lookest west over sea,” said Gro. - -“There’s somewhat thou canst see, then, my Lord Gro, by owl-light,” -said Prezmyra. - -“Thou didst tell me at the time,” he said, “with what compliments in -vows and strange well-studied promises of friendship the Lord Juss took -leave of thee at their escaping out of Carcë. Yet art thou to blame, O -Queen, if thou take in too ill part the breaking of such promises given -in extremity, which prove commonly like fish, new, stale, and stinking -in three days.” - -“Sure, ’tis a small matter,” said she, “that my brother should cast -aside all ties of interest and alliance to save these great ones from -an evil death; and they, being delivered, should toss him a light -grammercy and go their ways, leaving him to be exterminated out of his -own country and, for all they know or reck, to lose his life. May the -great Devil of Hell torture their souls!” - -“Madam,” said Lord Gro, “I would have thee view the matter soberly, and -leave these bitter flashes. The Demons did save thy brother once in -Lida Nanguna, and his delivering of them out of the hand of our Lord -the King was but just payment therefor. The scales hang equal.” - -She answered, “Do not defile mine ears with their excuses. They have -shamefully abused us; and the guilt of their black deed planteth them -day by day more firmlier in my deeper-settled hate. Art thou so deeply -read in nature and her large philosophy, and I am yet to teach thee -that deadliest hellebore or the vomit of a toad are qualified poison to -the malice of a woman?” - -The darkness of a great cloud-bank spreading from the south swallowed -up the moonlight. Prezmyra turned to resume her slow pacing down the -terrace. The yellow fiery sparkles in her eyes glinted in the flamboys’ -flare. She looked dangerous as a lioness, and delicate and graceful -like an antelope. Gro walked beside her, saying, “Did not Corund drive -them forth in winter on to the Moruna, and can they continue there in -life, alone amid so many devouring perils?” - -“O my lord,” she cried, “say these good tidings to the kitchen wenches, -not to me. Why, thyself didst enter in past years the very heart of the -Moruna and yet camest off, else art thou the greatest liar. This only -cankerfrets my soul: that days go by, and months, and Witchland beateth -down all peoples under him, and yet he suffereth the crown of pride, -these rebels of Demonland, to go yet untrodden under feet. Doth he deem -it the better part to spare a foe and spoil a friend? That were an -unhappy and unnatural conclusion. Or is he fey, even as was Gorice XI.? -Heaven foreshield it, yet as ill an end may bechance him and utter ruin -come on all of us if he will withhold his scourge from Demonland until -Juss and Brandoch Daha come home again to meet with him.” - -“Madam,” said Lord Gro, “in these few words thou hast given me the -picture of mine own mind in small. And forgive me that I bespake thee -warily at the first, for these are matters of heavy moment, and ere -I opened my mind to thee I would know that it agreed with thine. Let -the King smite now, in the happy absence of their greatest champions. -So shall we be in strength against them if they return again, and -perchance Goldry with them.” - -She smiled, and it seemed as if all the sultry night freshened and -sweetened at that lady’s smile. “Thou art a dear companion to me,” she -said. “Thy melancholy is to me as some shady wood in summer, where -I may dance if I will, and that is often, or be sad if I will, and -that is in these days oftener than I would: and never thou crossest -my mood. Save but now thou didst so, to plague me with thy precious -flattering jargon, till I had thought thee skin-changed with Laxus or -young Corinius, seeking such lures as gallants spread their wings to, -to stoop in ladies’ bosoms.” - -“For I would shake thee from this late-received sadness,” said Gro. And -he said, “Thou art to commend me too, since I spake nought but truth.” - -“Oh, have done, my lord,” she cried, “or I’ll dismiss thee hence.” And -as they walked Prezmyra sang softly: - - He that cannot chuse but love, - And strives against it still, - Never shall my fancy move, - For he loves ’gaynst his will; - Nor he which is all his own, - And can att pleasure chuse; - When I am caught he can be gone, - And when he list refuse. - Nor he that loves none but faire, - For such by all are sought; - Nor he that can for foul ones care, - For his Judgement then is naught; - Nor he—— - -She broke off suddenly, saying, “Come, I have shook off the ill -disposition the sight of Laxus bred in me and of his tawdry crown. -Let’s think on action. And first, I will tell thee a thing. This we -spoke of hath been in my mind these two or three moons, ever since -Corinius’s campaigning in Pixyland. So when word came of my lord’s -destroying of the Demon host, and his driving of Juss and Brandoch Daha -like runaway thralls on the Moruna, I sent him a letter by the hand of -Viglus that bare him from our Lord the King the king’s name in Impland. -Therein I expressed how that the crown of Demonland should be a braver -crown for us than this of Impland, howsoe’er it sparkle, praying him -urge upon the King his sending of an armament to Demonland, and my lord -the leader thereof; or, if he could not as then come home to ask it, -then I entreated him make me his ambassador to lay this counsel before -the King and crave the enterprise for Corund.” - -“Is not his answer in those letters I brought thee?” said Gro. - -“Ay,” said she, “and a very scurvy beggarly lickspittle answer for a -great lord to send to such a matter as I propounded. Alack, it puffs -away all my wifely duty but to speak on’t, and makes me rail like a -gangrel-woman.” - -“I’ll walk apart, madam,” said Gro, “if thou wouldst have privateness -to deliver thy mind.” - -Prezmyra laughed. “’Tis not all so bad,” she said, “and yet it makes me -angry. The enterprise he commends, up to the hilt, and I have his leave -to broach it to the King, as his mouth-piece, and press it with him out -of all ho. But for the leading on’t, he will not have it, he. Corsus -must have it, or Corinius. Stay, let me read it out,” and standing near -one of the lights she took a parchment from her bosom. “Pooh! ’tis too -fond; I will not shame my lord to read it, even to thee.” - -“Well,” said Gro, “were I the King, Corund should be my general to put -down Demonland. Corsus he may send, for he hath done great work in -his day, but in mine own judgement I like him not for such an errand. -Corinius he hath not yet forgiven for his fault at the banquet a year -ago.” - -“Corinius!” said Prezmyra. “So his butchery of mine own dear land goeth -not only without reward, but hath not so much as bought him back to -favour, thou thinkest?” - -“I think not,” said Lord Gro. “Besides, he is mad wroth to have -plucked that prickly fruit but for another’s eating. He bare himself -so presumptuous-ill in the hall to-night, gleeking and galling at -Laxus, slapping of his sword, and with so many more shameless braves -and wanton fashions, and worst of all his most openly seeking to toy -with Sriva, i’ this first month of her betrothal unto Laxus, it will -be a wonder if blood be not spilt betwixt them ere the night be done. -Methinks he is not i’ the mood to take the field again without some -sure reward; and methinks the King, guessing his mind, would not offer -him a new enterprise and so give him the glory of refusing it.” - -They stood near the arched gateway that opened on the terrace from the -inner court. Music still sounded from the great banquet hall of Gorice -XI. Under the archway and in the shadows of the huge buttresses of the -walls it was as though the elements of gloom, expelled from the bright -circles round the flamboys, huddled with sister glooms to make a double -darkness. - -“Well, my lord,” said Prezmyra, “doth thy wisdom bless my resolve?” - -“Whate’er it be, yes, because it is thine, O Queen.” - -“Whate’er it be!” she cried. “Dost hang in doubt on’t? What else, but -seek audience with the King as my first care in the morning. Have I not -my lord’s bidding so far?” - -“And if thy zeal outrun his bidding in one particular?” said Gro. - -“Why, just!” said she. “And if I bring thee not word ere to-morrow’s -noon that order is given for Demonland, and my Lord Corund named his -general for that sailing, ay, and letters sealed for his straight -recall from Orpish——” - -“Hist!” said Gro. “Steps i’ the court.” - -They turned towards the archway, Prezmyra singing under her breath: - - Nor he that still his Mistresse payes, - For she is thrall’d therefore; - Nor he that payes not, for he sayes - Within, shee’s worth no more. - Is there then no kinde of men - Whom I may freely prove? - I will vent that humour then - In mine own selfe love. - -Corinius met them in the gateway, coming from the banquet house. He -halted full in their path to peer closely through the darkness at -Prezmyra, so that she felt the heat of his breath, heavy with wine. It -was too dark to know faces but he knew her by her stature and bearing. - -“Cry thee mercy, madam,” he said. “Methought an instant ’twas—but no -matter. Your best of rest.” - -So saying he made way for her with a deep obeisance, jostling roughly -against Gro with the same motion. Gro, little minded for a quarrel, -gave him the wall, and followed Prezmyra into the inner court. - - • • • • • - -The Lord Corinius sat him down on the nearest of the benches, leaned -his stalwart back luxuriously upon the cushions and there rested, -thripping his fingers and singing to himself: - - What an Ass is he - Waits a woman’s leisure - For a minute’s pleasure, - And perhaps may be - Gull’d at last, and lose her; - What an ass is he? - - What need I to care - For a woman’s favour? - If another have her, - Why should I despair? - When for gold and labour - I can have my share. - - If I chance to see - One that’s brown, I love her, - Till I see another - Browner is than she; - For I am a lover - Of my liberty. - -A rustle behind him on his left made him turn his head. A figure stole -out of the deep shadow of the buttress nearest the archway. He leapt up -and was first in the gate, blocking it with open arms. “Ah,” he cried, -“so titmice roost i’ the shade, ha? What ransom shall I have of thee -for making me keep empty tryst last night? Ay, and wast creeping hence -to make me a fool once more the night-long and I had not caught thee.” - -The lady laughed. “Last night my father kept me by him; and to-night, -my lord, wouldst thou not have been fitly served for thy shameless -ditty? Is that a sweet serenade for ladies’ ears? Sing it again, to thy -liberty, and show thyself an ass.” - -“Thou art very bold to provoke me, madam, with not even a star to be -thy witness if I quite thee for’t. These flamboys are old roisterers, -grown gray in scenes of riot. They shall not blab.” - -“Nay, if thou speakest in wine I’m gone, my lord;” and as he took a -step towards her, “and I return not, here or otherwise, but fling thee -off for ever,” she said. “I will not be entreated like a serving-maid. -I have borne too long with thy forced soldier fashions.” - -Corinius caught his arms about her, lifting her against his broad chest -so that her toes scarce kept footing on the ground. “O Sriva,” he said -thickly, bending his face to hers, “dost think to light so great a -fire, and after walk through it and not be scorched thereat?” - -Her arms were close pinioned at her sides in that strong embrace. She -seemed to swoon, as a lily swooning in the flaming noon-day. Corinius -bent down his face and kissed her fiercely, saying, “By all the sweets -that ever darkness tasted, thou art mine to-night.” - -“To-morrow,” she said, as if stifled. - -But Corinius said, “My dearest happiness, to-night.” - -“My dear lord,” said the Lady Sriva softly, “sith thou hast made such -a conquest of my love, be not a harsh and froward conqueror. I swear -to thee by all the dreadful powers that clip the earth about, there’s -matter in it I should to my father this night, nay more, now on the -instant. ’Twas this only made me avoid thee but now: this, and no light -conceit to vex thee.” - -“He can attend our pleasure,” said Corinius. “’Tis an old man, and oft -sitteth late at his book.” - -“How? and thou leftest him carousing?” said she. “There’s that I must -impart to him ere the wine quite o’erflow his wits. Even this delay, -how sweet soe’er to us, is dangerous.” - -But Corinius said, “I will not let thee go.” - -“Well,” said she, “be a beast, then. But know I’ll cry on a rescue -shall make all Carcë run to find us, and my brothers, ay, and Laxus, -if he be a man, shall deal thee bitter payment for thy violence toward -me. But if thou wilt be thy noble self, and respect my love with -friendship, let me go. And if thou come secretly to my chamber door, an -hour past midnight; I think thou’lt find no bolt to it.” - -“Ha, thou swearest it?” he said. - -She answered, “Else may steep destruction swallow me quick.” - -“An hour past midnight. And until then ’tis a year in my desires,” said -he. - -“There spoke my noble lover,” said Sriva, giving him her mouth once -more. And swiftly she fared through the shadowy archway and across the -court to where in the north gallery her father Corsus had his chamber. - -The Lord Corinius went back to his seat, and there reclined for a space -in slothful ease, humming to an old tune: - - My Mistris is a shittle-cock, - Compos’d of Cork and feather; - Each Battledore sets on her dock, - And bumps her on the leather. - But cast her off which way you Will, - She will requoile to another still— - Fa, la, la, la, la, la. - -He stretched his arms and yawned. “Well, Laxus, my chub-faced meacock, -this medicine hath eased powerfully my discontent. ’Tis but fair, sith -I must miss my crown, that I should have thy mistress. And to say true, -seeing how base, little, and ordinary a kingdom is this of Pixyland, -and what a delectable sweet wagtail this Sriva, whom besides I have -these two years past ne’er looked on but my mouth watered: why, I may -hold me part paid for the nonce; until I weary of her. - - Love is all my life, - For it keeps me doing: - Yet my love and wooing - Is not for a Wife— - -“An hour past midnight, ha? What wine’s best for lovers? I’ll go drink -a stoup, and so to dice with some of these lads to pass away the time -till then.” - - - - - XVI: THE LADY SRIVA’S EMBASSAGE - - HOW THE DUKE CORSUS THOUGHT IT PROPER TO COMMIT AN ERRAND OF STATE - UNTO HIS DAUGHTER: AND HOW SHE PROSPERED THEREIN. - - -Sriva fared swiftly to her father’s closet, and finding her lady mother -sewing in her chair, nodding toward sleep, two candles at her left -and right, she said, “My lady mother, there’s a queen’s crown waits -the plucking. ’Twill drop into the foreign woman’s lap if thou and my -father bestir you not. Where is he? Still i’ the banquet house? Thou or -I must fetch him on the instant.” - -“Fie!” cried Zenambria. “How thou’st startled me! Fall somewhat into a -slower speech, my girl. With such wild sudden talk I know not what thou -meanest nor what’s the matter.” - -But Sriva answered, “Matter of state. Thou goest not? Good, then I -fetch him. Thou shalt hear all anon, mother;” and so turned towards -the door. Nor might all her mother’s crying out upon the scandal of -their so returning to the banquet long past the hour of the women’s -withdrawal turn her from this. So that the Lady Zenambria, seeing her -so wilful, thought it less evil to go herself; and so went, and in -awhile returned with Corsus. - -Corsus sat in his great chair over against his lady wife, while his -daughter told her tale. - -“Twice and thrice,” said she, “they passed me by, as near as I stand to -thee, O my father, she leaning most familiarly on the arm of her curled -philosopher. ’Twas plain they had never a thought that any was by to -overhear them. She said so and so;” and therewith Sriva told all that -was spoke by the Lady Prezmyra as to an expedition to Demonland, and -as to her purposed speaking with the King, and as to her design that -Corund should be his general for that sailing, and letters sealed on -the morrow for his straight recall from Orpish. - -The Duke listened unmoved, breathing heavily, leaning heavily forward, -his elbow on his knees, one great fat hand twisting and pushing back -the sparse gray growth of his moustachios. His eyes shifted with sullen -glance about the chamber, and his blabber cheeks, scarlet from the -feast, flushed to a deeper hue. - -Zenambria said, “Alas, and did not I tell thee long ago, my lord, that -Corund did ill to wed with a young wife? And thence cometh now that -shame that was but to be looked for. It is pity indeed of so goodly a -man, now past his prime age, she should so play at fast and loose with -his honour, and he at the far end of the world. Indeed and indeed, -I hope he will revenge it on her at his coming home. For sure I am, -Corund is too high-minded to buy advancement at so shameful a price.” - -“Thy talk, wife,” said Corsus, “showeth long hair and a short wit. In -brief, thou art a fool.” - -He was silent for a space, then raised his gaze to Sriva, where she -rested, her back to the massive table, half standing, half sitting, a -dainty jewel-besparkled hand planted on the table’s edge at her either -side, her arms like delicate white pillars supporting that fair frame. -Somewhat his dull eye brightened, resting on her. “Come hither,” he -said, “on my knee: so.” - -When she was seated, “’Tis a brave gown,” said he, “thou wearest -to-night, my pretty pug. Red, for a sanguine humour.” His great arm -gave her a back, and his hand, huge as a platter, lay like a buckler -beneath her breast. “Thou smell’st passing sweet.” - -“’Tis malabathrum in the leaf,” answered she. - -“I’m glad it likes thee, my lord,” said Zenambria. “My woman still -protesteth that such, being boiled with wine, yieldeth a perfume that -passeth all other.” - -Corsus still looked on Sriva. After a while he asked, “What madest thou -on the terrace i’ the dark, ha?” - -She looked down, saying, “It was Laxus prayed me meet him there.” - -“Hum!” said Corsus, “’Tis strange then he should await thee this hour -gone by in the paved alley of the privy court.” - -“He did mistake me,” said Sriva. “And well is he served, for such -neglect.” - -“So. And thou turnest politician to-night, my little puss-cat?” said -Corsus. “And thou smellest an expedition to Demonland? ’Tis like enow. -But methinks the King will send Corinius.” - -“Corinius?” said Sriva. “It is not thought so. ’Tis Corund must have -it, if thou push not the matter to a decision with the King to-night, O -my father, ere my lady fox be private with him to-morrow.” - -“Bah!” said Corsus. “Thou art but a girl, and knowest nought. She hath -not the full blood nor the resolution to carry it thus. No, ’tis not -Corund stands i’ the light, it is Corinius. It is therefore the King -withheld from him Pixyland, which was his due, and tossed the bauble to -Laxus.” - -“Why, ’tis a monstrous thing,” said Zenambria, “if Corinius shall have -Demonland, which surely much surpasseth this crown of Pixyland. Shall -this novice have all the meat, and thou, because thou art old, have -nought but the bones and the parings?” - -“Hold thy tongue, mistress,” said Corsus, looking upon her as one -looketh on a sour mixture. “Why hadst not the wit to angle for him for -thy daughter?” - -“Truly, husband, I’m sorry for it,” said Zenambria. - -The Lady Sriva laughed, placing her arm about her father’s bullock-neck -and playing with his whiskers. “Content thee,” she said, “my lady -mother. I have my choice, and that is very certain, of these and of all -other in Carcë. And now I bethink me on the Lord Corinius, why, there’s -a proper man indeed: weareth a shaven lip too, which, as experienced -opinion shall tell thee, far exceedeth your nasty moustachios.” - -“Well,” said Corsus, kissing her, “howe’er it shape, I’ll to the King -to-night to move my matter with him. Meanwhile, madam,” he said to -Zenambria, “I’ll have thee take thy chamber straight. Bolt well the -door, and for more safety I will lock it myself o’ the outer side. -There’s much mirth toward to-night, and I’d not have these staggering -drunken swads offend thee, as full well might befall, whiles I am on -mine errand of state.” - -Zenambria bade him good-night, and would have taken her daughter with -her, but Corsus said nay to this, saying, “I’ll see her safe bestowed.” - -When they were alone, and the Lady Zenambria locked away in her -chamber, Corsus took forth from an oaken cupboard a great silver flagon -and two chased goblets. These he brimmed with a sparkling yellow wine -from the flagon and made Sriva drink with him not once only but twice, -emptying each time her goblet. Then he drew up his chair and sinking -heavily into it folded his arms upon the table and buried his head upon -them. - -Sriva paced back and forth, impatient at her father’s strange posture -and silence. Surely the wine lighted riot in her veins; surely in that -silent room came back to her Corinius’s kisses hot upon her mouth, -the strength of his arms like bands of bronze holding her embraced. -Midnight tolled. Her bones seemed to melt within her as she bethought -her of her promise, due in an hour. - -“Father,” said she at last, “midnight hath stricken. Wilt thou not go -ere it be too late?” - -The Duke raised his face and looked at her. He answered “No.” “No,” -he said again, “where’s the profit? I wax old, my daughter, and must -wither. The world is to the young. To Corinius; to Laxus; to thee. But -most of all to Corund, who if a be old yet hath his mess of sons, and -mightiest of all his wife, to be his ladder to climb thrones withal.” - -“But thou saidst but now——” said Sriva. - -“Ay, when thy mammy was by. She cometh to her second childhood before -her time, so as to a child I speak to her. Corund did ill to wed with -a young wife, ha? Phrut! Is not this the very bulwark and rampire of -his fortune? Didst ever see a fellow so spurted up in a moment? My -secretary when I managed the old wars against the Ghouls, and now -climbed clean over me, that am yet nine year his elder. Called king, -forsooth, and like to be ta’en soon (under the King) for Dominus fac -totum throughout all the land if a play this woman as a should. Will -not the King, for such payment as she intends, give Demonland upon -Impland and all the world beside? Hell’s dignity, that would I, and -’twere offered me.” - -He stood up, reaching unsteadily for the wine jug. Furtively he watched -his daughter, shifting his gaze ever as her eye met his. - -“Corund,” said he, pouring out some wine, “would split his sides for -laughter to hear thy mother’s prim-mouthed brabble: he that hath -enjoined upon his wife, there’s ne’er a doubt on’t, this very errand, -and if he visit it on her at his coming home ’twill but be with hotter -love and gratitude for that she wins him in our despite. Trust me, ’tis -not every lady of quality shall find favour with a King.” - -The casement stood open, and while they stood without speech sounds of -a lute trembled upward from the court below, and a man’s voice, soft -and deep, singing this song: - - Hornes to the bull, - Hooves to the steede, - To little hayres - Light feete for speed, - And unto lions she giveth tethe - A-gaping dangerouslye. - - Fishes to swim, - And birds to flye, - And men to judge - And reeson why, - She teacheth. Yet for womankind - None of these thinges hath she. - - For women beautie - She hath made - Their onely shielde - Their onely blade. - O’er sword and fire they triumph stille, - Soe they but beautious be. - -The Lady Sriva knew it was Laxus singing to her chamber window. Her -blood beat wildly, the spirit of enterprise winging her imagination not -toward him, nor yet Corinius, but into paths strangely and perilously -inviting, undreamed of until now. The Duke her father came towards her, -thrusting the chairs from his way, and saying, “Corund and his mess of -sons! Corund and his young Queen! If he conjure with the white rose, -why not thou and I with the red? It hath as fair a look, the devil damn -me else, and savoureth as excellent sweet perfume.” - -She stared at him big-eyed, with blushing cheeks. He took her hands in -his. - -“Shall this outland woman,” he said, “and her sallow-cheeked gallant -still ruffle it over us? Long beards, whether they be white or black, -are too huge a blemish in our eye, methinks. The thing seemeth not -supportable, that this precise madam with her foreign fashions—Dost -fear to stand i’ the field against her?” - -Sriva put her forehead on his shoulder and said, scarce to be heard, -“And it come to that, I’ll show thee.” - -“It must be now,” said Corsus. “Prezmyra, thou hast told me, seeketh -audience betimes i’ the morning. Women are best at night-time, too.” - -“If Laxus should hear thee!” she said. - -He answered, “Tush, he need never blame thee, even if he knew on’t, and -we can manage that. Thy silly mother prated but now of honour. ’Tis -but a school-name; and if ’twere other, tell me whence springeth the -fount of honour if not from the King of Kings? If he receive thee, then -art thou honoured, and all they that have to do with thee. I am yet to -learn dishonour lieth on that man or woman whom the King doth honour.” - -She laughed, turning from him toward the window, her hands still held -in his. “Foh, thou hast given me a strong potion! and I think that -swayeth me more than thy many arguments, O my father, which to say -truth I cannot well remember because I did not much believe.” - -Duke Corsus took her by the shoulders. His face overlooked her by a -little, for she was not tall of build. “By the Gods,” he said, “’tis a -stronger sweet scent of the red rose to make a great man drunk withal -than of the white, though that be a bigger flower.” And he said, “Why -not, for a game, for a madcap jest? A mantle and hood, a mask if thou -wilt, and my ring to prove thee mine ambassador. I’ll attend thee -through the court-yard to the foot o’ the stairs.” - -She said nothing, smiling at him as she turned for him to put the great -velvet mantle about her shoulders. - -“Ha,” said he, “’tis well seen a daughter is worth ten sons.” - - • • • • • - -In the meanwhile Gorice the King sate in his private chamber writing -at a parchment spread before him on the table of polished marmolite. -A silver lamp burned at his left elbow. The window stood open to the -night. The King had laid aside his crown, that sparkled darkly in the -shadow below the lamp. He put down his pen and read again what he had -writ, in manner following: - - Fram Me, Gorice the Twelft, Greate Kyng of Wychlande and of - Ympelande and of Daemonlande and of al kyngdomes the sonne - dothe spread hys bemes over, unto Corsus My servaunte: Thys is - to signifye to the that thoue shalt with all convenient spede - repaire with a suffycyaunt strengthe of menne and schyppes to - Daemonlande, bycause that untowarde and traytorly cattell that doe - there inhabyt are to fele by the the sharpnes of My correctioun. - I wyll the, as holdynge the place of My generalle ther, that thow - enter forcybly ynto the sayd cuntrie and doe with al dilygence - spoyl ravysche and depopulate that lande, enslavying oppressyng - and puttyng to the dethe as thow shalt thynke moost servychable al - them that shal fall ynto thy powre, and in pertyculer pullyng downe - and ruinating all thayr stronge houlds or castels, as Galinge, - Dreppabie, Crothryng, Owleswyke, and othere. Thys enterpryse in - head is one of the gretest that ever was since yt is to trampe - downe Daemonlande and once and for al to cutt thayr coames whose - crestes may daunger us, and thow art toe onderstande that withowt - extraordinair experiens of thy former merrits I wolde not commyt - to the so greate a chairge, and especially in such a tyme. And - since al gret enterpryses oughte to bee sodeynly and resolutely - prosequuted, therefore thys oughte to bee done and executed at - furthest in harveste nexte. Therefore yt is My commaundemente that - thow Corsus take order for the instant furnesshynge of shippes, - seamen, souldiers, horsemen, officiers, and pertyculer personnes, - wepons, municions, and al other necessaries whych is thought to be - needfull for the armie and hoast whych shalbe levied for the sayd - entrepryse, for whyche this letter shalbe thy suffycyaunt warrant - under My hande. Given under My signeth of Ouroboros in My pallaice - of Carcie thys xxix daie of may, beynge the vij daie of My yeare II. - -The King took wax and a taper from the great gold ink-stand, and sealed -the warrant with the ruby head of the worm Ouroboros, saying, “The -ruby, most comfortable to the heart, brain, vigour, and memory of man. -So, ’tis confirmed.” - -In that instant, when the wax was yet soft of the King’s seal sealing -that commission for Corsus, one tapped gently at the chamber door. The -King bade enter, and there came the captain of his bodyguard and stood -before the King, with word that one waited without, praying instant -audience, “And showed me for a token, O my Lord the King, a bull’s head -with fiery nostrils graven in a black opal in the bezel of a ring, -which I knew for the signet of my Lord Corsus that his lordship beareth -alway on his left thumb. And ’twas this, O King, that only persuaded -me to deliver the message unto your Majesty in this unseasonable hour. -Which if it be a fault in me, I do humbly hope your Majesty will -pardon.” - -“Knowest thou the man?” said the King. - -He answered, “I might not know him, dread Lord, for the mask and great -hooded cloak he weareth. It is a little man, and speaketh a husky -whisper.” - -“Admit him,” said King Gorice; and when Sriva was come in, masked and -hooded and holding forth the ring, he said, “Thou lookest questionable, -albeit this token opened a way for thee. Put off these trappings and -let me know thee.” - -But she, speaking still in a husky whisper, prayed that they might be -private ere she disclosed herself. So the King bade leave them private. - -“Dread Lord,” said the soldier, “is it your will that I stand ready -without the door?” - -“No,” said the King. “Void the ante-chamber, set the guard, and let -none disturb me.” And to Sriva he said, “If thine errand prove not more -honester than thy looks, this is an ill night’s journey for thee. At -the lifting of my finger I am able to metamorphose thee to a mandrake. -If indeed thou beest aught else already.” - -When they were alone the Lady Sriva doffed her mask and put back her -hood, uncovering her head that was crowned with two heavy trammels of -her dark brown hair bound up and interwoven above her brow and ears -and pinned with silver pins headed with garnets coloured like burning -coals. The King beheld her from under the great shadow of his brows, -darkly, not by so much as the moving of an eyelid or a lineament of his -lean visage betraying aught that passed in his mind at this disclosing. - -She trembled and said, “O my Lord the King, I hope you will indulge -and pardon in me this trespass. Truly I marvel at mine own boldness how -I durst come to you.” - -With a gesture of his hand the King bade her be seated in a chair on -his right beside the table. “Thou needest not be afraid, madam,” he -said. “That I admit thee, let it make thee assured of welcome. Let me -know thine errand.” - -The fire of her father’s wine shuddered down within her like a low-lit -flame in a gust of wind as she sat there alone with King Gorice XII. -in the circle of the lamplight. She took a deep breath to still her -heart’s fluttering and said, “O King, I was much afeared to come, and -it was to ask you a boon: a little thing for you to give, Lord, and yet -to me that am the least of your handmaids a great thing to receive. But -now I am come indeed, I durst not ask it.” - -The glitter of his eyes looking out from their eaves of darkness -dismayed her; and little comfort had she of the iron crown at his -elbow, bright with gems and fierce with uplifted claws, or of the -copper serpents interlaced that made the arms of his chair, or of the -bright image of the lamp reflected in the table top where were red -streaks like streaks of blood and black streaks like edges of swords -streaking the green shining surface of the stone. - -Yet she took heart to say, “Were I a great lord had done your majesty -service as my father hath, or these others you did honour to-night, -O King, it had been otherwise.” He said nothing, and still gathering -courage she said, “I too would serve you, O King. And I came to ask you -how.” - -The King smiled. “I am much beholden to thee, madam. Do as thou hast -done, and thou shalt please me well. Feast and be merry, and charge not -thine head with these midnight questionings, lest too much carefulness -make thee grow lean.” - -“Grow I so, O King? You shall judge.” So speaking the Lady Sriva -rose up and stood before him in the lamplight. Slowly she opened her -arms upwards right and left, putting back her velvet cloak from her -shoulders, until the dark cloak hanging in folds from either uplifted -hand was like the wings of a bird lifted up for flight. Dazzling fair -shone her bare shoulders and bare arms and throat and bosom. One great -hyacinth stone, hanging by a gold chain about her neck, rested above -the hollow of her breasts. It flashed and slept with her breathing’s -alternate fall and swell. - -“You did threaten me, Lord, but now,” she said, “to transmew me to a -mandrake. Would you might change me to a man.” - -She could read nothing in the crag-like darkness of his countenance, -the iron lip, the eyes that were like pulsing firelight out of hollow -caves. - -“I should serve you better so, Lord, than my poor beauty may. Were I a -man, I had come to you to-night and said, ‘O King, let us not suffer -any longer of that hound Juss. Give me a sword, O King, and I will put -down Demonland for you and tread them under feet.’” - -She sank softly into her chair again, suffering her velvet cloak to -fall over its back. The King ran his finger thoughtfully along the -upstanding claws of the crown beside him on the table. - -“Is this the boon thou askest me?” he said at length. “An expedition to -Demonland?” - -She answered it was. - -“Must they sail to-night?” said the King, still watching her. She -smiled foolishly. - -“Only,” he said, “I would know what gadfly of urgency stung thee on to -come so strangely and suddenly and after midnight.” - -She paused a minute, then summoning courage: “Lest another should -first come to you, O King,” she answered. “Believe me, I know of -preparations, and one that shall come to you in the morning praying -this thing for another. What intelligence soever some hath, I am sure -of that to be true that I have.” - -“Another?” said the King. - -Sriva answered, “Lord, I’ll say no names. But there be some, O King, be -dangerous sweet suppliants, hanging their hopes belike on other strings -than we may tune.” - -She had bent her head above the polished table, looking curiously down -into its depths. Her corsage and gown of scarlet silk brocade were like -the chalice of a great flower; her white arms and shoulders like the -petals of the flower above it. At length she looked up. - -“Thou smilest, my Lady Sriva,” said the King. - -“I smiled at mine own thought,” she said. “You’ll laugh to hear it, O -my Lord the King, being so different from what we spoke on. But sure, -of women’s thoughts is no more surety nor rest than is in a vane that -turneth at all winds.” - -“Let me hear it,” said the King, bending forward, his lean hairy hand -flung idly across the table’s edge. - -“Why thus it was, Lord,” said she. “There came me in mind of a sudden -that saying of the Lady Prezmyra when first she was wed to Corund and -dwelt here in Carcë. She said all the right part of her body was of -Witchland but the left Pixy. Whereupon our people that were by rejoiced -much that she had given the right part of her body to Witchland. -Whereupon she said, but her heart was on the left side.” - -“And where wearest thou thine?” asked the King. She durst not look at -him, and so saw not the comic light go like summer lightning across his -dark countenance as she spoke Prezmyra’s name. - -His hand had dropped from the table edge; Sriva felt it touch her knee. -She trembled like a full sail that suddenly for an instant the wind -leaves. Very still she sat, saying in a low voice, “There’s a word, my -Lord the King, if you’d but speak it, should beam a light to show you -mine answer.” - -But he leaned closer, saying, “Dost think I’ll chaffer with thee? I’ll -know the answer first i’ the dark.” - -“Lord,” she whispered, “I would not have come to you in this deep and -dead time of the night but that I knew you noble and the great King, -and no amorous surfeiter that should deal falsely with me.” - -Her body breathed spices: soft warm scents to make the senses reel: -perfume of malabathrum bruised in wine, essences of sulphur-coloured -lilies planted in Aphrodite’s garden. The King drew her to him. She -cast her arms about his neck, saying close to his ear, “Lord, I may -not sleep till you tell me they must sail, and Corsus must be their -captain.” - -The King held her gathered up like a child in his embrace. He kissed -her on the mouth, a long deep kiss. Then he sprang to his feet, set -her down like a doll before him upon the table by the lamp, and so sat -back in his own chair again and sat regarding her with a strange and -disturbing smile. - -On a sudden his brow darkened, and thrusting his face towards hers, his -thick black square-cut beard jutting beneath the curl of his shaven -upper lip, “Girl,” he said, “who sent thee o’ this errand?” - -He rolled his eye upon her with such a gorgon look that her blood ran -back with a great leap towards her heart, and she answered, scarce to -be heard, “Truly, O King, my father sent me.” - -“Was he drunk when he sent thee?” asked the King. - -“Truly, Lord, I think he was,” said she. - -“That cup that he was drunken withal,” said King Gorice, “let him prize -and cherish it all his life natural. For if in his sober senses he -should make no more estimation of me than think to bribe my favours -with a bona roba; by my soul, in his evil health he had sought to do -it, for it should cost him nothing but his life.” - -Sriva began to weep, saying, “O King, your gentle pardon.” - -But the King paced the room like a prowling lion. “Did he fear I should -supply Corund in his place?” said he. “This was a cocksure way to make -me do it, if indeed his practice had might to move me at all. Let him -learn to come to me with his own mouth if he hope to get good of me. -Other else, out of Carcë let him go and avoid my sight, that all the -great masters of Hell may conduct him thither.” - -The King paused at length beside Sriva, that was perched still upon the -table, showing a kind of sweetness in tears, sobbing very pitifully, -her face hidden in her two hands. So for a time he beheld her, then -lifted her down, and while he sat in his great chair, holding her on -his knee with one hand, with the other drew hers gently from before -her face. “Come,” he said, “I blame it not on thee. Give over all thy -weeping. Reach me that writing from the table.” - -She turned in his arms and stretched a hand out for the parchment. - -“Thou knowest my signet?” said the King. - -She nodded, ay. - -“Read,” said he, letting her go. She stood by the lamp, and read. - -The King was behind her. He took her beneath the arms, bending to speak -hot-breathed in her ear. “Thou seest, I had already chose my general. -Therefore I let thee know it, because I mean not to let thee go till -morning; and I would not have thee think thy loveliness, howe’er it -please me, moveth such deep-commanding spells as to sway my policy.” - -She lay back against his breast, limp and strengthless, while he -kissed her neck and eyes and throat; then her lips met his in a long -voluptuous kiss. Surely the King’s hands upon her were like live coals. - -Bethinking her of Corinius, fuming at an open door and an empty -chamber, the Lady Sriva was yet content. - - - - - XVII: THE KING FLIES HIS HAGGARD - - HOW THE LADY PREZMYRA CAME TO THE KING ON AN ERRAND OF STATE, AND - HOW SHE PROSPERED THEREIN: WHEREIN IS ALSO SEEN WHY THE KING - WOULD SEND THE DUKE CORSUS INTO DEMONLAND; AND HOW ON THE - FIFTEENTH DAY OF JULY THESE LORDS, CORSUS, LAXUS, GRO, AND - GALLANDUS, SAILED WITH A FLEET FROM TENEMOS. - - -On the morn came the Lady Prezmyra to pray audience of the King, and -being admitted to his private chamber stood before him in great beauty -and splendour, saying, “Lord, I came to thank you as occasion served -not for me fitly so to do last night i’ the banquet hall. Sure, ’tis -no easy task, since when I thank you as I would, I must seem too -unmindful of Corund’s deserving who hath won this kingdom: but if I -speak too large of that, I shall seem to minish your bounty, O King. -And ingratitude is a vice abhorred.” - -“Madam,” said the King, “thou needest not to thank me. And to mine ears -great deeds have their own trumpets.” - -So now she told him of her letters received from Corund out of Impland. -“It is well seen, Lord,” said she, “how in these days you do beat down -all peoples under you, and do set up new tributary kings to add to your -great praise in Carcë. O King, how long must this ill weed of Demonland -offend us, going still untrodden under feet?” - -The King answered her not a word. Only his lip showed a gleam of teeth, -as of a tiger’s troubled at his meal. - -But Prezmyra said with great hardiness, “Lord, be not angry with me. -Methinks it is the part of a faithful servant honoured by his master to -seek new service. And where lieth likelier service Corund should do -you than west over seas, to lead presently an army naval thither and -make an end of them, ere their greatness stand up again from the blow -wherewith last May you did strike them?” - -“Madam,” said the King, “this charge is mine. I’ll tell thee when I -need thy counsel, which is not now.” And standing up as if to end the -matter, he said, “I do intend some sport to-day. They tell me thou hast -a falcon gentle towereth so well she passeth the best Corinius hath. -’Tis clear calm weather. Wilt thou take her out to-day and show us the -mounty at a heron?” - -She answered, “Joyfully, O King. Yet I beseech you add this favour to -all your former goodness, to hear me yet one word. Something persuades -me you have already determined of this enterprise, and by your putting -of me off I do fear your majesty meaneth not Corund shall undertake it -but some other.” - -Dark and immovable as his own dark fortress facing the bright morning, -Gorice the King stood and beheld her. Sunshine streaming through the -eastern casement lighted red-gold smouldering splendours in the heavy -coils of that lady’s hair, and flew back in dazzling showers from the -diamonds fastened among those coils. After a space he said, “Suppose I -am a gardener. I go not to the butterfly for counsel. Let her be glad -that there be rose-trees there and red stonecrops for her delight; -which if any be lacking I’ll give her more for the asking, as I’ll give -thee more masques and revels and all brave pleasures in Carcë. But war -and policy is not for women.” - -“You have forgot, O King,” said the Lady Prezmyra, “Corund made me his -ambassador.” But seeing a blackness fall upon the King’s countenance -she said in haste, “But not in all, O King. I will be open as day to -you. The expedition he strongly urged, but not for himself the leading -on’t.” - -The King looked evilly upon her. “I am glad to hear it,” he said. Then, -his brow clearing, “Know thou it for thy good, madam, order is ta’en -for this already. Ere winter-nights return again, Demonland shall be my -footstool. Therefore write to thy lord I gave him his wish beforehand.” - -Prezmyra’s eyes danced triumph. “O the glad day!” she cried. “Mine -also, O King?” - -“If thine be his,” said the King. - -“Ah,” said she, “you know mine outgallops it.” - -“Then school thine, madam,” said the King, “to run in harness. Why -think’st thou I sent Corund into Impland, but that I knew he had -excellent wit and noble courage to govern a great kingdom? Wouldst have -me a wilful child snatch Impland from him like a sampler half stitched?” - -Then, taking leave of her with more gracious courtesy, “We shall look -to see thee then, madam, o’ the third hour before noon,” he said, and -smote on a gong, summoning the captain of his guard. “Soldier,” he -said, “conduct the Queen of Impland. And bid the Duke Corsus straight -attend me.” - - • • • • • - -The third hour before noon the Lord Gro met with Prezmyra in the gate -of the inner court. She had a riding-habit of dark green tiffany and -a narrow ruff edged with margery-pearls. She said, “Thou comest with -us, my lord? Surely I am beholden to thee. I know thou lovest not the -sport, yet to save me from Corinius I must have thee. He plagueth me -much this morning with strange courtesies; though why thus on a sudden -I cannot tell.” - -“In this,” said Lord Gro, “as in greater matters, I am thy servant, O -Queen. ’Tis yet time enough, though. This half hour the King will not -be ready. I left him closeted with Corsus, that setteth presently about -his arming against the Demons. Thou hast heard?” - -“Am I deaf,” said Prezmyra, “to a bell clangeth through all Carcë?” - -“Alas,” said Gro, “that we waked too long last night, and lay too long -abed i’ the morning!” - -Prezmyra answered, “That did not I. And yet I’m angry with myself now -that I did not so.” - -“How? Thou sawest the King before the council?” - -She bent her head for yes. - -“And he nay-said thee?” - -“With infinite patience,” said she, “but most irrevocably. My lord must -hold by Impland till it be well broke to the saddle. And truly, when I -think on’t, there’s reason in that.” - -Gro said, “Thou takest it, madam, with that clear brow of nobleness and -reason I had looked for in thee.” - -She laughed. “I have the main of my desire, if Demonland shall be put -down. Natheless, it maketh a great wonder the King picketh for this -work so rude a bludgeon when so many goodly blades lie ready to his -hand. Behold but his armoury.” - -For, standing in the gateway at the head of the steep descent to the -river, they beheld where the lords of Witchland were met beyond the -bridge-gate to ride forth to the hawking. And Prezmyra said, “Is it not -brave, my Lord Gro, to dwell in Carcë? Is it not passing brave to be in -Carcë, that lordeth it over all the earth?” - -Now came they down and by the bridge to the Way of Kings to meet with -them on the open mead on the left bank of Druima. Prezmyra said to -Laxus that rode on a black gelding full of silver hairs, “I see thou -hast thy goshawks forth to-day, my lord.” - -“Ay, madam,” said he. “There is not a stronger hawk than these. Withal -they are very fierce and crabbed, and I must keep them private lest -they slay all other sort.” - -Sriva, that was by, put forth a hand to stroke them. “Truly,” she said, -“I love them well, thy goshawks. They be stout and kingly.” And she -laughed and said, “Truly to-day I look not lower than on a King.” - -“Thou mayst look on me, then,” said Laxus, “albeit I bear not my crown -i’ the field.” - -“’Tis therefore I’ll mark thee not,” said she. - -Laxus said to Prezmyra, “Wilt thou not praise my hawks, O Queen?” - -“I praise them,” answered she, “circumspectly. For methinks they fit -thy temper better than mine. These be good hawks, my lord, for flying -at the bush. I am for the high mountee.” - -Her step-son Heming, black-browed and sullen-eyed, laughed in his -throat, knowing she mocked and thought on Demonland. - -Meanwhile Corinius, mounted on a great white liard like silver with -black ear-tips, mane, and tail, and all four feet black as coal, drew -up to the Lady Sriva and spoke with her apart, saying secretly so that -none but she might hear, “Next time thou shalt not carry it so, but -I will have thee when and where I would. Thou mayst gull the Devil -with thy perfidiousness, but not me a second time, thou lying cozening -vixen.” - -She answered softly, “Beastly man, I did perform the very article of -mine oath, and left thee an open door last night. If thou didst look to -find me within, that were beyond aught I promised. And know for that -I’ll seek a greater than thou, and a nicer to my liking: one less ready -to swap each kitchen slut on the lips. I know thy practice, my lord, -and thy conditions.” - -His face flamed red. “Were that my custom, I’d now amend it. Thou art -so true a runt of their same litter, they shall all be loathly to me as -thou art loathly.” - -“Mew!” said she, “wittily spoke, i’ faith; and right in the manner of a -common horse-boy. Which indeed thou art.” - -Corinius struck spurs into his horse so that it bounded aloft; then -cried out and said to Prezmyra, “Incomparable lady, I shall show thee -my new horse, what rounds, what bounds, what stop he makes i’ the full -course of the gallop galliard.” And therewith, trotting up to her, made -his horse fetch a close turn in a flying manner upon one foot, and so -away, rising to a racking pace, an amble, and thence after some double -turns returning at the gallop and coming to a full stop by Prezmyra. - -“’Tis very pretty, my lord,” said she. “Yet I would not be thy horse.” - -“So, madam?” he cried. “Thy reason?” - -“Why,” said she, “were I the most temperate, strongest, and of the -gentlest nature i’ the world, of the heat of the ginger, most swift to -all high curvets and caprioles, I’d fear my crest should fall i’ the -end, tired with thy spur-galling.” - -Whereat the Lady Sriva fell a-laughing. - -Now came Gorice the King among them with his austringers and falconers -and his huntsmen with setters and spaniels and great fierce boar-hounds -drawn in a string. He rode upon a black mare with eyes fire-red, so -tall a tall man’s head scarce topped her withers. He wore a leather -gauntlet on his right hand, on the wrist whereof an eagle sat, hooded -and motionless, gripping with her claws. He said, “It is met. Corsus -goeth not with us: I fly him at higher game. His sons attend him, -losing not an hour in preparation for this journey. The rest, take -pleasure in the chase.” - -So they praised the King, and rode forth with him eastaway. The Lady -Sriva whispered Corinius in the ear, “Enchantery, my lord, ruleth in -Carcë, and this it must be bringeth it about that none may see nor -touch me ’twixt midnight hour and cock-crow save he that must be King -in Demonland.” - -But Corinius made as not to hear her, turning toward the Lady Prezmyra, -that turned thence toward Gro. Sriva laughed. Merry of heart she seemed -that day, eager as the small merlin sitting on her fist, and willing at -every turn to have speech with King Gorice. But the King heeded her not -at all, and gave her not a look nor a word. - -So rode they awhile, jesting and discoursing, toward the Pixyland -border, rousing herons by the way whereat none made better sport than -Prezmyra’s falcons, flown from her fist at many hundred paces as the -quarry rose, and mounting with it to the clouds in corkscrew flights, -ring upon ring, up and up till the fowl was but a speck in the upper -sky, and her falcons two lesser specks beside it. - -But when they were come to the higher ground and the scrub and -underwood, then the King whistled his eagle off his fist. She flew from -him as if she would never have turned head again, yet presently upon -his shout came in; then soaring aloft waited on above his head, till -the hounds started a wolf out of the brake. Thereon she swooped sudden -as a thunderbolt; and the King lighted down and helped her with his -hunting-knife; and so again, thrice and four times till four wolves -were slain. And that was the greatest sport. - -The King made much of his eagle, giving her the last wolf’s lights and -liver to gorge herself withal. And he gave her over to his falconer, -and said, “Ride we now into the flats of Armany, for I will fly my -haggard: my haggard eagle caught this March in the hills of Largos. -Many a good night’s rest hath she cost me, to wake her and man her and -teach her to know my call and be obedient. I will fly her now at the -big black boar of Largos that afflicteth the farmers hereabout these -two years past and bringeth them death and loss. So shall we see good -sport, if she be not too coy and wild.” - -So the King’s falconer brought the haggard and the King took her on -his fist. A black eagle she was, red-beaked and glorious to look on. -Her jesses were of red leather with little silver varvels whereon the -crab of Witchland was engraved in small. Her hood was of red leather -tasselled with silver. First she bated from the fist of the King, -screaming and flapping her wings, but soon was quiet. And the King rode -forth, sending his great brindled hounds before him to put up the boar; -and all his company followed after. - -In no long time they roused the boar, that turned red-eyed and -moody-mad on the King’s hounds, and charged among them ripping up the -foremost so that her bowels gushed out. The King unhooded his eagle and -flew her off his fist. But she, wild and ungentle, fastened not upon -the boar but on a hound that held him by the ear. She fixed her cruel -claws in the hound’s neck and picked his eyes out ere a man might speak -two curses on her. - -Gro, that was by the King, muttered, “O, I like not that. ’Tis ominous.” - -By then was the King ridden up, and thrust the boar through with his -spear, piercing him above and a little behind the shoulder so that -the blade went through the heart of him and he sank down dying in his -blood. Then the King smote his eagle in his wrath with the butt of his -spear-shaft, but smote her lightly and with a glancing blow, and away -she flew and was lost to sight. And the King was angry, for all that -the boar was slain, for the loss of his hound and his haggard, and for -her ill behaviour. So he bade his huntsmen skin the boar and bring home -his skin to be a trophy, and so turned homeward. - -After a while the King called to him the Lord Gro to ride forward a -little with him and out of earshot of the rest. The King said to him, -“Thou hast a discontented look. Is it that I send not Corund into -Demonland to crown the work he began at Eshgrar Ogo? Thou babblest -besides of omens.” - -Gro answered, “My Lord the King, pardon my fears. For omens, indeed -’tis oft as the saw sayeth, ‘As the fool thinketh, so the bell -clinketh.’ I spake in haste. Who shall weep Fate from her determined -purpose? But since you did name Corund’s name——” - -“I named him,” said the King, “because I am still ringing in the ears -with women’s talk. Whereto also I doubt not thou art privy.” - -“Only so much,” answered he, “that this is my thought: he were our -best, O King.” - -“Haply so,” said the King. “But wouldst have me therefore hold my -stroke in the air while occasion knocketh at the gate? I’ll tell thee, -I am potent in art magical, but scarce may I stay time’s wing the while -I fetch Corund out of Impland and pack him westaway.” - -Gro held his peace. “Well,” said the King, “I will hear more from thee.” - -“Lord,” he answered, “I like not Corsus.” - -The King gave him a frump to his face. Gro held his peace again awhile, -but seeing the King would have more, he said, “Since it likes your -majesty to demand my counsel, I will speak. You know, Lord, of all your -men in Carcë Corinius is least my friend, and if I back him you will -be little apt to think me moved by interest. In my clear judgement, if -Corund be barred from this journey (as reason is, I freely embrace it, -he must bide in Impland, both to harvest there his victories and to -deny the road to Juss and Brandoch Daha if haply they return from the -Moruna, and besides, time, as you most justly say, O King, calleth for -speedy action): if he be barred, you have no better than Corinius. A -complete soldier, a tried captain, young, fierce, and resolute, and one -that sitteth not down again when once he standeth up till that his will -be accomplished. Send him to Demonland.” - -“No,” said the King. “I will not send Corinius. Hast thou not seen -hawks that be in their prime and full pride for beauty and goodness, -but must be tamed ere they be flown at the quarry? Such an one is he, -and I will tame him with harshness and duress till I be certain of him. -Also I have sworn and told him, last year when in his drunkenness he -betrayed my counsel and o’erset all our plans, broke me from Pixyland -and set my prisoners free, that Corund and Corsus and Laxus should -be preferred and advanced before him until by quiet service he shall -purchase my good will again.” - -“Give then the glory to Corsus, but to Corinius the rude work on’t for -a tiring. Send him as Corsus’s secretary, and your work shall be better -performed, O King.” - -But the King said, “No. Thou art a fool to think he would receive it, -that being in disgrace could not humble himself but look bigger than -before. And certainly I will not ask him, and so give him the glory to -refuse it.” - -“My Lord the King,” said Gro, “when I said unto you, I like not Corsus, -you did scoff. Yet ’tis no simple niceness made me say it, but because -I do fear he shall prove a false cloth: he will shrink in the wetting -and can abide no trial.” - -“By the blight of Sathanas,” said the King, “what crazy talk is this? -Hast forgot the Ghouls twelve years ago? True, thou wast not here. And -yet, what skills it? When the fame hath gone back and forth through all -the world of their great spill when Witchland stood i’ the greatest -strait that ever she stood, and more than any other Corsus was to -praise for our delivering. And since then, five years later, when he -held Harquem against Goldry Bluszco, and made him at last to give over -the siege and go home most ingloriously, and else had all the Sibrion -coast been the Demons’ appanage not ours.” - -Gro bowed his head, having nought to say. The King was silent awhile, -then bared his teeth. “When I would burn mine enemy’s house,” he said, -“I choose me a good brand, full of pitch and rosin, apt to sputter well -i’ the fire and fry them. Such an one is Corsus, since he fared to -Goblinland ten years ago, on that ill faring which, had I been King, I -never had agreed to; when Brandoch Daha took him prisoner on Lormeron -field and despitefully used him, stripped him stark naked, shaved him -all of one side smooth as a tennis ball and painted him yellow and sent -him home with mickle shame to Witchland. Hell devour me, but I think -his heart is in this enterprise. I think thou’lt see brave doings in -Demonland when he comes thither.” - -Still Gro was silent, and the King said after awhile, “I have given -thee reasons enow, I think, why I send Corsus into Demonland. There -is yet this other, that by itself weigheth not one doit, yet with the -others beareth down the balance if more thou lookest for. Unto mine -other servants great tasks have I given, and great rewards: to Corund -Impland and a king’s crown therefor, to Laxus the like in Pixyland, -to thee by anticipation Goblinland, for so I do intend. But this old -hunting-dog of mine sitteth yet in’s kennel with ne’er a bone to busy -his teeth withal. That is not well, and shall no longer be neither, -since there’s no reason for’t.” - -“Lord,” said Gro, “in all argument and wise prevision you have quite -o’erset me. Yet my heart misgives me. You would ride to Galing. You -have ta’en an horse therefor with never a star in’s forehead. Instead, -I see there is a cloud in’s face; and such prove commonly furious, -dogged, full of mischief and misfortune.” - -They came down now upon the Way of Kings. Westward before them lay the -marshes, with the great bulk of Carcë eight or ten miles distant their -chiefest landmark, and the towers of Tenemos breaking the level horizon -line beyond it. The King, after a long silence, looked down on Gro. His -lean rugged countenance was outlined darkly against the sky, terrible -and proud. “Thou too,” said he, “shalt be in this faring to Demonland. -Laxus shall have sway afloat, since that is his element of water. -Gallandus shall be secretary to Corsus, and thou shalt be with them -in their counsels. But the main command, as I have decreed, lieth in -Corsus. I’ll not crop his authority, no, not by an hair’s breadth. Sith -Juss hath called the main, I will go hazard with Corsus. If I throw out -with him, Hell rot him for a false die. But ’tis not such a cast shall -cast away all my fortune. I have a langret in my purse shall cross-bite -for me i’ the end and win me all, howsoe’er the Demons cog against me.” - - • • • • • - -So ended that day’s sporting. And that day, and the next, and near -a month thereafter was the Duke Corsus busied up and down the land -preparing his great armament. And on the fifteenth day of July was the -fleet busked and boun in Tenemos Roads, and that great army of five -thousand men-at-arms, with horses and all instruments of war, marched -from their camp without Carcë down to the sea. - -First of them went Laxus with his guard of mariners, he wearing the -crown of Pixyland and they loudly acclaiming him as king and Gorice -of Witchland as his over-lord. A gallant man he seemed, ready-looking -and hard, well-armed, with open countenance and bright seaman’s eyes, -and brown, crisp, curly beard and hair. Next came the main foot army -heavy-armed with axe and spear and the short Witchland hanger, yeomen -and farmers from the low lands about Carcë or from the southern -vineyards or the hill country against Pixyland: burly swashing fellows, -rough as bears, hardy as wild oxen, agile as an ape; four thousand -fighting men chose out by Corsus up and down the land as best for this -great conquest. The sons of Corsus, Dekalajus and Gorius, rode abreast -before them with twenty pipers piping a battle song. Surely the tramp -of that great army on the paven way was like the tramp of Fate moving -from the east. Gorice the King, sitting in state on the battlements -above the water-gate, sniffed with his nostrils as a lion at the scent -of blood. It was early morn, and the wind hung southerly, and the great -banners, blue and green and purple and gold, each with an iron crab -displayed above it, flaunted in the sun. - -Now came four or five companies of horse, four hundred or more in all, -with brazen armour and bucklers and glancing spears; and last of all, -Corsus himself with his picked legion of five hundred veterans to bring -up the rear, fierce soldiers of the coast-lands that followed him of -old to the eastern main and Goblinland, and had stood beside him in -the great days when he smote the Ghouls in Witchland. On Corsus’s -left and right, a little behind him, rode Gro and Gallandus. Ruddy of -countenance was Gallandus, gay of carriage and likely-looking, long of -limb, with long brown moustachios and large kind eyes like a dog. - -Prezmyra stood beside the King, and with her the ladies Zenambria and -Sriva, watching the long column marching toward the sea. Heming the -son of Corund leaned on the battlements. Behind him stood Corinius, -scornful-lipped, with folded arms, most glorious in holiday attire, a -wreath of dwale about his brows, and wearing on his mighty breast the -gold badge of the King’s captain general in Carcë. - -Corsus, as he rode by beneath them, planted on the point of his sword -his great helm of bronze plumed with green-dyed estridge-plumes and -raised it high above his head in homage to the King. The sparse gray -locks of his hair lifted in the breeze, and pride flamed on the heavy -face of him like a November sunset. He rode a dark bay, heavily built -like a bear, that stepped ponderously as weighed down by his rider’s -bulk and the great weight of gear and battle-harness. His veterans -marching at his heel lifted their helms on spear and sword and bill, -singing their old marching song in time to the clank of their mailed -feet marching down the Way of Kings: - - When Corsus dwelt at Tenemos, - Beside the sea in Tenemos, - _Tirra lirra lay_, - The Gowles came downe to Tenemos, - They brent his house in Tenemos, - _Downe derie downe day_. - But Corsus carved the Gowls - The coarsest meat - They ere did ete, - He made him garters with their bowels. - When hee came home to Tenemos, - Came home agayn to Tenemos, - _With a roundelaye_. - -The King held aloft his staff-royal, returning Corsus his salute, and -all Carcë shouted from the walls. - -In such wise rode the Lord Corsus down to the ships with his great army -that should bring bale and woe to Demonland. - - - - - XVIII: THE MURTHER OF GALLANDUS BY CORSUS - - OF THE UPRISING OF THE WARS OF KING GORICE XII. IN DEMONLAND; - WHEREIN IS SEEN HOW IN AN OLD MAN OF WAR STIFFNECKEDNESS AND - TYRANNY MAY OVERLIVE GOOD GENERALSHIP, AND HOW A GREAT KING’S - DISPLEASURE DURETH ONLY SO LONG AS IT AGREETH WITH HIS POLICY. - - -Nought befell to tell of after the sailing of the fleet from Tenemos -till August was nigh spent. Then came a ship of Witchland from the west -and sailed up the river to Carcë and moored by the water-gate. Her -skipper went straight aland and up into the royal palace in Carcë and -the new banquet hall, whereas was King Gorice XII. eating and drinking -with his folk. And the skipper gave letters into the hand of the King. - -By then was night fallen, and all the bright lights kindled in the -hall. The feast was three parts done, and thralls poured forth unto the -King and unto them that sat at meat with him dark wines that crown the -banquet. And they set before the feasters sweetmeats wondrous fair: -bulls and pigs and gryphons and other, made all of sugar paste, some -wines and spigots in their bellies to draw at, and suckets of all sorts -cut out of their bellies to taste of, every one with his silver fork. -Mirth and pleasure was that night in the great hall in Carcë; but now -were all fallen silent, looking on the King’s countenance while he read -his letters. But none might read the countenance of the King, that was -inscrutable as the high blind walls of Carcë brooding on the fen. So -in that waiting silence, sitting in his great high seat, he read his -letters, which were sent by Corsus, and writ in manner following: - -“Renouned Kinge and moste highe Prince and Lorde, Goreiyse Twelft of -Wychlonde and of Daemounlonde and of all kingdomes the sonne dothe -spread his bemes over, Corsus your servaunte dothe prosterate miself -befoare your Greateness, evene befoare the face of the erthe. The -Goddes graunte unto you moste nowble Lorde helthe and continewance -and saffetie meny yeres. After that I hadde receaved my dispache and -leave fram your Majestie wherby you did of your Royall goodnes geave -and graunt unto mee to be cheefe commaundere of al the warlyke foarces -furneshed and sent by you into Daemonlond, hit may please your Majestie -I did with haiste carry mine armie and all wepons municions vittualls -and othere provicions accordingly toward those partes of Daemonlonde -that lye coasted against the estern seas. Here with xxvij schyppes and -the moare partt of my peopell I sayling upp ynto the Frith Micklefrith -did fynde x or xi Daemouns schyppes asayling whereof had Vol the -commaundemente withowt the herborough of Lookingehaven, and by and by -did mak syncke all schyppes of the sayd Voll withowt excepcioun and did -sleay the maist paart of them that were with hym and hys ashipboard. - -“Nowe I lette you onderstande O my Lorde the Kyng that or ever wee -made the landfalle I severinge my armye ynto ij trowpes had dispatched -Gallandus with xiij schyppes north-abowt to lande with xv honderede -menne at Eccanois, with commande that hee shoulde thenceawaye fare upp -ynto the hylles thorow Celyalonde and soe sease the passe calld the -Style because none schoulde cum overe fram the west; for that is a gode -fyghtynge stede as a man myghte verry convenably hould ageynst gret -nomberes yf he bee nat an asse. - -“So havinge ridd me wel of Vol, and by my hoep and secreat intilligence -these were thayr entire flete that was nowe al sonken and putt to -distruccioun by mee, and trewly hit was a paltry werk and light, so few -they were agaynst my foarce agaynst them, I dyd comme alande att the -place hyghte Grunda by the northe perte of the frith wher the watere -owt of Breakingdal falleth into the se. Here I made make my campe with -the rampyres thereof reachynge to the schore of the salt se baithe -befoare and behynde of me, and drew in supplies and brent and slawe -and sent forth hoarsmen to bryng mee in intelligence. And on the iv -daie hadd notise of a gret powre and strengtht cumming at me from sowth -out of Owleswyke to assaille mee in Grunda. And dyd fyghte agaynst -them and dyd flinge them backe beinge iv or v thowsand souldiers. Who -returning nexte daie towarde Owlswyke I dyd followe aftir, and so -toke them facynge me in a plaise cauled Crosbie Owtsykes where they -did make shifte to kepe the phords and passages of Ethrey river very -stronge. Heare was bifaln an horable great murtheringe battell where -Thy Servaunte dyd oppresse and overthrowe with mitch dexteritee those -Daemons, makynge of them so bluddie and creuell a slawghter as hathe -not been sene afore not once nor twice in mans memorye, and blythely I -tel you of Vizze theyr cheefe capitaine kild and ded of strips taken at -Crosby felde. - -“Soe have I nowe in the holow of my hand by thys victorie the conquest -and possession of al thys lande of Daemonlande, and doe nowe purpose to -dele with thayr castels villages riches cattell howssys and peopell in -my waye on al thys estren seaborde within L miells compas with rapes -and murtheres and burnyngs and all harsche dyscypline according to -your Majesties wille. And do stande with mine armie befoare Owleswyk, -bluddie Spitfyer’s notable great castel and forteres that alone yet -liveth in this lande of your daungerous grivious and malitious arche -enymies, and the same Spitfire being att my cominge fledde into the -mowntaynes all do submytt and become your Majesties vassalls. But I -wyll nat conclud nor determyn of peace no not with man weoman nor -chyld of them but kyll them al, havinge always befoare my minde the -satisfactioun of your Princely Pleasure. - -“Lest I be too large I leve here to tel you of many rare and remarcable -occurants and observacions whych never the less I laye by in my mynde -to aquent you with agaynst my coming home or by further writinge. Laxus -bearing a kings name do puffe himself up alledging he wan the sefight -but I shall satisfy your Majestie to the contrary. Gro followeth -the wars in as goode sort as his lean spare bodey will wel beare. Of -Gallandus I nedes must saye he do meddyl too much in my counsailles, -still desyring me do thus and thus but I will nat. Heretofore in the -like unrespective manner he hath now and then used mee which I have -swolewed but will not no more. Who if hee go about to calumniate me in -any thinge I praye you Lorde let mee know it though I despise baithe -him and all such. And in acknowledgement of Your highe favors unto -meward do kiss your Majesties hand. - -“Most humbly and reverently untoe my Lorde the Kynge, undir my seal. -CORSUS.” - - • • • • • - -The King put up the writing in his bosom. “Bring me Corsus’s cup,” said -he. - -They did so, and the King said, “Fill it with Thramnian wine. Drop me -an emerald in it to spawn luck i’ the cup, and drink him fortune and -wisdom in victory.” - -Prezmyra, that had watched the King till now as a mother watches her -child in the crisis of a fever, rose up radiant in her seat, crying, -“Victory!” And all they fell a-shouting and smiting on the boards till -the roof-beams shook with their great shouting, while the King drank -first and passed on the cup that all might drink in turn. - -But Gorice the King sat dark among them as a cliff of serpentine that -frowns above dancing surges of a springtide summer sea. - -When the women left the banquet hall the Lady Prezmyra came to the King -and said, “Your brow is too dark, Lord, if indeed this news is all good -that lights your heart and mind from withinward.” - -The King answered and said, “Madam, it is very good news. Yet remember -that hard it is to lift a full cup without spilling.” - - • • • • • - -Now was summer worn and harvest brought in, and on the twenty-seventh -day after these tidings afore-writ came another ship of Witchland out -of the west sailing over the teeming deep, and rowed on a full tide up -Druima and through the Ergaspian Mere, and so anchored below Carcë an -hour before supper time. That was a calm clear sunshine evening, and -King Gorice rode home from his hunting at that instant when the ship -made fast by the water-gate. And there was the Lord Gro aboard of her; -and the face of him as he came up out of the ship and stood to greet -the King was the colour of quick-lime a-slaking. - -The King looked narrowly at him, then greeting him with much outward -show of carelessness and pleasure made him go with him to the King’s -own lodgings. There the King made Gro drink a great stoup of red wine, -and said to him, “I am all of a muck sweat from the hunting. Go in with -me to my baths and tell me all while I bathe me before supper. Princes -of all men be in greatest danger, for that men dare not acquaint them -with their own peril. Thou look’st prodigious. Know that shouldst thou -proclaim to me all my fleet and army in Demonland brought to sheer -destruction, that should not dull my stomach for the feast to-night. -Witchland is not so poor I might not pay back such a loss thrice and -four times and yet have money in my purse.” - -So speaking, the King was come with Gro into his great bath chamber, -walled and floored with green serpentine, with dolphins carved in the -same stone to belch water into the baths that were lined with white -marble and sunken in the floor, both wide and deep, the hot bath on -the left and the cold bath, many times greater, on the right as they -entered the chamber. The King dismissed all his attendants, and made -Gro sit on a bench piled with cushions above the hot bath, and drink -more wine. And the King stripped off his jerkin of black cowhide and -his hose and his shirt of white Beshtrian wool and went down into the -steaming bath. Gro looked with wonder on the mighty limbs of Gorice the -King, so lean and yet so strong to behold, as if he were built all of -iron; and a great marvel it was how the King, when he had put off his -raiment and royal apparel and went down stark naked into the bath, yet -seemed to have put off not one whit of his kingliness and the majesty -and dread which belonged to him. - -So when he had plunged awhile in the swirling waters of the bath, and -soaped himself from head to foot and plunged again, the King lay back -luxuriously in the water and said to Gro, “Tell me of Corsus and his -sons, and of Laxus and Gallandus, and of all my men west over seas, -as thou shouldest tell of those whose life or death in our conceit -importeth as much as that of a scarab fly. Speak and fear not, keeping -nothing back nor glozing over nothing. Only that should make me -dreadful to thee if thou shouldst practise to deceive me.” - -Gro spake and said, “My Lord the King, you have letters, I think, from -Corsus that have told you how we came to Demonland, and how we gat a -victory over Volle in the sea-fight, and landed at Grunda, and fought -two battles against Vizz and overthrew him in the last, and he is dead.” - -“Didst thou see these letters?” asked the King. - -Gro answered, “Ay.” - -“Is it a true tale they tell me?” - -Gro answered, “Mainly true, O King, though somewhat now and then he -windeth truth to his turn, swelling overmuch his own achievement. As -at Grunda, where he maketh too great the Demons’ army, that by a just -computation were fewer than us, and the battle was not ours nor theirs, -for while our left held them by the sea they stormed our camp on the -right. And well I think ’twas to enveagle us into country that should -be likelier to his purpose that Vizz fell back toward Owlswick in the -night. But as touching the battle of Crossby Outsikes Corsus braggeth -not too much. That was greatly fought and greatly devised by him, who -also slew Vizz with his own hands in the thick of the battle, and made -a great victory over them and scattered all their strength, coming upon -them at unawares and taking them upon advantage.” - -So saying Gro stretched forth his delicate white fingers to the goblet -at his side and drank. “And now, O King,” said he, leaning forward over -his knees and running his fingers through the black perfumed curls -above his ears, “I am to tell you the uprising of those discontents -that infected all our fortunes and confounded us all. Now came -Gallandus with some few men down from Breakingdale, leaving his main -force of fourteen hundred men or so to hold the Stile as was agreed -upon aforetime. Now Gallandus had advertisement of Spitfire come out of -the west country where he was sojourning when we came into Demonland, -disporting himself in the mountains with hunting of the bears that do -there inhabit, but now come hot-foot eastward and agathering of men at -Galing. And on Gallandus’s urgent asking, was held a council of war -three days after Crossby Outsikes, wherein Gallandus set forth his -counsel that we should fare north to Galing and disperse them. - -“All thought well of this counsel, save Corsus. But he took it mighty -ill, being stubborn set to carry out his predetermined purpose, which -was to follow up this victory of Crossby Outsikes by so many cruel -murthers, rapes, and burnings, up and down the country side in Upper -and Lower Tivarandardale and down by Onwardlithe and the southern -seaboard, as should show those vermin he was their master whom they did -require, and the scourge in your hand, O King, that must scourge them -to the bare bone. - -“To which Gallandus making answer that the preparations at Galing did -argue something to be done and not afar off, and that ‘This were a -pretty matter, if Owlswick and Drepaby shall be able to enforce us cast -our eyes over our shoulders while those before us’ (meaning in Galing) -‘strike us in the brains’; Corsus answereth most unhandsomely, ‘I will -not satisfy myself with this intelligence until I find it more soundly -seconded.’ Nor would he listen, but said that this was his mind, and -all we should abide by it or an ill thing should else befall us: that -this south-eastern corner of the land being gained with great terror -and cruelty the neck of the wars in Demonland should then be broken, -and all the others whether in Galing or otherwhere could not choose -but die like dogs; that ’twas pure folly, because of the hardness and -naughty ways of the country, to set upon Galing; and that he would -quickly show Gallandus he was lord there. So was the council broke up -in great discontent. And Gallandus abode before Owlswick, which as thou -knowest, O King, is a mighty strong place, seated on an arm of the land -that runneth out into the sea beside the harbour, and a paven way goeth -thereto that is covered with the sea save at low tide of a spring-tide. -And we drew great store of provisions thither against a siege if such -should befall us. But Corsus with his main forces went south about -the country, murthering and ravishing, on his way to the new house of -Goldry Bluszco at Drepaby, giving out that from henceforth should folk -speak no more of Drepaby Mire and Drepaby Combust that the Ghouls did -burn, but both should shortly be burnt alike as two cinders.” - -“Ay,” said the King, coming out of the bath, “and did he burn it so?” - -Gro answered, “He did, O King.” - -The King lifted his arms above his head and plunged head foremost into -the great cold swimming bath. Coming forth anon, he took a towel to -dry himself, and holding an end of it in either hand came and stood by -Gro, the towel rushing back and forth behind his shoulders, and said, -“Proceed, tell me more.” - -“Lord,” said Gro, “so it was that they in Owlswick gave up the place at -last unto Gallandus, and Corsus came back from the burning of Drepaby -Mire. All the folk in that part of Demonland had he brought to misery -in her most sharp condition. But now was he to find by sour experience -what that neglect had bred him when he went not north to Galing as -Gallandus had counselled him to do. - -“For now was word of Spitfire marching out from Galing with an hundred -and ten score foot and two hundred and fifty horse. Upon which tidings -we placed ourselves in very warlike fashion and moved north to meet -them, and on the last morn of August fell in with their army in a place -called the Rapes of Brima in the open parts of Lower Tivarandardale. -All we were blithe at heart, for we held them at an advantage both in -numbers (for we were more than three thousand four hundred fighting -men, whereof were four hundred a-horseback), and in the goodness of our -fighting stead, being perched on the edge of a little valley looking -down on Spitfire and his folk. There we abode for a time, watching what -he would do, till Corsus grew weary of this and said, ‘We are more than -they. I will march north and then east across the head of the valley -and so cut them off, that they escape not north again to Galing after -the battle when they are worsted by us.’ - -“Now Gallandus nay-said this strongly, willing him to stand and abide -their onset; for being mountaineers they must certainly choose at -length, if we kept quiet, to attack us up the slope, and that were -mightily to our advantage. But Corsus, that still grew from day to day -more hard to deal with, would not hear him, and at last sticked not to -accuse him before them all (which was most false) that he did practise -to gain the command for himself, and had caused Corsus to be set upon -to have him and his sons murthered as they went from his lodging the -night before. - -“And Corsus gave order for the march across their front as I have told -it you, O King; which indeed was the counsel of a madman. For Spitfire, -when he saw our column crossing the dale-head on his right, gave order -for the charge, took us i’ the flank, cut us in two, and in two hours -had our army smashed like an egg that is dropped from a watch-tower on -pavement of hard granite. Never saw I so evil a destruction wrought on -a great army. Hardly and in evil case we won back to Owlswick with but -seventeen hundred men, and of them some hundreds wounded sore. And if -two hundred fell o’ the other side, ’tis a wonder and past expectation, -so great was Spitfire’s victory upon us at the Rapes of Brima. And now -was our woe worsened by fugitives coming from the north, telling how -Zigg had fallen upon the small force that was left to hold the Stile -and clean o’erwhelmed them. So were we now shut up in Owlswick and -close besieged by Spitfire and his army, who but for the devilish folly -of Corsus, had ne’er made head against us. - -“An ill night was that, O my Lord the King, in Owlswick by the sea. -Corsus was drunk, and both his sons, guzzling down goblet upon goblet -of the wine from Spitfire’s cellars in Owlswick. Till at last he was -fallen spewing on the floor betwixt the tables, and Gallandus standing -amongst us all, galled to the quick after this shame and ruin of our -fortunes, cried out and said, ‘Soldiers of Witchland, I am aweary of -this Corsus: a rioter, a lecher, a surfeiter, a brawler, a spiller of -armies, our own not our enemies’, who must bring us all to hell and we -take not order to prevent him.’ And he said, ‘I will go home again to -Witchland, and have no more share nor part in this shame.’ But all they -cried, ‘To the devil with Corsus! Be thou our general.’” - -Gro was silent a minute. “O King,” he said at last, “if so it be that -the malice of the Gods and mine unfortune have brought me to that -case that I am part guilty of that which came about, blame me not -overmuch. Little I thought any word of mine should help Corsus and -the going forward of his bad enterprise. When all they called still -upon Gallandus, saying, ‘Ha, ha, Gallandus! weed out the weeds, lest -the best corn fester! Be thou our general,’ he took me aside to speak -with him; because he said he would take further judgement of me before -he would consent in so great a matter. And I, seeing deadly danger in -these disorders, and thinking that there only lay our safety if he -should have command who was both a soldier and whose mind was bent to -high attempts and noble enterprises, did egg him forward to accept -it. So that he, albeit unwilling, said yea to them at last. Which all -applauded; and Corsus said nought against it, being too sleepy-sodden -as we thought with drunkenness to speak or move. - -“So for that night we went to bed. But in the morn, O King, was a great -clamour betimes in the main court in Owlswick. And I, running forth in -my shirt in the misty gray of dawn, beheld Corsus standing forth in -a gallery before Gallandus’s lodgings that were in an upper chamber. -He was naked to the waist, his hairy breast and arms to the armpits -clotted and adrip with blood, and in his hands two bloody daggers. He -cried in a great voice, ‘Treason in the camp, but I have scotched it. -He that will have Gallandus to his general, come up and I shall mix his -blood with his and make them familiar.’” - -By then had the King drawn on his silken hose, and a clean silken -shirt, and was about lacing his black doublet trimmed with diamonds. -“Thou tellest me,” said he, “two faults committed by Corsus. That -first he lost me a battle and nigh half his men, and next did murther -Gallandus in a spleen against him when he would have amended this.” - -“Killing Gallandus in his sleep,” said Gro, “and sending him from the -shade into the house of darkness.” - -“Well,” said the King, “there be two days in every month when whatever -is begun will never reach completion. And I think it was on such a day -he did execute his purpose upon Gallandus.” - -“The whole camp,” said Lord Gro, “is up in a mutiny against him, being -marvellously offended at the murther of so worthy a man in arms. Yet -durst they not openly go against him; for his veterans guard his -person, and he hath let slice the guts out of some dozen or more that -were foremost in murmuring at him, so that the rest are afeared to -make open rebellion. I tell you, O King, your army of Demonland is -in great danger and peril. Spitfire sitteth down before Owlswick in -mickle strength, and there is no expectation that we shall hold out -long without supply of men. There is danger too lest Corsus do some -desperate act. I see not how, with so mutinous an army as his, he can -dare to attempt anything at all. Yet hath he his ears filled with the -continual sound of reputation, and the contempt which will be spread -to the disgrace of him if he repair not soon his fault on the Rapes -of Brima. It is thought that the Demons have no ships, and Laxus -commandeth the sea. Yet hard it is to make any going between betwixt -the fleet and Owlswick, and there be many goodly harbours and places -for building of ships in Demonland. If they can stop our relieving of -Corsus, and prevent Laxus with a fleet at spring, may be we shall be -driven to a great calamity.” - -“How camest thou off?” said the King. - -“O King,” answered Lord Gro, “after this murther in Owlswick I did -daily fear a fig or a knife, so for mine own health and Witchland’s -devised all the ways I could to come away. And gat at last to the fleet -by stealth and there took rede with Laxus, who is most hot upon Corsus -for this ill deed of his, whereby all our hopes may end in smoke, and -prayed me come to you for him as for myself and for all true hearts -of Witchland that do seek your greatness, O King, and not decay, that -you might send them succour ere all be shent. For surely in Corsus -some wild distraction hath overturned his old condition and spilt the -goodness you once did know in him. His luck hath gone from him, and he -is now one that would fall on his back and break his nose. I pray you -strike, ere Fate strike first and strike us into the hazard.” - -“Tush!” said the King. “Do not lift me before I fall. ’Tis supper time. -Attend me to the banquet.” - -By now was Gorice the King in full festival attire, with his doublet -of black tiffany slashed with black velvet and broidered o’er with -diamonds, black velvet hose cross-gartered with silver-spangled bands -of silk, and a great black bear-skin mantle and collar of ponderous -gold. The Iron crown was on his head. He took down from his chamber -wall, as they went by, a sword hafted of blue steel with a pommel of -bloodstone carved like a dead man’s skull. This he bare naked in his -hand, and they came into the banquet hall. - -They that were there rose to their feet in silence, gazing expectant on -the King where he stood between the pillars of the door with that sharp -sword held on high, and the jewelled crab of Witchland ablaze above his -brow. But most they marked his eyes. Surely the light in the eyes of -the King under his beetle brows was like a light from the under-skies -shed upward from the pit of hell. - -He said no word, but with a gesture beckoned Corinius. Corinius -stood up and came to the King, slowly, as a night-walker, obedient to -that dread gaze. His cloak of sky-blue silk was flung back from his -shoulders. His chest, broad as a bull’s, swelled beneath the shining -silver scales of his byrny, that was short-sleeved, leaving his strong -arms bare to view with golden rings about the wrists. Proudly he stood -before the King, his head firm planted above his mighty throat and -neck; his proud luxurious mouth, made for wine-cups and for ladies’ -lips, firm set above the square shaven chin and jaw; the thick fair -curls of his hair bound with black bryony; the insolence that dwelt in -his dark blue eyes tamed for the while in face of that green bale-light -that rose and fell in the steadfast gaze of the King. - -When they had so stood silent while men might count twenty breaths, -the King spake saying: “Corinius, receive the name of the kingdom of -Demonland which thy Lord and King give thee, and make homage to me -thereof.” - -The breath of amazement went about the hall. Corinius kneeled. The -King gave him that sword which he held in his hand, bare for the -slaughter, saying, “With this sword, O Corinius, shalt thou wear out -this blemish and blot that until now rested upon thee in mine eye. -Corsus hath proved haggard. He hath made miss in Demonland. His sottish -folly hath shut him up in Owlswick and lost me half his force. His -jealousy, too maliciously and bloodily bent against my friends ’stead -of mine enemies, hath lost me a good captain. The wonderful disorder -and distresses of his army must, if thou amend it not, swing all our -fortune at one chop from bliss to bale. If this be rightly handled by -thee, one great stroke shall change every deal. Go thou, and prove thy -demerits.” - -The Lord Corinius stood up, holding the sword point-downward in his -hand. His face flamed red as an autumn sky when leaden clouds break -apart on a sudden westward and the sun looks out between. “My Lord the -King,” said he, “give me where I may sit down: I will make where I may -lie down. Ere another moon shall wax again to the full I will set forth -from Tenemos. If I do not shortly remedy for you our fortunes which -this bloody fool hath laboured to ruinate, spit in my face, O King, -withhold from me the light of your countenance, and put spells upon me -shall destroy and blast me for ever.” - - - - - XIX: THREMNIR’S HEUGH - - OF THE LORD SPITFIRE’S BESIEGING OF THE WITCHES IN HIS OWN CASTLE - OF OWLSWICK; AND HOW HE DID BATTLE AGAINST CORINIUS UNDER - THREMNIR’S HEUGH, AND THE MEN OF WITCHLAND WON THE DAY. - - -Lord Spitfire sat in his pavilion before Owlswick in mickle discontent. -A brazier of hot coals made a pleasant warmth within, and lights filled -the rich tent with splendour. From without came the noise of rain -steadily falling in the dark autumn night, splashing in the puddles, -pattering on the silken roof. Zigg sat by Spitfire on the bed, his -hawk-like countenance shadowed with an unwonted look of care. His sword -stood between his knees point downward on the floor. He tipped it -gently with either hand now to the left now to the right, watching with -pensive gaze the warm light shift and gleam in the ball of balas ruby -that made the pommel of the sword. - -“Fell it out so accursedly?” said Spitfire. “All ten, thou saidst, on -Rammerick Strands?” - -Zigg nodded assent. - -“Where was he that he saved them not?” said Spitfire. “O, it was vilely -miscarried!” - -Zigg answered, “’Twas a swift and secret landing in the dark a mile -east of the harbour. Thou must not blame him unheard.” - -“What more remain to us?” said Spitfire. “Content: I’ll hear him. -What ships remain to us, is more to the purpose. Three by Northsands -Eres, below Elmerstead: five on Throwater: two by Lychness: two more -at Aurwath: six by my direction on Stropardon Firth: seven here on the -beach.” - -“Besides four at the firth head in Westmark,” said Zigg. “And order is -ta’en for more in the Isles.” - -“Twenty and nine,” said Spitfire, “and those in the Isles beside. And -not one afloat, nor can be ere spring. If Laxus smell them out and take -them as lightly as these he burned under Volle’s nose on Rammerick -Strands, we do but plough the desert building them.” - -He rose to pace the tent. “Thou must raise me new forces for to break -into Owlswick. ’Fore heaven!” he said, “this vexes me to the guts, to -sit at mine own gate full two months like a beggar, whiles Corsus and -those two cubs his sons drink themselves drunk within, and play at -cock-shies with my treasures.” - -“O’ the wrong side of the wall,” said Zigg, “the master-builder may -judge the excellence of his own building.” - -Spitfire stood by the brazier, spreading his strong hands above the -glow. After a time he spake more soberly. “It is not these few ships -burnt in the north should trouble me; and indeed Laxus hath not five -hundred men to man his whole fleet withal. But he holdeth the sea, -and ever since his putting out into the deep with thirty sail from -Lookinghaven I do expect fresh succours out of Witchland. ’Tis that -maketh me champ still on the bit till this hold be won again; for then -were we free at least to meet their landing. But ’twere most unfit at -this time of the year to carry on a siege in low and watery grounds, -the enemy’s army being on foot and unengaged. Wherefore, this is my -mind, O my friend, that thou go with haste over the Stile and fetch me -supply of men. Leave force to ward our ships a-building, wheresoever -they be; and a good force in Krothering and thereabout, for I will not -be found a false steward of his lady sister’s safety. And in thine -own house make sure. But these things being provided, shear up the -war-arrow and bring me out of the west fifteen or eighteen hundred -men-at-arms. For I do think that by me and thee and such a head of men -of Demonland as we shall then command Owlswick gates may be brast open -and Corsus plucked out of Owlswick like a whilk out of his shell.” - -Zigg answered him, “I’ll be gone at point of day.” - -Now they rose up and took their weapons and muffled themselves in their -great campaigning cloaks and went forth with torch-bearers to walk -through the lines, as every night ere he went to rest it was Spitfire’s -wont to do, visiting his captains and setting the guard. The rain fell -gentlier. The night was without a star. The wet sands gleamed with the -lights of Owlswick Castle, and from the castle came by fits the sound -of feasting heard above the wash and moan of the sullen sleepless sea. - -When they had made all sure and were come nigh again to Spitfire’s tent -and Zigg was upon saying good-night, there rose up out of the shadow -of the tent an ancient man and came betwixt them into the glare of the -torches. Shrivelled and wrinkled and bowed he seemed as with extreme -age. His hair and his beard hung down in elf-locks adrip with rain. -His mouth was toothless, his eyes like a dead fish’s eyes. He touched -Spitfire’s cloak with his skinny hand, saying in a voice like the -night-raven’s, “Spitfire, beware of Thremnir’s Heugh.” - -Spitfire said, “What have we here? And which way the devil came he into -my camp?” - -But that aged man still held him by the cloak, saying, “Spitfire, is -not this thine house of Owlswick? And is it not the most strong and -fair place that ever man saw in this countree?” - -“Filth, unhand me,” said Spitfire, “else shall I presently thrust thee -through with my sword, and send thee to the Tartarus of hell, where I -doubt not the devils there too long await thee.” - -But that aged man said again, “Hot stirring heads are too easily -entrapped. Hold fast, Spitfire, to that which is thine, and beware of -Thremnir’s Heugh.” - -Now was Lord Spitfire wood angry, and because the old carle still held -him by the cloak and would not let him go, plucked forth his sword, -thinking to have stricken him about the head with the flat of his -sword. But with that stroke went a gust of wind about them, so that -the torch-flames were nigh blown out. And that was strange, of a still -windless night. And in that gust was the old man vanished away like a -cloud passing in the night. - -Zigg spake: “The thin habit of spirits is beyond the force of weapons.” - -“Pish!” said Spitfire. “Was this a spirit? I hold it rather a -simulacrum or illusion prepared for us by Witchland’s cunning, to -darken our counsel and shake our resolution.” - - • • • • • - -On the morrow while yet sunrise was red, Lord Zigg went down to the -sea-shore to bathe in the great rock pools that face southward across -the little bay of Owlswick. The salt air was fresh after the rain. The -wind that had veered to the east blew in cold and pinching gusts. In a -rift between slate-blue clouds the low sun flamed blood-red. Far to the -south-east where the waters of Micklefirth open on the main, the low -cliffs of Lookinghaven-ness loomed shadowy as a bank of cloud. - -Zigg laid down his sword and spear and looked south-east across the -firth; and behold, a ship in full sail rounding the ness and steering -northward on the larboard tack. And when he had put off his kirtle he -looked again, and behold, two more ships a-steering round the ness and -sailing hard in the wake of the first. So he donned his kirtle again -and took his weapons, and by then were fifteen sail a-steering up the -firth in line ahead, dragons of war. - -So he fared hastily to Spitfire’s tent, and found him yet abed, -for sweet sleep yet nursed in her bosom impetuous Spitfire; his -head was thrown back on the broidered pillow, displaying his strong -shaven throat and chin; his fierce mouth beneath his bristling fair -moustachios was relaxed in slumber, and his fierce eyes closed in -slumber beneath their yellow bristling eyebrows. - -Zigg took him by the foot and waked him and told him all the matter: -“Fifteen ships, and every ship (as I might plainly see as they drew -nigh) as full of men as there be eggs in a herring’s roe. So cometh our -expectation to the birth.” - -“And so,” said Spitfire, leaping from the couch, “cometh Laxus again to -Demonland, with fresh meat to glut our swords withal.” - -He caught up his weapons and ran to a little knoll that stood above -the beach over against Owlswick Castle. And all the host ran to behold -those dragons of war sail up the firth at dawn of day. - -“They dowse sail,” said Spitfire, “and put in for Scaramsey. ’Tis not -for nothing I taught these Witchlanders on the Rapes of Brima. Laxus, -since he witnessed that downthrow of their army, now accounteth islands -more wholesomer than the mainland, well knowing we have nor sails nor -wings to strike across the firth at him. Yet scarcely by skulking in -the islands shall he break up the siege of Owlswick.” - -Zigg said, “I would know where be his fifteen other ships.” - -“In fifteen ships,” said Spitfire, “it is not possible he beareth more -than sixteen hundred or seventeen hundred men of war. Against so many I -am strong enough to-day, should they adventure a landing, to throw ’em -into the sea and still contain Corsus if he make a sally. If more be -added, I am the less secure. Therefore occasion calleth but the louder -for thy purposed faring to the west.” - -So the Lord Zigg called him out a dozen men-at-arms and went -a-horseback. By then were all the ships rowed ashore under the southern -spit of Scaramsey, where is good anchorage for ships. They were there -hidden from view, all save their masts that showed over the spit, so -that the Demons might observe nought of their disembarking. - -Spitfire rode with Zigg three miles or four, as far as the brow of -the descent to the fords of Ethreywater, and there bade him farewell. -“Lightning shall be slow to my hasting,” said Zigg, “till I be back -again. Meantime, I would have thee be not too scornfully unmindful of -that old man.” - -“Chirking of sparrows!” said Spitfire. “I have forgot his brabble.” -Nevertheless his glance shifted southward beyond Owlswick to the great -bluff of tree-hung precipice that stands like a sentinel above the -meadows of Lower Tivarandardale, leaving but a narrow way betwixt its -lowest crags and the sea. He laughed: “O my friend, I am yet a boy in -thine eyes it seemeth, albeit I am well-nigh twenty-nine years old.” - -“Laugh at me and thou wilt,” said Zigg. “Without this word said I could -not leave thee.” - -“Well,” said Spitfire, “to lull thy fears, I’ll not go a-birdsnesting -on Thremnir’s Heugh till thou come back again.” - - • • • • • - -Now for a week or more was nought to tell of save that Spitfire’s army -sat before Owlswick, and they on the island sent ever and again three -or four ships to land suddenly about Lookinghaven or at the head of -the firth, or southaway beyond Drepaby, as far as the coastlands under -Rimon Armon, harrying and burning. And as oft as force was gathered -against them, they fared aboard again and sailed back to Scaramsey. In -those days came Volle from the west with an hundred men and joined him -with Spitfire. - -The eighth day of November the weather worsened, and clouds gathered -from the west and south, till all the sky was a welter of huge watery -leaden clouds, separated one from another by oily streaks of white. The -wind grew fitful as the day wore. The sea was dark like dull iron. Rain -began to fall in big drops. The mountains showed monstrous and shadowy: -some dark inky blue, others in the west like walls and bastions of -clotted mist against the hueless mist of heaven behind them. Evening -closed with thunder and rain and lightning-torn banks of vapour. All -night long the thunder roared in sullen intermission, and all night -long new banks of thunder-cloud swung together and parted and swung -together again. And the light of the moon was abated, and no light seen -save the levin-brand, and the camp-fires before Owlswick, and the light -of revelry within. So that the Demons camped before the castle were not -ware of those fifteen ships that put out from Scaramsey on that wild -sea and landed two or three miles to the southward by the great bluff -of Thremnir’s Heugh. Nor were they ware at all of them that landed -from the ships: fifteen or sixteen hundred men-at-arms with Heming of -Witchland and his young brother Cargo for their leaders. And the ships -rowed back to Scaramsey through the loud storm and fury of the weather, -all save one that foundered in Bothrey Sound. - -But on the morn, when the tempest was abated, might all behold the -putting forth of fourteen ships of war from Scaramsey, every ship of -them laden with men-at-arms. They had passage swiftly over the firth, -and came aland two miles south of Owlswick. And the ships stood off -again from the land, but the army marshalled for battle on the meads -above Mingarn Hope. - -Now Lord Spitfire let draw up his men and moved out southward from the -lines before Owlswick. When they were come within some half mile’s -distance of the Witchland army, so that they might see clearly their -russet kirtles and their shields and body-armour of bronze, and the -dull glint of their sword-blades and the heads of their spears, Volle, -that rode by Spitfire, spake and said, “Markest thou him, O Spitfire, -that rideth back and forth before their battle, marshalling them? So -ever rode Corinius; and well mayst thou know him even afar off by his -showiness and jaunting carriage. Yet see a great wonder now: for who -ever heard tell of this young hotspur giving back from the fight? And -now, or ever we be gotten within spear-shot——” - -“By the bright eye of day,” cried Spitfire, “’tis so! Will he baulk me -quite of a battle? I’ll loose a handful of horse upon them to delay -their haste ere they be flown beyond sight and finding.” - -Therewith he gave command to his horsemen to ride forth upon the enemy. -And they rode forth with Astar of Rettray, that was brother-in-law -to Lord Zigg, for their leader. But the Witchland horse met them by -the shallows of Aron Pow and held them in the shallows while Corinius -with his main army won across the river. And when the main body of -the Demons were come up and the passage forced, the Witchlanders were -gotten clean away across the water-meadows to the pass betwixt the -shore and the steeps of Thremnir’s Heugh. - -Then said Spitfire, “They stay not to form even i’ the narrow way -’twixt the sea and the Heugh. And that were their safety, if they had -but the heart to turn and stand us.” And he shouted with a great shout -upon his men to charge the enemy, and suffer not a Witch to overlive -that slaughter. - -So the footmen caught hold of the stirrup-leathers of the horsemen, -and running and riding they poured into the narrow pass; and ever was -Spitfire foremost among his men, hewing to left and to right among the -press, riding on that whelming battle-tide that seemed to bear him on -to triumph. - -But now on a sudden was he, who with but twelve hundred men had so -hotly followed fifteen hundred into the strait passage under Thremnir’s -Heugh, made ware too late that he must have to do with three thousand: -Corinius rallying his folk and turning like a wolf in the pass, while -Corund’s sons, that had landed as aforesaid in the storm in the mirk -of night, swept down with their battalions from the wooded slopes -behind the Heugh. In such wise that Spitfire wist not sooner of any -foreshadowing of disaster than of disaster’s self: the thunder of the -blow in flank and front and rear. - -Then befell great manslaying between the sea-cliffs and the sea. The -Demons, taken at that advantage, were like a man tripped in mid-stride -by a rope across the way. By the sore onset of the Witches they were -driven down into the shallows of the sea, and the spume of the sea -was red with blood. And the Lord Corinius, now that he had done with -feigned retreat, fared through the battle like a stream of unquenchable -wildfire, that none might sustain his strokes that were about him. - -Now was Spitfire’s horse slain under him with a spear-thrust, as riding -fetlock-deep in the yielding sand he rallied his men to fling back -Heming. But Bremery of Shaws brought him another horse, and so mightily -went he forth against the Witches that the sons of Corund were fain to -give back before his onslaught, and that wing of the Witchland army was -pressed back against the broken ground below the Heugh. Yet was that -of little avail, for Corinius brake through from the north, thrusting -the Demons with great slaughter back from the sea, so that they were -penned betwixt him and Heming. Therewith Spitfire turned with some -picked companies against Corinius; and well it seemed for awhile that -a great force of the Witches must be whelmed or drowned in the salt -waves. And Corinius himself stood now in great peril of his life, for -his horse was bogued in the soft sands and might not win free for all -his plunging. - -In that nick of time came Spitfire through the stour, with a band of -Demons about him, slaying as he came. He shouted with a terrible voice, -“O Corinius, hateful to me and mine as are the gates of Hell, now will -I kill thee, and thy dead carcase shall fatten the sweet meads of -Owlswick.” - -Corinius answered him, “Bloody Spitfire, last of three whelps, for thy -brothers are by now dead and rotten, I shall give thee a choke-pear.” - -Therewith Spitfire shot a twirl-spear at him. It missed the man but -smote the great horse in the shoulder so that he plunged and fell in -a heap, hurt to the death. But the Lord Corinius lighting nimbly on -his feet caught Spitfire’s horse by the bridle rein and smote it on -the muzzle, even as he rode at him, so that the horse reared up and -swerved. Spitfire made a great blow at him with an axe, but it came -slantwise on the helmet ridge and glented aside in air. Then Corinius -thrust up under Spitfire’s shield with his sword, and the point entered -the big muscle of the arm near the armpit, and glancing against the -bone tore up through the muscles of the shoulder. And that was a great -wound. - -Nevertheless Spitfire slacked not from the fight, but smote at him -again, thinking to have hewn off his arm the hand whereof still -clutched the bridle-rein. Corinius caught the axe on his shield, but -his fingers loosed the rein, and almost he fell to earth under that -mighty stroke, and the good bronze shield was dented and battered in. - -Now with the loosing of the reins was Spitfire’s horse plunged forward, -carrying him past Corinius toward the sea. But he turned and hailed -him, crying, “Get thee an horse. For I count it unworthy to fight with -thee bearing this advantage over thee, I a-horseback and thou on foot.” - -Corinius cried out and answered, “Come down from thine horse then, and -meet me foot to foot. And know it, my pretty throstle-cock, that I am -king in Demonland, which dignity I hold of the King of Kings, Gorice of -Witchland, mine only overlord. Meet it is that I show thee in combat -singular, that vauntest thyself greatest among the rebels yet left -alive in this my kingdom, how much greater is my might than thine.” - -“These be great and thumping words,” said Spitfire. “I shall thrust -them down thy throat again.” - -Therewith he made as if to light down from his horse; but as he strove -to light down, a mist went before his eyes and he reeled in his saddle. -His men rushed in betwixt him and Corinius, and the captain of his -bodyguard bare him up, saying, “You are hurt, my lord. You must not -fight no more with Corinius, for your highness is unmeet for fighting -and may not stand alone.” - -So they that were about him bare up great Spitfire. And the mellay that -was stayed while those lords dealt together in single combat brake -forth afresh in that place. But all the while had furious war swung -and ravened below Thremnir’s Heugh, and wondrous was the valour of the -Demons; for many hundred were slain or wounded to the death, and but a -small force were they that yet remained to bear up the battle against -the Witches. - - • • • • • - -Now those that were with Spitfire departed with him in the secretest -manner that they could out of the fight, wrapping about him a -watchet-coloured cloak to hide his shining armour. They stanched the -blood that ran from the great wound in his shoulder and bound it -up carefully, and carried him a-horseback by Volle’s command into -Tremmerdale by secret mountain paths up to a desolate corrie east of -Sterry Gap, under the great scree-shoot that flanks the precipices of -the south summit of Dina. A long time he lay there senseless, like -to one dead. For many hurts had he taken in the unequal fight, and -greatly was he bruised and battered, but worst of all was the sore hurt -Corinius gave him ere they parted betwixt the limits of land and sea. - -And when night was fallen and all the ways were darkened, came the Lord -Volle with a few companions utterly wearied to that lonely corrie. The -night was still and cloudless, and the maiden moon walked high heaven, -blackening the shadows of the great peaks that were like sharks’ teeth -against the night. Spitfire lay on a bed of ling and cloaks in the lee -of a great boulder. Ghastly pale was his face in the silver moonlight. - -Volle leaned upon his spear looking earnestly upon him. They asked him -tidings. And Volle answered, “All lost,” and still looked upon Spitfire. - -They said, “My lord, we have stanched the blood and bound up the wound, -but his lordship abideth yet senseless. And greatly we fear for his -life, lest this great hurt yet prove his bane-sore.” - -Volle kneeled beside him on the cold sharp stones and tended him as -a mother might her sick child, applying to the wound leaves of black -horehound and millefoil and other healing simples, and giving him to -drink out of a flask of precious wine of Arshalmar, ripened for an -age in the deep cellars below Krothering. So that in a while Spitfire -opened his eyes and said, “Draw back the curtains of the bed, for ’tis -many a day since I woke up in Owlswick. Or is it night indeed? How went -the fight, then?” - -His eyes stared at the naked rocks and the naked sky beyond them. Then -with a great groan he lifted himself on his right elbow. Volle put a -strong arm about him, saying, “Drink the good wine, and have patience. -There be great doings toward.” - -Spitfire stared round him awhile, then said violently, “Shall we be -foxes and fugitive men to dwell in holes o’ the hollow mountain side? -So the bright day is done, ha? Then off with these trammels.” And he -fell a-tearing at the bandage on his wounds. - -But Volle prevented him with strong hands, saying, “Bethink thee how on -thee alone, O glorious Spitfire, and on thy wise heart and valiant soul -that delighteth in furious war, resteth all our hope to ward off from -our lady wives and dear children and all our good land and fee the fury -of the men of Witchland, and to save alive the great name of Demonland. -Let not thy proud heart be capable of despair.” - -But Spitfire groaned and said, “Certain it was that woe and evil hap -must be to Demonland until my kinsmen be gotten home again. And that -day I think shall never dawn.” And he cried, “Boasted he not that he is -king in Demonland? and yet I had not my sword in his umbles. And thou -thinkest I’ll live in shame?” - -Therewithal he strove again to tear off the bandages, but Volle -prevented him. And he raved and said, “Who was it forced me from the -battle? ’Tis pity of his life, to have abused me so. Better dead than -run from Corinius like a beaten puppy. Let me go, false traitors! I -will amend this. I will die fighting. Let me go back.” - -Volle said, “Lift up thine eyes, great Spitfire, and behold the lady -moon, how virgin free she walketh the wide fields of heaven, and the -glory of the stars of heaven which in their multitudes attend her. And -as little as earthly mists and storms do dim her, but though she be hid -awhile yet when the tempest is abated and the sky swept bare of clouds -there she appeareth again in her steadfast course, mistress of tides -and seasons and swayer of the fates of mortal men: even such is the -glory of sea-girt Demonland, and the glory of thine house, O Spitfire. -And as little as commotions in the heavens should avail to remove these -everlasting mountains, so little availeth disastrous war, though it be -a great fight lost as was to-day, to shake down our greatness, that are -mightiest with the spear from of old and able to make all earth bow to -our glory.” - -So said Volle. And the Lord Spitfire looked out across the mist-choked -sleeping valley to the great rock-faces dim in the moonlight and the -lean peaks grand and silent beneath the moon. He spake not, whether for -strengthlessness or as charmed to silence by the mighty influences of -night and the mountain solitudes and by Volle’s voice speaking deep and -quiet in his ear, like the voice of night herself calming earth-born -tumults and despairs. - -After a time Volle spake once more: “Thy brethren shall come home -again: doubt it not. But till then art thou our strength. Therefore -have patience; heal thy wounds; and raise forces again. But shouldst -thou in desperate madness destroy thy life, then were we shent indeed.” - - - - - XX: KING CORINIUS - - OF THE ENTRY OF THE LORD CORINIUS INTO OWLSWICK AND HOW HE WAS - CROWNED IN SPITFIRE’S SAPPHIRE CHAIR AS VICEROY OF GORICE THE - KING AND KING IN DEMONLAND: AND HOW ALL THAT WERE IN OWLSWICK - CASTLE DID SO RECEIVE AND ACKNOWLEDGE HIM. - - -Corinius, having completed this great victory, came with his army north -again to Owlswick as daylight began to fade. The drawbridge was let -down for him and the great gates flung wide, that were studded with -silver and ribbed with adamant; and in great pomp rode he and his into -Owlswick Castle, over the causey builded of the living rock and great -blocks of hewn granite out of Tremmerdale. The more part of his army -lay in Spitfire’s camp before the castle, but a thousand were with him -in his entry into Owlswick with Corund’s sons and the lords Gro and -Laxus besides, for the fleet had put across to anchor there when they -saw the day was won. - -Corsus greeted them well, and would have brought them to their lodgings -near his own chamber, that they might put off their harness and don -clean linen and festival garments before supper. But Corinius excused -himself, saying he had eat nought since breakfast-time: “Let us -therefore not pass for ceremony, but bring us I pray you forthright to -the banquet house.” - -Corinius went in with Corsus before them all, putting lovingly about -his shoulder his arm all befouled with dust and clotted blood. For he -had not so much as stayed for washing of his hands. And that was scarce -good for the broidered cloak of purple taffety the Duke Corsus wore -about his shoulders. Howbeit, Corsus made as if he marked it not. - -When they were come into the hall, Corsus looked about him and said, -“So it is, my Lord Corinius, that this hall is something little for the -great press that here befalleth. Many of mine own folk that be of some -account should by long custom sit down with us. And here be no seats -left for them. Prithee command some of the common sort that came in -with thee to give place, that all may be done orderly. Mine officers -must not scramble in the buttery.” - -“I’m sorry, my lord,” answered Corinius, “but needs must that we -bethink us o’ these lads of mine which have chiefly borne the toil of -battle, and well I weet thou’lt not deny them this honour to sit at -meat with us: these that thou hast most to thank for opening Owlswick -gates and raising the siege our enemies held so long against you.” - -So they took their seats, and supper was set before them: kids stuffed -with walnuts and almonds and pistachios; herons in sauce cameline; -chines of beef; geese and bustards; and great beakers and jars of -ruby-hearted wine. Right fain of the good banquet were Corinius and his -folk, and silence was in the hall for awhile save for the clatter of -dishes and the champing of the mouths of the feasters. - -At length Corinius, quaffing down at one draught a mighty goblet of -wine, spake and said, “There was battle in the meads by Thremnir’s -Heugh to-day, my lord Duke. Wast thou at that battle?” - -Corsus’s heavy cheeks flushed somewhat red. He answered, “Thou knowest -I was not. And I should account it most blameable hotheadedness to have -sallied forth when it seemed Spitfire had the victory.” - -“O my lord,” said Corinius, “think not I made this a quarrel to thee. -The rather let me show thee how much I hold thee in honour.” - -Therewith he called his boy that stood behind his chair, and the boy -returned anon with a diadem of polished gold set all about with topazes -that had passed through the fire; and on the frontlet of that diadem -was the small figure of a crab-fish in dull iron, the eyes of it two -green beryls on stalks of silver. The boy set it down on the table -before the Lord Corinius, as it had been a dish of meat before him. -Corinius took a writing from his purse, and laid it on the table for -Corsus to see. And there was the signet upon it of the worm Ouroboros -in scarlet wax, and the sign manual of Gorice the King. - -“My Lord Corsus,” said he, “and ye sons of Corsus, and ye other -Witches, I do you to wit that our Lord the King made me by these tokens -his viceroy for his province of Demonland, and willed that I should -bear a king’s name in this land and that under him all should render me -obedience.” - -Corsus, looking on the crown and the royal warrant of the King, waxed -in one instant deadly pale, and in the next red as blood. - -Corinius said, “To thee, O Corsus, out of all these great ones that -here be gathered together in Owlswick, will I submit me for thee to -crown me with this crown, as king in Demonland. This, that thou mayst -see and know how most I honour thee.” - -Now were all silent, waiting on Corsus to speak. But he spake not a -word. Dekalajus said privily in his ear, “O my father, if the monkey -reigns, dance before him. Time shall bring us occasion to right you.” - -And Corsus, disregarding not this wholesome rede, for all he might not -wholly rule his countenance, yet ruled himself to bite in the injuries -he was fain to utter. And with no ill grace he did that office, to set -on Corinius’s head the new crown of Demonland. - -Corinius sat now in Spitfire’s seat, whence Corsus had moved to -make place for him: in Spitfire’s high seat of smoke-coloured jade, -curiously carved and set with velvet-lustred sapphires, and right and -left of him were two high candlesticks of fine gold. The breadth of -his shoulders filled all the space between the pillars of the spacious -seat. A hard man he looked to deal with, clothed upon with youth and -strength and all armed and yet smoking from the battle. - -Corsus, sitting between his sons, said under his breath, “Rhubarb! -bring me rhubarb to purge away this choler!” - -But Dekalajus whispered him, “Softly, tread easy. Let not our counsels -walk in a net, thinking they are hidden. Nurse him to security, which -shall be our safety and the mean to our wiping out this shaming. Was -not Gallandus as big a man?” - -Corsus’s dull eye gleamed. He lifted a brimming wine-cup to toast -Corinius. And Corinius hailed him and said, “My lord Duke, call in -thine officers I pray thee and proclaim me, that they in turn may -proclaim me king unto all the army that is in Owlswick.” - -Which Corsus did, albeit sore against his liking, knowing not where to -find a reason against it. - -When the plaudits were heard in the courts without, acclaiming him as -king, Corinius spake again and said, “I and my folk be a-weary, my -lord, and would betimes to our rest. Give order, I pray thee, that they -make ready my lodgings. And let them be those same lodgings Gallandus -had whenas he was in Owlswick.” - -Whereat Corsus might scarce forbear a start. But Corinius’s eye was on -him, and he gave the order. - -While he waited for his lodgings to be made ready, the Lord Corinius -made great good cheer, calling for more wine and fresh dainties to set -before those lords of Witchland: olives, and botargoes, and conserves -of goose’s liver richly seasoned, taken from Spitfire’s plenteous store. - -In the meantime Corsus spake softly to his sons: “I like not his naming -of Gallandus. Yet seemeth he careless, as one that feareth no guile.” - -And Dekalajus answered in his ear, “Peradventure the Gods ordained his -destruction, to make him choose that chamber.” - -So they laughed. And the banquet drew to a close with much pleasure and -merrymaking. - -Now came serving men with torches to light them to their chambers. As -they stood up to bid good-night, Corinius said, “I’m sorry, my lord, -if, after thy pleasant usage, I should do aught that is not convenable -to thee. But I doubt not Owlswick Castle must be irksome to thee and -thy sons, that were so long mewed up within it, and I doubt not ye are -wearied by this siege and long warfare. Therefore it is my will that -you do instantly depart home to Witchland. Laxus hath a ship manned -ready to transport you thither. To put a fit and friendly term to our -festivities, we’ll bring you down to the ship.” - -Corsus’s jaw fell. Yet he schooled his tongue to say, “My lord, so as -it shall please thee. Yet let me know thy reasons. Surely the swords -of me and my sons avail not so little for Witchland in this country of -our evil-willers that we should sheathe ’em and go home. Howbeit, ’tis -a matter demandeth no sweaty haste. We will take rede hereon in the -morning.” - -But Corinius answered him, “Cry you mercy, needful it is that this very -night you go ashipboard.” And he gave him an ill look, saying, “Sith -I lie to-night in Gallandus’s lodgings, I think it fit my bodyguard -should have thy chamber, my lord Duke, which, as I lately learned, -adjoineth it.” - -Corsus said no word. But Gorius, his younger son, that was drunk with -wine, leaped up and said, “Corinius, in an evil hour art thou come into -this land to demand servitude of us. And thou art informed of my father -right maliciously if thou art afeared of us because of Gallandus. ’Tis -this viper sitteth beside thee, the Goblin swabber, told thee falsely -this bad tale of us. And ’tis pity he is still inward with thee, for -still he plotteth evil ’gainst Witchland.” - -Dekalajus thrust him aside, saying to Corinius, “Heed not my brother -though he be hasty and rude of speech; for in wine he speaketh, and -wine is another man. But most true it is, O Corinius, and this shall -the Duke my father and all we swear and confirm to thee with the -mightiest oaths thou wilt, that Gallandus sought to usurp authority for -this sake only, to betray our whole army to the enemy. And ’twas only -therefore Corsus slew him.” - -“That is a flat lie,” said Laxus. - -Gro laughed lightly. - -But Corinius’s sword leaped half naked from the scabbard, and he made -a stride toward Corsus and his sons. “Give me the king’s name when ye -speak to me,” he said, scowling upon them. “You sons of Corsus are not -men to make me a stalk to catch birds with or to serve your own turn. -And thou,” he said, looking fiercely on Corsus, “wert best go meekly, -and not bandy words with me. Thou fool! think’st thou I am Gallandus -come again? Thou that didst murther him shalt not murther me. Or -think’st I delivered thee out of the toils thine own folly and thrawart -ways had bound thee in, only to suffer thee lord it again here and cast -all amiss again by the unquietness of thy malice? Here is the guard to -bring you down to the ship. And well it is for thee if I slash not off -thy head.” - -Now Corsus and his sons stood for a little doubting in their hearts -whether it were fitter to leap with their weapons upon Corinius, -putting their fortunes to the hazard of battle in Owlswick hall, or to -embrace necessity and go down to the ship. And this seemed to them the -better choice, to go quietly ashipboard; for there stood Corinius and -Laxus and their men, and but few to face them of Corsus’s own people, -that should be sure for his party if it came to fighting; and withal -they were not eager to have to do with Corinius, not though it had been -on more even terms. So at the last, in anger and bitterness of heart, -they submitted them to obey his will; and in that same hour Laxus -brought them to the ship, and put them across the firth to Scaramsey. - -There were they safe as a mouse in a mill. For Cadarus was skipper of -that ship, a trusted liegeman of Lord Laxus, and her crew men leal and -true to Corinius and Laxus. She lay at anchor as for that night in the -lee of the island, and with the first streak of dawn sailed down the -firth, bearing Corsus and his sons homeward from Demonland. - - - - - XXI: THE PARLEY BEFORE KROTHERING - - WHEREIN IS SHOWN HOW WARLIKE POLICY AND A PICTURE PAINTED DREW THE - WAR WESTWARD: AND HOW THE LORD GRO WENT ON AN EMBASSAGE TO - KROTHERING GATES, AND OF THE ANSWER HE GAT THERE. - - -Now it is to be said of Zigg that he failed not to fulfil Spitfire’s -behest, but gathered hastily an army of more than fifteen hundred -horse and foot out of the northern dales and the habitations about -Shalgreth Heath and the pasture-lands of Kelialand and Switchwater -Way and the region of Rammerick, and came in haste over the Stile. -But when Corinius knew of this faring from the west, he marched three -thousand strong to meet them above Moonmere Head, to deny them the way -to Galing. But Zigg, being yet in the upper defiles of Breakingdale, -now for the first time had advertisement of the great slaughter at -Thremnir’s Heugh, and how the forces of Spitfire and Volle were broken -and scattered and themselves fled up into the mountains; and so deeming -it small gain with so little an army to give battle to Corinius, he -turned back without more ado and returned hastily over the Stile whence -he came. Corinius sent light forces to harry his retreat, but being not -minded as then to follow them into the west country, let build a burg -in the throat of the pass in a place of vantage, and stationed there -sufficient men to ward it, and so came again to Owlswick. - -They that were with Corinius in Demonland numbered now more than five -thousand fighting men: a great and redoubtable army. With these, the -weather being fine and open, he in a short time laid under him all -eastern Demonland, save Galing alone. Bremery of Shaws with but -seventy men held Galing for Lord Juss against all assaults. So that -Corinius, thinking this fruit should ripen later and drop into his hand -when the rest had been gathered, resolved at winter’s end to march with -his main army into the west country, leaving a small force to hold down -the eastlands and contain Bremery in Galing. To this determination he -was led by all arguments of sound soldiership, most happily seconding -his own inclinations. For besides this of warlike policy two scarce -weaker lodestones drew him westward: first the old cankered malice he -bare in his heart against the Lord Brandoch Daha, that made Krothering -his dearest prey; and next, his own lustful desires most outrageously -burning for the Lady Mevrian. And this only for the sight of her -picture, found by him in Spitfire’s closet among his pens and inkstands -and other trinkets, which once looked on he swore that with Heaven’s -will (ay, or without if so it must be) she should be his paramour. - -So on the fourteenth day of March, of a bright frosty morn, he with his -main army marched up Breakingdale and over the Stile, by that same road -that Lord Juss fared by and Lord Brandoch Daha, that summer’s day when -they went to take counsel in Krothering before the Impland expedition. -So came the Witches down to the watersmeet and turned aside to Many -Bushes. There they found not Zigg nor his lady wife nor any of his -folk, but found the house desolate. So they robbed and burned and went -their way. And a famous castle of Juss’s they sacked and burned in the -confines of Kelialand, and another on Switchwater Way, and a summer -palace of Spitfire’s on a little hill above Rammerick Mere. In such -wise they marched victoriously down Switchwater Way, and there was none -to dispute their progress but all fled at the approach of that great -army and hid themselves in the secret places of the mountains, avoiding -death and fate. - -When he was come through the straits of Gashterndale up on to -Krothering Side, Corinius let pitch his camp under Erngate End, at the -foot of the scree-strewn slopes that rise steeply to the high western -face of the mountain, where the lean embattled crags far aloft stand -like a wall against high heaven. - -Corinius came to Lord Gro and said to him, “To thee will I entrust mine -embassage to this Mevrian. Thou shalt go with a flag of truce to gain -thee entry to the castle; or if they will not admit thee, then bid her -parley with thee without the wall. Then shalt thou use what fantastic -courtier’s jargon nature and thine invention shall lightliest counsel -thee, and say, ‘Corinius, by the grace of the great King and the might -of his own hand king of Demonland, sitteth as thou well mayst see in -power invincible before this castle. But he willed me let thee know -that he is not come for to make war against ladies and damosels, and -be thou of this sure, that neither to thee nor to none of thy fortress -he will nought say nor hurt. Only this honour he proffereth thee, to -wed thee in sweet marriage and make thee his queen in Demonland.’ -Whereto if she say yea, well and good, and we will go up peaceably -into Krothering and possess it and the woman. But if she deny me this, -then shalt thou say unto her right fiercely that I will set on against -the castle like a lion, and neither rest nor give over until I have -beaten it all to a ruin about her ears and slain the folk with the -edge of the sword. And that which she refuseth me to have in peaceful -love and kindness I will have of my own violent deed, that she and her -stiff-necked Demons may know that I am their king, and master of all -that is theirs, and their own bodies but chattels to serve my pleasure.” - -Gro said, “My Lord Corinius, choose I pray thee another who shall be -fitter than I to do this errand for thee;” and so for a long time most -earnestly besought him. But Corinius, the more he perceived the duty -hateful to Gro, the firmer became his resolution that none but Gro -should undertake it. So that in the end Gro perforce consented, and in -the same hour went with eleven up to the gates of Krothering, and a -white flag of truce was borne before him. - -He sent his herald up to the gate to desire speech of the Lady Mevrian. -And in a while the gates were opened, and she came down attended to -meet Lord Gro in the open garden before the bridge-gate. It was by -then late afternoon, and the burning sun swam low amid streaked level -clouds incarnadine, setting aflame the waters of Thunderfirth with the -reflection of his beams. From the horizon, high beyond the pine-clad -hills of Westmark, a range of clouds reared themselves, solid and of -an iron hue; so hard-edged against the vapoury sky of sunset, that -they seemed substantial mountains, not clouds: unearthly mountains (a -man might fancy) divinely raised up for Demonland, for whom not all -her ancient hills gave any longer refuge against her enemies. Here, in -Krothering gates, wintersweet and the little purple daphne bush that -blooms before the leaf breathed fragrance abroad. Yet was it not this -sweetness in the air that troubled the Lord Gro, nor that western glory -burning that dazzled his eyes; but to look upon that lady standing in -the gate, white-skinned and dark, like the divine Huntress, tall and -proud and lovely. - -Mevrian, seeing him speechless, said at last, “My lord, I heard thou -hadst some errand to declare unto me. And seeing a great camp of war -gathered under Erngate End, and having heard of robbers and evil-doers -rife about the land these many moons, I look not for soft speech. Take -heart, therefore, and declare plainly what ill thou meanest.” - -Gro answered and said, “Tell me first if thou that speakest art in -truth the Lady Mevrian, that I may know whether to human kind I speak -or to some Goddess come down from the shining floor of heaven.” - -She answered, “Of thy compliments I have nought to do. I am she thou -namest.” - -“Madam,” said Lord Gro, “I would not have brought your highness this -message nor delivered it, but that I know full well that did I refuse -it another should bear it thee full speedily, and with less compliment -and less sorrow than I.” - -She nodded gravely, as who should say, Proceed. So, with what -countenance he might, he rehearsed his message, saying when it was -ended, “Thus, madam, saith Corinius the king: and thus he charged me -deliver it unto your highness.” - -Mevrian heard him attentively with head erect. When he had done she was -silent a little, still studying him. Then she spake: “Methinks I know -thee now. Thou art Lord Gro of Goblinland that bearest me this message.” - -Gro answered, “Madam, he thou namest went years ago from this earth. I -am Lord Gro of Witchland.” - -“So it seemeth, from thy talk,” said she; and was silent again. - -The steady contemplation from that lady’s eyes was like a knife -scraping his tender skin, so that he was ill at ease well nigh past -bearing. - -After a little she said, “I remember thee, my lord. Let me stir thy -memory. Eleven years ago, my brother went to war in Goblinland against -the Witches, and overcame them on Lormeron field. There slew he the -great King of Witchland in single combat, Gorice X., that until that -day was held for the mightiest man-at-arms in all the world. My brother -was as then but eighteen winters old, and that was the first blazing up -of his great fame and glory. So King Gaslark made great feasting and -great rejoicing in Zajë Zaculo because of the ridding of his land of -the oppressors. I was at those revels. I saw thee there, my lord; and -being but a little maid of eleven summers, sat on thy knee in Gaslark’s -halls. Thou didst show me books, with pictures in strange colours of -gold and green and scarlet, of birds and beasts and distant countries -and wonders of the world. And I, being a little harmless maid, thought -thee good and kind of heart, and loved thee.” - -She ceased, and Gro, like a man hath taken some drowsy drug, stood -looking on her confounded. - -“Tell me,” said she, “of this Corinius. Is he such a fighter as men -say?” - -“He is,” said Gro, “one of the most famousest captains that ever was. -That might not his worst enemies gainsay.” - -Mevrian said, “A likely consort, think’st thou, for a lady of -Demonland? Remember, I have said nay to crowned kings. I would know thy -mind, for doubtless he is thy very familiar friend, since he made thee -his go-between.” - -Gro saw that she mocked, and he was troubled at heart. “Madam,” said -he, and his voice shook somewhat, “take not in too great scorn this -vile part in me. Verily this I brought thee is the most shamefullest -message, and flatly against my will did I deliver it unto thee. Yet -with such constraint upon me, how could I choose but strike my forehead -into dauntless marble and word by word deliver my charge?” - -“Thy tongue,” said Mevrian, “hath struck hot irons in my face. Go back -to thy master. If he look for an answer, tell him he may read it in -letters of gold above the gates.” - -“Thy noble brother, madam,” said Gro, “is not here to make good that -answer.” And he came near to her, saying in a low voice so that only -they two should hear it, “Be not deceived. This Corinius is a naughty, -wicked, and luxurious youth, that will use thee without any respect -if once he break in by force into Krothering Castle. It were wiselier -carried to make some open show to receive him; so by fair words and -putting of him off thou mayst yet escape.” - -But Mevrian said, “Thou hast mine answer. I have no ears to his -request. Say too that my cousin the Lord Spitfire hath healed his -wounds, and hath an army afoot shall whip these Witches from my gates -ere many days be passed by.” - -So saying she returned in great scorn within the castle. - -But the Lord Gro returned again to the camp and to Corinius, who asked -him how he had sped. - -He answered, she did utterly refuse it. - -“So,” said Corinius; “doth the puss thump me off? Then pause my hot -desires an instant, only the more thunderingly to clap it on. For -I will have her. And this coyness and pert rejection hath the more -fixedly confirmed me.” - - - - - XXII: AURWATH AND SWITCHWATER - - HOW THE LADY MEVRIAN BEHELD FROM KROTHERING WALLS THE WITCHLAND - ARMY AND THE CAPTAINS THEREOF: AND OF THE TIDINGS BROUGHT HER - THERE OF THE WAR IN THE WEST COUNTRY, OF AURWATH FIELD AND THE - GREAT SLAUGHTER ON SWITCHWATER WAY. - - -The fourth day after these doings aforewrit, the Lady Mevrian walked -on the battlements of Krothering keep. A blustering wind blew from -the north-west. The sky was cloudless: clear blue overhead, all else -pearl-gray, and the air a little misty. Her old steward, stalwart and -soldier-like, greaved and helmed and clad in a plated jerkin of bull’s -hide, walked with her. - -“The hour should be about striking,” said she. “’Tis to-day or -to-morrow my Lord Zigg named to me when they were here a-guesting. If -but Goblinland keep tryst it were the prettiest feat, to take them so -pat.” - -“As your ladyship might clap a gnat ’twixt the palms of your two -hands,” said the old man; and he gazed again southward over the sea. - -Mevrian set her gaze in the same quarter. “Nothing but mist and spray,” -she said after a few minutes’ searching. “I’m glad I sent Lord Spitfire -those two hundred horse. He must have every man can be scraped up, for -such a day. How thinkest thou, Ravnor: if King Gaslark come not, hath -Lord Spitfire force enow to cope them alone?” - -Ravnor chuckled in his beard. “I think and my lord your brother were -here he should tell your highness ‘ay’ to that. Since first I bowled a -hoop, they taught me a Demon was under-matched against five Witches.” - -She looked at him a little wistfully. “Ah,” she said, “were he at home. -And were Juss at home.” Then on a sudden she faced round northward, -pointing to the camp. “Were they at home,” she cried, “thou shouldst -not see outlanders insulting in arms on Krothering Side, sending me -shameful offers, caging me like a bird in this castle. Have such things -been in Demonland, until now?” - -Now came a boy running along the battlements from the far side of the -tower, crying that ships were hove in sight sailing from the south and -east, “And they make for the firth.” - -“Of what land?” said Mevrian, while they hastened back to look. - -“What but Goblinland?” said Ravnor. - -“O say not so too hastily!” cried she. They came round the turret wall, -and the sea and Stropardon Firth opened wide and void before them. “I -see nought,” she said; “or is yon flight of sea-mews the fleet thou -sawest?” - -“He meaneth Thunderfirth,” said Ravnor, who had gone on ahead, pointing -to the west. “They shape their course toward Aurwath. ’Tis King Gaslark -for sure. Mark but the blue and gold of his sails.” - -Mevrian watched them, her gloved hand drumming nervously on the marble -battlement. Very stately she seemed, muffled in a flowing cloak of -white watered silk collared and lined with ermine. “Eighteen ships!” -she said. “I dreamed not Goblinland might make so great a force.” - -They were silent for a time, watching the ships sail in to the mouth of -the firth and make land at Aurwath. “Dear heavens,” she said, “were I -a man to help them. Will Spitfire be there in time? The Witches be in -great force.” - -“Your ladyship may see,” said Ravnor, walking back along the wall, -“whether the Witchlanders have slept while these ships sailed to port.” - -She followed and looked. Great stir there was in the Witchland army, -marshalling before the camp; there was coming and going and leaping on -horseback, and faintly on the wind their trumpets’ blare was borne to -Mevrian’s ears as she beheld them from her high watch-tower. The host -moved forth down the meadows, all orderly, a-glitter with bronze and -steel. Southward they came, passing at length through the home-meads -of Krothering, so near that each man was plainly seen from the -battlements, as they rode beneath. - -Mevrian leaned forward in an embrasure, one hand on either battlement -at her left and right. “I would know their names,” said she. “Thou, -that hast oft fared to the wars, mayst teach me. Gro I know, with a -long beard; and heart-heaviness it is to see a lord of Goblinland in -such a fellowship. What’s he beside him, yon bearded gallant, with a -winged helm and a diadem about it, like a king’s, and beareth a glaive -crimson-hafted? He looketh a proud one.” - -The old man answered, “Laxus of Witchland: the same that was admiral of -their fleet against the Ghouls.” - -“’Tis a brave man to look on, and worthy a better cause. What’s he -rideth now below us, heading their horse: ruddy and swarthy and light -of build, hath a brow like the thundercloud, and weareth armour from -neck to toe?” - -Ravnor answered, “Highness, I know him not certainly, the sons of -Corund so favour one another. But methinks ’tis the young prince -Heming.” - -Mevrian laughed. “Prince quotha?” - -“So moveth the world, your highness. Since Gorice set Corund in kingdom -in Impland——” - -Said Mevrian, “Name him prithee Heming Faz: I warrant they trap them -now with barbarous additions. Heming Faz, good lack! lording it now in -Demonland. - -“The prime huff-cap of all,” said she after a little, “holdeth aback -it seemeth. O here he comes. Sweet heaven, what furious horsemanship! -Troth, and he can sit a horse, Ravnor, and hath the great figure of -an athlete. Look where he gallopeth bare-headed down the line. I ween -he’ll need more than golden curls to keep his head whole ere he have -done with Gaslark, ay, and our own folk gathering from the north. I -see he beareth his helm at the saddle-bow. To ape us so!” she cried as -he drew nearer. “All silks and silver. Thou’dst have sworn none but a -Demon went to battle so costly apparelled. O, for a scissors to cut his -comb withal!” - -So speaking she leaned forward all she might, to watch him. And he, -galloping by below, looked up; and marking her so watching, reined -mightily his great chestnut horse, throwing him with the check well -nigh on his haunches. And while the horse plunged and reared, Corinius -hailed her in a great voice, crying, “Mistress, good-morrow!” crying, -“Wish me victory, and swift to thine arms!” - -So near below was he a-riding, she might scan the very lineaments of -his face and read it as he looked up and shouted to her that greeting. -He saluted with his sword, and spurred onward to overtake Gro and Laxus -in the van. - -As if sickened on a sudden, or as if she had been ready to tread on a -deadly stinging adder, the Lady Mevrian leaned against the marble of -the battlements. Ravnor stepped towards her: “Is your ladyship ill? -Why, what’s the matter?” - -“A silly qualm,” said Mevrian faintly. “If thou’dst medicine it, show -me the sheen of Spitfire’s spears to the northward. The blank land -dazzles me.” - - • • • • • - -So wore the afternoon. Twice and thrice Mevrian went upon the -walls, but could see nought save the sea and the firths and the -mountain-bosomed plain fair and peaceful in the spring-time: no sign -of men or of war’s alarums, save only the masts of Gaslark’s ships -seen over the land’s brow three miles or more to the south-west. Yet -she knew surely that near those ships beside Aurwath harbour must be -desperate fighting toward, Gaslark the king engaged at heavy odds -against Laxus and Corinius and the spears of Witchland. And the sun -wheeled low over the dark pines of Westmark, and still no sign from the -north. - -“Thou didst send one forth for tidings?” she said to Ravnor, the third -time she went on the wall. - -He answered, “Betimes this morning, your highness. But ’tis slow faring -until a be a mile or twain clear of the castle, for a must elude their -small bands that go up and down guarding the countryside.” - -“Bring him to me o’ the instant of his return,” said she. - -With a foot on the stair, she turned back. “Ravnor,” she said. - -He came to her. - -“Thou,” she said, “hast been years enow my brother’s steward in -Krothering, and our father’s before him, to know what mind and spirit -dwelleth in them of our line. Tell me, truly and sadly, what thou -makest of this. Lord Spitfire is too late: other else, Goblinland too -sudden-early (and that was his fault from of old). What seest thou in -it? Speak to me as thou shouldst to my Lord Brandoch Daha were it he -that asked thee.” - -“Highness,” said the old man Ravnor, “I will answer you my very -thought: and it is, woe to Goblinland. Since my Lord Spitfire cometh -not yet from the north, only the deathless Gods descending out of -heaven can save the king. The Witches number at an humble reckoning -twice his strength; and man to man you were as well pit a hound against -a bear, as against Witches Goblins. For all that these be fierce and -full of fiery courage, the bear hath it at the last.” - -Mevrian listened, looking on him with sorrowful steady eyes. “And he -so generous-noble flown to comfort Demonland in the blackness of her -days,” she said at last. “Can fate be so ungallant? O Ravnor, the shame -of it! First La Fireez, now Gaslark. How shall any love us any more? -The shame of it, Ravnor!” - -“I would not have your highness,” said Ravnor, “too hasty to blame us. -If their plan and compact have gone amiss, ’tis likelier King Gaslark’s -misprision than Lord Spitfire’s. We know not for sure which day was set -for this landing.” - -While he so spake, he was looking past her seaward, a little south of -the reddest part of the sunset. His eyes widened. He touched her arm -and pointed. Sails were hoisted among the masts at Aurwath. Smoke, as -of burning, reeked up against the sky. As they watched, the most part -of the ships moved out to sea. From those that remained, some five or -six, fire leaped and black clouds of smoke. The rest as they came out -of the lee of the land, made southward for the open sea under oar and -sail. - -Neither spake; and the Lady Mevrian leaning her elbows on the parapet -of the wall hid her face in her hands. - - • • • • • - -Now came Ravnor’s messenger at length back from his faring, and the -old man brought him in to Mevrian in her bower in the south part of -Krothering. The messenger said, “Highness, I bring no writing, since -that were too perilous had I fallen in my way among Witches. But I -had audience of my Lord Spitfire and my Lord Zigg in the gates of -Gashterndale. And thus their lordships commanded me deliver it unto -you, that your highness should be at ease and secure, seeing that they -do in such sort hold all the ways to Krothering, that the Witchland -army cannot escape out of this countryside that is betwixt Thunderfirth -and Stropardon Firth and the sea, but and if they will give battle unto -their lordships. But if they choose rather to abide here by Krothering, -then may our armies close on them and oppress them, since our forces do -exceed theirs by near a thousand spears. Which to-morrow will be done -whate’er betide, since that is the day appointed for Gaslark the king -to land with a force at Aurwath.” - -Mevrian said, “They know nought then of this direful miscarriage, and -Gaslark here already before his time and thrown back into the sea?” And -she said, “We must apprise them on’t, and that hastily and to-night.” - -When the man understood this, he answered, “Ten minutes for a bite and -a stirrup-cup, and I am at your ladyship’s service.” - -And in a short while, that man went forth again secretly out of -Krothering in the dusk of night to bring word to Lord Spitfire of what -was befallen. And the watchmen watching in the night from Krothering -walls beheld northward under Erngate End the camp-fires of the Witches -like the stars. - - • • • • • - -Night passed and day dawned, and the camp of the Witches showed empty -as an empty shell. - -Mevrian said, “They have moved in the night.” - -“Then shall your highness hear great tidings ere long,” said Ravnor. - -“’Tis like we may have guests in Krothering to-night,” said Mevrian. -And she gave order for all to be made ready against their coming, and -the choicest bed-chambers for Spitfire and Zigg to welcome them. So, -with busy preparations, the day went by. But as evening came, and still -no riding from the north, some shadows of impatience and anxious doubt -crept with night’s shades creeping across heaven across their eager -expectancy in Krothering. For Mevrian’s messenger returned not. Late to -rest went the Lady Mevrian; and with the first peeping light she was -abroad, muffled in her great mantle of velvet and swansdown against the -eager winds of morning. Up to the battlements she went, and with old -Ravnor searched the blank prospect. For pale morning rose on an empty -landscape; and so all day until the evening: watching, and waiting, and -questioning in their hearts. - -So went they at length to supper on this third night after Aurwath -field. And ere supper was half done was a stir in the outer courts, and -the rattle of the bridge let down, and a clatter of horse-hooves on -the bridge and the jasper pavements. Mevrian sate erect and expectant. -She nodded to Ravnor who wanting no further sign went hastily out, and -returned in an instant hastily and with heavy brow. He spake in her -ear, “News, my Lady. It were well you bade him to private audience. -Drink this cup first,” pouring out some wine for her. - -She rose up, saying to the steward, “Come thou, and bring him with -thee.” - -As they went he whispered her, “Astar of Rettray, sent by the Lord Zigg -with matter of urgent import for your highness’s ear.” - -The Lady Mevrian sat in her ivory chair cushioned with rich stuffed -silks of Beshtria, with little golden birds and strawberry leaves with -the flowers and rich red fruits all figured thereon in gorgeous colours -of needlework. She reached out her hand to Astar who stood before her -in his battle harness, muddy and bebloodied from head to foot. He bowed -and kissed her hand: then stood silent. He held his head high and -looked her in the face, but his eyes were bloodshed and his look was -ghastly like a messenger of ill. - -“Sir,” said Mevrian, “stand not in doubt, but declare all. Thou knowest -it is not in our blood to quail under dangers and misfortune.” - -Astar said, “Zigg, my brother-in-law, gave me this in charge, madam, to -tell thee all truly.” - -“Proceed,” said she. “Thou knowest our last news. Hour by hour since -then, we watched on victory. I have no mean welcome feast prepared -against your coming.” - -Astar groaned. “My Lady Mevrian,” said he, “you must now prepare a -sword, not a banquet. You did send a runner to Lord Spitfire.” - -“Ay,” said she. - -“He brought us advertisement that night,” said Astar, “of Gaslark’s -overthrow. Alas, that Goblinland was a day too soon, and so bare alone -the brunt. Yet was vengeance ready to our hand, as we supposed. For -every pass and way was guarded, and ours the greater force. So for -that night we waited, seeing Corinius’s fires alight in his camp on -Krothering Side, meaning to smite him at dawn of day. Now in the night -were mists abroad, and the moon early sunken. And true it is as ill it -is, that the whole Witchland army marched away past us in the dark.” - -“What?” cried Mevrian, “and slept ye all to let them by?” - -“In the middle night,” answered he, “we had sure tidings he was afoot, -and the fires yet burning in his camp a show to mock us withal. By all -sure signs, we might know he was broke forth north-westward, where he -must take the upper road into Mealand over Brocksty Hause. Zigg with -seven hundred horse galloped to Heathby to head him off, whiles our -main force fared their swiftest up Little Ravendale. Thou seest, madam, -Corinius must march along the bow and we along the bowstring.” - -“Yes,” said Mevrian. “Ye had but to check him with the horse at -Heathby, and he must fight or fall back toward Justdale where he was -like to lose half his folk in Memmery Moss. Outlanders shall scarce -find a firm way there in a dark night.” - -“Certain it is we should have had him,” said Astar. “Yet certain it is -he doubled like a hare and fooled us all to the top of our bent: turned -in his tracks, as later we concluded, somewhere by Goosesand, and with -all his army slipped back eastward under our rear. And that was the -wonderfullest feat heard tell of in all chronicles of war.” - -“Tush, noble Astar,” said Mevrian. “Labour not Witchland’s praises, nor -imagine not I’ll deem less of Spitfire’s nor Zigg’s generalship because -Corinius, by art or fortune’s favour, dodged ’em in the dark.” - -“Dear Lady,” said he, “even look for the worst and prepare yourself for -the same.” - -Her gray eyes steadily beheld him. “Certain intelligence,” said he, -“was brought us of their faring with all speed they might eastaway past -Switchwater; and ere the sun looked well over Gemsar Edge we were hot -on the track of them, knowing our force the stronger and our only hope -to bring them to battle ere they reached the Stile, where they have -made a fortress of great strength we might scarce hope to howster them -out from if they should win thither.” - -He paused. “Well,” said she. - -“Madam,” he said, “that we of Demonland are great and invincible in -war, ’tis most certain. But in these days fight we as a man that -fighteth hobbled, or with half his gear laid by, or as a man half -roused from sleep. For we be reft of our greatest. Bereft of these, -such sorrows befall us and such doom as at Thremnir’s Heugh last autumn -shattered our strength in pieces, and now this very day yet more -terribly hath put us down on Switchwater Way.” - -Mevrian’s cheek turned white, but she said no word, waiting. - -“We were eager in the chase,” said Astar. “I have told thee why, -madam. Thou knowest how near to the mountains runneth the road past -Switchwater, and the shores of the lake hem in the way for miles -against the mountain spurs, and woods clothe the lower slopes, and -dells and gorges run up betwixt the spurs into the mountain side. The -day was misty, and the mists hung by the shores of Switchwater. When -we had marched so far that our van was about over against the stead of -Highbank that stands on the farther shore, the battle began: greatly to -their advantage, since Corinius had placed strong forces in the hills -on our right flank, and so ambushed us and took us at unawares. Not to -grieve thee with a woful tale, madam, we were most bloodily overthrown, -and our army merely brought to not-being. And in the mid rout, Zigg -stole an instant to charge me by my love for him ride to Krothering as -if my life lay on it and the weal of all of us, and bid you fly hence -to Westmark or the isles or whither you will, ere the Witches come -again and here entrap you. Since save for these walls and these few -brave soldiers you have to ward them, no help standeth any more ’twixt -you and these devilish Witches.” - -Still she was silent. He said, “Let me not be too hateful to you, most -gracious Lady, for this rude tale of disaster. The suddenness of the -times bar any pleasant glozing. And indeed I thought I should satisfy -you more with plainness, than should opinion of I know not what false -courtliness bind me to show you comfort where comfort is not.” - -The Lady Mevrian stood up and took him by both hands. Surely the light -of that lady’s eyes was like the new light of morning glancing through -mists on the gray still surface of a mountain tarn, and the accent of -her voice sweet as the voices of the morning as she said, “O Astar, -think me not so unhandsome, nor yet so foolish. Thanks, gentle Astar. -But thou hast not supped, and sure in a great soldier battle and swift -far riding should breed hunger, how ill soever the news he beareth. Thy -welcome shall not be the colder because we looked for more than thee, -alas, and for far other tidings. A chamber is prepared for thee. Eat -and drink; and when night is done is time enough to speak more of these -things.” - -“Madam,” he said, “you must come now or ’tis too late.” - -But she answered him, “No, noble Astar. This is my brother’s house. -So long as I may keep it for him against his coming home I will not -creep out of Krothering like a rat, but stand to my watch. And this is -certain, I shall not open Krothering gates to Witches whiles I and my -folk yet live to bar them against them.” - - • • • • • - -So she made him go to supper; but herself sat late that night alone in -the Chamber of the Moon, that was in the donjon keep above the inner -court in Krothering. This was Lord Brandoch Daha’s banquet chamber, -devised and furnished by him in years gone by; and here he and she -commonly sat at meat, using not the banquet hall across the court save -when great company was present. Round was that chamber, following the -round walls of the tower that held it. All the pillars and the walls -and the vaulted roof were of a strange stone, white and smooth, and -yielding such a glistering show of pallid gold in it as was like the -golden sheen of the full moon of a warm night in midsummer. Lamps that -were milky opals self-effulgent filled all the chamber with a soft -radiance, in which the bas-reliefs of the high dado, delicately carved, -portraying those immortal blooms of amaranth and nepenthe and moly and -Elysian asphodel, were seen in all their delicate beauty, and the fair -painted pictures of the Lord of Krothering and his lady sister, and -of Lord Juss above the great open fireplace with Goldry and Spitfire -on his left and right. A few other pictures there were, smaller than -these: the Princess Armelline of Goblinland, Zigg and his lady wife, -and others; wondrous beautiful. - -Here a long while sat the Lady Mevrian. She had a little lute -wrought of sweet sandalwood and ivory inlaid with gems. While she sat -a-thinking, her fingers strayed idly on the strings, and she sang in a -low sweet voice: - - There were three ravens sat on a tree, - They were as black as they might be. - _With a downe, derrie down._ - - The one of them said to his make, - Where shall we our breakefast take? - - Downe in yonder greene field, - There lies a knight slain under his shield. - - His hounds they lie downe at his feete, - So well they can their master keepe. - - His haukes they flie so eagerly, - There’s no fowle dare him come nie. - - Downe there comes a fallow doe - As great with yong as she might goe. - - She lift up his bloudy hed, - And kist his wounds that were so red. - - She gat him up upon her backe, - And carried him to earthen lake. - - She buried him before the prime; - She was dead herselfe ere even-song time. - - God send every gentleman - Such haukes, such hounds, and such a leman. - _With a downe, derrie down._ - -With the last sighing sweetness trembling from the strings, she laid -aside the lute, saying, “The discord of my thoughts, my lute, doth ill -agree with the harmonies of thy strings. Put it by.” - -She fell to gazing on her brother’s picture, the Lord Brandoch Daha, -standing in his jewelled hauberk laced about with gold, his hand upon -his sword. And that lazy laughter-loving yet imperious look of the -eyes which in life he had was there, wondrous lively caught by the -painter’s art, and the lovely lines of his brow and lip and jaw, where -power and masterful determination slumbered, as brazen Ares might -slumber in the arms of the Queen of Love. - -A long while Mevrian looked on that picture, musing. Then, burying her -face in the cushions of the long low seat she sat on, she burst into a -great passion of tears. - - - - - XXIII: THE WEIRD BEGUN OF ISHNAIN NEMARTRA - - OF THE COUNSEL TAKEN BY THE WITCHES TOUCHING THE CONDUCT OF THE - WAR: WHEREAFTER IN THE FIFTH ASSAULT THE CASTLE OF LORD - BRANDOCH DAHA WAS MADE A PREY UNTO CORINIUS. - - -Now was little time for debate or conjecture, but with the morrow’s -morn came the Witchland army once more before Krothering, and a herald -sent by Corinius to bid Mevrian yield up the castle and her own proper -person lest a worse thing befall them. Which she stoutly refusing, -Corinius let straight assault the castle, but won it not. And in the -next three days following he thrice assaulted Krothering, and, failing -with some loss of men to win an entry, closely invested it. - -And now summoned he those other lords of Witchland to talk with him. -“How say ye? Or what rede shall we take? They be few only within to man -the walls; and great shame it is to us and to all Witchland if we get -not this hold taken, so many as we be here gone up against it, and so -great captains.” - -Laxus said, “Thou art king in Demonland. Thine it is to take order what -shall be done. But if thou desire my rede, then shall I give it thee.” - -“I desire each one of you,” said Corinius, “to show forth to me frankly -and freely his rede. And well ye know I strive for nought else but for -Witchland’s glory and to make firm our conquest here.” - -“Well,” said Laxus, “I told thee once already my counsel, and thou wast -angry with me. Thou madest a mighty victory on Switchwater Way; which -had we followed up, pushing home the sword of our advantage till the -hilts came clap against the breastplate of our adversary, we might now -have exterminated from the land the whole nest of them, Spitfire, Zigg, -and Volle. But now are they gotten away the devil knows whither, for -the preparing of fresh thorns to prick our sides withal.” - -Corinius said, “Claim not wisdom after the event, my lord. ’Twas not so -thou didst advise. Thou didst bid me let go Krothering: a thing I will -not do, once I have set mine hand to it.” - -Laxus answered him, “Not only did I so advise thee as I have said, but -Heming was by, and will bear me out, that I did offer that he or I -with a small force should keep this comfit-box shut for thee till thou -shouldst have done the main business.” - -“’Tis so,” said Heming. - -But Corinius said, “’Tis not so, Heming. And were it so, ’tis easily -seen why he or thou shouldst hanker for first suck at this luscious -fruit. Yet not so easy to see why I should yield it you.” - -“That,” said Laxus, “is very ill said. I see thy memory needs jogging, -and thou art sliding into ingratitude. How many such like fruits hast -thou enjoyed since we came out hither, that we had all the pains and -plucking of?” - -“O cry thee mercy, my lord,” said Corinius, “I should have remembered, -dreams of Sriva’s moist lips keep thee from straying. But enough of -this fooling: to the matter.” - -Lord Laxus flushed. “By my faith,” said he, “this is very much to the -matter. ’Twere well, Corinius, if thy loose thoughts were kept from -straying. Spend men on a fortress? Better assay Galing, then: that were -a prize worth more to our safety and our lordship here.” - -“Ay,” said Heming. “Seek out the enemy. ’Tis therefore we came hither: -not to find women for thee.” - -Thereupon the Lord Corinius struck him across the table a great buffet -in the face. Heming, mad wroth, snatched out a dagger; but Gro and -Laxus catching him one by either hand restrained him. Gro said, “My -lords, my lords, you must not word it so dangerous ill. We have but one -heart and mind here, to magnify our Lord the King and his glory. Thou, -Heming, forget not the King hath put authority in the hand of Corinius, -so that thy dagger set against him setteth most treasonably against the -King’s majesty. And thou, my lord, I pray be temperate in thy power. -Sure, for want of open war it is that our hands be so ready for these -private brawls.” - -When by fair words this stew was cooled again, Corinius bade Gro say -forth his mind, what he thought lay next to do. Gro answered, “My lord, -I am of Laxus’s opinion. Abiding here by Krothering, we fare as idle -cooks toying with sweetmeats while the roast spoils. We should seek out -power and destroy it where still it fareth free, lest it swell again -to a growth may danger us: wheresoever these lords be fled, think not -they’ll be slack to prepare a mischief for us.” - -“I see,” said Corinius, “ye be all three of an accord against me. But -there is no one beam of these thoughts your discourse hath planted in -me, but is able to discern a greater cloud than you do go in.” - -“It is very true,” said Laxus, “that we do think somewhat scornfully of -this war against women.” - -“Ay, there’s the cover off the dish!” said Corinius, “and a pretty -mess within. Y’are woman-mad, every jack of you, and this blears your -eyes to think me sick o’ the same folly. Thou and thy little dark-eyed -baggage, that I dare swear hath months ago forgot thee for another. -Heming here and I know not what sweet maid his young heart doteth on. -Gro, ha! ha!” and he fell a-laughing. “Wherefore the King saddled me -with this Goblin, he only knoweth, and his secretary the Devil: not -I. By Satan, thou hast a starved look i’ the eyes giveth me to think -the errand I sent thee to Krothering gates did thee no good. My cat’s -leering look showeth me that my cat goeth a catterwawing. Dost now find -the raven’s wing a seemlier hue in a wench’s hair to set thy cold blood -a-leaping than tawny red? Or dost think this one hath a softer breast -than thy Queen’s to cushion thy perfumed locks?” - -With that word spoken, all three of them leaped from their seats. Gro, -with a face ashen gray, said, “At me thou mayst spit what filth thou -wilt. I am schooled to bear with it for Witchland’s sake and until -thine own venom choke thee. But this shalt thou not do whiles I live, -thou or any other: to let thy bawdy tongue meddle with Queen Prezmyra’s -name.” - -Corinius sat still in his chair in a posture of studied ease, but -his sword was ready. His great jowl was set, his insolent blue eyes -scornfully looked from one to another of those lords where they stood -menacing him. “Pshaw!” said he, at last. “Who brought her name into it -but thyself, my Lord Gro? not I.” - -“Thou wert best not bring it in again, Corinius,” said Heming. “Have we -not well followed thee and upheld thee? And so shall we do henceforth. -But remember, I am King Corund’s son. And if thou speak this wicked lie -again, it shall cost thee thy life if I may.” - -Corinius threw out his arms and laughed. “Come,” said he, standing up, -with much show of jolly friendliness, “’twas but a jest; and, I freely -acknowledge, an ill jest. I’m sorry for it, my lords. - -“And now,” said he, “come we again to the matter. Krothering Castle -will I not forgo, since ’tis not my way to turn back for any man on -earth, no not for the Gods almighty, once I have ta’en my course. But -I will make a bargain with you, and this it is: that we to-morrow do -assault the hold a last time, using all our men and all our might. And -if, as I think is most unlikely and most shameful, we get it not, then -shall we fare away and do according to thy counsel, O Laxus.” - -“’Tis now four days lost,” said Laxus. “Thou canst not retrieve them. -Howso, be it as thou wilt.” - -So brake up their council. But the mind and heart of the Lord Gro was -nought peaceful within him, but tumultuous with manifold imaginings -of hopes and fears and old desires, that intertwined like serpents -twisting and contending. So that nought was clear to him save the -unclear trouble of his discontent; and it was as if the conscience of a -secret grant his inward mind made had suddenly cast a vail betwixt his -thoughts and him that he durst not pluck aside. - - • • • • • - -Betimes on the morrow Corinius let fare against Krothering with all his -host, Laxus from the south, Heming and Cargo from the east against the -main gates, and himself from the west where the walls and towers showed -strongest but the natural strength of the place weaker than elsewhere. -Now they within were few, because of Mevrian’s sending of those two -hundred horse to follow Zigg and those came not back after Switchwater; -and as the day wore, and still the battle went forward, and still were -wounds given and taken, the odds swung yet heavier against them of -Demonland, and more and more must the castle hold of its own strength -only, for there were not whole men left enow to man the walls. And now -had Corinius well nigh won the castle, faring up on the walls west of -the donjon tower where he and his fell to clearing the battlements, -rushing on like wolves. But Astar of Rettray stayed him there with so -great a sword-stroke on the helm that he overthrew him all astonied -down without the wall and into the ditch; but his men drew him forth -and saved him. So was the Lord Corinius put out of the fight; but -greatly still he egged on his men. And about the fifth hour after noon -the sons of Corund gat the main gate. - -Lady Mevrian bare in that hour with her own hand a stoup of wine to -Astar in a lull of the battle. While he drank, she said, “Astar, the -hour demandeth that I pledge thee to obedience, even as I pledged mine -own folk and Ravnor that here commandeth my garrison in Krothering.” - -“My Lady Mevrian,” answered he, “under your safety, I shall obey you.” - -She said, “No conditions, sir. Harken and know. First I will thank thee -and these valiant men that so mightily warded us and golden Krothering -against our enemies. This was my mind, to ward it unto the last, -because it is my dear brother’s house, and I count it unworthy Corinius -should stable his horses in our chambers, and carousing amid his -drunkards do hurt to our fair banquet hall. But now, by hard necessity -of disastrous war, hath this thing come to pass, and all fallen into -his hand save only this keep alone.” - -“Alas, madam,” said he, “to our shame I may not deny it.” - -“O trample out any thought of shame,” said she. “A score of them -against every one of us: the glory of our defence shall be for ever. -But now ’tis for me mainly he still beareth against Krothering so great -and peisant strokes as thick as rain falleth from the sky. And now must -ye obey me and do my commandment; else must we perish, for even this -tower we are not enough to hold against him many days.” - -“Divine Lady,” said Astar, “but once shall one pass the cruel pass of -death. I and your folk will defend you unto that end.” - -“Sir,” said she, standing like a queen before him, “I shall now defend -myself and our precious things in Krothering more certainly than ye men -of war may do.” And she showed him shortly that this was her design, -to yield up the keep unto Corinius under promise of a safe conduct for -Astar and Ravnor and all her men. - -“And submit thee to this Corinius?” said Astar. But she answered, “Thy -sword hath likely cut his claws for awhile. I fear him not.” - -Of all this would Astar at first have nought to do, and the old steward -withal was well nigh mutinous. But so firm of purpose was she, and -withal showed them so plainly that this was the only hope to save -herself and Krothering, and the Witches must else sack the house of -Krothering and in a few days win the keep, “and then, snaky despair; -and the fault on’t not in fortune but in ourselves, that could not -frame ourselves to our fortune”; that at last with heavy hearts they -consented to do her bidding. - -Without more ado, was a parley called, Mevrian speaking for herself -from a high window opening on the court and Gro for Corinius. In which -parley it was articled that she should render up the tower; and that -the fighting men which were within should have peace and safe passage -whither they would; and that there should be no scathe nor outrage done -to Krothering neither to the lands thereof; and that all this should -be writ down and sealed under the hands of Corinius, Gro, and Laxus, -and the gates opened to the Witches and all keys delivered up within an -half hour of the giving of the sealed writing into Mevrian’s hand. - -Now was all this performed accordingly, and Krothering keep rendered -to the Lord Corinius. Astar and Ravnor and their men would have abided -as prisoners for Mevrian’s sake, but Corinius would not suffer it, -vowing with bloody imprecations that he would let slay out of hand any -man of them he should take after an hour’s space within three miles of -Krothering. So, under Mevrian’s strait commands, they departed. - - - - - XXIV: A KING IN KROTHERING - - HOW THE LORD CORINIUS WOULD TAKE UNTO HIMSELF A QUEEN IN DEMONLAND, - AND MADE HIM A BRIDAL FEAST THERETO: WHEREIN IS A NOTABLE - INSTANCE HOW UNTO THEM WHICH THE GODS DO LOVE HELPERS ARE - RAISED UP AND COMFORTERS EVEN IN THE MIDST OF THEIR ENEMIES. - - -That same evening Corinius let dight a banquet in the Chamber of the -Moon for some two score of his chiefest men, a very pompous and kingly -entertainment; and conceiving that he might now very well avail to -accomplish his pleasure touching the Lady Mevrian, he sent her word by -one of his gentlemen that she should attend him there. And she sending -answer to tell him gently all else in the castle was at his service, -but for herself she was quite fordone and greatly desired rest and -sleep that night, he fell a-laughing immoderately and saying, “A most -unseasonable desire, and one that smacketh besides of mockery, since -well she knoweth what this night I do intend. Wish her to repair to us, -and that right swiftly, lest I fetch her.” - -To that message sent her came she in a short while herself to answer, -dressed all in funereal black, her gown and close-fitting bodice of -black sendal slashed with black sarcenett, and about her throat a chain -of sapphires darkly lustrous. Very nobly she carried her head. Framed -with the piled and braided masses of her night-dark hair, her face -showed pale indeed, but unruffled and undismayed. - -All at her coming in stood up to greet her; and Corinius said, “Lady, -thou didst change thy mind quickly since thou didst first affirm thou -never wouldst yield up Krothering unto me.” - -“As quickly as I might, my lord,” said she, “for I saw I was wrong.” - -He abode silent a minute, his eyes like amorous surfeiters over-running -her fair form. Then said he, “Thou didst wish to purchase safety for -thy friends?” - -She answered, “Yes.” - -“For thine own self,” said Corinius, “it had made no jot of difference. -Be witness unto me the omnisciency of the Gods, whereunto is nothing -concealable, I mean thee only good.” - -“My lord,” said she, “I embrace the comfort of that word. And know that -good to me is mine own freedom: not conditions of any man’s choosing.” - -Whereto he, being well tippled with wine, framing the most lovely -countenance he might, made answer, “I doubt not but to-night, madam, -thou shalt be well advised to choose that highest condition, and till -to-day unknown, which I shall proffer thee: to be Queen of Demonland.” - -She thanked him in her best manner, but said she was minded to forgo -that supposedly pleasing eminence. - -“How?” said he. “Is it too little a thing for thee? Or is it as I -think, that thou laughest?” - -She said, “My lord, it should little beseem me that am of the seed -of men of war since long generations to trap my mind with the false -shows of a greatness that is gone. Yet I pray you forget not this: the -dominion of the Demons hath used to soar a pitch above common royalty, -and like the eye of day regarded kings from above. And for this style -of Queen thou offerest me, I say unto thee it is an addition I desire -not, who am sister unto him that writ that writing above the gate that -all ye had tasted the truth thereof had he been here to meet with you.” - -Corinius said, “True it is, some have out-bragged the world, yet I ere -this have used them like knaves. My jack-boot hath known things in -Carcë, madam, I’ll not gall thy heart to tell thee of.” But perceiving -a great lowe of disdainful anger blaze in Mevrian’s eye, “Cry you -mercy,” said he, “incomparable lady; this was beside the mark. I would -not sully our new friendship with memories of—— Ho there! a chair -beside me for the Queen.” - -But Mevrian made them set it on the far side of the board, and there -sat her down, saying, “I pray thee, my Lord Corinius, unsay that word. -Thou knowest it dislikes me.” - -He looked on her in silence for a minute, leaned forward across the -board, his lips parted a little and between them his breath coming -and going thick and swift. “Well,” he said, “sit there, and it like -thee, madam, and manage my delights by stages. Last year the wide -world betwixt us: this year the mountains: yestereve Krothering walls: -to-night a table’s breadth: and ere night be done, not so much as——” - -Gro saw the wild-deer look in Lady Mevrian’s eyes. She said, “This is -talk I have not learned to understand, my lord.” - -“I shall learn it thee,” said Corinius, his face aflame. “Lovers live -by love as larks by leeks. By Satan, I do love thee as thou wert the -heart out of my body.” - -“My Lord Corinius,” said she, “we ladies of the north have little -stomach for these fashions, howe’er they commend them in waterish -Witchland. If thou’lt have my friendship, bring me service therefor, -and that in season. This is no fit table-talk.” - -“Why there,” said he, “we’re in fast agreement. I’ll blithely show thee -all this, and a quainter thing beside, in thine own chamber. But ’twas -beyond my hopes thou’dst grant me that so suddenly. Are we so happy?” - -In great shame and anger the Lady Mevrian stood up from the table. -Corinius, something unsteadily, leaped to his feet. For all his -bigness, so tall she was she looked him level in the eye. And he, as -when in the face of a night-ranging beast suddenly a man brandishes -a bright light, stood stupid under that gaze, the springs of action -strangely frozen in him on a sudden, and said sullenly, “Madam, I am a -soldier. Truly mine affection standeth not upon compliment. That I am -impatient, put the wite on thy beauty not on me. Pray you, be seated.” - -But Mevrian answered, “Thy language, my lord, is too bold and vicious. -Come to me to-morrow if thou wilt; but I’ll have thee know, patience -only and courtesy shall get good of me.” - -She turned to the door. He, as if with the turning away of that lady’s -eyes the spell was broke, cried loudly upon his folk to stay her. But -there was none stirred. Therewith he, as one that cannot command his -own indecent appetites, o’ersetting bench and board in eager haste to -lay hands on her, it so betided that he tripped up with one of these -and fell a-sprawling. And ere he was gotten again on his feet, the Lady -Mevrian was gone from the hall. - -He rose up painfully, proffering from his lips a mud-spring of -barbarous and filthy imprecations; so that Laxus who helped raise him -up was fain to chide him, saying, “My lord, unman not thyself by such -a bestial transformation. Are not we yet with harness on our backs in -a kingdom newly gained, the old lords thereof discomfited indeed but -not yet ta’en nor slain, studying belike to raise new powers against -us? And above such and so many affairs wilt thou make place for the -allurements of love?” - -“Ay!” answered he. “Nor shall such a sapless ninny as thou avail to -cross me therein. Ask thy little gamesome Sriva, when thou comest home -to wed her, if I be not better able than thou to please a woman. She’ll -tell thee! I’ the mean season meddle not in matters that be too high -for such as thou.” - -Both Gro and the sons of Corund were by and heard those words. The Lord -Laxus schooled himself to laugh. He turned toward Gro, saying, “The -general is far gone in wine.” - -Gro, marking Laxus’s face flushed red to the ears for all his studied -carelessness, answered him softly, “’Tis so, my lord. And in wine is -truth.” - -Now Corinius, bethinking him that it was yet early and the feast barely -well begun, let set a guard on all the passages which led to Mevrian’s -lodgings, to the end that she might not issue therefrom but there wait -on his pleasure. That done, he bade renew their feasting. - -No stint of luscious meats and wines was there, and the lords of -Witchland sat them down again right eagerly to the good banquet. Laxus -spoke secretly to Gro: “I wot well thou takest in very ill part these -doings. Let it stand firm in thy mind that if thou shouldst deem it -fitting to play him a trick and steal the lady from him, I’ll not stand -i’ the way on’t.” - -“In a bunch of cards,” said Gro, “knaves wait upon the kings. It were -not so ill done and we made it so here. I heard a bird sing lately thou -hadst a quarrel to him.” - -“Thou must not think so,” answered Laxus. “I’ll give thee still a -Roland for thine Oliver, and tell thee ’tis most apparent thyself dost -love this lady.” - -Gro said, “Thou chargest me with a sweet folly is foreign to my nature, -being a grave scholar that if ever I did frequent such toys have long -eschewed them. Only meseems ’tis an ill thing if she must be given -over unto him against her will. Thou knowest him of a rough and mere -soldierly mind, besides his dissolute company with other women.” - -“Tush,” said Laxus, “he may go his gate for me, and be as close as a -butterfly with the lady. But out of policy, ’twere best rid her hence. -I’d not be seen in’t. That provided, I’ll second thee all ways. If he -lie here the summer long in amorous dalliance, justly might the King -abraid us that midst o’ the day’s sport we gave his good hawk a gorge, -and so lost him the game.” - -“I see,” said Gro, smiling in himself, “thou art a man of sober -government and understanding, and thinkest first of Witchland. And that -is both just and right.” - -Now went the feast forward with great surfeiting and swigging of -wine. Mevrian’s women that were there, much against their own good -will, to serve the banquet, set ever fresh dishes before the feasters -and poured forth fresh wines, golden and tawny and ruby-red, in the -goblets of jade and crystal and hammered gold. The air in the fair -chamber was thick with the steam of bake-meats and the vinous breath -of the feasters, so that the lustre of the opal lamps burned coppery, -and about each lamp was a bush of coppery beams like the beams about -a torch that burns in a fog. Great was the clatter of cups, and great -the clinking of glass as in their drunkenness the Witches cast down -the priceless beakers on the floor, smashing them in shivers. And huge -din there was of laughter and song; and amidst of it, women’s voices -singing, albeit near drowned in the hurly burly. For they constrained -Mevrian’s damosels in Krothering to sing and dance before them, -howsoever woeful at heart. And to other entertainment than this of -dance and song was many a black-bearded reveller willing to constrain -them; and sought occasion thereto, but this by stealth only, and out -of eye-shot of their general. For heavily enow was his wrath fallen on -some who rashly flaunted in his face their light disports, presuming to -hunt in such fields while their lord went still a-fasting. - -After a while Heming, who sat next to Gro, began to say to him in a -whisper, “This is an ill banquet.” - -“Meseems rather ’tis a very good banquet,” said Gro. - -“Would I saw some other issue thereof,” said Heming, “than that he -purposeth. Or how thinkest thou?” - -“I scarce can blame him,” answered Gro. “’Tis a most lovesome lady.” - -“Is not the man a most horrible open swine? And is it to be endured -that he should work his lewd purpose on so sweet a lady?” - -“What have I to do with it?” said Gro. - -“What less than I?” said Heming. - -“It dislikes thee?” said Gro. - -“Art thou a man?” said Heming. “And she that hateth him besides as -bloody Atropos!” - -Gro looked him a swift searching look in the eye. Then he whispered, -his head bowed over some raisins he was a-picking: “If this is thy -mind, ’tis well.” And speaking softly, with here and there some snatch -of louder discourse or jest between whiles lest he should seem too -earnestly engaged in secret talk, he taught Heming orderly and clearly -what he had to do, discovering to him that Laxus also, being bit -with jealousy, was of their accord. “Thy brother Cargo is aptest for -this. He standeth about her height, and by reason of his youth is yet -beardless. Go find him out. Rehearse unto him word by word all this -talking that hath been between me and thee. Corinius holdeth me too -deep suspect to suffer me out of his eye to-night. Unto you sons of -Corund therefore is the task; and I biding at his elbow may avail to -hold him here i’ the hall till it be performed. Go; and wise counsel -and good speed wait on your attempts.” - - • • • • • - -The Lady Mevrian, being escaped to her own chamber in the south tower, -sat by an eastern window that looked across the gardens and the lake, -past the sea-lochs of Stropardon and the dark hills of Eastmark, to the -stately ranges afar which overhang in mid-air Mosedale and Murkdale -and Swartriverdale and the inland sea of Throwater. The last lights of -day still lingered on their loftier summits: on Ironbeak, on the gaunt -wall of Skarta, and on the distant twin towers of Dina seen beyond the -lower Mosedale range in the depression of Neverdale Hause. Behind them -rolled up the ascent of heaven the wheels of quiet Night: holy Night, -mother of the Gods, mother of sleep, tender nurse of all little birds -and beasts that dwell in the field and all tired hearts and weary: -mother besides of strange children, affrights, and rapes, and midnight -murders bold. - -Mevrian sat there till all the earth was blurred in darkness and the -sky a-throb with starlight, for it was yet an hour until the rising of -the moon. And she prayed to Lady Artemis, calling her by her secret -names and saying, “Goddess and Maiden chaste and holy; triune Goddess, -Which in heaven art, and on the earth Huntress divine, and also hast in -the veiled sunless places below earth Thy dwelling, viewing the large -stations of the dead: save me and keep me that am Thy maiden still.” - -She turned the ring upon her finger and scanned in the gathering -gloom the bezel thereof, which was of that chrysoprase that is hid -in light and seen in darkness, being as a flame by night but in the -day-time yellow or wan. And behold, it palpitated with splendour from -withinward, and was as if a thousand golden sparks danced and swirled -within the stone. - -While she pondered what interpretation lay likeliest on this sudden -flowering of unaccustomed splendour within the chrysoprase, behold one -of her women of the bed-chamber who brought lights, and said, standing -before her, “Twain of those lords of Witchland would speak with your -ladyship in private.” - -“Two?” said Mevrian. “There’s safety yet in numbers. Which be they?” - -“Highness, they be tall and slim of body. They be black-avised. They -bear them discreet as dormice, and most commendably sober.” - -Mevrian asked, “Is it the Lord Gro? Hath he a great black beard, much -curled and perfumed?” - -“Highness, I marked not that either weareth a beard,” said the woman, -“nor their names I know not.” - -“Well,” said Mevrian, “admit them. And do thou and thy fellows attend -me whiles I give them audience.” - -So it was done according to her bidding. And there entered in those two -sons of Corund. - -They greeted her with respectful salutations, and Heming said, “Our -errand, most worshipful lady, was for thine own ear only if it please -thee.” - -Mevrian said to her women, “Make fast the doors, and attend me in the -ante-chamber. And now, my lords,” said she, and waited for them to -begin. - -She was seated sideways in the window, betwixt the light and the dark. -The crystal lamps shining from within the room showed deeper darknesses -in her hair than night’s darkness without. The curve of her white arms -resting in her lap was like the young moon cradled above the sunset. A -falling breeze out of the south came laden with the murmur of the sea, -far away beyond fields and vineyards, restlessly surging even in that -calm weather amid the sea-caves of Stropardon. It was as if the sea -and the night enfolding Demonland gasped in indignation at such things -as Corinius, holding himself already an undoubted possessor of his -desires, devised for that night in Krothering. - -Those brethren stood abashed in the presence of such rare beauty. -Heming with a deep breath spake and said, “Madam, what slender opinion -soever thou hast held of us of Witchland, I pray thee be satisfied that -I and my kinsman have sought to thee now with a clean heart to do thee -service.” - -“Princes,” said she, “scarce might ye blame me did I misdoubt you. -Yet, seeing that my life’s days have been not among ambidexters and -coney-catchers but lovers of clean hands and open dealing, not even -after that which I this night endured will mine heart believe that all -civility is worn away in Witchland. Did I not freely receive Corinius’s -self when I did open my gates to him, firmly believing him to be a king -and not a ravening wolf?” - -Then said Heming, “Canst thou wear armour, madam? Thou art something -of an height with my brother. To bring thee past the guard, if thou go -armed, as I shall conduct thee, the wine they have drunken shall be thy -minister. I have provided an horse. In the likeness of my young brother -mayst thou ride forth to-night out of this castle, and win clean away. -But in thine own shape thou mayst never pass from these thy lodgings, -for he hath set a guard thereon; being resolved, come thereof what may, -to visit thee here this night: in thine own chamber, madam.” - -The sounds of furious revelry floated up from the banquet chamber. -Mevrian heard by snatches the voice of Corinius singing an unseemly -song. As in the presence of some dark influence that threatened an ill -she might not comprehend, yet felt her blood quail and her heart grow -sick because of it, she looked on those brethren. - -She said at last, “Was this your plan?” - -Heming answered, “It was the Lord Gro did most ingenuously conceive it. -But Corinius, as he hath ever held him in distrust, and most of all -when he hath drunken overmuch, keepeth him most firmly at his elbow.” - -Cargo now did off his armour, and Mevrian calling in her women to take -this and other gear fared straightway to an inner chamber to change her -fashion. - -Heming said to his brother, “Thou shalt need to go about it with -great circumspection, to come off when we are gone so as thou be not -aspied. Were I thou, I should be tempted for the rareness of the jest -to await his coming, and assay whether thou couldst not make as good a -counterfeit Mevrian as she a counterfeit Cargo.” - -“Thou,” said Cargo, “mayst well laugh and be gay, thou that must -conduct her. And art resolved, I dare lay my head to a turnip, to do -thy utmost endeavour to despoil Corinius of that felicity he hath -to-night decreed him, and bless thyself therewith.” - -“Thou hast fallen,” answered Heming, “into a most barbarous thought. -Shall my tongue be so false a traitor to mine heart as to say I love -not this lady? Compare but her beauty and my youth together, how should -it other be? But with such a height of fervour I do love her that I’d -as lief offer violence to a star of heaven, as require of her aught but -honest.” - -Said Cargo, “What said the wise little boy to’s elder brother? ‘Sith -thou’st gotten the cake, brother, I must e’en make shift with the -crumbs.’ When you are gone, and all whisht and quiet, and I left here -amid the waiting women, it shall go hard but I’ll teach ’em somewhat -afore good-night.” - -Now opened the door of the inner chamber, and there stood before them -the Lady Mevrian armed and helmed. She said, “’Tis no light matter to -halt before a cripple. Think you this will pass i’ the dark, my lords?” - -They answered, ’twas beyond all commendation excellent. - -“I’ll thank thee now, Prince Cargo,” said she, stretching out her -hand. He bowed and kissed it in silence. “This harness,” she said, -“shall be a keepsake unto me of a noble enemy. Would someday I might -call thee friend, for suchwise hast thou borne thee this night.” - -Therewith, bidding young Cargo adieu, she with his brother went forth -from the chamber and through the ante-chamber to that shadowy stairway -where Corinius’s soldiers stood sentinel. These (as many more be -drowned in the beaker than in the ocean), not over-heedful after their -tipplings, seeing two go by together with clanking armour and knowing -Heming’s voice when he answered the challenge, made no question but -here were Corund’s sons returning to the banquet. - -So passed he and she lightly by the sentinels. But as they fared by -the lofty corridor without the Chamber of the Moon, the doors of that -chamber opening suddenly left and right there came forth torch-bearers -and minstrels two by two as in a progress, with cymbals clashing and -flutes and tambourines, so that the corridor was fulfilled with the -flare of flamboys and the din. In the midst walked the Lord Corinius. -The lusty blood within him burned scarlet in all his shining face, and -made stand the veins like cords on the strong neck and arms and hands -of him. The thick curls above his brow where they strayed below his -coronal of sleeping nightshade were a-drip with sweat. Plain it was he -was in no good trim, after that shrewd knock on the head Astar that day -had given him, to withstand deep quaffings. He went between Gro and -Laxus, swaying heavily now on the arm of this one now of the other, his -right hand beating time to the music of the bridal song. - -Mevrian whispered to Heming, “Let us bear out a good face so long as we -be alive.” - -They stood aside, hoping to be passed by unnoticed, for retreat nor -concealment was there none. But Corinius his eye lighting on them -stopped and hailed them, catching them each by an arm, and crying, -“Heming, thou’rt drunk! Cargo, thou’rt drunk, sweet youth! ’Tis a -damnable folly, drink as drunk as you be, and these bonny wenches -I’ve provided you. How shall I satisfy ’em, think ye, when they come -to me with their plaints to-morn, that each must sit with a snoring -drunkard’s head in her lap the night long?” - -Mevrian, as if she had all her part by rote, was leaned this while -heavily upon Heming, hanging her head. - -Heming could think on nought likelier to say, than, “Truly, O Corinius, -we be sober.” - -“Thou liest,” said Corinius. “’Twas ever sign manifest of drunkenness -to deny it. Look you, my lords, I deny not I am drunk. Therefore is -sign manifest I am drunk, I mean, sign manifest I am sober. But the -hour calleth to other work than questioning of these high matters. Set -on!” - -So speaking he reeled heavily against Gro, and (as if moved by some -airy influence that, whispering him of schemings afoot, yet conspired -with the wine that he had drunken to make him look all otherwhere for -treason than where it lay under his hand to discover it) gripped Gro by -the arm, saying, “Bide by me, Goblin, thou wert best. I do love thee -very discreetly, and will still hold thee by the ears, to see thou bite -me not, nor go no more a-gadding.” - -Being by such happy fortune delivered out of this peril, Heming and -Mevrian with what prudent haste they might, and without mishap or -hindrance, got them their horses and fared forth of the main gate -between the marble hippogriffs, whose mighty forms shone above them -stark in the low beams of the rising moon. So they rode silently -through the gardens and the home-meads and thence to the wild woods -beyond, quickening now their pace to a gallop on the yielding turf. So -hard they rode, the air of the windless April night was lashed into -storm about their faces. The trample and thunder of hoof-beats and the -flying glimpses of the trees were to young Heming but an undertone to -the thunder of his blood which night and speed and that lady galloping -beside him knee to knee set a-gallop within him. But to Mevrian’s soul, -as she galloped along those woodland rides, those moonlight glades, -these things and night and the steadfast stars attuned a heavenlier -music; so that she waxed momently wondrous peaceful at heart, as with -the most firm assurance that not without the abiding glory of Demonland -must the great mutations of the world be acted, and but for a little -should their evil-willers usurp her dear brother’s seat in Krothering. - -They drew rein in a clearing beside a broad stretch of water. -Pine-woods rose from its further edge, shadowy in the moonshine. -Mevrian rode to a little eminence that stood above the water and turned -her eyes toward Krothering. Save by her instructed and loving eye -scarce might it be seen, many miles away be-east of them, dimmed in -the obscure soft radiance under the moon. So sat she awhile looking on -golden Krothering, while her horse grazed quietly, and Heming at her -elbow held his peace, only beholding her. - -At last, looking back and meeting his gaze, “Prince Heming,” she said, -“from this place goeth a hidden path north-about beside the firth, and -a dry road over the marsh, and a ford and an upland horse-way leadeth -into Westmark. Here and all-wheres in Demonland I might fare blindfold. -And here I’ll say farewell. My tongue is a poor orator. But I mind me -of the words of the poet where he saith: - - My mind is like to the asbeston stone, - Which if it once be heat in flames of fire, - Denieth to becomen cold again. - -Be the latter issue of these wars in my great kinsmen’s victory, as I -most firmly trow it shall be, or in Gorice’s his, I shall not forget -this experiment of your nobility manifested unto me this night.” - -But Heming, still beholding her, answered not a word. - -She said, “How fares the Queen thy step-mother? Seven summers ago this -summer I was in Norvasp at Lord Corund’s wedding feast, and stood by -her at the bridal. Is she yet so fair?” - -He answered, “Madam, as June bringeth the golden rose unto perfection, -so waxeth her beauty with the years.” - -“She and I,” said Mevrian, “were playmates, she the elder by two -summers. Is she yet so masterful?” - -“Madam, she is a Queen,” said Heming, nailing his very eyes on Mevrian. -Her face half turned towards him, sweet mouth half closed, clear eyes -uplifted toward the east, showed dim in the glamour of the moon, and -the lilt of her body was as a lily fallen a-dreaming beside some -enchanted lake at midnight. With a dry throat he said, “Lady, until -to-night I had not supposed there lived on earth a woman more beautiful -than she.” - -Therewith the love that was in him went like a wind and like an -up-swooping darkness athwart his brain. As one who has too long, -unbold, unresolved, delayed to lift that door’s latch which must open -on his heart’s true home, he caught his arms about her. Her cheek was -soft to his kiss, but deadly cold: her eyes like a wild bird’s caught -in a purse-net. His brother’s armour that cased her body was not so -dead nor so hard under his hand, as to his love that yielding cheek, -that alien look. He said, as one a-stagger for his wits in the presence -of some unlooked-for chance, “Thou dost not love me?” - -Mevrian shook her head, putting him gently away. - -Like the passing of a fire on a dry heath in summer the flame of his -passion was passed by, leaving but a smouldering desolation of scornful -sullen wrath: wrath at himself and fate. - -He said, in a low shamed voice, “I pray you forgive me, madam.” - -Mevrian said, “Prince, the Gods give thee good-night. Be kind to -Krothering. I have left there an evil steward.” - -So saying, she reined up her horse’s head and turned down westward -towards the firth. Heming watched her an instant, his brain a-reel. -Then, striking spurs to his horse’s flanks so that the horse reared and -plunged, he rode away at a great pace east again through the woods to -Krothering. - - - - - XXV: LORD GRO AND THE LADY MEVRIAN - - HOW THE LORD GRO, CONDUCTED BY A STRANGE ENAMOURMENT WITH LOST - CAUSES, FARED WITH NONE SAVE THIS TO BE HIS GUIDE INTO THE - REGIONS OF NEVERDALE, AND THERE BEHELD WONDERS, AND TASTED - AGAIN FOR A SEASON THE GOODNESS OF THOSE THINGS HE DID MOST - DESIRE. - - -Ninety days and a day after these doings aforesaid, in the last hour -before the dawn, was the Lord Gro a-riding toward the paling east down -from the hills of Eastmark to the fords of Mardardale. At a walking -pace his horse came down to the water-side, and halted with fetlocks -awash: his flanks were wet and his wind gone, as from swift faring on -the open fell since midnight. He stretched down his neck, sniffed the -fresh river-water, and drank. Gro turned in the saddle, listening, his -left hand thrown forward to slack the reins, his right flat-planted on -the crupper. But nought there was to hear save the babble of waters in -the shallows, the sucking noise of the horse drinking, and the plash -and crunch of his hooves when he shifted feet among the pebbles. Before -and behind and on either hand the woods and strath and circling hills -showed dim in the obscure gray betwixt darkness and twilight. A light -mist hid the stars. Nought stirred save an owl that flitted like a -phantom out from a holly-bush in a craggy bluff a bow-shot or more down -stream, crossing Gro’s path and lighting on a branch of a dead tree -above him on the left, where she sat as if to observe the goings of -this man and horse that trespassed in this valley of quiet night. - -Gro leaned forward to pat his horse’s neck. “Come, gossip, we must on,” -he said; “and marvel not if thou find no rest, going with me which -could never find any steadfast stay under the moon’s globe.” So they -forded that river, and fared through low rough grass-lands beyond, and -by the skirts of a wood up to an open heath, and so a mile or two, -still eastward, till they turned to the right down a broad valley and -crossed a river above a watersmeet, and so east again up the bed of -a stony stream and over this to a rough mountain track that crossed -some boggy ground and then climbed higher and higher above the floor -of the narrowing valley to a pass between the hills. At length the -slope slackened, and they passing, as through a gateway, between two -high mountains which impended sheer and stark on either hand, came -forth upon a moor of ling and bog-myrtle, strewn with lakelets and -abounding in streams and moss-hags and outcrops of the living rock; and -the mountain peaks afar stood round that moorland waste like warrior -kings. Now was colour waking in the eastern heavens, the bright shining -morning beginning to clear the earth. Conies scurried to cover before -the horse’s feet: small birds flew up from the heather: some red deer -stood at gaze in the fern, then tripped away southward: a moorcock -called. - -Gro said in himself, “How shall not common opinion account me mad, -so rash and presumptuous dangerously to put my life in hazard? Nay, -against all sound judgement; and this folly I enact in that very -season when by patience and courage and my politic wisdom I had won -that in despite of fortune’s teeth which obstinately hitherto she -had denied me: when after the brunts of divers tragical fortunes I -had marvellously gained the favour and grace of the King, who very -honourably placed me in his court, and tendereth me, I well think, so -dearly as he doth the balls of his two eyes.” - -He put off his helm, baring his white forehead and smooth black curling -locks to the airs of morning, flinging back his head to drink deep -through his nostrils the sweet strong air and its peaty smell. “Yet -is common opinion the fool, not I,” he said. “He that imagineth after -his labours to attain unto lasting joy, as well may he beat water in -a mortar. Is there not in the wild benefit of nature instances enow -to laugh this folly out of fashion? A fable of great men that arise -and conquer the nations: Day goeth up against the tyrant night. How -delicate a spirit is she, how like a fawn she footeth it upon the -mountains: pale pitiful light matched with the primaeval dark. But -every sweet hovers in her battalions, and every heavenly influence: -coolth of the wayward little winds of morning, flowers awakening, -birds a-carol, dews a-sparkle on the fine-drawn webs the tiny spinners -hang from fern-frond to thorn, from thorn to wet dainty leaf of the -silver birch; the young day laughing in her strength, wild with her own -beauty; fire and life and every scent and colour born anew to triumph -over chaos and slow darkness and the kinless night. - -“But because day at her dawning hours hath so bewitched me, must I yet -love her when glutted with triumph she settles to garish noon? Rather -turn as now I turn to Demonland, in the sad sunset of her pride. And -who dares call me turncoat, who do but follow now as I have followed -this rare wisdom all my days: to love the sunrise and the sundown and -the morning and the evening star? since there only abideth the soul of -nobility, true love, and wonder, and the glory of hope and fear.” - -So brooding he rode at an easy pace bearing east and a little north -across the moor, falling because of the strange harmony that was -between outward things and the inward thoughts of his heart into a deep -study. So came he to the moor’s end, and entered among the skirts of -the mountains beyond, crossing low passes, threading a way among woods -and water-courses, up and down, about and about. The horse led him -which way that he would, for no heed nor advice had he of aught about -him, for cause of the deep contemplation that he had within himself. - -It was now high noon. The horse and his rider were come to a little -dell of green grass with a beck winding in the midst with cool water -flowing over a bed of shingle. About the dell grew many trees both tall -and straight. Above the trees high mountain crags a-bake in the sun -showed ethereal through the shimmering heat. A murmur of waters, a hum -of tiny wings flitting from flower to flower, the sound of the horse -grazing on the lush pasture: there was nought else to hear. Not a leaf -moved, not a bird. The hush of the summer noon-day, breathless, burnt -through with the sun, more awful than any shape of night, paused above -that lonely dell. - -Gro, as if waked by the very silence, looked quickly about him. The -horse felt belike in his bones his rider’s unease; he gave over his -feeding and stood alert with wild eye and quivering flanks. Gro patted -and made much of him; then, guided by some inward prompting the reason -whereof he knew not, turned west by a small tributary beck and rode -softly toward the wood. Here he was stopped with a number of trees -so thickly placed together that he was afraid he should with riding -through be swept from the saddle. So he lighted down, tied his horse -to an oak, and climbed the bed of the little stream till he was come -whence he might look north over the tree-tops to a green terrace about -at a level with him and some fifty paces distant along the hillside, -shielded from the north by three or four great rowan trees on the far -side of it, and on the terrace a little tarn or rock cistern of fair -water very cool and deep. - -He paused, steadying himself with his left hand by a jutting rock -overgrown with rose-campion. Surely no children of men were these, -footing it on that secret lawn beside that fountain’s brink, nor no -creatures of mortal kind. Such it may be were the goats and kids and -soft-eyed does that on their hind-legs merrily danced among them; -but never such those others of manly shape and with pointed hairy -ears, shaggy legs, and cloven hooves, nor those maidens white of limb -beneath the tread of whose feet the blue gentian and the little golden -cinquefoil bent not their blossoms, so airy-light was their dancing. -To make them music, little goat-footed children with long pointed ears -sat on a hummock of turf-clad rock piping on pan-pipes, their bodies -burnt to the hue of red earth by the wind and the sun. But, whether -because their music was too fine for mortal ears, or for some other -reason, Gro might hear no sound of that piping. The heavy silence of -the waste white noon was lord of the scene, while the mountain nymphs -and the simple genii of sedge and stream and crag and moorland solitude -threaded the mazes of the dance. - -The Lord Gro stood still in great admiration, saying in himself, “What -means my drowsy head to dream such fancies? Spirits of ill have I -heretofore beheld in their manifestations; I have seen fantasticoes -framed and presented by art magic; I have dreamed strange dreams -a-nights. But till this hour I did account it an idle tale of poets’ -faining, that amid woods, forests, fertile fields, sea-coasts, shores -of great rivers and fountain brinks, and also upon the tops of huge -and high mountains, do still appear unto certain favoured eyes the -sundry-sorted nymphs and fieldish demigods. Which thing if I now -verily behold, ’tis a great marvel, and sorteth well with the strange -allurements whereby this oppressed land hath so lately found a means -to govern mine affections.” And he thought awhile, reasoning thus in -his mind: “If this be but an apparition, it hath no essence to do me -a hurt. If o’ the contrary these be very essential beings, needs must -they joyfully welcome me and use me well, being themselves the true -vital spirits of many-mountained Demonland; unto whose comfort and the -restorement of her old renown and praise I have with such a strange -determination bent all my painful thoughts and resolution.” - -So on the motion he discovered himself and hailed them. The wild things -bounded away and were lost among the flanks of the hill. The capripeds, -leaving on the instant their piping or their dancing, crouched watching -him with distrustful startled eyes. Only the Oreads still in a dazzling -drift pursued their round: quiet maiden mouths, beautiful breasts, -slender lithe limbs, hand joined to delicate hand, parting and closing -and parting again, in rhythms of unstaled variety; here one that, -with white arms clasped behind her head where her braided hair was -as burnished gold, circled and swayed with a languorous motion; here -another, that leaped and paused hovering a-tiptoe, like an arrow of the -sun shot through the leafy roof of an old pine-forest when the warm -hill-wind stirs the tree-tops and opens a tiny window to the sky. - -Gro went toward them along the grassy hillside. When he was come a -dozen paces the strength was gone from his limbs. He kneeled down -crying out and saying, “Divinities of earth! deny me not, neither -reject me, albeit cruelly have I till now oppressed your land, but will -do so no more. The footsteps of mine overtrodden virtue lie still as -bitter accusations unto me. Bring me of your mercy where I may find out -them that possessed this land and offer them atonement, who were driven -forth because of me and mine to be outlaws in the woods and mountains.” - -So spake he, bowing his head in sorrow. And he heard, like the -trembling of a silver lute-string, a voice in the air that cried: - - North ’tis and north ’tis! - Why need we further? - -He raised his eyes. The vision was gone. Only the noon and the -woodland, silent, solitary, dazzling, were about and above him. - -Lord Gro came now to his horse again, and mounted and rode northaway -through the fells all that summer afternoon, full of cloudy fancies. -When it was eventide his way was high up along the steep side of -a mountain between the screes and the grass, following a little -path made by the wild sheep. Far beneath in the valley was a small -river tortuously flowing along a bouldery bed amid hillocks of old -moraines which were like waves of a sea of grass-clad earth. The -July sun wheeled low, flinging the shadows of the hills far up the -westward-facing slopes where Gro was a-riding, but where he rode and -above him the hillside was yet aglow with the warm low sunshine; and -the distant peak that shut in the head of the valley, rearing his huge -front like the gable of a house, with sweeping ribs of bare rock and -scree and a crest of crag like a great breaker frozen to stone in mid -career, bathed yet in a radiance of opalescent light. - -Turning the shoulder of the hillside at a place where the hill was -cut by a shallow gully, he saw before him a hollow or sheltered nook. -There, protected by the great body of the hill from the blasts of the -east and north, two rowan trees and some hollies grew in the clefts -of the rock above the watercourse. Under their shadow was a cave, -not large but so big as a man might well abide in and be dry in wild -weather, and beyond it on the right a little waterfall, so beautiful -it was a wonder to behold. This was the fashion of it: a slab of rock, -twice a man’s height, tilted a little forward from the hill, so that -the water fell clear from its upper edge in a thin stream into a rocky -basin. The water in the basin was clear and deep, but a-churn always -with bubbles from the plunging jet from above; and over all the rocks -about it grew mosses and lichens and little water-flowers, nourished by -the stream at root and refreshed by the spray. - -The Lord Gro said in his heart, “Here would I dwell for ever had I but -the art to make myself little as an eft. And I would build me an house -a span high beside yonder cushion of moss emerald-hued, with those pink -foxgloves to shade my door which balance their bells above the foaming -waters. This shy grass of Parnassus should be my drinking cup, with -pure white chalice poised on a hair-thin stem; and the curtains of my -bed that little thirsty sandwort which, like a green heaven sown with -milk-white stars, curtains the shady sides of these rocks.” - -Resting in this imagination he abode long time looking on that fairy -place, so secretly bestowed in the fold of the naked mountain. Then, -unwilling to depart from so fair a spot, and bethinking him, besides, -that after so many hours his horse was weary, he dismounted and lay -down beside the stream. And in a short while, having his spirits -sublimed with the sweet imagination of those wonders he had beheld, he -was fain to suffer the long dark lashes to droop over his large and -liquid eyes. And deep sleep overcame him. - - • • • • • - -When he awoke, all the sky was afire with the red of sunset. A shadow -was betwixt him and the western light: the shape of one bending over -him and saying in masterful wise, yet in accents wherein the echoes -and memories of all sweet sounds seemed mingled and laid up at rest -for ever, “Lie still, my lord, nor cry not a rescue. Behold, thine own -sword; and I took it from thee sleeping.” And he was ware of a sharp -sword pointed against his throat where the big veins lie beneath the -tongue. - -He stirred not at all, neither spake aught, only looking up at her as -at some vision of delight strayed from the fugitive flock of dreams. - -The lady said, “Where be thy company? And how many? Answer me swiftly.” - -He answered her like a dreamer, “How shall I answer thee? How shall I -number them that be beyond all count? Or how name unto your grace their -habitation which are even very now closer to me than hand or feet, yet -o’ the next instant are able to transcend a main wider belike than even -a starbeam hath journeyed o’er?” - -She said, “Riddle me no riddles. Answer me, thou wert best.” - -“Madam,” said Gro, “these that I told thee of be the company of mine -own silent thoughts. And, but for mine horse, this is all the company -that came hither with me.” - -“Alone?” said she. “And sleep so securely in thine enemies’ country? -That showed a strange confidence.” - -“Not enemies, if I may,” said he. - -But she cried, “And thou Lord Gro of Witchland?” - -“That one sickened long since,” he answered, “of a mortal sickness; and -’tis now a day and a night since he is dead thereof.” - -“What art thou, then?” said she. - -He answered, “If your grace would so receive me, Lord Gro of Demonland.” - -“A very practised turncoat,” said she. “Belike they also are wearied -of thee and thy ways. Alas,” she said in an altered voice, “thy gentle -pardon! when doubtless it was for thy generous deeds to me-ward they -fell out with thee, when thou didst so nobly befriend me.” - -“I will tell your highness,” answered he, “the pure truth. Never stood -matters better ’twixt me and all of them than when yesternight I -resolved to leave them.” - -The Lady Mevrian was silent, a cloud in her face. Then, “I am alone,” -she said. “Therefore think it not little-hearted in me, nor forgetful -of past benefits, if I will be further certified of thee ere I suffer -thee to rise. Swear to me thou wilt not betray me.” - -But Gro said, “How should an oath from me avail thee, madam? Oaths bind -not an ill man. Were I minded to do thee wrong, lightly should I swear -thee all oaths thou mightest require, and lightly o’ the next instant -be forsworn.” - -“That is not well said,” said Mevrian. “Nor helpeth not thy safety. You -men do say that women’s hearts be faint and feeble, but I shall show -thee the contrary is in me. Study to satisfy me. Else will I assuredly -smite thee to death with thine own sword.” - -The Lord Gro lay back, clasping his slender hands behind his head. -“Stand, I pray thee,” said he, “o’ the other side of me, that I may see -thy face.” - -She did so, still threatening him with the sword. And he said smiling, -“Divine lady, all my days have I had danger for my bedfellow, and -peril of death for my familiar friend; whilom leading a delicate life -in princely court, where murther sitteth in the wine-cup and in the -alcove; whilom journeying alone in more perilous lands than this, -as witness the Moruna, where the country is full of venomous beasts -and crawling poisoned serpents, and the divels be as abundant there -as grasshoppers on a hot hillside in summer. He that feareth is a -slave, were he never so rich, were he never so powerful. But he that -is without fear is king of all the world. Thou hast my sword. Strike. -Death shall be a sweet rest to me. Thraldom, not death, should terrify -me.” - -She paused awhile, then said unto him, “My Lord Gro, thou didst do me -once a right great good turn. Surely I may build my safety on this, -that never yet did kite bring forth a good flying hawk.” She shifted -her hold on his sword, and very prettily gave it him hilt-foremost, -saying, “I give it thee back, my lord, nothing doubting that that which -was given in honour thou wilt honourably use.” - -But he, rising up, said, “Madam, this and thy noble words hath given -such rootfastness to the pact of faith betwixt us that it may now -unfold what blossom of oaths thou wilt; for oaths are the blossom of -friendship, not the root. And thou shalt find me a true holder of my -vowed amity unto thee without spot or wrinkle.” - - • • • • • - -For sundry nights and days abode Gro and Mevrian in that place, hunting -at whiles to get their sustenance, drinking of the sweet spring-water, -sleeping a-nights she in her cave beneath the holly bushes and the -rowans beside the waterfall, he in a cleft of the rocks a little below -in the gully, where the moss made cushions soft and resilient as the -great stuffed beds in Carcë. In those days she told him of her farings -since that night of April when she escaped out of Krothering: how -first she found harbourage at By in Westmark, but hearing in a day or -two of a hue and cry fled east again, and sojourning awhile beside -Throwater came at length about a month ago upon this cave beside the -little fountain, and here abode. Her mind had been to win over the -mountains to Galing, but she had after the first attempt given over -that design, for fear of companies of the enemy whose hands she barely -escaped when she came forth into the lower valleys that open on the -eastern coast-lands. So she had turned again to this hiding place in -the hills, as secret and remote as any in Demonland. For this dale she -let him know was Neverdale, where no road ran save the way of the deer -and the mountain goats, and no garth opened on that dale, and the reek -of no man’s hearthstone burdened the winds that blew thither. And that -gable-crested peak at the head of the dale was the southernmost of -the Forks of Nantreganon, nursery of the vulture and the eagle. And a -hidden way was round the right shoulder of that peak, over the toothed -ridge by Neverdale Hause to the upper waters of Tivarandardale. - -On an afternoon of sultry summer heat it so befell that they rested -below the hause on a bastion of rock that jutted from the south-western -slope. Beneath their feet precipices fell suddenly away from a giddy -verge, sweeping round in a grand cirque above which the mountain rose -like some Tartarian fortress, ponderous, cruel as the sea and sad, -scarred and gashed with great lines of cleavage as though the face of -the mountain had been slashed away by the axe-stroke of a giant. In the -depths the waters of Dule Tarn slept placid and fathomless. - -Gro was stretched on the brink of the cliff, face downward, propped -on his two elbows, studying those dark waters. “Surely,” he said, -“the great mountains of the world are a present remedy if men did but -know it against our modern discontent and ambitions. In the hills is -wisdom’s fount. They are deep in time. They know the ways of the sun -and the wind, the lightning’s fiery feet, the frost that shattereth, -the rain that shroudeth, the snow that putteth about their nakedness -a softer coverlet than fine lawn: which if their large philosophy -question not if it be a bridal sheet or a shroud, hath not this -unpolicied calm his justification ever in the returning year, and is it -not an instance to laugh our carefulness out of fashion? of us, little -children of the dust, children of a day, who with so many burdens do -burden us with taking thought and with fears and desires and devious -schemings of the mind, so that we wax old before our time and fall -weary ere the brief day be spent and one reaping-hook gather us home at -last for all our pains.” - -He looked up and she met the gaze of his great eyes; deep pools of -night they seemed, where strange matters might move unseen, disturbing -to look on, yet filled with a soft slumbrous charm that lulled and -soothed. - -“Thou’st fallen a-dreaming, my lord,” said Mevrian. “And for me ’tis a -hard thing to walk with thee in thy dreams, who am awake in the broad -daylight and would be a-doing.” - -“Certes it is an ill thing,” said Lord Gro, “that thou, who hast not -been nourished in mendicity or poverty but in superfluity of honour and -largesse, shouldst be made fugitive in thine own dominions, to lodge -with foxes and beasts of the wild mountain.” - -Said she, “It is yet a sweeter lodging than is to-day in Krothering. -It is therefore I chafe to do somewhat. To win through to Galing, that -were something.” - -“What profit is in Galing,” said Gro, “without Lord Juss?” - -She answered, “Thou wilt tell me it is even as Krothering without my -brother.” - -Looking sidelong up at her, where she sat armed beside him, he beheld a -tear a-tremble on her eyelid. He said gently, “Who shall foreknow the -ways of Fate? Your highness is better here belike.” - -Lady Mevrian stood up. She pointed to a print in the living rock before -her feet. “The hippogriff’s hoofmark!” she cried, “stricken in the -rock ages ago by that high bird which presideth from of old over the -predestined glory of our line, to point us on to a fame advanced above -the region of the glittering stars. True is the word that that land -which is in the governance of a woman only is not surely kept. I will -abide idly here no more.” - -Gro, beholding her so stand all armed on that high brink of crag, -setting with so much perfection in womanly beauty manlike valour, -bethought him that here was that true embodiment of morn and eve, that -charm which called him from Krothering, and for which the prophetic -spirits of mountain and wood and field had pointed his path with a -heavenly benison, meaning to bid him go northward to his heart’s -true home. He kneeled down and caught her hand in his, embracing and -kissing it as of her in whom all his hopes were placed, and saying -passionately, “Mevrian, Mevrian, let me but be armed in thy good grace -and I defy whatever there is or can be against me. Even as the sun -lighteth broad heaven at noon-day, and that giveth light unto this -dreary earth, so art thou the true light of Demonland which because of -thee maketh the whole world glorious. Welcome unto me be all miseries, -so only unto thee I may be welcome.” - -She sprang back, snatching away her hand. Her sword leapt singing -from the scabbard. But Gro, that was so ravished and abused that he -remembered of nothing worldly but only that he beheld his lady’s face, -abode motionless. She cried, “Back to back! Swift, or ’tis too late!” - -He leaped up, barely in time. Six stout fellows, soldiers of Witchland -stolen softly upon them at unawares, closed now upon them. No breath to -waste in parley, but the clank of steel: he and Mevrian back to back -on a table of rock, those six setting on from either side. “Kill the -Goblin,” said they. “Take the lady unhurt: ’tis death to all if she be -touched.” - -So for a time those two defended them of all their power. Yet at such -odds could not the issue stand long in doubt, nor Gro’s high mettle -make up what he lacked of strength bodily and skill in arms. Cunning of -fence indeed was the Lady Mevrian, as they guessed not to their hurt; -for the first of them, a great chuff-headed fellow that thought to bear -her down with rushing in upon her, she with a deft thrust passing his -guard ran clean through the throat; by whose taking off, his fellows -took some lesson of caution. But Gro being at length brought to earth -with many wounds, they had the next instant caught Mevrian from behind -whiles others engaged her in the face, when in the nick of time as by -the intervention of heaven was all their business taken in reverse, and -all five in a moment laid bleeding on the stones beside their fellows. - -Mevrian, looking about and seeing what she saw, fell weak and faint in -her brother’s arms, overcome with so much radiant joy after that stress -of action and peril; beholding now with her own eyes that home-coming -whereof the genii of that land had had foreknowledge and in Gro’s sight -shown themselves wild with joy thereof: Brandoch Daha and Juss come -home to Demonland, like men arisen from the dead. - -“Not touched,” she answered them. “But look to my Lord Gro: I fear he -be hurt. Look to him well, for he hath approved him our friend indeed.” - - - - - XXVI: THE BATTLE OF KROTHERING SIDE - - HOW WORD WAS BROUGHT UNTO THE LORD CORINIUS THAT THE LORDS JUSS - AND BRANDOCH DAHA WERE COME AGAIN INTO THE LAND, AND HOW HE - RESOLVED TO GIVE THEM BATTLE ON THE SIDE, UNDER ERNGATE END; - AND OF THE GREAT FLANK MARCH OF LORD BRANDOCH DAHA OVER THE - MOUNTAINS FROM TRANSDALE; AND OF THE GREAT BATTLE, AND OF THE - ISSUE THEREOF. - - -Laxus and those sons of Corund walked on an afternoon in Krothering -home mead. The sky above them was hot and coloured of lead, presaging -thunder. No wind stirred in the trees that were livid-green against -that leaden pall. The noise of mattock and crow-bar came without -intermission from the castle. Where gardens had been and arbours of -shade and sweetness, was now but wreck: broken columns and smashed -porphyry vases of rare workmanship, mounds of earth and rotting -vegetation. And those great cedars, emblems of their lord’s estate and -pride, lay prostrate now with their roots exposed, a tangle of sere -foliage and branches broken, withered and lifeless. Over this death-bed -of ruined loveliness the towers of onyx showed ghastly against the sky. - -“Is there not a virtue in seven?” said Cargo. “Last week was the sixth -time we thought we had gotten the eel by the tail in yon fly-blown -hills of Mealand and came empty home. When think’st, Laxus, shall’s run -’em to earth indeed?” - -“When egg-pies shall grow on apple-trees,” answered Laxus. “Nay, the -general setteth greater store by his proclamations concerning the young -woman (who likely never heareth of them, and assuredly will not be by -them ’ticed home again), and by these toys of revenge, than by sound -soldiership. Hark! there goeth this day’s work.” - -They turned at a shout from the gates, to behold the northern of those -two golden hippogriffs totter and crash down the steeps into the moat, -sending up a great smoke from the stones and rubble which poured in its -wake. - -Lord Laxus’s brow was dark. He laid hand on Heming’s arm, saying, “The -times need all sage counsel we can reach unto, O ye sons of Corund, if -our Lord the King shall have indeed from this expedition into Demonland -the victory at last of all his evil-willers. Remember, that was a great -miss to our strength when the Goblin went.” - -“Out upon the viper!” said Cargo. “Corinius was right in this, not to -warrant him the honesty of such slippery cattle. He had not served -above a month or two, but that he ran to the enemy.” - -“Corinius,” said Laxus, “is yet but green in his estate. Doth he -suppose the rest of his reign shall be but play and the enjoying of -a kingdom? Those left-handed strokes of fortune may yet o’erthrow -him, the while that he streameth out his youth in wine and venery and -manageth his private spite against this lady. Slipper youth must be -under-propped with elder counsel, lest all go miss.” - -“A most reverend old counsellor art thou!” said Cargo; “of -six-and-thirty years of age.” - -Said Heming, “We be three. Take command thyself. I and my brother will -back thee.” - -“I will that thou swallow back those words,” said Laxus, “as though -they had never been spoke. Remember Corsus and Gallandus. Besides, -albeit he seemeth now rather to be a man straught than one that hath -his wits, yet is Corinius in his sober self a valiant and puissant -soldier, a politic and provident captain as is not found besides in -Demonland, no, nor in Witchland neither, and it were not your noble -father; and this one in his youthly age.” - -“That is true,” said Heming. “Thou hast justly reproved me.” - -Now while they were a-talking, came one from the castle and made -obeisance unto Laxus saying, “You are inquired for, O king, so please -you to walk into the north chamber.” - -Said Laxus, “Is it he that was newly ridden from the east country?” - -“So it is, so please you,” with a low leg he made answer. - -“Hath he not had audience with King Corinius?” - -“He hath sought audience,” said the man, “but was denied. The matter -presseth, and he urged me therefore seek unto your lordship.” - -As they walked toward the castle Heming said in Laxus’s ear, “Knowest -thou not this brave new piece of court ceremony? O’ these days, when -he hath ’stroyed an hostage to spite the Lady Mevrian, as to-day was -’stroyed the horse-headed eagle, he giveth not audience till sun-down. -For, the deed of vengeance done, a retireth himself to his own chamber -and a wench with him, the daintiest and gamesomest he may procure; -and so, for two hours or three drowned in the main sea of his own -pleasures, he abateth some little deal for a season the pang of love.” - -Now when Laxus was come forth from talking with the messenger from the -east, he fared without delay to Corinius’s chamber. There, thrusting -aside the guards, he flung wide the shining doors, and found the Lord -Corinius merrily disposed. He was reclined on a couch deep-cushioned -with dark green three-pile velvet. An ivory table inlaid with silver -and ebony stood at his elbow bearing a crystal flagon already two parts -emptied of the foaming wine, and a fair gold goblet beside it. He wore -a long loose sleeveless gown of white silk edged with a gold fringe; -this, fallen open at the neck, left naked his chest and one strong arm -that in that moment when Laxus entered reached out to grasp the wine -cup. Upon his knee he held a damosel of some seventeen years, fair and -fresh as a rose, with whom he was plainly on the point to pass from -friendly converse to amorous privacy. He looked angrily upon Laxus, who -without ceremony spoke and said, “The whole east is in a tumult. The -burg is forced which we built astride the Stile. Spitfire hath passed -into Breakingdale to victual Galing, and hath overthrown our army that -sat in siege thereof.” - -Corinius drank a draught and spat. “Phrut!” said he. “Much bruit, -little fruit. I would know by what warrant thou troublest me with -this tittle-tattle, and I pleasantly disposing myself to mirth and -recreation. Could it not wait till supper time?” - -Ere Laxus might say more, was a great clatter heard without on the -stairs, and in came those sons of Corund. - -“Am I a king?” said Corinius, gathering his robe about him, “and shall -I be forced? Avoid the chamber.” Then marking them stand silent with -disordered looks, “What’s the matter?” he said. “Are ye ta’en with the -swindle or the turn-sickness? Or are ye out of your wits?” - -Heming answered and said, “Not mad, my lord. Here’s Didarus that held -the Stile-burg for us, ridden from the east as fast as his horse might -wallop, and gotten here hard o’ the heels of the former messenger with -fresh and more certain advertisement, fresher by four days than that -one’s. I pray you hear him.” - -“I’ll hear him,” said Corinius, “at supper time. Nought sooner, if the -roof were afire.” - -“The land beneath thy feet’s afire!” cried Heming. “Juss and Brandoch -Daha home again, and half the country lost thee ere thou heard’st -on’t. These devils are home again! Shall we hear that and still be -swill-bowls?” - -Corinius listened with folded arms. His great jaw was lifted up. His -nostrils widened. For a minute he abode in silence, his cold blue eyes -fixed as it were on somewhat afar. Then, “Home again?” said he. “And -the east in a hubbub? And not unlikely. Thank Didarus for his tidings. -He shall sweeten mine ears with some more at supper. Till then, leave -me, unless ye mean to be stretched.” - -But Laxus, with sad and serious brow, stood beside him and said, “My -lord, forget not that you are here the vicar and legate of the King. -Let the crown upon your head put perils in your thoughts, so as you may -harken peaceably to them that are willing to lesson you with sound and -sage advice. If we take order to-night to march by Switchwater, we may -very well shut back this danger and stifle it ere it wax to too much -bigness. If o’ the contrary we suffer them to enter into these western -parts, like enough without let or stay they will overrun the whole -country.” - -Corinius rolled his eye upon him. “Can nothing,” he said, “prescribe -unto thee obedience? Look to thine own charge. Is the fleet in proper -trim? For there’s the strength, ease, and anchor of our power, whether -for victualling, or to shift our weight against ’em which way we -choose, or to give us sure asylum if it were come to that. What ails -thee? Have we not these four months desired nought better than that -these Demons should take heart to strike a field with us? If it be true -that Juss himself and Brandoch Daha have thrown down the castles and -strengths which I had i’ the east and move with an army against us, why -then I have them in the forge already, and shall now bring them to the -hammer. And be satisfied, I’ll choose mine own ground to fight them.” - -“There’s yet matter for haste in this,” said Laxus. “A day’s march, and -we oppose ’em not, will bring them before Krothering.” - -“That,” answered Corinius, “jumpeth pat with mine own design. I’ll not -go a league to bar their way, but receive ’em here where the ground -lieth most favourable to meet an enemy. Which advantage I’ll employ to -the greatest stretch of service, standing on Krothering Side, resting -my flank against the mountain. The fleet shall ride in Aurwath haven.” - -Laxus stroked his beard and was silent a minute, considering this. Then -he looked up and said, “This is sound generalship, I may not gainsay -it.” - -“It is a purpose, my lord,” said Corinius, “I have long had in myself, -stored by for the event. Let me alone, therefore, to do that my right -is. There’s this good in it, too, as it befalleth: ’twill suffer that -dive-dapper to behold his home again afore I kill him. A shall find it -a sight for sore eyes, I think, after my tending on’t.” - - • • • • • - -The third day after these doings, the farmer at Holt stood in his porch -that opened westward on Tivarandardale. An old man was he, crooked like -a mountain thorn. But a bright black eye he had, and the hair curled -crisp yet above his brow. It was late afternoon and the sky overcast. -Tousle-haired sheep-dogs slept before the door. Swallows gathered in -the sky. Near to him sat a damosel, dainty as a meadow-pipit, lithe as -an antelope; and she was grinding grain in a hand-mill, singing the -while: - - Grind, mill, grind, - Corinius grinds us all; - Kinging it in widowed Krothering. - -The old man was furbishing a shield and morion-cap, and other tackle of -war lay at his feet. - -“I wonder thou wilt still be busy with thy tackle, O my father,” said -she, looking up from her singing and grinding. “If ill tide ill again -what should an old man do but grieve and be silent?” - -“There shall be time for that hereafter,” said the old man. “But a -little while is hand fain of blow.” - -“They’ll be for firing the roof-tree, likely, if they come back,” said -she, still grinding. - -“Thou’rt a disobedient lass. If thou’dst but flit as I bade thee to the -shiel-house up the dale, I’d force not a bean for their burnings.” - -“Let it burn,” said she, “if he be taken. What avail then for thee or -for me to be a-tarrying? Thou that art an old man and full of good -days, and I that will not be left so.” - -A great dog awoke beside her and shook himself, then drew near and laid -his nose in her lap, looking up at her with kind solemn eyes. - -The old man said, “Thou’rt a disobedient lass, and but for thee, come -sword, come fire, not a straw care I; knowing it shall be but a passing -storm, now that my Lord is home again.” - -“They took the land from Lord Spitfire,” said she. - -“Ay, hinny,” said the old man, “and thou shalt see my Lord shall take -it back again.” - -“Ay?” said she. And still she ground and still she sang: - - Grind, mill, grind, - Corinius grinds us all. - -After a time, “Hist!” said the old man, “was not that a horse-tread i’ -the lane? Get thee within-doors till I know if all be friendly.” And -he stooped painfully to take up his weapon. Woefully it shook in his -feeble hand. - -But she, as one that knew the step, heeding nought else, leapt up with -face first red then pale then flushed again, and ran to the gate of -the garth. And the sheep-dogs bounded before her. There in the gate -she was met with a young man riding a weary horse. He was garbed like -a soldier, and horse and man were so bedraggled with mire and dust and -all manner of defilement they were a sorry sight to see, and so jaded -both that scarce it seemed they had might to journey another furlong. -They halted within the gate, and all those dogs jumped up upon them, -whining and barking for joy. - -Ere the soldier was well down from the saddle he had a sweet armful. -“Softly, my heart,” said he, “my shoulder’s somewhat raw. Nay, ’tis -nought to speak on. I’ve brought thee all my limbs home.” - -“Was there a battle?” said the old man. - -“Was there a battle, father?” cried he. “I’ll tell thee, Krothering -Side is thicker with dead men slain than our garth with sheep i’ the -shearing time.” - -“Alack and alack, ’tis a most horrid wound, dear,” said the girl. “Go -in, and I’ll wash it and lay to it millefoil pounded with honey; ’tis -most sovran against pain and loss of blood, and drieth up the lips of -the wound and maketh whole thou’dst not credit how soon. Thou hast bled -over-much, thou foolish one. And how couldst thou thrive without thy -wife to tend thee?” - -The farmer put an arm about him, saying, “Was the field ours, lad?” - -“I’ll tell you all orderly, old man,” answered he, “but I must stable -him first,” and the horse nuzzled his breast. “And ye must ballast me -first. God shield us, ’tis not a tale for an empty man to tell.” - -“’Las, father,” said the damosel, “have we not one sweet sippet i’ the -mouth, that we hold him here once more? And, sweet or sour, let him -take his time to fetch us the next.” - -So they washed his hurt and laid kindly herbs thereto, and bound -it with clean linen, and put fresh raiment upon him, and made him -sit on the bench without the porch and gave him to eat and drink: -cakes of barley meal and dark heather-honey, and rough white wine of -Tivarandardale. The dogs lay close about him as if there was warmth -there and safety whereas he was. His young wife held his hand in hers, -as if that were enough if it should last for aye. And that old man, -eating down his impatience like a schoolboy chafing for the bell, -fingered his partisan with trembling hand. - -“Thou hadst the word I sent thee, father, after the fight below Galing?” - -“Ay. ’Twas good.” - -“There was a council held that night,” said the soldier. “All -the great men together in the high hall in Galing, so as it was a -heaven to see. I was one of their cupbearers, ’cause I’d killed the -standard-bearer of the Witches, in that same battle below Galing. -Methought ’twas no great thing I did; till after the battle, look -you, my Lord’s self standing beside me; and saith he, ‘Arnod’ (ay, by -my name, father), ‘Arnod,’ a saith, ‘thou’st done down the pennon o’ -Witchland that ’gainst our freedom streamed so proud. ’Tis thy like -shall best stead Demonland i’ these dog-days,’ saith he. ‘Bear my cup -to-night, for thine honour.’ I would, lass, thou’dst seen his eyes that -tide. ’Tis a lord to put marrow in the sword-arm, our Lord. - -“They had forth the great map o’ the world, of this Demonland, to -study their business. I was by, pouring the wine, and I heard their -disputations. ’Tis a wondrous map wrought in crystal and bronze, most -artificial, with waters a-glistering and mountains standing substantial -to the touch. My Lord points with’s sword. ‘Here,’ a saith, ‘standeth -Corinius, by all sure tellings, and budgeth not from Krothering. And, -by the Gods,’ a saith, ‘’tis a wise disposition. For, mark, if we -go by Gashterndale, as go we must to come at him, he striketh down -on us as hammer on anvil. And if we will pass by toward the head of -Thunderfirth,’ and here a pointeth it out with’s sword, ‘Down a cometh -on our flank; and every-gate the land’s slope serveth his turn and -fighteth against us.’ - -“I mind me o’ those words,” said the young man, “’cause my Lord -Brandoch Daha laughed and said, ‘Are we grown so strange by our -travels, our own land fighteth o’ the opposite party? Let me study it -again.’ - -“I filled his cup. Dear Gods, but I’d fill him a bowl of mine own -heart’s blood if he required it of me, after our times together, -father. But more o’ that anon. The stoutest gentleman and captain -without peer. - -“But Lord Spitfire, that was this while vaunting up and down the -chamber, cried out and said, ‘’Twere folly to travel his road prepared -us. Take him o’ that side he looketh least to see us: south through the -mountains, and upon him in his rear up from Mardardale.’ - -“‘Ah,’ saith my Lord, ‘and be pressed back into Murkdale Hags if -we miss of our first spring. ’Tis too perilous. ’Tis worse than -Gashterndale.’ - -“So went it: a nay for every yea, and nought to please ’em. Till i’ -the end my Lord Brandoch Daha, that had been long time busy with the -map, said: ‘Now that y’ have threshed the whole stack and found not the -needle, I will show you my rede, ’cause ye shall not say I counselled -you rashly.’ - -“So they bade him say his rede. And he said unto my Lord, ‘Thou and -our main power shall go by Switchwater Way. And let the whole land’s -face blaze your coming before you. Ye shall lie to-morrow night in -some good fighting-stead whither it shall not be to his vantage to -move against you: haply in the old shielings above Wrenthwaite, or at -any likely spot afore the road dippeth south into Gashterndale. But -at point of day strike camp and go by Gashterndale and so up on to -the Side to do battle with him. So shall all fall out even as his own -hopes and expectations do desire it. But I,’ saith my Lord Brandoch -Daha, ‘with seven hundred chosen horse, will have fared by then clean -along the mountain ridge from Transdale even to Erngate End; so as when -he turneth all his battle northward down the Side to whelm you, there -shall hang above the security of his flank and rear that which he ne’er -dreamed on. If he support my charging of his flank at unawares, with -you in front to cope him, and he with so small an advantage upon us in -strength of men: if he stand that, why then, good-night! the Witches -are our masters in arms, and we may off cap to ’em and strive no more -to right us.’ - -“So said my Lord Brandoch Daha. But all called him daft to think on’t. -Carry an army a-horseback in so small time ’cross such curst ground? -It might not be. ‘Well,’ quoth he, ‘sith you count it not possible, -so much the more shall he. Cautious counsels never will serve us this -tide. Give me but my pick of man and horse to the number of seven -hundred, and I’ll so set this masque you shall not desire a better -master of the revels.’ - -“So i’ the end he had his way. And past midnight they were at it, I -wis, planning and studying. - -“At dawn was the whole army marshalled in the meadows below Moonmere, -and my Lord spake among them and told us he was minded to march into -the west country and exterminate the Witches out of Demonland; and he -bade any man that deemed he had now his fill of furious war and deemed -it a sweeter thing to go home to his own place, say forth his mind -without fear, and he would let him go, yea, and give him good gifts -thereto, seeing that all had done manful service; but he would have -no man in this enterprise who went not to it with his whole heart and -mind.” - -The damosel said, “I wis there was not a man would take that offer.” - -“There went up,” said the soldier, “such a shout, with such a stamping, -and such a clashing together of weapons, the land shook with’t, and -the echoes rolled in the high corries of the Scarf like thunder, of -them shouting ‘Krothering!’ ‘Juss!’ ‘Brandoch Daha!’ ‘Lead us to -Krothering!’ Without more ado was the stuff packed up, and ere noon -was the whole army gotten over the Stile. While we halted for daymeal -hard by Blackwood in Amadardale, came my Lord Brandoch Daha a-riding -among the ranks for to take his pick of seven hundred of our ablest -horse. Nor a would not commit this to his officer, but himself called -on each lad by name whenso he saw a likely one, and speered would a -ride with him. I trow he gat never a nay to that speering. My heart -was a-cold lest he’d o’erlook me, watching him ride by as jaunty as a -king. But a reined in’s horse and saith, ‘Arnod, ’tis a bonny horse -thou ridest. Could he carry thee to a swine-hunt down from Erngate End -i’ the morning?’ I saluted him and said, ‘Not so far only, Lord, but to -burning Hell so thou but lead us.’ ‘Come on,’ saith he. ‘’Tis a better -gate I shall lead thee: to Krothering hall ere eventide.’ - -“So now was our strength sundered, and the main army made ready to -march westward down Switchwater Way; with the Lord Zigg to lead the -horse, and the Lord Volle and my Lord’s self and his brother the -Lord Spitfire faring in the midst amongst ’em all. And with them -yonder outland traitor, Lord Gro; but I do think him more a stick of -sugar-paste than a man of war. And many gentlemen of worth went with -them: Gismor Gleam of Justdale, Astar of Rettray, and Bremery of Shaws, -and many more men of mark. But there abode with my Lord Brandoch Daha, -Arnund of By, and Tharmrod of Kenarvey, Kamerar of Stropardon, Emeron -Galt, Hesper Golthring of Elmerstead, Styrkmir of Blackwood, Melchar -of Strufey, Quazz’s three sons from Dalney, and Stypmar of Failze: -fierce and choleric young gentlemen, after his own heart, methinks; -great horsemen, not very forecasting of future things afar off but -entertainers of fortune by the day; too rash to govern an army, but -best of all to obey and follow him in so glorious an enterprise. - -“Ere we parted, came my Lord to speak with my Lord Brandoch Daha. And -my Lord looked into the lift that was all dark cloud and wind; and -quoth he, ‘Fail not at the tryst, cousin. ’Tis thy word, that thou and -I be finger and thumb; and never more surely than to-morrow shall this -be seen.’ - -“‘O friend of my heart, content thee,’ answereth my Lord Brandoch Daha. -‘Didst ever know me neglect my guests? And have I not bidden you to -breakfast with me to-morrow morn in Krothering meads?’ - -“Now we of the seven hundred turned leftward at the watersmeet up -Transdale into the mountains. And now came ill weather upon us, -the worst that ever I knew. ’Tis soft enow and little road enow in -Transdale, as thou knowest, father, and weary work it was with every -deer-track turned a water-course and underfoot all slush and mire, and -nought for a man to see save white mist and rain above and about him, -and soppy bent and water under’s horse-hooves. Little there was to tell -us we were won at last to the top of the pass, and ’twere not the cloud -blew thicker and the wind wilder about us. Every man was wet to the -breech, and bare a pint o’ water in’s two shoes. - -“Whiles we were halted on the Saddle my Lord Brandoch Daha rested not -at all, but gave his horse to his man to hold and himself fared back -and forth among us. And for every man he had a jest or a merry look, -so as ’twas meat and drink but to hear or to behold him. But a little -while only would he suffer us to halt; then right we turned, up along -the ridge, where the way was yet worse than in the dale had been, with -rocks and pits hidden in the heather, and slithery slabs of granite. -By my faith, I think no horse that was not born and bred to’t might -cross such country, wet or fine; he should be foundered or should -break his legs and his rider’s neck ere he should be gotten two hours’ -journey along those ridges; but we that rode with my Lord Brandoch -Daha to Krothering Side were ten hours riding so, besides our halts to -water our horses and longer halts to feed ’em, and the last part o’ -the way through murk night, and all the way i’ the wind’s teeth with -rain blown on the wind like spray, and hail at whiles. And when the -rain was done, the wind veered to the north-west and blew the ridges -dry. And then the little bits of rotten granite blew in our faces like -hailstones on the wind. There was no shelter, not o’ the lee side of -the rocks, but everywhere the storm-wind baffled and buffeted us, and -clapped his wings among the crags like thunder. Dear Heaven, weary we -were and like to drop, cold to the marrow, nigh blinded man and horse, -yet with a dreadful industry pressed on. And my Lord Brandoch Daha was -now in the van now in the rear-guard, cheering men’s hearts who marked -with what blithe countenance himself did suffer the same hardships -as his meanest trooper: like to one riding at ease to some great -wedding-feast; crying, ‘What, lads, merrily on! These fen-toads of the -Druima shall learn too late what way our mountain ponies do go like -stags upon the mountain.’ - -“When it began to be morning we came to our last halt, and there was -our seven hundred horse hid in the corrie under the tall cliffs of -Erngate End. I warrant you we went carefully about it, so as no prying -swine of Witchland looking up from below should aspy a glimpse of man -or horse o’ the sky-line. His highness first set his sentinels and let -call the muster, and saw that every man had his morning meal and every -horse his feed. Then he took his stand behind a crag of rock whence he -could overlook the land below. He had me by him to do his errands. In -the first light we looked down westward over the mountain’s edge and -saw Krothering and the arms of the sea, not so dark but we might behold -their fleet at anchor in Aurwath roads, and their camp like a batch of -beehives so as a man might think to cast a stone into’t below us. That -was the first time I’d e’er gone to the wars with him. Faith, he’s a -pretty man to see: leaned forward there on the heather with’s chin on -his folded arms, his helm laid aside so they should not see it glint -from below; quiet like a cat: half asleep you’d say; but his eyes were -awake, looking down on Krothering. ’Twas well seen even from so far -away how vilely they had used it. - -“The great red sun leaped out o’ the eastern cloudbanks. A stir began -in their camp below: standards set up, men gathering thereto, ranks -forming, bugles sounding; then a score of horse galloping up the -road from Gashterndale into the camp. His highness, without turning -his head, beckoned with’s hand to me to call his captains. I ran and -fetched ’em. He gave ’em swift commands, pointing down where the -Witchland swine rolled out their battle; thieves and pirates who robbed -his highness’ subjects within his streams; with standard and pennons -and glistering naked spears, moving northward from the tents. Then -in the quiet came a sound made a man’s heart leap within him: faint -out of the far hollows of Gashterndale, the trumpet of my Lord Juss’s -battle-call. - -“My Lord Brandoch Daha paused a minute, looking down. Then a turned him -about with face that shone like the morning. ‘Fair lords,’ a saith, -‘now lightly on horseback, for Juss fighteth against his enemies.’ I -think he was well content. I think he was sure he would that day get -his heart’s syth of every one that had wronged him. - -“That was a long ride down from Erngate End. With all our hearts’ blood -drumming us to haste, we must yet go warily, picking our way i’ that -tricky ground, steep as a roof-slope, uneven and with no sure foothold, -with sikes in wet moss and rocks outcropping and shifting screes. There -was nought but leave it to the horses, and bravely they brought us down -the steeps. We were not half way down ere we heard and saw how battle -was joined. So intent were the Witchlanders on my Lord’s main army, I -think we were off the steep ground and forming for the charge ere they -were ware of us. Our trumpeters sounded his battle challenge, _Who -meddles wi’ Brandoch Daha?_ and we came down on to Krothering Side -like a rock-fall. - -“I scarce know what way the battle went, father. ’Twas like a meeting -of streams in spate. I think they opened to us right and left to ease -the shock. They that were before us went down like standing corn under -a hailstorm. We wheeled both ways, some ’gainst their right that was -thrown back toward the camp, the more part with my Lord Brandoch Daha -to our own right. I was with these in the main battle. His highness -rode a hot stirring horse very fierce and dogged; knee to knee with him -went Styrkmir of Blackwood o’ the one side and Tharmrod o’ the other. -Neither man nor horse might stand up before ’em, and they faring as in -a maze now this way now that, amid the thrumbling and thrasting o’ the -footmen, heads and arms smitten off, men hewn in sunder from crown to -belly, ay, to the saddle, riderless horses maddened, blood splashed up -from the ground like the slush from a marsh. - -[Illustration: SOLDIERS OF DEMONLAND.] - -“So for a time, till we had spent the vantage of our onset and felt -for the first time the weight of their strength. For Corinius, as it -appeareth, was now himself ridden from the vanward where he had beat -back for a time our main army, and set on against my Lord Brandoch Daha -with horsemen and spearmen; and commanded his sling-casters besides to -let freely at us and drive us toward the camp. - -“And now in the great swing of the battle were we carried back to the -camp again; and there was a sweet devils’ holiday: horses and men -tripping over tent-ropes, tents torn down, crashes of broken crockery, -and King Laxus come thither with sailors from the fleet, hamstringing -our horses while Corinius charged us from the north and east. That -Corinius beareth him in battle more like a devil from Hell than a -mortal man. I’ the first two strokes of’s sword he overthrew two of our -best captains, Romenard of Dalney and Emeron Galt. Styrkmir, that stood -in’s way to stop him, a flung down with’s spear, horse and man. They -say he met twice with my Lord Brandoch Daha that day, but each time -were they parted in the press ere they might rightly square together. - -“I have stood in some goodly battles, father, as well thou knowest: -first following my Lord and my Lord Goldry Bluszco in foreign parts, -and last year in the great rout at Crossby Outsikes, and again with -my Lord Spitfire when he smote the Witches on Brima Rapes, and in the -murthering great battle under Thremnir’s Heugh. But never was I in -fight like to this of yesterday. - -“Never saw I such feats of arms. As witness Kamerar of Stropardon, -who with a great two-handed sword hewed off his enemy’s leg close to -the hip, so huge a blow the blade sheared through leg and saddle and -horse and all. And Styrkmir of Blackwood, rising like a devil out of -a heap of slain men, and though’s helm was lossen and a was bleeding -from three or four great wounds a held off a dozen o’ the Witches -with’s deadly thrusts and sword-strokes, till they had enough and -gave back before him: twelve before one, and he given over for dead -a while before. But all great deeds seemed trash beside the deeds of -my Lord Brandoch Daha. In one short while had he three times a horse -slain stark dead under him, yet gat never a wound himself, which was -a marvel. For without care he rode through and about, smiting down -their champions. I mind me of him once, with’s horse ripped and killed -under him, and one of those Witchland lords that tilted at him on the -ground as he leaped to’s feet again; how a caught the spear with’s two -hands and by main strength yerked his enemy out o’ the saddle. Prince -Cargo it was, youngest of Corund’s sons. Long may the Witchland ladies -strain their dear eyes, they’ll ne’er see yon hendy lad come sailing -home again. His highness swapt him such a swipe o’ the neck-bone as he -pitched to earth, the head of him flew i’ the air like a tennis ball. -And i’ the twinkling of an eye was my Lord Brandoch Daha horsed again -on’s enemy’s horse, and turned to charge ’em anew. You’d say his arm -must fail at last for weariness, of a man so lithe and jimp to look -on. Yet I think his last stroke i’ that battle was not lighter than -the first. And stones and spears and sword-strokes seemed to come upon -him with no more impression than blows with a straw would give to an -adamant. - -“I know not how long was that fight among the tents. Only ’twas the -best fight I ever was at, and the bloodiest. And by all tellings ’twas -as great work o’ the other part, where my Lord and his folk fought -their way up on to the Side. But of that we knew nothing. Yet certain -it is we had all been dead men had my Lord not there prevailed, as -certain ’tis he had never so prevailed but for our charging of their -flank when they first advanced against him. But in that last hour all -we that fought among the tents thought each man only of this, how he -might slay yet one more Witch, and yet again one more, afore he should -die. For Corinius in that hour put forth his might to crush us; and -for every enemy there felled to earth two more seemed to be raised up -against us. And our own folk fell fast, and the tents that were so -white were one gore of blood. - -“When I was a little tiny boy, father, we had a sport, swimming in -the deep pools of Tivarandarwater, that one boy would catch ’tother -and hold him under till he could no more for want of breath. Methinks -there’s no longing i’ the world so sore as the longing for air when he -that is stronger than thou grippeth thee still under the water, nor no -gladness i’ the world like the bonny sweet air i’ thy lungs again when -a letteth thee shoot up to the free daylight. ’Twas right so with us, -who had now said adieu to hope and saw all lost save life itself, and -that not like to tarry long; when we heard suddenly the thunder of my -Lord’s trumpet sounding to the charge. And ere our startled wits might -rightly think what that portended, was the whole surging battle whipped -and scattered like the water of a lake caught up in a white squall; -and that massed strength of the enemy which had invested us round with -so great a stream of shot and steel reeled first forward then backward -then forward again upon us, confounded in a vast confusion. I trow new -strength came to our arms; I trow our swords opened their mouths. For -northward we beheld the ensign of Galing streaming like a blazing star; -and my Lord’s self in a moment, high advanced above the rout, and Zigg, -and Astar, and hundreds of our horse, hewing their way toward us whiles -we hewed towards them. And now was reaping time for us, and time of -payment for all those weary bloody hours we had held on to life with -our teeth among the tents on Krothering Side, while they o’ the other -part, my Lord and his, had with all the odds of the ground against them -painfully and yard by yard fought out the fight to victory. And now, -ere we well wist of it, the day was won, and the victory ours, and the -enemy broken and put to so great a rout as hath not been seen by living -man. - -“That false king Corinius, after he had tarried to see the end of the -battle, fled with a few of his men out of the great slaughter, and as -it later appeared gat him ashipboard in Aurwath harbour and with three -ships or four escaped to sea. But the most of their fleet was burned -there in the harbour to save it from our hands. - -“My Lord gave command to take up the wounded and tend ’em, friend and -foe alike. Among them was King Laxus ta’en up, stunned with a mace-blow -or some such. So they brought him before the lords where they rested a -little way down the Side above the home meads of Krothering. - -“He looked ’em all in the eye, most proud and soldier-like. Then -a saith unto my Lord, ‘It may be pain, but no shame to us to be -vanquished after so equal and so great a fight. Herein only do I blame -my ill luck, that it denied me fall in battle. Thou mayst now, O Juss, -strike off my head for the treason I wrought you three years ago. And -since I know thee of a courteous and noble nature, I’ll not scorn to -ask of thee this courtesy, not to tarry but take it now.’ - -“My Lord stood there like a war-horse after a breather. He took him by -the hand. ‘O Laxus,’ saith he, ‘I give thee not thy head only, but thy -sword;’ and here a gave it him hilt-foremost. ‘For thy dealings with us -in the battle of Kartadza, let time that hath an art to make dust of -all things so do with the memory of these. Since then, thou hast shown -thyself still our noble enemy; and so shall we account thee still.’ - -“Therewith my Lord commanded bring King Laxus down to the sea, and ship -him aboard of a boat, for Corinius still held off the land with his -ships, waiting no doubt to see if he or any other of his folk could yet -be saved. - -“But as King Laxus was upon parting, my Lord Brandoch Daha, speaking -with great show of carelessness as of some trifling matter a had by -chance called to mind, ‘My lord,’ saith he, ‘I ne’er ask favour of any -man. Only in a manner of return of courtesies, methought thou mightest -be willing to bear my salutations to Corinius, sith I’ve no other -messenger.’ - -“Laxus answereth he would freely do it. Then saith his highness, ‘Say -to him I will not blame him that he abode us not i’ the field after -the battle was lost, for that had been a simple part, flatly ’gainst -all maxims of right soldiership, and but to cast his life away. But -freakish Fortune I blame, that twined us one from the other when we -should have dealt together this day. He hath borne him in my halls, I -am let to know, more i’ the fashion of a swine or a beastly ape than a -man. Pray him come ashore ere you sail home, that I and he, with no man -else to make betwixt us, may cast up our account. We swear him peace -and grith and a safe conduct back to’s ships if he prevail against me -or if I so use him that he cry for mercy. If he’ll not take this offer, -then is he a dastard; and the whole world shall so acclaim him.’ - -“‘Sir,’ saith Laxus, ‘I’ll punctually discharge thy message.’ - -“Whether he did so or no, father, I know not. But if he did, it seemeth -it was little to Corinius’s liking. For no sooner had his ship ta’en -Laxus aboard, than she hoised sail and put out into the deep, and so -good-bye.” - - • • • • • - -The young man ceased, and they were all three silent awhile. A faint -breeze rippled the foliage of the oakwoods of Tivarandardale. The sun -was down behind the stately Thornbacks, and the whole sky from bourne -to bourne was alight with the sunset glory. Dappled clouds, with sky -showing here and there between, covered the heavens, save in the west -where a great archway of clear air opened between clouds and earth: air -of an azure that seemed to burn, so pure it was, so deep, so charged -with warmth: not the harsh blue of noon-day nor the sumptuous deep -eastern blue of approaching night, but a bright heavenly blue bordering -on green, deep, tender, and delicate as the spirit of evening. Athwart -the midst of that window of the west a blade of cloud, hard-edged -and jagged with teeth coloured as of live coals and dead, fiery and -iron-dark in turn, stretched like a battered sword. The clouds above -the arch were pale rose: the zenith like black opal, dark blue and -thunderous grey dappled with fire. - - - - - XXVII: THE SECOND EXPEDITION TO IMPLAND - - HOW THE LORD JUSS, NOT TO BE PERSUADED FROM HIS SET PURPOSE, FOUND, - WHERE LEAST IT WAS TO BE LOOKED FOR, UPHOLDING IN THAT RESOLVE; - AND OF THE SAILING OF THE ARMAMENT TO MUELVA BY WAY OF THE - STRAITS OF MELIKAPHKHAZ. - - -That was the last ember of red summer burning when they cut them that -harvest on Krothering Side. Autumn came, and winter months, and the -lengthening days of the returning year. And with the first breath of -spring were the harbours filled with ships of war, so many as had never -in former days been seen in the land, and in every countryside from the -western Isles to Byland, from Shalgreth and Kelialand to the headlands -under Rimon Armon, were soldiers gathered with their horses and all -instruments of war. - -Lord Brandoch Daha rode from the west, the day the Pasque flowers -first opened on the bluffs below Erngate End and primroses made sweet -the birch-forests in Gashterndale. He set forth betimes, and hard -he rode, and he rode into Galing by the Lion Gate about the hour of -noon. There was Lord Juss in his private chamber, and greeted him with -great joy and love. So Brandoch Daha asked, “What speed?” And Juss -answered, “Thirty ships and five afloat in Lookinghaven, whereof all -save four be dragons of war. Zigg I expect to-morrow with the Kelialand -levies; Spitfire lieth at Owlswick with fifteen hundred men from the -southlands; Volle came in but three hours since with four hundred more. -In sum, I’ll have four thousand, reckoning ships’ companies and our own -bodyguards.” - -“Eight ships of war have I,” said Lord Brandoch Daha, “in Stropardon -Firth, all busked and boun. Five more at Aurwath, five at Lornagay in -Morvey, and three on the Mealand coast at Stackray Oyce, besides four -more in the Isles. And I have sixteen hundred spearmen and six hundred -horse. All these shall come together to join with thine in Lookinghaven -at the snapping of my fingers, give me but seven days’ notice.” - -Juss gripped him by the hand. “Bare were my back without thee,” he said. - -“In Krothering I’ve shifted not a stone nor swept not a chamber clean,” -said Brandoch Daha. “’Tis a muck-pit. Every man’s hand I might command -I set only to this. And now ’tis ready.” He turned sharp toward Juss -and looked at him a minute in silence. Then with a gravity that sat -not often on his lips he said, “Let me be urgent with thee once more: -strike and delay not. Do him not again that kindness we did him -aforetime, fribbling our strength away on the cursed shores of Impland, -and by the charmed waters of Ravary, so as he might as secure as sleep -send Corsus hither and Corinius to work havoc i’ the land; and so put -on us the greatest shame was ever laid on mortal men, and we not bred -up to suffer shame.” - -“Thou saidst seven days,” said Juss. “Snap thy fingers and call up thy -armies. I’ll delay thee not an hour.” - -“Ay, but I mean to Carcë,” said he. - -“To Carcë, whither else?” said Juss. “But I’ll take my brother Goldry -with us.” - -“But I mean first to Carcë,” said Brandoch Daha. “Let my opinion sway -thee once. Why, a schoolboy should tell thee, clear thy flank and rear -ere thou go forward.” - -Juss smiled. “I love this new garb of caution, cousin,” said he; “it -doth most prettily become thee. I question though whether this be not -the true cause: that Corinius took not up thy challenge last summer, -but let it lie, and that hath left thee hungry still.” - -Brandoch Daha looked him sidelong in the eye, and laughed. “O Juss,” -he said, “thou hast touched me near. But ’tis not that. That was in -the weird that bright lady laid on me, in the sparrow-hawk castle -in Impland forlorn: that he I held most in hate should ruin my fair -lordship, and that to my hand should vengeance be denied. That I e’en -must brook. O no. Think only, delays are dangerous. Come, be advised. -Be not mulish.” - -But the Lord Juss’s face was grave. “Urge me no more, dear friend,” -said he. “Thou sleep’st soft. But to me, when I am cast in my first -sleep, cometh many a time the likeness of Goldry Bluszco, held by a -maleficial charm on the mountain top of Zora Rach, that standeth apart, -out of the sunlight, out of all sound or warmth of life. Long ago I -made vow to turn neither to the right nor to the left, until I set him -free.” - -“He is thy brother,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “Also is he mine own -familiar friend, whom I love scarce less than thee. But when thou -speakest of oaths, remember there’s La Fireez too. What shall he think -on us after our oaths to him three years ago, that night in Carcë? Yet -this one blow should right him too.” - -“He will understand,” said Juss. - -“He is to come with Gaslark, and thou told’st me thou dost e’en now -expect them,” said Brandoch Daha. “I’ll leave you. I cannot for shame -say to him, ‘Patience, friend, truly ’tis not to-day convenient. -Thou shalt be paid in time.’ By heavens, I’d scorn to entreat my -mantle-maker so. And this our friend that lost all and languisheth in -exile because he saved our lives.” - -So saying, he stood up in great discontent and ire as if to leave -the chamber. But Juss caught him by the wrist. “Thou dost upbraid me -most unjustly, and well thou knowest it in thy heart, and ’tis that -makes thee so angry. Hark, the horn soundeth at the gate, and ’tis for -Gaslark. I’ll not let thee go.” - -“Well,” said Lord Brandoch Daha, “have thy will. Only ask not me to -plead thy rotten case to them. If I speak it shall be to shame thee. -Now thou’rt warned.” - -Now went they into the high presence chamber, where was bright ladies -not a few, and captains and noble persons from up and down the land, -and stood on the dais. Gaslark the king walked up the shining floor, -and behind him his captains and councillors of Goblinland walked two by -two. The Prince La Fireez strode at his elbow, proud as a lion. - -Blithely they greeted those lords of Demonland that rose up to greet -them beneath the starry canopy, and the Lady Mevrian that stood betwixt -her brother and Lord Juss so as ’twere hard to say which of the three -was fairest to look on, so much they differed in their beauty’s glory. -Gro, standing near, said in himself, “I know a fourth. And were she -but joined with these, then were the crown of the whole earth’s -loveliness fitted in this one chamber: in a right casket surely. And -the Gods in heaven (if there be Gods indeed) should go pale for envy, -having in their starry gallery no fair to match with these; not Phoebus -Apollo, not the chaste Huntress, nor the foam-born Queen herself.” - -But Gaslark, when his eye lighted on the long black beard, the lean -figure slightly stooping, the pallid brow, the curls smoothed with -perfumed unguents, the sickle-like nose, the great liquid eyes, the -lily hand; he, beholding and knowing these of old, waxed in a moment -dark as thunder with the blood-rush beneath his sun-browned skin, and -with a great sweep snatched out his sword, as if without gare or beware -to thrust him through. Gro stepped hastily back. But the Lord Juss came -between them. - -“Let alone, Juss,” cried Gaslark. “Know’st not this fellow, what a vile -enemy and viper we have here? A pretty perfumed villain! who for so -many years did spin me a thread of many seditions and troubles, while -his smooth tongue gat money from me still. Blessed occasion! Now will I -let his soul out.” - -But the Lord Juss laid his hand on Gaslark’s sword-arm. “Gaslark,” said -he, “leave off thy rages, and put up thy sword. A year ago thou’dst -done me no wrong. But to-day thou’dst have slain me a man of mine own -men, and a lord of Demonland.” - -Now when they had done their greetings, they washed their hands and -sate at dinner and were nobly served and feasted. And the Lord Juss -made peace betwixt Gro and Gaslark, albeit ’twas no light task to -prevail upon Gaslark to forgive him. Thereafter they retired them with -Gaslark and La Fireez into a chamber apart. - -Gaslark the king spake and said, “None can gainsay it, O Juss, that -this fight ye won last harvest tide was the greatest seen on land these -many years, and of greatest consequence. But I have heard a bird sing -there shall be yet greater deeds done ere many moons be past. Therefore -it is we came hither to thee, I and La Fireez that be your friends -from of old, to pray thee let us go with thee on thy quest across the -world after thy brother, for sorrow of whose loss the whole world -languisheth; and thereafter let us go with you on your going up to -Carcë.” - -“O Juss,” said the Prince, “we would not in after-days that men should -say, On such a time fared the Demons into perilous lands enchanted and -by their strength and valorousness set free the Lord Goldry Bluszco -(or haply, there ended their life’s days in that glorious quest); but -Gaslark and La Fireez were not in it, they bade their friends farewell, -hung up their swords, and lived a quiet and merry life in Zajë Zaculo. -So let their memory be forgot.” - -Lord Juss sat silent a minute, as one much moved. “O Gaslark,” he said -at length, “I’ll take thine offer without another word. But unto thee, -dear Prince, I must bare mine heart somewhat. For thou here art come -not strest in our quarrel to spend thy blood, only to put us yet deeper -in thy debt. And yet small blame it were to thee shouldst thou in -dishonourable sort revile me, as many shall cry out against me, for a -false friend unto thee and a friend forsworn.” - -But the Prince La Fireez brake in upon him, saying, “I prithee have -done, or thou’lt shame me quite. Whate’er I did in Carcë, ’twas but -equal payment for your saving of my life in Lida Nanguna. So was all -evened up betwixt us. Think then no more on’t, but deny me not to go -with you to Impland. But up to Carcë I’ll not go with you: for albeit -I am clean broke with Witchland, against Corund and his kin I will not -draw sword nor against my lady sister. A black curse on the day I gave -her white hand to Corund! She holdeth too much of our stock, methinks: -her heraldry is hearts not hands. And giving her hand she gave her -heart. ’Tis a strange world.” - -“La Fireez,” said Juss, “we weigh not so lightly our obligation unto -thee. Yet must I hold my course; having sworn a strong oath that I -would turn aside neither to the right nor to the left until I had -delivered my dear brother Goldry out of bondage. So sware I or ever I -went that ill journey to Carcë and was closed in prison fast and by -thee delivered. Nor shall blame of friends nor wrongful misprision nor -any power that is shake me in this determination. But when that is -done, no rest remaineth unto us till we win back for thee thy rightful -realm of Pixyland, and many good things besides to be a token of our -love.” - -Said the Prince, “Thou doest right. If thou didst other thou’dst have -my blame.” - -“And mine thereto,” said Gaslark. “Do not I grieve, think’st thou, to -see the Princess Armelline, my sweet young cousin, grow every day more -wan o’ the cheek and pale? And all for sorrow and teen for her own -true love, the Lord Goldry Bluszco. And she so carefully brought up by -her mother as nothing was too dear or hard to be brought to pass for -her desire, thinking that a creature so noble and perfect could not be -trained up too delicately. I deem to-day better than to-morrow, and -to-morrow better than his morrow, to set sail for wide-fronted Impland.” - -All this while the Lord Brandoch Daha said never a word. He sat back -in his chair of ivory and chrysoprase, now toying with his golden -finger-rings, now twisting and untwisting the yellow curls of his -moustachios and beard. In a while he yawned, rose from his seat and -fell to pacing lazily up and down. He had hitched up his sword across -his back under his two elbows, so that the shoe of the scabbard stood -out under one arm and the jewelled hilt under the other. His fingers -strummed little tunes on the front of the rich rose velvet doublet that -cased his chest. The spring sunlight as he paced from shine to shade -and to shine again, passing the tall windows, seemed to caress his face -and form. It was as if spring laughed for joy beholding in him one that -was her own child, clothed to outward view with so much loveliness and -grace, but full besides to the eyes and finger-tips with fire and vital -sap, like her own buds bursting in the Brankdale coppices. - -In a while he ceased his walking, and stood by the Lord Gro who sat a -little apart from the rest. “How thinkest thou, Gro, of our counsels? -Art thou for the straight road or the crooked? For Carcë or Zora Rach?” - -“Of two roads,” answered Gro, “a wise man will choose ever that one -which is indirect. For but consider the matter, thou that art a great -cragsman: think our life’s course a lofty cliff. I am to climb it, -sometime up, sometime down. I pray, whither leadeth the straight road -on such a cliff? Why, nowhither. For if I will go up by the straight -way, ’tis not possible; I am left gaping whiles thou by crooked courses -hast gained the top. Or if down, why ’tis easy and swift; but then, -no more climbing ever more for me. And thou, clambering down by the -crooked way, shalt find me a dead and unsightly corpse at the bottom.” - -“Grammercy for thy me’s and thee’s,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “Well, -’tis a most weighty principle, backed with a most just and lively -exposition. How dost thou interpret thy maxim in our present question?” - -Lord Gro looked up at him. “My lord, you have used me well, and to -deserve your love and advance your fortunes I have pondered much how -you of Demonland might best obtain revenge upon your enemies. And I -daily thinking hereupon, and conceiving in my head divers imaginations, -can devise no means but one that in my fancy seemeth best, which is -this.” - -“Let me hear it,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. - -Said Gro, “’Twas ever a fault in you Demons that you would not perceive -how ’tis oft-times good to draw the snake from her hole by another -man’s hand. Consider now your matter. You have a great force both for -land and sea. Trust not too much in that. Oft hath he of the little -force o’ercome most powerful enemies, going about to entrap them -by sleight and policy. But consider yet again. You have a thing is -mightier far than all your horses and spearmen and dragons of war, -mightier than thine own sword, my lord, and thou accounted the best -swordsman in all the world.” - -“What thing is that?” asked he. - -Gro answered, “Reputation, my Lord Brandoch Daha. This reputation of -you Demons for open dealings even to your worst enemies.” - -“Tush,” said he. “’Tis but our way i’ the world. Moreover, ’tis, I -think, a thing natural in great persons, of whatsoever country they -be born. Treachery and double dealing proceed commonly from fear, -and that is a thing which I think no man in this land comprehendeth. -Myself, I do think that when the high Gods made a person of my quality -they traced between his two eyes something, I know not what, which the -common sort durst not look upon without trembling.” - -“Give me but leave,” said Lord Gro, “and I’ll pluck you a braver -triumph in a little hour than your swords should win you in two years. -Speak smooth words to Witchland, offer him composition, bring him to a -council and all his great men along with him. I’ll so devise it, they -shall all be suddenly taken off in a night, haply by setting upon them -in their beds, or as we may find most convenient. All save Corund and -his sons; them we may wisely spare, and conclude peace with them. It -shall not by ten days delay your sailing to Impland, whither you might -then proceed with light hearts and minds at ease.” - -“Very prettily conceived, upon my soul,” said Brandoch Daha. “Might I -advise thee, thou’dst best not talk to Juss i’ this manner. Not now, I -mean, while his mind’s so bent on matters of weight and moment. Nor I -should not say it to my sister Mevrian. Women will oft-times take in -sad earnest such a conceit, though it be but talk and discourse. With -me ’tis otherwise. I am something of a philosopher myself, and thy jest -ambleth with my humour very pleasantly.” - -“Thou art pleased to be merry,” said Lord Gro. “Many ere now, as the -event hath proved, rejected my wholesome counsels to their own great -hurt.” - -But Brandoch Daha said lightly, “Fear not, my Lord Gro, we’ll reject -no honest redes of so wise a counsellor as thou. But,” and here was a -light in the eye of him made Gro startle, “did any man with serious -intent dare bid me do a dastard deed, he should have my sword through -the dearest part of’s body.” - -Lord Brandoch Daha now turned him to the rest of them. “Juss,” said -he, “friend of my heart, meseemeth y’are all of one mind, and none of -my mind. I’ll e’en bid you farewell. Farewell, Gaslark; farewell, La -Fireez.” - -“But whither away?” said Juss, standing up from his chair. “Thou must -not leave us.” - -“Whither but to mine own place?” said he, and was gone from the chamber. - -Gaslark said, “He’s much incensed. What hast thou done to anger him?” - -Mevrian said to Juss, “I’ll follow and cool him.” She went, but soon -returned saying, “No avail, my lords. He is ridden forth from Galing -and away as fast as his horse might carry him.” - -Now were they all in a great stew, some conjecturing one thing and -some another. Only the Lord Juss kept silence and a calm countenance, -and the Lady Mevrian. And Juss said at length to Gaslark, “This it is, -that he chafeth at every day’s delay that letteth him from having at -Corinius. Certes, I’ll not blame him, knowing the vile injuries the -fellow did him and his insolence toward thee, madam. Be not troubled. -His own self shall bring him back to me when time is, as no other power -should do ’gainst his good will; he whose great heart Heaven cannot -force with force.” - -And even so, the next night after, when folk were abed and asleep, -Juss, in his high bed-chamber sitting late at his book, heard a bridle -ring. So he called his boys to go with him with torches to the gate. -And there in the dancing torch-light came the Lord Brandoch Daha -a-riding into Galing Castle, and somewhat of the bigness of a great -pumpkin tied in a silken cloth hung at his saddle-bow. Juss met him in -the gate alone. “Let me down from my horse,” he said, “and receive from -me thy bed-fellow that thou must sleep with by the Lake of Ravary.” - -“Thou hast gotten it?” said Juss. “The hippogriff’s egg, out of Dule -Tarn, by thyself alone?” and he took the bundle right tenderly in his -two hands. - -“Ay,” answered he. “’Twas where thou and I made sure of it last summer, -according to the word of her little martlet that first found it for us. -The tarn was frozen and ’twas tricky work diving and most villanous -cold. It is small marvel thou’rt a lucky man in thine undertakings, O -Juss, when thou hast such an art to draw thy friends to second thee.” - -“I thought thou’dst not leave me,” said Juss. - -“Thought?” cried Brandoch Daha. “Didst ever dream I’d suffer thee to -do thy foolishnesses alone? Nay, I’ll come first to the enchanted lake -with thee, and let be Carcë i’ the meantime. Howbeit I’ll do it ’gainst -the stream of my resolution quite.” - - • • • • • - -Now was but six days more of preparation, and on the second day of -April was all ready in Lookinghaven for the sailing of that mighty -armament: fifty and nine ships of war and five ships of burthen and -thrice two thousand fighting men. - -Lady Mevrian sat on her milk-white mare overlooking the harbour -where the ships all orderly rode at anchor, shadowy gray against the -sun-bright shimmer of the sea, with here and there a splash of colour, -crimson or blue or grass-green, from their painted hulls or a beam of -the sun glancing from their golden masts or figure-heads. Gro stood -at her bridle-rein. The Galing road, winding down from Havershaw -Tongue, ran close below them and so along the sea-shore to the quays -at Lookinghaven. Along that road the hard earth rang with the tramp -of armed men and the tramp of horses, and the light west wind wafted -to Gro and Mevrian on their grassy hill snatches of deep-voiced -battle-chants or the galloping notes of trumpet and pipe and the drum -that sets men’s hearts a-throb. - -In the van rode the Lord Zigg, four trumpeters walking before him in -gold and purple. His armour from chin to toe shone with silver, and -jewels blazed on his gorget and baldrick and the hilt of his long -straight sword. He rode a black stallion savage-eyed with ears laid -back and a tail that swept the earth. A great company of horse followed -him, and half as many tall spearmen, in russet leather jerkins plated -with brass and silver. “These,” said Mevrian, “be of Kelialand and the -shore-steads of Arrowfirth, and his own vassalage from Rammerick and -Amadardale. That is Hesper Golthring rideth a little behind him on -his right hand; he loveth two things in this world, a good horse and -a swift ship. He on the left, he o’ the helm of dull silver set with -raven’s wings, so long of the leg thou’dst say if he rode a little -horse he might straddle and walk it: Styrkmir of Blackwood. He is of -our kin; not yet twenty years old, yet since Krothering Side accounted -one of our ablest.” - -So she showed him all as they rode by. Peridor of Sule, captain of the -Mealanders, and his nephew Stypmar. Fendor of Shalgreth with Emeron -Galt his young brother, that was newly healed from the great wound -Corinius gave him at Krothering Side; these leading the shepherds and -herdsmen from the great heaths north of Switchwater, who will hold by -the stirrup and so with their light bucklers and little brown swords go -into battle with the horsemen full gallop against the enemy. Bremery in -his ram’s-horn helm of gold and broidered surcoat of scarlet velvet, -leading the dalesmen from Onwardlithe and Tivarandardale. Trentmar of -Scorradale with the north-eastern levies from Byland and the Strands -and Breakingdale. Astar of Rettray, lean and lithe, bony-faced, -gallant-eyed, white of skin, with bright red hair and beard, riding -his lovely roan at the head of two companies of spearmen with huge -iron-studded shields: men from about Drepaby and the south-eastern -dales, landed men and home-men of Lord Goldry Bluszco. Then the -island dwellers from the west, with old Quazz of Dalney riding in the -place of honour, noble to look on with his snowy beard and shining -armour, but younger men their true leaders in war: Melchar of Strufey, -great-chested, fierce-eyed, with thick brown curling hair, horsed on a -plunging chestnut, his byrny bright with gold, a rich mantle of creamy -silk brocade flung about his ample shoulders, and Tharmrod on his -little black mare with silver byrny and bats-winged helm, he that held -Kenarvey in fee for Lord Brandoch Daha, keen and ready like an arrow -drawn to the barbs. And after them the Westmark men, with Arnund of By -their captain. And after them, four hundred horse, not to be surpassed -for beauty or ordered array by any in that great army, and young -Kamerar riding at their head, burly as a giant, straight as a lance, -apparelled like a king, bearing on his mighty spear the pennon of the -Lord of Krothering. - -“Look well on these,” said Mevrian as they passed by. “Our own men -of the Side and Thunderfirth and Stropardon. Thou may’st search the -wide world and not find their like for speed and fire and all warlike -goodliness and readiness to the word of command. Thou look’st sad, my -lord.” - -“Madam,” said Lord Gro, “to the ear of one that useth, as I use, to -consider the vanity of all high earthly pomps, the music of these -powers and glories hath a deep under-drone of sadness. Kings and -governors that do exult in strength and beauty and lustihood and rich -apparel, showing themselves for awhile upon the stage of the world and -open dominion of high heaven, what are they but the gilded summer fly -that decayeth with the dying day?” - -“My brother and the rest must not stay for us,” said the lady. “They -meant to go aboard as soon as the army should be come down to the -harbour, for their ships be to sail out first down the firth. Is it -determined indeed that thou goest with them on this journey?” - -“I had so determined, madam,” answered he. She was beginning to move -down towards the road and the harbour, but Gro put a hand on the rein -and stopped her. “Dear lady,” he said, “these three nights together I -have dreamed a dream: a strange dream, and all the particulars thereof -betokening heavy anxiety, increase of peril, and savage mischief; -promising some terrible issue. Methinks if I go on this journey thou -shalt see my face no more.” - -“O fie, my lord,” cried she, reaching him her hand, “give never a -thought to such fond imaginings. ’Twas the moon but glancing in thine -eye. Or if not, stay with us here and cheat Fate.” - -Gro kissed her hand, and kept it in his. “My Lady Mevrian,” he said, -“Fate will not be cheated, cog we never so wisely. I do think there be -not many extant that in a noble way fear the face of death less than -myself. I’ll go o’ this journey. There is but one thing should turn me -back.” - -“And ’tis?” said she, for he fell silent on a sudden. - -He paused, looking down at her gloved hand resting in his. “A man -becometh hoarse and dumb,” said he, “if a wolf hath the advantage first -to eye him. Didst thou procure thee a wolf to dumb me when I would tell -thee? But I did once; enough to let thee know. O Mevrian, dost thou -remember Neverdale?” - -He looked up at her. But Mevrian sat with head erect, like her -Patroness divine, with sweet cool lips set firm and steady eyes fixed -on the haven and the riding ships. Gently she drew her hand from Gro’s, -and he strove not to retain it. She eased forward the reins. Gro -mounted and followed her. They rode quietly down to the road and so -southward side by side to the harbour. Ere they came within earshot of -the quay, Mevrian spake and said, “Thou’lt not think me graceless nor -forgetful, my lord. All that is mine, O ask it, and I’ll give it thee -with both hands. But ask me not that I have not to give, or if I gave -should give but false gold. For that’s a thing not good for thee nor -me, nor I would not do it to an enemy, far less to thee my friend.” - - • • • • • - -Now was the army all gotten ashipboard, and farewells said to Volle and -those who should abide at home with him. The ships rowed out into the -firth all orderly, their silken sails unfurled, and that great armament -sailed southward into the open seas under a clear sky. All the way -the wind favoured them, and they made a swift passage, so that on the -thirtieth morning from their sailing out of Lookinghaven they sighted -the long gray cliff-line of Impland the More dim in the lowblown spray -of the sea, and sailed through the Straits of Melikaphkhaz in column -ahead, for scarce might two ships pass abreast through that narrow way. -Black precipices shut in the straits on either hand, and the sea-birds -in their thousands whitened every little ledge of those cliffs like -snow. Great flights of them rose and circled overhead as the ships -sped by, and the air was full of their plaints. And right and left, as -of young whales blowing, columns of white spray shot up continually -from the surface of the sea. For these were the stately-winged gannets -fishing that sea-strait. By threes and fours they flew, each following -other in ordered line, many mast-heights high; and ever and anon -one checked in her flight as if a bolt had smitten her, and swooped -head-foremost with wings half-spread, like a broad-barbed dart of -dazzling whiteness, till at a few feet above the surface she clapped -close her wings and cleft the water with a noise as of a great stone -cast into the sea. Then in a moment up she bobbed, white and spruce -with her prey in her gullet; rode the waves a minute to rest and -consider; then with great sweeping wing-strokes up again to resume her -flight. - -After a mile or two the narrows opened and the cliffs grew lower, and -the fleet sped past the red reefs of Uaimnaz and the lofty stacks of -Pashnemarthra white with sea-gulls on to the blue solitude of the -Didornian Sea. All day they sailed south-east with a failing wind. The -coast-line of Melikaphkhaz fell away astern, paled in the mists of -distance, and was lost to sight, until only the square cloven outline -of the Pashnemarthran islands broke the level horizon of the sea. Then -these too sank out of sight, and the ships rowed on south-eastward in a -dead calm. The sun stooped to the western waves, entering his bath of -blood-red fire. He sank, and all the ways were darkened. All night they -rowed gently on under the strange southern stars, and the broken waters -of that sea at every oar-stroke were like fire burning. Then out of the -sea to eastward came the day-star, ushering the dawn, brighter than all -night’s stars, tracing a little path of gold along the waters. Then -dawn, filling the low eastern skies with a fleet of tiny cockle-shells -of bright gold fire; then the great face of the sun ablaze. And with -the going up of the sun a light wind sprang up, bellying their sails on -the starboard tack; so that ere day declined the sea-cliffs of Muelva -hung white above the spray-mist on their larboard bow. They beached -the ships on a white shell-strand behind a headland that sheltered it -from the east and north. Here the barrier of cliffs stood back a little -from the shore, giving place for a fertile dell of green pasture, and -woods clustering at the foot of the cliffs, and a little spring of -water in the midst. - -So for that night they slept on board, and next day made their camp, -discharging the ships of burthen that were laden with the horses and -stuff. But the Lord Juss was minded not to tarry an hour more in Muelva -than should suffice to give all needful orders to Gaslark and La Fireez -what they should do and when expect him again, and to make provision -for himself and those who must fare with him beyond those shadowing -cliffs into the haunted wastes of the Moruna. Ere noon was all this -accomplished and farewells said, and those lords, Juss, Spitfire, and -Brandoch Daha, set forth along the beach southward towards a point -where it seemed most hopeful to scale the cliffs. With them went the -Lord Gro, both by his own wish and because he had known the Moruna -aforetime and these particular parts thereof; and with them went -besides those two brothers-in-law, Zigg and Astar, bearing the precious -burden of the egg, for that honour and trust had Juss laid on them at -their earnest seeking. So with some pains after an hour or more they -won up the barrier, and halted for a minute on the cliff’s edge. - -The skin of Gro’s hands was hurt with the sharp rocks. Tenderly he -drew on his lambswool gloves, and shivered a little; for the breath of -that desert blew snell and frore and there seemed a shadow in the air -southward, for all it was bright and gentle weather below whence they -were come. Yet albeit his frail body quailed, even so were his spirits -within him raised with high and noble imaginings as he stood on the -lip of that rocky cliff. The cloudless vault of heaven; the unnumbered -laughter of the sea; that quiet cove beneath, and those ships of war -and that army camping by the ships; the emptiness of the blasted wolds -to southward, where every rock seemed like a dead man’s skull and every -rank tuft of grass hag-ridden; the bearing of those lords of Demonland -who stood beside him, as if nought should be of commoner course to them -pursuing their resolve than to turn their backs on living land and -enter those regions of the dead; these things with a power as of a -mighty music made Gro’s breath catch in his throat and the tear spring -in his eye. - -In such wise after more than two years did Lord Juss begin his second -crossing of the Moruna in quest of his dear brother the Lord Goldry -Bluszco. - - - - - XXVIII: ZORA RACH NAM PSARRION - - OF THE LORD JUSS’S RIDING OF THE HIPPOGRIFF TO ZORA RACH, AND OF - THE ILLS ENCOUNTERED BY HIM IN THAT ACCURSED PLACE, AND THE - MANNER OF HIS PERFORMING HIS GREAT ENTERPRISE TO DELIVER HIS - BROTHER OUT OF BONDAGE. - - -Lulled with light-stirring airs too gentle-soft to ruffle her glassy -surface, warm incense-laden airs sweet with the perfume of immortal -flowers, the charmed Lake of Ravary dreamed under the moon. It was the -last hour before the dawn. Enchanted boats, that seemed builded of the -glow-worm’s light, drifted on the starry bosom of the lake. Over the -sloping woods the limbs of the mountains lowered, unmeasured, vast, -mysterious in the moon’s glamour. In remote high spaces of night beyond -glimmered the spires of Koshtra Pivrarcha and the virgin snows of -Romshir and Koshtra Belorn. No bird or beast moved in the stillness: -only a nightingale singing to the stars from a coppice of olive-trees -near the Queen’s pavilion on the eastern shore. And that was a note not -like a bird’s of middle earth, but a note to charm down spirits out -of the air, or to witch the imperishable senses of the Gods when they -would hold communion with holy Night and make her perfect, and all her -lamps and voices perfect in their eyes. - -The silken hangings of the pavilion door, parting as in the portal of -a vision, made way for that Queen, fosterling of the most high Gods. -She paused a step or two beyond the threshold, looking down where those -lords of Demonland, Spitfire and Brandoch Daha, with Gro and Zigg and -Astar, wrapped in their cloaks, lay on the gowany dewy banks that -sloped down to the water’s edge. - -“Asleep,” she whispered. “Even as he within sleepeth against the dawn. -I do think it is only in a great man’s breast sleep hath so gentle a -bed when great events are toward.” - -Like a lily, or like a moonbeam strayed through the leafy roof into a -silent wood, she stood there, her face uplifted to the starry night -where all the air was drenched with the silver radiance of the moon. -And now in a soft voice she began supplication to the Gods which are -from everlasting, calling upon them in turn by their holy names, -upon gray-eyed Pallas, and Apollo, and Artemis the fleet Huntress, -upon Aphrodite, and Here, Queen of Heaven, and Ares, and Hermes, and -the dark-tressed Earthshaker. Nor was she afraid to address her holy -prayers to him who from his veiled porch beside Acheron and Lethe Lake -binds to his will the devils of the under-gloom, nor to the great -Father of All in Whose sight time from the beginning until to-day is -but the dipping of a wand into the boundless ocean of eternity. So -prayed she to the blessed Gods, most earnestly requiring them that -under their countenance might be that ride, the like whereof earth had -not known: the riding of the hippogriff, not rashly and by an ass as -heretofore to his own destruction, but by the man of men who with clean -purpose and resolution undismayed should enforce it carry him to his -heart’s desire. - -Now in the east beyond the feathery hilltops and the great snow wall -of Romshir the gates were opening to the day. The sleepers wakened and -stood up. There was a great noise from within the pavilion. They turned -wide-eyed, and forth of the hangings of the doorway came that young -thing new-hatched, pale and doubtful as the new light which trembled -in the sky. Juss walked beside it, his hand on the sapphire mane. High -and resolute was his look, as he gave good-morrow to the Queen, to his -brother and his friends. No word they said, only in turn gripped him -by the hand. The hour was upon them. For even as day striding on the -eastern snow-fields stormed night out of high heaven, so and with such -swift increase of splendour was might bodily and the desire of the -upper air born in that wild steed. It shone as if lighted by a moving -lamp from withinward, sniffed the sweet morning air and whinnied, -pawing the grass of the waterside and tearing it up with its claws of -gold. Juss patted the creature’s arching neck, looked to the bridle he -had fitted to its mouth, made sure of the fastenings of his armour, and -loosened in the scabbard his great sword. And now up sprang the sun. - -The Queen said, “Remember: when thou shalt see the lord thy brother in -his own shape, that is no illusion. Mistrust all else. And the almighty -Gods preserve and comfort thee.” - -Therewith the hippogriff, as if maddened with the day-beams, plunged -like a wild horse, spread wide its rainbow pinions, reared, and took -wing. But the Lord Juss was sprung astride of it, and the grip of his -knees on the ribs of it was like brazen clamps. The firm land seemed -to rush away beneath him to the rear; the lake and the shore and -islands thereof showed in a moment small and remote, and the figures -of the Queen and his companions like toys, then dots, then shrunken to -nothingness, and the vast silence of the upper air opened and received -him into utter loneliness. In that silence earth and sky swirled like -the wine in a shaken goblet as the wild steed rocketed higher and -higher in great spirals. A cloud billowy-white shut in the sky before -them; brighter and brighter it grew in its dazzling whiteness as they -sped towards it, until they touched it and the glory was dissolved in a -grey mist that grew still darker and colder as they flew till suddenly -they emerged from the further side of the cloud into a radiance of -blue and gold blinding in its glory. So for a while they flew with no -set direction, only ever higher, till at length obedient to Juss’s -mastery the hippogriff ceased from his sports and turned obediently -westward, and so in a swift straight course, mounting ever, sped over -Ravary towards the departing night. And now indeed it was as if they -had verily overtaken night in her western caves. For the air waxed -darker about them and always darker, until the great peaks that stood -round Ravary were hidden, and all the green land of Zimiamvia, with its -plains and winding waters and hills and uplands and enchanted woods, -hidden and lost in an evil twilight. And the upper heaven was ateem -with portents: whole armies of men skirmishing in the air, dragons, -wild beasts, bloody streamers, blazing comets, fiery strakes, with -other apparitions innumerable. But all silent, and all cold, so that -Juss’s hands and feet were numbed with the cold and his moustachios -stiff with hoar-frost. - -[Illustration: HIPPOGRIFF IN FLIGHT.] - -Before them now, invisible till now, loomed the gaunt peak of Zora -Rach, black, wintry, and vast, still towering above them for all they -soared ever higher, grand and lonely above the frozen wastes of the -Psarrion Glaciers. Juss stared at that peak till the wind of their -flight blinded his eyes with tears; but it was yet too far for any -glimpse of that which he hungered to behold: no brazen citadel, no -coronal of flame, no watcher on the heights. Zora, like some dark -queen of Hell that disdains that presumptuous mortal eyes should dare -to look lovely on her dread beauties, drew across her brow a veil of -thundercloud. They flew on, and that steel-blue pall of thunderous -vapour rolled forth till it canopied all the sky above them. Juss -tucked his two hands for warmth into the feathery armpits of the -hippogriff’s wings where the wings joined the creature’s body. So -bitter cold it was, his very eyeballs were frozen and fixed; but that -pain was a light thing beside somewhat he now felt within him the -like whereof he never before had known: a death-like horror as of the -houseless loneliness of naked space, which gripped him at the heart. - -They landed at last on a crag of black obsidian stone a little below -the cloud that hid the highest rocks. The hippogriff, couched on the -steep slope, turned its head to look on Juss. He felt the creature’s -body beneath him quiver. Its ears were laid back, its eye wide with -terror. “Poor child,” he said. “I have brought thee an ill journey, and -thou but one hour hatched from the egg.” - -He dismounted; and in that same instant was bereaved. For the -hippogriff with a horse-scream of terror took wing and vanished down -the mirk air, diving headlong away to eastward, back to the world of -life and sunlight. - -And the Lord Juss stood alone in that region of fear and frost and the -soul-quailing gloom, under the black summit-rocks of Zora Rach. - -Setting, as the Queen had counselled him to do, his whole heart and -mind on the dread goal he intended, he turned to the icy cliff. As he -climbed the cold cloud covered him, yet not so thick but he might see -ten paces’ distance before and about him as he went. Ill sights enow, -and enow to quail a strong man’s resolution, showed in his path: shapes -of damned fiends and gorgons of the pit running in the way, threatening -him with death and doom. But Juss, gritting his teeth, climbed on and -through them, they being unsubstantial. Then up rose an eldritch cry, -“What man of middle-earth is this that troubleth our quiet? Make an -end! Call up the basilisks. Call up the Golden Basilisk, which bloweth -upon and setteth on fire whatsoever he seeth. Call up the Starry -Basilisk, and whatso he seeth it immediately shrinks up and perisheth. -Call up the Bloody Basilisk, who if he see or touch any living thing it -floweth away so that nought there remaineth but the bones!” - -That was a voice to freeze the marrow, yet he pressed on, saying in -himself, “All is illusion, save that alone she told me of.” And nought -appeared: only the silence and the cold, and the rocks grew ever -steeper and their ice-glaze more dangerous, and the difficulty like -the difficulty of those Barriers of Emshir, up which more than two -years ago he had followed Brandoch Daha and on which he had encountered -and slain the beast mantichora. The leaden hours drifted by, and now -night shut down, bitter and black and silent. Sore weariness bodily -was come upon Juss, and his whole soul weary withal and near to death -as he entered a snow-bedded gully that cut deep into the face of the -mountain, there to await the day. He durst not sleep in that freezing -night; scarcely dared he rest lest the cold should master him, but must -keep for ever moving and stamping and chafing hands and feet. And yet, -as the slow night crept by, death seemed a desirable thing that should -end such utter weariness. - -Morning came with but a cold alteration of the mist from black to -gray, disclosing the snow-bound rocks silent, dreary, and dead. Juss, -enforcing his half frozen limbs to resume the ascent, beheld a sight of -woe too terrible for the eye: a young man, helmed and graithed in dark -iron, a black-a-moor with goggle-eyes and white teeth agrin, who held -by the neck a fair young lady kneeling on her knees and clasping his -as in supplication, and he most bloodily brandishing aloft his spear -of six foot of length as minded to reave her of her life. This lady, -seeing the Lord Juss, cried out on him for succour very piteously, -calling him by his name and saying, “Lord Juss of Demonland, have -mercy, and in your triumph over the powers of night pause for an -instant to deliver me, poor afflicted damosel, from this cruel tyrant. -Can your towering spirit, which hath quarried upon kingdoms, make a -stoop at him? O that should approve you noble indeed, and bless you -for ever!” - -Surely the very heart of him groaned, and he clapped hand to sword -wishing to right so cruel a wrong. But on the motion he bethought him -of the wiles of evil that dwelt in that place, and of his brother, -and with a great groan passed on. In which instant he beheld sidelong -how the cruel murtherer smote with his spear that delicate lady, and -detrenched and cut the two master-veins of her neck, so as she fell -dying in her blood. Juss mounted with a great pace to the head of the -gully, and looking back beheld how black-a-moor and lady both were -changed to two coiling serpents. And he laboured on, shaken at heart, -yet glad to have so escaped the powers that would have limed him so. - -Darker grew the mist, and heavier the brooding dread which seemed -elemental of the airs about that mountain. Pausing well nigh exhausted -on a small stance of snow Juss beheld the appearance of a man armed -who rolled prostrate in the way, tearing with his nails at the hard -rock and frozen snow, and the snow was all one gore of blood beneath -the man; and the man besought him in a stifled voice to go no further -but raise him up and bring him down the mountain. And when Juss, after -an instant’s doubt betwixt pity and his resolve, would have passed by, -the man cried and said, “Hold, for I am thy very brother thou seekest, -albeit the King hath by his art framed me to another likeness, hoping -so to delude thee. For thy love sake be not deluded!” Now the voice was -like to the voice of his brother Goldry, howbeit weak. But the Lord -Juss bethought him again of the words of Sophonisba the Queen, that he -should see his brother in his own shape and nought else must he trust; -and he thought, “It is an illusion, this also.” So he said, “If that -thou be truly my dear brother, take thy shape.” But the man cried as -with the voice of the Lord Goldry Bluszco, “I may not, till that I be -brought down from the mountain. Bring me down, or my curse be upon thee -for ever.” - -The Lord Juss was torn with pity and doubt and wonder, to hear that -voice again of his dear brother so beseeching him. Yet he answered and -said, “Brother, if that it be thou indeed, then bide till I have won -to this mountain top and the citadel of brass which in a dream I saw, -that I may know truly thou art not there, but here. Then will I turn -again and succour thee. But until I see thee in thine own shape I will -mistrust all. For hither I came from the ends of the earth to deliver -thee, and I will set my good on no doubtful cast, having spent so much -and put so much in danger for thy dear sake.” - -So with a heavy heart he set hand again to those black rocks, iced and -slippery to the touch. Therewith up rose an eldritch cry, “Rejoice, -for this earth-born is mad! Rejoice, for that was not perfect friend, -that relinquished his brother at his need!” But Juss climbed on, and by -and by looking back beheld how in that seeming man’s place writhed a -grisful serpent. And he was glad, so much as gladness might be in that -mountain of affliction and despair. - -Now was his strength near gone, as day drew again toward night and he -climbed the last crags under the peak of Zora. And he, who had all his -days drunk deep of the fountain of the joy of life and the glory and -the wonder of being, felt ever deadlier and darker in his soul that -lonely horror which he first had tasted the day before at his first -near sight of Zora, while he flew through the cold air portent-laden; -and his whole heart grew sick because of it. - -And now he was come to the ring of fire that was about the summit of -the mountain. He was beyond terror or the desire of life, and trod the -fire as it had been his own home’s threshold. The blue tongues of flame -died under his foot-tread, making a way before him. The brazen gates -stood wide. He entered in, he passed up the brazen stair, he stood on -that high roof-floor which he had beheld in dreams, he looked as in -a dream on him he had crossed the confines of the dead to find: Lord -Goldry Bluszco keeping his lone watch on the unhallowed heights of -Zora. Not otherwise was the Lord Goldry, not by an hairsbreadth, than -as Juss had aforetime seen him on that first night in Koshtra Belorn, -so long ago. He reclined propped on one elbow on that bench of brass, -his head erect, his eyes fixed as on distant space, viewing the depths -beyond the star-shine, as one waiting till time should have an end. - -He turned not at his brother’s greeting. Juss went to him and stood -beside him. The Lord Goldry Bluszco moved not an eyelid. Juss spoke -again, and touched his hand. It was stiff and like dank earth. The -cold of it struck through Juss’s body and smote him at the heart. He -said in himself, “He is dead.” - -With that, the horror shut down upon Juss’s soul like madness. -Fearfully he stared about him. The cloud had lifted from the mountain’s -peak and hung like a pall above its nakedness. Chill air that was like -the breath of the whole world’s grave: vast blank cloud-barriers: dim -far forms of snow and ice, silent, solitary, pale, like mountains of -the dead: it was as if the bottom of the world were opened and truth -laid bare: the ultimate Nothing. - -To hold off the horror from his soul, Juss turned in memory to the -dear life of earth, those things he had most set his heart on, men and -women he loved dearest in his life’s days; battles and triumphs of his -opening manhood, high festivals in Galing, golden summer noons under -the Westmark pines, hunting morns on the high heaths of Mealand; the -day he first backed a horse, of a spring morning in a primrose glade -that opened on Moonmere, when his small brown legs were scarce the -length of his fore-arm now, and his dear father held him by the foot as -he trotted, and showed him where the squirrel had her nest in the old -oak tree. - -He bowed his head as if to avoid a blow, so plain he seemed to hear -somewhat within him crying with a high voice and loud, “Thou art -nothing. And all thy desires and memories and loves and dreams, -nothing. The little dead earth-louse were of greater avail than thou, -were it not nothing as thou art nothing. For all is nothing: earth -and sky and sea and they that dwell therein. Nor shall this illusion -comfort thee, if it might, that when thou art abolished these things -shall endure for a season, stars and months return, and men grow old -and die, and new men and women live and love and die and be forgotten. -For what is it to thee, that shalt be as a blown-out flame? and all -things in earth and heaven, and things past and things for to come, -and life and death, and the mere elements of space and time, of being -and not being, all shall be nothing unto thee; because thou shalt be -nothing, for ever.” - -And the Lord Juss cried aloud in his agony, “Fling me to Tartarus, -deliver me to the black infernal Furies, let them blind me, seethe me -in the burning lake. For so should there yet be hope. But in this -horror of Nothing is neither hope nor life nor death nor sleep nor -waking, for ever. For ever.” - -In this black mood of horror he abode for awhile, until a sound of -weeping and wailing made him raise his head, and he beheld a company -of mourners walking one behind another about the brazen floor, all -cloaked in funeral black, mourning the death of Lord Goldry Bluszco. -And they rehearsed his glorious deeds and praised his beauty and -prowess and goodliness and strength: soft women’s voices lamenting, -so that the Lord Juss’s soul seemed as he listened to arise again out -of annihilation’s waste, and his heart grew soft again, even unto -tears. He felt a touch on his arm and looking up met the gaze of two -eyes gentle as a dove’s, suffused with tears, looking into his from -under the darkness of that hood of mourning; and a woman’s voice spake -and said, “This is the observable day of the death of the Lord Goldry -Bluszco, which hath been dead now a year; and we his fellows in bondage -do bewail him, as thou mayst see, and shall so bewail him again year by -year whiles we are on life. And for thee, great lord, must we yet more -sorrowfully lament, since of all thy great works done this is the empty -guerdon, and this the period of thine ambition. But come, take comfort -for a season, since unto all dominions Fate hath set their end, and -there is no king on the road of death.” - -So the Lord Juss, his heart dead within him for grief and despair, -suffered her take him by the hand and conduct him down a winding -stairway that led from that brazen floor to an inner chamber fragrant -and delicious, lighted with flickering lamps. Surely life and its -turmoils seemed faded to a distant and futile murmur, and the horror of -the void seemed there but a vain imagination, under the heavy sweetness -of that chamber. His senses swooned; he turned towards his veiled -conductress. She with a sudden motion cast off her mourning cloak, and -stood there, her whole fair body bared to his gaze, open-armed, a sight -to ravish the soul with love and all delight. - -Well nigh had he clasped to his bosom that vision of dazzling -loveliness. But fortune, or the high Gods, or his own soul’s might, -woke yet again in his drugged brain remembrance of his purpose, so that -he turned violently from that bait prepared for his destruction, and -strode from the chamber up to that roof where his dear brother sat as -in death. Juss caught him by the hand: “Speak to me, kinsman. It is I, -Juss. It is Juss, thy brother.” - -But Goldry moved not neither answered any word. - -Juss looked at the hand resting in his, so like his own to the very -shape of the finger nails and the growth of the hairs on the back of -the hand and fingers. He let it go, and the arm dropped lifeless. -“It is very certain,” said he, “thou art in a manner frozen, and thy -spirits and understanding frozen and congealed within thee.” - -So saying, he bent to gaze close in Goldry’s eyes, touching his arm and -shoulder. Not a limb stirred, not an eyelid flickered. He caught him -by the hand and sleeve as if to force him up from the bench, calling -him loudly by his name, shaking him roughly, crying, “Speak to me, thy -brother, that crossed the world to find thee;” but he abode a dead -weight in Juss’s grasp. - -“If thou be dead,” said Juss, “then am I dead with thee. But till -then I’ll ne’er think thee dead.” And he sat down on the bench beside -his brother, taking his hand in his, and looked about him. Nought but -utter silence. Night had fallen, and the moon’s calm radiance and the -twinkling stars mingled with the pale fires that hedged that mountain -top in an uncertain light. Hell loosed no more her denizens in the air, -and since the moment when Juss had in that inner chamber shaken himself -free of that last illusion no presence had he seen nor simulacrum of -man or devil save only Goldry his brother; nor might that horror any -more master his high heart, but the memory of it was but as the bitter -chill of a winter sea that takes the swimmer’s breath for an instant as -he plunges first into the icy waters. - -So with a calm and a steadfast mind the Lord Juss abode there, his -second night without sleep, for sleep he dared not in that accursed -place. But for joy of his found brother, albeit it seemed there was in -him neither speech nor sight nor hearing, Juss scarce wist of his great -weariness. And he nourished himself with that ambrosia given him by the -Queen, for well he thought the uttermost strength of his body should -now be tried in the task he now decreed him. - -When it was day, he arose and taking his brother Goldry bodily on his -back set forth. Past the gates of brass Juss bore him, and past the -barriers of flame, and painfully and by slow degrees down the long -northern ridge which overhangs the Psarrion Glaciers. All that day, -and the night following, and all the next day after were they on the -mountain, and well nigh dead was Juss for weariness when on the second -day an hour or two before sun-down they reached the moraine. Yet was -triumph in his heart, and gladness of a great deed done. They lay that -night in a grove of strawberry trees under the steep foot of a mountain -some ten miles beyond the western shore of Ravary, and met Spitfire -and Brandoch Daha who had waited with their boat two nights at the -appointed spot, about eventide of the following day. - -Now as soon as Juss had brought him off the mountain, this frozen -condition of the Lord Goldry was so far thawed that he was able -to stand upon his feet and walk; but never a word might he speak, -and never a look they gat from him, but still his gaze was set and -unchanging, seeming when it rested on his companions to look through -and beyond them as at some far thing seen in a mist. So that each was -secretly troubled, fearing lest this condition of the Lord Goldry -Bluszco should prove remediless, and this that they now received back -from prison but the poor remain of him they had so much desired. - -They came aland and brought him to Sophonisba the Queen where she made -haste to meet them on the fair lawn before her pavilion. The Queen, -as if knowing beforehand both their case and the remedy thereof, took -by the hand the Lord Juss and said, “O my lord, there yet remaineth a -thing for thee to do to free him throughly, that hast outfaced terrors -beyond the use of man to bring him back: a little stone indeed to crown -this building of thine, and yet without it all were in vain, as itself -were vain without the rest that was all thine: and mine is this last, -and with a pure heart I give it thee.” - -So saying she made the Lord Juss bow down till she might kiss his -mouth, sweetly and soberly one light kiss. And she said, “This give -unto the lord thy brother.” And Juss did so, kissing his dear brother -in like manner on the mouth; and she said, “Take him, dear my lords. -And I have utterly put out the remembrance of these things from his -heart. Take him, and give thanks unto the high Gods because of him.” - -Therewith the Lord Goldry Bluszco looked upon them and upon that fair -Queen and the mountains and the woods and the cool lake’s loveliness, -as a man awakened out of a deep slumber. - -Surely there was joy in all their hearts that day. - - - - - XXIX: THE FLEET AT MUELVA - - HOW THE LORDS OF DEMONLAND CAME AGAIN TO THEIR SHIPS AT MUELVA, AND - THE TIDINGS THEY LEARNED THERE. - - -For nine days’ space the lords of Demonland abode with Queen Sophonisba -in Koshtra Belorn and beside the Lake of Ravary tasting such high and -pure delights as belike none else hath tasted, if it were not the -spirits of the blest in Elysium. When they bade her farewell, the Queen -said, “My little martlets shall bring me tidings of you. And when you -shall have brought to mere perdition the wicked regiment of Witchland -and returned again to your dear native land, then is my time for that, -my Lord Juss, whereof I have often talked to thee and often gladded -my dreams with the thought thereof: to visit earth again and the -habitations of men, and be your guest in many-mountained Demonland.” - -Juss kissed her hand and said, “Fail not in this, dear Queen, -whatsoe’er betide.” - -So the Queen let bring them by a secret way out upon the high -snow-fields that are betwixt Koshtra Belorn and Romshir, whence they -came down into the glen of the dark water that descends from the -glacier of Temarm, and so through many perilous scapes after many days -back by way of the Moruna to Muelva and the ships. - -There Gaslark and La Fireez, when their greetings were done and their -rejoicings, said to the Lord Juss, “We abide too long time here. We -have entered the barrel and the bung-hole is stopped.” Therewithal they -brought him Hesper Golthring, who three days ago sailing to the Straits -for forage came back again but yesterday with a hot alarum that he met -certain ships of Witchland: and brought them to battle: and gat one -sunken ere they brake off the fight: and took up certain prisoners. “By -whose examination,” saith he, “as well as from mine own perceiving and -knowing, it appeareth Laxus holdeth the Straits with eight score ships -of war, the greatest ships that ever the sea bare until this day, come -hither of purpose to destroy us.” - -“Eight score ships?” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “Witchland commandeth not -the half, nor the third part, of such a strength since we did them down -last harvest-tide in Aurwath haven. It is not leveable, Hesper.” - -Hesper answered him, “Your highness shall find it truth; and more the -sorrow on’t and the wonder.” - -“’Tis the scourings of his subject-allies,” said Spitfire. “We shall -find them no such hard matter to dispatch after the others.” - -Juss said to the Lord Gro, “What makest thou of these news, my lord?” - -“I think no wonder in it,” answered he. “Witchland is of good memory -and mindeth him of your seamanship off Kartadza. He useth not to -idle, nor to set all on one hazard. Nor comfort not thyself, my Lord -Spitfire, that these be pleasure-galleys borrowed from the soft -Beshtrians or the simple Foliots. They be new ships builded for us, my -lords, and our undoing: it is by no conjecture I say it unto you, but -of mine own knowledge, albeit the number appeareth far greater than ere -I dreamed of. But or ever I sailed with Corinius to Demonland, great -buildings of an army naval was begun at Tenemos.” - -“I do very well believe,” said King Gaslark, “that none knoweth all -this better than thou, because thyself didst counsel it.” - -“O Gaslark,” said Lord Brandoch Daha, “must thou still itch to play at -chop-cherry when cherry-time is past? Let him alone. He is our friend -now.” - -“Eight score ships i’ the Straits,” said Juss. “And ours an hundred. -’Tis well seen what great difference and odds there is betwixt us. -Which we must needs encounter, or else ne’er sail home again, let alone -to Carcë. For out of this sea is no sea-way for ships, but only by -these Straits of Melikaphkhaz.” - -“We shall do of Laxus,” said Lord Brandoch Daha, “that he troweth to do -of us.” - -But Juss was fallen silent, his chin in his hand. - -Goldry Bluszco said, “I would allow him odds and beat him.” - -“It is a great shame in thee, O Juss,” said Brandoch Daha, “if thou -wilt be abashed at this. If that they be in number more than we, what -then? They are in hope, quarrel, and strength far inferior.” - -But Juss, still in a study, reached out and caught him by the sleeve, -holding him so a moment or two, and then looked up at him and said, -“Thou art the greatest quarreller, of a friend, that ever I knew, and -if I were an angry man I could not abear thee. May I not three minutes -study the means, but thou shalt cry out upon me for a milksop?” - -They laughed, and the Lord Juss rose up and said, “Call we a council -of war. And let Hesper Golthring be at it, and his skippers that were -with him o’ that voyage. And pack up the stuff, for we will away o’ the -morn. If we like not these lettuce, we may pull back our lips. But no -choice remaineth. If Laxus will deny us sea-room through Melikaphkhaz -Straits, I trow there shall go up thence a crash which when the King -heareth it he shall know it for our first banging on the gates of -Carcë.” - - - - - XXX: TIDINGS OF MELIKAPHKHAZ - - OF NEWS BROUGHT UNTO GORICE THE KING IN CARCË OUT OF THE SOUTH, - WHERE THE LORD LAXUS LYING IN THE STRAITS WITH HIS ARMADA HELD - THE FLEET OF DEMONLAND PRISONED IN THE MIDLAND SEA. - - -On a night of late summer leaning towards autumn, eight weeks after -the sailing of the Demons out of Muelva as is aforewrit, the Lady -Prezmyra sate before her mirror in Corund’s lofty bed-chamber in Carcë. -The night without was mild and full of stars. Within, yellow flames -of candles burning steadily on either side of the mirror rayed forth -tresses of tinselling brightness in twin glories or luminous spheres -of warmth. In that soft radiance grains as of golden fire swam and -circled, losing themselves on the confines of the gloom where the massy -furniture and the arras and the figured hangings of the bed were but -cloudier divisions and congestions of the general dark. Prezmyra’s hair -caught the beams and imprisoned them in a tawny tangle of splendour -that swept about her head and shoulders down to the emerald clasps of -her girdle. Her eyes resting idly on her own fair image in the shining -mirror, she talked light nothings with her woman of the bed-chamber -who, plying the comb, stood behind her chair of gold and tortoiseshell. - -“Reach me yonder book, nurse, that I may read again the words of that -serenade the Lord Gro made for me, the night when first we had tidings -from my lord out of Impland of his conquest of that land, and the King -did make him king thereof.” - -The old woman gave her the book, that was bound in goatskin chiselled -and ornamented by the gilder’s art, fitted with clasps of gold, and -enriched with little gems, smaragds and margery-pearls, inlaid in the -panels of its covers. Prezmyra turned the page and read: - - You meaner Beauties of the Night, - That poorly satisfie our Eies, - More by your number then your light, - You Common-people of the Skies; - What are you when the Moone shall rise? - - You Curious Chanters of the Wood, - That warble forth Dame Natures layes, - Thinking your Passions understood - By your weake accents; what’s your praise - When Philomell her voyce shall raise? - - You Violets that first apeare, - By your pure purpel mantles knowne, - Like the proud Virgins of the yeare, - As if the Spring were all your own; - What are you when the Rose is blowne? - - So, when my Princess shall be seene - In form and Beauty of her mind, - By Vertue first, then Choyce a Queen, - Tell me, if she were not design’d - Th’ Eclypse and Glory of her kind. - -She abode silent awhile. Then, in a low sweet voice where all the -chords of music seemed to slumber: “Three years will be gone next -Yule-tide,” she said, “since first I heard that song. And not yet am I -grown customed to the style of Queen.” - -“’Tis pity of my Lord Gro,” said the nurse. - -“Thou thinkest?” - -“Mirth sat oftener on your face, O Queen, when he was here, and you -were used to charm his melancholy and make a pish of his phantastical -humorous forebodings.” - -“Oft doubting not his forejudgement,” said Prezmyra, “even the while I -thripped my fingers at it. But never saw I yet that the louring thunder -hath that partiality of a tyrant, to blast him that faced it and pass -by him that quailed before it.” - -“He was most deeply bound servant to your beauty,” said the old woman. -“And yet,” she said, viewing her mistress sidelong to see how she would -receive it, “that were a miss easily made good.” - -She busied herself with the comb awhile in silence. After a time she -said, “O Queen, mistress of the hearts of men, there is not a lord in -Witchland, nor in earth beside, you might not bind your servant with -one thread of this hair of yours. The likeliest and the goodliest were -yours at an eye-glance.” - -The Lady Prezmyra looked dreamily into her own sea-green eyes imaged in -the glass. Then she smiled mockingly and said, “Whom then accountest -thou the likeliest and the goodliest man in all the stablished earth?” - -The old woman smiled. “O Queen,” answered she, “this was the very -matter in dispute amongst us at supper only this evening.” - -“A pretty disputation!” said Prezmyra. “Let me be merry. Who was -adjudged the fairest and gallantest by your high court of censure?” - -“It was not generally determined of, O Queen. Some would have my Lord -Gro.” - -“Alack, he is too feminine,” said Prezmyra. - -“Others our Lord the King.” - -“There is none greater,” said Prezmyra, “nor more worshipful. But for -an husband, thou shouldst as well wed with a thunder-storm or the -hungry sea. Give me some more.” - -“Some chose the lord Admiral.” - -“That,” said Prezmyra, “was a nearer stroke. No skipjack nor soft -marmalady courtier, but a brave, tall, gallant gentleman. Ay, but too -watery a planet burned at his nativity. He is too like a statua of a -man. No, nurse, thou must bring me better than he.” - -The nurse said, “True it is, O Queen, that most were of my thinking -when I gave ’em my choice: the king of Demonland.” - -“Fie on thee!” cried Prezmyra. “Name him not so that was too unmighty -to hold that land against our enemies.” - -“Folk say it was by foxish arts and practices magical a was spilt on -Krothering Side. Folk say ’twas divels and not horses carried the -Demons down the mountain at us.” - -“They say!” cried Prezmyra. “I say to thee, he hath found it apter to -his bent to flaunt his crown in Witchland than make ’em give him the -knee in Galing. For a true king both knee and heart do truly bow before -him. But this one, if he had their knee ’twas in the back side of him -he had it, to kick him home again.” - -“Fie, madam!” said the nurse. - -“Hold thy tongue, nurse,” said Prezmyra. “It were good ye were all well -whipped for a bunch of silly mares that know not a horse from an ass.” - -The old woman watching her in the glass counted it best keep silence. -Prezmyra said under her breath as if talking to herself, “I know a man, -should not have miscarried it thus.” The old nurse that loved not Lord -Corund and his haughty fashions and rough speech and wine-bibbing, and -was besides jealous that so rude a stock should wear so rich a jewel as -was her mistress, followed not her meaning. - -After some time, the old woman spake softly and said, “You are full of -thoughts to-night, madam.” - -Prezmyra’s eyes met hers in the mirror. “Why may I not be so and it -likes me?” said she. - -That stony look of the eyes struck like a gong some twenty-year-old -memory in the nurse’s heart: the little wilful maiden, ill to goad but -good to guide, looking out from that Queen’s face across the years. She -knelt down suddenly and caught her arms about her mistress’s waist. -“Why must you wed then, dear heart?” said she, “if you were minded to -do what likes you? Men love not sad looks in their wives. You may ride -a lover on the curb, madam, but once you wed him ’tis all t’other way: -all his way, madam, and beware of ‘had I wist.’” - -Her mistress looked down at her mockingly. “I have been wed seven years -to-night. I should know these things.” - -“And this night!” said the nurse. “And but an hour till midnight, and -yet he sitteth at board.” - -The Lady Prezmyra leaned back to look again on her own mirrored -loveliness. Her proud mouth sweetened to a smile. “Wilt thou learn me -common women’s wisdom?” said she, and there was yet more voluptuous -sweetness trembling in her voice. “I will tell thee a story, as thou -hast told them me in the old days in Norvasp to wile me to bed. Hast -thou not heard tell how old Duke Hilmanes of Maltraëny, among some -other fantasies such as appear by night unto many in divers places, -had one in likeness of a woman with old face of low and little stature -or body, which did scour his pots and pans and did such things as a -maid servant ought to do, liberally and without doing of any harm? And -by his art he knew this thing should be his servant still, and bring -unto him whatsoever he would, so long time as he should be glad of the -things it brought him. But this duke, being a foolish man and a greedy, -made his familiar bring him at once all the year’s seasons and their -several goods and pleasures, and all good things of earth at one time. -So as in six months’ space, he being sated with these and all good -things, and having no good thing remaining unto him to expect or to -desire, for very weariness did hang himself. I would never have ta’en -me an husband, nurse, and I had not known that I was able to give him -every time I would a new heaven and a new earth, and never the same -thing twice.” - -She took the old woman’s hands in hers and gathered them to her breast, -as if to let them learn, rocked for a minute in the bountiful infinite -sweetness of that place, what foolish fears were these. Suddenly -Prezmyra clasped the hands tighter in her own, and shuddered a little. -She bent down to whisper in the nurse’s ear, “I would not wish to die. -The world without me should be summer without roses. Carcë without me -should be a night without the star-shine.” - -Her voice died away like the night breeze in a summer garden. In the -silence they heard the dip and wash of oar-blades from the river -without; the sentinel’s challenge, the answer from the ship. - -Prezmyra stood up quickly and went to the window. She could see the -ship’s dark bulk by the water-gate, and comings and goings, but nought -clearly. “Tidings from the fleet,” she said. “Put up my hair.” - -And ere that was done, came a little page running to her chamber door, -and when it was opened to him, stood panting from his running and said, -“The king your husband bade me tell you, madam, and pray you go down to -him i’ the great hall. It may be ill news, I fear.” - -“Thou fearest, pap-face?” said the Queen. “I’ll have thee whipped if -thou bringest thy fears to me. Dost know aught? What’s the matter?” - -“The ship’s much battered, O Queen. He is closeted with our Lord the -King, the skipper. None dare speak else. ’Tis feared the high Admiral——” - -“Feared!” cried she, swinging round for the nurse to put about her -white shoulders her mantle of sendaline and cloth of silver, that -shimmered at the collar with purple amethysts and was scented with -cedar and galbanum and myrrh. She was forth in the dark corridor, -down by the winding marble stair, through the mid-court, hasting to -the banquet hall. The court was full of folk talking; but nought -certain, nought save suspense and wonder; rumour of a great sea-fight -in the south, a mighty victory won by Laxus upon the Demons: Juss and -those lords of Demonland dead and gone, the captives following with -the morning’s tide. And here and there like an undertone to these -triumphant tidings, contrary rumours, whispered low, like the hissing -of an adder from her shadowy lair: all not well, the lord Admiral -wounded, half his ships lost, the battle doubtful, the Demons escaped. -So came that lady into the great hall; and there were the lords and -captains of the Witches all in a restless quiet of expectation. Duke -Corsus lolled forward in his seat down by the cross-bench, his breath -stertorous, his small eyes fixed in a drunken stare. On the other -side Corund sate huge and motionless, his elbow propped on the table, -his chin in his hand, sombre and silent, staring at the wall. Others -gathered in knots, talking in low tones. The Lord Corinius walked up -and down behind the cross-bench, his hands clasped behind him, his -fingers snapping impatiently at whiles, his heavy jaw held high, his -glance high and defiant. Prezmyra came to Heming where he stood among -three or four and touched him on the arm. “We know nothing, madam,” he -said. “He is with the King.” - -She came to her lord. “Thou didst send for me.” - -Corund looked up at her. “Why, so I did, madam. Tidings from the fleet. -Maybe somewhat, maybe nought. But thou’dst best be here for’t.” - -“Good tidings or ill: that shaketh not Carcë walls,” said she. - -Suddenly the low buzz of talk was hushed. The King stood in the -curtained doorway. They rose up all to meet him, all save Corsus that -sat drunk in his chair. The crown of Witchland shed baleful sparkles -above the darkness of the dark fortress-face of Gorice the King, the -glitter of his dread eyeballs, the deadly line of his mouth, the square -black beard jutting beneath. Like a tower he stood, and behind him in -the shadow was the messenger from the fleet with countenance the colour -of wet mortar. - -The King spake and said, “My lords, here’s tidings touching the truth -whereof I have well satisfied myself. And it importeth the mere -perdition of my fleet. There hath been battle off Melikaphkhaz in the -Impland seas. Juss hath sunken our ships, every ship save that which -brought the tidings, sunk, with Laxus and all his men that were with -him.” He paused: then, “These be heavy news,” he said, “and I’ll have -you bear ’em in the old Witchland fashion: the heavier hit the heavier -strike again.” - -In the strange deformed silence came a little gasping cry, and the Lady -Sriva fell a-swooning. - -The King said, “Let the kings of Impland and of Demonland attend me. -The rest, it is commanded that all do get them to bed o’ the instant.” - -The Lord Corund said in his lady’s ear as he went by, taking her with -his hand about the shoulder, “What, lass? if the broth’s spilt, the -meat remaineth. To bed with thee, and never doubt we’ll pay them yet.” - -And he with Corinius followed the King. - - • • • • • - -It was past middle night when the council brake up, and Corund sought -his chamber in the eastern gallery above the inner court. He found his -lady sitting yet at the window, watching the false dawn over Pixyland. -Dismissing his lamp-bearers that lighted him to bed, he bolted and -barred the great iron-studded door. The breadth of his shoulders when -he turned filled the shadowy doorway; his head well nigh touched the -lintel. It was hard to read his countenance in the uncertain gloom -where he stood beyond the bright region made by the candle-light, but -Prezmyra’s eyes could mark how care sat on his brow, and there was in -the carriage of his ponderous frame kingliness and the strength of some -strong determination. - -She stood up, looking up at him as on a mate to whom she could be true -and be true to her own self. “Well?” she said. - -“The tables are set,” said he, without moving. “The King hath named me -his captain general in Carcë.” - -“Is it come to that?” said Prezmyra. - -“They have hewn a limb from us,” answered he. “They have wit to know -the next stroke should be at the heart.” - -“Is it truly so?” said she. “Eight thousand men? twice thine army’s -strength that won Impland for us? all drowned?” - -“’Twas the devilish seamanship of these accursed Demons,” said Corund. -“It appeareth Laxus held the Straits where they must go if ever they -should win home again, meaning to fight ’em in the narrows and so crush -’em with the weight of’s ships as easy as kill flies, having by a great -odds the bigger strength both in ships and men. They o’ their part kept -the sea without, trying their best to ’tice him forth so they might do -their sailor tricks i’ the open. A week or more he withstood it, till -o’ the ninth day (the devil curse him for a fool, wherefore could a -not have had patience?) o’ the ninth morning, weary of inaction and -having wind and tide something in his favour”; the Lord Corund groaned -and snapped his fingers contemptuously. “O I’ll tell thee the tale -to-morrow, madam. I’m surfeited with it to-night. The sum is, Laxus -drownded and all that were with him, and Juss with his whole great -armament northward bound for Witchland.” - -“And the wide seas his. And we expect him, any day?” - -“The wind hangeth easterly. Any day,” said Corund. - -Prezmyra said, “That was well done to rest the command in thee. But -what of our qualified young gentleman who had that office aforetime. -Will he play o’ these terms?” - -Corund answered, “Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings. I think he’ll -play, albeit he showed his teeth i’ the first while.” - -“Let him keep his teeth for the Demons,” said she. - -“This very ship was ta’en,” said Corund, “and sent home by them in a -bravado to tell us what betid: a stupid insolent part, shall cost ’em -dear, for it hath forewarned us. The skipper had this letter for thee: -gave it me monstrous secretly.” - -Prezmyra took away the wax and opened the letter, and knew the writer -of it. She held it out to Corund: “Read it to me, my lord. I am tired -with watching; I read ill by this flickering candle-light.” - -But he said, “I am too poor a scholar, madam. I prithee read it.” - -And in the light of the guttering candles, vexed with an east wind -that blew before the dawn, she read this letter, that was conceived in -manner following: - - “Unto the right high mighti and doubtid Prynsace the Quen of - Implande, one that was your Servaunt but now beinge both a Traitor - and a manifald parjured Traitor, which Heaven above doth abhorre, - the erth below detest, the sun moone and starres be eschamed of, - and all Creatures doo curse and ajudge unworthy of breth and life, - do wish onelie to die your Penytent. In hevye sorrowe doo send - you these advisoes which I requyre your Mageste in umblest manner - to pondur wel, seeinge ells your manyfest Overthrowe and Rwyn att - hand. And albeit in Carcee you reste in securitie, it is serten you - are there as saife as he that hingeth by the Leves of a Tree in - the end of Autumpne when as the Leves begin to fall. For in this - late Battaile in Mellicafhaz Sea hath the whole powre of Wychlande - on the sea been beat downe and ruwyned, and the highe Admirall of - our whole Navie loste and ded and the names of the great men of - accownte that were slayen at the battaile I may not numbre nor of - the common sorte much lesse by reaisoun that the more part were - dround in the sea which came not to Syght. But of Daemounlande not - ij schips companies were lossit, but with great puissaunce they - doo buske them for Carsee. Havinge with them this Gowldri Bleusco, - strangely reskewed from his preassoun-house beyond the toombe, and - a great Armey of the moste strangg and fell folke that ever I saw - or herd speke of. Such is the Die of Warre. Most Nowble Prynsace - I will speke unto you not by a Ryddle or Darck Fygure but playnly - that you let not slipp this Occasioun. For I have drempt an evill - Dreeme and one pourtending ruwyn unto Wychlande, beinge in my slepe - on the verie eve of this same bataille terrified and smytten with - an appeering schape of Laxus armde cryinge in an hyghe voise and - lowd, An Ende an Ende an ende of All. Therefore most aernestly I - do beseek your Magestie and your nowble Lorde that was my Frend - before that by my venemous tresun I loste both you and him and - alle, take order for your proper saffetie, and the thinge requyers - Haste of your Magestes. And this must you doo, to fare strayght way - into your owne cuntrie of Picselande and there raise Force. Be you - before these rebalds and obstynates of Demounlande in their Prowd - Attempts, to strike at Wychlande and so purchas their Frenshyp who - it is verie sertan will in powre invintiable stand before Carsee - or ever Wychlande shall have time to putt you downe. This Counsell - I give you knowinge full well that the Power and Domynyon of the - Demouns standeth now preheminent and not to be withstode. So tarry - not by a Sinckinge Schippe, but do as I saye lest all bee loste. - - “One thinge more I telle you, that shall haply enforce my counsell - unto you, the hevyeste Newes of alle.” - -“’Tis heavy news that such a false troker as he is should yet supervive -so many honest men,” said Corund. - -The Lady Prezmyra held out the letter to her lord. “Mine eyes dazzle,” -she said. “Read thou the rest.” Corund put his great arm about her as -he sat down to the table before the mirror and pored over the writing, -spelling it out with one finger. He had little book-learning, and it -was some time ere he had the meaning clear. He did not read it out; his -lady’s face told him she had read all ere he began. - -This was the last news Gro’s letter told her: the Prince her brother -dead in the sea-fight, fighting for Demonland; dead and drowned in the -sea off Melikaphkhaz. - -Prezmyra went to the window. Dawn was beginning, bleak and gray. After -a minute she turned her head. Like a she-lion she looked, proud and -dangerous-eyed. She was very pale. Her accents, level and quiet, called -to the blood like the roll of a distant drum, as she said, “Succours of -Demonland: late or never.” - -Corund beheld her uneasily. - -“Their oaths to me and to him!” said she, “sworn to us that night in -Carcë. False friends! O, I could eat their hearts with garlic.” - -He put his great hands on her two shoulders. She threw them off. “In -one thing,” she cried, “Gro counselleth us well: to tarry no more on -this sinking ship. We must raise forces. But not as he would have it, -to uphold these Demons, these oath-breakers. We must away this night.” - -Her lord had cast aside his great wolfskin mantle. “Come, madam,” said -he, “to bed’s our nearest journey.” - -Prezmyra answered, “I’ll not to bed. It shall be seen now, O Corund, if -that thou be a king indeed.” - -He sat down on the bed’s edge and fell to doing off his boots. “Well,” -he said, “every one as he likes, as the good-man said when he kissed -his cow. Day’s near dawning; I must be up betimes, and a sleepless -night’s a poor breeder of invention.” - -But she stood over him, saying, “It shall be seen if thou be a true -king. And be not deceived: if thou fail me here I’ll have no more of -thee. This night we must away. Thou shalt raise Pixyland, which is now -mine by right: raise power in thine own vast kingdom of Impland. Fling -Witchland to the winds. What care I if she sink or swim? This only is -the matter: to punish these vile perjured Demons, enemies of ours and -enemies of all the world.” - -“We need ride o’ no journey for that,” said Corund, still putting off -his boots. “Thou shalt shortly see Juss and his brethren before Carcë -with three score hundred fighting men at’s back. Then cometh the metal -to the anvil. Come, come, thou must not weep.” - -“I do not weep,” said she. “Nor I shall not weep. But I’ll not be ta’en -in Carcë like a mouse in a trap.” - -“I’m glad thou’lt not weep, madam. It is as great pity to see a woman -weep as a goose to go barefoot. Come, be not foolish. We must not part -forces now. We must bide this storm in Carcë.” - -But she cried, “There is a curse on Carcë. Gro is lost to us and his -good counsel. Dear my lord, I see something wicked that like a thick -dark shadow shadoweth all the sky above us. What place is there not -subject to the power and regiment of Gorice the King? but he is too -proud: we be all too insolent overweeners of our own works. Carcë -hath grown too great, and the Gods be offended at us. The insolent -vileness of Corinius, the old dotard Corsus that must still be at his -boosing-can, these and our own private quarrels in Carcë must be our -bane. Repugn not therefore against the will of the Gods, but take the -helm in thine own hand ere it be too late.” - -“Tush, madam,” said he, “these be but fray-bugs. Daylight shall make -thee laugh at ’em.” - -But Prezmyra, queening it no longer, caught her arms about his neck. -“The odd man to perform all perfectly is thou. Wilt thou see us rushing -on this whirlpool and not swim for it ere it be too late?” And she said -in a choked voice, “My heart is near broke already. Do not break it -utterly. Only thou art left now.” - -The chill dawn, the silent room, the guttering candles, and that -high-hearted lady of his, daunted for an instant from her noble and -equal courage, cowering like a bird in his embrace: these things were -like an icy breath that passed by and quailed him for a moment. He took -her by her two hands and held her off from him. She held her head high -again, albeit her cheek was blanched; he felt the brave comrade-grip of -her hands in his. - -“Dear lass,” he said, “I cast me not to be odd with none of these spawn -of Demonland. Here is my hand, and the hand of my sons, heavy while -breath remaineth us against Demonland for thee and for the King. But -sith our lord the King hath made me a king, come wind, come weet, we -must weather it in Carcë. True is that saw, ‘For fame one maketh a -king, not for long living.’” - -Prezmyra thought in her heart that these were fey words. But having now -put behind her hope and fear, she was resolved to kick against the wind -no more, but stand firm and see what Destiny would do. - - - - - XXXI: THE DEMONS BEFORE CARCË - - HOW GORICE THE KING, ALBEIT SO STRONG A SORCERER, ELECTED THAT BY - THE SWORD, AND CHIEFLY BY THE LORD CORUND HIS CAPTAIN GENERAL, - SHOULD BE DETERMINED AS FOR THIS TIME THE EVENT OF THESE HIGH - MATTERS; AND HOW THOSE TWAIN, THE KING AND THE LORD JUSS, SPAKE - FACE TO FACE AT LAST; AND OF THE BLOODY BATTLE BEFORE CARCË, - AND WHAT FRUIT WAS GARNERED THERE AND WHAT MADE RIPE AGAINST - HARVEST. - - -Gorice the King sate in his chamber the thirteenth morning after these -tidings brought to Carcë. On the table under his hand were papers of -account and schedules of his armies and their equipment. Corund sate at -the King’s right hand, and over against him Corinius. - -Corund’s great hairy hands were clasped before him on the table. He -spoke without book, resting his gaze on the steady clouds that sailed -across the square of sky seen through the high window that faced him. -“Of Witchland and the home provinces, O King, nought but good. All the -companies of soldiers which were appointed to repair to this part by -the tenth of the month are now come hither, save some bands of spearmen -from the south, and some from Estreganzia. These last I expect to-day; -Viglus writeth they come with him with the heavy troops from Baltary -I sent him to assemble. So is the muster full as for these parts: -Thramnë, Zorn, Permio, the land of Ar, Trace, Buteny, and Estremerine. -Of the subject allies, there’s less good there. The kings of Mynia -and Gilta: Olis of Tecapan: County Escobrine of Tzeusha: the king of -Ellien: all be here with their contingents. But there’s mightier names -we miss. Duke Maxtlin of Azumel hath flung off’s allegiance and cut -off your envoy’s ears, O King; ’tis thought for some supposed light -part of the sons of Corsus done to his sister. That docketh us thirty -score stout fighters. The lord of Eushtlan sendeth no answer, and now -are we advertised by Mynia and Gilta of his open malice and treason, -who did stubbornly let them the way hither through his country while -they hastened to do your majesty’s commands. Then there’s the Ojedian -levies, should be nigh a thousand spears, ten days overdue. Heming, -that raiseth Pixyland in Prezmyra’s name, will bring them in if he may. -Who also hath order, being on his way, to rouse Maltraëny to action, -from whom no word as yet; and I do fear treachery in ’em, Maltraëny and -Ojedia both, they have been so long of coming. King Barsht of Toribia -sendeth flat refusal.” - -“It is known to you besides, O King,” said Corinius, “that the king of -Nevria came in last night, many days past the day appointed, and but -half his just complement.” - -The King drew back his lips. “I will not dash his spirits by blaming -him at this present. Later, I’ll have that king’s head for this.” - -“This is the sum,” said Corund. “Nay, then, I had forgot the Red Foliot -with’s folk, three hundred perchance, came in this morning.” - -Corinius thrust out his tongue and laughed: “One hen-lobster such as he -shall scarce afford a course for this banquet.” - -“He keepeth faith,” said Corund, “where bigger men turn dastards. ’Tis -seen now that these forced leagues be as sure as they were sealed with -butter. Your majesty will doubtless give him audience.” - -The King was silent awhile, studying his papers. “What strength to-day -in Carcë?” he asked. - -Corund answered him, “As near as may be two score hundred foot and -fifty score horse: five thousand in all. And, that I weigh most, O -King, big broad strong set lads of Witchland nigh every jack of ’em.” - -The King said, “’Twas not well done, O Corund, to bid thy son delay -for Ojedia and Maltraëny. He might else have been in Carcë now with a -thousand Pixylanders to swell our strength.” - -“I did that I did,” answered Corund, “seeking only your good, O King. -A few days’ delay might buy us a thousand spears.” - -“Delay,” said the King, “hath favoured mine enemy. This we should have -done: at his first landing give him no time but wink, set on him with -all our forces, and throw him into the sea.” - -“If luck go with us that may yet be,” said Corund. - -The King’s nostrils widened. He crouched forward, glaring at Corund -and Corinius, his jaw thrust out so that the stiff black beard on -it brushed the papers on the table before him. “The Demons,” said -he, “landed i’ the night at Ralpa. They come on with great journeys -northward. Will be here ere three days be spent.” - -Both they grew red as blood. Corund spake: “Who told you these tidings, -O King?” - -“Care not thou for that,” said the King. “Enough for thee, I know it. -Hath it ta’en you napping?” - -“No,” answered he. “These ten days past we have been ready, with what -strength we might make, to receive ’em, come they from what quarter -they will. So it is, though, that while we lack the Pixyland succours -Juss hath by some odds the advantage over us, if, as our intelligence -saith, six thousand fighting men do follow him, and these forced -besides with some that should be ours.” - -“Thou wouldst,” said the King, “await these out of Pixyland, with what -else Heming may gather, afore we offer them battle?” - -Said Corund, “That would I. We must look beyond the next turn of the -road, O my Lord the King.” - -“That would not I,” said Corinius. - -“That is stoutly said, Corinius,” said the King. “Yet remember, thou -hadst the greater force on Krothering Side, yet wast overborne.” - -“’Tis that standeth in my mind, Lord,” said Corund. “For well I know, -had I been there I’d a fared no better.” - -The Lord Corinius, whose brow had darkened with the naming of his -defeat, looked cheerfully now and said, “I pray you but consider, O -my Lord the King, that here at home is no room for such a sleight or -gin as that whereby in their own country they took me. When Juss and -Brandoch Daha and their stinking gaberlunzies do cry huff at us on -Witchland soil, ’tis time to give ’em a choke-pear. Which with your -leave, Lord, I will promise now to do, other else to lose my life.” - -“Give me thy hand,” said Corund. “Of all men else would I a chosen thee -for such a day as this, and (were’t to-day to meet the whole power of -Demonland in arms) to stand perdue with thee for this bloody service. -But let us hear the King’s commands: which way soe’er he choose, we -shall do it right gladly.” - -Gorice the King sat silent. One lean hand rested on the iron -serpent-head of his chair’s arm, the other, with finger outstretched -against the jutting cheekbone, supported his chin. Only in the deep -shadow of his eye-sockets a lambent light moved. At length he started, -as if the spirit, flown to some unsounded gulfs of time or space, had -in that instant returned to its mortal dwelling. He gathered the papers -in a heap and tossed them to Corund. - -“Too much lieth on it,” said he. “He that hath many peas may put more -in the pot. But now the day approacheth when I and Juss must cast up -our account together, and one or all shall be brought to death and -bane.” He stood up from his chair and looked down on those two, his -chosen captains, great men of war raised up by him to be kings over two -quarters of the world. They watched him like little birds under the eye -of a snake. “The country hereabout,” said the King, “is not good for -horsemanship, and the Demons be great horsemen. Carcë is strong, and -never can it be forced by assault. Also under mine eye should my men of -Witchland acquit themselves to do the greatest deeds. Therefore will we -abide them here in Carcë, until young Heming come and his levies out -of Pixyland. Then shall ye fall upon them and never make an end till -the land be utterly purged of them, and all the lords of Demonland be -slain.” - -Corinius said, “To hear is to obey, O King. Howsoever, not to dissemble -with you, I’d liever at ’em at once, ’stead of let them sit awhile and -refresh their army. Occasion is a wanton wench, O King, that is quick -to beckon another man if one look coldly on her. Moreover, Lord, could -you not by your art, in small time, with certain compositions?——” - -But the King brake in upon him saying, “Thou knowest not what thou -speakest. There is thy sword; there thy men; these my commands. See -thou perform them punctually when time shall come.” - -“Lord,” said Corinius, “you shall not find me wanting.” Therewith he -did obeisance and went forth from before the King. - -The King said unto Corund, “Thou hast manned him well, this -tassel-gentle. There was some danger he should so mislike subjection -unto thee in these acts martial as it should breed some quarrel should -little speed our enterprise.” - -“Think not you that, O King,” answered Corund. “’Tis grown like an -almanac for the past year, past date. A will feed out of my hand now.” - -“Because thou hast carried it with him,” said the King, “in so -honourable and open plainness. Hold on the road thou hast begun, and be -mindful still that into thine hand is given the sword of Witchland, and -therein have I put my trust for this great hour.” - -Corund looked upon the King with gray and quick eyes shining like unto -the eagle’s. He slapped his heavy sword with the flat of his hand: -“’Tis a tough fox, O my Lord the King; will not fail his master.” - -Therewith, glad at the King’s gracious words, he did obeisance unto the -King and went forth from the chamber. - - • • • • • - -The same night there appeared in the sky impending over Carcë a blazing -star with two bushes. Corund beheld it in an open space betwixt the -clouds as he went to his chamber. He said nought of it to his lady -wife, lest it should trouble her; but she too had from her window seen -that star, yet spake not of it to her lord for a like reason. - -And King Gorice, sitting in his chamber with his baleful books, beheld -that star and its fiery streamers, which the King rather noted than -liked. For albeit he might not know of a certain what way that sign -intended, yet was it apparent to one so deeply learned in nigromancy -and secrets astronomical that this thing was fatal, being of those -prodigies and ominous prognosticks which fore-run the tragical ends of -noble persons and the ruins of states. - - • • • • • - -The third day following, watchmen beheld from Carcë walls in the -pale morning the armies of the Demons that filled the whole plain -to southward. But of the succours out of Pixyland was as yet no sign -at all. Gorice the King, according as he had determined, held all -his power quiet within the fortress. But for passing of the time, -and because it pleased his mind to speak yet face to face with the -Lord Juss before this last mortal trial in arms should be begun -betwixt them, the King sent Cadarus as his herald with flags of truce -and olive-branches into the Demons’ lines. By which mission it was -concluded that the Demons should withdraw their armies three bowshots -from the walls, and they of Witchland should abide all within the hold; -only the King with fourteen of his folk unarmed and Juss with a like -number unarmed should come forth into the midst of the bateable ground -and there speak together. And this meeting must be at the third hour -after noon. - -So either party came to this parley at the hour appointed. Juss went -bare-headed but, save for that, all armed in his shining byrny with -gorget and shoulder-plates damasked and embossed with wires of gold, -and golden leg-harness, and rings of red gold upon his wrists. His -kirtle was of wine-dark silken tissue, and he wore that dusky cloak the -sylphs had made for him, the collar whereof was stiff with broidery -and strange beasts worked thereon in silver thread. According to the -compact he bare no weapon; only in his hand a short ivory staff inlaid -with precious stones, and the head of it a ball of that stone which -men call Belus’ eye, that is white and hath within it a black apple, -the midst whereof a man shall see to glitter like gold. Very masterful -and proud he stood before the King, carrying his head like a stag that -sniffs the morning. His brethren and Brandoch Daha remained a pace -or two behind him, with King Gaslark and the lords Zigg and Gro, and -Melchar and Tharmrod and Styrkmir, Quazz with his two sons, and Astar, -and Bremery of Shaws: goodly men and lordly to look on, unweaponed all; -and wondrous was the sparkle of their jewels that were on them. - -Over against them, attending on the King, were these: Corund king of -Impland, and Corinius called king of Demonland, Hacmon and Viglus -Corund’s sons, Duke Corsus and his sons Dekalajus and Gorius, Eulien -king of Mynia, Olis lord of Tecapan, Duke Avel of Estreganzia, the Red -Foliot, Erp the king of Ellien, and the counts of Thramnë and Tzeusha; -unweaponed, but armoured to the throat, big men and strong the most of -them and of lordly bearing, yet none to match with Corinius and Corund. - -The King, in his mantle of cobra-skins, his staff-royal in his hand, -topped by half a head all those tall men about him, friend and foe -alike. Lean and black he towered amongst them, like a thunder-blasted -pine-tree seen against the sunset. - -So, in the golden autumn afternoon, in the midst of that sad main of -sedgelands where between slimy banks the weed-choked Druima deviously -winds toward the sea, were those two men met together for whose -ambition and their pride the world was too little a place to contain -them both and peace lying between them. And like some drowsy dragon of -the elder slime, squat, sinister, and monstrous, the citadel of Carcë -slept over all. - -By and by the King spake and said: “I sent for thee because I think it -good I and thou should talk together while yet is time for talking.” - -Juss answered, “I quarrel not with that, O King.” - -“Thou,” said the King, bending his brow upon him, “art a man wise and -fearless. I counsel thee, and all these that be with thee, turn back -from Carcë. Well I see the blood thou didst drink in Melikaphkhaz will -not allay thy thirst, and war is to thee thy pearl and thy paramour. -Yet, if it be, turn back from Carcë. Thou standest now on the pinnacle -of thine ambition; wilt leap higher, thou fall’st in the abyss. Let the -four corners of the earth be shaken with our wars, but not this centre. -For here shall no man gather fruit, but and if it be death he gather; -or if, then this fruit only, that Zoacum, that fruit of bitterness, -which when he shall have tasted of, all the bright lights of heaven -shall become as darkness and all earth’s goodness as ashes in his mouth -all his life’s days until he die.” - -He paused. The Lord Juss stood still, quailing not at all beneath that -dreadful gaze. His company behind him stirred and whispered. Lord -Brandoch Daha, with mockery in his eye, said somewhat to Goldry Bluszco -under his breath. - -But the King spake again to the Lord Juss, “Be not deceived. These -things I say unto thee not as labouring to scare you from your set -purpose with frights and fairy-babes: I know your quality too well. -But I have read signs in heaven: nought clear, but threatful unto both -you and me. For thy good I say it, O Juss, and again (for that our last -speech leaveth the firmest print) be advised: turn back from Carcë or -it be too late.” - -Lord Juss harkened attentively to the words of Gorice the King, and -when he had ended, answered and said, “O King, thou hast given us -terrible good counsel. But it was riddlewise. And hearing thee, mine -eye was still on the crown thou wearest, made in the figure of a -crab-fish, which, because it looks one way and goes another, methought -did fitly pattern out thy looking to our perils but seeking the while -thine own advantage.” - -The King gave him an ill look, saying, “I am thy lord paramount. With -subjects it sits not to use this familiar style unto their King.” - -Juss answered, “Thou dost thee and thou me. And indeed it were folly in -either of us twain to bend knee to t’other, when the lordship of all -the earth waiteth on the victor in our great contention. Thou hast been -open with me, Witchland, to let me know thou art uneager to strike a -field with us. I will be open too, and I will make an offer unto thee, -and this it is: that we will depart out of thy country and do no more -unpeaceful deeds against thee (till thou provoke us again); and thou, -of thy part, of all the land of Demonland shalt give up thy quarrel, -and of Pixyland and Impland beside, and shalt yield me up Corsus and -Corinius thy servants that I may punish them for the beastly deeds they -did in our land whenas we were not there to guard it.” - -He ceased, and for a minute they beheld each other in silence. Then the -King lifted up his chin and smiled a dreadful smile. - -Corinius whispered mockingly in his ear, “Lord, you may lightly give -’em Corsus. That were easy composition, and false coin too methinks.” - -“Stand back i’ thy place,” said the King, “and hold thy peace.” And -unto Lord Juss he said, “Of all ensuing harm the cause is in thee; for -I am now resolved never to put up my sword until of thy bleeding head -I may make a football. And now, let the earth be afraid, and Cynthia -obscure her shine: no more words but mum. Thunder and blood and night -must usurp our parts, to complete and make up the catastrophe of this -great piece.” - - • • • • • - -That night the King waked late in his chamber in the Iron Tower alone. -These three years past he had seldom resorted thither, and then -commonly but to bear away some or other of his books to study in his -own lodging. His jars and flasks and bottles of blue and green and -purple glass wherein he kept his cursed drugs and electuaries of secret -composition, his athals and athanors, his crucibles, his horsebellied -retorts and alembics and bains-maries, stood arow on shelves coated -with dust and hung about with the dull spider’s weavings; the furnace -was cold; the glass of the windows was clouded with dirt; the walls -were mildewed; the air of the chamber fusty and stagnant. The King was -deep in his contemplation, with a big black book open before him on -the six-sided reading-stand: the damnablest of all his books, the same -which had taught him aforetime what he must do when by the wicked power -of enchantment he had wanted but a little to have confounded Demonland -and all the lords thereof in death and ruin. - -The open page under his hand was of parchment discoloured with age, and -the writing on the page was in characters of ancient out-of-fashion -crabbedness, heavy and black, and the great initial letters and the -illuminated borders were painted and gilded in dark and fiery hues -with representations of dreadful faces and forms of serpents and -toad-faced men and apes and mantichores and succubi and incubi and -obscene representations and figures of unlawful meaning. These were the -words of the writing on the page which the King conned over and over, -falling again into a deep study betweenwhiles, and then conning these -words again of an age-old prophetic writing touching the preordinate -destinies of the royal house of Gorice in Carcë: - - Soo schel your hous stonde and bee - Unto eternytee - Yet walke warilie - Wyttinge ful sarteynlee - That if impiouslie - The secounde tyme in the bodie - Practisinge grammarie - One of ye katched shulle be - By the feyndis subtiltee - And hys liffe lossit bee - Broke ys thenne this serye - Dampned are you thenne eternallie - Yerth shuldestow thenne never more se - Scarsly the Goddes mought reskue ye - Owt of the Helle where you woll lie - Unto eternytee - The sterres tealde hit mee. - -Gorice the King stood up and went to the south window. The casement -bolts were rusted: he forced them and they flew back with a shriek and -a clatter and a thin shower of dust and grit. He opened the window and -looked out. The heavy night grew to her depth of quiet. There were -lights far out in the marshes, the lights of Lord Juss’s camp-fires of -his armies gathered against Carcë. Scarcely without a chill might a man -have looked upon that King standing by the window; for there was in the -tall lean frame of him an iron aspect as of no natural flesh and blood -but some harder colder element; and his countenance, like the picture -of some dark divinity graven ages ago by men long dead, bore the -imprint of those old qualities of unrelenting power, scorn, violence, -and oppression, ancient as night herself yet untouched by age, young as -each night when it shuts down and old and elemental as the primaeval -dark. - -A long while he stood there, then came again to his book. “Gorice -VII.,” he said in himself. “That was once in the body. And I have done -better than that, but not yet well enough. ’Tis too hazardous, the -second time, alone. Corund is a man undaunted in war, but the man is -too superstitious and quaketh at that which hath not flesh and blood. -Apparitions and urchin-shows can quite unman him. There’s Corinius, -careth not for God or man a point. But he is too rash and unadvised: I -were mad to trust him in it. Were the Goblin here, it might be carried. -Damnable both-sides villain, he’s cast off from me.” He scanned the -page as if his piercing eyes would thrust beyond the barriers of time -and death and discover some new meaning in the words which should agree -better with the thing his mind desired while his judgement forbade it. -“He says ‘damned eternally:’ he says that breaketh the series, and -‘earth shouldst thou then never more see.’ Put him by.” - -And the King slowly shut up his book, and locked it with three -padlocks, and put back the key in his bosom. “The need is not yet,” he -said. “The sword shall have his day, and Corund. But if that fail me, -then even this shall not turn me back but I will do that I will do.” - - • • • • • - -In the same hour when the King was but now entered again into his own -lodgings, came through a runner of Heming’s to let them know that he, -fifteen hundred strong, marched down the Way of Kings from Pixyland. -Moreover they were advertised that the Demon fleet lay in the river -that night, and it was not unlike the attack should be in the morning -by land and water. - -All night the King sate in his chamber holding council with his -generals and ordering all things for the morrow. All night long he -closed not his eyes an instant, but the others he made sleep by turns -because they should be brisk and ready for the battle. For this was -their counsel, to draw out their whole army on the left bank before -the bridge-gate and there offer battle to the Demons at point of day. -For if they should abide within doors and suffer the Demons to cut -young Heming off from the bridge-gate, then were he lost, and if the -bridge-house should fall and the bridge, then might the Demons lightly -ship what force they pleased to the right bank and so closely invest -them in Carcë. Of an attack on the right bank they had no fear, well -knowing themselves able to sit within doors and laugh at them, since -the walls were there inexpugnable. But if a battle were now brought -about before the bridge-gate as they were minded, and Heming should -join in the fight from the eastward, there was good hope that they -should be able to crumple up the battle of the Demons, driving them in -upon their centre from the west whilst Heming smote them on the other -part. Whereby these should be cast into a great rout and confusion and -not be able to escape away to their ships, but there in the fenlands -before Carcë should be made a prey unto the Witches. - -When it was the cold last hour before the dawn the generals took from -the King their latest commands ere they drew forth their armies. -Corinius came forth first from the King’s chamber a little while -before the rest. In the draughty corridor the lamps swung and smoked, -making an uncertain windy light. Corinius espied by the stair-head -the Lady Sriva standing, whether watching to bid her father adieu or -but following idle curiosity. Whichever it were, not a fico gave he -for that, but coming swiftly upon her whisked her aside into an alcove -where the light was barely enough to let him see the pale shimmer of -her silken gown, dark hair pinned loosely up in deep snaky coils, and -dark eyes shining. “My witty false one, have I caught thee? Nay, fight -not. Thy breath smells like cinnamon. Kiss me, Sriva.” - -“I’ll not!” said she, striving to escape. “Naughty man, am I used -thus?” But finding she got nought by struggling, she said in a low -voice, “Well, if thou bring back Demonland to-night, then, let’s hold -more chat.” - -“Harken to the naughty traitress,” said he, “that but last night didst -do me some uncivil discourtesies, and now speaketh me fair: and what -a devil for? if not ’cause herseemeth I’ll likely not come back after -this day’s fight. But I’ll come back, mistress kiss-and-be-gone; ay, by -the Gods, and I’ll have my payment too.” - -His lips fed deep on her lips, his strong and greedy hands softly -mastered her against her will, till with a little smothered cry she -embraced him, bruising her tender body against the armour he was girt -withal. Between the kisses she whispered, “Yes, yes, to-night.” Surely -he damned spiteful fortune, that sent him not this encounter but an -half-hour sooner. - -When he was departed, Sriva remained in the shadow of the alcove to -set in order her hair and apparel, not a little disarrayed in that -hot wooing. Out of which darkness she had convenience to observe the -leave-taking of Prezmyra and her lord as they came down that windy -corridor and paused at the head of the stairs. - -Prezmyra had her arm in his. “I know where the Devil keepeth his tail, -madam,” said Corund. “And I know a very traitor when I see him.” - -“When didst thou ever yet fare ill by following of my counsel, my -lord?” said Prezmyra. “Or did I refuse thee ever any thing thou didst -require me of? These seven years since I put off my maiden zone -for thee; and twenty kings sought me in sweet marriage, but thee I -preferred before them all, seeing the falcon shall not mate with -popinjays nor the she-eagle with swans and bustards. And will you say -nay to me in this?” - -She stood round to face him. The pupils of her great eyes were large -in the doubtful lamplight, swallowing their green fires in deep pools -of mystery and darkness. The rich and gorgeous ornaments of her crown -and girdle seemed but a poor casket for that matchless beauty which was -hers: her face, where every noble and sweet quality and every thing -desirable of earth or heaven had framed each feature to itself: the -glory of her hair, like the red sun’s glory: her whole body’s poise and -posture, like a stately bird’s new-lighted after flight. - -“Though it be very rhubarb to me,” said Corund, “shall I say nay to -thee this tide? Not this tide, my Queen.” - -“Thanks, dear my lord. Disarm him and bring him in if you may. The King -shall not refuse us this to pardon his folly, when thou shalt have -obtained this victory for him upon our enemies.” - -The Lady Sriva might hear no more, harkened she never so curiously. -But when they were now come to the stair foot, Corund paused a minute -to try the buckles of his harness. His brow was clouded. At length he -spake, “This shall be a battle mortal fierce and doubtous for both -parties. ’Gainst such mighty opposites as here we have, ’tis possible: -No more; but kiss me, dear lass. And if: tush, ’t will not be; and yet, -I’d not leave it unsaid: if ill tide ill, I’d not have thee waste all -thy days a-grieving. Thou knowest I am not one of your sour envious -jacks, bear so poor a conceit o’ themselves they begrudge their wives -should wed again lest the next husband should prove the better man.” - -But Prezmyra came near to him with good and merry countenance: “Let me -stop thy mouth, my lord. These be foolish thoughts for a great king -going into battle. Come back in triumph, and i’ the mean season think -on me that wait for thee: as a star waits, dear my lord. And never -doubt the issue.” - -“The issue,” answered he, “I’ll tell thee when ’tis done. I’m no -astronomer. I’ll hew with my sword, love; spoil some of their guesses -if I may.” - -“Good fortune and my love go with thee,” she said. - -Sriva coming forth from her hiding hastened to her mother’s lodging, -and there found her that had just bid adieu to her two sons, her face -all blubbered with tears. In the same instant came the Duke her husband -to change his sword, and the Lady Zenambria caught him about the neck -and would have kissed him. But he shook her off, crying out that he -was weary of her and her slobbering mouth; menacing her besides with -filthy imprecations, that he would drag her with him and cast her to -the Demons, who, since they had a strong loathing for such ugly tits -and stale old trots, would no doubt hang her up or disembowel her and -so rid him of his lasting consumption. Therewith he went forth hastily. -But his wife and daughter, either weeping upon other, came down into -the court, meaning to go up to the tower above the water-gate to see -the army marshalled beyond the river. And on the way Sriva related all -she had heard said betwixt Corund and Prezmyra. - -In the court they met with Prezmyra’s self, and she going with blithe -countenance and light tread and humming a merry tune bade them -good-morrow. - -“You can bear these things more bravelier than we, madam,” said -Zenambria. “We be too gentle-hearted methinks and pitiful.” - -Prezmyra replied upon her, “’Tis true, madam, I have not the weak sense -of some of you soft-eyed whimpering ladies. And by your leave I’ll keep -my tears (which be great spoilers of the cheeks beside) until I need -’em.” - -When they were passed by, “Is it not a stony-livered and a shameless -hussy, O my mother?” said Sriva. “And is it not scandalous her laughing -and jesting, as I have told it thee, when she did bid him adieu, -devising only how best she might coax him to save the life of yonder -chambering traitorous hound?” - -“With whom,” said Zenambria, “she wont to do the thing I’d think shame -to speak on. Truly this foreign madam with her loose and wanton ways -doth scandal the whole land for us.” - -But Prezmyra went her way, glad that she had not by an eyelid’s flicker -let her lord guess what a dread possessed her mind, who had in all the -bitter night seen strange and cruel visions portending loss and ruin of -all she held dear. - - • • • • • - -Now, when dawn appeared, was the King’s whole army drawn out in battle -array before the bridge-house. Corinius held command on the left. There -followed him fifteen hundred chosen troops of Witchland, with the Dukes -of Trace and Estreganzia, besides these kings and princes with their -outlandish levies: the king of Mynia, Count Escobrine of Tzeusha, -and the Red Foliot. Corsus led the centre, and with him went King Erp -of Ellien and his green-coated sling-casters, the king of Nevria, -Axtacus lord of Permio, the king of Gilta, Olis of Tecapan, and other -captains: seventeen hundred men in all. The right the Lord Corund had -chosen for himself. Two thousand Witchland troops, the likeliest and -best, hardened to war in Impland and Demonland and the south-eastern -borders, followed his standard, beside the heavy spearmen of Baltary -and swordsmen of Buteny and Ar. Viglus his son was there, and the Count -of Thramnë, Cadarus, Didarus of Largos, and the lord of Estremerine. - -But when the Demons were ware of that great army standing before the -bridge-gate, they put themselves in array for battle. And their ships -made ready to move up the river under Carcë, if by any means they might -attack the bridge by water and so cut off for the Witches their way of -retreat. - -It was bright low sunshine, and the splendour of the jewelled armour of -the Demons and their many-coloured kirtles and the plumes that were in -their helms was a wonder to behold. This was the order of their battle. -On their left nearest the river was a great company of horse, and the -Lord Brandoch Daha to lead them on a great golden dun with fiery eyes. -His island men, Melchar and Tharmrod, with Kamerar of Stropardon and -Styrkmir and Stypmar, were the chief captains that rode with him to -that battle. Next to these came the heavy troops from the east, and the -Lord Juss himself their leader on a tall fierce big-boned chestnut. -About him was his picked bodyguard of horse, with Bremery of Shaws -their captain; and in his battle were these chiefs besides: Astar of -Rettray and Gismor Gleam of Justdale and Peridor of Sule. Lord Spitfire -led the centre, and with him Fendor of Shalgreth, and Emeron, and the -men of Dalney, great spearmen; also the Duke of Azumel, sometime allied -with Witchland. There went also with him the Lord Gro, that scanned -still those ancient walls with a heavy heart, thinking on the great -King within, and with what mastery of intellect and will he ruled those -dark turbulent and bloody men who bare sway under him; thinking on -Queen Prezmyra. To his sick imagining, the blackness of Carcë which no -bright morning light might lighten seemed not as of old the image and -emblem of the royal house of Witchland and their high magnificency and -power on earth, but rather the shadow thrown before of destiny and -death ready to put down that power for ever. Which whether it should so -befall or no he did not greatly care, being aweary of life and life’s -fevers, wild longings, and exorbitant affects, whereof he thought he -had now learned thus much: that to him, who as it seemed must still -adhere to his own foes abandoning the others’ service, fortune through -whatever chop could bring no peace at last. On the Demon right the -Lord Goldry Bluszco streamed his standard, leading to battle the -south-firthers and the heavy spearmen of Mardardale and Throwater. With -him was King Gaslark and his army of Goblinland, and levies from Ojedia -and Eushtlan, lately revolted from their allegiance to King Gorice. -The Lord Zigg, with his light horse of Rammerick and Kelialand and the -northern dales, covered their flank to the eastward. - -Gorice the King beheld these dispositions from his tower above the -water-gate. He beheld, besides, a thing the Demons might not see from -below, for a little swelling of the ground that cut off their view: -the marching of men far away along the Way of Kings from the eastward: -young Heming with the vassalry of Pixyland and Maltraëny. He sent a -trusty man to apprise Corund of it. - -Now Lord Juss let blow up the battle call, and with the loud braying -of the trumpets the hosts of the Demons swung forth to battle. And -the clash of those armies when they met before Carcë was like the -bursting of a thundercloud. But like a great sea-cliff patient for -ages under the storm-winds’ furies, that not one night’s loud wind and -charging breakers can wear away, nor yet a thousand thousand nights, -the embattled strength of Witchland met their onset, mixed with them, -flung them back, and stood unremoved. Corund’s iron battalions bare in -this first brunt the heaviest load, and bare it through. For the ships, -with young Hesper Golthring in command most fiercely urging them, ran -up the river to force the bridge, and Corund whiles he met on his front -the onset of the flower of Demonland must still be shot at by these -behind. Hacmon and Viglus, those young princes his sons, were charged -with the warding of the bridge and walls to burn and break up their -ships. And they of all hands bestirring them twice and thrice threw -back the Demons when they had gotten a footing on the bridge; until in -fine, both sides for a long space fighting very cruelly, it fell out -very fatally against Hesper and his power, his ships all lighted in a -lowe and the more part of his folk burned or drowned or slain with the -sword; and himself after many and grievous wounds in his last attempt -left alone on the bridge, and crawling to have got away was stabbed in -with a dagger and died. - -After this the ships fell back down the river, so many as might avail -thereto, and those sons of Corund, their task manfully fulfilled, came -forth with their folk to join in the main battle. And the smoke of the -burning ships was like incense in the nostrils of the King watching -these things from his tower above the water-gate. - -Little pause was there betwixt this first brunt and the next, for -Heming now bare down from the east, drave in Zigg’s horsemen that were -hampered in the heavy ground, and pressed his onset home on the Demon -right. Along the whole line from Corund’s post beside the river to the -eastern flank where Heming joined Corinius the Witches now set on most -fiercely; and now were the odds of numbers, which were at first against -them, swung mightily in their favour, and under this great side-blow -on his flank not all the Lord Goldry Bluszco’s soldiership nor all -the terror of his might in arms could uphold the Demons’ battle-line. -Yard by yard they fell back before the Witches, most gloriously -maintaining their array unbroken, though the outland allies broke and -fled. Meantime on the Demon left Juss and Brandoch Daha most stubbornly -withstood that onslaught, albeit they had to do with the first and -chosen troops of Witchland. In which struggle befell the most bloody -fighting that was yet seen that day, and the stour of battle so asper -and so mortal that it was hard to see how any man should come out from -it with life, since not a man of either side would budge an inch but -die there in his steps if he might not rather slay the foe before him. -So the armies swayed for an hour like wrastlers locked, but in the end -the Lord Corund had his way and held his ground before the bridge-gate. - -Romenard of Dalney, galloping to Lord Juss where he paused a while -panting from the violence of the battle, brought him by Spitfire’s -command tidings from the right: telling him Goldry’s self could hold -no longer against such odds: that the centre yet held, but at the next -onset was like to break, or the right wing else be driven in upon -their rear and all overwhelmed: “If your highness cannot throw back -Corund, all is lost.” - -In these short minutes’ lull (if lull it were when all the time the -battle like a sounding sea rolled on with a ceaseless noise of riding -and slaying and the clang of arms), Juss chose. Demonland and the whole -world’s destinies hung on his choice. He had no counsellor. He had no -time for slow deliberation. In such a moment imagination, resolution, -swift decision, all high gifts of nature, are nought: swift horses -gulfed and lost in the pit which fate the enemy digged in the way -before them; except painful knowledge, stored up patiently through -years of practice, shall have prepared a road sure and clean for their -flying hooves to bear them in the great hour of destiny. So it was from -the beginning with all great captains: so with the Lord Juss in that -hour when ruin swooped upon his armies. For two minutes’ space he stood -silent; then sent Bremery of Shaws galloping westward like one minded -to break his neck with his orders to Lord Brandoch Daha, and Romenard -eastward again to Spitfire. And Juss himself riding forward among -his soldiers shouted among them in a voice that was like a trumpet -thundering, that they should now make ready for the fiercest trial of -all. - -“Is my cousin mad?” said Lord Brandoch Daha, when he saw and understood -the whole substance and matter of it. “Or hath he found Corund so -tame to deal with he can make shift without me and well nigh half his -strength, and yet withstand him?” - -“He looseth this hold,” answered Bremery, “to snatch at safety. ’Tis -desperate, but all other ways we but wait on destruction. Our right is -clean driven in, the left holdeth but hardly. He chargeth your highness -break their centre if you may. They have somewhat dangerously advanced -their left, and therein is their momentary peril if we be swift enough. -But remember that here, o’ this side, is their greatest power before -us, and if we be ’whelmed ere you can compass it——” - -“No more but Yes,” said Lord Brandoch Daha. “Time gallopeth: so must -we.” - -Even so in that hour when Goldry and Zigg, giving way step by step -before superior odds, were bent back well nigh with their backs to the -river, and Corund on the Demons’ left had after a bitter battle checked -and held them and threatened now to complete in one more great blow -the ruin of them all, Juss, choosing a desperate expedient to meet a -danger that else must destroy him, weakened his hard-pressed left to -throw Brandoch Daha and well nigh eight hundred horse into Spitfire’s -battle to drive a wedge betwixt Corsus and Corinius. - -It was now long past noon. The tempest of battle that had quietened -awhile for utter weariness roared forth anew from wing to wing as -Brandoch Daha hurled his horsemen upon Corsus and the subject allies, -while all along the battle-line the Demons rallied to fling back the -enemy. For a breathless while, the issue hung in suspense: then the men -of Gilta and Nevria broke and fled, Brandoch Daha and his cavalry swept -through the gap, wheeled right and left and took Corsus and Corinius in -flank and rear. - -There fell in this onset Axtacus lord of Permio, the kings of Ellien -and Gilta, Gorius the son of Corsus, the Count of Tzeusha, and many -other noblemen and men of mark. Of the Demons many were hurt and many -slain, but none of great note save Kamerar of Stropardon, whose head -Corinius swapt off clean with a blow of his battle-axe, and Trentmar -whom Corsus smote full in the stomach with a javelin so that he fell -down from his horse and was dead at once. Now was all the left and -centre of the Witches’ battle thrown into great confusion, and the -allies most of all fallen into disorder and fain to yield themselves -and pray for mercy. The King, seeing the extent of this disaster, sent -a galloper to Corund, who straightway sent to Corsus and Corinius -commanding them get them at their speediest with all their folk back -into Carcë while time yet served. Himself in the meantime, showing -now, like the sun, his greatest countenance in his lowest estate, set -on with his weary army to stem the advance of Juss, who now momently -gathered fresh force against him, and to keep open for the rest of the -King’s forces their way by the bridge-gate into Carcë. Corinius, when -he understood it, galloped thither with a band of men to aid Corund, -and this did likewise Heming and Dekalajus and other captains of the -Witches. But Corsus himself, counting the day lost and considering that -he was an old man and had fought now long enough, gat him privily back -into Carcë as quickly as he was able. And truly he was bleeding from -many wounds. - -By this great stand of Corund and his men was time won for a great part -of the residue of the army to escape into Carcë. And ever the Witches -were put aback and lost much ground, yet ever the Lord Corund by his -great valiance and noble heart recomforted his folk, so that they gave -back very slowly, most bloodily disputing the ground foot by foot to -the bridge-gate, that they also might win in again, so many as might. -Juss said, “This is the greatest deed of arms that ever I in the days -of my life did see, and I have so great an admiration and wonder in my -heart for Corund that almost I would give him peace. But I have sworn -now to have no peace with Witchland.” - -Lord Gro was in that battle with the Demons. He ran Didarus through the -neck with his sword, so that he fell down and was dead. - -Corund, when he saw it, heaved up his axe, but changed his intention in -the manage, saying, “O landskip of iniquity, shalt thou kill beside me -the men of mine household? But my friendship sitteth not on a weather -vane. Live, and be a traitor.” - -But Gro, being mightily moved with these words, and staring at great -Corund wide-eyed like a man roused from a dream, answered, “Have I done -amiss? ’Tis easy remedied.” Therewith he turned about and slew a man of -Demonland. Which Spitfire seeing, he cried out upon Gro in a great rage -for a most filthy traitor, and bloodily rushing in thrust him through -the buckler into the brain. - -In such wise and by such a sudden vengeance did the Lord Gro most -miserably end his life-days. Who, being a philosopher and a man of -peace, careless of particular things of earth, had followed and -observed all his days steadfastly one heavenly star; yet now in the -bloody battle before Carcë died in the common opinion of men a manifold -perjured traitor, that had at length gotten the guerdon of his guile. - -Now came the Lord Juss with a great rout of men armed on his great -horse with his sword dripping with blood, and the battle sprang up into -yet more noise and fury, and great manslaying befell, and many able men -of Witchland fell in that stour and the Demons had almost put them from -the bridge-gate. But the Lord Corund, rallying his folk, swung back -yet again the battle-tide, albeit he was by a great odds outnumbered. -And he sought none but Juss himself in that deadly mellay; who when he -saw him coming he refused him not but made against him most fiercely, -and with great clanging blows they swapped together awhile, until -Corund hewed Juss’s shield asunder and struck him from his horse. Juss, -leaping up again, thrust up at Corund with his sword and with the -violence of the blow brake through the rings of his byrny about his -middle and drave the sword into his breast. And Corund felled him to -earth with a great down-stroke on the helm, so that he lay senseless. - -Still the battle raged before the bridge-gate, and great wounds were -given and taken of either side. But now the sons of Corund saw that -their father had lost much of his blood and waxed feeble, and the -residue of his folk seeing it too, and seeing themselves so few against -so many, began to be abashed. So those sons of Corund, riding up to him -on either side with a band of men, made him turn back with them and go -with them in by the gate to Carcë, the which he did like a man amazed -and knowing not what he doeth. And indeed it was a great marvel how so -great a lord, wounded to the death, might sit on horseback. - -In the great court he was gotten down from his horse. The Lady -Prezmyra, when she perceived that his harness was all red with blood, -and saw his wound, fell not down in a swoon as another might, but took -his arm about her shoulder and so supported, with her step-sons to help -her, that great frame which could no more support itself yet had till -that hour borne up against the whole world’s strength in arms. Leeches -came that she had called for, and a litter, and they brought him to -the banquet hall. But after no long while those learned men confessed -his hurt was deadly, and all their cunning nought. Whereupon, much -disdaining to die in bed, not in the field fighting with his enemies, -the Lord Corund caused himself, completely armed and weaponed, with the -stains and dust of the battle yet upon him, to be set in his chair, -there to await death. - -Heming, when this was done, came to tell it to the King, where from -the tower above the water-gate he beheld the end of this battle. The -Demons held the bridge-house. The fight was done. The King sat in his -chair looking down to the battle-field. His dark mantle was about his -shoulders. He leaned forward resting his chin in his hand. They of his -bodyguard, nine or ten, stood huddled together some yards away as if -afraid to approach him. As Heming came near, the King turned his head -slowly to look at him. The low sun, swinging blood-red over Tenemos, -shone full on the King’s face. And as Heming looked in the face of the -King fear gat hold upon him, so that he durst not speak a word to the -King, but made obeisance and departed again, trembling like one who has -seen a sight beyond the veil. - - - - - XXXII: THE LATTER END OF ALL THE LORDS OF WITCHLAND - - OF THE COUNCIL OF WAR; AND HOW THE LORD CORSUS, BEING REJECTED OF - THE KING, TURNED HIS THOUGHTS TO OTHER THINGS; AND OF THE LAST - CONJURING THAT WAS IN CARCË AND THE LAST WINE-BIBBING; AND - HOW YET ONCE AGAIN THE LADY PREZMYRA SPAKE WITH THE LORDS OF - DEMONLAND IN CARCË. - - -Gorice the King held in his private chamber a council of war on the -morrow of the battle before Carcë. The morning was over-cast with -sullen cloud, and though all the windows were thrown wide the sluggish -air hung heavy in the room, as if it too were pervaded by the cold -dark humour that clogged the vitals of those lords of Witchland like a -drowsy drug, or as if the stars would breathe themselves for a greater -mischief. Pale and drawn were those lords’ faces; and, for all they -strove to put on a brave countenance before the King, clean gone was -the vigour and war-like mien that clothed them but yesterday. Only -Corinius kept some spring of his old valiancy and portly bearing, -seated with arms akimbo over against the King, his heavy under-jaw set -forward and his nostrils wide. He had slept ill or watched late, for -his eyes were blood-shotten, and the breath of his nostrils was heavy -with wine. - -“We tarry for Corsus,” said the King. “Had he not word of my bidding?” - -Dekalajus said, “Lord, I will summon him again. These misfortunes I -fear me hang heavy on his mind, and, by your majesty’s leave, he is -scarce his own man since yesterday.” - -“Do it straight,” said the King. “Give me thy papers, Corinius. Thou -art my general since Corund gat his death. I will see what yesterday -hath cost us and what power yet remaineth to crush me these snakes by -force of arms.” - -“These be the numbers, O King,” said Corinius. “But three thousand -and five hundred fighting men, and well nigh half of these over much -crippled with wounds to do aught save behind closed walls. It were but -to give the Demons easy victory to adventure against them, that stand -before Carcë four thousand sound men in arms.” - -The King blew scornfully through his nostrils. “Who told thee their -strength?” said he. - -“It were dangerous to write them down a man fewer,” answered Corinius. -And Hacmon said, “My Lord the King, I would adventure my head they have -more. And your majesty will not forget they be all flown with eagerness -and pride after yesterday’s field, whereas our men——” - -“Were ye sons of Corund,” said the King, breaking in quietly on his -speech and looking dangerously upon him, “but twigs of your father’s -tree, that he being cut down ye have no manhood left nor vital sap, -but straight wither in idiotish dotage? I will not have these womanish -counsels spoke in Carcë; no, nor thought in Carcë.” - -Corinius said, “We had sure intelligence, O King, whenas they landed -that their main army was six thousand fighting men; and last night -myself spake with full a score of our officers, and had a true tale -of some few of the Demons captured by us before they were slain with -the sword. When I say to you Juss standeth before Carcë four thousand -strong, I swell not the truth. His losses yesterday were but a -flea-biting ’gainst ours.” - -The King nodded a curt assent. - -Corinius proceeded, “If we might contrive indeed to raise help from -without Carcë, were it but five hundred spears to distract his mind -some part from usward, nought but your majesty’s strict command should -stay me but I should assault him. It were perilous even so, but never -have you known me leave a fruit unplucked at for fear of thorns. But -until that time, nought but your straight command might win me to essay -a sally. Since well I wot it were my death, and the ruin of you, O -King, and of all Witchland.” - -The King listened with unmoved countenance, his shaven lip set somewhat -in a sneer, his eyes half closed like the eyes of a cat couched -sphinx-like in the sun. But no sun shone in that council chamber. The -leaden pall hung darker without, even as morning grew toward noon. “My -Lord the King,” said Heming, “send me. To overslip their guards i’ the -night, ’tis not a thing beyond invention. That done, I’d gather you -some small head of men, enough to serve this turn, if I must rake the -seven kingdoms to find ’em.” - -While Heming spoke, the door opened and the Duke Corsus entered the -chamber. An ill sight was he, flabbier of cheek and duller of eye -than was his wont. His face was bloodless, his great paunch seemed -shrunken, and his shoulders yet more hunched since yesterday. His gait -was uncertain, and his hand shook as he moved the chair from the board -and took his seat before the King. The King looked on him awhile in -silence, and under that gaze beads of sweat stood on Corsus’s brow and -his under-lip twitched. - -“We need thy counsel, O Corsus,” said the King. “Thus it is: since our -ill-faced stars gave victory to the Demon rebels in yesterday’s battle, -Juss and his brethren front us with four thousand men, whiles I have -not two thousand soldiers unhurt in Carcë. Corinius accounteth us too -weak to risk a sally but and if we might contrive some diversion from -without. And that (after yesterday) is not to be thought on. Hither -and to Melikaphkhaz did we draw all our powers, and the subject allies -not for our love but for fear sake and for lust of gain flocked to our -standard. These caterpillars drop off now. Yet if we fight not, then -is our strength in arms clean spent, and our enemies need but to sit -before Carcë till we be starved. ’Tis a point of great difficulty and -knotty to solve.” - -“Difficult indeed, O my Lord the King,” said Corsus. His glance shifted -round the board, avoiding the steady gaze bent on him from beneath -the eaves of King Gorice’s brow, and resting at last on the jewelled -splendour of the crown of Witchland on the King’s head. “O King,” he -said, “you demand my rede, and I shall not say nor counsel you nothing -but that good and well shall come thereof, as much as yet may be in -this pass we stand in. For now is our greatness turned in woe, dolour, -and heaviness. And easy it is to be after-witted.” - -He paused, and his under-jaw wobbled and twitched. “Speak on,” said the -King. “Thou stutterest forth nothings by fits and girds, as an ague -taketh a goose. Let me know thy rede.” - -Corsus said, “You will not take it, I know, O King. For we of Witchland -have ever been ruled by the rock rather than by the rudder. I had -liever be silent. Silence was never written down.” - -“Thou wouldst, and thou wouldst not!” said the King. “Whence gottest -thou this look of a dish of whey with blood spit in it? Speak, or -thou’lt anger me.” - -“Then blame me not, O King,” said Corsus. “Thus it seemeth to me, that -the hour hath struck whenas we of Witchland must needs look calamity -in the eye and acknowledge we have thrown our last, and lost all. -The Demons, as we have seen to our undoing, be unconquerable in war. -Yet are their minds pranked with many silly phantasies of honour and -courtesy which may preserve us the poor dregs yet unspilt from the cup -of our fortune, if we but leave unseasonable pride and see where our -advantage lieth.” - -“Chat, chat, chat!” said the King. “Perdition catch me if I can find a -meaning in it! What dost thou bid me do?” - -Corsus met the King’s eye at last. He braced himself as if to meet -a blow. “Throw not your cloak in the fire because your house is -burning, O King. Surrender all to Juss at his discretion. And trust -me the foolish softness of these Demons will leave us freedom and the -wherewithal to live at ease.” - -The King was leaned a little forward as Corsus, somewhat dry-throated -but gathering heart as he spake, blurted forth his counsel of defeat. -No man among them looked on Corsus, but all on the King, and for -a minute’s space was no sound save the sound of breathing in that -chamber. Then a puff of hot air blew a window to with a thud, and the -King without moving his head rolled his awful glance forth and back -over his council slowly, fixing each in his turn. And the King said, -“Unto which of you is this counsel acceptable? Let him speak and -instruct us.” - -All did sit mum like beasts. The King spake again, saying, “It is -well. Were there of my council such another vermin, so sottish, -so louse-hearted, as this one hath proclaimed himself, I had been -persuaded Witchland was a sleepy pear, corrupted in her inward parts. -And that were so, I had given order straightway for the sally; and, -for his chastening and your dishonour, this Corsus should have led you. -And so an end, ere the imposthume of our shame brake forth too foul -before earth and heaven.” - -“I admire not, Lord, that you do strike at me,” said Corsus. “Yet I -pray you think how many Kings in Carcë have heaped with injurious -indignities them that were so hardy as give them wholesome counsel -afore their fall. Though your majesty were a half-god or a Fury out of -the pit, you could not by further resisting deliver us out of this net -wherein the Demons have gotten us caught and tied. You can keep geese -no longer, O King. Will you rend me because I bid you be content to -keep goslings?” - -Corinius smote the table with his fist. “O monstrous vermin!” he cried, -“because thou wast scalded, must all we be afeared of cold water?” - -But the King stood up in his majesty, and Corsus shrank beneath the -flame of his royal anger. And the King spake and said, “The council -is up, my lords. For thee, Corsus, I dismiss thee from my council. -Thou art to thank my clemency that I take not thy head for this. It -were for thy better safety, which well I know thou prizest dearer than -mine honour, that thou show not in my path till these perilous days be -overpast.” And unto Corinius he said, “On thy head it lieth that the -Demons storm not the hold, as haply their hot pride may incense them -to attempt. Expect me not at supper. I lie in the Iron Tower to-night, -and let none disturb me there at peril of his head. You of my council -must attend me here four hours ere to-morrow’s noon. Look to it well, -Corinius, that nought shalt thou do nor in any wise adventure our -forces against the Demons till thou receive my further bidding, save -only to hold Carcë against any assault if need be. For this thy life -shall answer. For the Demons, they were wisest praise a fair day at -night. If mine enemy uproot a boulder above my dwelling, so I be mighty -enow of mine hands I may, even in the nick of time that it tottereth to -leap and crush mine house, o’erset it on him and pash him to a mummy.” - -So speaking, the King moved resolute with a great strong step toward -the door. There paused he, his hand upon the silver latch, and looking -tigerishly on Corsus, “Be advised,” he said, “thou. Cross not my path -again. Nor, while I think on’t, send me not thy daughter again, as -last year thou didst. Apt to the sport she is, and well enow she served -my turn aforetime. But the King of Witchland suppeth not twice of the -same dish, nor lacketh he fresh wenches if he need them.” - -Whereat all they laughed. But Corsus’s face grew red as blood. - - • • • • • - -On such wise brake up the council. Corinius with the sons of Corund and -of Corsus went upon the walls ordering all in obedience to the word of -Gorice the King. But that old Duke Corsus betook him to his chamber -in the north gallery. Nor might he abide even a small while at ease, -but sate now in his carven chair, now on the window-sill, now on his -broad-canopied bed, and now walked the chamber floor twisting his hands -and gnawing his lip. And if he were distraught in mind, small wonder it -were, set as he was betwixt hawk and buzzard, the King’s wrath menacing -him in Carcë and the hosts of Demonland without. - -So wore the day till supper-time. And at supper was Corsus, to their -much amaze, sitting in his place, and the ladies Zenambria and Sriva -with him. He drank deep, and when supper was done he filled a goblet -saying, “My lord the king of Demonland and ye other Witches, good it -is that we, who stand as now we stand with one foot in the jaws of -destruction, should bear with one another. Neither should any hide his -thought from other, but say openly, even as I this morning before the -face of our Lord the King, his thought and counsel. Wherefore without -shame do I confess me ill-advised to-day, when I urged the King to -make peace with Demonland. I wax old, and old men will oft embrace -timorous counsels which, if there be wisdom and valiancy left in them, -they soon renounce when the stress is overpast and they have leisure -to afterthink them with a sad mind. And clear as day it is that the -King was right, both in his chastening of my faint courage and in his -bidding thee, O King Corinius, stand to thy watch and do nought till -this night be worn. For went he not to the Iron Tower? And to what -end else spendeth he the night in yonder chamber of dread than to do -sorcery or his magic art, as aforetime he did, and in such wise blast -these Demons to perdition even in the spring-tide of their fortunes? -At no point of time hath Witchland greater need of our wishes than at -this coming midnight, and I pray you, my lords, let us meet a little -before in this hall that we with one heart and mind may drink fair -fortune to the King’s enchantery.” - -With such pleasant words and sympathetical insinuations, working at -a season when the wine-cup had caused unfold some gayness in their -hearts that were fordone with the hard scapes and chances of disastrous -war, was Corsus grown to friendship again with the lords of Witchland. -So, when the guard was set and all made sure for the night, they came -together in the great banquet hall, whereas more than three years -ago the Prince La Fireez had feasted and after fought against them -of Witchland. But now was he drowned among the shifting tides in the -Straits of Melikaphkhaz. And the Lord Corund, that fought that night -in such valiant wise, now in that same hall, armed from throat to foot -as becometh a great soldier dead, lay in state, crowned on his brow -with the amethystine crown of Impland. The spacious side-benches were -untenanted and void their high seats, and the cross-bench was removed -to make place for Corund’s bier. The lords of Witchland sate at a -small table below the dais: Corinius in the seat of honour at the end -nearest the door, and over against him Corsus, and on Corinius’s left -Zenambria, and on his right Dekalajus son to Corsus, and then Heming; -and on Corsus’s left his daughter Sriva, and those two remaining of -Corund’s sons on his right. All were there save Prezmyra, and her had -none seen since her lord’s death, but she kept her chamber. Flamboys -stood in the silver stands as of old, lighting the lonely spaces of the -hall, and four candles shivered round the bier where Corund slept. Fair -goblets stood on the board brimmed with dark sweet Thramnian wine, one -for each feaster there, and cold bacon pies and botargoes and craw-fish -in hippocras sauce furnished a light midnight meal. - -Now scarce were they set, when the flamboys burned pale in a strange -light from without doors: an evil, pallid, bale-like lowe, such as -Gro had beheld in days gone by when King Gorice XII. first conjured -in Carcë. Corinius paused ere taking his seat. Goodly and stalwart he -showed in his blue silk cloak and silvered byrny. The fair crown of -Demonland, wherewith Corsus had been enforced to crown him on that -great night in Owlswick, shone above his light brown curling hair. -Youth and lustihood stood forth in every line of his great frame, and -on his bare arms smooth and brawny, with their wristlets of gold; -but somewhat ghastly was the corpse-like pallor of that light on his -shaven jowl, and his thick scornful lips were blackened, like those of -poisoned men, in that light of bale. - -“Saw ye not this light aforetime?” he cried, “and ’twas the shadow -before the sun of our omnipotence. Fate’s hammer is lifted up to -strike. Drink with me to our Lord the King that laboureth with destiny.” - -All drank deep, and Corinius said, “Pass we on the cups that each may -drain his neighbour’s. ’Tis an old lucky custom Corund taught me out of -Impland. Swift, for the fate of Witchland is poised in the balance.” -Therewith he passed his cup to Zenambria, who quaffed it to the dregs. -And all they, passing on their cups, drank deep again; all save Corsus -alone. But Corsus’s eyes were big with terror as he looked on the cup -passed on to him by Corund’s son. - -“Drink, O Corsus,” said Corinius; and seeing him still waver, “what -ails the old doting disard?” he cried. “He stareth on good wine with an -eye as ghastly as a mad dog’s beholding water.” - -In that instant the unearthly glare went out as a lamp in a gust of -wind, and only the flamboys and the funeral candles flickered on the -feasters with uncertain radiance. Corinius said again, “Drink.” - -But Corsus set down the cup untasted, and stayed irresolute. Corinius -opened his mouth to speak, and his jaw fell, as of a man that -conceiveth suddenly some dread suspicion. But ere he might speak word, -a blinding flash went from earth to heaven, and the firm floor of the -banquet hall rocked and shook as with an earthquake. All save Corinius -fell back into their seats, clutching the table, amazed and dumb. Crash -after crash, after the listening ear was well nigh split by the roar, -the horror broken out of the bowels of night thundered and ravened in -Carcë. Laughter, as of damned souls banqueting in Hell, rode on the -tortured air. Wildfire tore the darkness asunder, half blinding them -that sat about that table, and Corinius gripped the board with either -hand as a last deafening crash shook the walls, and a flame rushed -up the night, lighting the whole sky with a livid glare. And in that -trisulk flash Corinius beheld through the south-west window the Iron -Tower blasted and cleft asunder, and the next instant fallen in an -avalanche of red-hot ruin. - -“The keep hath fallen!” he cried. And, deadly wearied on a sudden, he -sank heavily into his seat. The cataclysm was passed by like a wind in -the night; but now was heard a sound as of the enemy rushing to the -assault. Corinius strove to rise, but his legs were over feeble. His -eye lit on Corsus’s untasted cup, that which was passed on to him by -Viglus Corund’s son, and he cried, “What devil’s work is this? I have a -strange numbness in my bones. By heavens, thou shalt drink that cup or -die.” - -Viglus, his eyes protruding, his hand clutching at his breast, -struggled to rise but could not. - -Heming half staggered up, fumbling for his sword, then pitched forward -on the table with a horrid rattle of the throat. - -But Corsus leaped up trembling, his dull eyes aflame with triumphant -malice. “The King hath thrown and lost,” he cried, “as well I foresaw -it. And now have the children of night taken him to themselves. And -thou, damned Corinius, and you sons of Corund, are but dead swine -before me. Ye have all drunk venom, and ye are dead. Now will I deliver -up Carcë to the Demons. And it, and your bodies, with mine electuary -rotting in your vitals, shall buy me peace from Demonland.” - -“O horrible! Then I too am poisoned,” cried the Lady Zenambria, and -she fell a-swooning. - -“’Tis pity,” said Corsus. “Blame the passing of the cups for that. I -might not speak ere the poison had chained me the limbs of these cursed -devils, and made ’em harmless.” - -Corinius’s jaw set like a bulldog’s. Painfully gritting his teeth he -rose from his seat, his sword naked in his hand. Corsus, that was now -passing near him on his way to the door, saw too late that he had -reckoned without his host. Corinius, albeit the baneful drug bound his -legs as with a cere-cloth, was yet too swift for Corsus, who, fleeing -before him to the door, had but time to clutch the heavy curtains ere -the sword of Corinius took him in the back. He fell, and lay a-writhing -lumpishly, like a toad spitted on a skewer. And the floor of steatite -was made slippery with his blood. - -[Illustration: THE LAST CONJURING IN CARCË.] - -“’Tis well. Through the guts,” said Corinius. No might he had to draw -forth the sword, but staggered as one drunken, and fell to earth, -propped against the jambs of the lofty doorway. - -Some while he lay there, harkening to the sounds of battle without; -for the Iron Tower was fallen athwart the outer wall, making a breach -through all lines of defence. And through that breach the Demons -stormed the hold of Carcë, that never unfriendly foot had entered by -force in all the centuries since it was builded by Gorice I. An ill -watch it was for Corinius to lie harkening to that unequal fight, -unable to stir a hand, and all they that should have headed the defence -dead or dying before his eyes. Yet was his breath lightened and his -pain some part eased when his eye rested on the gross body of Corsus -twisting in the agony of death upon his sword. - -In such wise passed well nigh an hour. The bodily strength of Corinius -and his iron heart bare up against the power of the venom long after -those others had breathed out their souls in death. But now was the -battle done and the victory with them of Demonland, and the lords Juss -and Goldry Bluszco and Brandoch Daha with certain of their fighting men -came into the banquet hall. Smeared they were with blood and the dust -of battle, for not without great blows and the death of many a stout -lad had the hold been won. Goldry said as they paused at the threshold, -“This is the very banquet house of death. How came these by their end?” - -Corinius’s brow darkened at the sight of the lords of Demonland, and -mightily he strove to raise himself, but sank back groaning. “I have -gotten an everlasting chill o’ the bones,” he said. “Yon hellish -traitor murthered us all by poison; else should some of you have gotten -your deaths by me or ever ye won up into Carcë.” - -“Bring him some water,” said Juss. And he with Brandoch Daha gently -lifted Corinius and bare him to his chair where he should be more at -ease. - -Goldry said, “Here is a lady liveth.” For Sriva, that sitting on her -father’s left hand had so escaped a poisoned draught at the passing of -the cups, rose from the table where she had cowered in fearful silence, -and cast herself in a flood of tears and terrified supplications about -Goldry’s knees. Goldry bade guard her to the camp and there bestow her -in safe asylum until the morning. - -Now was Corinius near his end, but he gathered strength to speak, -saying, “I do joy that not by your sword were we put down, but by the -unequal trumpery of Fortune, whose tool was this Corsus and the King’s -devilish pride, that desired to harness Heaven and Hell to his chariot. -Fortune’s a right strumpet, to fondle me in the neck and now yerk me -one thus i’ the midriff.” - -“Not Fortune, my Lord Corinius, but the Gods,” said Goldry, “whose feet -be shod with wool.” - -By then was water brought in, and Brandoch Daha would have given him -to drink. But Corinius would have none of it, but jerked his head -aside and o’erset the cup, and looking fiercely on Lord Brandoch Daha, -“Vile fellow,” he said, “so thou too art come to insult on Witchland’s -grave? Thou’dst strike me now into the centre, and thou wert not more a -dancing madam than a soldier.” - -“How?” said Brandoch Daha. “Say a dog bite me in the ham: must I bite -him again i’ the same part?” - -Corinius’s eyelids closed, and he said weakly, “How look thy womanish -gew-gaws in Krothering since I towsed ’em?” And therewith the creeping -poison reached his strong heartstrings, and he died. - - • • • • • - -Now was silence for a space in that banquet hall, and in the silence -a step was heard, and the lords of Demonland turned toward the lofty -doorway, that yawned as an arched cavern-mouth of darkness; for Corsus -had torn down the arras curtains in his death-throes, and they lay -heaped athwart the threshold with his dead body across them, Corinius’s -sword-hilts jammed against his ribs and the blade standing a foot’s -length forth from his breast. And while they gazed, there walked -into the shifting light of the flamboys over that threshold the Lady -Prezmyra, crowned and arrayed in her rich robes and ornaments of state. -Her countenance was bleak as the winter moon flying high amid light -clouds on a windy midnight settling towards rain, and those lords, -under the spell of her sad cold beauty, stood without speech. - -In a while Juss, speaking as one who needeth to command his voice, -and making grave obeisance to her, said, “O Queen, we give you peace. -Command our service in all things whatsoever. And first in this, which -shall be our earliest task ere we sail homeward, to stablish you in -your rightful realm of Pixyland. But this hour is over-charged with -fate and desperate deeds to suffer counsel. Counsel is for the morning. -The night calleth to rest. I pray you give us leave.” - -Prezmyra looked upon Juss, and there was eye-bite in her eyes, that -glinted with green metallic lustre like those of a she-lion brought to -battle. - -“Thou dost offer me Pixyland, my Lord Juss,” said she, “that am Queen -of Impland. And this night, thou thinkest, can bring me rest. These -that were dear to me have rest indeed: my lord and lover Corund; the -Prince my brother; Gro, that was my friend. Deadly enow they found you, -whether as friends or foes.” - -Juss said, “O Queen Prezmyra, the nest falleth with the tree. These -things hath Fate brought to pass, and we be but Fate’s whipping-tops -bandied what way she will. Against thee we war not, and I swear to thee -that all our care is to make thee amends.” - -“O, thine oaths!” said Prezmyra. “What amends canst thou make? Youth I -have and some poor beauty. Wilt thou conjure those three dead men alive -again that ye have slain? For all thy vaunted art, I think this were -too hard a task.” - -All they were silent, eyeing her as she walked delicately past -the table. She looked with a distant and, to outward seeming, -uncomprehending eye on the dead feasters and their empty cups. Empty -all, save that one passed on by Viglus, whereof Corsus would not drink; -and it stood half drained. Of curious workmanship it was, of pale -green glass, its stand formed of three serpents intertwined, the one -of gold, another of silver, the third of iron. Fingering it carelessly -she raised her glittering eyes once more on the Demons, and said, “It -was ever the wont of you of Demonland to eat the egg and give away the -shell in alms.” And pointing at the lords of Witchland dead at the -feast, she asked, “Were these also your victims in this day’s hunting, -my lords?” - -“Thou dost us wrong, madam,” cried Goldry. “Never hath Demonland used -suchlike arts against her enemies.” - -Lord Brandoch Daha looked swiftly at him, and stepped idly forward, -saying, “I know not what art hath wrought yon goblet, but ’tis -strangely like to one I saw in Impland. Yet fairer is this, and of more -just proportions.” But Prezmyra forestalled his out-stretched hand, and -quietly drew the cup towards her out of reach. As sword crosses sword, -the glance of her green eyes crossed his, and she said, “Think not that -you have a worse enemy left on earth than me. I it was that sent Corsus -and Corinius to trample Demonland in the mire. Had I but some spark -of masculine virtue, some soul at least of you should yet be loosed -squealing to the shades to attend my dear ones ere I set sail. But I -have none. Kill me then, and let me go.” - -Juss, whose sword was bare in his hand, smote it home in the scabbard -and stepped towards her. But the table was betwixt them, and she drew -back to the dais where Corund lay in state. There, like some triumphant -goddess, she stood above them, the cup of venom in her hand. “Come not -beyond the table, my lords,” she said, “or I drain this cup to your -damnation.” - -Brandoch Daha said, “The dice are thrown, O Juss. And the Queen hath -won the hazard.” - -“Madam,” said Juss, “I swear to you there shall no force nor restraint -be put upon you, but honour only and worship shown you, and friendship -if you will. That surely mightest thou take of us for thy brother’s -sake.” Thereat she looked terribly upon him, and he said, “Only on this -wild night lay not hands upon yourself. For their sake, that even now -haply behold us out of the undiscovered barren lands, beyond the dismal -lake, do not this.” - -Still facing them, the cup still aloft in her right hand, Prezmyra -laid her left hand lightly on the brazen plates of Corund’s byrny that -cased the mighty muscles of his breast. Her hand touched his beard, and -drew back suddenly; but in an instant she laid it gently again on his -breast. Somewhat her orient loveliness seemed to soften for a passing -minute in the altering light, and she said, “I was given to Corund -young. This night I will sleep with him, or reign with him, among the -mighty nations of the dead.” - -Juss moved as one about to speak, but she stayed him with a look, and -the lines of her body hardened again and the lioness looked forth -anew in her peerless eyes. “Hath your greatness,” she said, “so much -outgrown your wit, that you think I will abide to be your pensioner, -that have been a Princess in Pixyland, a Queen of far-fronted Impland, -and wife to the greatest soldier in this hold of Carcë, which till this -day hath been the only scourge and terror of the world? O my lords -of Demonland, good comfortable fools, speak to me no more, for your -speech is folly. Go, doff your hats to the silly hind that runneth on -the mountain; pray her gently dwell with you amid your stalled cattle, -when you have slain her mate. Shall the blackening frost, when it hath -blasted and starved all the sweet garden flowers, say to the rose, -Abide with us; and shall she harken to such a wolfish suit?” - -So speaking she drank the cup; and turning from those lords of -Demonland as a queen turneth her from the unregarded multitude, kneeled -gently down by Corund’s bier, her white arms clasped about his head, -her face pillowed on his breast. - - • • • • • - -When Juss spake, his voice was choked with tears. He commanded Bremery -that they should take up the bodies of Corsus and Zenambria and those -sons of Corund and of Corsus that lay poisoned and dead in that hall -and on the morrow give them reverent burial. “And for the Lord Corinius -I will that ye make a bed of state, that he may lie in this hall -to-night, and to-morrow will we lay him in howe before Carcë, as is -fitting for so renowned a captain. But great Corund and his lady shall -none depart one from the other, but in one grave shall they rest, side -by side, for their love sake. Ere we be gone I will rear them such a -monument as beseemeth great kings and princes when they die. For royal -and lordly was Corund, and a mighty man at arms, and a fighter clean of -hand, albeit our bitter enemy. Wondrous it is with what cords of love -he bound to him this unparagoned Queen of his. Who hath known her like -among women for trueness and highness of heart? And sure none was ever -more unfortunate.” - -Now went they forth into the outer ward of Carcë. The night bore still -some signs of that commotion of the skies that had so lately burst -forth and passed away, and some torn palls of thundercloud yet hung -athwart the face of heaven. Betwixt them in the swept places of the -sky a few stars shivered, and the moon, more than half waxen towards -her full, was sinking over Tenemos. Some faint breath of autumn was -abroad, and the Demons shuddered a little, fresh from the heavy air -of the great banquet hall. The ruins of the Iron Tower smoking to -the sky, and the torn and tumbled masses of masonry about it, showed -monstrous in the gloom as fragments of old chaos; and from them and -from the riven earth beneath steamed up pungent fumes as of brimstone -burning. Ever busily, back and forth through those sulphurous vapours, -obscene birds of the night flitted a weary round, and bats on leathern -wing, fitfully and dimly seem in the uncertain mirk, save when their -passage brought them dark against the moon. And from the solitudes of -the mournful fen afar voices of lamentation floated on the night: wild -wailing cries and sobbing noises and long moans rising and falling and -quivering down to silence. - -Juss laid his hand on Goldry’s arm, saying, “There is nought earthly in -these laments, nor be those that thou seest circling in the reek very -bats or owls. These be his masterless familiars wailing for their Lord. -Many such served him, simple earthy divels and divels of the air and of -the water, held by him in thrall by sorcerous and artificial practices, -coming and going and doing his will.” - -“These availed him not,” said Goldry, “nor the sword of Witchland -against our might and main, that brake it asunder in his hand and slew -his mighty men of valour.” - -“Yet true it is,” said Lord Juss, “that none greater hath lived on -earth than King Gorice XII. When after these long wars we held him as -a stag at bay, he feared not to assay a second time, and this time -unaided and alone, what no man else hath so much as once performed and -lived. And well he knew that that which was summoned by him out of the -deep must spill and blast him utterly if he should slip one whit, as -slip he did in former days, but his disciple succoured him. Behold now -with what loud striking of thunder, unconquered by any earthly power, -he hath his parting: with this Carcë black and smoking in ruin for his -monument, these lords of Witchland and hundreds besides of our soldiers -and of the Witches for his funeral bake-meats, and spirits weeping in -the night for his chief mourners.” - -So came they again to the camp. And in due time the moon set and the -clouds departed and the quiet stars pursued their eternal way until -night’s decline; as if this night had been but as other nights: this -night which had beheld the power and glory that was Witchland by such a -hammer-stroke of destiny smitten in pieces. - - - - - XXXIII: QUEEN SOPHONISBA IN GALING - - OF THE ENTERTAINMENT GIVEN BY LORD JUSS IN DEMONLAND TO QUEEN - SOPHONISBA, FOSTERLING OF THE GODS, AND OF THAT CIRCUMSTANCE - WHICH, BEYOND ALL THE WONDERS FAIR AND LOVELY TO BEHOLD SHOWN - HER IN THAT COUNTRY, MADE HER MOST TO MARVEL: WHEREIN IS A RARE - EXAMPLE HOW IN A FORTUNATE WORLD, OUT OF ALL EXPECTATION, IN - THE SPRING OF THE YEAR, COMETH A NEW BIRTH. - - -Now the returning months brought the season of the year when Queen -Sophonisba should come according to her promise to guest with Lord Juss -in Galing. And so it was that in the hush of a windless April dawn the -Zimiamvian caravel that bare the Queen to Demonland rowed up the firth -to Lookinghaven. - -All the east was a bower for the golden dawn. Kartadza, sharp-outlined -as if cut in bronze, still hid the sun; and in the great shadow of the -mountain the haven and the low hills and the groves of holm-oak and -strawberry tree slumbered in a deep obscurity of blues and purples, -against which the avenues of pink almond blossom and the white marble -quays were bodied forth in pale wakening beauty, imaged as in a -looking-glass in that tranquillity of the sea. Westward across the -firth all the land was aglow with the opening day. Snow lingered -still on the higher summits. Cloudless, bathing in the golden light, -they stood against the blue: Dina, the Forks of Nantreganon, Pike -o’ Shards, and all the peaks of the Thornback range and Neverdale. -Morning laughed on their high ridges and kissed the woods that clung -about their lower limbs: billowy woods, where rich hues of brown and -purple told of every twig on all their myriad branches thick and -afire with buds. White mists lay like coverlets on the water-meadows -where Tivarandardale opens to the sea. On the shores of Bothrey and -Scaramsey, and on the mainland near the great bluff of Thremnir’s Heugh -and a little south of Owlswick, clear spaces among the birchwoods -showed golden yellow: daffodils abloom in the spring. - -They rowed in to the northernmost berth and made fast the caravel. -The sweetness of the almond trees was the sweetness of spring in the -air, and spring was in the face of that Queen as she came with her -attendants up the shining steps, her little martlets circling about her -or perching on her shoulders: she to whom the Gods of old gave youth -everlasting, and peace everlasting in Koshtra Belorn. - -Lord Juss and his brethren were on the quay to meet her, and the Lord -Brandoch Daha. They bowed in turn, kissing her hands and bidding her -welcome to Demonland. But she said, “Not to Demonland alone, my lords, -but to the world again. And toward which of all earth’s harbours should -I steer, and toward which land if not to this land of yours, who have -by your victories brought peace and joy to all the world? Surely peace -slept not more softly on the Moruna in old days before the names of -Gorice and Witchland were heard in that country, than she shall sleep -for us on this new earth and Demonland, now that those names are -drowned for ever under the whirlpools of oblivion and darkness.” - -Juss said, “O Queen Sophonisba, desire not that the names of great men -dead should be forgot for ever. So should these wars that we last year -brought to so mighty a conclusion to make us undisputed lords of the -earth go down to oblivion with them that fought against us. But the -fame of these things shall be on the lips and in the songs of men from -one generation to another, so long as the world shall endure.” - -They took horse and rode up from the harbour to the upper road, and -so through open pastures on to Havershaw Tongue. Lambs frisked on the -dewy meadows beside the road; blackbirds flew from bush to bush; larks -trilled in the sightless sky; and as they came down through the woods -to Beckfoot wood-pigeons cooed in the trees, and squirrels peeped with -beady eyes. The Queen spoke little. These and all shy things of the -woods and field held her in thrall, charming her to a silence that was -broken only now and then by a little exclamation of joy. The Lord Juss, -who himself also loved these things, watched her delight. - -Now they wound up the steep ascent from Beckfoot, and rode into Galing -by the Lion Gate. The avenue of Irish yews was lined by soldiers of the -bodyguards of Juss, Goldry, and Spitfire, and Brandoch Daha. These, in -honour of their great masters and of the Queen, lifted their spears -aloft, while trumpeters blew three fanfares on silver trumpets. Then -to an accompaniment of lutes and theorbos and citherns moving above -the pulse of muffled drums, a choir of maidens sang a song of welcome, -strewing the path before the lords of Demonland and the Queen with -sweet white hyacinths and narcissus blooms, while the ladies Mevrian -and Armelline, more lovely than any queens of earth, waited at the head -of the golden staircase above the inner court to greet Queen Sophonisba -come to Galing. - - • • • • • - -A hard matter it were to tell of all the pleasures prepared for Queen -Sophonisba and for her delight by the lords of Demonland. The first -day she spent among the parks and pleasure gardens of Galing, where -Lord Juss showed her his great lime avenues, his yew-houses, his fruit -gardens and sunk gardens and his private walks and bowers; his walks of -creeping thyme which being trodden on sends up sweet odours to refresh -the treader; his ancient water-gardens beside the Brankdale Beck, -whither the water nymphs resort in summer and are seen under the moon -singing and combing their hair with combs of gold. - -On the second day he showed her his herb gardens, disclosing to her -the secret properties of herbs, wherein he was deeply learned. There -grew that Zamalenticion, which being well beaten up with fat without -salt is sovran for all wounds. And Dittany, which if eaten soon puts -out the arrow and healeth the wounds; and not only by its presence -stayeth snakes wheresoever they be handy to it, but by reason of its -smell carried by wind and they smell it they die. And Mandragora, which -being taken into the middle of an house compelleth all evils out of the -house, and relieveth also headaches and produceth sleep. Also he showed -her Sea Holly in his garden, that is born in secret places and in wet -ones, and the root of it is as the head of that monster which men name -the Gorgon, and the root-twigs have both eyes and nose and colour of -serpents. Of this he told her how when taking up the root, a man must -see to it that no sun shine on it, and he who would carve it must avert -his head, for it is not permitted that man may see that root unharmed. - -The third day Juss showed the Queen his stables, where were his -war-horses and horses for the chase and for chariot racing stabled in -stalls with furniture of silver, and much she marvelled at his seven -white mares, sisters, so like that none might tell one from another, -given him in days gone by by the priests of Artemis in the lands beyond -the sunset. They were immortal, bearing ichor in their veins, not -blood; and the fire of it showed in their eyes like lamps burning. - -The fourth night and the fifth the Queen was at Drepaby, guesting with -Lord Goldry Bluszco and the Princess Armelline, that were wedded in -Zajë Zaculo last Yule; and the sixth and seventh nights at Owlswick, -and there Spitfire made her lordly entertainment. But Lord Brandoch -Daha would not have the Queen go yet to Krothering, for he had not yet -made fair again his gardens and pleasaunces and restored his rich and -goodly treasures to his mind after their ill handling by Corinius. And -it was not his will that she should look on Krothering Castle until all -was there stablished anew according to its ancient glory. - -The eighth day she came again to Galing, and now Lord Juss showed her -his study, with his astrolabes of orichalc, figured with all the signs -of the Zodiac and the mansions of the moon, standing a tall man’s -height above the floor, and his perspectives and globes and crystals -and hollow looking-glasses; and great crystal globes where he kept -homunculi whom he had made by secret processes of nature, both men and -women, less than a span long, as beautiful as one could wish to see in -their little coats, eating and drinking and going their ways in those -mighty globes of crystal where his art had given them being. - -Every night, whether at Galing, Owlswick, or Drepaby Mire, was feasting -held in her honour, with music and dancing and merry-making and all -delight, and poetical recitations and feats of arms and horsemanship, -and masques and interludes the like whereof hath not been seen on -earth for beauty and wit and all magnificence. - - • • • • • - -Now was the ninth day come of the Queen’s guesting in Demonland, and -it was the eve of Lord Juss’s birthday, when all the great ones in the -land were come together, as four years ago they came, to do honour on -the morrow unto him and unto his brethren as was their wont aforetime. -It was fine bright weather, with every little while a shower to bring -fresh sweetness to the air, colour and refreshment to the earth, and -gladness to the sunshine. Juss walked with the Queen in the morning -in the woods of Moongarth Bottom, now bursting into leaf; and after -their mid-day meal showed her his treasuries cut in the live rock under -Galing Castle, where she beheld bars of gold and silver piled like -trunks of trees; unhewn crystals of ruby, chrysoprase, or hyacinth, so -heavy a strong man might not lift them; stacks of ivory in the tusk, -piled to the ceiling; chests and jars filled with perfumes and costly -spices, ambergris, frankincense, sweet-scented sandalwood and myrrh and -spikenard; cups and beakers and eared wine-jars and lamps and caskets -made of pure gold, worked and chased with the forms of men and women -and birds and beasts and creeping things, and ornamented with jewels -beyond price, margarites and pink and yellow sapphires, smaragds and -chrysoberyls and yellow diamonds. - -When the Queen had had her fill of gazing on these, he carried -her to his great library where statues stood of the nine Muses -about Apollo, and all the walls were hidden with books: histories -and songs of old days, books of philosophy, alchymy and astronomy -and art magic, romances and music and lives of great men dead and -great treatises of all the arts of peace and war, with pictures and -illuminated characters. Great windows opened southward on the garden -from the library, and climbing rose-trees and plants of honeysuckle -and evergreen magnolia clustered about the windows. Great chairs and -couches stood about the open hearth where a fire of cedar logs burned -in winter time. Lamps of moonstones self-effulgent shaded with cloudy -green tourmaline stood on silver stands on the table and by each couch -and chair, to give light when the day was over; and all the air was -sweet with the scent of dried rose-leaves kept in ancient bowls and -vases of painted earthenware. - -Queen Sophonisba said, “My lord, I love this best of all the fair -things thou hast shown me in thy castle of Galing: here where all -trouble seems a forgotten echo of an ill world left behind. Surely -my heart is glad, O my friend, that thou and these other lords of -Demonland shall now enjoy your goodly treasures and fair days in your -dear native land in peace and quietness all your lives.” - -The Lord Juss stood at the window that looked westward across the lake -to the great wall of the Scarf. Some shadow of a noble melancholy -hovered about his sweet dark countenance as his gaze rested on a -curtain of rain that swept across the face of the mountain wall, half -veiling the high rock summits. “Yet think, madam,” said he, “that we -be young of years. And to strenuous minds there is an unquietude in -over-quietness.” - -Now he conducted her through his armouries where he kept his weapons -and weapons for his fighting men and all panoply of war. There he -showed her swords and spears, maces and axes and daggers, orfreyed and -damascened and inlaid with jewels; byrnies and baldricks and shields; -blades so keen, a hair blown against them in a wind should be parted -in twain; charmed helms on which no ordinary sword would bite. And -Juss said unto the Queen, “Madam, what thinkest thou of these swords -and spears? For know well that these be the ladder’s rungs that we of -Demonland climbed up by to that signiory and principality which now we -hold over the four corners of the world.” - -She answered, “O my lord, I think nobly of them. For an ill part it -were while we joy in the harvest, to contemn the tools that prepared -the land for it and reaped it.” - -While she spoke, Juss took down from its hook a great sword with a haft -bound with plaited cords of gold and silver wire and cross-hilts of -latoun set with studs of amethyst and a drake’s head at either end of -the hilt with crimson almandines for his eyes, and the pommel a ball of -deep amber-coloured opal with red and green flashes. - -“With this sword,” said he, “I went up with Gaslark to the gates of -Carcë, four years gone by this summer, being clouded in my mind by the -back-wash of the sending of Gorice the King. With this sword I fought -an hour back to back with Brandoch Daha, against Corund and Corinius -and their ablest men: the greatest fight that ever I fought, and -against the fearfullest odds. Witchland himself beheld us from Carcë -walls through the watery mist and glare, and marvelled that two men -that are born of woman could perform such deeds.” - -He untied the bands of the sword and drew it singing from its sheath. -“With this sword,” he said, looking lovingly along the blade, “I have -overcome hundreds of mine enemies: Witches, and Ghouls, and barbarous -people out of Impland and the southern seas, pirates of Esamocia and -princes of the eastern main. With this sword I gat the victory in many -a battle, and most glorious of all in the battle before Carcë last -September. There, fighting against great Corund in the press of the -fight I gave him with this sword the wound that was his death-wound.” - -He put up the sword again in its sheath: held it a minute as if -pondering whether or no to gird it about his waist: then slowly turned -to its place on the wall and hung it up again. He carried his head high -like a war-horse, keeping his gaze averted from the Queen as they went -out from the great armoury in Galing; yet not so skilfully but she -marked a glistening in his eye that seemed a tear standing above his -lower eyelash. - - • • • • • - -That night was supper set in Lord Juss’s private chamber: a light -regale, yet most sumptuous. They sat at a round table, nine in company: -the three brethren, the Lords Brandoch Daha, Zigg, and Volle, the -Ladies Armelline and Mevrian, and the Queen. Brightly flowed the -wines of Krothering and Norvasp and blithely went the talk to outward -seeming. But ever and again silence swung athwart the board, like a -gray pall, till Zigg broke it with a jest, or Brandoch Daha or his -sister Mevrian. The Queen felt the chill behind their merriment. The -silent fits came oftener as the feast went forward, as if wine and good -cheer had lost their native quality and turned fathers of black moods -and gloomy meditations. - -The Lord Goldry Bluszco, that till now had spoke little, spake now not -at all, his proud dark face fixed in staid pensive lines of thought. -Spitfire too was fallen silent, his face leaned upon his hand, his brow -bent; and whiles he drank amain, and whiles he drummed his fingers -on the table. The Lord Brandoch Daha leaned back in his ivory chair, -sipping his wine. Very demure, through half-closed eyes, like a -panther dozing in the noon-day, he watched his companions at the feast. -Like sunbeams chased by cloud-shadows across a mountain-side in windy -weather, the lights of humorous enjoyment played across his face. - -The Queen said, “O my lords, you have promised me I should hear the -full tale of your wars in Impland and the Impland seas, and how you -came to Carcë and of the great battle that there befell, and of the -latter end of all the lords of Witchland and of Gorice XII. of memory -accursed. I pray you let me hear it now, that our hearts may be -gladdened by the tale of great deeds the remembrance whereof shall be -for all generations, and that we may rejoice anew that all the lords -of Witchland are dead and gone because of whom and their tyranny earth -hath groaned and laboured these many years.” - -Lord Juss, in whose face when it was at rest she had beheld that same -melancholy which she had marked in him in the library that same day, -poured forth more wine, and said, “O Queen Sophonisba, thou shalt hear -it all.” Therewith he told all that had befallen since they last bade -her adieu in Koshtra Belorn: of the march to the sea at Muelva; of -Laxus and his great fleet destroyed and sunk off Melikaphkhaz; of the -battle before Carcë and its swinging fortunes; of the unhallowed light -and flaring signs in heaven whereby they knew of the King’s conjuring -again in Carcë; of their waiting in the night, armed at all points, -with charms and amulets ready against what dreadful birth might be -from the King’s enchantments; of the blasting of the Iron Tower, and -the storming of the hold in pitch darkness; of the lords of Witchland -murthered at the feast, and nought left at last of the power and pomp -and terror that was Witchland save dying embers of a funeral fire and -voices wailing in the wind before the dawn. - -When he had done, the Queen said, as if talking in a dream, “Surely it -may be said of these kings and lords of Witchland dead— - - These wretched eminent things - Leave no more fame behind ’em than should one - Fall in a frost, and leave his print in snow; - As soon as the sun shines, it ever melts - Both form and matter.” - -With those words spoken dropped silence again like a pall athwart that -banquet table, more tristful than before and full of heaviness. - -On a sudden Lord Brandoch Daha stood up, unbuckling from his shoulder -his golden baldrick set with apricot-coloured sapphires and diamonds -and fire-opals that imaged thunderbolts. He threw it before him on the -table, with his sword, clattering among the cups. “O Queen Sophonisba,” -said he, “thou hast spoken a fit funeral dirge for our glory as for -Witchland’s. This sword Zeldornius gave me. I bare it at Krothering -Side against Corinius, when I threw him out of Demonland. I bare it at -Melikaphkhaz. I bare it in the last great fight in Witchland. Thou wilt -say it brought me good luck and victory in battle. But it brought not -to me, as to Zeldornius, this last best luck of all: that earth should -gape for me when my great deeds were ended.” - -The Queen looked at him amazed, marvelling to see him so much moved -that she had known until now so lazy mocking and so debonair. - -But the other lords of Demonland stood up and flung down their jewelled -swords on the table beside Lord Brandoch Daha’s. And Lord Juss spake -and said, “We may well cast down our swords as a last offering on -Witchland’s grave. For now must they rust: seamanship and all high -arts of war must wither: and, now that our great enemies are dead and -gone, we that were lords of all the world must turn shepherds and -hunters, lest we become mere mountebanks and fops, fit fellows for -the chambering Beshtrians or the Red Foliot. O Queen Sophonisba, and -you my brethren and my friends, that are come to keep my birthday -with me to-morrow in Galing, what make ye in holiday attire? Weep ye -rather, and weep again, and clothe you all in black, thinking that our -mightiest feats of arms and the high southing of the bright star of -our magnificence should bring us unto timeless ruin. Thinking that we, -that fought but for fighting’s sake, have in the end fought so well -we never may fight more; unless it should be in fratricidal rage each -against each. And ere that should betide, may earth close over us and -our memory perish.” - -Mightily moved was the Queen to behold such a violent sorrow, albeit -she could not comprehend the roots and reason of it. Her voice shook -a little as she said, “My Lord Juss, my Lord Brandoch Daha, and you -other lords of Demonland, it was little in mine expectation to find in -you such a passion of sour discontent. For I came to rejoice with you. -And strangely it soundeth in mine ear to hear you mourn and lament your -worst enemies, at so great hazard of your lives and all you held dear, -struck down by you at last. I am but a maid and young in years, albeit -my memory goeth back two hundred springs, and ill it befitteth me to -counsel great lords and men of war. Yet strange it seemeth if there be -not peaceful enjoyment and noble deeds of peace for you all your days, -who are young and noble and lords of all the world and rich in every -treasure and high gifts of learning, and the fairest country in the -world for your dear native land. And if your swords must not rust, ye -may bear them against the uncivil races of Impland and other distant -countries to bring them to subjection.” - -But Lord Goldry Bluszco laughed bitterly. “O Queen,” he cried, “shall -the correction of feeble savages content these swords, which have -warred against the house of Gorice and against all his chosen captains -that upheld the great power of Carcë and the glory and the fear -thereof?” - -And Spitfire said, “What joy shall we have of soft beds and delicate -meats and all the delights that be in many-mountained Demonland, if we -must be stingless drones, with no action to sharpen our appetite for -ease?” - -All were silent awhile. Then the Lord Juss spake saying, “O Queen -Sophonisba, hast thou looked ever, on a showery day in spring, upon the -rainbow flung across earth and sky, and marked how all things of earth -beyond it, trees, mountain sides, and rivers, and fields, and woods, -and homes of men, are transfigured by the colours that are in the bow?” - -“Yes,” she said, “and oft desired to reach them.” - -“We,” said Juss, “have flown beyond the rainbow. And there we found no -fabled land of heart’s desire, but wet rain and wind only and the cold -mountain-side. And our hearts are a-cold because of it.” - -The Queen said, “How old art thou, my Lord Juss, that thou speakest as -an old man might speak?” - -He answered, “I shall be thirty-three years old to-morrow, and that -is young by the reckoning of men. None of us be old, and my brethren -and Lord Brandoch Daha younger than I. Yet as old men may we now look -forth on our lives, since the goodness thereof is gone by for us.” And -he said, “Thou O Queen canst scarcely know our grief; for to thee the -blessed Gods gave thy heart’s desire: youth for ever, and peace. Would -they might give us our good gift, that should be youth for ever, and -war; and unwaning strength and skill in arms. Would they might but -give us our great enemies alive and whole again. For better it were we -should run hazard again of utter destruction, than thus live out our -lives like cattle fattening for the slaughter, or like silly garden -plants.” - -The Queen’s eyes were large with wonder. “Thou couldst wish it?” she -said. - -Juss answered and said, “A true saying it is that ‘a grave is a rotten -foundation.’ If thou shouldst proclaim to me at this instant the great -King alive again and sitting again in Carcë, bidding us to the dread -arbitrament of war, thou shouldst quickly see I told thee truth.” - -While Juss spake, the Queen turned her gaze from one to another round -the board. In every eye, when he spake of Carcë, she saw the lightning -of the joy of battle as of life returning to men held in a deadly -trance. And when he had done, she saw in every eye the light go out. -Like Gods they seemed, in the glory of their youth and pride, seated -about that table; but sad and tragical, like Gods exiled from wide -Heaven. - -None spake, and the Queen cast down her eyes, sitting as if wrapped -in thought. Then the Lord Juss rose to his feet, and said, “O Queen -Sophonisba, forgive us that our private sorrows should make us so -forgetful of our hospitality as weary our guest with a mirthless feast. -But think ’tis because we know thee our dear friend we use not too -much ceremony. To-morrow we will be merry with thee, whate’er betide -thereafter.” - -So they bade good-night. But as they went out into the garden under the -stars, the Queen took Juss aside privately and said to him, “My lord, -since thou and my Lord Brandoch Daha came first of mortal men into -Koshtra Belorn, and fulfilled the weird according to preordainment, -this only hath been my desire: to further you and to enhance you and -to obtain for you what you would, so far as in me lieth. Though I be -but a weak maid, yet hath it seemed good to the blessed Gods to show -kindness unto me. One holy prayer may work things we scarce dare dream -of. Wilt thou that I pray to Them to-night?” - -“Alas, dear Queen,” said he, “shall those estranged and divided -ashes unite again? Who shall turn back the flood-tide of unalterable -necessity?” - -But she said, “Thou hast crystals and perspectives can show thee things -afar off. I pray bring them, and row me in thy boat up to Moonmere Head -that we may land there about midnight. And let my Lord Brandoch Daha -come with us and thy brothers. But let none else know of it. For that -were but to mock them with a false dawn, if it should prove at last to -be according to thy wisdom, O my lord, and not according to my prayers.” - -So the Lord Juss did according to the word of that fair Queen, and they -rowed her up the lake by moonlight. None spake, and the Queen sate -apart in the bows of the boat, in earnest supplication to the blessed -Gods. When they were come to the head of the lake they went ashore on -a little spit of silver sand. The April night was above them, mild -with moonlight. The shadows of the fells rose inky black and beyond -imagination huge against the sky. The Queen kneeled awhile in silence -on the cold ground, and those lords of Demonland stood together in -silence watching her. - -In a while she raised her eyes to heaven; and behold, between the two -main peaks of the Scarf, a meteor crept slowly out of darkness and -across the night-sky, leaving a trail of silver fire, and silently -departed into darkness. They watched, and another came, and yet -another, until the western sky above the mountain was ablaze with them. -From two points of heaven they came, one betwixt the foreclaws of the -Lion and one in the dark sign of Cancer. And they that came from the -Lion were sparkling like the white fires of Rigel or Altair, and they -that came from the Crab were haughty red, like the lustre of Antares. -The lords of Demonland, leaning on their swords, watched these portents -for a long while in silence. Then the travelling meteors ceased, and -the steadfast stars shone lonely and serene. A soft breeze stirred -among the alders and willows by the lake. The lapping waters lapping -the shingly shore made a quiet tune. A nightingale in a coppice on a -little hill sang so passionate sweet it seemed some spirit singing. As -in a trance they stood and listened, until that singing ended, and a -hush fell on water and wood and lawn. Then all the east blazed up for -an instant with sheet lightnings, and thunder growled from the east -beyond the sea. - -The thunder took form so that music was in the heavens, filling earth -and sky as with trumpets calling to battle, first high, then low, then -shuddering down to silence. Juss and Brandoch Daha knew it for that -great call to battle which had preluded that music in the dark night -without her palace, in Koshtra Belorn, when first they stood before -her portal divine. The great call went again through earth and air, -sounding defiance; and in its train new voices, groping in darkness, -rising to passionate lament, hovering, and dying away on the wind, till -nought remained but a roll of muffled thunder, long, low, quiet, big -with menace. - -The Queen turned to Lord Juss. Surely her eyes were like two stars -shining in the gloom. She said in a drowned voice, “Thy perspectives, -my lord.” - -So the Lord Juss made a fire of certain spices and herbs, and smoke -rose in a thick cloud full of fiery sparks, with a sweet sharp smell. -And he said, “Not we, O my Lady, lest our desires cheat our senses. But -look thou in my perspectives through the smoke, and say unto us what -thou shalt behold in the east beyond the unharvested sea.” - -The Queen looked. And she said, “I behold a harbour town and a sluggish -river coming down to the harbour through a mere set about with mud -flats, and a great waste of fen stretching inland from the sea. Inland, -by the river side, I behold a great bluff standing above the fens. And -walls about the bluff, as it were a citadel. And the bluff and the -walled hold perched thereon are black like old night, and like throned -iniquity sitting in the place of power, darkening the desolation of -that fen.” - -Juss said, “Are the walls thrown down? Or is not the great round tower -south-westward thrown down in ruin athwart the walls?” - -She said, “All is whole and sound as the walls of thine own castle, my -lord.” - -Juss said, “Turn the crystal, O Queen, that thou mayest see within the -walls if any persons be therein, and tell us their shape and seeming.” - -The Queen was silent for a space, gazing earnestly in the crystal. -Then she said, “I see a banquet hall with walls of dark green jasper -speckled with red, and a massy cornice borne up by giants three-headed -carved in black serpentine; and each giant is bowed beneath the weight -of a huge crab-fish. The hall is seven-sided. Two long tables there -be and a cross-bench. There be iron braziers in the midst of the hall -and flamboys burning in silver stands, and revellers quaffing at the -long tables. Some dark young men black of brow and great of jaw, most -soldier-like, brothers mayhap. Another with them, ruddy of countenance -and kindlier to look on, with long brown moustachios. Another that -weareth a brazen byrny and sea-green kirtle; an old man he, with sparse -gray whiskers and flabby cheeks; fat and unwieldy; not a comely old man -to look upon.” - -She ceased speaking, and Juss said, “Whom seest thou else in the -banquet hall, O Queen?” - -She said, “The flare of the flamboys hideth the cross-bench. I will -turn the crystal again. Now I behold two diverting themselves with dice -at the table before the cross-bench. One is well-looking enough, well -knit, of a noble port, with curly brown hair and beard and keen eyes -like a sailor. The other seemeth younger in years, younger than any -of you, my lords. He is smooth shaved, of a fresh complexion and fair -curling hair, and his brow is wreathed with a festal garland. A most -big broad strong and seemly young man. Yet is there a somewhat maketh -me ill at ease beholding him; and for all his fair countenance and -royal bearing he seemeth displeasing in mine eyes. - -“There is a damosel there too, watching them while they play. Showily -dressed she is, and hath some beauty. Yet scarce can I commend her—” -and, ill at ease on a sudden, the Queen suddenly put down the crystal. - -The eye of Lord Brandoch Daha twinkled, but he kept silence. Lord Juss -said, “More, I entreat thee, O Queen, ere the reek be gone and the -vision fade. If this be all within the banquet hall, seest thou nought -without?” - -Queen Sophonisba looked again, and in a while said, “There is a terrace -facing to the west under the inner wall of that fortress of old night, -and walking on it in the torchlight a man crowned like a King. Very -tall he is: lean of body, and long of limb. He weareth a black doublet -bedizened o’er with diamonds, and his crown is in the figure of a -crab-fish, and the jewels thereof out-face the sun in splendour. But -scarce may I mark his apparel for looking on the face of him, which is -more terrible than the face of any man that ever I saw. And the whole -aspect of the man is full of darkness and power and terror and stern -command, that spirits from below earth must tremble at and do his -bidding.” - -Juss said, “Heaven forfend that this should prove but a sweet and -golden dream, and we wake to-morrow to find it flown.” - -“There walketh with him,” said the Queen, “in intimate converse, as -of a servant talking to his lord, one with a long black beard curly -as the sheep’s wool and glossy as the raven’s wing. Pale he is as the -moon in daylight hours, slender, with fine-cut features and great dark -eyes, and his nose hooked like a reaping-hook; gentle-looking and -melancholy-looking, yet noble.” - -Lord Brandoch Daha said, “Seest thou none, O Queen, in the lodgings -that be in the eastern gallery above the inner court of the palace?” - -The Queen answered, “I see a lofty bed-chamber hung with arras. It is -dark, save for two branching candlesticks of lights burning before a -great mirror. I see a lady standing before the mirror, crowned with -a queen’s crown of purple amethysts on her deep hair that hath the -colour of the tipmost tongues of a flame. A man cometh through the -door behind her, parting the heavy hangings left and right. A big man -he is, and looketh like a king, in his great wolf-skin mantle and his -kirtle of russet velvet with ornaments of gold. His bald head set about -with grizzled curls and his bushy beard flecked with gray speak him -something past his prime; but the light of youth burns in his eager -eyes and the vigour of youth is in his tread. She turneth to greet him. -Tall she is, and young she is, and beautiful, and proud-faced, and -sweet-faced, and most gallant-hearted too, and merry of heart too, if -her looks belie her not.” - -Queen Sophonisba covered her eyes, saying, “My lords, I see no more. -The crystal curdles within like foam in a whirlpool under a high force -in rainy weather. Mine eyes grow sore with watching. Let us row back, -for the night is far spent and I am weary.” - -But Juss stayed her and said, “Let me dream yet awhile. The double -pillar of the world, that member thereof which we, blind instruments of -inscrutable Heaven, did shatter, restored again? From this time forth -to maintain, I and he, his and mine, ageless and deathless for ever, -for ever our high contention whether he or we should be great masters -of all the earth? If this be but phantoms, O Queen, thou’st ’ticed us -to the very heart of bitterness. This we could have missed, unseen -and unimagined: but not now. Yet how were it possible the Gods should -relent and the years return?” - -But the Queen spake, and her voice was like the falling shades of -evening, pulsing with hidden splendour, as of a sense of wakening -starlight alive behind the fading blue. “This King,” she said, “in the -wickedness of his impious pride did wear on his thumb the likeness of -that worm Ouroboros, as much as to say his kingdom should never end. -Yet was he, when the appointed hour did come, thundered down into the -depths of Hell. And if now he be raised again and his days continued, -’tis not for his virtue but for your sake, my lords, whom the Almighty -Gods do love. Therefore I pray you possess your hearts awhile with -humility before the most high Gods, and speak no unprofitable words. -Let us row back.” - - • • • • • - -Dawn came golden-fingered, but the lords of Demonland lay along abed -after their watch in the night. About the third hour before noon, -the presence was filled in the high presence chamber, and the three -brethren sat upon their thrones, as four years ago they sat, between -the golden hippogriffs, and beside them were thrones set for Queen -Sophonisba and Lord Brandoch Daha. All else of beauty and splendour -in Galing Castle had the Queen beheld, but not till now this presence -chamber; and much she marvelled at its matchless beauties and rarities, -the hangings and the carvings on the walls, the fair pictures, the -lamps of moonstone and escarbuncle self-effulgent, the monsters on the -four-and-twenty pillars, carved in precious stones so great that two -men might scarce circle them with their arms, and the constellations -burning in that firmament of lapis lazuli below the golden canopy. And -when they drank unto Lord Juss the cup of glory to be, wishing him long -years and joy and greatness for ever more, the Queen took a little -cithern saying, “O my lord, I will sing a sonnet to thee and to you my -lords and to sea-girt Demonland.” So saying, she smote the strings, and -sang in that crystal voice of hers, so true and delicate that all that -were in that hall were ravished by its beauty: - - Shall I compare thee to a Summers day? - Thou art more lovely and more temperate: - Rough windes do shake the darling buds of Maie, - And Sommers lease hath all too short a date: - Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, - And often is his gold complexion dimn’d; - And every faire from faire some-time declines, - By chance or natures changing course untrim’d; - But thy eternall Sommer shall not fade - Nor loose possession of that faire thou ow’st; - Nor shall Death brag thou wandr’st in his shade. - When in eternall lines to time thou grow’st: - So long as men can breath, or eyes can see, - So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. - -When she had done, Lord Juss rose up very nobly and kissed her hand, -saying, “O Queen Sophonisba, fosterling of the Gods, shame us not with -praises that be too high for mortal men. For well thou knowest what -thing alone might bring us content. And ’tis not to be thought that -that which was seen at Moonmere Head last night was very truth indeed, -but rather the dream of a night vision.” - -But Queen Sophonisba answered and said, “My Lord Juss, blaspheme not -the bounty of the blessed Gods, lest They be angry and withdraw it, -Who have granted unto you of Demonland from this day forth youth -everlasting and unwaning strength and skill in arms, and—but hark!” she -said, for a trumpet sounded at the gate, three strident blasts. - -At the sound of that trumpet blown, the lords Goldry and Spitfire -sprang from their seats, clapping hand to sword. Lord Juss stood like a -stag at gaze. Lord Brandoch Daha sat still in his golden chair, scarce -changing his pose of easeful grace. But all his frame seemed alight -with action near to birth, as the active principle of light pulses and -grows in the sky at sunrise. He looked at the Queen, his eyes filled -with a wild surmise. A serving man, obedient to Juss’s nod, hastened -from the chamber. - -No sound was there in that high presence chamber in Galing till in a -minute’s space the serving man returned with startled countenance, -and, bowing before Lord Juss, said, “Lord, it is an Ambassador from -Witchland and his train. He craveth present audience.” - -[Illustration: - THE WORM - OUROBOROS] - - - - - ARGUMENT: WITH DATES - -[Dates _Anno Carces Conditae_. The action of the story covers -exactly four years: from the 22nd April 399 to 22nd April 403 -A.C.C.]. - - Year - A.C.C. - - 171. Queen Sophonisba born in Morna Moruna. - - 187. Gorice III. eat up with mantichores beyond the Bhavinan. - - 188. Morna Moruna sacked by Gorice IV. Queen Sophonisba lodged by - divine agency in Koshtra Belorn. - - 337. Gorice VII., conjuring in Carcë, slain by evil spirits. - - 341. Birth of Zeldornius. - - 344. Birth of Corsus in Tenemos. - - 353. Corund born in Carcë. - - 354. Birth of Zenambria, duchess to Corsus. - - 357. Birth of Helteranius. - - 360. Volle born at Darklairstead in Demonland. - - 361. Birth of Jalcanaius Fostus. - - 363. Birth of Vizz at Darklairstead. - - 364. Gro born in Goblinland at the court of Zajë Zaculo, the - foster-brother of Gaslark the King. - - Gaslark born in Zajë Zaculo. - - 366. Laxus, high Admiral of Witchland and after king of Pixyland, born - in Estremerine. - - 367. Birth of Gallandus in Buteny. - - 369. Zigg born at Many Bushes in Amadardale. - - 370. Juss born in Galing. - - 371. Goldry Bluszco born in Galing. - - Dekalajus, eldest of the sons of Corsus, born in Witchland. - - 372. Spitfire born in Galing. - - Brandoch Daha born in Krothering. - - 374. La Fireez born in Norvasp of Pixyland. - - Gorius, second of Corsus’s sons, born in Witchland. - - 375. Corinius born in Carcë. - - 376. Prezmyra, sister to the Prince La Fireez, second wife to Corund, - and after Queen of Impland, born in Norvasp. - - 379. Birth of Hacmon, eldest of the sons of Corund. - - Mevrian, sister to Lord Brandoch Daha, born in Krothering. - - 380. Heming born, second of Corund’s sons. - - 381. Dormanes born, third of Corund’s sons. - - 382. Birth of Viglus, Corund’s fourth son, in Carcë. - - Recedor, King of Goblinland, privily poisoned by Corsus: Gaslark - reigns in his stead in Zajë Zaculo. - - Sriva, daughter to Corsus and Zenambria, born in Carcë. - - 383. Armelline, cousin-german to King Gaslark, after betrothed and - wed to Goldry Bluszco, born in Goblinland. - - 384. Cargo, youngest of the sons of Corund, born in Carcë. - - 388. Goblinland invaded by the Ghouls: the flight out of Zajë - Zaculo: Tenemos burnt: the power of the Ghouls crushed by - Corsus. - - 389. Zeldornius, Helteranius, and Jalcanaius Fostus sent by Gaslark - with an armament into Impland, and there ensorcelled. - - 390. The Witches harry in Goblinland: their defeat by the help of - Demonland on Lormeron field: the slaying of Gorice X. by - Brandoch Daha: Corsus taken captive and shamed by the Demons: - Gro, abandoning the Goblin cause, dwells in exile at the court - of Witchland. - - 393. La Fireez, besieged by Fax Fay Faz at Lida Nanguna in Outer - Impland, delivered by the Demons: Goldry Bluszco repulsed by - Corsus before Harquem. - - 395. Corund weds in Norvasp with the Princess Prezmyra. - - 398. The Ghouls burst forth in unimagined ferocity: their harrying - in Demonland and burning of Goldry’s house at Drepaby. - - 399. Holy war of Witchland, Demonland, Goblinland, and other polite - nations against the Ghouls: Laxus, with the countenance of - his master Gorice XI. and by the counsel of Gro, deserts with - all his fleet in the battle off Kartadza (eastern seaboard - of Demonland): the Ghouls nevertheless overwhelmed by the - Demons in Kartadza Sound, and their whole race exterminated: - Gorice XI. demands homage of Demonland, wrastles with Goldry - Bluszco, and is in that encounter slain. Gorice XII., renewing - with happier fortune the artificial practices of Gorice VII. - in Carcë, takes Goldry with a sending magical: Juss and - Brandoch Daha, partly straught of their wits, unadvisedly go - up with Gaslark against Carcë and are there clapped up: their - delivery by the agency of La Fireez, and return to their own - country: Juss’s dream: the council in Krothering: the first - expedition to Impland. The King’s revenge on Pixyland executed - by Corinius, and La Fireez dispossessed and driven into exile: - Corund’s great march over Akra Skabranth, sudden irruption - into Outer Impland, and conquest of that country: shipwreck - of the Demon fleet: carnage at Salapanta: march of the Demons - into Upper Impland: amorous commerce of Brandoch Daha with the - Lady of Ishnain Nemartra, who lays a weird upon him: Corund - besieges and captures Eshgrar Ogo: Juss and Brandoch Daha - escape across the Moruna and winter by the Bhavinan. - - 400. News of Eshgrar Ogo brought to Carcë: Corund honoured by the - King therefor with the style of king of Impland. Juss and - Brandoch Daha cross the Zia Pass: fight with the mantichore: - ascent of Koshtra Pivrarcha, entrance into Koshtra Belorn, and - entertainment by Queen Sophonisba: Juss’s vision of Goldry - bound on Zora: the Queen’s furtherance of their designs: the - hippogriff hatched beside the Lake of Ravary: the fatal folly - of Mivarsh: Juss in despite of the Queen’s admonitions assays - Zora Rach on foot and comes within a little of losing his - life. Prezmyra Queen of Impland and Laxus king of Pixyland - crowned in Carcë: the King sends an expedition to put down - Demonland, setting Corsus in chief command thereof: Laxus - defeats Volle by sea off Lookinghaven, and Corsus Vizz by - land at Crossby Outsikes, Vizz slain on the field: cruel and - despiteful policy of Corsus: dissensions betwixt him and - Gallandus: great reversal of these disasters by Spitfire, - Corsus’s army cut in pieces by him on the Rapes of Brima and - the survivors besieged in Owlswick: discontent of the army: - Corsus with his own hands murthers Gallandus in Owlswick: - tidings brought by Gro to Carcë: Corsus degraded by the King, - who commissions Corinius as king of Demonland to retrieve - the matter: battle of Thremnir’s Heugh, with the overthrow - of Spitfire’s power: Corinius crowned in Owlswick: arrest of - Corsus and his sons and their despatch home to Witchland. - - 401. Reduction of eastern Demonland by Corinius, save only Galing - which Bremery holds with seventy men: Corinius moves west over - the Stile: his insolent demands to Mevrian: miscarriage of - Gaslark’s expedition to the relief of Krothering, his defeat - at Aurwath: masterly retreat of Corinius from Krothering - before superior numbers: his ambushing and destroying of - Spitfire’s army on the shores of Switchwater: fall of - Krothering and surrender of Mevrian: her escape by the counsel - of Gro, the help of Corund’s sons, and the connivance of - Laxus: her flight to Westmark and thence east again into - Neverdale: Gro abandons the cause of Witchland for that of - Demonland: his and Mevrian’s meeting with Juss and Brandoch - Daha on their return home after two years: revolt of the - east and relief of Galing: masterly dispositions both by - Corinius and by the Demons for a decisive encounter: battle of - Krothering Side and expulsion of the Witches from Demonland. - - 402. Second expedition to Impland, in which Gaslark and La Fireez - join the Demons, lands at Muelva on the Didornian Sea: - Juss, Spitfire, Brandoch Daha, Gro, Zigg, and Astar cross - the Moruna: Juss’s riding of the hippogriff to Zora Rach - and deliverance of Goldry: Laxus sent by the King with an - overwhelming power of ships to close Melikaphkhaz Straits - against the Demons on their homeward voyage: battle off - Melikaphkhaz: destruction of the Witchland armada: Laxus and - La Fireez slain: a single surviving ship brings the tidings - to Carcë: Corund called captain general in Carcë: gathering - of the Witchland armies and their subject allies: landing - of the Demons in the south: parley before Carcë: the King’s - warning to Juss: implacable enmity between them: signs and - prognosticks in the heavens: the King’s desperate resolution - if the fight should go against him: battle before Carcë: - slaying of Gro and Corund: defeat of the King’s forces: - council of war in Carcë, Corinius the second time captain - general: Corsus, counselling surrender, falls greatly into - the King’s displeasure and is by him shamed and dismissed: in - despair he compasses the taking off of Corinius and the sons - of Corund, and unhappily of his own son too and his duchess, - by poison, but is himself slain by Corinius: blasting of the - Iron Tower in the miscarriage of the King’s last conjuring: - the Demons enter into Carcë: their encounter there with Queen - Prezmyra: her tragical end and triumph: in all of which is - completed the fall of the empire and kingdom of the house of - Gorice in Carcë. - - 403. Queen Sophonisba in Demonland: the marvel of marvels that - restored the world on Lord Juss’s natal day, the thirty-third - year of his life in Galing. - - - - - BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON THE VERSES - - - CHAP. - - III. The Funeral dirge on King William Dunbar (late 15th - Gorice XI. century) “Lament for the - Makaris: quhen he wes - seik.” - - „ Lampoon on Gro Epigram in memory of - William Parrie, “a capital - traitor,” executed for - treason in 1584: quoted - by Holinshed. - - IV. Prophecy concerning the last —— - three Kings of the house of - Gorice in Carcë - - VII. Song in praise of Prezmyra Thomas Carew (1598–1639). - - „ Corund’s Song of the Chine “An Antidote against - Melancholy” (1661). - - „ Corsus’s “Whene’er I bib Anacreonta xxv.; transl. - the wine down” from the Greek, E. R. E. - - „ Corsus’s other ditties From the “Roxburgh - Ballads” (collected - 1774). - - IX. Mivarsh’s staves on Salapanta Herrick (1591–1674), - “Hesperides.” - - XV. Prezmyra’s song of Lovers Donne (1573–1631). - - „ Corinius’s love ditty: “What - an Ass is he” “Merry Drollerie” (1691). - - „ Corinius’s song on his - Mistress _Ibid._ - - XVI. Laxus’s Serenade Anacreonta ii.; transl. - from the Greek, E. R. E. - - XVII. March of Corsus’s veterans —— - - XXII. Mevrian’s ballad of the Ravens Old Ballad: “The Three - Ravens.” - - XXIV. Mevrian’s quotation on the Robert Greene (1560–92), - asbeston stone “Alphonsus, King of - Arragon.” - - XXX. Gro’s serenade to Prezmyra Sir Henry Wotton (1568–1639), - verses to Elizabeth, - Queen of Bohemia. - - XXXI. Prophecy concerning conjuring —— - - XXXIII. Lines quoted by Queen Webster (beginning of - Sophonisba on the fall of 17th century); “The - Witchland Duchess of Malfi,” Act - V. v. - - „ Queen Sophonisba’s Sonnet Shakespeare, Sonnet xviii. - -The text here printed of Wotton’s poem is that of “Reliquiae -Wottonianae,” 1st ed., 1651, edited by Izaak Walton; except that I -read (with the earlier texts) l. 5 _Moone_, l. 8 _Passions_, l. 16 -_Princess_, instead of _Sun_, _Voyces_, _Mistris_ of the 1651 edition. - -Shakespeare’s Sonnet is from the Quarto of 1609. - -The passage from Njal’s Saga in the Induction is quoted from the late -Sir George Dasent’s classic translation. - - - _Printed in Great Britain by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_. - - [Illustration] - - Transcriber’s Notes: - - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by equals is in bold (=bold=). - - Blank pages have been removed. - - Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. - - Decorative images removed from text version. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORM OUROBOROS *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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