The Lioness and Her Knight Page 15

  "So that's it!" Malvolus said. "You're a witch! Do you know what the laws say about witches? They shall be burned!"

  "Does Laudine know about those laws?" Luneta asked mildly.

  "I'll be back with my full garrison tomorrow morning! We shall have a burning at noon!" Malvolus cried out, his voice cracking like a boy's. Then he turned and ran.

  "Oh, bother," Luneta said.

  ***

  Malvolus must have made no secret of his discovery that Luneta was a witch, because no guard returned to sit outside her prison that night. Luneta tried for a while to retrieve Malvolus's knife from the ceiling beam but only managed to break the blade. She was sitting in the dark turning over plans for escape when she heard voices, two men passing through the woods, and a wave of relief swept over her. Leaping to the window, she called out, "Rhience! Ywain!"

  A moment later her two friends were at the window. "Don't tell me. You've decided to start your own hermitage," Rhience said.

  "Quiet, friend," Ywain said. "This is a prison."

  "No good asking for a beer, then? When I go to a hermitage, I expect—"

  "Who has done this to you, Luneta?"

  "Malvolus."

  "Does Laudine know?"

  "I don't think so. Malvolus is plotting to take over her castle and kill her when she no longer serves his purpose, I think."

  "Have you been here since we left you?" Rhience asked. Luneta nodded. "How are you? Do you need food?"

  "Something besides apples and walnuts would be wonderful," Luneta said, "but that's not the most important thing. You see, I had to use a bit of, um ... well, Malvolus has decided that I'm a witch."

  "You don't say," Rhience said.

  "And he intends to burn me at the stake tomorrow."

  "Can't you turn him into a frog or something and be done with it?" Rhience asked.

  "This is no time for jokes, Rhience," Ywain said sternly.

  "Actually, that time I wasn't joking," Rhience replied. He looked back at Luneta, "Can't you?"

  "Not without my things," Luneta said.

  Ywain stared at her. "Do you mean that you are a witch?"

  "We don't use that word. The polite term is 'enchantress.'"

  "I beg your pardon," Ywain said. Then he said, "Really? Like Aunt Morgan?"

  "How do you suppose you were healed from your madness?" Rhience asked. "So, it looks as if you need someone to help you out. Let's get this door open."

  For almost two hours Rhience and Ywain cut and dug and pried at the door and ceiling, but the prison was too well made, and at last they gave up and returned, panting, to Luneta's window. "No good," Rhience said.

  "Are the two of you alone?" Luneta asked. "Because while you were working I thought I saw a shadow moving in the woods."

  "That'll be Lass," Rhience said. "We've picked up a pet while we were traveling. She's shy of strangers, though. So what should we do? Wait here and attack Malvolus when he comes to take you to the stake?"

  Luneta thought for a moment. "Malvolus said he'd be bringing his whole garrison. Is that asking too much?"

  "Probably," Ywain said. "Do you know when or where this burning is to take place?"

  "He said at noon, but I don't know where."

  Rhience said, "It won't be hard to find out. Witch burnings are always proclaimed publicly. They serve as a warning to people—plus, of course, they're great fun for the family."

  "Then our best plan is to find out the details, then ride in just before you're tied up, when all his men are scattered about in the open, and take you away."

  Luneta wasn't excited about waiting until the last minute, but she saw the force of Ywain's arguments and had to be satisfied. They talked for a few more minutes, and then her friends rode away to make preparations for the next day's rescue.

  It was nearly noon before Malvolus came for her, and from the number of tight-faced soldiers who accompanied him, Luneta could see that her magical powers had not been understated in the telling. She went with the soldiers peaceably, having decided that to resist might get her run through by a nervous spearsman. The soldiers nearest her never took their eyes from her, and once when she stumbled slightly on the path, those closest to her leaped away. Malvolus rode near and cursed them roundly as cowards.

  "Lovely day, isn't it," Luneta said to the steward. If she thought about it, she was as terrified as the soldiers, and with far more reason, but she would not grant the steward the satisfaction of seeing her fear.

  "It will be a bit too warm for you soon, I fear, my lady," Malvolus said with sneer.

  "Come, Malvolus, that's very good. It's almost like a joke. Not so good as the time that Rhience did the pantomime of the servant who wanted to be a knight, but—"

  "It is a pity that your fool is not here," Malvolus interrupted bitterly. "So long as we have the fire, it would be thrifty to cook two pieces of meat."

  "Yes, it would be like a reunion. Will Laudine be there?"

  Luneta had expected Malvolus to make an excuse, explaining why Laudine could not be present, but he replied, "Yes, indeed. She is very shocked, I must say. When I told her that you were a witch and had to be burned, she almost fainted. I think you can expect no more support from your friend Laudine."

  They led Luneta to an open field outside the castle gates. A stout post had been driven into the ground on a small hillock, and bundles of brush and twigs were stacked nearby. Malvolus wasted no time but directed two sweating soldiers to tie Luneta to the post while he read from a sheet of parchment. "Inasmuch as this lady, Luneta of Orkney, hath been seen performing unnatural acts and hath changed her shape sundry times, being made into a black dog, a spider, and a huge, unnatural crow—"

  "I did all that?" Luneta asked.

  "You did, as witnesses have sworn."

  "I wonder why I didn't escape from my prison while I was a spider. Stupid of me."

  Malvolus returned to his parchment while Luneta looked quickly around. There was no sign of either Rhience or Ywain, but she saw the slender form of Laudine sitting on a wooden platform beneath a canvas shelter.

  "—having also had unnatural discourse with the devil and having brought many an illness onto the village and made the milk in John Farmer's dairy spoil all at once, and most of all for having caused an unnatural blade of Hell to appear and throw itself at my own person, she is condemned by this tribunal to die at the stake, as unanimously approved by all present here."

  "Not by all," said a voice. Luneta looked around joyfully, but it wasn't Rhience or Ywain. It was Laudine. Under the shocked eyes of the crowd, Laudine stood to her feet. "I challenge this court. It is not legal. I am the mistress of these lands, and I never gave permission for such a trial. I demand that the Lady Luneta be released at once."

  Luneta smiled with delight. Knowing Laudine as she did, she could guess how hard it had been for her to stand before everyone and oppose a will stronger than her own. Luneta's smile faded at once, though. The steward called out immediately, "You see the witch's power! She has bewitched your own mistress, forcing her to speak against her will! Soldiers! Restrain your mistress, lest this wicked woman enchant her further!" Four soldiers leaped forward and grasped Laudine's arms. One tied a cloth over her mouth.

  Malvolus kicked the piles of brush and twigs over toward Luneta, then took a torch from a waiting servant and tossed it at her feet. The brush caught fire at once. Luneta looked again over the crowd. Still no sign of Rhience or Ywain. Then there was a whisper in her ear. "Sorry I'm a bit late, lass."

  "Rhience?" She looked over her shoulder, but there was no one there.

  "Ay, but don't twist about so. I'm trying to untie your bonds."

  "Where are you?"

  "Untying your bonds. I thought I'd mentioned that already. You see, your friend Laudine lent me her ring."

  "Where's Ywain?"

  "Ah, well, there was a bit of a holdup. He's busy just now but should be along soon."

  "Busy?" Luneta exclaimed with, she thought, p
ardonable indignation.

  "That or dead, I'm afraid. We'll hope he's just busy. There we go. You're free. Now I'm going to kick the fire up. You step away from the post. I'll take off the ring and you put it on. Ready?"

  The brush before Luneta gave off a shower of sparks. A strong hand pulled her down behind the flames. For a fleeting second she saw Rhience holding her hand, and then she saw only Rhience. She was invisible. Together they backed away from the post.

  "Sorcery!" shrieked Malvolus. "The witch has changed her shape. She has become this man!"

  The crowd stared open-mouthed, and Rhience said, "Now that would be daft of her, wouldn't it? A beautiful girl like Luneta changing herself into a gawky fellow like me?"

  "Where is she?" demanded Malvolus.

  "Where is who?" Rhience asked.

  The steward looked around furiously, but balked of his intended victim, he seemed willing to make an exchange. "Your life is forfeit, fool!" he declared. "I told you what would happen if you ever came back to this castle. And you have no weapons, I see."

  "Well, I did take a vow not to raise weapons against any man, you recall," Rhience said apologetically.

  "And you still keep that vow? It will be your death," Malvolus said, drawing his sword and licking his lips. "Today I shall feed you to the dogs."

  Luneta stared fixedly at the sword and raised her hand, preparing to make it drive itself into Malvolus's own breast, but before she could utter the spell, Rhience glanced at her—or rather, through her—and said, "Ah, there you are, Lass. Can you handle this fellow for me?" A tawny lightning bolt seemed to fly past Luneta onto Malvolus. The steward screamed once, then gurgled, and then was silent. Luneta stared, dumbfounded, at an actual lion, who sat with bloody jaws beside the sprawled and mangled body of the steward.

  "Don't eat him, Lass," said Rhience. "He's sure to disagree with you."

  And then, in the deathly silence, there came a clang of arms from across the field, and there was Ywain, riding straight into the mass of assembled soldiers, slashing right and left and dropping men on every side. The melee was over in seconds. Most of the soldiers threw down their weapons and scattered, screaming in terror, and they were quickly followed by the rest of the gathered crowd. In the confusion, Luneta removed the magic ring and went to Rhience's side. In ten minutes, the field was clear, and Ywain was cantering over to where they stood together by Malvolus's body. "Did Rhience tell you I was held up?" he asked. "I hope you aren't too angry at me."

  "You have a lion now?" Luneta asked, fixing on the most incomprehensible part of the recent events.

  "Lioness," Rhience corrected her. "No mane, see? She's a real pussycat, too. Want to pet her?"

  "Your pussycat just killed a man."

  "Only Malvolus. You're not going to hold that against her, are you?"

  "Of course not," Luneta said. "It was quite the best thing to do, I know, but I'd rather not pet her just now, if you don't mind."

  Rhience reached over to the great cat and scratched her head. She rolled her ears under his fingers. "Very well," Rhience said. "Another time."

  "Rhience," hissed Ywain suddenly, looking over the fool's shoulder and lowering his visor over his face. "Speak for me."

  Following Ywain's gaze, Luneta saw Laudine stumbling across the field. Luneta hurried up and took her arm. "Laudine, I want to thank you. Your courage..."

  Laudine shook her head briskly. "No. If I had not believed Malvolus's lies about you and about ... do not thank me. Forgive me."

  "If there is anything to forgive, it is already forgiven," Luneta said.

  "And you, friend Rhience, thank you for finding me this morning and telling me the truth."

  Rhience bowed. "And thank you for the ring. It was most useful."

  "Oh, yes, your ring," Luneta said. She pressed it into Laudine's hand. "Put it away somewhere, why don't you?"

  Laudine ignored her, looking at Ywain's silent form. "And I thank you, Sir Knight."

  Ywain inclined his head slightly but did not answer.

  "My lady," Rhience said. "He will not speak. He's taken a vow."

  Laudine acknowledged the knight with a deep curtsy, then said, "And may I offer this brave knight—and all of you—the hospitality of my castle?"

  Rhience glanced at Ywain, who held up one gauntleted finger. Rhience nodded and said, "For one night, my lady, we accept your offer, but we must be left alone. It's that vow again."

  Laudine nodded. "And may I know this knight's namer?"

  "You may call him ... the Knight of the Lion," Rhience said. "I mean, Lioness."

  "I want to know what business was so pressing that you were late to your own cousin's rescue," Luneta said, "but I want to know first how the devil you got a lion."

  "Lioness," Rhience murmured.

  They were alone in the palatial rooms that Laudine had assigned to Rhience and the Knight of the Lion, and it was nearly midnight. Luneta, ignoring Laudine's strict instructions that no one should disturb her guests, had strolled into their apartments a few minutes before. She had eaten three times already since noon, but the pleasure of eating something besides apples or walnuts was still strong, and she had brought with her a plate of ham and chicken.

  She took a bit of ham now and said, "Lioness, then. How did you get her? I didn't know there were any lions—lionesses—in England at all."

  "They aren't native here, perhaps, but those crusader chaps down in the Holy Land have brought some back as trophies," Rhience explained. "All I can guess is that Lass here is one of those, escaped from her captor."

  Luneta looked at the lioness, stretched out asleep before the fire. She did look rather like a pussycat, albeit a very large one. "You call her Lass?"

  "It was Rhience's idea," Ywain said.

  "She reminded me of someone," Rhience said carelessly.

  Luneta was pretty sure she knew who, but she decided not to press the point. "How did you come on her?"

  "Well, it was only a day or two after we left the Count Alier," Rhience said. "We were riding through this unnaturally dark and spidery bit of forest, and we heard the sounds of a great battle—not between men, with swords and armor, but between beasts. There was roaring and screaming and thrashing about and all that. Ywain here didn't say a word but dived at once into the darkest part of the woods, leaving me by myself. I'm afraid of the dark, so I followed." Ywain rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he allowed Rhience to tell the tale as he chose. "In a moment we came on the fight, and there was Lass here, locked in mortal combat with a ... well, it was rather a large serpent-thing, I suppose."

  "A dragon?"

  "I suppose so," Rhience said.

  "Yes, a dragon," interposed Ywain. "The beast had the lioness trapped in its coils and was about to strike a final blow. So we jumped in and stopped it."

  "Both of you?" Luneta asked.

  Ywain nodded. "I attacked the worm's head, and Rhience began cutting through its coils."

  "You had a sword?" Luneta asked Rhience.

  "I always have a sword. You've seen it on my horse."

  "Yes, but—"

  "Dear, my vow was not to bear arms against any man," Rhience said. "Dragons are perfectly legal."

  "Oh, of course. And you killed the dragon."

  "After a bit, yes," Rhience said.

  "It wasn't easy," Ywain said. "And had we not fought together, it would have killed us both. Rhience would have you believe that he is a coward who has no skill with a sword, but the truth is—"

  "Ywain killed the dragon," Rhience said. "I may have helped a bit, but your cousin's a wizard with that weapon. Anyway, when it was over we had a dragon, now in three separate pieces, and a very irritated and wounded lady lion." At this point Rhience glanced at Ywain. "May I?"

  Ywain nodded slowly. "You may tell what you like."

  "Tell me what?"

  "Well, it's a bit odd here. Ywain put down all his weapons and took off his armor and then ... ah, I don't know exactly how to say it."


  "I let the lioness know that we wouldn't hurt her."

  "How?" Luneta asked.

  "By my actions. I don't know exactly how I knew what to do," Ywain replied frankly. "I suppose it has to do with having been something of a wild beast myself until recently."

  "All I can say," Rhience said, "was that they growled and sniffed about for a while, and in no time they were rubbing their heads together, and Lass was as tame as a fat kitchen tabby. Ywain and I bound up her wounds and gave her something to eat."

  Luneta looked curiously behind her at the lioness and saw that she was awake and watching Luneta. A soft rumbling sound came from the lioness's chest, something between a growl and a purr, and Luneta instinctively shrank away.

  "Do you want all your ham?" Ywain asked. "She'd like a bite if you don't mind."

  "Of course," Luneta said. Ywain chose a thick slab from Luneta's plate and gave it to Lass, rumpling her ears gently as he did so.

  Rhience grinned. "And so she adopted us. When we packed up to leave, Lass just came along. She was useful today, too. For that matter, we could have used her in Norison, but that was before we met her."

  "Where is Norison?"

  "That's the village we went to right after we left you," Rhience explained. "It's about a day's ride from here, and we happened into it just in time to help a noble lady there. You see, she was the daughter of the lord of that district, and when he died a few months back, he left everything to her. The Lady Norison is quite attractive, and so it happened that a gentleman by the name of Count Alier thought that he would be happy to marry her, even though marrying her would mean that he'd have to take possession of all her inheritance."

  "I see," Luneta said dryly.

  "Have you ever known a fellow who took longer to tell a simple story?" Ywain commented.

  "No. So the Count Alier was wooing this Lady Norison?"

  "Wooing," Rhience repeated thoughtfully. "Well, yes, I suppose you could say—"

  "He had besieged her castle," Ywain explained. "He was going to start killing villagers every day until she consented to marry him."