The Legend of the King Read online

  The crowd was silent. Then Daw spoke again. "What do they want wi' ye?"

  "They didn't say. Maybe they want a hostage. I'm King Arthur's nephew, after all."

  The gathered people murmured among themselves for a few moments, digesting this information. Then another old man moved forward to stand beside Daw. Lynet recognized young Douglas's grandfather, a venerable old man called simply Mak. Mak looked at Lynet. "Beggin' yere pardon for speakin' plain, my lady, but these people don't seem hostage-taking types. They're killers. Animals. If they want Sir Gaheris, it's my thought they mean to kill him."

  In the tightening of his jaw, Lynet read Gaheris's concurrence with this, but he said, "We don't know that. But even if we did, it would still be better for one person to die than for all of us to stay here and starve."

  Now old Daw looked at Lynet. "What do you say to this, my lady? What will you do?"

  "I'll be staying with Sir Gaheris," Lynet said quietly.

  "Lynet—" Gaheris began.

  "I recall," Daw said meditatively, "the blight. Maybe some o' ye don't remember it so well. It was nigh twenty year ago."

  "Seventeen," corrected Mak.

  "We none of us had enow to eat," Daw continued, ignoring the interruption. "And Sir Gaheris fed us from 'is own storehouses and ate the same thin gruel as the rest of us. And we knew he wasn't givin' us everything, and there was some as muttered about how he was holdin' back, but then the next year he opened up the rest o' the barns and gave us seed to start over."

  At this point, Mak added, "And milord and milady rode about the fields and villages as grand and tall as the noblest landowners in England, makin' us proud, even as they wore the same one suit o' clothes, patched up and mended, like the rest of us did."

  A woman spoke up now. "Lady Lynet nursed my Tommy back to health when I was took wi' the same sickness. She sat right by my hearth all night. I remember. I couldn't get out of bed, but I could see."

  Gaheris cleared his throat. "I've some fine memories, too," he said, "though I don't know that I'd pick the blight as the thing to dwell on just now. But I think we're straying from the real point. I'm not asking your advice. I'm telling you what I've decided. In a few minutes, I'll go out and give myself up. I want you to gather your families and things and get ready to leave. Lynet, that means you too."

  "I say we fight," cried a man's voice.

  "If you fight, you'll die!" Gaheris snapped.

  "Could be," agreed Daw.

  "Ay," said Mak, nodding. "Seems a likely bet."

  "And if you do what I say, you'll live!" Gaheris added.

  "Ye think so?" asked Mak. "Runnin' off and goin' on wi' your own life, knowin' that ye left the best man ye ever knew to die—that's what ye call livin'?"

  "Maybe he's mixed up livin' and breathin'," suggested Daw.

  "Nay!" Mak protested. "Sir Gary's not a simpleton. Shame on ye, Daw!"

  "What about your women and children?" Gaheris demanded.

  "I'll see to them," Lynet said. "When you and the men go out to fight, I'll take them out the back way to hide in the woods. I'll do what I can to keep them safe."

  Gaheris shook his head with frustration. "What are you talking about, Lynet? Who said anything about going out to fight?"

  "Nobody had to, milord," said a tall villager named Coll, the man who had been making the coffin for Douglas. "We won't let you go out alone, and that's all there is to it."

  "You would disobey the direct command of your liege lord?" Gaheris demanded.

  "Ay," said Daw. The other men nodded among themselves.

  "See?" Mak said to Daw. "I told ye he wasn't a simpleton."

  "Maybe not, but he did seem to think at first that we'd go along wi' this daft plan," Daw replied. "So he's not what ye'd call quick-witted, either."

  Gaheris sighed. "Let me think about this for a minute." He glanced at Lynet. "Well, Miss Helpful? You want to suggest something else?"

  Together they made their way back up to the wall and looked out at the field before the castle. Sir Breunis had seen the white flag, and he had gathered three knights on horseback to accompany him to the parley. "Looks as if he's planning to take you prisoner right away," Lynet said. "He's bringing reinforcements."

  "Three knights to take me prisoner," Gaheris mused. "Either he hasn't heard about my skill with weapons, or he's an amazing coward."

  "The coward theory seems most likely," Lynet replied.

  "Any one of those three could take me without breaking a sweat. Especially that big fellow in the..." He trailed off.

  "The one in the middle?" Lynet finished. "On the big black?"

  Gaheris was silent.

  "What is it, Gary?"

  "Lynet, my love," Gaheris said after a minute. "I know you're the most hopeless duffer at casting hexes, but do you by chance have a spell for changing people's appearance?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Could you change my features, for instance, to look like someone else?"

  "If I could, do you think I'd have left you looking like that all these years?" Lynet said at once. Then she shook her head. "Sorry; that was reflex. You did leave quite an opening. What do you have in mind?"

  "Is there such a spell?"

  "Not really. I can change hair color and add or take away birthmarks, but not much else."

  Gaheris turned his back to the approaching knights. His face was thoughtful. "Sir Breunis has seen me only once, for a few minutes yesterday and from a distance. Do you think that if you changed his hair and dressed him up, you could make young Douglas's body pass for mine?"

  Lynet stared, uncomprehending, but at last said, "You're about the same height. It might work. You want us to tell Sir Breunis that you died during the night and give him Douglas's body?"

  "No, if he's got orders to kill me, he'll want to see it happen. But I might see a way out of this. Go work on Douglas. Make him look as much like me as you can and then put him in one of the matched suits of armor. One of the silver suits, I think."

  "What are you going to do?" Lynet demanded.

  "Challenge Breunis to single combat."

  "What? He'll never agree to that."

  "I hope not," Gaheris said. "Can't talk now. Here they come." Lynet glanced away from Gaheris to see Sir Breunis and his three companions at the foot of the wall.

  "Well, Sir Gaheris? Have you decided to give yourself up?" shouted Sir Breunis.

  "I have concluded that we cannot defeat your army, at least," Gaheris replied. He had stepped back from the wall and had one hand up to partly obscure his face. "But you must realize that a man of honor cannot simply give up."

  Sir Breunis guffawed. "What makes you think I would know or care about your notion of honor?"

  "Right, my mistake," Gaheris said. "Just take my word for it. A knight of Arthur's table doesn't just surrender. Instead, I challenge you to single combat. If I win, you spare us all. If I lose, the castle is yours, and all the people inside go free."

  Sir Breunis roared with laughter. "You must be mad! I hold every advantage now. Why would I give you a chance?"

  "Then make it harder! I challenge the greatest and most skilled of all your knights to single combat! Whoever you choose! I'll even take on one of those big fellows behind you!"

  "No!"

  "Then I hope you're not in a hurry, because we aren't coming out. We have food enough in here for months!"

  At that point, the large knight in the middle leaned from his saddle and said something in a low voice. Sir Breunis shook his head and replied, but the large knight persisted. Gaheris turned to Lynet and said, "Go, Lynet! Get Douglas dressed and ready."

  "Gary, I think you're the most wonderful man in the world, but I also know you're hopeless with a sword. I don't see that you fighting a single combat is any different from just letting them kill you. I still think you should take the rest of the men out with you. In a battle, who knows what will—"

  "Listen to me, lass. I've no time to explain it right now, but I
want you to trust me. I've no intention of dying here today."

  Lynet searched her husband's eyes and saw in them a lurking flicker of anticipation, even amusement. She knew his every mood, and if he were lying, she would know it. "What is your plan?"

  Gaheris shook his head. "No time," he said. "Go! And have someone get a second suit of silver armor ready for me."

  Lynet nodded and descended to the courtyard. Behind her she heard Gaheris shouting something at Sir Breunis and his companions as the negotiations continued, but she paid no attention. Walking up to where Douglas's mother wept over his body, supported by a village maiden, Lynet said, "Elspeth?"

  Douglas's mother looked up. She was no more than forty. "Yes, my lady."

  "I am sorry for your loss. If I could restore Douglas to you, I would in a moment."

  "I know, my lady."

  "But I can't. And now I have to ask something else of you." Elspeth looked blank, and Lynet said, "Sir Gaheris has a plan. I don't know what it is, but I know he wants to make the soldiers outside think that your Douglas is Sir Gaheris."

  "Eh?"

  "They want Sir Gaheris dead. So, Sir Gaheris wants to pass off Douglas's body as his own to make them think they've won."

  Elspeth still looked blank, and Lynet felt her heart breaking for the young mother stupefied by her grief. Then she received unexpected support. The young woman whose arm still encircled Elspeth's shoulders said, "And if this plan works, then we'll all live?"

  "Sir Gaheris thinks so," Lynet said.

  The girl leaned her head on Elspeth's shoulder. "Let her do what she has to, Elspeth. This way Douglas will still be saving us all, like he meant to." Elspeth said nothing but nodded weakly. The village girl looked up at Lynet. "What do you need us to do?" she asked.

  Lynet smiled a thank you. "I'm sorry. I know you're Coll's daughter, but I don't remember your name."

  "Rowena, my lady. I was to marry Douglas next month."

  "Oh!"

  "Shouldn't we be making haste?" Rowena asked.

  Lynet shook herself, then looked into Rowena's steady young eyes and began giving directions. For the next few minutes they and those nearby were busy, fetching two identical suits of armor and putting one of them on Douglas's corpse. Elspeth had to leave during these preparations, but Rowena stayed beside Lynet through it all. At last the armor was on, save for the helm. Lynet sent everyone away, but Rowena stayed. "My lady," Rowena said. "Will it work? Douglas has black hair, and Sir Gaheris is red-haired. Even if they don't know his face—"

  "Rowena," Lynet said. "I have to tell you something that may frighten you."

  "What, my lady?"

  "I am an enchantress."

  "Yes, my lady."

  "No, Rowena, I'm serious."

  "Yes, my lady, I know. Everyone knows that." Rowena's eyes lit up suddenly. "Oh, do you know a spell for changing hair color?"

  "Er ... yes. What do you mean everyone knows?"

  "Well, maybe not the babies," Rowena admitted. "What, did you think it was a secret?"

  "Well, yes."

  "My lady, there isn't a family in the shire who doesn't have someone in it you've healed."

  "But ... I never healed anyone in front of witnesses."

  "Do you think we're idiots, then?"

  "No, of course not, but—"

  "Shouldn't you be saying that spell now?"

  Lynet nodded dumbly. She could have saved herself a great deal of worry if she'd known that all her tenants knew who she was and didn't care. Kneeling beside Douglas, she placed a hand on his hair, feeling the cold skin underneath. Slowly and clearly, she spoke briefly in a language from a distant time, and beneath her fingers Douglas's dark hair began to glow and then lighten.

  "A little more, I think," Rowena said. Her voice was empty of expression. Lynet glanced up into the girl's face. Her jaw was clenched, and the lines on her forehead were deep, but her eyes remained fixed on Douglas's face.

  "Good God, Rowena, you've got steel in you!" Lynet couldn't help exclaiming.

  "The only steel in me is in place of my heart," she said softly. "Go on. It's still too dark."

  Lynet turned back to Douglas and repeated the process. When she was done, she nodded. "It won't fool anyone who knows Sir Gaheris, but it's better than I expected." Raising Douglas's head, she placed the helm over it and closed the visor.

  "Is it done?" asked Gaheris's voice. Rising to her feet, Lynet turned to see Gaheris approaching. She nodded. Gaheris looked intently at her face and said, "I'm sorry, lass. It didn't even occur to me until you'd gone how hard this would be for you."

  "What about you? Did you get what you wanted?"

  "Ay, I'm fighting at the front gate in a few minutes. Help me with this armor."

  "You're fighting Sir Breunis?" she asked, buckling one of his greaves.

  "Of course not. A coward through and through. I'm fighting that chap in the middle of Breunis's party."

  "The largest one, of course. And you think you can beat him?"

  "I'd better not. I feel sure that Breunis will have his archers at the ready to shoot me if I look to be winning."

  Lynet looked up sharply. "Gary! Then how—"

  "Don't worry, lass. I won't win." Gaheris turned to the assembled farmers and townspeople. "Listen to me!" he called out. "I'm going out to fight a single combat, but don't worry. I'll be fine. As soon as I'm gone, I want all the women and children to follow Lady Lynet to the back of the castle. She'll let you out a secret door there, and you'll all go to the forest. Make your way to the caves on the coast, and the men and I will join you there when we can."

  There was a moment of confusion while the people absorbed this command and gathered their families together. Some women protested, but the men repeated Gaheris's instructions. "Go on, Nellie," a man beside Lynet said to his wife. "You heard the lord. It'll be all right. Just follow Lady Lynet to the magical door in the ivy."

  Lynet sighed and looked up to find Gaheris's eyes on her. "It seems that everyone knows I'm an enchantress," she said at last.

  "I know, lass," Gaheris replied. "But keeping it secret seemed so important to you that I didn't have the heart to tell you." He raised his head again. "Now, men! When I go out, I want you to stand by the front gate and be ready to open it, and fast. Bring whatever weapons you can find. They may try to rush the castle when the gate's open. I don't think they will, but let's not take chances. Ready? Let's go."

  Lynet rose to her feet and looked into Gaheris's eyes. She didn't completely understand his plan, but she knew that plans go awry as often as not. "Goodbye, my lord," she said. "I love you."

  "Nay, lass," Gaheris said, smiling. "I'll see you soon." He touched her cheek with a gauntleted finger, then turned and walked with the men toward the front gate.

  They had no trouble getting through the Ivy Gate, which Lynet left covered with ivy but unlocked, and all through the next hour of trudging through the deepest part of the forest they saw no one. At the craggy coast, they came to the caves that Gaheris had spoken of and hid in them. Outside, the gray sea raged, broke against the rocks, and sprayed foam, making the air damp and cold even in the back of the caverns. Rowena led a group of girls out to gather wood, and when they came back and piled it up at the mouth of the largest cave, Lynet started a roaring fire with a word. But not even the warmth and glowing light of the fire could dispel the cold darkness that gripped Lynet's heart.

  And then, after two hours, there was a scuffle of dust at the cave entrance and Coll the carpenter walked in, followed by a steady stream of other men. For several minutes, there were tearful reunions on every side, but Lynet saw no Gaheris. Slowly she walked to the very mouth of the cave and stared into the growing darkness. No one.

  Then Gaheris was before her. "Miss me, lass?" he said.

  The dizzy world seemed to right itself, and for a second she could only stare. "He didn't kill you," she said at last.

  "Nay, of course not."

  "But I'll tell you this,"
added another voice from behind Gaheris. "It was dashed hard not to. I mean—good Gog, Gary!—that wasn't the best you could do, was it?"

  It was Gawain.

  "No, really, Lynet," Gaheris said. "You didn't recognize him?"

  "I don't know what Gawain's armor looks like!" Lynet protested.

  "It wasn't his armor," Gaheris said. "It was that blasted man-eating black horse of his."

  "Guingalet hasn't bitten you in years," Gawain said calmly. "He's a right pussycat now in his old age."

  "And besides," Lynet said, "why would I be looking for Gawain among the soldiers besieging his own castle?"

  "It was all I could think of," Gawain explained.

  Gawain had arrived the night before, found the White Horsemen encamped around Orkney Hall, and without hesitation had ridden right among them, claiming to be a messenger from King Mordred come to see what was taking them so long.

  "Weren't you afraid you'd be recognized?" Gaheris asked.

  "I counted on there not being too many of the knights of the Round Table in Mordred's armies," Gawain said. "But, yes, it was a risk. So you recognized me the next morning and thought of this single-combat idea just like that? How did you know you'd end up fighting me?"

  "I trusted you to take care of that end of it. I figured you'd not want me fighting anyone except you."

  "No joke!" muttered Gawain.

  "The rest was easy," Gaheris said. "While Gawain and I pretended to fight, I told him what we were doing. He drove me back against the front gate and killed me with a mighty blow. By the way, that hurt, Gawain."

  "I didn't think Breunis would believe it if I killed you with a gentle tap, brother."

  "Still, I'm going to have a nasty bruise."

  Gawain shrugged. "Behold my remorse."

  "Anyway," Gaheris said, "when I fell at the gate, the men opened it, dragged me in and out of sight, and set Douglas in my place. Then I went out the back way. Thanks for leaving the door unlocked, by the way. I hadn't thought of that."

  Gawain took up the story then. "I took off my helm so the men inside could see it was me, then called for their surrender. They raised the gate and produced the body, which I identified as Gaheris. It took a few minutes for me to persuade Breunis to let the men go free—his orders had actually been to kill everyone, but I told him that King Mordred wanted people alive now so they could pay taxes."