Gray Lands or the Sword of Boorn this morning,” the lord said with a courtesy so exquisite that it was mockery, “full apology, Your Majesty, do we make.”
“And is accepted,” Albrecht said, all at once anxious to be rid of this group. “But all petitions denied.”
Hagen bowed his head. “So be it. Perhaps Your Majesty will be in mood to reconsider later, should we hit on more forceful argument for our cause. By your leave, sire, now go we all to our separate lands.”
“Then go,” said Albrecht, and he nodded once more to Eero. A lane opened in the mob of black-clad wolfmen, and the lords wheeled, led by Hagen, stiff-backed and proud in bearing, and then stalked out. Eero barked orders: the Palace Guard rearranged itself in ranks.
Albrecht seated himself again on the throne, breathing hard with suppressed rage. Then he said, “Good Eero,” and beckoned the half-wolf to him.
“Your Majesty—” Eero bent close to listen.
“You have seen Hagen…”
“Aye,” Eero said, and growled in his throat.
“The man cannot be tolerated. Besides, it is o’ertime to prove the trustiness of our new comrades. Do you now send this message to the Black Wolf herself in the Frorwald… and tell her that her reward for services shall be great; aye, she shall gorge herself and all her followers on flesh of the sort she loves best.”
Eero’s tongue lolled as he nodded. “But will not this reflect back against Your Majesty?”
“The fate of Markau, ghastly as it must be, shall be good insurance against other insurrection. Then we are secure and free to carry out our plans that run beyond this moment—But for now, a messenger to the Black Wolf.”
“Aye,” said Eero, and he bowed and scraped, and then hurried from the throne, while Albrecht stroked the Great Sword of Boorn with his hand and smiled thoughtfully and darkly.
CHAPTER V
With his art, Sandivar had called from the far forests another huge bear, a she this time, whom he called Rowl, and who was also broken to saddle and rein. The tower was carefully locked, and the sorcerer then traced a circle in the sand about it, muttering as he did so words meaningless to Helmut, who watched impatiently. At last, Sandivar was done. “Now, should one with evil intent cross the protective boundary I’ve laid down, woe to him! Still, an honest traveler need have no fear.” Sandivar gathered up the reins of the she-bear. “Let us go.”
Helmut swung aboard Waddle, who bore his weight with ease. The two animals waded out into the marsh, then began to swim. Helmut liked the strong, rhythmic driving motion of the bear, the feeling of power. It was nearly as good as a war-horse…
While the two great animals bore them across the marsh, Helmut, Sigrieth’s bastard, looked at the world he now inhabited with a kind of amazement. In his ten years in another, he had forgotten that there was aught but cold and drear, fog and grayness; now he rode in sweet sunshine, beneath arching blue, toward a line of bright, beckoning green that was the mainland. He should, it occurred to him, feel exaltation and freedom at his release from that land of horror to which Sandivar had sent him; but he did not. Indeed, he felt nothing except the determination which had allowed Sandivar to dispatch him to that place in the beginning: to kill Albrecht and revenge the deaths of Sigrieth and Gustav. After that, of course, he would become King of Boorn and Emperor of the Gray Lands, but the thought of reigning stirred no enthusiasm within him.
These ten years that he had spent in that other world, the decade that had brought him to manhood and had tutored him in all the hard arts of warfare—indeed, he thought, they had left him scarred. It was strange not to be able to respond to beauty, strange not to feel mirth at the spectacle of Sandivar ducked by a sudden maneuver of the she-bear, startled by a watersnake. Strange not to feel anything human except hatred of Albrecht and the need to
“And is accepted,” Albrecht said, all at once anxious to be rid of this group. “But all petitions denied.”
Hagen bowed his head. “So be it. Perhaps Your Majesty will be in mood to reconsider later, should we hit on more forceful argument for our cause. By your leave, sire, now go we all to our separate lands.”
“Then go,” said Albrecht, and he nodded once more to Eero. A lane opened in the mob of black-clad wolfmen, and the lords wheeled, led by Hagen, stiff-backed and proud in bearing, and then stalked out. Eero barked orders: the Palace Guard rearranged itself in ranks.
Albrecht seated himself again on the throne, breathing hard with suppressed rage. Then he said, “Good Eero,” and beckoned the half-wolf to him.
“Your Majesty—” Eero bent close to listen.
“You have seen Hagen…”
“Aye,” Eero said, and growled in his throat.
“The man cannot be tolerated. Besides, it is o’ertime to prove the trustiness of our new comrades. Do you now send this message to the Black Wolf herself in the Frorwald… and tell her that her reward for services shall be great; aye, she shall gorge herself and all her followers on flesh of the sort she loves best.”
Eero’s tongue lolled as he nodded. “But will not this reflect back against Your Majesty?”
“The fate of Markau, ghastly as it must be, shall be good insurance against other insurrection. Then we are secure and free to carry out our plans that run beyond this moment—But for now, a messenger to the Black Wolf.”
“Aye,” said Eero, and he bowed and scraped, and then hurried from the throne, while Albrecht stroked the Great Sword of Boorn with his hand and smiled thoughtfully and darkly.
CHAPTER V
With his art, Sandivar had called from the far forests another huge bear, a she this time, whom he called Rowl, and who was also broken to saddle and rein. The tower was carefully locked, and the sorcerer then traced a circle in the sand about it, muttering as he did so words meaningless to Helmut, who watched impatiently. At last, Sandivar was done. “Now, should one with evil intent cross the protective boundary I’ve laid down, woe to him! Still, an honest traveler need have no fear.” Sandivar gathered up the reins of the she-bear. “Let us go.”
Helmut swung aboard Waddle, who bore his weight with ease. The two animals waded out into the marsh, then began to swim. Helmut liked the strong, rhythmic driving motion of the bear, the feeling of power. It was nearly as good as a war-horse…
While the two great animals bore them across the marsh, Helmut, Sigrieth’s bastard, looked at the world he now inhabited with a kind of amazement. In his ten years in another, he had forgotten that there was aught but cold and drear, fog and grayness; now he rode in sweet sunshine, beneath arching blue, toward a line of bright, beckoning green that was the mainland. He should, it occurred to him, feel exaltation and freedom at his release from that land of horror to which Sandivar had sent him; but he did not. Indeed, he felt nothing except the determination which had allowed Sandivar to dispatch him to that place in the beginning: to kill Albrecht and revenge the deaths of Sigrieth and Gustav. After that, of course, he would become King of Boorn and Emperor of the Gray Lands, but the thought of reigning stirred no enthusiasm within him.
These ten years that he had spent in that other world, the decade that had brought him to manhood and had tutored him in all the hard arts of warfare—indeed, he thought, they had left him scarred. It was strange not to be able to respond to beauty, strange not to feel mirth at the spectacle of Sandivar ducked by a sudden maneuver of the she-bear, startled by a watersnake. Strange not to feel anything human except hatred of Albrecht and the need to
Similar Books
Mystery Of The Sea Horse
Lee Falk
The Coal War
Upton Sinclair
Come To Me
LaVerne Thompson
Breaking Point
Lesley Choyce
Wolf Point
Edward Falco
Fallowblade
Cecilia Dart-Thornton
Seduce
Missy Johnson
