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over the hum at the table. Everyone raised their heads and turned.
The approaching figure was clad in armour of iron sheets and leather treated with wax. His
convex, angular, black and blue breast-plate overlapped a segmented apron and short thigh
pads. The armour-plated brassards bristled with sharp, steel spikes and the visor, with its
densely grated screen extending out in the shape of a dog's muzzle, was covered with spikes
like a conker casing.
Clattering and grinding, the strange guest approached the table and stood motionless in front
of the throne.
'Noble queen, honourable gentlemen,' said the newcomer, bowing stiffly. 'Please forgive me
for disrupting your ceremonious feast. I am Urcheon of Erlenwald.'
'Greetings, Urcheon of Erlenwald,' said Calanthe slowly. 'Please take your place at the table.
In Cintra we welcome every guest.'
'Thank you, your Majesty,' Urcheon of Erlenwald bowed once again and touched his chest
with a fist clad in an iron gauntlet. 'But I haven't come to Cintra as a guest but on a matter of
great importance and urgency. If your Majesty permits I will present my case immediately,
without wasting your time.'
'Urcheon of Erlenwald,' said the queen sharply, 'a praiseworthy concern about our time does
not justify lack of respect. And such
is your speaking to us from behind an iron trellis. Remove your helmet, and we'll endure the
time wasted while you do.'
'My face, your Majesty, must remain hidden for the time being. With your permission.'
An angry ripple, punctuated here and there with the odd curse, ran through the gathered
crowd. Mousesack, lowering his head, moved his lips silently. The witcher felt the spell
electrify the air for a second, felt it stir his medallion. Calanthe was looking at Urcheon,
narrowing her eyes and drumming her fingers on her armrest.
'Granted,' she said finally. 'I choose to believe your motive is sufficiently important. So - what
brings you here, Urcheon-without-a-face?'
'Thank you,' said the newcomer. 'But I'm unable to suffer the accusation of lacking respect, so
I explain that it is a matter of a knight's vows. I am not allowed to reveal my face before
midnight strikes.'
Calanthe, raising her hand perfunctorily, accepted his explanation. Urcheon advanced, his
spiked armour clanging.
'Fifteen years ago,' he announced loudly, 'your husband King Roegner lost his way while
hunting in Erlenwald. Wandering around the pathless tracts, he fell from his horse into a
ravine and sprained his leg. He lay at the bottom of the gully and called for help but the only
answer he got was the hiss of vipers and the howling of approaching werewolves. He would
have died without the help he received.'
'I know what happened,' the queen affirmed. 'If you know it, too, then I guess you are the one
who helped him.'
'Yes. It is only because of me he returned to you in one piece, and well.'
'I am grateful to you then, Urcheon of Erlenwald. That gratitude is none the lesser for the fact
that Roegner, gentleman of my heart and bed, has left this world. Tell me, if the implication
that your aid was not disinterested does not offend another of your knightly vows, how I can
express my gratitude.'
'You well know my aid was not disinterested. You know, loo,
that I have come to collect the promised reward for saving the king's life.'
'Oh yes?' Calanthe smiled but green sparks lit up her eyes. 'So you found a man at the bottom
of a ravine, defenceless, wounded, at the mercy of vipers and monsters. And only when he
promised you a reward did you help? And if he didn't want to or couldn't promise you
something, you'd have left him there, and, to this day, I wouldn't know where his bones lay?
How noble. No doubt your actions were guided by a particularly chivalrous vow at the time.'
The murmur around the hall grew louder.
'And today you come for your reward, Urcheon?' continued the queen, smiling even more
ominously. 'After fifteen years? No doubt you are counting the interest accrued over this
period? This isn't the dwarves' bank, Urcheon. You say Roegner promised you a reward? Ah,
well, it will be difficult to get him to pay you. It would be simpler to send you to him, into the
other world, to reach an agreement over who owes what. I loved my husband top dearly, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]