Bloodless Knights (10 page)

“Hello?”
I heard a small voice whisper from beneath the cell. That couldn’t be right;
there was nothing under the dungeon. I stayed still in case my imagination had
me hearing things.

“Sir
Tristen?” The voice was unmistakable this time. I believed it came from the pot
that protruded awkwardly in the corner. Oh great, I really was losing my mind
this time: a talking privy. I shook my head knowing what I had to do next but
not believing I was really going to do it. I peeked into the pisser and said,
“Hello?”

“My
Lord, it’s me Jadorion!” A familiar voice came from a dank, smelly hole.

I
closed my eyes, shook my head and tried to hold my breath while saying, “Art
thou really in the pot, Jad?”

Silence
filled the hole then, “Well…aye, so don’t send anything down right now, sir.
Friar Thespis sent me in the sewer to tell ye that he’s going to get ye out of
there so don’t do nuthin’ stupid or nutty like gettin’ killed or worse.”

I
smiled into the bowl as I pictured Jadorion’s innocent face in the dark. “Jad,
thou art very brave to do this but I must bid ye, what is worse than getting
killed?”

“Well,
like tortured and stuff. That’s shorn worse than just gettin’ stabbed in the
heart and bein’ done with it fer good!” I could tell by the tone in his voice
that if he could see me, he would surely be looking at me as if I was a fool
for not knowing the knowledge he just imparted. I laughed a bit.

“Jad,
please hurry and leave the sewer. I need ye to do me a favor. Will thou do
something important for me?” I crossed my fingers then looked to the ceiling as
if it was heaven.

“Anything,”
was his simple reply.

I
hoped what I said got through to him and he could do it without a problem. The
rest of my life was riding on the important message I laid in his hands to
deliver. “There’s a clearing of trees just north of the Lists. I need thee to
go there directly at dusk. There will be a lady there. Tell her I’ve been
imprisoned and bid her to go back to my home and wait for me there. Can ye do
that, Jad? This is of utmost importance!” The force at the end of my sentence
echoed in the pot.

“Is
it the lady ye wished for at the tourney?” Jadorion questioned.

“It
is, Jad. Please tell me ye can do that.” I wished I could see his face.

A
groan came from below, “Uh, shorn I can. I gotta go now methinks the sewer’s
about to fill up but I’ll do as ye bid. Remember that the friar’s coming for
ye.” Jadorion’s voice got softer and I could tell from his voice he was
running. It touched me that I meant enough to him to wander the sewer.

A
familiar, yet not immediately recognized, voice came from the pile of hay in
the middle of the room. “She ain’t worth it.”

The
sound from the dark silage startled me and I jumped back against the cold wall.
If I would have had my sword it would probably be sticking from the throat of
whoever was holed in the prison with me. “Show thyself!”

“Oh
blazes, Tristen, it’s just me.” Sir Asher Funder appeared from the crafty
hiding place but remained seated under the hay. “Whatever woman has ye wrapped
around her finger just ain’t worth the fuss, buddy. A crazy dame is the reason
I’m here and let me tell ye what, sir, I would be better off alone!”

Air
filled my lungs again knowing that I didn’t have to strangle someone. I walked
toward Asher and sat next to him. He had moved his dazzling wife to the kingdom
to get her away from her life as a barmaid, then much to his upset, she
returned to the barmaid life at our tavern. I kept waiting for her to end up
“missing” but she appeared at work every day. Ash seemed more patient and
forgiving than most men I knew.

“Why
art thou here, Ash?” I picked up thin pieces of straw and threw them into the
air, watching them land in various places.

Asher
slammed his broad hands against the rock floor, “Because I stood up to yourn
father! Now I’m to be hanged at dawn. The man is a tyrant, my Lord!” Ash’s long
arms brought his fingers to his forehead. He ran the bony appendages through
his sandy brown colored hair, pulling it as he reached his scalp. He hadn’t
shaved for a few days; the beard was coming in thick and red. Asher was still
wearing his knight’s surcoat emblazoned with my family’s crest upon the front
and back. I assumed he wasn’t wearing it with the pride he had when I first
gave it to him.

I
touched the scratch on my hand and thought of beautiful Vivian and the chance
she had given me to escape this place. I felt hope so I tried to think of
something inspiring or hopeful for Asher but I knew he was right about my
father. Then I found words to encourage him, “We’re going to get out of here,
Sir Asher! And when we do we are going to disappear for good.”

He
looked at me like I was on fire and he didn’t know where water was then he lay
back on the ground. “Wake me when the miracle happens then. Otherwise, forget
about me.”

I
sat in the cold, dim room and decided to hum Vivian’s tune. The effect I had
hoped for just wasn’t there. Apparently I didn’t have a calming tone in my
voice like the woman did. Ash didn’t think so either indicated by the punch I
felt as his fist met my calf. I kicked him softly, just to remind him who was
boss.

I
softly hummed again just to prove to Sir Asher that he wouldn’t deter me from
what I wanted to do. I dozed off and was awoken by a slight knock at the cell
door.

“Dinner,”
the comforting voice of Chef Morgan cut through the gregarious snores of Sir
Asher. A moment later the old goat’s crumpled eye peered through the slatted
window in the middle of the door.

The
chef’s fleshy lips appeared in the hole. “Lord Tristen,” she whispered. “Are ye
there?” Then an eye appeared again; this time a colorless one. The woman had a
glass eye. Her real eye had been lost in a freak sword accident she had as a
child, or so that was her story. I often wondered why she didn’t wear a patch,
but never inquired. Morgan adjusted her head to see into the room with her good
eye.

“I’m
here, Morgan. Sir Asher is here too.” I stood and slowly carried my aching
bones to the door. Straw crunched under my feet.

“Oh
mine boy, Tristen! Ye knoweth how I love thee so! The friar is in the kitchen
waiting forn ye. He said ye must hurry. He has sent all of the soldiers from
the back hallway to prayer and they will return soon. Go down the left hall,
then the next left hall. No shortcuts!” The lock on the jail door clicked and I
thanked the Lord silently as Chef Morgan leaned on the door to open it.

“Sir
Asher! Let’s go. Quickly!” I looked back at him, but he was already on his feet
rushing toward me. Chef Morgan stood out of our way against the painted walls
of the dungeon entrance. On my way past her I kissed her old cheek under her
good eye, because frankly, the glass eye gave me the willies. I had always
tried never to look directly at it. She threw her arms around me and picked me
up whilst hugging me and cooing, “Oh, hee hee!” For good measure I hugged her
round body lightly, gave her a pat then followed Sir Asher down the vacant
hall. I didn’t look back, but amidst the chef’s giggles, I heard the prison
door lock again.

A
knight wears his sword like a lady wears her gems, with pride. I always felt
naked without my sword and as we tore down the hall I wished I had mine. I saw
Sir Ash reach down to his side and knew he felt the same way I did. It occurred
to me to rush the armory, but I didn’t dare risk it at the time. I hoped Friar
Thespis had sense enough to know that I would need armor and supplies. As I
thought of this, I also hoped Jadorion had found Vivian and delivered my
message. The trepidation I felt was unexplainable; I needed to get to my lady!

As
we sneakily ran to the kitchen with soft feet, it reminded me when Brendan and
I were boys and we would try to get food in the middle of the night without
being seen. Somehow Chef Morgan always seemed to know when food was missing but
she never blamed us, she would simply raise her good eye at me and holler,
“Golldurn rats robbed us agern!”

Even
in my youth the old coot had a disturbing fascination with me. She would
usually let me hide behind the wood bin when she knew my father was searching
for me and she would never give away my hideout. I always made sure to reward
her with goodies from the forest, like fresh berries or mushrooms which, for
some reason, she really liked. I absolutely hated the vial creation but to her
the fungus stools were better than rubies.

As
we approached the kitchen doorway, I grabbed the collar of Ash’s jacket as I
pulled my cloak around me with my other hand. Ash looked at me and I mouthed,
“Let’s be careful,” to him. He slowed his pace and we snuck up on the kitchen
staff. Luckily for us there was no ambush waiting, just Friar Thespis sitting
on a round stool eating a plain biscuit. When he saw us he promptly jumped off
the bench. He suspiciously eyed Sir Asher, “What’s
he
doing here?”

“Sir
Asher was trapped in jail with me. Chef Morgan was kind enough to let him out.”
I was starving and grabbed a pickled pork ear from a cutting board. Whatever
was being prepared for dinner smelled divine. I caught a hint of bacon and
cumin in the air and breathed deeply.

Friar
Thespis’ gaze at Ash softened, “Oh, I didn’t knowest ye were arrested too, my
boy. Accept my apology; I’m glad ye were released.”

Jadorion
charged through the backdoor. His clothes and hair were soaked. I jokingly
asked him if the sewer drowned him, he exclaimed “No! It’s raining outside but
that’s the least of our worries! The dragon is burning down houses in the
village.”

Nobody
moved an inch. We all seemed to be thinking about what Jadorion just bellowed.
Friar Thespis patiently reached for a monk’s cloak he had brought. It was
probably the same one I used earlier. He put it in my hands and calmly said,
“Tristen, thou must go. Wear this to get away from here. Sadly, I only brought
one.” He paused as if wheels were spinning inside his head. Then he stripped
down out of his own robe and handed it to Sir Asher.

“Thou
must go with Sir Tristen. The beast must be killed.” The friar stood in his
under things right in the center of the kitchen. The wait staff ladies kept
their heads down but it was easy to see their cheeks were burning. Asher and I
shoved our muscular, fighter bodies into the robes. The friar continued, “Get
out of here quickly and whatever ye do, stay alive! There is armor and weapons
hidden behind the oak tree past the barn. I will watch over thy mother,
Tristen. Just go, now!”

The
friar pushed us toward the door. Jadorion followed, “Ye aren’t going without
me! Ye can’t leave yourn squire behind, my Lord.” His voice cracked. I didn’t
know if that was from age or crying, but he stared at me with big round eyes.

I
couldn’t argue with him. He needed to learn to become a knight and besides
battling humans, battling beasts was most certainly training. I would send him
with Sir Ash to catch up with Patrious while I took Vivian home. “Let’s go,” I
said as the three of us bolted into the dark cold rain.

#
# #

The
scene outside was just plain ugly. It was gloomy and rain pelted down on our
heads. Jadorion certainly wasn’t dressed for the weather. He merely wore a
linen top with woolen breeches tucked into a pair of thin boots. I removed my
dark cloak from under the monk’s robe and covered him with it. He smiled feebly
at me as he wrapped it around his already soaked body.

We
were standing just south of the castle. The front of the castle faced east. The
hill the king’s home stood upon overlooked the village and what we saw was
nothing short of impossible but it was really happening. The monstrous dragon
was bouncing around burning houses but he didn’t seem to be trying to burn them
to the ground, just damage them a bit. The rain smothered some of the fire, but
the lizard seemed to be selecting what to burn. It was like he was looking for
something, or maybe
someone
, specific.

Not
a villager was in sight. I predicted they had hidden in one of the cellars. The
dragon waddled around a bit, turned his long neck toward the castle as if he
had seen us, but then became disinterested in the place. Its large pointed
wings lifted it into the air. Oddly, it didn’t fly east toward Montour Mountain,
it flew north. I wondered where the monster was headed but remained silent.

“Well
that was unsettling!” Sir Asher whispered as we descended the knoll and
approached the moat. “We don’t even have swords or little knives. What I
wouldn’t do for just a fork right now.”

I
shared Ash’s wishes but I simply wanted to get to Vivian and sneak away in the
night. The thought of Vivian made me inquire of Jadorion, “Ye gave the woman my
message, did ye not, Jad?”

Jadorion
opened his mouth to reply. Asher wrapped his hand around the boy’s face and
grabbed my arm with his other hand. He nodded toward the moat. I could see the
small soldier boat that manned the canal moving silently toward us. It was
unclear if we had been spotted or not but we moved toward some brush.

I
had been expecting the boat to make its nightly watch; just didn’t think it
would appear as fast as it did. I motioned to Asher to be ready. We both knew
we had to overtake the little tugboat for a quick escape but we had to be fast.
Although there was only one soldier in the boat, he had a loud drum he would
beat if there was trouble. All men on the castle grounds were trained to listen
for the drum and offer immediate assistance to the sailor. We had to make sure
he didn’t sound the alarm.