The Incorporated Knight (6 page)

             
Presently, Eudoric was looking at his and Jillo's palfreys and their sumpter mule in Raspiudus' stables. Eudoric made a few hesitant efforts, as if he were Baldonius seeking his young friends, to inquire after their disappearance. Each time, Raspiudus smoothly turned the question aside, promising enlightenment later.

             
An hour later, Raspiudus was showing off his magical sanctum. With obvious interest, Eudoric examined a number of squares of dragon hide spread out on a workbench. He asked:

             
"Be this the integument of one of those Pathenian dragons, whereof
I
have heard?"

             
"Certes, good Baldonius. Are they extinct in your part of the world?"

             
"Aye. 'Twas for that reason that
I
sent my friend and former pupil to fetch me some of this hide for use in my work. How doth one cure this hide?"

             
"With salt and—
unh!"

             
Raspiudus collapsed, Eudoric having struck him on the head with a short bludgeon that he whisked out of his voluminous sleeves.

             
"Bind and gag him and roll him behind the bench!" said Eudoric.

             
"Were it not better to cut his throat, sir?" asked Jillo.

             
"Nay. The jailer told us that they have ingenious ways of punishing homicide, and
I
have no wish to prove them by experiment."

             
While Jillo bound the unconscious Raspiudus with a length of rope from beneath his dress, Eudoric chose two pieces of dragon hide, each about a yard square. He rolled them into a bundle and lashed them with another length of rope. As an afterthought, he helped himself to the contents of Raspiudus' bulging purse. Then he hoisted the roll of hide to his shoulder and issued from the laboratory, calling to the nearest stable boy.

             
"Doctor Raspiudus," he said, "asks that ye saddle up those two nags." He pointed. "Good saddles, mind ye! Are the animals well shod?"

             
"Hasten, sir," muttered Jillo. "Every instant we hang about here
...
"

             
"Hold thy peace! The appearance of haste were the surest way to arouse suspicion." Eudoric raised his voice. "Another heave on the girth, fellow! I am not minded to have mine aged bones shattered by a tumble into the roadway."

             
Jillo whispered: "Can't we recover the mule and your armor to boot?"

             
Eudoric shook his head. "Too risky," he murmured. "Be glad if we get away with skins intact."

             
When the horses had been saddled to his satisfaction, he said: "Lend me some of your strength in mounting, youngster." He groaned as he swung awkwardly into the saddle. "A murrain on thy master, to send me off on this footling errand—me, who haven't sat a horse in years! Now hand me that accursed roll of hide. I thank thee, youth; here's a little for thy trouble. Run ahead and tell the gatekeeper to have his portal well open. I fear that, if this beast pull up of a sudden,
I
shall go flying over its head!"

             
A few minutes later, when they had turned a corner and were out of sight of Raspiudus' house, Eudoric said: "Now trot!"

             
"If
I
could but get out of this damned gown
...
" muttered Jillo. "I can't ride decently in it."

             
"Wait till we're out of the city gate."

             
When Jillo had shed the offending garment, Eudoric said: "Now ride, man, as never before in your life!"

             
They pounded off on the Liptai road. Looking back, Jillo gave a screech. "There's a thing flying after us! It looks like a giant bat!"

             
"One of Raspiudus' sendings," said Eudoric. "I knew he'd get loose. Use your spurs! Can we but gain the bridge
...
"

             
They fled at a mad gallop. The sending came closer and closer, until Eudoric thought he could feel the wind of its wings.

             
Then their hooves thundered across the bridge over the Pshora.

             
"Those things will not cross running water," said Eudoric, looking back. "Slow down, Jillo. These nags must bear us many a league, and we must not founder
them at the outset."

-

             
"
...
so here we are," Eudoric told Doctor Baldonius. "Ye've seen your family, lad?
"

             
"
Certes. They thrive, praise the Divine Pair. Where's Lusina?
"

             
"
Well—all—ahem—the fact is that she be not here.
"

             
"
Oh? Then where?"

             
"Ye put me to shame, Eudoric. I promised you her hand in return for the two yards of dragon hide. Well, ye've fetched me the hide, at no small effort and risk, but I cannot fulfill my side of the bargain."

             
"Wherefore?"

             
"Alas! My undutiful daughter ran off with a strolling player last summer, whilst ye were chasing dragons, or
vice versa.
I'm right truly sorry
...
"

             
Eudoric frowned silently for an instant, then said: "Fret not, esteemed Doctor. I shall recover from the wound—provided that you salve it by making up my losses in more materialistic fashion."

             
Baldonius raised bushy gray eyebrows. "So? Ye seem not so griefstricken as I should have expected, to judge from the lover's sighs and tears wherewith ye parted from the jade last spring. Now yell accept money instead?"

             
"Aye sir. I truly loved the lass and still do, albeit I confess that my insensate passion had somewhat cooled during our long separation. Was it likewise with her? What said she of me?"

             
"Aye, her sentiments did indeed change.
I
would not outrage your feelings—"

             
Eudoric waved a deprecatory hand. "Continue, pray. I have been somewhat toughened by the months in the rude, rough world, and I am interested."

             
"Well, I told her she was being foolish to the point of idiocy; that ye were a shrewd lad who, an ye survived the dragon hunt, would go far, but her words were: 'That is just the trouble, Father. He is too shrewd to be very lovable.' "

             
"Hmph," grunted Eudoric. "What looks to one acquaintance like a virtue appears to another as a vice. 'Tis all in the point of view. One might say: I am a man of enterprise, thou art an opportunist, he is a conniving exploiter." Eudoric released a small sigh. "Well, if she prefer the fools of this world, I wish her joy of them. As a man of honor, I would have wedded Lusina had she wished. As things stand, trouble is saved all around."

             
"To you, belike; though I misdoubt my headstrong lass will find the life of an actor's woman a bed of violets.

"Who'd wed on a whim is soon filled to the brim

With worry and doubt, till he longs for an out.

So if ye would wive, beware of the gyve

Of an ill-chosen mate; 'tis a harrowing fate.

-

             
"But enough of that. What sum had ye in mind?"

             
"Enough to cover the cost of my good destrier Morgrim and my panoply of plate, together with lance and sword, plus a few other chattels and incidental expenses of travel. Fifteen hundred marks should cover the lot."

             
"Fi
f
-teen
-hundred!
Whew! I could never afford— nor are these moldy patches of dragon hide worth a fraction of the sum."

             
Eudoric sighed and rose. "You know what you can afford, good my sage." He picked up the roll of dragon hide. "Your colleague Doctor
Carpono,
wizard to the Count of Treveria, expressed a keen interest in the material. In fact, he offered me more than I have asked of you, but I thought it only honorable to give you the first opportunity."

             
"What!" cried Baldonius. "That mountebank, that charlatan, that faker? Misusing the hide and not deriving a tenth of the magical benefits from it that I should? Sit down, Eudoric; we will discuss these things."

             
An hour's haggling got Eudoric his fifteen hundred marks. Baldonius said: "Well, praise the Divine Couple that's over. And now, beloved pupil, what are your plans?"

             
"Would ye believe it, Doctor Baldonius," said Jillo, "that my poor deluded master's about to disgrace his lineage and betray his class by a base commercial enterprise?"

             
"Forsooth, Jillo? What's this?"

             
"He means my proposed stagecoach line," said Eudoric.

             
"Good Heaven, what's that?"

             
"My plan to run a carriage—ye know, like that thing the Emperor rides about Solambrium in, but of vastly improved design—weekly from Zurgau to Kromnitch, taking all who can pay the fare, as is done in Pathenia. We can't let the heathen Easterlings get ahead of us."

             
"What an extraordinary idea! Need ye a partner?"

             
"Thanks, but nay. Baron Emmerhard has already thrown in with me. He's promised me my knighthood in exchange for the partnership."

             
"Nobility hath been extinguished!" wailed Jillo.

             
Eudoric grinned. "Jillo is more loyal to the class whence
I
have sprung than
I
am. Emmerhard said much the same sort of thing, but
I
convinced him that any enterprise involving horses were a fit pursuit for a gentleman. Jillo, you can spell me at driving the coach, which will make you a gentleman, too!"

             
Jillo sighed. "Alas, the true spirit of knighthood is dying in this degenerate age. Woe is me, that
I
should live to see the end of chivalry! How much did ye think to pay me, sir?"

-

             
When King Valdhelm II of Locania died, his heir, King Valdhelm III, bade all his nobles to his coronation in the royal city of Kromnitch. This was also the county seat of the King's feudatory, Count Petz of Treveria. One of Petz's liege men was Baron Emmerhard of Zurgau, among whose vassals was Sir Dambert Eudoricson of Arduen.

             
After the royal command arrived, Sir Dambert and his family met before dinner to discuss their plans. Eudoric joined them late and dirty.

             
"Eudoric!" cried the Lady Aniset. " 'Tis the third time of late that thou hast tracked mud into the castle. What's got into thee?"