The Lioness and Her Knight (6 page)

She was not mistaken. As soon as Lady Laudine conducted her to her room and saw the dresses that her mother had packed for her, she gave a shriek of horror and quickly stuffed them back into Luneta's bags. "Oh, dear!" she moaned. "I've never thought it healthy for Lynet to live such an isolated life in the country, but if this is what she thinks is suitable, then she must have been alone too long! Tell me, dear, is she quite mad?"

Luneta wasn't entirely sure that she liked this last question, but since she agreed completely with the rest of this statement, she was able to ignore the insult to her mother and enter into the spirit of the moment. Within minutes, Lady Laudine had dragged Luneta off to her own enormous bedchamber and had begun turning out all the wardrobes for dresses that could be altered to fit Luneta. Then, once seven or eight sumptuous gowns had been chosen, Lady Laudine opened her jewelry drawer.

At this point even Luneta began to feel uneasy. It wasn't that she didn't admire the ropes of pearls and glowing gem sets in Lady Laudine's collection, but she had a strong suspicion that a sixteen-year-old girl who wore such ornament would look more ridiculous than spectacular. She allowed Lady Laudine to put a few jewels on her, but she felt like a little girl playing dress up and soon removed them. "Don't you have anything less ... less brilliant?" Luneta asked. "If I wore any of these diamonds, I'd never be able to relax, for fear I should lose them." She dipped her hand into the drawer, moved a brooch aside, and drew out an unjeweled ring, of glowing gold that was curiously carved with the semblance of a serpent. "What is this?"

Lady Laudine's eyes sparkled, and she leaned close to Luneta in a conspiratorial manner. "How interesting that you should have found that ring of all others!" she said in a low but excited voice. "I must tell your mother. Truth be told, that's the most valuable ring of all."

"This? Why should this ring be more valuable than the rubies and diamonds?"

Lady Laudine leaned even closer. "Because it's magic, of course. It's a faery ring!"

Luneta had now spent enough time with her hostess to think it very unlikely that she was making a joke—Lady Laudine didn't seem the sort, somehow—but she glanced sharply at her all the same. All she saw in Lady Laudine's face was impish excitement. "What's magic about it?"

"Try it on," Lady Laudine said.

Giving her hostess one more suspicious glance, Luneta slipped the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly. "There," she said. "What's so magical?"

"Don't you see?" Lady Laudine said, suddenly smiling broadly. "Oh, I made a joke! I said, 'Don't you see?' Get it?"

Luneta fought back the urge to step away from her suddenly incomprehensible hostess. "No, I don't."

"Of course you don't see!" Lady Laudine said, her eyes bright. "Look at your hand, Luneta!"

Luneta looked down, and something jolted in her stomach. She knew that she was holding her hand out before her, but it simply wasn't there. She moved her hand from side to side. There was nothing. No hand. No arm. She looked down at her legs and body. Nothing was there. "Where am I?" she managed to whisper.

"Now take the ring off so I can see you again," Lady Laudine said. Luneta felt for her finger and drew off the ring. At once she was visible again.

Luneta looked at the ring in the palm of her hand. "
Per deas!
" she said breathlessly. "A real magic ring."

Lady Laudine nodded quickly. "Isn't it exciting? The only thing is, it's not very useful. I don't know how many times I've thought that this ring would be just the thing to wear with a certain gown, but of course it wouldn't be, because once you put it on, no one could see how well they went together—or anything else, for that matter."

Luneta, who had no trouble thinking of uses for such a ring, reluctantly put it back in the jewelry drawer. "Yes, of course," she murmured absently. Then she looked up, puzzled. "But Lady Laudine, how came you by such a thing?"

Lady Laudine's mouth opened slightly. "Didn't your mother tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Why, that I'm an enchantress!"

Luneta sat alone in her room, staring into the fire, her eyes glowing with excitement. To have arrived for an indefinite stay in this luxurious castle, where she would wear the finest clothes and most of all get to know a real enchantress, was more than she could ever have hoped for. It made her drab and relentlessly humdrum childhood at Orkney Hall seem like a dark and unpleasant dream. Her plain and ordinary mother couldn't have known that Lady Laudine was an enchantress, or she would never have let her come here for a visit. Luneta wondered if she could persuade Lady Laudine to teach her some magic.

A soft tap came from her bedchamber door, and Luneta said, "Comein."

The door opened, and Rhience's face appeared. "There you are!" he said with a sigh, stepping into the room. "What a rabbit warren this castle is!"

"Have you been looking for me?"

Rhience didn't answer for a moment. One eyebrow rose expressively as he surveyed Luneta's clothes. "I thought I was, my lady, but I was mistaken. Please, do you know where I might find the Lady Luneta?"

Luneta giggled and stood so as to show off her gown of rich purple silk. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Rhience frowned. "There's something missing," he said pensively. "Ah, yes, I have it!"

"What? What's missing?"

"An elderly lady to wear it."

"
Asinus,
" Luneta replied without rancor. "I think it's gorgeous, but my mother would never let me wear such a thing."

"Ah," Rhience replied. "I gather that your mother is a woman of taste."

Luneta stuck out her tongue at him. "You're not funny, you know."

"That's all right," he replied with a grin. "You're funny enough for both of us. So, aside from your sartorial finery—"

"What's that mean?" Luneta demanded.

"From the Latin, of course.
Sartor,
tailor. Refers to clothes. Apart from that, are you comfortable here?"

"Oh, yes, Rhience. It's beyond everything great! Have you ever seen such a room?"

Rhience glanced around ruefully. "Not recently, I can tell you that."

Luneta's eyes widened as she remembered their different positions. "What about you? Where are you quartered?"

"Quartered is right. I have about a quarter of a room down in the servants' hall. But that's not so bad. It has a bed, after all. No, the bad part's the company down there. In those infernal regions of the castle, we are all ruled by Sir Stiffus Rumpus."

"That steward fellow that Lady Laudine's afraid of?"

Rhience nodded. "And for some reason he's taken a dislike to me. Even after I was so solicitous for his health!"

Luneta was almost afraid to ask. "What did you say to him?"

"I only mentioned that I'd known someone who walked the way he did, but once the boils on his bottom cleared up he was much better and didn't look quite so silly anymore."

"And he took offense at that? Imagine!"

"I even offered a remedy. You sit in a bucket filled with mashed turnips for two days, and the boils go right away. Was he grateful? Not at all!"

"I can't help but think it might have been wise to hold your tongue," Luneta said. "Especially if he's such a tyrant."

Rhience's shoulders began to shake. "Yes, indeed. I should follow your example and be quiet and demure."

"I've never told anyone that he walked as if he had boils on his bottom, anyway," Luneta said tartly.

"No, instead you jabbed me in the bottom with a hairpin. Much more civil!"

"I was lancing a boil," Luneta replied with a sniff. "Seriously, are your quarters that bad?"

Rhience shook his head. "Nay, my lady. I'm comfortable enough, and after all, I'm free to leave when I want. It's your comfort that matters here. How do you think you'll get along with Lady Laudine?"

"Famously!" Luneta said. "Oh, and Rhience, you'll never believe it, but she's an enchantress!"

Rhience looked skeptical. "Are you sure? She doesn't seem to have the look."

"I promise you! She has a magical ring, and I've seen it work! I'll admit that I thought the same as you at first. I mean, the only enchantress I've ever even seen is Morgan Le Fay back at Camelot, but Lady Laudine certainly doesn't seem to be like her."

"Except for their beauty," Rhience commented. "Well, you appear to be pleased with this discovery, and that's what matters. I say, have you met the master of the castle yet?"

Luneta shook her head. "No. Lady Laudine said he spends his time in his own chambers, but it's a bit odd, isn't it? I mean, shouldn't the master of the castle greet a guest?" Rhience nodded. "Have you met him?" Luneta asked.

"Nay, and I've heard the same as you. He spends his time in his rooms mostly. None of the servants dislike him, but they fear him. When his bell rope rings, it's a wonder to see how they run to answer."

Luneta stifled a feeling of disquiet and said practically, "Well, if he stays in his own rooms he can be as fierce as he likes, and it won't make any difference to me."

"Very true," Rhience said, smiling. He stood. "I'd best be off. I'm supposed to perform at dinner tonight. Mayhaps we'll meet the elusive lord of the land then."

Rhience was right. Luneta got her first glimpse of the master of the castle, Sir Esclados, at dinner that night, and all she could do was stare at him with dismay. It wasn't that he was disfigured or ugly. In fact, considering the matter dispassionately, she admitted that Sir Esclados was quite handsome for someone of his age. But that was the problem. Lady Laudine was not too many years older than Luneta herself—certainly no older than twenty-five—but Sir Esclados was fifty if he was a day. Trying to hide her revulsion, she cast her eyes to the floor and dipped a very proper curtsy to her host, but he barely glanced at her on his way to the great chair at the head of the table. "Yes, love," he growled to his wife. "Malvolus told me your visitor had arrived. Earlier than you said, ain't it?"

Lady Laudine blushed like fire and seemed unable to speak. Out of sympathy for her tongue-tied hostess, Luneta said, "Indeed, sir, I
am
early. I hope that it is not an inconvenience. An opportunity to make the journey sooner arose, and I had no time to send a courier ahead to warn you."

Now Sir Esclados turned his eyes to her, his gaze direct and stern. Luneta had a sense that he was unused to people speaking to him until he had spoken to them first. He looked at her in silence for a moment; then his gaze sharpened. "What's this, my love? Isn't that one of the dresses that I gave you?"

"Y-yes, my dear. I ... I was sure you wouldn't mind if I let dear Luneta wear some of my ... my clothes. Her own dresses were not ... not..." Lady Laudine trailed off helplessly.

Sir Esclados scowled. He said, "They're your dresses. You do what you like with them. It has nothing to do with me." From his tone, though, it was clear that he was displeased.

Lady Laudine embarked on a string of inarticulate apologies, but no one was listening. Sir Esclados had turned to his food, and Luneta's attention had been attracted by Rhience. The fool had been standing in a corner of the dining hall, waiting for his call to perform, but he had moved behind Sir Esclados and was clearly trying to convey a message to Luneta. He kept jerking his head at Sir Esclados and then pointing at himself, and his eyes were wide with dismay. Luneta had no idea what he was trying to communicate and was just beginning to wonder if she could excuse herself from the table for a moment to speak with him when dinner came to an abrupt end.

Since it was late spring, there was still light even at seven in the evening, but suddenly the room become almost as dark as night. Luneta barely had time to wonder what had happened when the most ear-splitting crash of thunder that she had ever heard shook the table and overturned some of the crystal goblets. That crash was followed immediately by a second, and rain began to fall in cascades against the roof. Sir Esclados leaped to his feet so sharply that his great chair fell over behind him, and he uttered a shocking oath, called for his steward, and ran from the room, followed by all the servants. Lady Laudine, Rhience, and Luneta were left alone in the great dining hall, but Lady Laudine hardly counted, because she had covered her ears and closed her eyes. Luneta turned her eyes to Rhience, who looked grim. Once he tried to speak, but his words were drowned out by the thunder.

It didn't matter, though. Luneta understood. This was the storm from the Storm Stone. Ywain had put the water into the basin and summoned the storm. Luneta also understood what Rhience had been trying to tell her. When he had pointed at Sir Esclados and then back at himself, he had been pointing at the scar on his neck. Sir Esclados was the red knight, the man who had defeated Rhience and made him vow to be a fool for a year, the man Ywain had come to challenge.

In a few minutes the storm passed, as quickly as it had come, and Luneta assumed what she hoped was an expression of curiosity and said to her hostess, "My goodness, Lady Laudine, do you often get such storms in these parts?"

Lady Laudine hesitated, but only for a moment. "I'm not really supposed to say, but I must tell you. This land is afflicted with a dreadful magic. Not far from here is a magical spring, and if people disturb it somehow or other it causes these storms to come up. They're just awful! And the magic also says that the master of the land is bound to this castle, never to leave so long as the storms might come, and he has to defend the land against these storms. That's where my husband went, you see. Whenever someone disturbs the spring, he has to go out and fight them and make them promise never to do so again. It's dreadful, I tell you." She shuddered. "I've never liked storms at all, and these storms are ... they're horrible!" She rose shakily to her feet. "Please excuse me, Luneta. I must go and ... oh, I am always so afraid when the storms come and Sir Esclados goes off to fight!"

Luneta patted Lady Laudine's hand reassuringly. "I understand. You go compose yourself. I'll find my own way back to my room."

Lady Laudine smiled gratefully, her eyes bright with tears, and then hurried away.