The Land of the Silver Apples - Farmer Nancy (читать книги онлайн без txt) 📗
“They have earned their fate,” said Father Severus. Jack noticed that he had the altar cloth from the Holy Isle cradled in his arms.
“The yarthkins sorted them,” Brutus explained. “The rejects were tossed into a storeroom—actually, allof them were rejects except Ratface. Yffi tried to fight, but it isn’t easy to fight yarthkins. Right, Ratface?”
“N-no,” stammered the scullery boy.
“Ratface gave them a bit of a struggle too. I gather it isn’t pleasant being felt all over by them.”
No, indeed,thought Jack, and he no longer wondered at the scullery boy’s terror.
“Let us climb that hill,” suggested Brutus. It was a small hill, and Jack found it pleasant to walk through the feathery grass covering it. Crickets chirped and frogs peeped. It was an ordinary, beautiful summer night.
When he reached the top, Jack could see the dark shape of Din Guardi under the full moon. It seemed larger than he remembered. Then he realized that the Hedge was pressed against the walls.
The Forest Lord attacked.
Rocks groaned as they were wrenched from their places. Wooden doors splintered. Iron grills over windows threw off sparks as they were torn apart. The noise was terrifying and continuous. After a while Jack saw that the fortress was growing smaller.It was settling into the earth like a snowbank melting into a stream. When it was almost flat, the sounds of destruction died away.
If there had been human voices in that turmoil, Jack had not heard them. His heart felt sore. He couldn’t imagine the last moments of the men trapped inside. He regretted the fate of the captain who had admired Ethne and of the man who had lain out all night in the dew to listen to the elves sing. Be careful what you ask for,Thorgil had said.
“There passes the glory of Din Guardi,” said Brutus, standing tall and outrageously handsome under the full moon. “It was a place of shadows and sorrow, doomed in its grandeur and inglorious in its fall. Still, it’s always nice to have a fresh start,” he added, spoiling the noble effect of his speech.
“You’re going to rebuild?” asked Thorgil. The fortress was entirely gone now. Only a stretch of lonely rock jutted out over the sea.
“I am its lord, after all. The Lady of the Lake and her nymphs have promised to help me.”
“I’ll bet they have,” said Jack.
“I’m going to stretch out on the grass for a little shut-eye. It’s so warm, I’m sure we’ll all be perfectly comfortable.” Brutus fell asleep at once, and he was soon followed by the others. It had been a long and dreadful day. Once the danger was past, exhaustion fell on everyone.
But Jack sat up for a while, remembering the staff he had carried from Jotunheim and wondering if he was, in some way, responsible for the deaths of Yffi’s men. The full moon shone down on the sheet of rock that had once been Din Guardi. Jack wondered whether the Man in the Moon had watched its destruction and what effect it had on him.
Chapter Forty-eight
THE GIFTS OF THE LADY
Jack was the last to wake in the morning. Father Severus was conferring with Brutus, and Ethne was dancing in the meadow at the foot of the hill with Ratface lurking nearby. She looked all elf in the morning light. “I can hardly believe Din Guardi’s gone,” said Pega, who was watching the sea pensively. “I went down at first light, and there’s not a single pebble left. I saw a hole going down into the rock, but I was afraid to get close to it.”
“Very wise,” said Jack. The flower-filled meadow reached all the way to the shelf of rock. Everything looked as though it had been there for a thousand years. Of the Hedge, there was no trace.
Thorgil pranced up to them on a stocky little pony. She dismounted, then turned it around to show off its dappled skin. “Isn’t he handsome? The yarthkins drove the livestock out before the Forest Lord took over.” The Bugaboo and the Nemesis had also caught ponies. They clung to their backs like burrs, and the ponies arched frantically to throw off the creatures.
“I d-don’t s-s-see what all the f-fuss is about rriding,” complained the Nemesis with his long, sticky fingers and toes digging into the pony’s hide. “It isn’t f-fun at all!”
“You’d better let it go before it dies of fright,” advised Jack.
“G-gladly!” The Nemesis bounced off like a frog, and the pony ran in the opposite direction with its body soaked in sweat. The Bugaboo released his mount at the same time.
“I’m sorry, dearest,” the Bugaboo apologized. “I did want to impress you. I suppose I’m not cut out to be a knight.”
“That’s all right.” Pega smiled. “You’re a king, which is better.”
“I can hardly wait to get to St. Filian’s,” said Jack.
“Me neither! I miss Brother Aiden.”
The Bugaboo was about to say something when Brutus called for them to join him. Thorgil’s pony, apparently deciding she was his new owner, followed her up the hill and waited nearby, cropping the grass.
“Are we going to St. Filian’s?” Jack asked.
“We must deal with Bebba’s Town first,” said Father Severus.
“I’ve been arguing with him,” said Brutus. “It seems it isn’t enough to be Lord of Din Guardi. I realize there isn’t much left of the place—”
“There isn’t anything,” said Thorgil.
“—but a title should count for something.”
“You have to understand,” the monk argued. “Bebba’s Town has been ruled by scoundrels for a long time. They don’t trust anyone. You have to win their support before you attempt to take control of the monastery.” Father Severus frowned as Ethne danced to another part of the meadow, followed by Ratface. “For one thing, you must look like a man who could protect them. Yes, yes. I know you’re handsome. Battlefields are littered with the bones of good-looking men. But the townspeople expect you to be fierce, a proper warrior like your ancestor Lancelot. It also doesn’t hurt to seem irritable, as though you’d cut off the head of the first person who annoyed you.”
“I’d never do that!”
“I didn’t say you’d have to do it. Just look as if you might. That’s how Yffi maintained power and how every leader does it.”
“I’d rather rule this field of daisies,” said Brutus, smiling.
“Pay attention, you dolt!” Father Severus looked both fierce and irritable. Jack realized the monk would make a far better leader than Brutus, but the job wasn’t open for him. “You have a duty to these folk. Great injustice has been done, and innocent people have been plundered and killed. You musttake control. I have a plan—but before I get to it, would you mind going down to that meadow, good Nemesis? Tell Ratface I’ll turn him over to the yarthkins if he doesn’t leave Ethne alone.”
“Gladly,” said the Nemesis.
After Father Severus outlined his plan, Brutus went off to find the Lady of the Lake—by himself, because (he said) the Lady despised all mortals (except for him, of course). He was gone a very long time.
Jack despaired of ever getting to Bebba’s Town. He was hungry, and the meadow had little food to offer. The Bugaboo and the Nemesis found turnips, but raw turnips hardly qualified as food in Jack’s mind. When Brutus returned, however, they saw what had taken him so long. The Lady of the Lake had given them wondrous gifts.
For Jack there was a white tunic and a blue cloak embroidered with silver moons and stars—most suitable for a bard, he thought. Thorgil was given a dark blue tunic and a leaf green cloak with vines around the edge. It made her—well, it made her look beautiful, Jack thought, remembering the kiss beneath Din Guardi. He looked away in embarrassment.
Father Severus wore a black monk’s robe. To go with it, the Lady had provided a crozier, a shepherd’s crook with the end carved like an uncurling fern. “It’s magnificent!” cried the monk, waving it about. “Even better than the ones I saw in Rome. All the best bishops have them—good heavens, I’ve just committed the sin of pride!”
