'You have me at a disadvantage, sir.'
'Oh, you'll soon be familiar enough with one or another of my names, sir.'
'Why, ' I asked, 'do you attack our Tanelorn? What do you want from it?'
'What, my lord, do you defend? Do you know? Have you never questioned your actions? You defend nothing. You defend an innocent idea. Not a reality.'
'I have seen many an idea made reality, ' I replied. 'I'll defend Tanelorn or sack her, should I feel the urge. I have nothing better to do, sir. And I would like a chance to kill you.'
He laughed within his helm. An easy laugh. A familiar laugh. He ignored my taunt. 'Prince Elric, I have a bargain to make with you. All in Tanelorn will be saved if you simply give me your sword. Upon my word, I will then leave you in peace. All of you. There's enough physic in the city to keep you alive and well. It's a fair bargain, Prince Elric. You save all your comrades and lose nothing but a useless blade.'
'I have more care for my sword than for most of my comrades, sir. So the offer has no attraction for me. You are welcome to the city. I shall enjoy killing a vast number of you before you take it.
If you know me well, sir, you know that I am only replenished by the work of slaughter. Sir, if you'll forgive me for repeating myself, have you the courage to accept a challenge? I would enjoy the pleasure of killing you. And the overlarge beast you ride.'
At this the beast turned her head and her red eyes met my own. There was a kind of threatening mockery in her expression.
'You will have considerable difficulty killing a Duchess of Law, Prince Elric, ' she said. She grinned, her pale tongue lolling amongst her sharp, yellow teeth. I returned her stare. I said, 'But a wolf might kill a wolf.'
She made no answer, though it seemed she was off before her rider was ready. It amused me that she chose that particular form and pretended that the man on her back was her master. Another sign of her monstrous delusion. I had ventured into supernatural realms where logic of her sort ruled. Nothing was more hideous. Even a Melnibonean could not take pleasure in the wretchedness which the likes of Miggea created. Her half-dreaming mind was scarcely aware of the consequences of her actions. She believed that she ordered and protected, that she sacrificed herself to the common good. Her knights, of course, would obey her without question. Duty and loyalty were all. Virtues unto themselves. They were as mad as she.
I began to wonder if, after all, the object of their assault was not the city? What if they only wanted my sword? What if they directed all this vast sorcery upon Tanelorn merely in order to strike a bargain with me? A bargain I had refused. And would continue to refuse.
They would never compromise me. I would hold firm against them. And ultimately I would overcome them.
For the next few days the whole besieging army withdrew to below the horizon. Life in Tanelorn returned to something approaching normal. Not a single citizen attempted to leave as there was nowhere to go. The armies of Law had retreated, but the surrounding landscape had not returned to its natural state. For as far as the eye could see were bleak ash flats relieved by grotesque columns of clinkered limestone. A landscape of petrified death. I grew increasingly miserable with just that glinting desert for a view. I began to consider taking a horse and riding out to explore this world.
At night I began to dream again of different worlds. Worlds hardly distinguishable from my own. Worlds hideously or beautifully or subtly different. I dreamed of Bek, though I did not recognize it. I dreamed of uniformed men who stole my sword and tortured me. I dreamed of battles won and lost loves, of loves won and battles lost. I dreamed of terrifying landscapes and breathtaking natural visions. I dreamed of impossible futures and possible pasts. I dreamed of Cymoril, my murdered betrothed, pleading with me as her soul-stuff poured into mine. I woke sobbing.
Moonglum, in the next room, took to wrapping his bedclothes around his ears. I was dreaming, of course, of my past as well as my near future. I dreamed of the world I would find. The world of my nightmares made reality.
This strategy of Law's was probably merely a pause while our enemies gathered strength to crush us. We discussed the nature of our predicament but had no precedents for it. I failed in my attempts to summon any further supernatural aid. Lady Miggea obviously controlled almost everything in this realm. We were dumbfounded. We hardly knew how to counter Law. Chaos had attempted to take Tanelorn more than once, but never, as far as we knew, the forces of Order.
For some reason not one of us believed we would all die. Perhaps Tanelorn had already demonstrated her invulnerability, when the White Hunt had divided around the city. Perhaps they could not enter. Some greater force prevented them. Or, perhaps like many gods and elementals, they needed to be invited by mortal agents into mortal realms? And, strictly, Tanelorn was not in this realm. Our speculation was of little use to us. It was impossible to anticipate Law's next move. Impossible to understand their intentions.
We made some attempt to discover the white hare, but clearly she had waited for the hullabaloo to die down and gone back to her own territory.
I confided to Moonglum that I was growing bored. If no attempt was made on the city soon, I had it in mind to ride on. He did not offer to join me. I think he had some notion that I planned to betray Tanelorn.
Then one afternoon when the sun stained the ash flats scarlet, an armored rider on a white wolf came down the hills towards Tanelorn and sat yelling before our causeway gates, demanding that I be summoned.
The swaggering silver knight had draped himself in even more gaudy silk, as if in defiance of Law's cold taste. He sat arrogantly in his saddle. The water of the moat reflected his armor. He seemed made of mercury. Still nameless.
He recognized me the moment I appeared on the eastern keep and stepped up to the battlements. He gestured elaborately. Some unknown form of greeting.
'Good morning, Prince Elric.' 'Good morning, Sir No Name.'
Easy laughter came out of that helm, as if I'd made a rich joke. This creature used every weapon in his arsenal, including subtle flattery and charm.
This morning he presented himself as being in a bluff, com-monsensical kind of mood.
'I'll not waste your time, my lord, ' he said, 'but as a Knight of the Balance and a servant of Law, I have come to take you up on a challenge. Hand-to-hand combat, as you said. And what's more I offer you a bargain.' He had that halfbelligerent tone you often hear amongst merchants and office-seekers, forever trying to sell you something you don't want or need.
'I understand those roles to be contradictory, ' I said mildly. While I exulted at the chance to fight him, I had, of course, become immediately suspicious of his motives. 'A Knight of the Balance serves only the Balance.'
'Aye, ' says he, almost impatiently, 'that's the old thinking on it. But Chaos threatens and will engulf all unless we guard against her.'
'Well, ' says I, 'as one who serves Chaos, I can only speak for myself: I have no plans to engulf anything or anyone.'
'Then you're a liar or a dupe, sir, ' says he.
'I've often wondered the same, ' I admitted easily. I knew he attempted to goad me, but there were few who could match the cruel wit of the average Melnibonean aristocrat. 'What would you sell me this morning, sir?'
'If you'll grant me a little hospitality, I'll tell you over breakfast. It's not my way to speak of private matters so publicly.'
'We do not have private matters here in Tanelorn, sir. It's a communal place. We bother neither with secrets nor postmortems. It is part of our way of life.'
'I have no wish to disturb that way of life, sir.' The wolf moved suddenly as if not entirely in agreement with her rider. 'And you can easily ensure your tranquility. I came, after all, to accept your challenge. A duel. One to one. To decide the issue. Or, if you no longer feel you wish to settle this as a matter of honor, I'll take token tribute. All I seek is that old sword you carry. Give me the runeblade and I'll take my men away. You have seen the weight of armor we can bring against you. You know you would be crushed in an hour. Wiped out of existence. A few forgotten whispers on an ancient wind. Give me the sword and you'll all be immortal. Tanelorn will remain something more than a memory.'
'Metaphysical threats, ' I said. 'I've heard them echoing out of steel helmets all my life, sir. They always have the same apocalyptic ring to them. And they're exceedingly hard to prove ...'
