satisfactory to you.
Q: Duke Walen, I would hope that your wit might devise a way to discover the woman's fraudulent nature long before that could possibly occur.
W: Indeed. And I have just such a commission in hand.
Q: There, you see? And what is your plan?
W: Close to fruition, I hope.
Q: You will not tell me?
W: It is unfortunate that it seems neither of us can indulge the other, Quettil.
Q: Yes, isn't it?
W: I have no more to say, I think.
Q: Very well. Oh, Duke?
W: Sir?
Q: I take it I can rely on the woman not still somehow disappearing while the court rests at Yvenir, can I? If she did, I might have to think most carefully about whether to reveal to the King what you have revealed to me.
W: You gave me your word.
Q: Why, that I did, dear Walen. But I'm sure you would agree that my first loyalty is to the King, not to you. If I judged that the King was being deceived for no persuasive reason, it would be my duty to inform him.
W: I am sorry I have troubled you, sir. It would appear that we have both wasted our time this morning.
Q: Good day, Walen.
This too I found later, not in the Doctor's journal but in some other papers (and have edited it slightly to present a more continuous narrative). The common participant of these two passages is Walen, but — especially given all that happened later — I simply do not know what to make of it. I record. I do not judge. I do not even offer speculation.
12. THE BODYGUARD
The Royal Park of Croughen Hills had been a private game reserve of the royal house of Tassasen for several centuries. UrLeyn had parcelled large parts of it out to various of the nobles who had supported his cause in the war of succession, but reserved the right of the Protector and his court to go hunting in the forests.
The four mounts and their riders circled the tall clump of brush and tangled creeper bush where they reckoned their prey had gone to ground.
RuLeuin took out his sword and leaned down from the saddle, poking at the mass of vegetation. 'Are you sure he went in here, brother?'
'Quite certain,' UrLeyn said, dipping his face towards his mount's neck and squinting at an opening into the bushes. He lowered himself still further, letting go of the reins with one hand to peer into the undergrowth. DeWar, riding at his side, reached out to hold the reins of UrLeyn's mount. RuLeuin, on the far side of the bushes, also leant down upon the neck of his mount.
'How is the boy today, UrLeyn?' YetAmidous said, voice booming. His big face was red and bright with sweat.
'Oh, he's well,' UrLeyn said, levering himself upright again. 'Better with every day. Still not strong, though.' He glanced round, looking back up the slope beneath the trees. 'We need some beaters here…'
'Get your dark man to beat for us,' YetAmidous said to UrLeyn, referring to DeWar, 'You'll get down and beat for us, won't you, DeWar?'
DeWar smiled thinly. 'I only beat out human prey, General YetAmidous.'
'Human prey, eh?' YetAmidous said with a hearty laugh. 'Those were the days, what?' He slapped his saddle. DeWar's thin smile lasted a little longer.
In the last years of the old Kingdom, when King Beddun had been at his most carelessly cruel, prisoners — or poachers unlucky enough to be caught plying their trade in the forest had provided most of the prey for hunts. That tradition of savagery had been outlawed, but there was one memento of the time present, DeWar thought, in the shape of the old King Beddun's antique hunting crossbow, which UrLeyn carried slung over his back.
UrLeyn, DeWar, YetAmidous and RuLeuin had become separated from the main part of the hunt, 'Which could be heard on the far side of the hill. 'Sound your horn, will you, Yet?' UrLeyn said. 'Let's get some of the others here.'
'Right you are.' YetAmidous brought his horn to his lips and let a great blare of sound escape. It almost coincided, DeWar noticed, with the sound of horns coming from the other side of the hill, so probably was not heard. He chose not to say anything. YetAmidous shook some spit from the horn's mouthpiece and looked pleased with himself.
'Is Ralboute joining us, Protector?' he asked. 'I thought he was supposed to.'
'A message came this morning,' UrLeyn said, standing up in the saddle to stare into the clump of bushes. He shielded his eyes as a beam of sunlight fell across his face. 'He has been detained at — ' He looked at DeWar.
'I believe it is the city of Vynde, sir.'
'— Vynde. The city of Vynde is proving more resilient than expected.'
RuLeuin stood in the saddle too and directed his gaze at the same place as his brother. 'There was talk that we lost a couple of the siege mortars,' he said.
'It is only a rumour as yet,' UrLeyn said. 'Simalg has rushed ahead as usual and out-distanced his supporting forces. Communication has been erratic. With Simalg, you never know. He may have advanced too fast for his guns, or otherwise misplaced them. Let's not assume the worst.'
'I have heard other grumbles, still, Protector,' YetAmidous said, undoing the top of a wineskin and taking a quick gulp. 'Perhaps we should go to Ladenscion ourselves and take matters in hand.' YetAmidous' brows compressed. 'I tell you, Protector, I miss making war. And I'd warrant you for one would not misplace siege guns.'
'Yes,' RuLeuin said. 'You ought to take charge of the war yourself, brother.'
'I have thought about it,' UrLeyn said. He unsheathed his own sword and whacked at the tops of some bushes. 'I have been concerned to appear less of a warlord and more of a statesman, and anyway did not reckon the rebellion in Ladenscion merited the full weight of our forces, but I may change my mind if I think the situation demands it. I shall wait for Ralboute's return, or for a message from him. Yet, blow that horn again, would you? I don't think they heard the first time.' UrLeyn put away his sword and took off his green hunting cap. He wiped his brow.
'Ha!' YetAmidous said. He lifted the hunting horn, took a gargantuan breath that raised his formidable body off the saddle of his mount and turned his expression into a deep frown, then put the instrument to his lips and blew with all his might, his face going scarlet with the effort.
The note was fit to split ears. Almost immediately there was a rustle and a commotion on the down-slope side of the clump of bushes. DeWar was closest. He caught a glimpse of a big, thick-set, grey-brown shape dart away at a furious pace towards another conglomeration of vegetation.
'Ha!' YetAmidous bellowed. 'Flushed the fucker!'
'DeWar!' UrLeyn shouted. 'Did you see him?'
=There, sir.'
'Ru! Yet! This way!' UrLeyn wheeled his mount and charged off in the same direction.
DeWar preferred to ride right at UrLeyn's side whenever he could, but in the dense thickets of the Park woods it was often impossible, and he would have to follow the Protector's mount through the undergrowth, over fallen tree trunks and under hanging boughs as best he could, ducking and leaning and sometimes hanging half out of the saddle to avoid the snagging branches.
Taking the direction that DeWar had indicated, UrLeyn set off at a gallop down a shallow slope, his mount thundering along the hint of path amongst the crowding bushes. DeWar followed, trying to keep in view the bobbing green shape that was UrLeyn's cap.
