With a Jester of Kindness

by K. C. Herbel

  “You should leave now, milady,” said Hugh.

  “And you?”

  “I shall linger only a moment longer. I too have many things to attend to before we depart for Hillshire.”

  “Then you will come with me?” said Lady Myrredith.

  “Of course,” answered Hugh. “I will not desert you again.”

  Myrredith reached for his hand but stopped short. “Thank you. Oh, but what about William?”

  “If he decides to stay,” said Hugh, taking Lady Myrredith by the elbow, “I will make arrangements with Gaelyn for his safety.”

  “Good. I will talk to Kathryn as well,” said Myrredith. Then she quickly added, “William has won her heart, you know?”

  “Aye.”

  “She will look after him. She promised to grant my boon.”

  Hugh smiled. “It means a great deal.”

  “His future, perhaps mine.”

  “Yes,” said Hugh ushering his lady away, “now hurry. I will meet with you later.”

  Hugh and Billy watched her leave, and then Hugh returned to the large dark block in front of the bench. The King’s Champion knelt in front of the stone and clasped his hands together. Hugh seemed to pray for a long while. Billy was just about to get up and sneak away, when Hugh rose. It was so light now that Billy just knew he would be discovered. Fortunately, Hugh turned and left around the opposite side of the pond.

  After Hugh was well out of sight, Billy sat up with a sigh. He then stood and brushed himself off.

  “I’m never gonna do this again!” he swore to himself.

  Billy walked to the large stone block. He leaned over to examine its smooth face and noticed writing that had been invisible in the dim light.

  The first line had only two strange words: HIC JACET. Then underneath, it read: ELEANOR, BELOVED WIFE AND QUEEN.

  “Murdered,” whispered Billy as he reached out to trace the letters with his finger.

  The instant he touched the stone, there was a flash of blue light. A painful shock went through his body, forcing him to his knees. Sudden weakness shook him, and his eyes lost focus. He started to black out. At that instant, Billy heard angry voices from behind and with some effort managed to turn himself around.

  A man and woman were arguing a few feet from him, near the pond, but their voices were muffled as if they were far away. The light was very dim to Billy’s blurred vision. The man wore a broad sword at his side, and the woman’s rich dress was that of a courtier, but he could make out little more than the couple’s broader gestures and what seemed to be the sparkle of jewelry on both. The man bellowed as the lady knelt to plead with him. There was something very familiar about them both. Suddenly, the man struck the lady’s face, knocking her down to the edge of the water. Raw anger coursed through Billy’s veins, returning the energy to his limbs.

  “Stop!” yelled Billy, leaping to his feet.

  The man immediately knelt and grabbed the woman’s throat. She vainly struggled against the warrior’s superior strength. Billy bounded on to the bench and sprang at the man’s back, but the man evaporated in his grasp, and Billy splashed face-first into the pond.

  Billy jumped up in the shallow water of the pond and turned to face his opponent, but there was none. Neither the man nor the woman was anywhere to be seen. Rivulets of water ran down Billy’s face and body. He shook his head to clear his vision and stumbled deeper into the pond. He swung around, first to his left then to his right. Still he could see no one in the garden but himself.

  “What just happened?” he muttered.

  Billy felt a pain in his right arm and hand. He rubbed his forearm with his left hand and repeatedly flexed his fingers. Must have hurt it when I landed.

  Billy waded out of the pond, leery of his surroundings. As he arrived on shore, he wrung out the bottom of his tunic and plopped down on the bench. When he was sure that he was absolutely alone, he took off his boots. As he watched the water pour out of them, he pondered what had just transpired.

  “I must have been dreaming,” he said to himself. “Aye, that’s it, I was sleepwalking.” This seemed a satisfactory explanation until another thought occurred to him. If that’s true, how long was I sleepwalking? Did I dream the whole thing . . . including Lady Myrredith and Sir Hugh? And how did I find my way here? There were too many questions, and no answers. Billy scratched his head and looked at his wet attire.

  “How am I gonna explain this one?” he asked a tiny bird, which had been watching him curiously from the thorn tree.

  After Billy caught his breath, he got up and trudged towards the exit. By the time he reached the steps, he was in full stride, with a plan formulated to get his clothing dry and thus avoid having to explain their current state to Lady Myrredith. As he crossed the threshold into the donjon, he was halted midstride by a nagging echo in the back of his head. From the doorway, he turned around to look at the pond. The image of the woman being strangled still haunted him. The foreboding feeling returned, and Billy started to walk away. The sensation seemed to follow him, like a soft, cold breath on the back of his neck. A shiver ran up his spine, spurring him into a gallop. Billy didn’t stop running until he had cleared the main entrance of the donjon and was halfway to the kitchen.

  * * *

  Billy managed to avoid Lady Myrredith during the early morning, but he knew he would have to see her later, if not for his sake, for hers. However, he still hadn’t made up his mind about the king’s offer and wanted to be alone to think. Lady Myrredith had done so much for him. It only seemed right that he should stay with her and do whatever he could to repay her kindness. On the other hand, serving King William, in Castle Orgulous, even if he wasn’t to be a knight, was a dream come true, and Lady Myrredith wanted him to accept. Perhaps declining would be a greater break of faith with her than accepting.

  A voice abruptly broke into his thoughts. “My, but don’t you look solemn.”

  Billy looked up. A lady stood just inches away with the sun over her shoulder. Billy’s breath caught in his throat, and he fell backwards, for in the glare she looked like the woman he had seen strangled in the garden.

  “I’m sorry,” said the lady, moving closer. “I didn’t mean to give you such a start.”

  As Billy’s phantom moved, she eclipsed the sun, and he saw her face.

  “Princess Kathryn!” said Billy with a sigh.

  “What is it, William?” asked the princess, sitting next to him. “You looked as if you’d seen a ghost.”

  “I thought I had,” whispered Billy.

  “What?”

  Suddenly, an awful thought struck Billy. What if it was Princess Kathryn I saw? But she’s alive! Then it was . . . the future . . . and someone’s going to kill her . . . or try to!

  “What is the matter with you, William?” asked Kathryn. “Your eyes are as big as turnips.”

  “Your Highness,” said Billy, spying about, “you are in danger!”

  “Danger?” exclaimed the princess.

  “Yes, grave danger.”

  “Whatever are you talking about, William?”

  “Someone will try to kill you. I don’t know when, but I think soon.”

  “What?” said Kathryn. “Here in Orgulous? Don’t be ridiculous!”

  Billy thought for a moment. Hugh had said that the queen was killed in Orgulous, right under the noses of the royal guard. He started to use this as an argument with the princess but then thought it better if she didn’t know that he knew the truth. “I know it sounds impossible,” he said at last, “but you must believe me.”

  “Oh, I see,” said Kathryn, smiling as if she’d just grasped the punch line to a joke. “The assassins are everywhere. You must save me, Sir William!” she said melodramatically.

  “No!” said William, wrinkling his forehead. “I’m not playing.”

  The princess concentrated on Billy. Something in his tone got his point across. “How do you know this?” she asked softly.

  “I saw . . .” said
Billy. “I saw it happen. You must be careful!”

  “What did you see, William?” asked Kathryn.

  “I saw someone . . . kill you.”

  Princess Kathryn laughed. “What?”

  “In the garden!”

  “But William, I’m here. I’m alive,” said the princess. She reached out and touched the back of her hand to Billy’s forehead. “I think you must be ill.”

  “No!” insisted Billy. “I saw it! I don’t know how, but I saw it.”

  “William,” said the princess, “were you dreaming, perhaps?”

  “I . . .” Billy started to protest. Then he remembered that he had thought the very same thing himself. “I guess . . . maybe I had a . . .”

  “A nightmare?”

  Billy nodded.

  “I understand, William,” said the princess, “sometimes dreams can seem very real indeed.”

  Billy nodded again, but viscerally he was not convinced. There was something to the vision he had received, and he was certain that it wasn’t wholly rooted in dreamland.

  “So, my young friend,” said the princess, “have you decided to stay with us? I know that my uncle and I will only be the better for it.”

  Billy fixed his eyes on at her. The thought of something happening to someone so beautiful and kind was more than he could stand—not to mention that she represented the future hopes of all Lyonesse. He knew no one would believe his story, and so he made his decision on the spot.

  “Yes,” said Billy, “I’m staying.”

  “Great!” answered the princess. “Does Myrredith know?”

  “No, I just made up my mind.”

  “Then come,” commanded the princess, “we must tell her immediately.”

  Princess Kathryn and Billy found Lady Myrredith in her room with Megan and Rhianna. They were packing the last of Myrredith’s clothes for the journey home.

  “Your Highness,” said the two maids bowing in unison.

  Lady Myrredith turned around with a start. “Kathryn! Your Highness!”

  “Myrredith,” said the princess.

  “William,” said Lady Myrredith, “where have you been?”

  “Forgive me, milady,” said Billy, “I had some thinkin’ to do.”

  “Yes, of course, William. I understand.”

  Kathryn cut glances between Myrredith and her servants.

  “Megan, Rhianna,” said Lady Myrredith, “we can finish this later.”

  Both servants bowed and left the room.

  “What can I do for you, Your Highness?” asked Lady Myrredith.

  “William . . . ?” prompted Princess Kathryn.

  Myrredith observed Billy as he stared at his shuffling feet. “What is it, William?” she asked.

  Billy continued to look at the floor as he answered his friend. He knew that if he looked at her his resolve would weaken, and he would not be able to tell her. “I made a decision,” he said at last. “I am . . . going . . . to stay.”

  “That’s wonderful!” said Lady Myrredith.

  Billy looked up in surprise. He almost felt betrayed, but as his eyes met hers, he saw the pride she had in him and knew that it was for his sake that she was so pleased. Billy forced himself to smile, and then he ran to her and threw his arms around her waist.

  “I’ll leave you two alone,” said Kathryn, taking her leave.

  “No, please,” said Billy. “Please stay.”

  “No, William, I should be elsewhere,” explained the princess. “After all I’ve only been married one day. I don’t want my husband to think I don’t like him.”

  Kathryn stopped as she was about to leave. “Myrredith,” she said from the door, “please come to me later. We still have much to discuss.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  Billy and Lady Myrredith bowed, and the princess left. They stood staring at each other, neither of them knowing what to say.

  “I too have made a decision,” said Lady Myrredith at last.

  “What is it?” asked Billy, sitting down.

  “When we first arrived here, I asked Princess Kathryn for a boon—a favor. She has agreed to grant my boon, and now I have decided that I should tell you what it is, although you can never tell anyone else.”

  Lady Myrredith crossed her arms and waited for Billy to affirm that he understood what she had said. Billy nodded and drew an X across his heart with his right index finger. Satisfied that this would hold his tongue, Lady Myrredith continued.

  “As you know, Aonghas and I had no children. I am the last of the Cyndyn line. There is no Cyndyn heir. Now that he’s gone, my boon becomes even more important.” Lady Myrredith paused for a moment and knelt in front of Billy. She placed her hands on his and smiled. “When Kathryn sits on the throne, she has promised that her first official act will be to have your name placed on the Cyndyn family charter.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Billy. “What does it mean?”

  “It makes you a Cyndyn,” answered his patron. “You would be my brother.”

  “Your brother?”

  “Yes. You would be my family. My heir.”

  Billy was stunned. In all his life he had never met anyone like Lady Myrredith. People tended to treat him like some kind of freak, instead of a person. She not only treated him as a friend, she wanted him to be part of her family.

  “Aren’t you happy, William?” she asked.

  “I . . . I don’t know anything about being noble,” argued Billy.

  “On the contrary,” she rebutted, “I think you know more about being noble than many of those born to it.”

  “But I’m just an innkeeper’s son.”

  “Not anymore,” said Lady Myrredith. “At least not after the princess takes the throne.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say nothing, William. I know your heart, and I know this is the right thing to do.”

  “But . . .” objected Billy.

  “No buts,” insisted his friend. “There’s nothing to argue about. I’ve made up my mind. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Lady Myrredith,” answered Billy. He knew that once she had her mind set on something, she was immovable.

  “And furthermore, if you’re to be my brother, I think you should call me Myrredith, don’t you?”

  “Well, I . . . I’ll try,” agreed Billy then quickly added, “Maybe once it’s official.”

  Lady Myrredith leaned forward and gave her brother-to-be a good squeeze. He hugged her in return, and she gave him a peck on the cheek.

  “Later, when you come back to Cyndyn Hall,” said Myrredith, “we will be so happy.”

  Billy released her. “What of my father?” he asked.

  “He can stay with us too.”

  “He won’t want to leave his inn.”

  “That’s up to him,” said Lady Myrredith with a smile. “You could always go visit him.”

  “Aye, I suppose so,” agreed Billy.

  “Say,” said Lady Myrredith, “you better write your father another letter and tell him that you’re staying here.”

  “Oh my goodness,” said Billy, “I almost forgot.”

  “I’ll take it with me when I leave,” said Lady Myrredith, then she grinned and added, “or you could ask Princess Kathryn to have a royal messenger deliver it!”

  Billy’s eyes grew large. “Could I?”

  “Why not?”

  “Maybe I had better do that. Otherwise, no one would ever believe.”

  * * *

  Billy ate dinner with Lady Myrredith then sat down to write his father while she visited the princess. It was difficult for Billy not to write anything about Lady Myrredith’s boon, but it was harder still to tell his father that it would be even longer before they saw each other again. Billy wasn’t sure how long he would be staying at Castle Orgulous, and that made him worry for his father. He began to have second thoughts about staying at all. Twice he had to start the letter over when the words he had written were spirited from the page by
his tears. It was the most exhausting letter he had ever written, but at last it was finished. Billy carefully rolled up the letter and lay his head down on the table to rest. The next thing he knew, Megan was waking him for supper.

  “Where is Lady Myrredith?” asked Billy.

  “She said to tell you, she was dining with the princess.”

  “And Sir Hugh?”

  “I don’t know, dear,” the kindly servant woman answered, “but you’re welcome to eat with me and Rhianna.”

  Billy thought for a moment and then answered. “No, thank you, Megan. I think I should find Sir Hugh.”

  “Very well.”

  Billy searched throughout the donjon and as far as the stables, but he could not find Sir Hugh. He gave Splendore Pomponnel another piece of candy and started back. As he walked by the barracks for the second time, the smell of food tickled his nose and set off a bout of complaints from his stomach. He was famished, so he stopped in at the kitchen and charmed a plate of victuals from Dana, the hot-tempered Irish cook.

  “I hear you’ll be stayin’ with us,” stated Dana.

  “For a while,” Billy said between bites.

  Dana’s husband, Gryff, brought some gravy to the table and spooned it onto Billy’s trencher. “Ya made quite an impression on the king.”

  “So I’ve been told,” said Billy.

  “I’ve never seen the man is such good spirits,” said Dana. “Why you’d think he was twenty years younger.”

  “Aye,” said Gryff.

  “I think it’s Princess Kathryn’s marriage,” said Billy.

  “Oh sure,” said Dana, “but we all seen his face when you were singin’.”

  “I haven’t seen the king that way since I was a boy,” said Gryff.

  “No one has,” added Dana. Then she leaned forward and whispered, “Not since the queen . . .”

  “What about the queen?” asked Billy.

  Gryff sat down with his wife. “It’s nothing boy. Just forget it.”

  Then Dana blurted out, in a husky whisper, “She was murdered.”