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battle. It was said you had been unconscious these last three days. I have
never seen so many long faces among the servants of any gentleman. What was
the wound and how did you come about it?"
"It was a magic wound," said Jim uncomfortably. "It left no body mark."
"Ah, that explains why you are are up and well again so suddenly. I am
relieved to hear that. Would you believe it? Neither I nor any of the
gentlemen with me were wounded by the goblin poison spears! I thanked God for
that, even as I was praying you might recover from your wound. Perhaps my
prayers helped to gain you some small intercession from on High."
"I've no doubt of it, Your Grace."
"Well, the main thing is you are once more on your feet for the wedding. I
and the Countess will be staying for it and even my father has said he will
attend. I understand a stage and proper chair is being built for him to
observe. They can be moved just before the wedding, in case of snow or other."
"Barring a change in the weather, Your Grace," said Brian, "or a pickup of a
northly wind, I believe it should be quite pleasant for this time of year."
Just above freezing, that is, Jim told himself. He and Angie would put on the
layers normal for that sort of occasion. Good Lord! Come to think of it, he
knew nothing about the wedding, except for Angie's few words, and now the
Prince's.
"You remind me of my duty, Your Grace," he said. "If you might excuse me,
there are many matters concerned with this wedding that I need to be about."
"By all means, by all means, James!" said the Prince. "We all know a host's
work is never done until all his guests are in bed in bed, hah!"
The last sound was more a chuckle than an exclamation. The Prince, Jim knew,
was thinking of the time following the banquet after the wedding, when the
newly wedded pair would be escorted upstairs to their bedroom by the more
important members of the wedding party, who were supposed to witness the
consummation of the marriage, to make it legal.
Happily, in practice, this meant merely watching the curtains drawn around
the bed and listening for whatever sounds might come from within. Only the
Solar would be large enough to hold the qualified observers in this case,
thought Jim glumly. That meant he and Angie would bed down in their clean
sleeping bags on the floor of the much smaller room which Brian and Geronde
had been occupying.
He had forgotten all about that. No morning tea, none of the comforts he was
used to, and they probably would not get back to their proper quarters before
late, the following day. And Geronde would probably take her time, and have a
sort of hen party& Jim put it from his mind. There were other, more important
things to be dealt with, right away. Blast those three days of being out of
action! However, both he and Brian laughed dutifully at the Prince's humor.
Jim stood up.
"I will hope to see you at supper, Your Grace, Brian. Anon, then."
"Anon," said the other two, and Jim walked off.
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Chapter Forty-Two
He had been more embarrassed at offering young Edward congratulations on his
victory than Edward himself had been to receive them. Brian, the original
truthful individual, was completely unafraid to be absolutely honest with
everyone, and he had undoubtedly had no discomfort in giving his
congratulations. To his fourteenth-century mind, that was probably only what
Edward deserved, simply for being there at the head of the armored contingent
on horseback.
It would not have occurred to him that saying the words might bother Jim. But
it had. Jim was not comfortable with sophistry.
At any rate, the usual cheerfulness of Brian and the casual acceptance of the
bootlicking compliment by Edward had finally gotten to Jim. He had to get away
from them, for the moment anyway, and there were, indeed, urgent matters in
hand. Very urgent. Maybe any single day was too short a time to catch up with
things undone, but Jim's conscience always troubled him in situations like
this.
There were no two ways about it. He was perfectly aware that Carolinus had
stood over him during his unconscious period as devotedly as Angie, and the
senior Mage must have essentially cosigned his own magic fortune to get the
contributions from the rest of the Collegiate. But now he must be asked for
one thing more.
And Carolinus was always busy. He would not be happy to be disturbed by Jim
now least of all for a favor undoubtedly requiring a good deal of effort and
personal leaning on fellow Magickians. But it had to be done.
Alone at the foot of the tower stairs, Jim sent a diffident thought in
Carolinus' direction the magical equivalent of a very gentle knock at his
door.
Er Carolinus?
What? shot back the answer.
I need to talk to you. Something very important!
NOT NOW:
I'm afraid&
Very well! It's important, is it? Come then! You've got two minutes to
convince me of that!
Jim transferred himself immediately to Carolinus' little cottage with the
ever-blooming flowers about the self-raking gravel path to his door which
opened before him.
Carolinus stood in the middle of the cluttered ground floor's single room,
glaring at him. Ecce, the sibyl Jim had last seen leaving the cottage in
tears, was perched now on the Mage's scrying glass, which he never used, being
beyond needing it to see and hear at a distance. Ecce's gossamer wings were
drooping, but she smiled at Jim.
"Forgive me, Ecce," said Jim, "for interrupting like this "
Ecce gave a faint wave with one tiny hand to signal it was all right.
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"But Iamsorry " Jim was going on, when Carolinus broke in.
"Enough of that. Your problem: quick!"
It was not possible to make an impassioned plea in a few brief words. Jim did
his best.
"Geronde has a scar on her face. You may recall that we spoke of this some
time ago? I want to get it removed before her wedding, day after tomorrow."
There was a long moment of awful silence. Carolinus stared at him.
"I remember," said the Mage. "You wouldn't, I suppose," he went on in a tired
voice, "prefer a palace on theLoire with a thousand servants and the wealth of
Midas in its storage rooms?"
"No," said Jim sincerely. Ecce flew to Carolinus' shoulder and tried to
smooth out the grim lines in his cheeks with those tiny hands of hers, each no
more than the size of a petal of a lily-of-the-valley flower, stroking his set
forehead with her gauzy wings.
"I know you said you would want to consult with certain Eastern magicians,"
Jim went on. "But I don't know if you've had time to do that, what with
everything that has been going on "
Carolinus threw up both hands. Ecce began to sing to him in a sweet little
voice, a singing that was all tune and no words.
"It's all right, Ecce. I'm all right," Carolinus' voice changed to a
momentary tenderness. "I won't fly off the handle."
Ecce, looking happier, winged back to the scrying glass. Carolinus turned
again to Jim.
"I believe I told you that after all these years don't you know it's
impossible to heal a scar that old? Impossible for you, for me, for& anybody!"
Jim concentrated on that slight pause before the word "anybody."
"But I thought you suggested there might be someone who could do it?"
"Of course. Certainly!" said Carolinus, cuttingly. "Why not try Merlin?"
"I'd ask him," said Jim stoutly. "Believe me, I'd ask him in this case. But
you know as well as I do it'd be no use. He'd never stop his work to do
anything so simple and having to do with the present, rather than the past or
future. Besides, the last time I heard from him, he told me never to bother
him again."
"Wise man. A very wise man!"
"And there's no one else, no other who could& ?"
Carolinus hesitated, and Jim knew he had him. Like Brian but under an
entirely different set of principles Carolinus could not bring himself to tell [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl rafalstec.xlx.pl
battle. It was said you had been unconscious these last three days. I have
never seen so many long faces among the servants of any gentleman. What was
the wound and how did you come about it?"
"It was a magic wound," said Jim uncomfortably. "It left no body mark."
"Ah, that explains why you are are up and well again so suddenly. I am
relieved to hear that. Would you believe it? Neither I nor any of the
gentlemen with me were wounded by the goblin poison spears! I thanked God for
that, even as I was praying you might recover from your wound. Perhaps my
prayers helped to gain you some small intercession from on High."
"I've no doubt of it, Your Grace."
"Well, the main thing is you are once more on your feet for the wedding. I
and the Countess will be staying for it and even my father has said he will
attend. I understand a stage and proper chair is being built for him to
observe. They can be moved just before the wedding, in case of snow or other."
"Barring a change in the weather, Your Grace," said Brian, "or a pickup of a
northly wind, I believe it should be quite pleasant for this time of year."
Just above freezing, that is, Jim told himself. He and Angie would put on the
layers normal for that sort of occasion. Good Lord! Come to think of it, he
knew nothing about the wedding, except for Angie's few words, and now the
Prince's.
"You remind me of my duty, Your Grace," he said. "If you might excuse me,
there are many matters concerned with this wedding that I need to be about."
"By all means, by all means, James!" said the Prince. "We all know a host's
work is never done until all his guests are in bed in bed, hah!"
The last sound was more a chuckle than an exclamation. The Prince, Jim knew,
was thinking of the time following the banquet after the wedding, when the
newly wedded pair would be escorted upstairs to their bedroom by the more
important members of the wedding party, who were supposed to witness the
consummation of the marriage, to make it legal.
Happily, in practice, this meant merely watching the curtains drawn around
the bed and listening for whatever sounds might come from within. Only the
Solar would be large enough to hold the qualified observers in this case,
thought Jim glumly. That meant he and Angie would bed down in their clean
sleeping bags on the floor of the much smaller room which Brian and Geronde
had been occupying.
He had forgotten all about that. No morning tea, none of the comforts he was
used to, and they probably would not get back to their proper quarters before
late, the following day. And Geronde would probably take her time, and have a
sort of hen party& Jim put it from his mind. There were other, more important
things to be dealt with, right away. Blast those three days of being out of
action! However, both he and Brian laughed dutifully at the Prince's humor.
Jim stood up.
"I will hope to see you at supper, Your Grace, Brian. Anon, then."
"Anon," said the other two, and Jim walked off.
Page 292
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Chapter Forty-Two
He had been more embarrassed at offering young Edward congratulations on his
victory than Edward himself had been to receive them. Brian, the original
truthful individual, was completely unafraid to be absolutely honest with
everyone, and he had undoubtedly had no discomfort in giving his
congratulations. To his fourteenth-century mind, that was probably only what
Edward deserved, simply for being there at the head of the armored contingent
on horseback.
It would not have occurred to him that saying the words might bother Jim. But
it had. Jim was not comfortable with sophistry.
At any rate, the usual cheerfulness of Brian and the casual acceptance of the
bootlicking compliment by Edward had finally gotten to Jim. He had to get away
from them, for the moment anyway, and there were, indeed, urgent matters in
hand. Very urgent. Maybe any single day was too short a time to catch up with
things undone, but Jim's conscience always troubled him in situations like
this.
There were no two ways about it. He was perfectly aware that Carolinus had
stood over him during his unconscious period as devotedly as Angie, and the
senior Mage must have essentially cosigned his own magic fortune to get the
contributions from the rest of the Collegiate. But now he must be asked for
one thing more.
And Carolinus was always busy. He would not be happy to be disturbed by Jim
now least of all for a favor undoubtedly requiring a good deal of effort and
personal leaning on fellow Magickians. But it had to be done.
Alone at the foot of the tower stairs, Jim sent a diffident thought in
Carolinus' direction the magical equivalent of a very gentle knock at his
door.
Er Carolinus?
What? shot back the answer.
I need to talk to you. Something very important!
NOT NOW:
I'm afraid&
Very well! It's important, is it? Come then! You've got two minutes to
convince me of that!
Jim transferred himself immediately to Carolinus' little cottage with the
ever-blooming flowers about the self-raking gravel path to his door which
opened before him.
Carolinus stood in the middle of the cluttered ground floor's single room,
glaring at him. Ecce, the sibyl Jim had last seen leaving the cottage in
tears, was perched now on the Mage's scrying glass, which he never used, being
beyond needing it to see and hear at a distance. Ecce's gossamer wings were
drooping, but she smiled at Jim.
"Forgive me, Ecce," said Jim, "for interrupting like this "
Ecce gave a faint wave with one tiny hand to signal it was all right.
Page 293
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"But Iamsorry " Jim was going on, when Carolinus broke in.
"Enough of that. Your problem: quick!"
It was not possible to make an impassioned plea in a few brief words. Jim did
his best.
"Geronde has a scar on her face. You may recall that we spoke of this some
time ago? I want to get it removed before her wedding, day after tomorrow."
There was a long moment of awful silence. Carolinus stared at him.
"I remember," said the Mage. "You wouldn't, I suppose," he went on in a tired
voice, "prefer a palace on theLoire with a thousand servants and the wealth of
Midas in its storage rooms?"
"No," said Jim sincerely. Ecce flew to Carolinus' shoulder and tried to
smooth out the grim lines in his cheeks with those tiny hands of hers, each no
more than the size of a petal of a lily-of-the-valley flower, stroking his set
forehead with her gauzy wings.
"I know you said you would want to consult with certain Eastern magicians,"
Jim went on. "But I don't know if you've had time to do that, what with
everything that has been going on "
Carolinus threw up both hands. Ecce began to sing to him in a sweet little
voice, a singing that was all tune and no words.
"It's all right, Ecce. I'm all right," Carolinus' voice changed to a
momentary tenderness. "I won't fly off the handle."
Ecce, looking happier, winged back to the scrying glass. Carolinus turned
again to Jim.
"I believe I told you that after all these years don't you know it's
impossible to heal a scar that old? Impossible for you, for me, for& anybody!"
Jim concentrated on that slight pause before the word "anybody."
"But I thought you suggested there might be someone who could do it?"
"Of course. Certainly!" said Carolinus, cuttingly. "Why not try Merlin?"
"I'd ask him," said Jim stoutly. "Believe me, I'd ask him in this case. But
you know as well as I do it'd be no use. He'd never stop his work to do
anything so simple and having to do with the present, rather than the past or
future. Besides, the last time I heard from him, he told me never to bother
him again."
"Wise man. A very wise man!"
"And there's no one else, no other who could& ?"
Carolinus hesitated, and Jim knew he had him. Like Brian but under an
entirely different set of principles Carolinus could not bring himself to tell [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]