Hope sprang again in Alisande’s heart. “Bring him, bring him at once!”
“He comes,” the lady said. The messenger strode quickly up and knelt, bowing his head. “Enough, man!” Alisande cried impatiently. “There is no time for ceremony now! Tell me your message!”
“Why, your Majesty,” said the messenger, standing up again, “ ‘tis simply that Sir Guy does send to say that he hearkens to your message and hastens to find Lord Matthew and join him.”
“Thank Heaven!” Alisande breathed, but amazement followed hard on relief. “How did you find him so quickly?”
The messenger shrugged. “I rode toward the western mountains, and when I came in sight of them, a rider came up beside me. ‘Good day, herald,’ said he. ‘Good day,’ said I, turning to look full upon him, and added ‘sir,’ for though he wore no armor, he was girt around with a knight’s belt. ‘The mountains are a lonely place to ride,’ he said. ‘Who could you seek there?’ ‘Sir Guy de Toutarien, sir,’ I replied. ‘I have a message from the queen.’ ‘Why, I am he,’ said the knight. ‘What is her message?’ “
Lady Constance gasped. “He knew you did seek him! But how?”
“How?” Alisande shrugged impatiently. “Who can say? The earth told the grass, and the grass told the trees; then they told Sir Guy. He is so much a part of this land that the very air breathes its secrets to him. ‘How’ matters naught; it only signifies that he has heard, and goes!”
“He advises that you send me next to seek out the wizard Saul,” the herald added, “for surely, says he, two wizards shall be of greater effect than one alone.”
“You have named it! Rest, then go!”
“The Black Knight does ask a boon, though, Your Majesty,” the herald said. “He has but to name it!”
“He asks that you shelter his wife and child until he comes again.”
“Aye, certes!” Alisande looked up to the nearest knight. “A company of knights, to serve as escort to the Lady Yverne!”
“He said she would come of her own,” the herald said quickly. Alisande stared, horrified. “A gentle lady, traveling with none to guard her? And with a babe! I hope someday to boast that any woman may journey thus in safety in my land-but I would not think it yet!”
A sentry cried out from the western tower. Alisande turned and followed his pointing arm. There, with the morning sun gilding his wings, came a very strange monster-one with the head of a dragon, the hindquarters of a lion, and the wings of an eagle-if eagles had ever had wingspans of fifty feet. “ ‘Tis the dracogriff Narlh!” Alisande cried. “But what does he carry?’
The answer became clear as the monster came closer. A woman rode between his wings, carrying something in her arms. “ ‘Tis the Lady Yverne!” Lady Constance cried. Then they all had to turn away, shielding their faces from blowing dust and grit as the dracogriff settled to the ground-all except Stegoman, who only slitted his eyes and called out, “Well met, cat tail! How came you here?”
“As if you didn’t know,” Narlh snorted. “I hate flying!”
“The more gallant you were, then, to bring me,” Lady Yverne said. “Well, for you, sure,” Narlh grumbled, turning his head back to look at his passenger-and she leaned forward to kiss his nose. He yanked his head back, but his scales seemed to redden. Two knights were already there to help her down. “Descend, Lady! Yet will you not give us your burden first?”
“Only to a woman,” Yverne said firmly, and Queen Alisande herself beat Lady Elise and Lady Constance to the draco’s side. She reached up, and the lady handed down her precious bundle. Alisande cradled it in her elbow, turning the blanket back to reveal a smooth little face, blinking itself awake. “Oh, how sweet! But come quickly, milady, for he wakes!”
“She.” Yveme slid down, the knights catching her at waist and shoulder to ease her fall. She took the baby from Alisande with a smile. “I am blessed that my firstborn is a girl-but I hope also to give Sir Guy a boy.”
“I hope so, too,” Alisande said fervently. Sir Guy was the secret heir to Emperor Hardishane, and very eager not to resume the throne-but it was vital to the safety of Europe, and to the triumph of God and Good, that the male line of Hardishane’s descent be unbroken. “Come, you must be wearied!” Alisande led her guest away toward the castle, then turned back to call, “Many thanks, Narlh! Grooms! Fetch this noble dracogriff an ox to eat!”
“Thanks, your Majesty,” Narlh called back, then turned to Stegoman. “Your family sent their greetings, just in case I should bump into you, fish face.”
“I hope they have honored you as you deserve, feather tip.” And the two monsters went away toward the stables, companionably trading insults. But Alisande didn’t notice-she was too busy ogling the new arrival. “Oh, you are so fortunate to have a child so soon!”
“I have not the cares of state to distract my body from its purpose,” Yverne said, smiling. “You must load more of your burden onto your husband, Majesty.” Then she looked at Alisande more sharply, and stared. “Yes, you must, and right quickly, too!”
Alisande turned away, blushing. “Is it so obvious as that?‘
‘To any who has borne a child, aye-but do not ask me how. Oh, I rejoice for you, your Majesty! For you, and for all the land!“ Then Yverne stared in horror. ”But what a time for Lord Matthew to be gone playing the knight errant!“
“Aye,” Alisande said grimly, “and the more fool I, for having sent him from me. But he was restless, and I could not see any harm in the mission-nor that it might take any great time, either.” She closed the solar door firmly behind them, in the face of an amazed guard. “Come, sit in the chair by the window and nurse, for the babe begins to fret!”
“Aye, the poor thing. I thank your Majesty.” Yverne sat down, loosened her bodice, and cuddled the baby against her breast. She sighed with pleasure and satisfaction, gazing down at the little face. Alisande felt a pang at her own heart, seeing the other woman radiant with happiness. “I regret that I cannot stay to be a proper hostess and give you full company.”
“Not stay!” Yverne looked up, appalled. “Your Majesty! You do not mean to go after your husband! Not at such a time!”
“But I must,” Alisande said simply, “for what would I do if he did not come back to me?”
Chapter 6
Matt didn’t know which had shaken him more, the close shave or the manticore itself. Either way, it took until nightfall for him to work up the courage to try again-especially since the logical question was, why bother? After all, it wasn’t as if Latruria was about to attack Merovence! Or was it? What was going on in Latruria that King Boncorro didn’t want one of Alisande’s wizards to see? So the manticore itself was answer enough. If the king or one of his officials-say, his Lord Chancellor-had sicced the monster on Matt to keep him out, there must be a really good reason why he should go in! So he pumped up his courage, hunted around in the moonlight, and finally found a fold in the earth that he might have overlooked even in daylight. You couldn’t really call it a gully-it was only seven feet or so deep, and scarcely wide enough for Matt to walk through without turning sideways. It looked like the kind of thing a glacier might have gouged as an afterthought on its way back up the peak for the long summer. And if he might have overlooked it, maybe the manticore had, too-assuming that whatever sort of magical homing sense it had couldn’t pinpoint him too exactly. Which was quite a big assumption. Too big. Matt came tiptoeing up out of the cleft on its far end muttering a verse that ought to stop any attackers, just in case-and a yowl of triumph filled the air as an extra couple of crescents flashed in the sky.