Visbhume cried out: "But where is the boy now? How is he known?"
"I care not a whit, and I hope not to see him again, for I should surely do him a mischief and suffer new vexations in consequence. Now then, intercede for me, as you promised. If you fail, I will visit a mordet upon you!"
"I can only do my best." Visbhume turned back to face King Throbius, "Your Majesty, I find that Falael is basically congenial. He has been misled by his companions, who have brought him into disgrace. As a disinterested party, before I remove the nexus and causeway from your domain, I wish to urge that your Majesty on this occasion temper justice with mercy."
"It is a large demand which you make of me," said King Throbius.
"True, but since Falael feels true remorse, further demonstration of your displeasure must be futile."
"A favor for a favor," said King Throbius. "I agree to forgive Falael and in return you must leave your fascinating nexus here on Madling Meadow."
Visbhume bowed. "Your Majesty has spoken; I am in accord."
The company of fairies gave a great yelping chortle of delight for the victory astute King Throbius had won over the peculiar mortal; there was capering, somersaults, clicking of the heels in mid-air and small joyous jigs.
Visbhume bowed low. "Your Majesty, though I have surrendered my valuable nexus, it has been in a good cause and now I crave your leave to depart."
"First things first," said King Throbius. "A single matter hangs in the air. Skepe, administer three and one-half strokes minus one stroke to Falael, as specified."
"Your Majesty!" cried Visbhume in shock. "It was precisely this beating which you agreed to spare poor Falael!"
"Not so! I agreed to forgive Falael, which I have done, fully and freely. The beating will be for other pranks which have gone undetected and which Falael no doubt richly deserves."
"Would this guilt not be cancelled by your forgiveness?"
"Perhaps so, but a weight still hangs in the air. Two and one-half strokes have been ordained; they must be effected. Since you have forfended these strokes from Falael, the logic of circumstances diverts them to your own crawling hide. Dango, Pume, Thwither: down with Visbhume's breeches; let him hold his backside at the ready. Now then, Skepe: do your duty!"
"Ai hi yi!" cried Visbhume.
"One!"
"Ai-ee ha!"
"Two!"
"Oo-oh! Oo-ha! .... Zappir tzug muig lenka! Groagha teka!* But the half was stronger than the two full strokes together!"
*Untranslatable: curses in the pie-Celtic dialect of the Wysrod peasantry, who were renowned for their mouth-filling epithets. Scholars will note that in this particular dialect the elision of vowels is very far advanced.
"Yes, that is sometimes implicit in the nature of things," King Throbius agreed. "But no matter; you have had your way and Falael has been reprieved, though I am not sure of his remorse. See how he sits yonder on a post, grinning for sheer joy!"
Visbhume, after regaining his dress, bowed once again. "Your Majesty, I leave you to the enjoyment of your nexus."
"You have my leave to go. I must investigate this fascinating nexus."
Visbhume set off across the meadow, looking back over his shoulder. King Throbius slowly advanced to stand in front of the nexus, then took a slow step forward, and another... .
Visbhume turned and looked no more until he reached the forest shade.
Madling Meadow was as he had first seen it. The hummock supported only a gnarled old oak. Between the birches hung a tangle of blue and red yarn, which jerked and bounced and gathered itself into a sort of cocoon... . Visbhume untied his horse with trembling fingers, mounted and departed at speed.
V
ARRIVING IN LYONESSE TOWN, Visbhume went directly to Haidion, and on this occasion it was Sir Mungo, the High Seneschal himself, who took him to the terrace before the royal bed-chamber, where King Casmir sat cracking and eating walnuts.
At King Casmir's signal, Sir Mungo haughtily arranged a chair for the use of Visbhume, who pulled it up even closer to the table. King Casmir paused in his cracking of walnuts to turn Visbhume a mild blue gaze of mingled distaste and curiosity. "You have just arrived?"
"I have barely dismounted from my horse, your Majesty! I come in haste to report my findings."
King Casmir spoke over his shoulder to the footman: "Serve us tankards of ale; these nuts give me a thirst, and Visbhume will surely wish to wash the dust from his throat." The footman departed. "Sir Mungo, I will not need you... . Now then, Visbhume, what is your news?"
Visbhume hitched his chair even closer. "By dint of the most crafty effort I managed to draw information from a class of creature whose most joyous habit is to outwit mortal men! But I dazzled them all and they told me this: the boy whom they called Tippet had been turned out from the shee at some indefinite time in the past, whereupon he seems to have become the companion of a girl named Glyneth, and here is the core of my information."
The footman brought tankards foaming with beer along with a plate of biscuits. Without waiting for King Casmir's invitation, Visbhume seized one of the tankards and drank a deep draught.
"Most interesting," said King Casmir.
Visbhume leaned forward to rest an elbow on the table. "Now then: who is Glyneth? Can it be the Princess Glyneth of Troicinet, who occupies so anomalous a place in the court at Miraldra? Remember that Ehirme, Graithe and Wynes, all in some way associated with the boy Tippet, have removed to Troicinet, where now they prosper. Here is more of the same!"
"Your deductions would seem sound." King Casmir drank from his tankard, then brushed walnut shells to the floor, to find room to rest his own elbow. "The boy would now be five years old*. It must be that he too resides in Troicinet. But where? With Ehirme?"
*Dhrun, or Tippet' as the fairies named him, lived at Thripsey Shee for something more than a single year, by mortal reckoning. Fairy time moves at a far faster flow, and to Dhrun's own perceptions he lived almost nine years at the shee. King Casmir, unaware of the discrepancy, puts Dhrun's age at five rather than his actual age of close to fourteen.
"There is no such child at Ehirme's house: I can vouch for this."
"What of Graithe and Wynes?"
"I observed them for several days. They live alone." Partly to escape Visbhume's conspiratorial nearness, King Casmir rose to his feet and went to stand by the balustrade, which allowed him a sweeping view over the roofs of Lyonesse Town and their tiles of earthen colours, the harbour and the sweep of the Lir. He looked back toward Visbhume, "There is at least an open avenue of inquiry."
Visbhume, coining to stand beside King Casmir, looked dubiously off across the Lir. "You refer to the Princess Glyneth?"
"Who else? You must return to Troicinet and discover what she knows. She is a maiden of charm and grace, with an amiable disposition and seemingly a confiding nature."
"Have no fear on that score! She will answer my questions in full detail! If she attempts reticence, so much the better! I am never averse to persuading young girls and forcing them to obedience. Here is where work becomes pleasure!"
King Casmir eyed Visbhume coldly sidelong. From time to time he gratified his taste for boys of a certain manner and conformation; otherwise he eschewed the licentious excesses which enlivened King Audry's court at Avallon. "I trust that in your transports you will not forget the purpose of the inquiry."
"Have no fear! Difficulties vanish when I bring my little techniques to bear. Where would Glyneth now be found?"
"At Miraldra, so I suppose, or else at Watershade."
VI
VISBHUME TOOK LODGING ONCE AGAIN at the Four Mallows. He dined early, then went out upon the square, to sit on the same bench as before. But on this evening no burly Moor approached him, nor Tamurello in any of his other guises.