"Then how, pray, do one—does one get one's business with him done?"
"Take up your affair with Master Brulard yonder." He indicated a pudgy, bald, little plain-clad man talking to a glittering noble.
"Who is him—I mean, that man?"
"The King's minister."
"Would you have goodness to present me? I have business."
The man cocked his head with a smile. "A gift for a gift, saith the wise Aristocles. Dost take my meaning?"
"What is—ah—customary here?"
"One golden noble should suffice. 'Twill go to a worthy charity, fear not."
Privately, Eudoric fumed. In the Empire, men of rank were known to solicit bribes, but not so blatantly, nor by amounts that would severely dent the funds he had brought from home. The "worthy charity," Eudoric was sure, would be the man before him. He dug into his wallet.
"Not so crass, young fellow!" murmured the man. "Let us shake hands on it." Eudoric palmed the coin and slipped it into the man's hand under cover of a handshake. The man caused the coin to vanish as by a conjuring trick. "And now, my dear young sir, what is your appellation?"
"Eudoric Dambertson of Arduen, knight," replied Eudoric. "And, sir, may I know your name?"
"Burgenne," said the man. "Come along! May I present my young friend, Sir Eudoric Dambertson?
This is master Brulard, Secretary of State to His Majesty. Give him a moment, Brulard; he seems to have some business in mind."
"I will, Your Grace," said Brulard. "What's toward, Sir Eudoric?"
As he bowed, Eudoric realized with a shock that the person whom he had bribed to introduce him was the Duke of Burgenne, the second most powerful noble in the kingdom. The Franconian nobility, he thought, must be the most grasping lot of aristocrats on earth. "Permit me, Your Excellency. Does —do you know about the novel form of transportation called stagecoaches? ..."
When Eudoric had made his pitch, Secretary Brulard said: "I shall take counsel with His Majesty and inform you of his decision. Come to my chamber of office in the palace two days hence."
Eudoric politely took his leave of the minister and endeavored to mingle with others at the levée; this, however, with only indifferent success. He hoped to strike up some acquaintance that he could eventually parlay into introductions to nubile young women, since the levee was a strictly male event. To ennoble his search for a mate, he had sworn off commerce with whores and light women. Hence his lusts were beginning to fever him.
The Franconian popinjays, however, were not impressed by Eudoric's plain if decent suit of russet and black, nor by his thick Locanian accent. They were not even beguiled by the Grand Cross of the Order of the Unicorn, with oak leaves and diamonds, which Eudoric had received from the Emperor's brother. Eudoric rarely wore the costly bauble but had trotted it out for this occasion. Most of the nobles flaunted several decorations each, many of which far outblazed Eudoric's. The medal wearers he found polite enough when he accosted them; but they quickly turned their attention elsewhither.
At last, when the others had begun to drift away, Eudoric came upon a youth who had taken too much wine. This young man stared glassily. "Sh-Sir Eudoric Dambertson, didst say? I hight the Cavalier Thwars. P-pleased to know you, sir. A foreigner, be ye not? Some say all foreigners be caitiff rogues, but I am above such boorish prejudice. Some, methinks, are almost true human beings."
"Sir Thwars," began Eudoric cautiously, "pray enlighten me. Another gentleman tell me—ah—that this was a long levee as such thing go. Those at Kromnitch be—are much longer. Why this?"
The youth snorted. "What expect ye under His do-nought Majesty? All his time doth go to games and sports—ahorse, afoot, or abed—leaving none for the business of state. So a baseborn rascal like Master Brulard yonder becomes the veritable ruler of the realm. When the King's unco sister was here, she at least forced the royal nose to the grindstone of public business. Methinks 'twas resentment of her stern governance that led him to dispatch her to the Far West; but now—"
"Shut thy gob, thou ninny!" snarled a gray-thatched nobleman, turning to glare at the speaker. "Wouldst bring trouble upon us all?"
"But, Father—" began Sir Thwars.
"Hold thy flapping tongue! Any fool can see thou'st had too much."
"Oh, very well," grumbled Thwars. "Sir Eudoric, dost attend the duel this afternoon?"
|'What duel?"
"Sir Pancar hath challenged Baron Odilo to a fight to the death, with axes afoot. Tis strictly unlawful; but who of gentle blood cares for that? I'll escort you to the secret field of honor—"
"Come along, thou noddy!" snapped the father. "An thou remain here, surely shalt thou bring destruction upon us! Your pardon, foreign sir!"
With a nod to Eudoric, the father seized the arm of his son and hauled him, feebly protesting, towards the exit. Eudoric wolfed a slice of fowl, another of bread, and a swig of wine. Then he, too, departed.
In the room that he shared with Forthred, Eudoric lit the three-branched brass candelabrum and opened his book on Franconian grammar. To Forthred he said: "Now say in Franconian: 'I fetched water from the well; I am fetching water from the well; I shall fetch water from the well.
Wearing a martyred look, Forthred scratched his head as he fumbled for the words. Then, as he started to speak, a heavy knock resounded. A voice cried:
"Open in the name of the King!"
Master and pupil traded startled looks. Eudoric reached for his scabbarded sword and began to loosen the peace wire, whispering: "Open it, Forthred; but only a crack till we see who it is."
Forthred complied. He began: "Meseems 'tis the King's guard—" when the door flew wide, throwing the apprentice halfway across the room before he recovered his balance. Four mailed men in surcoats of crimson and white, bearing the royal escutcheon, shouldered in. The first said:
"Sir Eudoric Dambertson, ye are summoned to the palace. Come at once!"
"What am I supposed—" began Eudoric. The guardsman snapped: "No questions! Come instanter. Nay, leave your sword."
"Guard our possessions," Eudoric muttered to Forthred as he was led away. In the street, the soldiers positioned themselves in a square surrounding him. One retrieved the lantern on a pole that he had left against the wall.
At least, thought Eudoric as he tramped gloomily through the nighted alleys with his silent escort, he would not be set upon by robbers, who made solitary nocturnal walking in Letitia an invitation to murder. He wondered how he could have fallen afoul of Franconian officialdom. Had he not been scrupulously careful to avoid discussions of religion or politics? Had some unknown foe laid a false accusation against him? Still, a government hard-pressed for money, as most governments chronically were, might seize a passing stranger in hope of squeezing a ransom out of his foreign kith and kin.
With visions of the noose, the block, and the stake pursuing one another through his somber mind, Eudoric was ushered into the palace. He presently found himself in a chamber aglow with a score of candles. Seated beyond a massive desk were Secretary of State Brulard and King Clothar, flanked by a pair of bodyguards. The four who had escorted Eudoric went to their places beside the two arched doorways and stiffened to immobility.
"Your Majesty!" said Eudoric, touching a knee to the floor. Although he burned with eagerness to know the reason for his summons, he kept his peace.
"Ah, Sir Eudonius!" said the King. "Wert not at the levee this morn?"
"I was, my lord."
"Methought we saw you, even though we were compelled to depart ere we had converse with you. Brulard informs us you have a proposal that touches upon our kingdom's welfare."