He was still wearing his black armour, with the visor of his helmet closed – he was even still wearing his gloves. His red shield was all he had left behind.
“I have just come to see,” he said, “if your accommodation is satisfactory and that you are lacking nothing… except, of course, your freedom.”
The Fool leapt up and retreated to the adjoining room.
The Black Knight closed the door, stepped into the room and said, “Yes, you go to your bed, squire, and keep out of my sight. Goodnight!”
The Fool sat down on one of the beds. Tiuri could see him anxiously huddled there. Then he turned back to the Black Knight and silently waited for him to leave.
The Knight remained there, however; he crossed his arms and looked at the chessboard. “Ah, I see you’ve started a game,” he said. “With your friend? No, I’m sure he’s no chess player.”
Tiuri said nothing.
“It is a fine thing to have oneself as an opponent,” the knight continued calmly. “Inside every person there are many different beings… did you know that?” Slowly, he moved a black pawn forward. Then he pulled up a chair and sat down, rather stiffly, because of his armour. “I want to play chess with you,” he said, “with a black horse as the stake.”
“Which horse would that be?” said Tiuri, breaking his silence.
“There is only one black horse we could play for,” replied the knight. “Ardanwen, or Night Wind. He is your horse, is he not?”
“Ardanwen chose me as his master,” said Tiuri, “but that does not mean I can play for him, as if he were some object that could be given away!”
“He will also accept me as his master if you command him to do so,” said the Black Knight. “Is that not so?”
“Perhaps,” said Tiuri. “But I refuse to play with him as a stake.”
Anxiously, he waited for the knight’s reply.
“For another stake, then?” the knight said calmly. “I once heard a story of two men who played a chess game with a life as the stake. Perhaps one of them was Death himself. I no longer remember.”
He paused.
Tiuri heard the Fool’s bed creak. Someone outside shouted an order.
“The game of chess is the only fair fight in the world,” the knight said then. “Both parties have the same number of pieces; both have an equal chance. Only white has the privilege of making the first move… and I have left that privilege to you.” He seemed to be looking at Tiuri. “So?” he continued. “How about playing without a stake? For the sake of the game alone?”
Tiuri did not like the idea of playing chess with this stranger, whom he could see only as an enemy. Deep in his heart he was afraid of this knight, even though he did not wish to admit that even to himself. He glanced at the window, saw the black lines of the bars, and thought of the file. Then he came up with an idea.
He said to the knight, “Yes, let’s play with a stake, after all, my lord!”
“And what stake would that be?”
“Your face,” replied Tiuri. “I would like to see your face.”
The Black Knight put one hand up to his helmet and paused for a moment. “Fine,” he said slowly. “If you win I will raise my visor so you can look at my face.” There almost seemed to be a hint of amusement in his voice.
Tiuri was filled with uncertainty. He was surprised that the knight had immediately agreed to his challenge. He must be a good chess player. But so am I, thought Tiuri. I have to play to win! He’s right. This fight gives us both an equal chance, and it’s impossible to cheat.
After pondering for a moment, he made his move.
The Black Knight immediately moved his own piece and said, “But we haven’t discussed what will happen if I am the winner. What is your stake? You cannot change your mind now, as our game has already begun.”
What a cunning opponent he was!
“I don’t know, my lord,” replied Tiuri. “I have nothing I can call my own and neither do I have anything to hide.”
To Tiuri’s relief, the knight did not bring up the subject of Ardanwen again. “If I win,” he said, “I shall oblige you to play another game with me… when it pleases me.”
And what will be at stake then? Tiuri wondered, as he looked down at the chessboard. He wanted to win, but all kinds of thoughts were disrupting the calm concentration he needed to consider his strategy. Who was this knight? What did he want? Why had he settled in this forest? Eviellan, he came from Eviellan…
He heard the Fool moving and silently wished for him to stay where he was. He looked again at his opponent, who was like an iron statue, a creature of darkness with no face at all.
I have to see him, thought Tiuri. He felt that only then would he know what attitude to take, what plans to make… I don’t want to play another game later, for whatever stake he might choose.
“Then play!” said the Black Knight.
Someone else had once said that to him. Tirillo! The jester’s words echoed in Tiuri’s mind: “Then play,” and “Please be so kind as to concentrate on our game.” Back then he had tried for Tirillo’s sake; now he had to try again, for a very different reason.
Tiuri closed his eyes for a moment and focused on the board. He made his move and then it was only the game that existed for him: moves, countermoves…
After a while, the Black Knight spoke, “You play well.”
“I could say the same of you,” replied Tiuri truthfully, as he captured a black pawn.
The knight took one of Tiuri’s bishops and said, “See, you have to be prepared to sacrifice a pawn to win a greater battle. It’s the same in life. Sometimes a man has to push others aside in order to reach a great goal.”
Tiuri suddenly thought of Arwaut and Ilmar. Fury rose within him. “Life is not a game,” he said coldly, “and people are not pawns.”
“But you would not hesitate to defeat your enemies, would you?” said the Black Knight. “Although… you are still far too kind-hearted. What about Jaro? In your place, I would have known what I had to do.”
“I am sure you did not hesitate to kill Sir Arwaut and Ilmar and all those others!” cried Tiuri. “But why were they your enemies? What had they done to you?”
“Arwaut? Ilmar?” repeated the Black Knight. “Who are those men? I do not know them.”
“That is a lie,” whispered Tiuri. Then, more loudly, he added, “And what about Sir Ristridin?”
“Ristridin of the South,” said the knight. “I swear on my word of honour that I never hurt a hair on his head!”
“So where is he?” asked Tiuri.
The Black Knight laughed softly. “Do you not know?” he asked. “Well, I shall not tell you.”
“Why did you take me prisoner?” asked Tiuri. “What are you doing here in the forest?”
“This is my home, my castle, my land,” replied the knight.
“This is not your land!” said Tiuri. “The Wild Wood belongs to our kingdom, to King Dagonaut.”
“This wood belonged to no one before I came!” said the Black Knight, sitting up straight. “What did you people know about it? Nothing! You knew it only from some old stories. You have not entered it for years – you even allowed the Second Great Road to the west to grow over! You and your compatriots have lost any right to call this land your own.”
“King Dagonaut sent out Sir Ristridin to learn more about it,” Tiuri began.
“Too late,” said the Black Knight.
“That is not true!” said Tiuri angrily. “You have no right to be here or to attack those who come here.”
“Ah, you speak like a knight of King Dagonaut,” his opponent countered.
“I am indeed a knight of King Dagonaut.”
“I am pleased to hear it,” said the Black Knight. “I thought at first that I should see you as a knight of Unauwen, with your white shield and your hatred of Eviellan.” He held up one hand. “Let me finish,” he continued. “I assure you I am no enemy of you and your king. As a citizen of Eviellan I want only friendship with your land! I have chosen to live in the Wild Wood because no one else wanted to dwell here, but I mean no harm and wish to hinder none.”
“So why did they disappear, the men that King Dagonaut sent here?” asked Tiuri quietly.
The knight did not answer immediately. Then he said, “Who says they have disappeared? They never reached the Tarnburg, but there are many paths in this wood. I know only that Sir Ristridin left the wood of his own free will. I think he gave up trying to unravel its secrets. One of those secrets is my presence here – and it must remain a secret, for a little longer, just a little longer…”
Tiuri thought, He is lying! He doesn’t know Ristridin left a message on that tree by the river. And he asked, “So where did Sir Ristridin go?”
“Do you not know?” said the knight again. “Perhaps he is now sleeping soundly in the castle of a friend.”
“I do not believe you,” said Tiuri.
The Black Knight leant forward. “You speak rashly, Tiuri!” he said. “What right do you, a boy who knows nothing of me, have to judge me? Confine yourself instead to our game of chess, though it would be better for you if you did not win.”
His tone was flat, yet menacing. “It’s your move,” he said. “Do not hesitate to sacrifice one of your pieces if you wish to checkmate me. Or do you not dare?”
When Tiuri did not respond, he gestured towards the room where the Fool had taken refuge.
“A few days ago, it was serious and not a game, and then, too, you did not dare,” he said. “I heard from my men that you could perhaps have escaped if you had not gone to help your squire! Now you are both prisoners – do you think that is something to be pleased about?” Again he laughed and said, “Now I have given you something to consider tonight. And you may also ponder your next move. We shall finish our game tomorrow, Tiuri!”
He rose to his feet and stood, tall and dark, facing the young knight. Then he turned on his heels and left the room.
A moment later, the Fool was standing beside Tiuri. “What have you done, Friend?” he said in horror. “You must not speak to him. You cannot listen to him. He is wicked. He is evil!”
“I am only playing a game of chess with him, Marius,” replied Tiuri. “And if I win, I shall know who he is.”
“Do you not already know who he is?” said the Fool. “He is the Master of the Red Riders. He is playing with you and he wants you to lose!”
Nonsense! Tiuri wanted to say, but he did not. Maybe without even realizing, the Fool had found words that hit home and shocked him.
He is playing with you…
Had he unintentionally done exactly what the Black Knight wanted of him? Tiuri had certainly spoken to him, even though he had planned to remain silent and aloof, and he had listened to him, although he knew his words were lies. And even if he were to win the game… what did it matter if he saw his enemy’s face? He is playing with you, and he does not care if you win or lose…
“Perhaps I am doing the wrong thing, Marius,” said Tiuri with a sigh. “But now that I have started, I must keep going – and I must try to win.”
He walked over to the window on the right, pressed his burning face against the bars and let the evening breeze cool it down. He suddenly felt hopelessly imprisoned; the world outside the Wild Wood seemed so far away that it was beyond reach.
At that very same moment, on the other side of the Wild Wood, Piak was staring at the Forgotten City in the moonlight and trying to remember the goal of his journey.
The Fool brought Tiuri back to reality. “Here!” he whispered, holding out the file.
Ah yes, of course! Their situation was far from hopeless. And what’s the point of worrying about decisions that have already been made? thought the young knight. Should I have abandoned Marius to save myself? I could never have done that!
He smiled at his friend and quietly said, “First blow out the candles. If the guards are still there, they’ll be able to see us by the light.”
Yes, they were still there. When the room was dark, he could see them quite clearly. “We have to file through at least two bars,” he whispered. “Let’s see how it goes.” He took the file and started to move it at the bottom of one of the bars – slowly, so as to make as little noise as possible.
“They can’t hear us,” whispered the Fool. “The water outside is making more noise. Can you hear it?”
After a while, he asked, “Shall I do it?”
“Yes,” said Tiuri. “But don’t file the bar all the way through. Just do it like this, around the outside.”
“Why?” asked the Fool.
“When the Black Knight returns tomorrow, he mustn’t see that we’ve been filing through the bars. I think we’ll have to wait until the third night to escape.”
“Look how quickly I’m doing it,” said the Fool. “I’ll soon be able to snap this bar with my hands. I’m strong.”
“Shhh!” whispered Tiuri. “The guards!”
More men were coming, down below; one of them was carrying a lantern. Someone shouted an order. He soon saw what was happening: the changing of the guard.
“Well, it doesn’t look as if the fortress and our prison will ever be without guards,” said Tiuri. “Look, these bars are thinner at the bottom now, Marius. We’ll have to work on the top of the bars next! But we can do that tomorrow evening. It’s time to go to sleep.”
“You sleep, Friend,” said the Fool. “I already lay on the bed, and you are tired. You should sleep. I will go on filing and I will wake you if I see anything.”
Tiuri looked at the bars, then at the chessboard, and shook his head. But the Fool was so insistent that he finally agreed, even though he was sure he wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink. However, it was fine. Tiuri soon dropped off and slept without dreaming.