Twarik took Lavinia’s hands in his own and soothed her. Adelbart also leant over her. “It’s not true,” he said forcefully. “Don’t be afraid. It was a trick!”
Dazed, Lavinia looked at each of them in turn. “Are you sure…?” she whispered.
Twarik glanced over his shoulder at Piak and said, “Your friends are safe. Ask them yourselves, if you don’t believe it.”
Piak worked his way through the undergrowth and headed for the tower. Two people were just climbing down; the first was a Man in Green, the second was Tiuri.
Finally, the two friends were together again! They held on to each other’s hands and at first they could barely manage to say anything more than each other’s names.
“Piak,” said Tiuri. “Piak… It’s really you!” He squeezed Piak’s hand and beamed at him.
Piak took a good look at his friend; there were dark circles under his eyes, and his strange green clothes were torn and stained, but otherwise he was the same old Tiuri. “Is everything all right?” he asked. “You… you’re not really a prisoner, are you?”
“Not anymore,” said Tiuri with a sigh. “You! Here! I wouldn’t have dared to hope…”
“I had the fright of my life,” said Piak, suddenly feeling rather shaky. “That Black Knight…”
“The knight believed what I told him,” said the Man in Green standing beside them. “Because he is wicked himself, he believes the same of others.”
Piak realized this must be Tehalon.
Now two others came to join them.
“Marius!” Piak exclaimed happily. “And… Jaro?!”
“Without Jaro we wouldn’t be here,” said Tiuri. Then they all started talking at once, excited, happy and emotional. Only Tehalon watched in silence.
Adelbart walked over. “Fox doesn’t want to come out,” he whispered to Piak. Then he saw Tehalon and greeted him with respect.
The Master of the Wild Wood addressed them. “What brings the two of you here?” he asked, looking at Piak and Adelbart.
“We are envoys,” said Adelbart, “sent by the Lord of Mistrinaut.” He explained why they’d come, with Piak filling in some of the details.
“The Lord of Mistrinaut!” Tiuri said, eyes gleaming. “And his men. That’s wonderful.” He turned to Tehalon and asked, “My lord, you surely do not mind if…”
“I should like to speak to Rafox, the Lord of Mistrinaut,” said Tehalon. “To him alone. He must come immediately. He can be here soon if he comes on horse. But his men are not to enter my territory.”
“The Black Knight also knows they are on the way,” said Tiuri, with a frown. “Because of your drums…” He looked at Piak and continued, “Of course, you don’t understand much of what is going on. I need to speak to the Lord of Mistrinaut as soon as possible. But the enemy must not suspect that he knows anything about what is happening in this forest… So have Lord Rafox command his men to go to the east, as if that is their goal. They must withdraw from this part of the wood immediately, or they will meet the same fate as Sir Ristridin and his men. Under no circumstances should they go to the south, not yet at least.”
“What is in the south?” asked Piak.
“In the south is the Tarnburg, with a thousand armed men,” replied Tiuri. “Most of them are Red Riders.”
“And the Black Knight with the Red Shield?” whispered Piak.
“He is their leader – the King of Eviellan.”
Less than ten minutes later, Adelbart was on his way back to the camp, accompanied by Twarik. They were to make sure that Lord Rafox would join them with all haste.
“The King of Eviellan!” said Piak. “Were you his prisoner? How… how did he treat you?”
“He… played chess with me,” replied Tiuri.
“He never did!” said Piak.
“Oh yes, he did, my friend,” said the Fool. “They played every night. But we used the file, too, and on the third day we ran away, with him, Jaro.”
“Tell me everything,” said Piak.
Then he thought of something. Lavinia… where had she got to? And Ardanwen? He wasn’t supposed to say anything about Lavinia, but…
“Oh, Tiuri,” he said. “We found Ardanwen. He was wandering around the forest. However did he…” He fell silent when he saw Tiuri’s face.
“A-Ardanwen?” Tiuri stammered. “But that’s impossible. He…”
“He was wandering around the forest and we brought him here,” said Piak.
“Ardanwen? But I thought he was dead,” whispered Tiuri.
“He’s alive – and kicking. Truly!” cried Piak. “Come with me. I’ll show you.”
But a Man in Green was already approaching with the horse. Tiuri froze. Ardanwen whinnied, pulled away from his escort, and raced towards his master. Tiuri ran to meet him and a moment later they were greeting each other.
“The wicked knight lied,” said the Fool. “I told you, didn’t I? The black horse ran away and they couldn’t catch him.”
Tiuri threw his arms around Ardanwen’s neck and buried his face in his long mane.
“So,” said Jaro to Piak in his usual grumpy tone, “how does it feel to have such good friends and an unexpected reunion?”
That reminded Piak of Lavinia again and he looked around to see if he could spot her. Tehalon came over to him and said in a low voice, “Your third travelling companion is safe in the care of Lian, Twarik’s wife. But she wants to see your friends only from a distance.”
“Oh yes, I understand,” said Piak quietly. “You see, Tiuri’s not supposed to know she’s here.”
“Why not?” asked Tehalon. “Is it because she’s a woman?”
“Yes, my lord,” said Piak. “That’s why.”
“A foolish reason,” said Tehalon. “But that is her business… Come on,” he continued, “call your friends and withdraw to the tower. You are my guests, but I want to have you all in one place and within my sight. I shall say no more until the Lord of Mistrinaut arrives.”
“Tehalon wouldn’t let you go?” said Piak. “So what’s he up to now? Has he changed his mind?”
They were up on the tower – Tiuri and Piak, Jaro and the Fool. A Man in Green was sitting in one corner beside the drum, but he did not join in with their conversation.
The tower was high and they could see a long way. Piak had paid very little attention to the view, though, not even to the peaks of the Great Mountains. He was more interested in his friend.
Tiuri had told him about the dangers hidden within the Wild Wood. He’d also explained how he and the Fool had escaped with Jaro’s help. But Piak still hadn’t heard nearly enough.
“Yes, Tehalon has changed his mind,” said Tiuri. “But I don’t know why. I think it’s because the Lord of Mistrinaut has come. With so many soldiers in the area he cannot prevent the secret of the Tarnburg being revealed.”
“The Knight with the Red Shield, the King of Eviellan,” said Piak. “What kind of man is he? What does he look like?”
“He is the man who murdered Sir Edwinem,” said Tiuri slowly. “And what does he look like? He looks just like Sir Idian.”
Piak wanted to ask more questions, but Tiuri did not give him the chance. “First I want to hear about your adventures,” he said. “I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t managed to arrive with help just at the right moment, Piak!”
“Oh, there was a lot of luck involved,” said Piak. “And good people who helped me, like Adelbart.” He told Tiuri all about what had happened to him.
“I’m so very glad we’re together again!” said Tiuri a little later. “And that Ardanwen is here, too.” He looked down below; there was his horse. Tehalon himself had fed and groomed Ardanwen.
Just then, the Master of the Wild Wood came out of the trees, accompanied by a young man dressed in blue.
“Who’s that?” asked Tiuri.
As Piak looked, he felt his face flush. “Oh, that’s Fox,” he replied, “a squire from Mistrinaut, who came with us.” He noticed that Tiuri stopped paying attention to Fox then, and he didn’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed with him. “Aren’t we still more or less prisoners here?” he said, changing the subject. “They just ordered us to climb this tower.”
“Tehalon has promised I can go wherever I want,” said Tiuri. “But he wants us to discuss before we act – him, the Lord of Mistrinaut and us. We must be very careful and consider our plan if we want to take on the enemy in the Tarnburg.”
“And where do you want to go?” asked Piak.
“To the Road of Ambuscade,” replied Tiuri, “over the mountains.”
His intention did not surprise Piak. “I’ll go with you,” he said.
“That’s what I thought you’d say,” Tiuri said with a smile. “I obviously can’t go into the mountains without you!”
“So you still haven’t given up on that plan?” Jaro growled. “How do you intend to get there?”
“And what about me?” whispered the Fool.
“Marius,” said Tiuri. “I haven’t forgotten my promise to you.”
“Oh, I know it’ll happen, Friend,” the Fool said. “But another day, later.”
Tiuri frowned, though, and looked thoughtfully at the Fool and then at Jaro.
“Look, the Master of the Wild Wood is beckoning to us,” said Jaro. “See? He is summoning us to him. Well, I hope he’s calling us to eat. I’m hungry.”
“Me too,” said Piak. “I’ve only just realized.” To his annoyance, he saw that Tehalon stopped Lavinia as she went to walk away.
“What’s wrong?” asked Tiuri.
“Oh nothing,” said Piak. “Goodness, it seems so long ago that I went to fetch that bag and heard you shouting, ‘Danger! Flee!’” He went on chattering away, even after they’d reached the bottom of the tower. He hoped it might distract Tiuri’s attention from Fox.
Fortunately, his friend headed straight for Ardanwen.
Tehalon called him back, though, “Tiuri, here is someone you have not yet greeted.”
Piak stopped talking, in the middle of a sentence.
Lavinia bowed her head and said, “Fox is my name.” She clearly had not changed her mind.
As Tiuri walked over to her, she had no choice but to stand there, but she tried to avoid his gaze. That only made Tiuri all the more curious. And for the first time he took a proper look at this stranger, the squire from Mistrinaut.
Piak saw Tiuri’s eyes open wide. He’s recognized her, he thought. The colour drained from Tiuri’s face, but he said nothing, just held out his hand. Lavinia took it, and they stood there for a few moments, not moving.
“What… did you say… your name was?” asked Tiuri, very quietly.
“Fox…” Lavinia replied in a whisper. She tried to take back her hand, but Tiuri was holding it tightly.
His face lit up with a smile. “I would like to call you by a different name,” he said.
Lavinia looked down at her feet. Blushing, Tiuri released her hand. He stepped back, took a deep breath, and rubbed his hand across his forehead.
“Fox?” he said. “Squire of Mistrinaut? Why?”
“Why?” repeated Lavinia. She seemed just as confused and uncertain as Tiuri. “Because… I… Um… Are you perhaps mistaken somehow?”
“I am not mistaken about what I see,” said Tiuri. “You are…”
“My father needed a squire,” she interrupted him, breathlessly. “My brother was not there and so I came with him instead. Is that so strange, just because I’m a girl?”
“No… yes,” said Tiuri. “All I can say, Lavinia, is that I’m… most surprised to see you here. Please forgive me if I greeted you rather strangely.”
Neither of them had been paying any attention to the others, but now they realized they were still standing there. They looked embarrassed, as if they wanted to say more, but both remained silent.
Tehalon introduced Lavinia to Jaro and the Fool and then said calmly, as if nothing had happened, “Come on, let’s go. We will wait for the Lord of Mistrinaut nearby, on the shore of the Deep Lake.”
“When will he be here?” asked Lavinia, turning to him with a startled look on her face.
“It’ll be a couple of hours yet,” replied Tehalon. “First we shall eat. And Fox – or Lavinia – you are a lady. Allow Sir Tiuri to accompany you to the Deep Lake, as is the custom in your circles.”
They went with Tehalon, Tiuri walking beside Lavinia. Piak thought he looked as if he were sleepwalking.
I’m sure Tiuri was happy to see her, Piak thought. He was surprised, but happy. And yet there was something about it that he didn’t like… Perhaps Lavinia had been right, after all, and this was not a good time for her to be reunited with Tiuri. But Tehalon had made sure they would meet. He knew Lavinia did not want to see Tiuri yet, but still he had brought them together. Did he have some reason for doing so?
Piak looked at the Master of the Wild Wood. His face was as blank as usual. But, Piak said to himself, I would not be at all surprised if he did it with some hidden intention. He found it hard to imagine that the Master of the Wild Wood had acted just out of kindness or simply to interfere and meddle.