Half an hour later, a large company rode over the drawbridge. The group was made up of Tiuri, the four Grey Knights, their squires and three of Mistrinaut’s men-at-arms. Tiuri rode on the black horse Ardanwen and he wore the same chainmail and blue tunic as the men from Castle Mistrinaut. He still had his monk’s habit with him, though, rolled up in his saddlebag. He had said a fond farewell to the lord of the castle and his wife, and to Lavinia. Riding alongside Sir Ristridin, he set out on the next part of his journey.
The guards stared in astonishment as the group passed by. Perhaps they even forgot their game of chess for a moment as they wondered how someone could be first a monk and then a prisoner, before becoming a person of importance, riding away on a fine horse, in the company of the mysterious Grey Knights.
The First Great Road followed the course of the Blue River, sometimes meandering, but always leading westwards. Tiuri looked back once again at the castle. It still seemed forbidding, but he knew now that the people who lived there were his friends. He could see someone standing at the top of one of the towers, waving. Could it be Lavinia? He waved back and then turned to Ristridin.
“Sir Ristridin,” he said, “This is rather strange, but I still do not know the name of my host. What is the lord of Mistrinaut called?”
“His name is an unusual one,” Ristridin replied. “He is called Sigirdiwarth Rafox of Azular Northa. Long ago, he was the knight of a king in the north. War and civil strife forced him to flee his homeland. After long wanderings, he found himself here. At that time – almost twenty years ago now – a wicked lord ruled Castle Mistrinaut, and he was the terror of these parts. Sigirdiwarth Rafox took up the fight against him and defeated him, liberating the region from a great evil. King Dagonaut was most grateful to him and he granted the castle and its lands to him in fief and gave him leave to call himself lord of Mistrinaut. Rafox has been living here for a long time now and he has become one of our own.”
“He knew the Knight with the White Shield, didn’t he? Sir Edwinem?” asked Tiuri.
“Yes, he met him long ago in the Kingdom of Unauwen.”
Tiuri hesitated before asking his next question, “Sir Ristridin, could you tell me more about the Black Knight with the White Shield?”
“What do you want to know?” asked Ristridin.
Tiuri rode closer to him. “Everything,” he said quietly.
“Well, that is more than I can tell,” said Ristridin with a smile.
“I know hardly anything about him,” said Tiuri. “Little more than his name, and I heard that for the first time from you.”
The knight gave him a searching look, but showed no surprise. “He had many names,” he replied. “Sir Edwinem, lord of Forèstèrra by the Sea, the Invincible, Paladin of King Unauwen. He performed many great deeds, always battling against evil. He was a good and noble man. It is rare indeed to meet a man like him.”
“Did you know him well?” asked Tiuri.
“He was my friend,” Ristridin replied. He fell silent for a time and then said, “Look, Sir Bendu is indicating that we should go faster. We shall ride at some speed for a while. Later, when we stop to rest or are going more slowly, I’ll tell you how I met Sir Edwinem, and how we fought side by side, even though he was a knight of Unauwen and I a knight of King Dagonaut.”
The riders urged on their horses and raced along. People at the roadside watched in surprise as they went by; they were probably wondering where they were riding so quickly, those four Grey Knights and their grey squires and the four men in blue from Castle Mistrinaut. Tiuri’s horse was the fastest of all. He sometimes had to rein it in or it would have flown past the others. They rode on quickly, not stopping for rest until the sun was high overhead. Then they stopped, rubbed down their horses and allowed them to graze. The men sat down by the side of the road to eat their own lunch. However, Bendu and Ristridin did not rest with the others. They walked away from the group and stood on the riverbank for some time, talking quietly. Then they returned to the company and Ristridin sat down beside Tiuri.
“It is strange how little most people here know about the Kingdom of Unauwen,” he said, “even though that country borders on our own. Perhaps it is because the Great Mountains are so high and forbidding. I am a knight-errant and so have travelled a great deal. And yet I have been to the Kingdom of Unauwen only once, even though my ancestral castle is not far from that land.”
“You are from the south,” said Tiuri.
“Yes, as you can tell from my name. I come from Castle Ristridin, on the Grey River, close to the border.”
“Castle Ristridin,” repeated Tiuri. “How is it that you are a knight-errant when you own a castle and estates?”
“I chose instead to wander,” Ristridin replied. “And so I renounced my possessions. My brother, Arturin, is now lord of those lands in my stead. I have travelled the realm for many years, and I shall continue to travel, even though I am no longer a young man. That is what I am best suited for. But I was going to tell you how I met Sir Edwinem. Of course you have heard of the land of Eviellan. It lies to the south, on the other side of the Grey River. It is an inhospitable land, with wild forests and barren plains. There are many stone castles throughout the land, inhabited by lords who would constantly do battle with one another or go on raids across the border. We often had to fight them back.
“Seven years ago, the younger son of King Unauwen went to Eviellan, conquered the country, and declared himself king. Since then he has ruled with an iron fist, putting an end to feuds and pillaging.
“However, there has still been much fighting because of a rift between Eviellan and the Kingdom of Unauwen. Soldiers passed along our Third Great Road from both directions, Eviellan and Unauwen. They often came to blows, destroying our property and setting fire to our villages. And, of course, we inhabitants of the Kingdom of Dagonaut could not accept such behaviour. Knights rode out to make it clear to these disturbers of the peace that they must resolve their feuds on their own soil.
“And that is how I and a handful of stalwart men came to be pursuing a troop of warriors from Eviellan along the Third Great Road into the Kingdom of Unauwen. There they fled into the Forest of Vorgóta. I went after them, but I lost their trail. For a long time, I wandered through that forest with my men, until we encountered an enemy troop, which attacked us. We defended ourselves as well as we could, but we knew we were lost, as we were few against many, and we were in unfamiliar territory.
“But lo and behold, a knight came riding up, followed by many men on white horses. He was on a black horse himself and his chainmail was silvery white. The shield on his arm was also white. And he raised his flashing sword and let his battle cry ring throughout the forest. That is how Edwinem, the lord of Forèstèrra, came to our aid.”
“And did he win?” asked Tiuri.
“There is a reason why his nickname was the Invincible,” said Ristridin.
“You said his armour was white,” said Tiuri. “So he did not wear a black suit of armour at that time?”
“The knights of King Unauwen wear every colour, but they never wore black… until recently, when Sir Edwinem donned his black armour,” replied Ristridin. “The white shield is the sign of all of the knights of Unauwen. The heraldic colours of the kingdom are white and the many-coloured rainbow. Sir Edwinem had been sent by Unauwen to drive bands of wicked men from the Forest of Vorgóta. Those men came from Eviellan.”
“Why is Eviellan the enemy of Unauwen?” asked Tiuri. “The King of Eviellan is the son of the King of Unauwen, is he not?”
“That is a long story,” said Ristridin. “Perhaps Evan had better tell you that tale. The Kingdom of Unauwen is his homeland, as you know. Evan served as one of Edwinem’s companions before he became a knight.”
“Was he Sir Edwinem’s squire?” asked Tiuri.
“No. There are many young men who would have liked to be Edwinem’s squire but, strangely enough, the man who served him as squire was an old fellow, who was lean and weather-beaten.”
Tiuri thought back to the stranger who had called him out of the chapel. The man must, of course, have been Sir Edwinem’s squire. And he asked, “What was his name?”
“The squire? His name was Vokia,” answered Ristridin. Then he stood up and said it was time to move on.
“It is strange to see you on that horse,” he said, when Tiuri had climbed up onto Ardanwen. “Edwinem never rode another. The horse is worthy of its name: Ardanwen means Night Wind in the old tongue of the Kingdom of Unauwen. I have seldom met a faster horse.”
Soon they were back on the road. Ristridin and his squire led the way, while Tiuri rode beside one of the men from Mistrinaut. Sometimes they stopped at a village or a house to ask if anyone had seen the Red Riders. But they found no leads.
“Not a single sighting,” said Bendu. “And that wretched rain we had yesterday has wiped out any traces.”
Ristridin looked at the opposite bank of the river. “They may have ridden along the other side of the river,” he commented.
“That is true,” said Bendu. “We will cross as soon as possible and see if we can discover anything over there.”
Later that afternoon, they came to a ford. Ristridin and Bendu crossed the river, while the rest of the company waited for them. They returned after half an hour. They had found no traces, but a shepherd had told them that he had seen riders go by two nights ago, heading westwards. However, he had not been able to see if they were dressed in red.
“He says it was no more than a dozen,” said Bendu. “There’s a forest nearby, where they could be hiding.”
They continued their journey. When they slowed for a while to rest the horses, Ristridin came to ride with Tiuri again and told him the tale of how he and Sir Edwinem had secured the Forest of Vorgóta and routed the bands of wicked men. For a long time, they shared dangers, joys and sorrows, and they became great friends.
“We were both sorry when the day came for us to say farewell,” said Ristridin, “but I had to go back to my own land, because King Dagonaut was awaiting my return. Edwinem gave me a silver horn as a parting gift, the horn I always carry with me. That was four years ago now.”
“Did you see him again?” asked Tiuri.
“Yes, I did,” said Ristridin.
“And what about Sir Bendu,” asked Tiuri. “Was he also a friend of Edwinem’s?”
“Did I hear my name?” said Sir Bendu. He caught up with Ristridin and Tiuri and rode between them. “Of course I was his friend,” he said. “What have you been telling him, Ristridin?” He turned to Tiuri and added, “I could tell you a thing or two as well, if you tell me a few things in exchange.”
“What do you want to know?” asked Tiuri.
“A great deal! I know nothing about you.”
“I have told you all I can,” said Tiuri.
“Well, that was precious little!” said Bendu. “You do not happen to know the name of the Knight with the Red Shield, do you?”
“I am sorry, Sir Bendu,” Tiuri replied. “I really have no idea.”
Bendu grunted something into his beard. Then he turned to Ristridin. “We’ll be coming to a village soon,” he said, “but I would suggest we do not spend the night there. We would do better to keep on riding as long as it is still light, and then sleep in the open air.”
“That is not necessary,” said Ristridin. “I know an inn not too far from here with the illustrious name of the Setting Sun. I am certain we can reach it before dark.”
“Fine, let us make that our aim for today,” said Bendu. “We can ask again in the village about the Red Riders and then ride on at a gallop.”
He urged on his horse and rode ahead; he seemed keen to resume his questioning.
Tiuri watched him go and thought to himself: I believe, even now, Sir Bendu still does not trust me.