Chapter 4

The Dolorous Stroke

As it was already late, Sir Balin and Lady Annalise stopped after only an hour to make camp. Sir Balin was struck again by how pleasant a companion Lady Annalise was. Her conversation was witty and thoughtful, but she didn't feel the need to talk all the time, either. As they tended their tired horses, Sir Balin said, "I've never quested with a Questing Lady before, but I have to say, it's an excellent way to quest. You make the time pass delightfully."

"Thank you, Sir Balin," Lady Annalise said demurely.

"Are all Questing Ladies as interesting as you?"

Lady Annalise hesitated, then said, "Actually, there's a bit of disagreement on that point within the Questing Ladies Guild."

"The what?"

"It's the organization that sets standards for the profession, trains apprentices, and all that. Anyway, some of the older Questing Ladies feel that our part is to cook and tidy up and speak only when spoken to." She sighed. "My grandmother was that type, and I can't help thinking she must have been a dead bore on the road."

"Rather!" Sir Balin agreed heartily. "You're not that type at all."

"No, I'm a companion, not a personal maid."

Sir Balin pursed his lips thoughtfully. "So, does that mean you don't, um ... Well, as it happens, I'm a terrible cook."

"Me, too," Lady Annalise said promptly. "Sorry. My turn to ask you a question, though. Why do you wear two swords?"

"It started a week ago ... Well, actually it started on my christening day. Do you mind a rather long story?" Lady Annalise begged him to continue, so Sir Balin told her about the Old Woman of a Mountain's prophecy, then explained to her the circumstances by which he had obtained the second sword from Lady Lyla. "So you see," he concluded, "when I drew the sword from the scabbard, I thought it was fate—the old prophecy coming true. Of course I had to keep the sword."

"But then your brother showed you the secret lock on the scabbard, so now you know it wasn't fate at all, just a muddled plot."

"Why shouldn't a muddled plot be a part of fate?"

Lady Annalise frowned. "I don't know, but it doesn't feel right. If anything that happens can be seen as the fulfillment of the prophecy, then the prophecy's not very useful, is it?"

"I've never thought the prophecy very useful," Sir Balin muttered. "Anyway, now that I've started calling myself the Knight with Two Swords, I sort of have to keep it around."

 

They arrived at King Perleus's castle around mid-morning the next day. The hermit had been right about the castle's defenses. The towers were high, the walls imposing, the moat wide, and the guards numerous.

"How are we ever going to get in there?" wondered Lady Annalise.

"Let's ask," said Sir Balin. He trotted up to the nearest guard, who stood at the drawbridge. "Hello," he said to the guard.

"Move along," said the guard.

"But I'm here to visit King Perleus."

"My orders say that only unarmed people get in, no knights. Move along."

Lady Annalise asked, "What about unarmed knights?"

The guard looked confused. "All knights are armed. What would a knight be doing going about without weapons? Besides, you have a sword. I can see it."

"But what if Sir Balin gave you his sword? Then he would be unarmed."

Sir Balin realized that, from the way he was positioned on his horse, the guard could see only one of his swords. Slowly he lowered his arm to further conceal his second blade. The guard scratched his head. "I don't know. I never met a knight who'd give up his sword."

"Oh, I'll do it," Sir Balin said. He drew the sword that the guard could see from the scabbard and tossed it on the ground at the guard's feet. "Now can I go in? Your master did say to let unarmed people inside."

The guard shrugged. "Right, then. I think you're daft, but go ahead."

They trotted across the drawbridge, and as they entered the castle courtyard, Sir Balin said, "That was a brilliant thought, Lady Annalise."

"Thank you. Now be careful. Hide that second sword."

Sir Balin dismounted and took a blanket from his gear. With Lady Annalise's help, he draped it over his shoulder and tied it in place. It was awkward and bulky and hung around his ankles, but it did hide his second sword from view. "Shall we go look for Sir Gorlon?" Sir Balin said. "And hope we see him?"

They entered a large doorway and followed a corridor until they came to a vast chamber with high ceilings. In the center of the room, on an ornate throne with two long axes crossed behind it, sat a man with a gray beard.

The man on the throne said nothing, but a stocky black-bearded man at his side growled, "Who are you?"

"I am Sir Balin, the Knight with ... um ... from Northumberland," Sir Balin said.

"How did you get past the gate?" demanded Stocky Black-Beard.

"The guard let me through once I handed over my sword," Sir Balin said. He showed them the empty scabbard at his side. "I am seeking Sir Gorlon, who is a coward and a villain, who attacks other knights while invisible."

Stocky Black-Beard grinned wolfishly and stepped forward. "I know you," he said. "You're the knight who jumped out of my way just in time yesterday and let me hit that young fellow instead. Have you come to punish me? Without a sword?"

"Then you're Sir Gorlon?" Sir Balin asked.

"That's who I am," sneered the knight. "But what you need to worry about is where I am." Sir Gorlon reached for his sword and was just beginning to draw the blade before he vanished completely from view.

Rapid footsteps approached and Sir Balin immediately stepped toward Lady Annalise and pushed her roughly away. "Get back!" he hissed. Something swished through the air by his head as Sir Gorlon struck at the spot where Sir Balin had just been standing. Sir Balin reached under his blanket to draw his second sword, but his hand got tangled up in the folds. Frantically he tugged the blanket away, but it was caught on the sword. He dropped to the ground and heard Sir Gorlon's second blow pass over his head.

With a final yank, Sir Balin managed to untangle the blanket and pull it off as he scrambled to his feet. "Ha!" he called. "I'm not unarmed after all!" Grasping his scabbard firmly, he pulled at the sword. It didn't move.

"Blast!" he muttered. He threw himself backwards, barely evading a third blow from Sir Gorlon's invisible sword. He tugged again at his weapon, but it didn't move.

"Let go of the scabbard!" shouted Lady Annalise.

"Oh, right," said Sir Balin. He hadn't realized that he had the sword with the secret lock. Releasing the scabbard, he drew the blade out with a flourish. The sword came free, then stopped sharply in midair. Sir Balin tugged at it, but it was stuck. "Now what?" he muttered urgently.

Then, before his eyes, Sir Gorlon materialized—with Sir Balin's sword stuck in his heart. Sir Gorlon crumpled to the floor, and Sir Balin withdrew his weapon.

Slowly, the gray-bearded man rose to his feet. "Is he dead?" he asked.

Sir Balin nodded. "Are you King Perleus?"

"I am," replied the man. "Sir Balin, you have slain my wicked younger brother, he who has killed so many good knights and has enslaved so many good people and held my whole land in a reign of terror with his magical powers!"

Sir Balin blinked. This sounded promising. "Does that mean that you're not angry with me for killing your brother?"

King Perleus smiled, then said, "No, I'm wicked, too." Grasping one of the long axes that framed his throne, he lifted it high above his head and ran at Sir Balin, chopping down. Sir Balin parried the blow with his sword, but the axe cut right through the blade, leaving Sir Balin holding only a hilt.

King Perleus raised the axe again, and Lady Annalise shouted, "Run!"

Sir Balin turned and ran, with King Perleus at his heels, chopping down every few steps with the axe. Sir Balin ran out of the high chamber, then turned right down a long corridor, then left at the next corridor, staying just ahead of King Perleus's blows. At last, Sir Balin realized he was coming to a dead end, a corridor that stopped at a door. He just managed to jump inside and slam the door behind him before King Perleus's axe smashed it open again. Sir Balin looked around

quickly and saw a long spear hanging on a hook over a fireplace. He took the spear down, whirled around, and threw it at King Perleus just as he entered the room.

King Perleus staggered and dropped his axe, Sir Balin's spear in his breast. "No! This can't happen!" Sir Balin said nothing.

"You've killed me!"

"I was certainly trying to," panted Sir Balin.

"But I can't be killed!" King Perleus gasped. "The prophetess who attended my coronation said that I could not die until I ruled two kingdoms! I only rule one right now."

"Bad luck," Sir Balin said unsympathetically. "Prophecies can be a real pain, can't they?"

"And now both my kingdoms are gone! Indeed, Sir Balin, you have struck a dolorous stroke this day!"

Sir Balin blinked. "What did you say?"

"Look, I'm dying here, and you can't even be bothered to pay attention?" snapped King Perleus.

"Never mind," Sir Balin said. "I'm not interested anyway."

"But the prophecy said..."

"Prophecies say a lot of things," Sir Balin muttered. He closed the door behind him as he left the room.