4.

 

 

 

THE ELDER ISLES WERE QUIET, IN THE TORPOR OF EXHAUSTION, grief and satiated emotion. Casmir huddled in a dungeon from which Aillas was in no hurry to extricate him. One frosty winter morning Casmir would be brought up and led to the block behind the Peinhador; there his head would be detached from his torso by the axe of Zerling, his own executioner, who, for the nonce, also occupied a dungeon. Other prisoners, depending upon their offenses, had been liberated or returned to the Peinhador, pending more careful judgment. Queen Sollace had been put aboard a ship and exiled to Benwick in Armorica. In her baggage she carried an antique blue chalice, double-handled, with a chipped rim, upon which she lavished a great devotion. It remained in her custody for several years, then was stolen, causing her such distress that she refused to eat or drink and presently died.

When the Troice took Lyonesse Town, Father Umphred went into hiding, using the cellars under the new cathedral for his lair. Upon the departure of Queen Sollace he became desperate and decided to follow. Early one gray and blustery morning he took himself aboard a fishing vessel, and paid the fisherman three gold pieces for passage to Aquitaine.

Yane, at Aillas’ instructions, had been seeking Umphred high and low, and had been waiting for just such an occasion. He took note of the priest’s furtive embarkation and notified Aillas. The two boarded a fast galley and set off in pursuit. Ten miles to sea they overtook the fishing vessel, and sent aboard a pair of stalwart seamen. Umphred saw them come in sad-eyed dismay, but managed a nervous little wave of the fingers and a smile. He called: “This is a pleasant surprise!”

The two seamen brought Father Umphred aboard the galley. “Truly, this is all a nuisance,” said Father Umphred. “I am delayed in my travels and you must suffer the bite of this brisk sea air.”

Aillas and Yane looked around the deck, while Umphred volubly explained the reason for his presence on the fishing boat. “My work is done in the Elder Isles! I have achieved wonderful things but now I must move on!”

Yane tied a rope to a stone anchor. Umphred spoke more feelingly than ever. “I have been guided by divine instruction! There have been signs in the sky, and prodigies known only to me! The voices of angels have spoken into my ears!”

Yane coiled the rope, and cleared it of kinks that it might run freely.

Umphred spoke on. “My good works have been manifold! Often I recall how I cherished the Princess Suldrun and assisted her in her hour of need!”

Yane tied the end of the rope around Umphred’s neck.

Umphred’s words tumbled over each other. “My work has not gone unnoticed! Signals from above have beckoned me onward, that I may achieve new victories in the name of the Faith!”

A pair of seamen lifted the anchor and carried it to the rail. Umphred’s voice rose in pitch. “Henceforth I will be a pilgrim! I will live like a bird of the wild, in poverty and abstention!”

Yane thoughtfully cut away Umphred’s pouch, and looking within discovered the glitter of gold and jewels. “Wherever you are going, you surely will not need so much wealth.”

Aillas looked around the sky. “Priest, it is a cold day for your swim, but so it must be.” He stood back. Yane pushed the anchor overboard. The rope snapped taut, jerking Umphred across the deck in a stumbling run. He clawed at the rail, but his fingers slipped; the rope pulled him over the side. He struck the water with a splash and was gone.

Aillas and Yane returned to Lyonesse Town and spoke no more of Father Umphred.