The King, page 14
part #4 of The Jester King Series
The compass wavered for a moment and then pointed toward the tent exit. The prince turned around, and the compass held its position on the tent flap.
Billy grunted as he rolled to the side of the bed and put his feet on the floor. He shrugged his aching shoulder and gripped it with his left hand. Surprisingly, his ankle hurt little.
“Where do you think you’re going?” his captor asked.
“I’m coming with you.”
“Remain in your bed. This is no concern of yours.”
Billy looked the prince in the eye. “Oh, really?”
The prince narrowed his eyes, but when Billy didn’t budge, he smirked. “Very well. Come if you must.”
“I must.” Billy stood to follow the prince.
The prince grinned once again and turned to exit the tent, still carrying the truth compass with both hands.
“Allow me.” Billy pushed aside the flap.
The prince nodded and exited the tent.
They stood outside and surveyed the camp. The night remained cool, and the ground wet from a recent shower. It was a much larger camp than Billy had expected. The tents for five thousand men—a rippling sea of canvas—floated over the bottom of a broad valley. The moon shone from its seat high up in the sky and turned the white fabric of the tents pale blue, except where the amber glow of firelight forced its retreat.
The sentries on either side of the tent entrance snapped to with their spears pointing to the sky.
The prince turned to one of them. “Stay here. I’ll watch the prisoner.”
“Yes, Highness.”
Hereweald and Billy followed the compass towards the middle of the camp. As they cleared the innermost circle of tents, Billy spotted all the members of the rescue party, including the giant Camion, Aeth, and their damsel in distress, Lady Myrredith. They huddled around a campfire, surrounded by guards on all sides. The only one not fitted with chains was Myrredith.
When they approached closer, the compass led them straight for the prisoners. Lady Myrredith rose and turned around to face them. The prince froze and stared at her. Billy got on his tiptoes and saw that the compass pointed directly at her.
“You lied to me!” The prince was fuming.
“Oh William, what are you doing up?”
“Never mind him. You were the one who conspired to kill Gaelyn.”
“No.” Myrredith backed up half a step.
The prince advanced to maintain his distance. “I tried to show you my heart, but all you wanted to do was tear it out.”
“No.” Myrredith stepped to her right. “I ...”
“Stop!” Billy exclaimed.
“You weren’t satisfied with bringing down the fairest Prince of Gwythia. You had to finish your foul purpose with me.” His eyes boiled with murderous intent.
Myrredith looked terrified. Again, she stepped to the side, and again the prince followed in kind. Billy reached out to stop him.
“Your Highness, that’s not possible.”
“Quiet! She obviously fooled you as well.”
“But she wasn’t there.”
The prince stopped. He then looked down at the truth compass and saw that it pointed away from Myrredith and towards a tent just behind the prisoners.
At that moment, the compass jiggled, then moved. The prince turned and stepped towards the tent. He froze, and the compass continued to move. Billy strained to see what direction the leaf pointed.
Myrredith stood behind them with her hands on her hips. “What’s going on?”
Both princes shushed her, and she stepped back.
A moment later, the flap of the tent opened, and out popped Lord Snegaddrick, half dressed and stumbling. The former ambassador blinked and rubbed his eyes.
“What’s going on out here? I was trying to sleep—” He shut his mouth when he saw his prince a few paces away. “Your Highness. What can I do for you?”
“You can take a few paces that way.” The prince nodded to his right.
Puzzlement writ on his face, Snegaddrick pointed to his left. “What, over there?”
“Aye.”
Snegaddrick looked down, shrugged, and walked to his left.
“Stop. Now walk in the other direction.”
Snegaddrick pointed. “That way?”
“Aye!” The prince had a bit of fire in his voice.
Billy watched as Hereweald followed Snegaddrick with his truth compass.
“Now walk around me in a circle.”
His advisor adjusted his garments and walked in a circle.
“What is that you are holding, Your Highness?”
“Keep walking.”
All the guards and prisoners were watching with great interest as Hereweald ordered his advisor this way and that, and each time, his voice grew more forceful.
“What is it, Your Highness?” Snegaddrick made another turn. “Have I been lax? I’m no soldier, you know. All these orders. Is it something I said? Something I did?”
“Halt, you miscreant.”
Snegaddrick turned and faced Hereweald. “What?”
The prince took two quick strides and kicked Snegaddrick. “Traitor!”
Snegaddrick fell back to one knee. “Your Highness—”
“Villain!” The prince gave another kick, which sent Snegaddrick onto his back.
“There’s obviously been a mistake!”
“Yes, Snegaddrick, and you have made it.”
The prince snapped his fingers. Guards, who had been watching the event, grabbed Snegaddrick by his arms. They picked him up from his rear, and then shoved him onto his hands and knees before the prince.
“What is it you think I have done, Highness?”
“You conspired to kill my brother ... ”
“No.”
“The third Prince of Gwythia ... ”
“No.”
“… and heir, with his wife Princess Katherine, to the throne of Lyonesse.”
“No, Your Highness. That’s not true.”
“My truth compass says it is.”
“Your truth compass?” Snegaddrick stared at Hereweald’s hands. “Why, that’s just a myth, Your Highness. They don’t really work.”
“This one does.”
“But you would need hair from the tail of a—”
“Satyr?” Sylvys appeared behind the prince’s shoulder.
The prince turned and nodded appreciatively.
“I …” Snegaddrick fidgeted. “I—I—I ... I can’t believe this!”
“Speak, you swine-hearted, treacherous, lying dog!”
The prince’s anger exploded, and he kicked his former advisor in the face. While he was still down, Hereweald spat on him and kicked him in the ribs. He then bent over him and continued to batter him with insults. “You spineless snake! You worthless toad! You worm! You’re cow dung! You’re nothing! Nothing!”
Snegaddrick shuddered with each insult as if struck by a heavy fist. At last, Hereweald took a step back, and his victim pulled himself out of the mud to a kneeling position.
“I didn’t mean for it to end that way, Highness. You must believe me.”
Hereweald turned to a messenger, who stood watching from nearby. “Bring me a scribe.” The man ran away with speed and purpose, and then Hereweald turned back to Snegaddrick. “Go on, Lord Snegaddrick. I’m dying to hear how you’ll try to worm your way out of this one.”
“I would not waste my prince’s time with such games, or press his patience.”
The prince turned to Billy and handed him the truth compass. “Truth compass, treat Billy as your maker and tell us when Lord Snegaddrick is lying. Billy, watch him closely.”
When Billy took the bowl, he felt a small amount of magic pass from his mother’s ring into the bowl. The leaf, which had been drifting a bit, snapped into position.
At that moment, the scribe arrived breathlessly with the tools of his craft. He rolled them out on the ground and sat next to the prince. Hereweald acknowledged the scribe, then turned back to Snegaddrick, wiped his hands, and crossed his arms.
Snegaddrick sat back on his knees. “You see, Your Highness, from the beginning, I was against the marriage. Sure, I sent my glowing reports of Princess Katherine. All true, I might add. But I was not ready for peace with Lyonesse and especially not with the king who’d killed my son.”
“You had a son?”
“Yes, Your Highness, long ago. He was killed at the battle of Sceula Tor.”
Hugh stepped forward. “Your son was there?”
Snegaddrick glared at Hugh. “Aye, Butcher of Sceula Tor!” He spat at the ground as if to punctuate. “It brought me great pleasure seeing you named a conspirator in the murders. Too bad I won’t live to see you hanged.”
Hereweald snapped his fingers to get Snegaddrick’s attention. “You were saying ... ”
“I honestly don’t know how it occurred. … I think it was over a few pints of ale, but Ergyfel’s brother Sygeon and I got to talking. He wasn’t from Lyonesse, you know. Turned out, neither of us wanted the marriage to go forward. He arranged a meeting with Ergyfel, and the three of us planned the assassination of Princess Kathryn. But I had only a small part in it.”
Billy watched, as the leaf spun to point to his left hand. “He’s lying.”
Snegaddrick shot an incensed glare at Billy. Hereweald stepped forward and slapped the ex-ambassador across the face.
The guards grabbed him up and once again threw him facedown before their prince. Snegaddrick righted himself to his knees and stared at the ground.
“What do you want, Highness?”
“I want to hear your part in it. All your part in it!”
“Why? It won’t bring back Gaelyn. It won’t bring back our bonny prince.”
Hereweald stepped forward and struck him again. “You will not say his name again. To hear you speak his name with your treacherous tongue disgusts me.”
After a moment to collect himself, Snegaddrick restarted his tale. “It was I who recruited Don Miguel. Humph. They were going to use one of Sygeon’s clumsy operatives. They didn’t know a trained assassin was right under their haughty noses, but I did. You see, I had used him before. But that is another story.”
“Yes. One story at a time.”
“Well, there really isn’t much more to tell, Your Highness. Don Miguel was successful in his mission, but before he could make good on his escape, your brother and Billy caught him. If it weren’t for that encounter, your brother would be alive, at home in fair Gwythia.”
“What happened next?”
“Ergyfel was hosting a feast that evening, a kind of diversion, and I was in attendance, partly to secure my alibi should I come under suspicion. Shortly after the feast began, I saw the Spaniard whispering in Ergyfel’s ear. By the way he held his hand, I could tell Don Miguel was injured, and I could see that whatever he had said to Ergyfel had upset him. So, after a short while, I approached Ergyfel. He pulled me aside and told me to collect a particular dagger from Don Miguel and hide it in Billy’s room. I found the Spaniard telling one of his degenerate tales to some eager gluttons. When I sat next to him, he slipped me the dagger, and I naively did as I was told. I think Ergyfel had planned to betray me, but he made Billy his scapegoat instead. So, I slipped back into the feast and continued as if nothing had happened until the alarm sounded. The rest, I think you know.”
“And what was the reward for your part?”
“What do you mean, Your Highness?”
“Surely you would have bargained for something more to help Ergyfel; something to sweeten the pot.”
“But I’ve already told his Highness. My reward was revenge for my son and continued war with a country and king I hate.”
Billy cleared his throat. “There’s something more.”
Hereweald glanced at Billy, and then back to Snegaddrick. “A shrewd man like Ergyfel would never have trusted those motives alone. He would have wanted to know you had a tangible price. And I’m sure, knowing you, it was steep.”
Snegaddrick grunted. “I have sorely underestimated his highness’s resourcefulness.” He bowed his head, admitting his defeat. “My apologies.”
“So, what was it?”
“All right.” Snegaddrick held up his hands. “Ergyfel promised to pay me a healthy sum in gold and jewels for my part. But that’s it.”
“That is all?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Hereweald turned to Billy. “Well?”
Billy watched the compass. “He’s holding something back. There’s still something more.”
“That thing can’t be working!” Snegaddrick shouted. “My prince, surely you cannot believe that—that—that fairytale over my word!”
“It’s working fine.” Hereweald looked over Billy’s shoulder. “In fact, I believe it is working better now than a moment ago.”
Hereweald then stepped closer and leaned forward so that his face was very near to Snegaddrick’s. “What are you hiding?”
The prince’s one-time advisor turned away, but Hereweald grabbed him by the jaw and forced his face forward. Snegaddrick clenched his eyes closed, and then pulled away from the prince’s grip. They repeated this a few times before the former ambassador relented. He stared into the prince’s eyes; his own filled with anger and pain.
Snegaddrick held his gaze and whispered, “I cannot tell, Your Highness.”
Hereweald stared at him. “Your life is already forfeit, man. What profit is there for you in holding back?”
“I’m not concerned for my life, Highness.”
The prince narrowed his eyes as he examined Snegaddrick’s face. “Whom are you protecting?”
Again, Snegaddrick whispered. “I still have a wife and a daughter.” Then he leaned back from the prince and announced, “I throw myself upon the mercy of the king.”
Hereweald looked surprised, but then stood up and walked in a circle around Snegaddrick, while scratching the stubble on his chin. At last, he stopped. “As a Lord of Gwythia, it is your right to request judgment by the king, and so you shall have it.”
The prince turned to the guards. “Take him to my tent and make sure he doesn’t leave.”
The men picked up their charge and hurried him away. Hereweald made eye contact with Billy and held it.
“How are you feeling?”
Billy scrunched his injured shoulder and flexed his ankle. “I’m actually feeling better, thank you.”
“Then come with me.”
Hereweald and Billy followed the soldiers who carried Snegaddrick, and the scribe got up to accompany them. The prince turned to the scribe and held up his hand.
“Go back to your tent, and perfect what you have transcribed while it is fresh in your mind. Then make the usual copies. I will call for you later.”
The scribe bowed and left.
As the two princes approached Hereweald’s tent, the Prince of Gwythia turned to his young companion. “Billy, on your princely right as heir to the throne, do you promise never to reveal to a living soul what you are about to hear?”
The prince’s demand of an oath took Billy by surprise, but he nodded. “I do.”
The prince looked up from the truth compass in Billy’s hands. “Good.”
Hereweald held open the tent flap for Billy, and then entered behind him. He ordered the guards on either side of Snegaddrick and those outside the tent to leave.
When the prince was satisfied, he turned to Snegaddrick. “There are no royal scribes, nor warriors to hear. It is only you and me, Snegaddrick, and this Prince of Lyonesse, whom I have sworn to a solemn oath on his birthright never to reveal what passes between us.”
Snegaddrick looked up at Billy with tear stained cheeks and then to Hereweald. “Very well, my prince. What will you have of me?”
The prince grabbed a chair for Billy, then one for himself, and they sat in a close semicircle, with Snegaddrick on the floor before them.
“As before, I want to know everything about this plot. As cunning as you are, I know you wouldn’t plan a nap without some kind of permission from above. Who in my father’s court conspired with you, and what was your price? I want the truth, now.”
“You don’t know what you are asking for, my prince.”
“Let me be the judge of that. You just tell me what you know, and Billy will see to it that you don’t wander from what’s true.”
Snegaddrick bowed his head.
One spell from the black tome and he’d beg to tell us the truth, Billy thought before forcing down his desire for revenge.
Hereweald crossed his arms and leaned back. “Tell me, Snegaddrick. You hinted that your wife and daughter might be placed in danger if you should tell me what I wish to know. Let’s start with that.”
“I assure Your Highness that if what I know were to leave this tent, they would be dead shortly.”
“How is that possible? How can you be so sure they would die?”
“Because I know well the man who would have it accomplished.”
“How could this man act with such impunity?”
“Because their deaths wouldn’t be seen as a crime.”
“What? How?”
“Public execution, Highness.”
“Public execution?”
“By strangulation.”
The prince shot up and paced around his tent. After a few laps, he stopped behind his chair and examined the man on the floor.
Billy felt uncomfortable in the silence. “He’s been telling the truth ... so far.”
Hereweald addressed Snegaddrick. “I know now why you have been so circumspect, Lord Snegaddrick. And why I have felt that you were keeping something back from me on this campaign. Yes, a great many pieces to a complex machine I unwittingly brought with me from Gwythia are coming together.”
Snegaddrick nodded. “Of that I’m sure.”
“When I received news of Gaelyn’s murder, I was offshore of Albion, awaiting final orders to invade. The whole Albion campaign—building ships, training, hiring mercenaries—it was all a ruse, wasn’t it?”
Snegaddrick bit his lip. “Aye.”
“How long have you coveted your current title, Lord Snegaddrick?”
The former ambassador smiled. “You might as well ask me how long I have wanted to breathe.”
