Once upon a Spring morn

47

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Horses, men, Wolves, and a Bear: they crashed into and through and over the ranks of the Changelings.

Swords rived, spears impaled, arrows and bolts pierced, hooves trampled, fangs rent, and claws savaged. Shapechangers screamed and fell slain in pools of slime and slurry, and surviving Changelings broke and fled, only to be hauled down from behind, though a handful outran the pursuers. Some rose up to flap away, and several of these were brought to earth by bolt or arrow-including one brought down by the last pointed shaft from Celeste’s bow-and only a few escaped.

The warband formed a protective ring about the great jumble of boulders, and up clambered Borel and Alain, the latter no longer a Bear. And they embraced Celeste and held her close, and she wept in relief, as did they.

And Borel said, “Oh, Celeste, we thought we had lost you, that you had drowned, but then your letter came, and we set out straightaway, warbands and horses, to help you rescue Roel’s sister. But we were too late for that.”

“But you did rescue Avelaine, for this is she,” said Celeste, pointing to the maiden, “as well as rescue the rest of us.”

Then up came Vicomte Chevell, and he roared in laughter and said that he and his men would not have missed this for all the world, and he eyed in admiration the twice-rescued beautiful demoiselle Avelaine, and she blushed most modestly.

Clambering up came Anton of the Springwood, and Remy of the Autumnwood, and Jules of the Winterwood, and Bertran of the Summerwood: armsmasters all.

Accompanied by Gilles the Healer, a tall, slender, dark-haired man climbed up, one who had been exceptionally devastating in the fight; it was the chevalier Luc, betrothed of Princess Liaze of the Autumnwood, though Borel introduced him by his full title: Comte Luc du Chateau Bleu dans le Lac de la Rose et Gardien de la Cle.

There at the top of the mound, Gilles treated the wounds of Blaise, Laurent, and Roel, and the scrapes of Celeste and Avelaine, while down at the base of the boulders, Chirurgeon Burcet treated the ten or so warriors who had been injured in the battle with the Changelings.

Finally, aiding Blaise and Laurent, down they all clambered, and when they reached the ground Celeste said, “Come, let us leave this dreadful place and find an inn, for hot food and good wine I would have, and a bath and clean clothes, but mostly I would have sleep.” And so they set out and along the way, they stayed in inns and wayside manors and even in a bordello. And they ate hot meals and drank fine wines and took long baths and slept, and, of course, Celeste and Roel made sweet love.

When they came to the swamp, the men groaned, for they would have to pass through this distressing place again.

Late in the day they at last emerged from the mire and came to the Bridge of the Red Knight. Yet that fearsome warrior was not there, nor was his helm on a pike.

Why he was absent, they knew not, though Celeste proposed that he stood ward against only someone passing the opposite way.

After they had crossed over and had made their way down to the river below, as all men bathed in their turn to remove the muck of the mire, Luc said, “The toughest battle I ever fought was against the knight of the bridge.”

“He was indeed hard to kill,” replied Roel

“I agree,” said Laurent.

“Ah, oui,” added Blaise.

And these four chevaliers all eyed one another in speculation and broke out in laughter, and they all agreed that sooner or later, lances and chargers ready, they would take to the lists against one another, and then unto the fields.

The great warband was welcomed in Le Bastion, and they stayed there for a sevenday, and fetes were held every eve as they told and retold their many tales. It was during this time that Celeste learned that Luc’s steed Deadly Nightshade at the command of Liaze had been the one who actually killed Iniqui-“. . kicked the witch into the fire he did, well-trained knight’s warhorse that he is.” Too, Alain and Borel and all others had learned that Nefasi had been slain by the gray arrow loosed by Celeste.

“It means that there is but Hradian left of the four acolytes,” said Borel.

“But there is yet Orbane,” said Alain, “and even though he is entrapped in an inescapable prison, one day, I deem, he will have to be dealt with.” They paused at the ruins of the manor devastated by Lokar the Ogre, and Celeste laid a wreath of wildflowers at the door and prayed to Mithras to give the manor peace.

On they went, and finally, two full fortnights in all after the battle in the Changeling realm, they came to Port Cient.

Roel and Celeste stood on a candlelit veranda in the twilight and looked out over the harbor. There rode the Sea Eagle at anchor, her crew readying her for the voyage home. In the garden below the balcony, Vicomte Chevell and Avelaine sat in quiet conversation, and Chevell said,

“Lady Avelaine, might I come courting?”

“Oh, my lord, I am most sorry, but I am betrothed to another.”

“Betrothed?”

“Oui. He is someone I do not love, yet my parents arranged it so.”

“Non, Avelaine,” called down Roel.

When Avelaine turned and looked up at him, Roel said, “I did not mean to eavesdrop, Avi, but you are no longer betrothed. Maslin did not wait for you, but married another. You are free to choose for yourself.” Avelaine squealed in joy, and she blew a kiss to Roel.

Then she turned to Chevell and cast down her eyes most modestly and said, “Oui, my lord, you may indeed woo me, though you have my heart even now.” Across the brine sped the Sea Eagle, and the lookout above called out, “Land ho!” And within a candlemark the Eagle rode at anchor in the harbor at Port Mizon.

Vicomte Chevell escorted Celeste and Roel, Borel and Alain and Luc, and Avelaine and Laurent and Blaise to stand before King Avelar. When he had heard the full of their tale, Avelar praised them highly for what they had done, especially Celeste and Roel for ridding Faery of the Changeling Lord.

There was great joy in Port Mizon that eve, and the next four nights as well, but on the fifth day, during a noontide meal at the palace, even as Celeste spoke of their plans to set out for the Springwood on the morrow, a page came in and whispered to the king. Avelar nodded and the page sped away, and moments later a man in robes strode in, a roll of cloth under his arm.

“What is it, Sage Gabon?”

“My king, the map, it is- Here. Let me show you.” He unrolled the cloth. It was blank on both sides.

Startled, Chevell said, “This is the treasured map?”

“Oui. . or perhaps I should say it was,” replied Gabon.

Celeste reached into the breast pocket of her leathers and pulled out the vellum chart she had borne so very many days. Spreading it out, she gasped, for it, too, was blank.

Now Borel did the same with his copy of the map, and it was blank as well.

Blaise and Laurent also drew forth their copies to find those vellums unmarked.

“What does this mean? I wonder,” asked Avelar.

“Hsst!” said Demoiselle Avelaine. “Listen. What is that?”

In the subsequent quietness, all heard a faint sound of looms weaving, which faded into silence.

“Huah!” exclaimed Roel and shook his head. “I ween we now know just who the cartographers were. Cryptic, a cipher in places, a chart that only they could see would be needed, first by you, my lord, then by my brothers, then by Celeste and me, and finally by the warbands who rescued us. And it is-or rather was-on woven cloth.”

Avelar looked at Roel in puzzlement, and Celeste said, “My lord, Roel deems, as do I, that the Ladies Wyrd, Lot, and Doom have reclaimed the patterns woven into that piece of fabric, as well as those we drew.”

“But why?”

“Mayhap, my lord, so that Faery itself-or, that is, a great portion of it-will now remain a mystery.” Avelar held up his hands in a modest gesture of surrender and said, “Who are we to question the Three Sisters?”

Chevell laughed and said, “ ’Tis better this way, forever would I rather sail off into the unknown than to follow the tried and true.”

Avelaine gazed at her vicomte, and there was nought but adoration in her eyes.

Just after dawn of the following day, siblings and siblings-to-be and the warbands and a pack of Wolves set out for the Springwood, Vicomte Chevell riding at Avelaine’s side, Celeste and Roel together, with Luc and Blaise and Laurent laughing at some bon mot as out through the gates they rode.

Some four days later they crossed into the Springwood, and with her silver horn, Celeste summoned a Sprite and asked the wee winged being to relay the message to the manor that she and the others were on their way.

Three days after, they rode onto the grounds of Springwood Manor, and waiting for them was the full staff of the estate, and elements of those from the manors of the Winterwood and Autumnwood and Summerwood. And a great cheer rose up as the cavalcade emerged from the forest and fared onto the lush green lawn.

There, too, were waiting King Valeray and Queen Saissa, and their hearts swelled and tears came into their eyes at the sight of their offspring unharmed.

As well awaited two princesses and a princess-to-be: Liaze and Camille and Lady Michelle. And as the riders came to a stop, Luc leapt from his horse and swept Liaze up in his arms, and Alain sprang down and embraced his Camille, and Borel alighted and passionately kissed Michelle.

And in that moment, Alain gave a great whoop and lifted Camille up and whirled ’round, but then gently set her down. When the others looked at him in startlement he said, “My Camille is indeed with child.” During the ball that night, in between dances and among those who stood to the side and sipped wine, stories flew and tales were exchanged, their fragments overheard in passing:

“. . and when Laurent and I came to, we were standing in a courtyard dripping wet from the raging storm above. We had been fooled by a Gorgon, you see, and had been turned to stone, and-”

“Stone?”

“Oui, but apparently when Celeste slew the Gorgon, our enchantment ended and. .”

“. . and, oh, my, you should have seen Luc battle the Red Knight, a huge man, if man he was, because when Luc defeated him, the Red Knight vanished, but his helm. .”

“. . horses were jammed together in Vicomte Chevell’s Sea Eagle, and we had to keep them calm and from bit-ing one another, and when we reached Port Cient, they were frisky upon leaving the. .”

“. . heard the sounds of conflict, and then a battle cry, and Blaise and I ran to aid whoever was in hard combat with the Changelings, only to find Roel in melee and. .”

“. . the worst part? Oh, it was the swamp. Never have I been bitten by so many. .”

“. . I think he broke it when an arrow took his horse out from under him. . ”

“. . oh, yes, but he is quite handsome, isn’t he, now? I deem Lady Avelaine is quite fortunate to have. .”

“. . and it seems we galloped all the way from Port Cient to the land of the Changelings, and when we passed through the bound, we heard the Springwood battle cry; it was the princess. .”

“. . and so, Valeray, Avelar made me a vicomte, with lands starwise of Port Mizon, though much of my time is spent aboard the Sea Eagle , escorting merchants across perilous waters and. .”

“. .ah, oui, there will be weddings, for kings have been notified-King Avelar in the case of Vicomte Chevell and Lady Avelaine, and King Valeray in the case of Princess Celeste and Roel. . oh, and of course for Liaze and Luc and Borel and Michelle-and there are banns to post and weddings to plan and a Hierophant to be acquired, and. .”

Thus did the tales and gossip and conversations go.

And dances were danced, and food and drink consumed, and lovers slipped out into the cool spring eve and embraced in the silver light of the argent full moon and kissed. . and more.

At the midnight mark, King Valeray called a halt to the music, and he took stance upon the ballroom dais, and as servants passed among the gathering and doled out goblets of wine, Valeray called for quiet, for he would make a toast to the successful quest and to those who rode thereon, and he would toast the brides- and grooms-to-be, and of course he would toast the child to be born to Alain and Camille.

But the moment that all had a goblet in hand, including the servants, of a sudden there came the sound of shuttles and looms, and before the gathering stood three women: Maiden, Mother, and Crone; the Ladies Skuld, Verdandi, and Urd; the Fates Wyrd, Lot, and Doom-one slender, her robe limned in silver; one matronly, her robe limned in gold; and one seemingly bent with age, her robe limned in black.

A gasp went up from the gathering, yet Valeray and Borel and Alain, and Luc and Roel and Chevell, all bowed, the other men in the gathering following suit; and Saissa and Liaze and Celeste and Camille and Michelle and Avelaine curtseyed, the other gathered women doing likewise.

“Mesdames, ” murmured King Valeray upon straightening.

“Valeray,” said Verdandi.

“What would you have of us?” asked the king.

Verdandi looked at Urd, and she in turn peered at Celeste among the gathering and said, “The gray arrow?”

“It is in my quarters,” said Celeste. “Shall I fetch it?

It is broken.”

Urd cackled and said, “Broken? Nay.” And with a gesture, of a sudden the arrow appeared in her hand, and even as she held it, the shaft became whole and its leaden point keen. Then she looked at it and murmured,

“Even were I to let it stay broken, still it is too deadly to remain in mortal hands.”

“Why else have you come?” asked Borel, stepping forward.

Slowly Urd turned her head toward him and canted it to one side. “Just as when once I met you by a stream, ever bold, I see. Questioning the Fates, are we?” And then she cackled in glee.

Borel pushed out a hand in negation, and Michelle looked at him quizzically.

“I believe what my son means,” said Valeray, “is-”

“We know what he meant,” snapped Urd, and she turned to Skuld.

“Yes, we came to give warning,” said Lady Wyrd, “and it is this: for a while there will be peace, yet upon a dreadful time yet to come you will all be needed, as will others. Heed me, stand ready and relax not your guard, for there will be a- Ah, but I cannot directly reveal what I have seen, yet know that one among you will be the key.”

“The key?” asked Camille.

Skuld looked at her and smiled and said, “The key.”

“So peril yet comes,” said Valeray, his words a statement, not a question.

“It does,” said Skuld.

“Be ready,” said Verdandi.

“And on guard,” added Urd, and her gaze swept across the gathering to momentarily stop upon Luc, and then moved to Camille.

And the sound of looms swelled and then vanished, and the Sisters Three vanished as well.

The gathering stood stunned for a moment, but then Valeray lifted his glass and, with a rakish grin, said,

“Here’s to interesting times!”

To interesting times! cried they all.