The Knight

Chapter 41. Org

He bites, sar. I oughta tell you dot. ‘Nhe’s bigger now dan when Duns catched him.”

I said okay, feeling a little sick. Standing in back of Uns in the clear moonlight, the ogre did not look much taller than he was, but its shoulders were huge. As well as I could tell its head was twice as big as his, but on those shoulders it looked too small. I could see the arms were so long they touched the ground, but I was too dumb to realize right away that it was walking on its knuckles.

“Quick, ta, Sar Able.” Uns sounded proud. “You watch out, sar. Don’ dink he’s slaw jus’

’cause he’s sa big. He’s fas’, ‘n he’ll hit wid his hands fas’. Slap ut ya, only dey don’ feel like no slaps.”

I said, “You sound as if you fought him too.”

“Not like Duns done, sar. He beat me easy, on’y I made him see he had ta have me. Somebody ta take care a’ him. I dink he was goin’ ta eat me, dough.”

“Well, he doesn’t have to have me.” I stepped a little closer. “He can eat me if he can.”

Org’s left hand slashed faster than any sword I have ever seen. I tried to duck, but the edge of it got the back of my head. I was half stunned, but knew I had to get inside those long arms before I was knocked out. I went in hard, slamming my shoulder against his great bow belly. It was like hitting a boulder. I drove my fists into it, short jabs with the strength of big comers behind them, right and left, and right and left, again and again. His scales were ripping the skin off my knuckles, but I did not feel it until later. What happened next was that he picked me up and threw me. I ought to remember flying through the air, but I do not.

When I came to, I was lying on wet grass and feeling like I had swallowed soap. I knew I had gone to sleep when I ought to have been doing something else, something really important, but I could not think what it was. Pretty soon Bold Berthold would come and see I had not finished the job, and he would be too nice to say anything and I would feel like I ought to just kill myself and get it over.

But maybe I could see what the job was if I could just sit up, and if I could I could start doing it and be hard at work when he came and that would be better. Then I heard a dog and I thought it was sheep or something, I had promised to watch sheep for somebody and fallen asleep. Except that it was dark, just moonlight all around and probably the sheep ought to be in a pen someplace and I had not penned them, and had gone to sleep before the sun went down.

The dog sounded as big as a bear.

Bold Berthold was most likely dead. Disira was dead too, and I had given little Ossar to the Bodachan when they gave me Gylf. I got up, dizzy and near to chucking. The grass was barley, high already but nowhere near ready for harvest.

When I found Org, Gylf had him by the throat and Gylf was black and as big as a horse. He was shaking Org like a rat, and Org was trying to get loose while a two-headed snake of fire and brass struck at his face. I yelled at the snake until it quit and changed into Uri and Baki in a cloud of smoke.

I made them help me get Gylf to let go. I do not think I have ever done any work rougher than that. Baki and I kept trying to pry his jaws apart, with him throwing us around when he shook Org and the sticks Uri found for us breaking. When we finally got him off Org fell down limp, and I knew just exactly how he felt. I told him I was sorry, that I had wanted for us to have a fair fight, and he had won it and I knew it. Maybe I should have offered him my armor and the horses, but I did not think of it then and he was not a knight anyway. I said that I would never claim to have won, and whenever anybody asked I would tell the truth.

Gylf did not want to go back to dog size, but I made him, and I helped Org get up and promised Gylf would not go for him. “I’m ready to fight again if you want to,” I said. (I knew it was not true, but I thought Org probably felt worse than I did.) “If you need a few minutes to catch your breath, that’s okay. But we can’t take too long, because I’ve got to get back to Sheerwall Castle.”

I have had some big surprises in my life, and that was one of the biggest. Org got down on the ground again and crawled over to my feet on his belly.

Uri said, “He yields, Lord. That is his surrender.”

I said, “Is that right, Org? Are you saying you give up?”

He moaned, and put my foot on his head. It was colder than any rock.

Baki said, “He wishes to join us, beautiful naked Lord.” Uri laughed at that, and I wanted to run off and hide in the barley.

“These two Aelfmaidens call themselves my slaves,” I explained to Org. I had my hands over my privates, and I felt like the biggest fool in the world. “They think you want to be my slave too.” I stopped for a minute, still dizzy and wondering whether he understood any of it.

Finally I said, “That’s what they want us to think they think, anyhow. Is that what you want?”

He grunted twice.

“There!” Baki sounded like she had won the lottery. “You see, Lord? It says uh-huh.”

I got mad. “No, I don’t, and I don’t know what he said. I don’t believe you do either.”

I found my sword belt and put it on; I was not sure I could crack that skull with Sword Breaker, but I was willing to try and I could not stop thinking about what the people back at Sheerwall would say if I killed the last ogre. With him lying on the ground the way he was, it was a terrific temptation; so I made him stand up.

He did, sort of crouching.

Uri ran her fingers up and down my back. “You have not accepted him, Lord. He fears that if he stands you will take it as a gage of battle.”

I had my hand on Sword Breaker’s hilt. “If you’re my slave, Org, I can sell you. Do you understand that? I can, and I probably will. Is that what you want?”

He shook his head. The motion was not really right, but close enough that I knew what he meant. I said, “What do you want, then? I can’t let you go back to Nukara’s house. I promised her I’d get rid of you if I could. If I let you go free—well, Uns was afraid you’d kill cattle and sheep, but I’m afraid you’d kill people.”

“Wi’ you,” he muttered.

I did not know what to say, so I got Baki to hold my sword belt while I pulled on my wet clothes again. When I had my cloak back on, I said, “You mean like Pouk? It’s going to be really hard for me to keep people from killing you.”

Org dropped down again and crawled over to the new place where I was standing. “Wi’ you, Master.”

“Okay, you can be my servant.” I said that before I really thought about it, and there were times afterward when I wished I had thought it over more. “Only listen here. If you’re going to serve me, you’ve got to promise you won’t kill anybody unless I say it’s all right. You mustn’t kill livestock either, unless I say you can.” I was not sure he understood livestock, so I said, “No horses or cattle or sheep or donkeys. No dogs and no cats. No fowls.”

He looked up (I saw his eyes glow in the moonlight), and I think he was deciding whether I meant it. After a moment or two, he nodded.

“You’ll get hungry, but your hunger isn’t going to get you off the hook if you disobey me. Understand?”

Uri said, “I suppose you will want us to carry him off to Aelfrice and nursemaid him for you whenever he is in your way. Well, you can whistle for it.”

“No shit?” I hitched my sword belt around so I could get at Sword Breaker quick if I wanted her. “I guess you’re not my slaves after all.”

Baki tried to look humble. “We will do whatever you ask, Lord. We must. But I doubt that we could take him to Aelfrice with us. He is too big—”

Uri nodded, putting a lot of energy into it.

“Besides, he is too stupid. Once we had him there, we could not control him. We could not do it here even with Gylf helping.”

I said okay.

“You have not asked my advice,” Uri said, “but I will offer it just the same. I knew some of these creatures when they were common. They are stupid, lazy, and treacherous. But they are very good at hiding themselves and sneaking up on people, because they are of whatever color they wish to be. If you order this one to follow you without letting himself be seen, few would catch even a glimpse of him. I will not say no one would, because much would depend on where you went and how good the light was. Just the same, I think you might be surprised at how few did.”

I shrugged, wishing I could ask Gylf’s advice. “All right, we’ll try it. But first, I want to take him back to the house and show him to Duns and Nukara, and find out what’s become of Uns. After that I’ll introduce him to Pouk, I suppose. Pouk will have to do most of the watching and feeding. I only hope Pouk doesn’t become ogre-food himself.”

Uri smiled. “He did not eat Uns.”

“No, but it might be better if he had. Go back to Aelfr—”

“What is it?” Baki asked.

“Go back, and tell Queen Disiri, if you should see her—if you can find her, I mean—how much I’d like to be with her. How much I love her, and how grateful I am for all the favor she’s shown me.”

They said they would, and disappeared into the shadows.

I turned to Gylf. “If you’re not an Aelfdog, and I have to admit you don’t act like one, exactly what are you?”

Gylf only looked doleful, lying down and resting his muzzle between his paws.

“Can’t you tell me? Come on, Gylf! Are you really one of the Valfather’s dogs? That was what they said.”

He looked at Org significantly.

“He counts. Is that what you’re saying? You won’t talk while he’s around?”

Gylf nodded the way he had when I had first gotten him.

“Another disadvantage. Well, maybe there are advantages to having you, too, Org, but I haven’t found out about them yet. I hope so.” I started back to the house, motioning for them to follow me, and they both did.

Disiri was watching us then. I know that because of something that she gave me when we got here, not a drawing (although I thought it was a drawing at first) but a cutout of black paper glued to blue paper: a knight swaggering along with his hand on the hilt of a short sword; a monstrous thing behind him taller than he is, shambling on bowed legs with one scaly hand upon the knight’s shoulder; and a big dog that looks small because it is following the monster. I have put it where I see it every day. It has not made me wish to go back to Mythgarthr, but I know it will someday.

The kitchen windows looked bright and cheerful when we caught sight of Nukara, Duns, and Pouk at last. I did not really feel like I was coming home, but it was like that. I would be able to eat—I had not eaten much before the fight—and to warm myself in front of the fire. Right then it seemed like everything that anybody could ever want.

All that counted, but it was not just that. I had been talking to Gylf and Uri and Baki, and even to Org, which was okay. But the voices I heard through the greased skin in the kitchen windows were human, all of them. Sometimes that can make a big difference.

Pouk opened the door when I knocked. “There you are, sir. Missed you, I did. Knew you wasn’t ...”

He had seen the ogre behind me. I said, “This is Org, Pouk. You’re not to harm him. If he misbehaves, tell me.”

Pouk stood there frozen, with his mouth open. I do not believe he had heard a word I said.

“Org, this man is Pouk, another servant. He will see to it that you’re fed and otherwise cared for. You must do what he says, exactly like you would do what I said.”

Org grunted and looked at Pouk, and Pouk took a couple of steps backward. Maybe I ought to say here that Org did not snarl or anything, ever. He did not smile, and he did not frown. His eyes were like two black beads. They looked small in a big face that was mostly mouth. It was not a human face or anything close to that. A dog’s face or a horse’s face is a lot more human-looking than Org’s.

I went on into the house, and Org came in behind me. Gylf went around us to lie in front of the fire. Duns and Nukara had been sitting at the table with Pouk, or that was how it seemed. They had stood up, probably, when Pouk went to the door. Now they looked every bit as out of it as he did. “Here’s your ghost,” I told them. “A solid one. Hear the floorboards creak? If you’d like to touch him, go right ahead.”

Duns tried to talk three times before he could say “You fought him?”

“I did, and I didn’t like it, either. He beat me, and then he surrendered to me. It’s kind of a long story, and I’d rather not get into the whole thing just now.”

“Where’s Uns?” Nukara asked. “Where is my son?”

“I don’t know. He went with me and helped me, and I was thinking of taking him on to work with Pouk for a while if he wanted. But when Org and I fought, he disappeared.”

“Run off?” Pouk had recovered himself somewhat.

“I didn’t see him go, so I don’t know. If he did, I can’t blame him. I felt like running too.”

Gylf growled at Org, who seemed not to hear him.

“I’ll have a word wit him,” Duns was saying, “when he gits hum.”

“You don’t have to chew him out,” I said. “He doesn’t have it coming.”

Pouk had drawn his knife. “We goin’ to kill that now, sir?”

“Kill him after he gave up?” I shook my head. “If you’d been paying attention, you’d know what we’re going to do. We’re going to take him back to Sheerwall with us, and you’re going to take care of him.”

Pouk nodded. “We’ll do for him there, sir, and have a hundred to help us.”

“They’ll do for him, you mean, if we don’t stop them, and he’ll kill ten or twenty of them first. We’ve got to find a way to keep that from happening.”

Nukara gave me bread and cheese, and more soup. She found the carcass of a sheep for Org, and had me give it to him. He ate it bones and all, and seemed to be satisfied.

After that, we left. I kept thinking about my fight with Org and what I was going to do with him; Pouk probably asked questions, but I doubt that I answered them. Then we topped a hill and saw Sheerwall with the full moon behind it—the high, square towers crowned with battlements. Later I saw Utgard, which was a whole lot bigger (so big it scared you). And Thortower, which was taller and prettier. But Sheerwall was Sheerwall, and there was nothing else like it. Not for me.

I think it was a little after midnight by the time we got there. Master Agr had told me the password, even though I told him we should get back before sundown. Now I saw that he had been right. I yelled for the sentries and when they challenged me I gave it to them and they loosed the pawl. I had never seen the drawbridge let down before, and wished I could have seen more of it. As it was, about all I saw was the big chain moving and the stone counterweights going up. Sheerwall had a good wide moat and a narrow bridge without railings. I was a little scared and cantered across just to look like I was not.

When I got to the other side, I called the sentries over so I could talk to them. “In another minute something will come across your bridge that you won’t believe,” I told them. “I’m not going to ask you to promise not to tell anybody about it. If you think it’s your duty to report it, you ought to do your duty. I will ask you not to gossip about it. Can I have your word on that?”

They say I could.

“Good. Like I said, you can report it if you think you should. But I’m ordering you not to fight it or try to stop it from crossing over. If you do, you’ll have to fight me too. Just let it come across, and I’ll be responsible for anything it does.”

The older sentry said, “Good enough for us, sir.”

I sort of grinned at him. “You haven’t seen it yet.” I was about to call to Pouk to tell Org that he could come across when I heard more horses on the bridge. It was Pouk, riding his and leading the rest, with Gylf trotting in back to make them keep up. I said, “I thought I told you to stay with Org until I yelled.”

“Aye aye, sir.” Pouk let go of the pommel long enough to touch his cap. “I’m tryin’ to stay with him, sir. He’s in here, sir. In this here bailey, sir.”

“You mean he crossed without me seeing him?”

“No, sir. Not over this bridge here, sir. He swum th’ moat.” Pouk was staring around the dim courtyard beyond the portcullis. “Then he come around behind, like.”

“I see. But I don’t see him. Do you?”

Pouk hesitated, afraid of getting me angry. “No, sir. Not this minute I don’t, sir. Only I think I know where he is, sir, an’ if you want him I’ll try to fetch him out.”

“Not now.” I turned back to the sentries. “I won’t report this. You can do whatever you want to.”

The older one cleared his throat. “We’re with you, Sir—Sir ...”

“Able of the High Heart.”

“Sir Able, long as you’re with us.”

“I’m on your team, and I’m going to put that servant Pouk should have kept with him in the dungeon.”

The younger said, “That’s good, sir.”

“I thought you’d like it.” I was grinning again. “I’ll have to find the head man there and talk to him, I guess, but it can wait ’til morning. He’s probably in bed, and I’d like to be in bed myself. Who should I ask for?”

“Master Caspar, sir. He’s under Master Agr, sir, and he’s Chief Warder. You know where the Marshal’s Tower is?”

“I’m staying there.”

“Well, sir, you get on the stair in there like you would, only go down ‘stead of up. First door you come to will be his taburna, sir.”

“Thanks.” It was not until I got off my horse that I knew how bone-tired I was. “Pouk, take them to the stable, all of them. Unsaddle them. Make sure they get water and oats, and clean stalls.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

“You know where my room is.”

Pouk nodded. “Aye, sir.”

“Good.” I wanted to slump, but I knew I must not. I stood very straight instead, with my shoulders back and my chest out. “I’ll be there as soon as I’ve seen about Org. Take our bags up there—everything we had on the boat and what we got off Sir Whatever-it-was. If the grooms give you a hard time, tell them it’s my order.”

“Aye aye, sir!”

The moat stunk, and the filth splashed by my boots was horse piss and droppings, but I did not care; I headed for the darkest corner of the bailey, knowing what I wanted to do, and knowing that after I got it done I could go to bed.

I was a woman in a dirty bed in a stuffy little room. An old woman sitting beside my bed kept telling me to push, and I pushed, although I was so tired I could not push hard, no matter how hard I tried. I knew my baby was trying to breathe, and could not breathe, and would soon die.

“Push!”

I had tried to save; now I was only trying to get away. He would not let go, climbing on me, pushing me underwater.

The moon shone through pouring rain as I made my way down the muddy track. At its end the ogre loomed black and huge. I was the boy who had gone into Disiri’s cave, not the man who had come out. My sword was Disira’s grave marker, the short stick tied to the long one with a thong. I pushed the point into the mud to mark my own grave, and went on. When the ogre threw me, it became such a sword as I wished for, with a golden pommel and a gleaming blade.

I floated off the ground and started back for it, but I could no longer breathe.