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reasonable, "the Gnarlies are not devils. They are but familiars, Naturals as
some call them, of the same kind, but nowhere near as dangerous as the
trolls whichany good man with a sword need not fear. But we seldom see them
for they are of an Under-Earth persuasion, and only occasionally share our
mine-workings with us normally fleeing at the very sound of a Christian voice
or movement. Nor did I summon them."
"Will you chop words with me, unhappy Lord?" said the Bishop. "I blessed you,
as you asked. If that blessing woke you to some deep sin in your own soul,
best you examine yourself and see your confessor. I am not he."
"That's right," said Jim, beforeCumberland could say anything further. "It's
me you should be chopping words with, my Lord."
Cumberlandturned sharply upon him."You! What have you got to say to me?"
"Even the greatest Lord does well not to ignore what he may learn from even
an unimportant knight and Baron. I only ask that you listen."
Cumberlandtwitched slightly as if he would turn back to the Bishop, and then
evidently thought better of it.
"Well, what is it?"
"You have been at Court all your life," said Jim, "and it has been well there
with you. But none can tell when the warmest place on a bright and cloudless
day may suddenly lose its warmth as a cloud covers the face of the sun and
shadows begin to fall about him "
"Warm spots?Shadows? What in the name of the Devil himself are you talking
about?" roared the Earl.
Jim held up a placating hand.
It washis own fault. The Earl's lack of understanding was something he should
have expected.
The Earl was not short of intelligence. He had not held his position at the
right hand of the King, all these years, only by the uncertain tie of blood.
He was alert and quick to use his mind profitably.
But it had been a mistake to start making mysterious allusions. That might
have worked in Jim's own time, to make someone uneasy. But hinting at what one
meant simply was not the way of the fourteenth century at least inEngland .
The Middle Ages had been a time of plain speaking or at least the appearance
of such where a man had to be as good as his word, and his word plainly
understandable.
Jim put mysterious allusions aside.
"If certain rumors started circulating about you, my Lord," he said now, "you
might find that there was no longer any room for you at Court."
"No room forme ?"Cumberland burst into laughter, quite hearty, natural
laughter.
"Rumors of Witchery, my Lord," said Jim.
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The Earl stopped laughing and sobered up, but his answer was almost
good-natured. "Oh, that gabble about the Lady Agatha," he said. "I have
answered that quite plainly, and in public.All nonsense, of course!"
"But you did sponsor her introduction to the Court," said Jim. "And I was
thinking more of rumors about you having no choice about doing that, because
you were involved in Witchery yourself."
The hint of a smile onCumberland 's face, which had appeared there with his
own last words, was suddenly wiped away. He stared at Jim.
Chapter Thirty-Five
For a long moment, the Earl just stared at Jim. Then he snorted.
"You fool! Such a rumor might harm lesser men.But me? The King's brother?"
"Even Kings have been weakened by rumors, my Lord. Particularly when such
start being passed about by the common man and woman.Rumor, rhymes and a
sudden silence in the marketplace when you and those with you ride through.
Perhaps even a stone, or a lump of dung, flying out at you, suddenly, from the
hand of someone hidden in the crowd."
"So, these are the shadows you would alarm me with," saidCumberland ,
heavily. "Let me tell you I am not to be frightened by such. There are none of
those things you mentioned that will ever happen to me."
"Perhaps my Lord should not be too sure," said Jim. "After all, they
canhappen to anyone. The danger is what they do to power and place. Those who
are not with one of whom tales are told, will tend to withdraw, so as not to
be stained with the same color; and you know, my Lord as well as any man that
in high places those who are not with you tend to be against you. So it is
that by the time there is marketplace talk and disrespect, there is already
talk that the subject of rumor is ready to be brought down."
"Ah?" saidCumberland , jutting his lower jaw out at Jim. "And who is going to
start such rumors, throw such clods, and bring me down when I am
weakened?You?"
"I am distressed your Lordship should think so," said Jim.
"You did not answer me,"Cumberland growled.
"I meant," said Jim, "to say that, as a magician, even though a lesser one, I
can see shadows of the future. I am only warning your Lordship against them."
"Hah! So then I am warned!"
"That being so, my Lord," said Jim, "it only remains for you to tell me where
the warrants are being kept that accuse us of treason, so that I may magically
destroy them. I need not doubt, I take it, that no new warrants will be
issued, nor that I, nor Sir Brian Neville-Smythe, nor Dafyddap Hywel will be
bothered by any such things in the future."
The Earl chuckled.
"Hah!" he said, again. "Well, now, Sir Dragon Knight, I am not at all sure
those warrants can be delivered up to you, or that you can be assured that
there will be no more investigation of your loyalty in the future. For one
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thing, such matters are out of my hands. It will be up to the Justices that
may have already been named to judge you once you get to the Court."
"You think so, do you?" said Jim. "I am afraid I disagree with you, my Lord.
I want those warrants now, and also your word that we won't be troubled
again."
"And I said," repliedCumberland , his voice rising, "that you weren't going
to get the Goddamn warrants. As for your being what you call 'bothered' in the
future "
Reaching inside himself for the link to Carolinus' supply of magic, Jim
caused the daylight striking in through the windows of the Hall to be blanked
out, and all light within the Hall to be extinguished. He allowed the moment
of total darkness to last for perhaps ten seconds, before he brought light
back.
"You were too late, my Lord," he said. "The word has already gone out
throughoutEngland and through the Courtitself, that perhaps you, yourself, are
involved in Witchery, and have been for many years. You will hear the
whispering in the Court as you walk by, and in the streets you will find
silence and yes, even possibly some things thrown. I doubt that the King will
long wish to have someone close to him of whom that is said."
He looked closely atCumberland . The business of the moment of darkness had
been no more than that, of course. Everything else depended upon how much the
Earl would believe. He had certainly been shaken by the sermon that had
resulted when he asked the Bishop's blessing, and Jim was now betting
everything on his hope that the Earl's imagination would do the rest.
But he was mistaken. The Earl's face was very pale indeed this time, but his
jaw was still set like a bulldog's.
"In the land from which I've I came toEngland ," added Jim for good measure,
"the art of managing a rumor is well understood."
"Ah?" saidCumberland but with a growing uneasiness Jim thought that the tone
of his voice signaled not a further acceptance of defeat, but a sudden arousal
of hope. "Yes, I doubt not, it is a high Art, and no one inEngland would know
it as you know it. But as for these warrants you ask about, Sir Simon is
carrying them. You will have to have him in here though I see no one you could
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