The Book of Dreams(44)

Hroudland was the first to notice me hesitating at the edge of the forest. He came forward, his face full of anxiety. To my surprise he did not ask where I had been. Instead he blurted, ‘Patch, make yourself scarce. The king is furious.’

I was utterly taken aback.

‘What have I done?’

‘Played the noisy fool and ruined the hunt for everyone else.’ My friend sounded resentful.

‘Bring that oaf over here!’ ordered an angry voice. It was the king and he had a face like thunder. Vulfard, in his green garb, lurked behind him, looking devastated.

My stomach growled with hunger as I walked forward. The group of courtiers nervously cleared a space around the infuriated king. Only Hroudland had the courage to step out and accompany me as I approached his uncle.

Carolus was fuming. He caught sight of the hunting horn dangling against my chest.

‘Hroudland, take that away from him. I never want to hear its note again,’ he stormed.

‘Your Majesty, I beg forgiveness,’ I stammered. ‘I was lost and trying to find my way.’

‘No wonder, you numskull. You couldn’t find your arse with your own hands.’ The king swung round and confronted Vulfard. ‘You said you sent your son to keep an eye on this buffoon!’

‘I did, my lord,’ answered the huntsman. He was shrivelled up with embarrassment. ‘The lad will get a whipping when he gets back.’

‘Walo is not at fault,’ I intervened.

‘He knows well enough not to blow the death call in jest, and wreck the hunt,’ snapped Vulfard.

‘But the hart was dead,’ I said.

There was the pause of a heartbeat, and then the king growled, ‘What hart?’

‘A large one, maybe eighteen points.’

I saw derisive looks appear on the faces of the royal party. Ganelon, Hroudland’s stepfather, was smirking.

The king narrowed his eyes.

‘You claim that you killed a hart of eighteen points?’ He sounded incredulous.

‘Yes, Your Majesty.’

He turned to Vulfard.

‘Can this be true?’

The huntsman shifted uncomfortably.

‘Possibly. We never saw the beast ourselves.’

‘I know that!’ the king snapped. ‘Your dimwit son and this lout frightened off every creature for miles around, puffing away like low musicians at a fairground.’ The king swung back to face me. ‘When did you kill this wondrous beast?’ His voice dripped with sarcasm.

‘Shortly after we reached the place in the line assigned to us, Your Majesty.’

‘And you are sure it has eighteen points?’

‘The rack was larger than the other one.’

The royal eyebrows shot up.

‘What other one?’

‘Back there, it appeared a little while later,’ I said weakly, indicating the forest behind me. ‘It had only sixteen points.’

‘Are you saying that today you killed two beasts, each fit to be royal quarry?’

‘I intended no disrespect.’

The king studied me for a long moment, scowling. Then Vulfard coughed discreetly.

‘I think he tells the truth, Your Majesty.’ He indicated to one side. Walo and Osric were entering the clearing. They were on foot and leading the two horses loaded with great slabs of meat. Dangling from the saddle of my bay gelding was an immense rack of antlers.

The king turned back to face me. He scowled, and for a moment I thought he was going to strike me. Suddenly he threw back his head and burst out in a great roar of laughter.

‘I hereby ban this young man from our forests and any future hunt of ours.’

I bowed my head obediently, and stared at the leaf mould on the ground. If I was forbidden from the forest, then I was unlikely ever to learn the identity of the mysterious archer who might have been an assassin.





Chapter Ten




NEXT DAY I WAS DISMISSED. I was ordered to Aachen while the king moved camp to a different area of the forest for another week of hunting. Hroudland later told me that his uncle’s good humour was restored when he personally killed a pair of wisents, bull-like animals with great shaggy hides, which ran wild in the forest.

I would have been happier if the king had stayed away even longer. Discipline in the royal household was slack in the king’s absence, and that made it less of a risk to continue my relationship with Bertha. Timing my visits carefully, usually well after dark and when the guards were drowsy, I was able to make my way discreetly to Bertha’s room on the ground floor and spend several nights with her. She encouraged my attendance and I was so smitten by her that I was convinced her affection for me was genuine, whatever Oton and the others claimed about her appetite for men.

‘We must think of an excuse for you to become a regular visitor,’ Bertha murmured. Her father was expected back in the next few hours, and we were lying side by side in her bed, contented and warm in the darkness. Before first light I would creep away to my own quarters.