Read Online The Incorporated Knight by L. Sprague de Camp, Catherine Crook de Camp - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: L. Sprague de Camp, Catherine Crook de Camp
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"Nay, my lord. This cantrip calls for my rarest ingredients and leaves me fordone for a sennight. Time presses; shall we begin?"
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A puff of displaced air announced the return of Baron Emmerhard to the Great Temple of Kromnitch, just as the Supreme Pontiff lowered the royal crown, its great gems winking in the lamplight, on to the head of the kneeling Valdhelm. Since all eyes were fixed on the twinkling, many-hued gems, the only one to notice Emmerhard's materialization was the person standing directly behind him, in the front rank of the knights.
Sir Fredlin Yorgenson of Aviona, far to the north, blinked and stared in disbelief at the baron's suddenly visible back. When Emmerhard disappeared, over an hour before, Sir Fredlin assumed that he had dropped off to sleep on his feet and that he had only dreamed of a man who had stood before him. Now Fredlin was sure that he had not dozed; but he decided never to cast doubt upon his sanity by telling of this phenomenon.
-
That eventide, Baron Emmerhard sat in his suite at the inn, fuming. "A pox on that young extortioner!" he barked. "I ought to have snatched the damned parchments out of his hands and destroyed them. But, by the time I bethought me of that, Baldonius had already witnessed them, and the whelp had returned them to his scrip. Besides, he's a well-thewed youth, and I'm not so young as whilom."
"Why not see our counselor-at-law, Doctor Rup-man?" asked Gerzilda. "Surely he could find a way out of these legal gyves that Dambert's son has tricked you into."
"Nay, nay, puss," said Emmerhard. "Rupman's legal fees would exceed all that I owe Eudoric under my bond. And, forsooth, when I look at the matter with the eye of reason, that's the only one of the three instruments that truly hurts. 'Tis nought to me if Eudoric Dambertson strut about with 'sir' before his name. And whether he wed thee or not is, in fine, a matter for thy choice."
"If Eudoric's coach enterprise succeed, we may recover our coin," added Baroness Trudwig.
"A big 'if,' my dear," grumped Emmerhard. "I've lost faith in the scheme, what of the long delays. Nor am I fully convinced that such a partnership be meet for a nobleman, despite Eudoric's argument that anything to do with horses be a gentlemanly pursuit ipso facto. Still, 'tis not impossible."
"What said Count Petz when thou didst return his coronet?"
"He thought it a splendid joke, albeit that little grasshopper of a wizard, Calporio, was vexed at the expenditure of his costly enchantment on such a sleeveless errand. But Petzi, between roars of laughter, said he was thankful that the spell had first been tested on his faithful vassal—me—'stead of on's fat and gouty self. A murrain on all magical mummeries! Now, my dears, ye'd best get on with your robing and primping, lest we be late for the royal feast and the coronation ball."
-
Feeling very tall and noble in his gilded spurs, Sir Eudoric handed the reins to Jillo and swung down from the driver's seat of his coach in the courtyard of Castle Zurgau. Baron Emmerhard sourly regarded the gleaming paint, as yet unmuddied and unmarred.
"Well, my lord?" said Eudoric.
Emmerhard jerked a thumb. "Thou shalt find her in the flower garden."
Eudoric left the coach in charge of Jillo. In the flower garden he came upon Gerzilda. "Darling!" he cried, spreading his arms.
"Darling me no darlings, sirrah!" she said, backing away.
"Why, what's the matter? Are you not my betrothed?"
"Nay, nor never
-
A puff of displaced air announced the return of Baron Emmerhard to the Great Temple of Kromnitch, just as the Supreme Pontiff lowered the royal crown, its great gems winking in the lamplight, on to the head of the kneeling Valdhelm. Since all eyes were fixed on the twinkling, many-hued gems, the only one to notice Emmerhard's materialization was the person standing directly behind him, in the front rank of the knights.
Sir Fredlin Yorgenson of Aviona, far to the north, blinked and stared in disbelief at the baron's suddenly visible back. When Emmerhard disappeared, over an hour before, Sir Fredlin assumed that he had dropped off to sleep on his feet and that he had only dreamed of a man who had stood before him. Now Fredlin was sure that he had not dozed; but he decided never to cast doubt upon his sanity by telling of this phenomenon.
-
That eventide, Baron Emmerhard sat in his suite at the inn, fuming. "A pox on that young extortioner!" he barked. "I ought to have snatched the damned parchments out of his hands and destroyed them. But, by the time I bethought me of that, Baldonius had already witnessed them, and the whelp had returned them to his scrip. Besides, he's a well-thewed youth, and I'm not so young as whilom."
"Why not see our counselor-at-law, Doctor Rup-man?" asked Gerzilda. "Surely he could find a way out of these legal gyves that Dambert's son has tricked you into."
"Nay, nay, puss," said Emmerhard. "Rupman's legal fees would exceed all that I owe Eudoric under my bond. And, forsooth, when I look at the matter with the eye of reason, that's the only one of the three instruments that truly hurts. 'Tis nought to me if Eudoric Dambertson strut about with 'sir' before his name. And whether he wed thee or not is, in fine, a matter for thy choice."
"If Eudoric's coach enterprise succeed, we may recover our coin," added Baroness Trudwig.
"A big 'if,' my dear," grumped Emmerhard. "I've lost faith in the scheme, what of the long delays. Nor am I fully convinced that such a partnership be meet for a nobleman, despite Eudoric's argument that anything to do with horses be a gentlemanly pursuit ipso facto. Still, 'tis not impossible."
"What said Count Petz when thou didst return his coronet?"
"He thought it a splendid joke, albeit that little grasshopper of a wizard, Calporio, was vexed at the expenditure of his costly enchantment on such a sleeveless errand. But Petzi, between roars of laughter, said he was thankful that the spell had first been tested on his faithful vassal—me—'stead of on's fat and gouty self. A murrain on all magical mummeries! Now, my dears, ye'd best get on with your robing and primping, lest we be late for the royal feast and the coronation ball."
-
Feeling very tall and noble in his gilded spurs, Sir Eudoric handed the reins to Jillo and swung down from the driver's seat of his coach in the courtyard of Castle Zurgau. Baron Emmerhard sourly regarded the gleaming paint, as yet unmuddied and unmarred.
"Well, my lord?" said Eudoric.
Emmerhard jerked a thumb. "Thou shalt find her in the flower garden."
Eudoric left the coach in charge of Jillo. In the flower garden he came upon Gerzilda. "Darling!" he cried, spreading his arms.
"Darling me no darlings, sirrah!" she said, backing away.
"Why, what's the matter? Are you not my betrothed?"
"Nay, nor never
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