Read Online The Pixilated Peeress by L. Sprague de Camp, Catherine Crook de Camp - Free Book Online
Authors: L. Sprague de Camp, Catherine Crook de Camp
Ads: Link
slightly eerie look. He wore a scarlet robe of shimmering stuff. Upon his midnight mane of long black hair reposed a golden ac ademic cap, whose dangling tassel glinted wi t h little gems.
"Who is that beneath the cart?" demanded the new comer. "Ah, I do perceive my respected colleague, Doctor Bardi. Come out, my dear fellow! None shall harm a hair of your venerable head."
Brushing dirt from his robe, Bardi arduously rose. "I am sorry, Doctor Orlandus," he coughed, stooping to pick up his mortarboard. "Dear me! I fear that I be too old for the robustious games your minions play. Had ye not appeared so timely, they would have harmed far more than the hairs of our heads."
He finished brushing his cap and ceremoniously raised it to the Psychomage, who in turn tipped his cap to Bardi before he strode to the tub.
"Who was this when she had her normal form?" he asked in a mellifluous voice.
"Countess Yvette of Grintz," said Thorolf. "Bardi tried to alter her appearance, the better to elude her foes; but something went awry."
"Ah, yea; the widow of Count Volk. A woman of exceptional qualities; she could easily become a diaphane, thus enhancing her already notable powers. Ou r spells never miscarry thus." He turned to his guards men. "Captain, tell four men to bear this tub within.
Choose another to fetch fodder for the mule, and guard the cart until the carter return for his property. Now follow me, my dear friends."
As t hey walked leisurely under the raised portcullis, Orlandus continued: "Your Countess escaped from Duke Gondomar with nought but a horse, her gar ments, and her coronet, did she not? And presently lost both horse and clothes to her pursuers. Where is the c o ronet now?"
"In safekeeping," growled Thorolf suspiciously, glancing about.
-
On the inner side of the curtain wall, many stairways led to the parapet. Between the stairways, casements had been built into the massive lower wall, forming living quarter s. In the middle of the enclosure, sepa rated from the curtain wall by a space of twenty or thirty feet all the way round, rose the keep, a massive, turreted building of rust-red sandstone. It overtopped the curtain wall by a whole storey. On the second a n d third levels, the present owners had replaced the arrow slits by diamond-paned glass windows.
As they crossed the courtyard, persons of various ages bustled out one door and in another. All wore robes, calf-length for the men and ankle-length for the w omen. Some were bright yellow and the rest gray, save for one or two in scarlet like that of the leader. Beyond, Thorolf glimpsed a couple of women in nondescript attire wash ing clothes in a tub and three small children playing. The guards' families, he t hought.
In the midst of the yard, three men and two women in gray robes were on their knees, washing the cobble stones with scrubbing brushes and water buckets. As Thorolf passed these scrubbers, one of the women, young and pretty, looked up. At Orlandus ' frown she hastily looked down again and resumed her labor.
They entered one of the massive doors of the keep and passed down a hall. Another young woman in gray stood meekly aside as they entered and then resumed polishing the inside doorknob. Orlandus said:
"Ah, yea; my prudent sergeant would deposit Yvette's bauble safely, would he not? 'Twould fetch a pretty sum — belike twelve thousand marks."
He conducted them up a long stair, down the right-hand one of a pair of long halls, and into a spacious room, containing chairs, a
"Who is that beneath the cart?" demanded the new comer. "Ah, I do perceive my respected colleague, Doctor Bardi. Come out, my dear fellow! None shall harm a hair of your venerable head."
Brushing dirt from his robe, Bardi arduously rose. "I am sorry, Doctor Orlandus," he coughed, stooping to pick up his mortarboard. "Dear me! I fear that I be too old for the robustious games your minions play. Had ye not appeared so timely, they would have harmed far more than the hairs of our heads."
He finished brushing his cap and ceremoniously raised it to the Psychomage, who in turn tipped his cap to Bardi before he strode to the tub.
"Who was this when she had her normal form?" he asked in a mellifluous voice.
"Countess Yvette of Grintz," said Thorolf. "Bardi tried to alter her appearance, the better to elude her foes; but something went awry."
"Ah, yea; the widow of Count Volk. A woman of exceptional qualities; she could easily become a diaphane, thus enhancing her already notable powers. Ou r spells never miscarry thus." He turned to his guards men. "Captain, tell four men to bear this tub within.
Choose another to fetch fodder for the mule, and guard the cart until the carter return for his property. Now follow me, my dear friends."
As t hey walked leisurely under the raised portcullis, Orlandus continued: "Your Countess escaped from Duke Gondomar with nought but a horse, her gar ments, and her coronet, did she not? And presently lost both horse and clothes to her pursuers. Where is the c o ronet now?"
"In safekeeping," growled Thorolf suspiciously, glancing about.
-
On the inner side of the curtain wall, many stairways led to the parapet. Between the stairways, casements had been built into the massive lower wall, forming living quarter s. In the middle of the enclosure, sepa rated from the curtain wall by a space of twenty or thirty feet all the way round, rose the keep, a massive, turreted building of rust-red sandstone. It overtopped the curtain wall by a whole storey. On the second a n d third levels, the present owners had replaced the arrow slits by diamond-paned glass windows.
As they crossed the courtyard, persons of various ages bustled out one door and in another. All wore robes, calf-length for the men and ankle-length for the w omen. Some were bright yellow and the rest gray, save for one or two in scarlet like that of the leader. Beyond, Thorolf glimpsed a couple of women in nondescript attire wash ing clothes in a tub and three small children playing. The guards' families, he t hought.
In the midst of the yard, three men and two women in gray robes were on their knees, washing the cobble stones with scrubbing brushes and water buckets. As Thorolf passed these scrubbers, one of the women, young and pretty, looked up. At Orlandus ' frown she hastily looked down again and resumed her labor.
They entered one of the massive doors of the keep and passed down a hall. Another young woman in gray stood meekly aside as they entered and then resumed polishing the inside doorknob. Orlandus said:
"Ah, yea; my prudent sergeant would deposit Yvette's bauble safely, would he not? 'Twould fetch a pretty sum — belike twelve thousand marks."
He conducted them up a long stair, down the right-hand one of a pair of long halls, and into a spacious room, containing chairs, a
Similar Books
