The Letter for the King

  “Search his clothes,” the first knight ordered the squires. “Then we shall know for certain.”

  The squires walked towards Tiuri, who backed away until he bumped into the lord.

  “I will not permit you to treat me like this!” he cried. “I do not know you and I know nothing about any ring!”

  The squires hesitated for a moment, but one of the Grey Knights barked, “Search through his clothes to see if he has the ring.”

  But Tiuri could not allow that to happen. He felt the letter on his chest, the letter that no one must know about. If they searched him, they would find it. So he would just have to tell them about the ring and perhaps there was a chance that they would not discover the letter…

  He raised his hand and pulled out the cord from around his neck. “There is no need for you to search me,” he said. “I have a ring. Here it is.”

  2 HANDS TIED

  The squires stood aside for the Grey Knights, who came over to Tiuri and looked at the ring, which lay in his palm, still attached to the cord.

  “It’s the ring!” one of them gasped.

  “He’s the one…” another whispered.

  The third knight snatched the ring from Tiuri’s hand, so roughly that the cord snapped.

  “That ring is mine!” said Tiuri. “Give it back!”

  “Yours?” sneered the knight. “Shame on you, shame on you for standing before us in the guise of a monk!”

  “He is the one we are looking for,” said the first knight to the lord. “And we shall treat him as he deserves. He is our prisoner.”

  Tiuri looked at the lord of Mistrinaut. “Let me go!” he said. “I do not know these knights and I have done nothing to deserve imprisonment.”

  The lord was still leaning against the door. He eyed Tiuri sharply, but did not respond.

  “I am your guest!” cried Tiuri. “Why would you allow these knights to capture me and take me prisoner? They have not told me their names or even raised their visors. This is a violation of the sacred laws of hospitality! They must return my ring and let me go!”

  The lord looked away and said nothing.

  “Seize him,” said one of the Grey Knights.

  “At least tell me why you are taking me prisoner!” cried Tiuri, as several hands grabbed hold of him.

  But the Grey Knights said nothing. The lord stepped aside and opened the door. Tiuri was led away by two knights and two squires, down a corridor and up a long flight of stairs. As they walked, they did not say a single word, and neither did Tiuri, because he knew it would do no good.

  Finally, they reached a door that opened into a small room. They pushed Tiuri into the room and slammed the door behind him. He was a prisoner at Castle Mistrinaut.

  The room was octagonal, with a single window, which was open. Tiuri walked over to the window and looked out. He realized that he was in a tower and he gazed down at the empty courtyard, so far below. Opposite was another tower and a sheer wall without windows. Tiuri sighed and turned away from the window. It would be impossible to escape.

  He looked around the room. There were a few pieces of heavy furniture: a large table, a smaller table and two chairs with cushions. A rug lay on the floor and there was a tablecloth on the larger of the two tables, tapestries on the wall and a beautifully crafted brass lamp hanging from the ceiling. It was a finely furnished prison, but it was still a prison!

  Tiuri sat down on one of the chairs and started to think.

  One thing was puzzling him. Why had the Grey Knights asked about the ring and not about the letter? Didn’t they want the lord to know about it? Would they soon come and take the letter from him, too? At that thought, he leapt to his feet and started anxiously pacing the small room. Then he stopped. And listened.

  He heard footsteps outside the room and a metallic sound, as if someone had rested a spear on the floor. Was there a guard outside the door? Was someone about to come in? Men were murmuring outside, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He put his ear to the keyhole and caught a few words.

  “…locked up good and proper.”

  “…get the same treatment he doled out…”

  “He seems very young to…”

  “…do not agree… evil everywhere… escape… But now we should…”

  Tiuri could make little sense of what he heard.

  When the key turned in the lock, Tiuri backed away. The door opened and one of the Grey Knights, still with his visor down, looked into the room. He did not speak and he soon left, locking the door behind him. Tiuri heard more footsteps and mumbling.

  Fingers trembling, he pulled the letter from its hiding place and thought, Now is surely the time to read the letter and destroy it – before it ends up in their hands! Why else would they have taken me prisoner?

  Tiuri broke one of the letter’s three seals but was startled by the sound of the key in the lock again. Quickly, he lifted up the tablecloth and slid the letter beneath it. When another knight looked into the room, Tiuri was sitting quietly in a chair. It was a different knight, the one with the gruff voice and the fiery temper. Maybe he was the knight who had asked about Tiuri at the monastery. The knight came in and glanced around the room, without even deigning to look at Tiuri. Tiuri waited, his heart thumping. Was the knight just checking that the prison was suitable, or was he looking for something?

  But then he left. I’m going to have to be careful, thought Tiuri. I don’t want them to see the letter if they come in when I’m not expecting it.

  It was a pity there were no locks on the inside of the door. Tiuri wondered if all four of the knights meant to take turns to come and inspect the room. It seemed he was going to have to get rid of the letter…

  He could still hear noises on the other side of the door. Had the entire company of Grey Knights and their squires gathered outside the room? Tiuri took the letter from beneath the tablecloth and thought frantically. He needed to read the letter and destroy it, but how? If only there was a fire in the room!

  He was going to have to tear the letter into a thousand tiny pieces – and swallow them if necessary. But first he had to read it… And quickly! He broke the second seal. I need to commit the message to memory, he thought. But what if someone comes? Then it’s all over… Oh, I can hear something! Is the third knight on his way?

  But no one came. Tiuri looked thoughtfully at the furniture in the room. What if he pushed a heavy chair in front of the door? Then no one would be able to burst into the room unexpectedly, and he’d have time to get rid of the letter.

  He set to work immediately. It wasn’t easy. The chair was very heavy and he knew he mustn’t make a sound. He kept stopping to listen; he could still hear voices, but no one came in. Finally, the chair was in position. Tiuri lifted the small table onto the chair and tested the stack of furniture to find out how easy it would be to move. He feared it wouldn’t keep anyone out for long, but he didn’t dare waste any more time. He sat down on the floor and leant against the chair. Then he got ready to break the third seal.

  Before he could do so, the key turned in the lock again. The handle moved and someone shouted, “It won’t open!”

  Too late! thought Tiuri.

  “Hey, you in there!” the same voice cried. “Open this door!” Then the man shouted to someone else, “He’s barred the door!”

  The people outside started banging and pushing at the door. The chair shook. They’d be in the room at any moment! It was going to be impossible to read the letter, memorize its contents and destroy the paper quickly enough. Tiuri slid the letter beneath the rug this time, silently praying that the knights wouldn’t think to look there.

  Then he stood up, with his feet on the spot where the letter was hidden, and waited to see what would happen.

  The door burst open. The table fell off the chair with a bang, and a knight and two squires barged into the room.

  “What is the meaning…” the knight began and then he fell silent, as though he regretted having spoke
n. It was the knight with the gruff voice. Tiuri could recognize two of the Grey Knights by now: he had dubbed them the Knight with the Gruff Voice and the Knight with the Silver Horn. The knight turned on his heels and left, but the squires stayed where they were, with their hands on their swords.

  “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not going to run away!” said Tiuri. “I know it’s impossible to escape. I just want to know why I’m here!”

  The squires did not respond.

  The knight soon came back with some rope, which he threw to the squires. Then he pushed the chair back to the large table, grabbed Tiuri and pushed him down onto it. With a movement of his head, the knight signalled to the squires to come closer. The three of them tied Tiuri to the chair, all in complete silence. Tiuri didn’t try to resist; he knew there was no point. He couldn’t fight these silent grey enemies – he couldn’t even speak to them!

  Soon he was alone once again, tied up and powerless. The letter was out of reach, beneath the rug on the floor. But the knights hadn’t asked about it, and they hadn’t looked for it. The longer he thought about this, the stranger it seemed. He tried to move, but it was impossible. His enemies had done their job well. So he sat there, idly, and all the while time was passing.

  “Enough time has been lost already,” the Knight with the White Shield had said.

  Tiuri sat in the chair, staring at the spot on the rug where the letter was hidden, a prisoner in an unfamiliar castle, not knowing what fate awaited him.

  Tiuri would never forget that day in the tower room and would always shiver at the memory. Sitting there, all alone, unable to do anything except think, think, think… His back was to the window, but he could tell by the changes in the light that hours were passing. Sometimes it rained outside; he could hear it pouring down. No one came to the room for hours and he heard no more voices on the other side of the door. The same thought kept whirling around inside his head: the letter, the letter… Being tied up in one position for so long was becoming more and more painful as the rope cut into his wrists and ankles.

  An eternity seemed to pass until, finally, Tiuri lost all sense of time. He could see only part of the room, but the details of what he saw became etched into his memory. As the day progressed, the light grew weak and pale and the tapestries seemed to come to life. They were like the tapestry in the great hall downstairs, with knights and monsters, but these figures were stranger and more brutal. When Tiuri closed his tired eyes, his overwrought imagination conjured up a wild dance of knights and monsters on the wall. Then he opened his eyes again to see the figures had just stopped moving.

  He listened to the rain, which seemed to whisper words of endless sorrow and unutterable despair…

  3 THE LORD AND LAVINIA

  When Tiuri heard noises outside the room again, it was late in the day. The door opened and a man came in. It was not a Grey Knight, or one of their squires, but one of the blue-clad castle servants. He was carrying a tray of food, which he placed on the table.

  He shook his head as he looked at Tiuri and said, “I’m just going to untie your hands for a moment. Otherwise I’ve just climbed up all those stairs for nothing.”

  Undoing the ropes was not easy, but eventually he managed it. Tiuri rubbed his wrists. The blood in his arms and hands could flow properly now, but it hurt. In fact, it was so painful that it brought tears to Tiuri’s eyes. He didn’t want the man to see him crying though, so he hung his head and bit his bottom lip.

  The servant had stepped away and was standing by the door. He must have been told to wait until the prisoner had finished eating. After a while, Tiuri felt a little better and could start his meal. It consisted of bread and water, but that was enough for Tiuri, because he was starving. He ate in silence. He’d decided that he wouldn’t say another word or ask any questions, and to bear his captivity with pride and dignity. When Tiuri had finished eating, the servant said, almost apologetically, “I’m going to have to tie you back up again.”

  Tiuri didn’t reply, but allowed the servant to tie him to the chair. He noticed that the man had tied the rope far less securely than the knight and his squires had done. As soon as he was alone again, he decided to see if he could free himself. He hoped he might manage to release his hands and he knew that, once his hands were free, the rest would be easy. It seemed to take forever, and involved lots of tugging and twisting. But, finally, he did it! The ropes fell to the floor.

  Tiuri sat there for a while, gently shaking his arms and legs. Then he stood up and quietly paced the room until the worst of the stiffness had gone. He looked out of the window. The day was coming to an end. It had stopped raining, but what little he could see out there looked dark and gloomy.

  So now Tiuri was untied, but he still wasn’t free. He felt better, though – calmer and more courageous. At least he would be able to read the letter before it got too dark.

  But it didn’t seem that he was going to get the chance!

  The sound of footsteps and voices on the other side of the door sent Tiuri dashing back to the chair, where he wrapped the ropes back around himself to make it look like he was still tied up.

  The lord of Mistrinaut entered the room. He frowned at Tiuri and said, “So they had to tie you up, did they?”

  Tiuri maintained an aloof silence and hoped the man would not think to inspect the ropes. He came a little closer, put his hands on his hips, looked intently at Tiuri and then said, “What is your name?”

  Tiuri met his gaze, but said nothing.

  “As you will. Do not reply!” barked the lord. “It is what I would expect from you!”

  Tiuri hesitated before responding. “They never spoke either,” he said finally. “You and those knights have taken me prisoner without even accusing me of anything.”

  “I am sure you know why you are here,” said the lord, also after a brief pause. “You had the ring, didn’t you?”

  “The ring!” cried Tiuri, his hand moving towards the place where it had been. “What do you know about the ring?”

  “To whom did that ring belong?” came the response.

  Again, Tiuri hesitated before answering. Could he tell the truth? What does it matter? Tiuri thought. I think he knows the answer anyway. But he still didn’t understand why they kept asking about the ring and not about the letter. And he said, “It belonged to the Black Knight with the White Shield.”

  “The Black Knight with the White Shield,” repeated the lord slowly. “So you admit it yourself. In that case, why were you wearing it?”

  “Why was I wearing it?”

  “Yes. That ring – as you have yourself admitted – belongs to the Black Knight with the White Shield. So why were you wearing it?”

  “But the Knight with the White Shield is dead!” cried Tiuri.

  The lord studied Tiuri. He seemed to be trying to read his mind.

  “Did you know him?” asked Tiuri.

  The lord came a step closer and leant over Tiuri. He poked Tiuri’s chest with his finger and said, “You’re right. The Black Knight with the White Shield is dead. And do you know how he met his death?”

  “Yes,” said Tiuri.

  “He was murdered.”

  “Yes,” said Tiuri. “I know.” The lord’s words and behaviour had surprised him; he didn’t know what to think.

  “You know. You know?!”

  The lord stood up straight, looked at Tiuri one more time, and then turned and strode out of the room.

  Tiuri sat there, staring at the door, even after the man was long gone. What had just happened? What had the lord of Mistrinaut meant? He had the peculiar feeling that they had been talking at cross purposes.

  And why had he asked about the ring? Was there something special about it? Did they not want him to take the ring to Menaures? Were they keeping him captive so that he couldn’t complete his task? But then it would have been simpler to take the letter from him. Perhaps they thought he already knew what the message was, but then they would have been better off killing him
. After all, the Knight with the White Shield had been murdered.

  But then Tiuri realized that the lord must have seen that his ropes were loose. He must have noticed! And he hadn’t done anything about it…

  Tiuri knelt down to take the letter from beneath the rug. But then he heard a strange sound. A footstep, rustling, shuffling, a soft click. It wasn’t coming from behind the door, or through the window…

  Tiuri held his breath. For a moment he thought the tapestry he had spent so long staring at during his captivity had truly come to life! Then he realized that the cloth actually was moving. He leapt to his feet and ran over to take a look. There was a grinding noise, and then the tapestry shook and slid aside. Where it had been hanging, there was now a dark opening in the wall and a young woman stood with her finger on her lips.

  Tiuri stared at her in amazement. She was about his own age, and she had long black plaits. He recognized her as one of the ladies who had eaten at the high table the night before.

  “Who are you?” he whispered.

  “Shh!” she said. “They mustn’t hear me. Wait a moment.” She disappeared into the dark doorway, which Tiuri realized must lead to a secret staircase. He heard another grating sound and he stepped closer and peered into the darkness. She reappeared, this time carrying a large bundle. “Here,” she whispered. “Take this.”

  Tiuri did as he was told and laid the bundle on the table. The young woman disappeared again, but returned a moment later, holding in each hand something that gleamed in the evening light: a sword and a dagger. She placed both of the weapons beside the bundle on the table and said, still whispering, “Hide them beneath your habit. Quick, before somebody comes!”

  She opened up the bundle. Tiuri saw that there was chainmail inside.

  “Why have you brought this for me?” he whispered. “And who are you?”

  “I am Lavinia,” she answered. “The lord of this castle is my father. I’m not supposed to know anything about this, but I heard some of the things they were saying. They mean to do you harm.”