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than in front of them.
"We will see you there in three minutes. You will be fully dressed, awake,
and ready to talk!" said Barron.
"Yes, Mage " said Edgar, half-falling out of bed and revealing himself
completely naked. Just beyond him the crown of a blond head was barely
revealed above the covers, now that he was no longer hiding it with his own
form.
"Come, Jim," said Barron.
He turned about and marched toward the door Edgar had indicated. Jim went
with him, into a room furnished with two plain wooden chairs and two with full
backs and padding. Barron took one of the padded chairs and waved Jim into the
other. They sat down.
This room also had a window, through which a burst of cheering could be
heard. Jim tried to imagine what was being done or played there. A courtyard
like that was not really built for any version of team game.Possibly tennis.
"Mage," he said, "what's his name? Whoever it was you just woke up in the
bedroom there?"
"Edgar,"said Barron, almost absentmindedly, "Edgar de Wiggin. He's taking his
time in there."
"We just sat down, Mage," said Jim. "It can't have been three minutes yet."
"Maybe not."Barron had crossed his legs, and he drummed the fingers of his
right hand on his knee. "Still, a slippery fellow like that. Have to keep a
tight rein on him.Not that he isn't useful  oh, here he is!"
Edgar de Wiggin was just now coming through the door from the bedroom.
"You are a disgusting sight," said Barron coldly, looking at him. "Lace up
your codpiece."
"Oh, pray forgive me, Mage." Attending to that particularly male piece of
apparel, Edgar came up to them, hesitated, and then sat down in one of the
unpadded chairs.
"It gladdens my heart to see you, Mage," he said. Under the lank hair, his
spade-shaped face was managing to smile broadly while preserving a sort of
background look of suspicion and insecurity. The kind of appearance, Jim
thought, that you might not like to find on someone you had trusted to handle
a large sum of money for you.
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"Don't waste my time, Edgar," said Barron. "Do you know the Lady Agatha
Falon?"
"Why, we aren't close," said Edgar, holding on to his smile. "But then, she
spends so much of her time with His Majesty and the other people of importance
here at Court. I am a Gentleman of the King's Chamber, of course, but she is
kept far too busy by those far above my station. I would not presume "
"Never mind your presumption," said Barron. "We want to know about her. Is
she here all the time?"
"Oh, she hardly ever leaves the Court," said Edgar, "even to go intoLondon to
someplace like the Spanish Ambassador's ball, or an important dinner. I can
get a message to her, if you like."
"I do not like," said Barron. "What I would like is information, as I said.
Whom does she have about her? I do not mean servants, I mean lesser gentlemen
who serve her in small ways?"
"Why, there are many who would seek her favor," said Edgar. The smile had
finally vanished, but the appearance of closeness and secrecy was still in his
face. "You don't mean those of rank like the Earl of Cumberland, for example?"
"No, no," said Barron. "I saidlesser gentlemen, did I not? Besides, I thought
you told us it was his Majesty she was interested in."
"Oh, it is, Mage," said Edgar. "But she is on very good terms with people
likeCumberland andGloucester and the Despensers. But there are many of lesser
rank whohope to gain from her favor, since she is so welcome to his Majesty."
"Jim," commanded Barron, "describe those two men to him."
"Certainly, Mage," said Jim. "If you think it's wise."
"Wise?Wise?" snapped Barron.
"I'm afraid I don't know much about this gentleman," said Jim.
"What of it?" saidBarron. "He's perfectly harmless to us. As I told you, he's
Edgar de Wiggin actually a bastard son left behind by a member of a Spanish
Embassy. He is tolerated here at Court as a private communication channel
between the English Throne and the Spanish. He speaks Spanish and does a
little spying on Spanish visitors to Court, for the King. His position as a
member of the King's Wardrobe is in name only. That's all he is a penniless
petty Baron, actually."
Jim felt slightly nettled. He was, himself, among the pettiest of Barons; but
it was not a good idea to show irritation just now.
"I'd like to find two men," he said to Edgar. "One is in his twenties, with
lighter-colored hair and a rather silky, youthful sort of goatee, and a little
mustache. He wears fashionable clothes, stands almost six feet tall, and has a
ferret-like face with over-large, protruding front teeth. He does not look
much like a warrior. The other is at least twenty years older, about five feet
six inchestall, and slightly stooped in the shoulders. He has greying hair and
a little mustache. Neitherone had any particular scars or marks on their
faces, or signs of disease like smallpox."
"Sir," said Edgar, "may I ask what they were wearing?"
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Jim had forgotten that here in the fourteenth century, if you were in a
situation whereyour best suit of clothes was required, you lived in them day
after day, with only an occasional stab at brushing or cleaning by some
servant; until the day came when they were too worn, stained, or ragged to
appear in. Then you did your best to obtain a newer garment, giving away or
selling the older one and proceeded to live in the new one for as long as it
would last. The clothes he had seen the two wearing in Lyonesse were probably
the only clothes they had been seen in lately.
"I can't tell you the colors," Jim said, remembering for the first time that
he had only seen those men in Lyonesse, where all was black-and-silver. "The
younger wears acote-hardie, and the older a mantle that covered much of his
clothing."
Edgar stared at Jim, and then slowly shook his head. "There are several
gentlemen of the height and age you describe whocould each be wearing such
clothing as you mention," he said.
"Well, then, we're going to have to go look at them," said Jim, a little more
sharply than he had planned. It was true Kineteté had promised to get him back
to the Throne Room of the Gnarly King quickly, but he had a sinking feeling
that things here were threatening to become too complicated to handle in short
order.
"Exactly," said Barron, getting to his feet. "You go with him, Jim. Edgar,
you take him to see anyone who could possibly fit that description. If at any
time you want me, Jim, call me. I'm sure you know how to do that. Carolinus
must have taught you that, at least."
Jim had actually taught it to himself. But he held his tongue again, and, in
fact, he did not have time to say anything because Barron had already
disappeared.
"If you will come along with me then, Sir," said Edgar de Wiggin.
Jim followed him out into a narrow, musty, stone hallway. Edgar continued to
lead the way.
"I'm afraid that Mage Barron forgot to name you to me, Sir," said Edgar as
they went.
"That's right, he didn't," said Jim. "I'm Sir James Eckert, Baron de Bois de
Malencontri in the Shire of Somerset."
"I am honored to have your acquaintance, Sir James," said Edgar.
"And I yours, Sir Edgar," said Jim, automatically
The other looked embarrassed.
"I pray you will not be offended to learn to discover this, Sir James," he
said. "But I have never been knighted."
"You haven't?" said Jim, genuinely astonished. So far, in this century, he
hadnever encountered anyone of gentle rank, male, and of fighting age, who was
not a knight unless he was clearly on his way to eventual knighthood or in
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