Dreaming in the Dark

19

They had to help Haggard down the steps, he was so slow it took them half an hour to reach the viewing room. After Gilt had slain Folly, his body had been returned to the castle for a state viewing. The dining room had been arrayed with a sea of lilies, now wilted, and fine silks. Folly had been dressed and prepared as if she were alive, the wound left by his brother's blade sewn shut.

Ange ran to him, touched his hand, and then withdrew, shifting uncomfortably.

"My youngest son." Haggard wheezed. "Reminded me most of myself. How I was when I was with my queen." A pained expression crossed his face. "I ruined him, I ruined them all. There is but one way my kingdom can be restored."

"How?" Jo asked.

"She must marry my son. Return him half his heart, which he would have lost to a sword stroke had she not kept it close. They will reign here, and once I see it, I will be ready to give up my stone."

Jo hugged the old man, causing him to wheeze again and push her away. "Do not be so thankful." He said. "You will find my heart a heavy burden."

Lucifer climbed the table and strode to its head, ascending a flower vase so he could have the height. "I will perform the ceremony." He said. "Gather all ye round."

So they turned the viewing hall into the scene of a wedding. The page lit a fire, and set out candles, while Jo sang wordlessly a song that had once saved them in the dark. Haggard was seated in his grand chair, from which he intended never to rise again.

Dez listened to the whispers in the walls, and wondered whether this would change the world at all.

When all was ready, Lucifer settled on a speech before the exchange of hearts.

"There is nothing sacred in a union, " the herald intoned, "except that the union is chosen freely. We gather here today to bear witness to the joining of two lives and hearts. As half the ceremony was already enacted outside these walls, I shall not bore you with an overlong oration. Suffice to say, that this match is a good one, and its adherents worthy of each other's love. By the power of the dryad, the naiad, and the monad three, threefold sisters these, I hereby invest these two youths with the marriage pact. Ange, my dear, would you complete the ceremony?"

Ange touched her own chest, and Folly's. There was a moment's pause.

"It's going to be alright," Jo mouthed to her.

Two chests opened, one heart split in two, and both were closed again. So it was.

Folly took a single great gulp of air, and seized Ange by the arms, pulling her down on to him and clinging to her as tightly as a limpet. Jo clapped, and Dez smiled. King Haggard nodded, and without a word, reached within himself to produce the stone. He set it on the table and was shortly gone.

"Father?" Folly said, disentangling himself. "Father?" He went to touch the old man, and then pick up the stone, which was colder than the surrounding air. "He was not always like this," Folly said.

"We know." Jo said.

The page bowed to Folly. "Shall I fetch the others, my king?"

"Yes." Folly said. "We will have a funeral for my father, and then we can try to put this place to rights."

Just as the page bowed again, smiling ear to ear, they heard the sound of heavy boots outside the doors of the great hall. There was a whir of gears, and the doors burst inward in a shower of splinters.

"The Black Knight?" Folly gaped. "He's returned!"

"Ahriman." Lucifer slid down the vase and leapt to land on Edgar's waiting neck. "We have to go!"

"He's the reason I lost my mother." Folly said. "The only one who's escaped the touch of death." He went to a display and drew forth a rusted sword.

"It's not the same man," Dez said. "It's a demon."

Ange ran to Folly and tried to pull him back. "You can't fight him!"

The Butcher was in no hurry. He approached glacially, dragging the tip of his unsword to dig an ashy defile in the flagstones, and allowed his prey to argue.

Folly gave Ange the stone. "You need this. I'll hold him a while, then come after."

"No!" Ange said. "That's stupid!"

Folly took his father's circlet, and settled it on his own head. "Page, lead them to the stables, and see they are well rationed for the journey."

"No!" Ange said again.

Jo and Dez seized her by an arm each and dragged her away, Edgar guarded them and growled.

"Yes, majesty." The page said, on the verge of tears. The others were quickly out of the hall, leaving the young king and his Black Knight.

"Why return now?" Folly demanded. "When you were too craven to face justice before?"

The Butcher said nothing, did not so much as raise his night edged sword. When he was close, Folly swung. He had trained long hours on the practice fields with the knights before the culling, and after with the guards. He was by far the most proficient of the brothers, who largely scorned swordplay as a liegeman's art. The Butcher seized the blade in one giant gauntlet and snapped it with a piston's strength. Folly maneuvered back, going for another weapon. The unsword found him before his hand could touch a hilt.