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troll well, well, dammit, leave all that aside for now," said the Earl.
He made an obvious effort and lowered his voice.
"The fact is," he said, "I have no lack of men-at-arms; and, even if there
were no other people guesting here at this time, I would go forth on my own
earth wherever I want, no matter how many trolls be sighted from the tower."
"Good!" said Angie quickly, before Jim could say anything more. "Well, I
guess that settles it, then, doesn't it, my Lord James?"
Jim looked at her and around at the other faces, all but the chaplain's
animated with martial fervor.
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"I guess it does," he said.
Chapter 42
"But how did you get the stand moved from the tourney ground to here?" asked
Jim.
They were in the spot where Angie's planned entertainment was going to be put
on. Trees seemed to surround them completely; though of course those between
them and the castle which could be seen faintly between the tree trunks were
only an illusion created by Jim's magic. The set for the play to be put on,
which Jim had envisioned and created also by magic, was already set up.
It consisted of the framework of part of a barn, including a small section of
roof over the stall which was to hold the crib in which the Christ child was
supposed to be sleeping. On the other side of the low walls on either side of
the crib manger was another stall with walls and part of the wall of the
structure; with an ox on one side, and on the other a creature that Jim
suspected to be a mule, rather than an actual ass or donkey.
Angie was already dressed in a white flowing robe Jim wondered where she had
gotten the material which made her look rather heavy, since it was necessarily
over a lot of other clothes, in spite of the fact that the area around the
manger was magically heated. Robert Falon was happily asleep under covers in
the warm manger.
A short distance from where he and Angie stood, in the open snow between them
and the stands, squatted Mnrogar, facing the actual forest itself rather than
the magical trees between them and the castle. He was not moving. He was doing
nothing but waiting but the very motionlessness of his posture conveyed an
ominous sense of latent threat.
"Carolinus moved it for me," said Angie.
"Carolinus?" said Jim. "You've been talking to him, then?" He felt a sudden
burst of anger. "I've been trying to get a word with him, ever since we met in
that room where Mnrogar and Agatha were put on sort of an unofficial trial."
"Oh, yes," said Angie. "He showed up as soon as 1 was out here, and asked if
he could do anything to help; so I said it would be nice to have the stands
and he just sort of waved his hands and here they were, instead of back down
where they had been."
"I don't know what he's up to," said Jim. "But I'm willing to bet it's
something. And I don't like it."
He hitched up the waist of his own brown robe, which he was wearing over his
own heavy clothing and light armor, as a costume for his role of Joseph. It
was actually more like the friar's robe it had started life as, than something
worn in Biblical times. But the audience could be counted on to be very
tolerant as far as both costume and staging went.
Jim had just gotten here, after having let Angie go out ahead with a small
contingent of men-at-arms, who were now posted around the clearing and looking
not at all pleased about it; since by now the word that there were trolls all
around the castle had penetrated everywhere. Depending upon how they felt,
people were either feeling timorous, or breathing fire and eagerly looking
forward to the chance of combat with something unhuman.
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Jim looked at the stands; for now, happily, they were still empty. There had
been some discussion among the male guests as to whether the ladies should go
outside at all.
It had been settled by the ladies determining that they would be going out,
and managing to impress this point of view upon their male opposite numbers.
They were not going to be done out of watching an entertainment, simply
because the gentlemen might consider it some trouble to keep them safe. They
would keep themselves safe, thank you and there was not one of them who was
not herself armed and ready decorously so, of course, with the poignard or
other long dagger, strapped to the waist, but either covered by something like
a sash, or hidden between two folds of a skirt.
Geronde, in the forefront of the women who were determined to go watch the
play, had caused something more than a usual disturbance by insisting that she
was going to carry a boar-spear. It was her favorite weapon and the one with
which she had actually tried to face Jim in his dragon body, when Jim had
first landed in her castle as part of an effort to save her from being held
prisoner there. Still, there were those who thought that she carried her ideas
of freedom a little too far, particularly for an unmarried woman.
On the other hand, she had never been known to pay attention to anyone but
Brian; so gossip had nothing specific to chew on.
It had all been settled by a compromise, whereby a man-at-arms would attend
her, carrying the boar-spear himself, but under strict orders to hand it to
her in case of danger. She also, of course, had a very wicked-looking knife in
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