Devil House(72)

She was comely, though her hair was raven-black. She was tall, with womanish manner; and oft would she say to Gorbonian,—Recall I our first meeting, though you do not; for I am older than thee, and found thee at play in the rocks and the wild weeds, and asked,—Small friend, seek’st thou some salve; and you, but a boy, looking up,— I shall know if I find one.

To her were known the names of the birds in their sky-bright wanderings, which to the boy was a great delight; and fast were they friends, these two, despite the low murmurings of the gossips.

Now came them all to court, to see what must be done. And a rough slab of quarry-stone did serve at court for table, with chairs set all around it; and the shape of this arrangement appeared to the eye like the face of some great beast, emerging heavily from the dark. All took their places now; and, when they had gathered, the King did survey his court with aspect most grave, saying,

—In sorrow have we gathered; but we are men, pardee, or maids of power; and now we shall see, in this time, how we might set right the wrong our eyes have seen. And knew they all that he spake of his father, and of the bloody scene in the stable, and that he would true the wheel so wrongly turned.





6.


A sailor forbears to row against the tide, said King Gorbonian to his company. My father the King is dead, his body burned. May the smoke of his body be an offering to the gods! Yet sons must to their fathers cleave: thus shall I follow that current where it carries us, until justice be served; and thus shall we ride, affirmed the King, we seven.

Then did the chambers of the King buzz like a humming hive, for each man did have his mind as to the question; for, as to the affairs of court, some did say that to survey the land were more pressing, for the tribute to be increased; and others did remark, that to leave an empty throne while that His Lordship’s reign blushed yet green, were a great risk, even unto the kingdom. But as to this King Gorbonian said,—It does me no force; and he laid before them the vision of his father’s body, broken upon the straw, left to die without e’en the noble horses which had been his heart’s delight in life; and who shall remember him if he be not avenged, saith the King; and what shall they say of me, if that I fail to visit swift vengeance upon those man-slayers, who, when that the rains were hard upon us, and e’en the mighty were reduced, did creep in; and in so creeping, visit calamity upon me, yea, and upon us all? Thus spake the King, that none might gainsay him; for, in this world, to leave a blameless body unavenged, is a deed most dire.

They assembled in the early dawn; and there they stood, each considering the other; and Braith saw Hafren all in white, and the King clad in mail, and thought unto himself, Now we are grown, we three.

So set they out, seeking first the forest yclept Gwydion’s Woods; for, as Gorbonian said,—My mother, long may she live, did enchant me in my cradle with songs of these woods; sweet melodies to me, yet warnings to the keen; for villains nest therein.





7.


And as they rode through haunts ancient and green, the young King remembered his time as a babe in these woods; and said, that he should like, should fortune see him to’t, to restore those temples of old which were said to stand in the forest in days of old. Thus discoursed he in such manner as they rode, until, at some hour, they knew not which—for into that remote place fell but little light—behold, a great oak obstructed the path, a great gash in its trunk in the shape of a half-moon. Now this ancient sign was hewn by human hand, a clean cut, a hand’s-breadth deep shining wetly in the shadow.

—See here, saith the King, the mark of an ancient temple.

—My liege, says Madauc, and I hope to remain ever in your favor, ’tis but a tree marked by some hunter.

—Nay, says Hafren, if I may make bold to speak, my liege speaks aright; for these woods belong to the spirit of the forest, and its people serve him still. Touched she then the mark within the wood, as a merchant might caress a jewel most dear.

—We shall restore this place, saith Gorbonian, drawing his sword. For these old ways are forgotten in this land, and should be remembered; and these hidden places must be made whole. My father’s fathers worshipped in these woods; and long shall be the life of he who honors this temple, but woe betide the man who defiles this altar anew.

Then, walking backward and dragging his sword before him, did the King trace a circle about the trunk of the great tree. And when he had completed the circle, he retraced it again; and yet again, seven times in all, until its depth spanned half the length of a man’s leg. Then did good Hafren retrieve, from her purse, a powder of her mother’s, bright blue; and circled she the tree in like wise seven times, dye trailing from her hand before her. And the King did bid all kneel.

I shall avenge my father, said he; and men of great station in latter days shall tell, how my friends and I set out from this darkened place to uncover the hands of a killer; and to set right the wrongs we have all seen done, in our time; such wrongs as never were, in simpler times; then rode they on, til on a day





5

Devil House





ANGELA


At the end of a winding gravel road just a few miles outside Richmond, Virginia, there’s an old house with a new coat of paint. You can’t see it from the highway; if you could, its renovators might have been instructed to use a less arresting color combination than these several shades of purple—darker for the doors and window casings, lighter for the eaves, and somewhere in between for the siding.