Dennis McKiernan: Once Upon an Autumn Eve

And the crowd had moved back to form a great circle.

Leon stood off to one side, his bow in hand, an arrow in his grasp, though it was not nocked.

Gustave came to stand on the steps, two or three down from Liaze and Adele.

A quiet fell.

“To first blood?” asked Luc.

“Ha! First blood? Non. We fight to the death, boy, for you have called me a murderer.”

Leon cried out, “And I called you a liar and a usurper and a sender of assassins.”

“Pah! I will deal with you after I have taken care of this fool,” said Guillaume — And without warning he attacked.

Shang! Blades met, bronze on bronze, and Luc was driven back before the assault, and Adele cried out in fear.

Ching!.. Shang!.. Guillaume pressed the fight, ever driving Luc hindward, the youth blocking and parrying and slipping the vicomte’s blade down and away as the circle yielded before them.

On the steps, Gustave laughed in glee, for certainly his own sire would take the measure of this boy who would think to sit on the throne instead of Gustave himself when his father became a marquis or duke or even higher.

And down in the courtyard, Guillaume attacked, battering at Luc’s blade, and the vicomte laughed and cried out, “You’re losing, boy! ”

Luc smiled grimly and said, “I think I’ve learned enough of your manner of swordplay,” and in a wink of an eye, Luc riposted, and a gash opened on Guillaume’s wrist, there between gauntlet and chain, blood to flow freely.

Rage flashed across Guillaume’s face, but now it was Luc who pressed the attack, his blade a blur, for he was quicker than Guillaume, though the vicomte was marginally stronger.

Clang!.. Dring!.. Luc drove Guillaume back and back, and another gash opened, this one across Guillaume’s right cheek, deep and gushing, teeth showing through.

Guillaume’s eyes flew wide in fear. He tried to disengage, but could not. He circled about and risked a glance at the ramparts. “Vincent!” he cried.

An arrow flashed through the air, and a man on the walls, nocked bow in hand, tumbled down to the flagstones below, slain by Leon’s shaft.

On the steps Gustave reached for his dagger, but of a sudden, from behind, someone grabbed his hair and jerked his head back, and a long-knife was at his throat, and Liaze hissed, “Draw it and you die.”

Elsewhere, throughout the courtyard, other men held knives and daggers upon Guillaume’s henchmen.

And in the center of the circle, Luc spitted Guillaume, the lad’s thrust so hard the blade pierced all the way through chain and gut and spine.

Guillaume looked down in disbelief.

“To the death, you demanded,” said Luc, “and to the death it is,” and he wrenched his sword free.

And Guillaume fell dead to the stone.

In that moment a rooster crowed, and Twk, upon the ramparts, led the gathering in a cheer, joy filling the courtyard for all but Guillaume’s own men.

Liaze turned Gustave over to Leon, and then she went flying down the steps and into Luc’s arms. Soundly she kissed him, and then she disengaged and turned to the woman standing nigh. “Comte Luc, I present to you your mother Adele. Adele, this is your son.”

Within the candlemark, Gustave and his retinue-henchmen, staff, armsmen, stripped of all their weapons but daggers-rode away from Chateau Blu, Luc granting them safe passage for a day but no more. And they took the corpse of Guillaume with them.

That evening, there was a banquet of celebration, and all the staff of the manor were invited-serving by turns so that all could partake. The Widow Dorothee was in attendance as well. There was gaiety and cheer, and good food and wine, and many a speech was given, for all were glad to see Guillaume and his ilk gone and the rightful heir in place.

Finally, Liaze stood and called for quiet, and when the banquet hall became still, she said, “Some believe that the dark of the moon brings ill things, and at times it is true, and at other times it is not. Yet heed: it was the dark of the moon when Luc was stolen and the dark of the moon when he was saved, and on this night once again it is the dark of the moon. And so unto you I say this: think not the dark of the moon only an ill omen, for on this eve-the dark of the moon-your comte is returned to you.” She raised her glass in salute to Luc, and said: “To my beloved and your comte: Luc du Chateau Bleu dans le Lac de la Rose et Gardien de la Cle.”

A great cheer went up, and all in the assembly stood and hoisted their glasses. Long did the clamor last, but then Luc stood and held up his hands, and, when quiet fell, he turned to Adele and said, “Mother, long was the road to Chateau Bleu, but I would not be here were it not for my comrades: my foster pere Armsmaster Leon, my truelove Princess Liaze, my companions Brownie Gwyd and Pixie Twk and a red rooster named Jester. I raise my glass to each of you and cry out for all to hear, ‘Hail, hail, hail!’ ”

As one the crowd shouted, Hail, hail, hail!

And when at last silence fell, Jester decided to crow, and laughter burst forth from the assembly and rang the very walls. Gwyd though, deep in his cups, sat with a puzzled frown on his face, the Brownie trying to cipher out whether or not he had been thanked and therefore would have to leave. Finally, he shrugged and called for another goblet of wine.

And joy flowed throughout Chateau Blu that most splendid of eves.

The next three weeks were a whirl of activity: Luc led an armed force out from Chateau Blu to harry Vicomte Gustave and his men from Luc’s demesne; upon their return from harassing the vicomte, Luc and Leon spent time recruiting and training armsmen, including sharpening the skills of the veterans, instruction having been woefully lacking during Guillaume’s reign.

Liaze and Adele, on the other hand, spent long hours speaking of offspring and titles and who would live where, for Adele would have Luc stay at Chateau Blu, and Liaze would prefer Autumnwood Manor; in the end they compromised, deciding that Luc and she would spend summers at the Lake of the Rose, and the remainder of the year in the Autumnwood; however, as soon as a second child was born to Liaze and Luc, upon reaching majority she or he would take over the reins of governance at the Blue Chateau. Until then, Adele, with Leon as her war leader and advisor, would govern while Luc was away. It was also during this time that Leon and Dorothee wedded, and she was a widow no more.

Gwyd and Twk spent their days exploring the chateau, and they found the secret alcove behind the wall where spies listened to conversations within the hunt room. The very next day Adele had the alcove bricked up.

Gwyd also often fished in the lake, sometimes from the walls of the chateau, at other times from a cockleshell. Twk accompanied Gwyd when the Brownie fished from the walls, but he refused to get in the small boat with Gwyd. “If it tips over, then I’m a goner,” said the Pixie. “A pike or trout would make short work of me.”

Twk and Gwyd also spent time in the chateau’s cellars, sampling, for Chateau Blu had a splendid selection of wines. “We be tryin t’find the best o’ the lot,” said Gwyd, “and so far each selection seems better than the last.” Gwyd and Twk also spent many mornings regretting this pastime, but the Brownie’s many-pocketed belt provided needed relief.

From the top of the battlements, Jester announced the coming of dawn every morning, and in a fenced area at the back of the chateau he found a small flock of egg-laying hens to keep him occupied. “His flying has improved,” said Twk, “what with his getting up and over and out of the chicken yard every day to announce the dawn, and then flying back in to see to his harem.”