Robert Carter - The Giants’ Dance

‘It’s too busy in there,’ Will said, preparing to slip upstairs.

‘My old dad says that “too” and “busy” are words that never go well together in an innkeeper’s hearing. Mind you, after all the tumults of this week I confess I’d be happier if it was a little quieter just now. Where’ve you been all the day?’

‘I…think it’s best if I make myself scarce.’ He glanced at the many customers, disliking their raucous laughter and the merry singing that had begun.

Duffred looked up and handed him a full tankard. ‘Here. This’ll wet your whistle. You get yourself down the far corner. Nobody much’ll bother you down there.’

He took the cider. ‘Thank you. I don’t think I’ll need to whet my appetite though. I’m ravenous.’

He watched Duffred break off half a loaf and then ladle out a bowl of pauper’s pea soup for him. Will carried it off down the passageway and found the quietest corner, but no sooner had he broken bread than a bent-backed old man shambled over. He was wrapped in a dark cloak, and there was a dusting of sparkles about his hair and upon the wool of his mantle, as if he had just come through fine rain.

‘Hey-ho, Master!’ the old man said in a jocular voice, and sat himself down.

Will resettled himself. ‘How do,’ he said more than a little gruffly and fearing that more was about to be asked of him. The old man edged his stool closer to the table and leaned forward and Will felt a pair of faded eyes boring into him as he ate.

He looked up at last and saw the old man nod at him. ‘Looks right tasty, does that, Master.’

‘I’m nobody’s master.’ He frowned. There was something about the old man’s appearance that made Will feel mightily uneasy. He wished the singers would quieten down. ‘I dare say Duffred’ll give you a splash of good pauper’s soup and the rest of this loaf if you ask him.’

‘Oh, I ain’t much hungry for soup.’

‘That’s all right then,’ Will said with his mouth full.

‘But see, I heard there was a crow visiting hereabouts.’

Will stopped chewing and put his hunk of bread down. ‘Crow’ was the word some used to mean a wizard. ‘I wouldn’t know about that.’

‘And I heard there was a lot of healing going on here. A regular hero of a healer at work they told me – a friend of the crow’s, a young feller not unlike yourself.’

‘I’m no hero,’ Will said lightly, and started eating again.

‘Maybe you’re not,’ the old man said, but his eyes strayed to Will’s staff, and then to a meat knife that was on the uncleared table, and finally back to Will’s face. ‘But what if I said I’d been looking for you ?’

Will saw the old man’s eyes fasten upon his own. His hand went unconsciously to the place where the red fish was concealed. ‘Looking for me, you say?’

The old man smiled a yellow smile. ‘Oh, I’ve known about you for a very long time, Willand. As a matter of fact, we’ve met before.’

The singing stopped and the sudden silence was blemished by the sounds of a big horse snorting and big hooves clopping out in the yard. Will looked to the tiny window, then to the door and irresistibly back to the old man. ‘Who are you?’ he said, his blood running cold. ‘How do you know me?’

‘You know very well, I think.’ The old man’s arm moved as fast as lightning. He suddenly plucked out the hazel wand that Will had in his belt. ‘I see you’ve a talent!’

As the old man snapped the wand in two a surge of fear ran through Will’s belly. He found he could not look away from the other’s binding stare. Not even towards the knife that was within easy reach on the table top.

‘Who are you?’ Will demanded.

‘One who wishes to know if you are a born fool who has learned nothing since.’ Suddenly the old man’s voice was gone and another that was deeper and wholly compelling filled the air.

Will’s mind whirled in terror. His hand moved towards the knife, knocking his soup bowl from the table. But the bowl and its contents froze in mid air and never reached the floor. Nor would his hand move further towards the knife no matter how hard he tried to make it.

‘Who are you?’ he asked for the third time, though he had already decided he knew the answer. He heard his voice rise in panic, betraying him as complete powerlessness overtook him. He tried to get to his feet but he could not move. You fool! his mind screamed. You broke a promise and look what it’s brought you to!

‘You know who I am. And I command you – speak my name if you dare!’

A blade of ice slipped into Will’s heart. All the hairs on his head stood up, and against his will his lips formed the word, ‘Maskull!’

No sooner was the word spoken than the face of the old man began to change. It shimmered like ripples on a pond. Will watched motionless as a new face began to form. Nor did much relief come to him when the face that appeared was Gwydion’s.

‘Easy now, Will. There is no danger. Fortunately you are with a friend.’

But Will still could not speak. He blinked and looked again, still unsure if the apparition was real. Then the shock that gripped him began slowly to ebb away. The soup bowl clattered to the floor, splashing his feet.

Anger overtook him.

‘You scared me half to death!’ he cried, and sprang to his feet.

‘I am sorry to have frightened you, Willand, but the lesson was an essential one. I told you to remain here but you did not remain here. I told you to lie low, but you did not lie low.’

‘I only did what I had to!’

‘Is that what you call it?’

‘What was I supposed to do? It all seemed like the right thing to do at the time.’

But the wizard’s grey eyes were on him, relentlessly accusing and shaming him. ‘Listen to me, Willand. You are not taking the task that lies before you seriously enough. In future you must be more guarded. You must make an effort to recognize and pierce magical disguises. You act as if you have forgotten the dangers that you face.’

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘But it’s not my way to mistrust everyone I meet.’

‘That must become second nature to you.’

‘No!’ Will shook his head. ‘That will never be. I can’t live like that, Gwydion.’

‘Then you will not live long!’

‘At least I’ll stay myself.’

‘Fool. If that really had been Maskull, you would have become his unwilling slave, and our world would have been lost!’

The wizard sat back and allowed Will’s anger to fully subside, then he said in a more composed voice, ‘Too much depends on you. You must listen more closely to your inner warnings.’

‘What inner warnings?’ he asked, still shaking. ‘If I’d felt anything then I would have listened to it.’

‘Is that the truth?’

‘Yes!’

But when Will looked inside himself he saw that a part of him had noted the spangling that had covered the hair and shoulders of the old man. It had made him think of fine rain, but how could it have been rain when the sky outside had not a cloud in sight? And, to add to that, he had ignored the sounds of Bessie moving about in the stable yard. He had selfishly ignored the horse’s thirst. If he had been more alert – or perhaps if he had been a little kinder – he would have noticed Bessie and straight away he would have been warned of Gwydion’s return.

He said, chastened, ‘I was wrong to disobey you. But what am I to do when I have the power to cure ailments and ailments come to me to be cured? I didn’t plan to spread the word of my being here, it just happened.’

Gwydion muttered and Will’s stomach turned over as he watched the pea soup slowly return to the bowl and the bowl settle itself back on the table. ‘You must learn to understand a very basic rule, Willand. The Sightless Ones say that life presents endless choices between good and evil. They are wrong. In their terms, life’s endless choices are all about choosing between two “evils” or comparing two “goods”. Now weigh the many small mercies you have given to the local people against the vastly greater mercy that you alone can give to the world. Keep a sense of proportion. Be mindful of your true duty.’