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out sounding very medieval indeed.
"I told you," Jim said, "I'll have Carolinus check it out, before we bring it
close to Robert."
"Absolutely!" said Angie. "Now that this Agatha knows that Robert exists,
she'll see her chances of the Falon estates going completely out of her hands
altogether. First, Robert's guardian will have control of them; then when
Robert comes of age, he will. Maybe you better find that other troll after
all."
"I'd be glad to if I knew how," said Jim. "Just how do you think I should go
about it?"
"Carolinus will simply have to tell you a magical way to do it," said Angie.
"I don't believe that there isn't a magical way. He's just being the way he
always is about making you learn things on your own."
"We can't be sure of that," said Jim; then, hastily, because he saw that this
line of talk could lead to nothing but unproductive argument between them, he
added, "Also, what about this business of our kitchen hobgoblin? I haven't
seen Hob-One since the Prince came in. How about this message he said he had
from Secoh?"
"Forget about it for the moment," said Angie firmly. "Hob-One's not here by
the way, couldn't you think of a better name for him than that?"
But she went on without waiting for an answer.
"& I suppose somewhere along the line you're going to have to arrange to get
far enough outside the castle to use your magic, turn into a dragon and fly to
find Secoh and get the message. But you've got the rest of the twelve days for
that. Well, eleven days now, if you don't count today. Jim, I think we really
must get dressing."
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"I'm already dressed," said Jim mildly.
Indeed he was. Besides his best belt with the painted enamel plaques in
interstices of its metal links, with his best sheath and dagger hanging from
it, he was wearing an almost brand-new, madder-dyed, red cote-hardie above
blue hose; and his slipperlike, open-work shoes, completely heelless like
everybody else's, were also dyed red.
Angie, of course, would be the showpiece of the family. She had an absolutely
new formal gown, a full-skirted, tight-bodiced dress colored with the pale
gold of saffron dye. The voluminous sleeves, puffed out above the elbow and
tight-fitting below it down to the wrist, were of course detachable; but Angie
had decided to go against the general custom of wearing a contrasting color
with the saffron gown.
Instead, she wore the matching sleeves of the gown itself; but with them the
enormous rubies she had been given by Rrrnlf, the Sea Devil. They had been
detached from the chain that linked them, and sewed by their bezels into two
rows. One row ran down the tight part of the right sleeve and the other down
the left, where such sleeves normally had rows of buttons, rounded upward on
their top side and often cloth dyed, or even painted with tiny scenes.
None of this was on her just at the moment. The dress, her dress shoes and
everything else were waiting in the other room for her to start getting ready;
and at any minute now not only the wet nurse but Angie's serving woman would
be coming back to help her get into the costume. She was fairly confident her
garments should match up to, or even outshine, any of those worn by other
female guests present for this most important of the twelve days of mid-day
dinners. Also, her position at the high table, would make her dress visible to
the eyes of all.
"I think I'll roll up my travel bedroll," said Jim. He and Angie carried
their own mattresses wherever they went, and avoided sleeping in the beds made
available to them at most other castles and all inns, simply because these
were alive with vermin under ordinary conditions. "Then I'll take it down to
Brian's room, and try to catch a quick nap there before dinner. You can come
by his room and pick me up when you're ready, so that we can go down to the
Great Hall together."
They got up from their chairs. Angie smiled at him suddenly and hugged him.
"Don't worry," she said. "I'll be thinking of ways you could do things, too."
Warmed by this, Jim watched her go through the tapestry into the other room,
rolled up his bedroll and headed for Brian's quarters. On his way down the
hall, he had an idea of his own. He was seated at the high table, Brian was
not. Slice it anyway you like, and in spite of the fact that Brian was a
better fighter, a braver man, better in all ways that counted in this medieval
world than Jim the fact remained that largely through accident, and his own
false claim to a title when he had first arrived, Jim was more in the public
eye at this Christmas gathering than Brian was.
Brian would be able to move around and possibly not be missed, when Jim's
moving around would be noticed and possibly even talked about. He did not see
exactly how Brian's relative freedom could come in useful; but it felt as if
he had the forerunner of at least one idea if not more.
He knocked at Brian's door, not really expecting to find Brian in. However,
his squire or some man-at-arms should be there, keeping the place occupied and
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being responsible for what was in it. Theoluf would ordinarily have been doing
the same for Jim, but the baby's presence had changed all that; and Theoluf
himself was just as happy to be off keeping an eye on the men-at-arms. But it
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