Aiko walked under a nearby tree, a tall maple, its leaves rustling in the growing breeze, and she studied the ground below. Spying what she had come to find, she moved somewhat to the side and then gazed upward. 'This tree is his nightly roost, for here are his droppings, and there above, some twenty feet up, is a suitable perch."
Egil glanced sidelong at the bird downslope and hissed, "Here we'll come skulking in the black of the night when the moon has set. One of us will climb in the dark and take the bird our prisoner, casting a hood over its head and tying it tight, then throwing the whole in a bag and lowering it to the others below."
Karawah, karawah, karawah!
"Fie, he has discovered our plot," Egil managed to gasp out between guffaws. "We are undone."
Laughing, the four conspirators continued uphill, where they took rest on one of the marble benches scattered here and there upon the grounds.
Aiko sighed, then said, "Dara, I still do not see how a peacock can aid us to discover the green stone."
Egil barked a laugh. "Perhaps he'll think it an egg and try to hatch it."
Arin smiled, then sobered. "Aiko, the ways of prophecies are mysterious. I, too, cannot see how a fowl can aid us. Yet I also do not see how any of us will fulfill the words of the rede. I merely know that we must go on… and trust to Adon that we will succeed."
In that moment, great drops of rain began spattering down, and the four made a run for the castle, Arin easily in the lead, Alos gasping and wheezing and bringing up the rear.
The guard at the door to the great hall stepped before Egil to bar the way. "Sorry, sir, but weapons into the presence of the queen you cannot bring."
Egil grinned and canted his head, then said, "Let me present Lady Arin the bard and Alos her drummer. And this is Lady Aiko the sword dancer, and I am Egil of Jord. We are entertainers and are to perform at the command of the queen, and these meager arms are but part of our costumes."
The warder opened his mouth to speak, but from behind came a commanding voice: "Let them pass. They are indeed mere entertainers."
They turned to see the lord chamberlain standing at hand. Egil flourished a bow, and the chamberlain nodded in return. The guard stepped back and clicked his heels together and stiffly canted his head, and the four moved into the great hall.
"Milords and ladies and honored guests: the Dylvana Arin of Darda Erynian, Lady Aiko of Ryodo, Master Alos of Thol, and Master Egil One-Eye of Jord."
Again they moved past the steward and stepped down onto the amphitheater floor. This night Arin was dressed in her pale green gown, with matching ribbons laced in her chestnut hair. Alos was outfitted in his tan jacket and breeks and brown jerkin, and his dark brown boots and belt; he carried his tambour under one arm and his cruik was slipped through his belt. Egil wore black: shirt, jacket, breeks, boots, belt, soft beret-all jet; only his eye patch and axe were of a different color-the scarlet and gold leather band and the steel blade and dark oak helve enhancing his sinister air. Aiko was dressed in her leather armor, the hammered bronze platelets on her jacket dull in the lantern light. At her waist were girted her two swords, the four shiruken hidden. She wore a pair of daggers, one strapped to each thigh. Her helm was under her arm, now adorned with the peacock feather. Colorful long ribands were tied 'round her upper arms and forearms and wrists, and 'round her waist and thighs and just below the knees; and as she walked, they trailed and swirled. She looked every inch a golden warrior-danger afoot- yet with the grace of a dancer, and many a head turned her way.
Once again the four of them circled the floor, looking for Baron Steiger, yet with little hope, for Dolph had not brought word that the baron had returned. And with the rain pouring outside, it was likely that Steiger, even if he were on his way back, had taken refuge in some inn. Indeed, they did not find him among the milling guests.
Finally the trumpet flourished and the steward knelled the floor and announced the imminent arrival of the queen, and the guests formed an aisle. Again the clarion sounded, and the steward's words rang out and the queen and her consort entered.
This night she wore a peach-colored gown, and her golden hair was long and straight and fanned about her bare shoulders. Her tiara was gold and plain.
Following her on his silver chain came Delon, dressed in shimmering blues and greens, his sheening blue jacket long and tailed, with puffed sleeves inset with glittering green panels matching his green satin shirt. His pantaloons were blue-and-green striped, and he wore blue hosiery on one leg and green hosiery on the other. His shoes were sequined blue and green, and his hat iridescent blue, with a shimmering blue plume on one side and a shimmering green plume on the other.
The queen and her gaudy escort mounted the dais, she to sit on the throne, he to sit to one side at her feet, and she smiled down at him as if he were a prize stud on display, he to wanly smile back.
The entertainers paraded about the floor, this time Arin, Alos, Aiko, and Egil joining them, Aiko growling under her breath, yet she managed a smile of sorts-her teeth gritted in false exhibition. Afterward they rejoined Baron Stolz's table in time to hear him say, "Helga, see. Told you did I common entertainers they are."
Again this night, food was served, and, as before, the queen declared the celebration to be in honor of new love. And the festivity began.
Three garishly painted buffoons entered, arguing silently as they strolled across the amphitheater floor. Of a sudden, it seemed as if they collided with an invisible wall and crashed backward to the floor, to the amusement of the guests. Hands outstretched they felt their way along the invisible barrier; moments later it became clear that they were trapped in a large invisible box, for the unseen wall went 'round in a square, and they were enclosed inside. Two boosted the third upward, to see if he could climb over the wall, but his head crashed into an invisible ceiling, and all three crashed to the floor, while the guests and queen hooted in laughter and she pounded the arms of her throne. Now the three buffoons panicked and ran crashing into the unseen walls, falling and rising and running and crashing only to do it over again, and the queen's shrieks of laughter were lost in the howling roars of all, while Delon merely smiled. Then a fourth buffoon entered the banquet hall and stepped across the floor to the invisible chamber and took a great key from his pocket and unlocked an unseen door. He motioned to the others, and they came out one by one, only to be whacked with loud cracks by a slapstick wielded by their rescuer as he chased them out from the great hall, while the guests roared their approval and applauded. The four buffoons returned to take a bow, only to be whacked on the behind by a fifth buffoon as they bowed low.
When the applause and laughter died, a man with his hands in his pockets nonchalantly strolled in, followed by five small dogs dressed in gaily colored ruffed collars and walking upright on their hind legs. They leapt through hoops and climbed small ladders and retrieved juggled balls when the man dropped them… and other such tricks as well.
The performance of the man and his dogs was followed by a prestidigitator, and then three people who performed feats of balance.
Then it was time for Arin to sing. Dressed in black, his tawny hair shining like burnished brass, Egil stepped to the center of the floor and waited for all to grow quiet. Finally he turned and bowed to the queen. "Queen Gudrun the Comely"-he turned once again to the crowd- "and milords and ladies and honored guests, I present the lovely Dara Arin, Dylvana of Blackwood, of Darda Erynian. Accompanied by Alos of Thol, she will touch your hearts with song. Beware, for you will never be the same."
With Alos at hand, Arin, looking small and slight in her green gown, made her way to the raised floor to the right and below the queen's dais. Stepping forward to the edge of the amphitheater, Arin waited as slowly the mutter of conversation died, then in a clear voice announced, " The Shorn Bride.' "