There was a knock at the door.
Gwen looked up, inquiringly.
Rod stepped over to the panel with a sinking stomach. Knocks meant trouble. So much for his quiet day at home!
He opened the door, and found what he’d expected—Toby the warlock, in his mid-twenties now, grinning and cheerful as ever, in the livery of a King’s courier. “Good day to thee, High Warlock! How goes it with thee?”
“Hectic, as usual.” Rod smiled; he couldn’t help it, when Toby was around. “Step in, won’t you?”
“Only the moment; I must be up and away.” Toby came in, doffing his cap. “A fair day to thee, fair Gwendylon. Thy beauty never fades!”
“Uncle Toby!” shrieked three gleeful voices, and three small bodies slammed into him at speed. Rod put out a hand to prop up the esper, who was crooning, “Ho-o-o, whoa, not so quickly there! How goes it w’ thee, Geoffrey-my-bauble? Cordelia, little love, thoul’t steal my heart yet! Good Magnus, good tidings!”
“What did you bring me, Uncle Toby?”
“Can I play with your sword, Uncle Toby?”
“Toby! Unc’ Toby! Can’y?”
“Now, now, children, let the poor man capture his breath!” Gwen pried her brood off her guest with tact and delicacy. “Thou’It take ale and a cake, at least, Toby.”
“Ah, I fear not, sweet Gwendylon,” Toby sighed. “When I said I must be away, I spoke not lightly. Queen Catharine is wroth, and the King waxes somber.”
“Oh.” Gwen’s glance went to Rod, and a shadow crossed herface. “Well, I should not complain. I’ve had thee home a week, now.”
“ ‘Fraid the work goes with the title, dear,” Rod said, commiserating. “Twenty-four-hour call, and all that.” He turned to Toby. “What’s going on?”
“I know only that I was summoned to fetch thee, with their Majesties’ compliments and a request for greatest speed.” Toby inclined his head knowingly. “Yet I know the Lord Abbot approaches Runnymede at greatest speed.”
“Yeah, there has been something brewing between the Church and the Crown, hasn’t there? Well, I’d better let Tuan fill me in on it.”
“In Runnymede, then!” Toby raised his hand in farewell. “ ‘Til next we meet, fair mother!” And his form started to waver around the edges.
“Toby,” Gwen said, quickly but firmly, and the young warlock’s form stabilized again. “Not in the house, if you please,” she explained. “An’ you do, the boys’ll be popping in and out in all manner of places the rest of the day, and part of the night!”
“Oh! Aye, I had forgot. Well, ‘tis gratifying to know they hold me in such regard. Farewell, children!” He doffed his cap, and stepped to the door.
“Uncle Toby!” cried three anguished voices, and they pressed forward to their friend. He slipped a hand into his belt-purse, cast a quick, furtive look at Gwen, then tossed a quick spray of candies at the children and ducked out the door as they scrambled for the booty.
Gwen heaved a sigh. “They’ll never eat now! Well, I’d best delay dinner.”
“Yeah, but I think you’d better not keep it warm for me.” Rod looked up at the thunder-rumble as air rushed in to fill the space where the young warlock had just disappeared. He turned back to Gwen. “From the sound of it, this could go on for some time.”
Gwen shook her head. “But why do they not call thee when they know such broils are brewing? Why do they always wait ‘til the troubles are come?”
“Well, you know Catharine—she always thinks she and Tuan can handle it on their own, until the moment arrives. Then they want me by, just for moral support.”
“And skill,” Gwen reminded him. “When ‘tis all done, ‘tis thou who hast averted conflict, not they.”
“Yeah, well, you can’t expect one of the teams to referee.” Rod leaned forward to kiss her. “Bear up without me, darling. I’ll be home when I can.”
“Papa’s going!” Cordelia shrieked, and delight filled the air as the children ran for the back room window that faced the stable, to wave goodbye when Papa left.
Gwen caught Rod’s sleeve and glanced back, waiting till all three were out of sight. Then she leaned forward and hissed, “Beware, my lord! I would I could’st go with thee, to guard thy steps.”
“Why?” Rod frowned. “Oh! Those idiots and their ambushes… Don’t worry, dear. Their marksmanship’s no better than their intentions.”
“Yet how oft have they tried, my husband?”
Rod pursed his lips. “Well, now, let’s see…” He started counting on his fingers. “There was the cretin who took a potshot at me from the steeple in that village—what was it, about a year ago now?”
“Eleven months,” Gwen corrected. “Three weeks ere Gregory was born.”
“Eleven months, then. He didn’t seem to realize that a crossbow bolt can’t possibly go as fast as a robot horse with a built-in radar. And there was that so-called ‘peasant,’ who jumped out of a hay wagon with a laser—poor chump.” He shook his head sadly. “He didn’t realize he should’ve waited until he was away from the hay before he pulled the trigger.”
“ ‘Twas good of thee, to pull him from the flames, and hurl him into the millpond. Still, his lance of light did come but a hair’s-breadth from thy body.”
“Yeah, but Fess side-stepped in time. And there was that guard at Tuan’s castle; Sir Maris is still wearing sackcloth and ashes because the enemy managed to infiltrate his troops. But, that! My Lord, that was a joke! You can see a pike blow coming a mile away! It takes at least a quarter-second to swing a ten-foot pole; all I had to do was dodge, and yank the shaft as it came past.” He shook his head, remembering. “He went right past me, into the moat—and Fess wasn’t even with me on that one.”
“Aye, my lord, but ‘tis the only one of these ambushes in which he hath not saved thee—and he may not ‘company thee within the castle. Nay, sweet lord, take care!”
“Oh, don’t worry.” Rod reached out to caress the line of her jaw. “I’ll be wary. After all, I have something to come home to, now.”
The great black horse looked up as Rod stepped into the stable, and a voice spoke through the amplifier embedded in the bone behind Rod’s ear. “I detected a warlock’s arrival, Rod, and his departure. Are we off to the castle, then?”
“We are.” Rod threw the saddle on Fess’s back. “Just a Sunday outing, I think.”
“But it is Wednesday, Rod.”
“Well, the clergy’ll be there, anyway. The Lord Abbot himself.”
Static whispered in Rod’s ear—Fess’s equivalent of a sigh. “What game is the Church beginning?”
“Cards, probably.” Rod tightened the girth and took down the bridle. “At least, I’ll have to keep a poker-face.”
“Are you sure of your hand, Rod?”
“The best.” Rod fitted the bridle, grinning. “Full house, Fess.”
As they rode out of the stable, the back window of the house exploded into a hail of goodbyes, and the frantic waving of three little hands.
A few minutes later, as his steel horse’s gait ate up the miles between his home and the King’s Castle at Runnymede, Rod mused, “Gwen’s worried about the assassination attempts, Fess.”
“I will always guard you, Rod—but I do wish that you would take greater precautions.”
“Don’t worry—they bother me, too, but in a different way. If our futurian foes are suddenly working so hard to get rid of me, they must have plans for a big push at toppling Tuan’s government.”
“Why not say ‘revolution,’ Rod?”
Rod winced. “Nasty word, when it’s my side that’s in power. But they do seem to be gearing up for a big offensive, don’t they?”
“I agree. Could this conference between the Abbot and Their Majesties signal the beginning of such an offensive?”
Rod scowled. “It could, now that you mention it. The totalitarians have pretty much exhausted the ‘Peasants’ Revolt’ motif for the moment, and the anarchists have ridden the ‘Barons’ Rights’ movement into the ground. They’ve got to try a new theme, don’t they?”