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King must always try what is easiest first. It is in the nature of conquest.Sometimes an opponent will
accede. I did not think you would be one who would, but it was necessary to find out. Now we are past
that, past game playing, past ne-gotiation, and are face to face with reality. I have your daughter and your
friends. You have my kingdom. One of us must give something up. Which of us is it to be?"
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 Rydall brought his horse forward onto the edge of the causeway. "I think it must be you, King of
Landover, but I am willing to settle the matter in an honorable way. A challenge, then, as I have said. The
challenge is this. I will send seven champions to face you. Each will come at a time of my choosing. Each
will be of a dif-ferent form. All will come to kill you. If you prevent them from doing so, if you are able to
kill them first, all seven of them, then I will free your daughter and friends and abandon my claim to
Landover. But if any of them succeeds, then your kingdom will be forfeit and your family will be sent into
exile for all time. Do you accept? If you do, walk out upon the causeway and pick up my gauntlet."
Ben stared down at the other in disbelief. "He's crazy," he whispered to Willow, who nodded
word-lessly.
"You have a champion of your own to defend you," Rydall continued. "Everyone knows of the Paladin,
the King's knight-errant and protector. You shall have some form of defense against the creatures I
send." Creatures now, Ben thought. Not champions. "I understand that no one has ever defeated the
Paladin. That means you have a more than reasonable chance of winning, doesn't it? Do you accept?"
Still Ben did not respond, his mind racing as he con-sidered the proposal. It was ridiculous, but it was
the only chance he had to get Mistaya back. It gave him time to find out where she was and perhaps
rescue her. And Questor Thews, Abernathy, and his soldiers. Butthe bargain itself was insane! His life
measured against Rydall's seven killers? If he accepted this challenge, if he went down on the causeway
and picked up that gauntlet, he would be bound as surely as by his most sacred oath. There were
witnesses to this--members of his castle staff, King's Guards and retainers--and Landover's laws would
not allow him to forsake his word once it was given. He might kill Rydall and be relieved of it, but the
options offered were extreme and narrowly drawn.
"If you do not accept," Rydall shouted out suddenly, "I shall have your daughter and your friends tied to
horses and set before my armies as we sweep into your kingdom. They shall die first, before any of my
men. I would regret this, but it would be necessary if I were to ask my men to give up their lives as the
price of your stubbornness. I told you once before, I prefer to gain your kingdom without bloodshed.
You might prefer the same--if for different reasons. My challenge gives you that chance. Do you accept?"
Ben was thinking now that if he did, he must also ac-cept the fact that he would be required to become
the Paladin in order to stay alive--not once or twice but seven times. It was his worst fear. He struggled
con-stantly with what giving himself over to his alter ego meant. Each time it became increasingly more
difficult to keep from losing his own identity. Becoming the Pal-adin meant complete submersion into the
other's being. Each time it was a little harder coming back out of the armored shell, out of the memories,
out of the life that was his champion's. If he accepted Rydall's challenge, he would be facing the prospect
not only of being killed in combat but of being transformed forever into his darker half.
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 "High Lord, do you accept?" Rydall demanded again.
"No, do not!" Willow exclaimed suddenly, seizinghis arm. "There is more to this than what you are being
told! There is something hidden behind Rydall's words! I can sense it, Ben!" She moved in front of him.
There were tears in her eyes. Her voice was so quiet, he could barely hear her speak. "Even if we must
lose Mistaya, do not accept."
What it must have cost her to say this, Ben could not begin to guess. She was fiercely protective of
Mistaya. She would do anything to keep her safe. But she was giving him a chance to save himself
anyway. She loved him that much.
He folded her into his arms and held her close. "I have to try," he told her softly. "If I don't, how will I
live with myself afterward?"
He kissed her, then turned away. Beckoning Bunion to follow, he crossed the parapets to the stairway
lead-ing down. "Wait for me here," he called back to Wil-low.
He went down the stairway thinking of what he must do once he picked up the gauntlet. His options
were few. He must find Mistaya, Questor, Abernathy, and his Guards and set them free. That was first.
Then he must persuade Rydall to withdraw his challenge and his threat to Landover. Or, if he was unable
to do that, kill him. The alternative was to face Rydall's seven chal-lengers and hope that he killed them
before they killed him. Or was he required to kill them? Perhaps he could simply defeat them. But Rydall
had not made it seem as if that were an option.
"Creatures" Rydall had called them the second time. Ben found himself wondering what sort of creatures
they would be.
He crossed the courtyard to the main gates, Bunion a step behind, the kobold's teeth clenched in a
frightening grimace. It was clear what he was thinking. "Let them be, Bunion," Ben cautioned softly. "We
need Mistaya and the others back first."
The kobold grunted something in response, and Ben hoped it was the answer he was seeking.
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 He walked through the main gates and out onto the causeway. The day was brightening, the sky clear
and blue, the last of the fog dissipating on the meadow fronting the castle's lake. Rydall and his silent
compan-ion sat atop their horses and waited. Ben moved out onto the causeway, alert for any treachery,
his anger growing with every step he took. Perhaps Bunion had the right idea. How hard would it be to
summon the Paladin and put an end to Rydall once and for all? Easy enough if he chose to do it, he
thought. But where would that leave Mistaya?
He wondered suddenly if this was all an elaborate trick, if the horses, the necklace, and the scarf were
lures to bring him out into the open. He wondered if Rydall really did have Mistaya and her escort as his
prisoners. He surmised that it could all be a clever lie.
But he knew in his heart it wasn't.
He reached the far end of the causeway and stopped. The riders stared down at him from atop their
chargers. Wordlessly Ben reached down for the gauntlet. It came away from the bridge easily, as if
nothing more than force of will had held it in place those three days past. Ben straightened and looked
directly at Rydall. Marnhull's King was much bigger than he had first thought, a man of surprising size and
undoubted strength. His black-cloaked companion, on the other hand, seemed smaller. The faces of both
were carefully hidden beneath helmet and hood, respectively.
Ben flung the gauntlet back at Rydall. The big man caught it easily and waved it in mock salute. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]