The Knight

“You hid him in your mother’s cellar?”

“Yessar, dere’s a ol’ storeroom ma’s forgot, ‘n dat’s Org’s place.”

“I see.”

Uns craned his neck to look up, seeking understanding. “He stinks, he do, from sleepin’ in his shit, ‘n sumptimes I wants ta turn him out. On’y he’d git stock. Dat got his ma kilt. Sa I don’. On’y I want ta, ‘n I will, ta, ’un day.”

I waited, pretty sure that he would keep talking if I gave him a chance to think about things.

“Learnt him ta talk a li’l, sar. Tried ta teach him ta say ogre ’cause he is.

On’y he says org. Sa Org’s wat I calls him, sar. He says yes ‘n no ‘n Uns. Li’l words like dat.”

I nodded. “I suppose knowing you had him—a monster in the house that nobody knew about—made you feel like you were better than your brother. Maybe better than your mother, too.”

“Made me good as dem, dat’s aw, sar. Ma ...”

“Go on.”

“She’s my ma, dat’s aw, ‘n sumptimes it’s like I’se still a mop. ‘N it’s her farm, ‘n she’ll give it ta Duns when she passes.”

I nodded to myself.

“Sa Org means I count ta.”

“Can you get him from the cellar and bring him here without being seen?”

Uns hesitated, gnawing his lip. “Ya goin’ ta kill him, Sar Able?”

“I’m going to wrestle him, if he’ll wrestle me. Maybe he’ll kill me, breaking my back or my neck. If he does—”

Gylf growled; you have heard the same noise, but you thought it was distant thunder.

“You and Gylf and Pouk will have to sort things out. Or I may kill Org, the same way. We’ll see.”

“Ya goin’ ta wresde him fair, sar?”

“Yes. Without weapons, if that’s what you mean. Can you bring him? Don’t let anybody see you.”

Uns bobbed his head. “Yessar. Outta da cellar door, sar. Dey won’t know.”

“Then bring him. Bring him now, and I’ll do my best to see that no serious harm comes to him.”

Gylf wanted to go with Uns, but I would not let him. When Uns had gone, I took off my boots and my sword belt and laid them aside, with Sword Breaker and my dagger still in their scabbards. After that, I took off my clothes. They were still pretty wet, but I found I was a lot colder without them than I had been with them on. I had put my sword belt on my boots to keep it off the wet ground, sticking Sword Breaker and my dagger into the boots. Now I piled my clothes on top of everything, trying not to get them any wetter than they were already.

When I had stripped, I stretched the way they teach you to in gym, leaning right and left as I touched my toes. The swing of the sea was strong in me, and I called upon it as I loosened up my muscles. I was a big man, thanks to Disiri, a head taller than almost everybody, with big shoulders and arms thicker than most men’s legs. I knew I was going to need all that, and the sea-surge most of all. The big waves pound, and drain away. They are strong, not stiff, and they swallow everything you throw at them and throw it back at you harder.

Gylf snarled, and from the sound of it I knew Org was coming. I took a good deep breath and let it trickle away.

Then I folded my arms and waited. This would be the test, and I had no idea how it would come out.

Chapter 41. Org

He bites, sar. I oughta tell you dot. ‘Nhe’s bigger now dan when Duns catched him.”

I said okay, feeling a little sick. Standing in back of Uns in the clear moonlight, the ogre did not look much taller than he was, but its shoulders were huge. As well as I could tell its head was twice as big as his, but on those shoulders it looked too small. I could see the arms were so long they touched the ground, but I was too dumb to realize right away that it was walking on its knuckles.

“Quick, ta, Sar Able.” Uns sounded proud. “You watch out, sar. Don’ dink he’s slaw jus’

’cause he’s sa big. He’s fas’, ‘n he’ll hit wid his hands fas’. Slap ut ya, only dey don’ feel like no slaps.”

I said, “You sound as if you fought him too.”

“Not like Duns done, sar. He beat me easy, on’y I made him see he had ta have me. Somebody ta take care a’ him. I dink he was goin’ ta eat me, dough.”

“Well, he doesn’t have to have me.” I stepped a little closer. “He can eat me if he can.”

Org’s left hand slashed faster than any sword I have ever seen. I tried to duck, but the edge of it got the back of my head. I was half stu

When I came to, I was lying on wet grass and feeling like I had swallowed soap. I knew I had gone to sleep when I ought to have been doing something else, something really important, but I could not think what it was. Pretty soon Bold Berthold would come and see I had not finished the job, and he would be too nice to say anything and I would feel like I ought to just kill myself and get it over.

But maybe I could see what the job was if I could just sit up, and if I could I could start doing it and be hard at work when he came and that would be better. Then I heard a dog and I thought it was sheep or something, I had promised to watch sheep for somebody and fallen asleep. Except that it was dark, just moonlight all around and probably the sheep ought to be in a pen someplace and I had not pe

The dog sounded as big as a bear.

Bold Berthold was most likely dead. Disira was dead too, and I had given little Ossar to the Bodachan when they gave me Gylf. I got up, dizzy and near to chucking. The grass was barley, high already but nowhere near ready for harvest.

When I found Org, Gylf had him by the throat and Gylf was black and as big as a horse. He was shaking Org like a rat, and Org was trying to get loose while a two-headed snake of fire and brass struck at his face. I yelled at the snake until it quit and changed into Uri and Baki in a cloud of smoke.

I made them help me get Gylf to let go. I do not think I have ever done any work rougher than that. Baki and I kept trying to pry his jaws apart, with him throwing us around when he shook Org and the sticks Uri found for us breaking. When we finally got him off Org fell down limp, and I knew just exactly how he felt. I told him I was sorry, that I had wanted for us to have a fair fight, and he had won it and I knew it. Maybe I should have offered him my armor and the horses, but I did not think of it then and he was not a knight anyway. I said that I would never claim to have won, and whenever anybody asked I would tell the truth.

Gylf did not want to go back to dog size, but I made him, and I helped Org get up and promised Gylf would not go for him. “I’m ready to fight again if you want to,” I said. (I knew it was not true, but I thought Org probably felt worse than I did.) “If you need a few minutes to catch your breath, that’s okay. But we can’t take too long, because I’ve got to get back to Sheerwall Castle.”

I have had some big surprises in my life, and that was one of the biggest. Org got down on the ground again and crawled over to my feet on his belly.

Uri said, “He yields, Lord. That is his surrender.”

I said, “Is that right, Org? Are you saying you give up?”

He moaned, and put my foot on his head. It was colder than any rock.

Baki said, “He wishes to join us, beautiful naked Lord.” Uri laughed at that, and I wanted to run off and hide in the barley.