The Ruby Knight

don’t have enough men. Let them trail along if it makes them happy. We’ll get rid of them when we’re all feeling a little better. Berit, drop back and keep an eye on them – and no heroics.’
    ‘I understand completely, Sir Sparhawk.’
    The day grew hot before noon, and Sparhawk began to sweat inside his armour.
    ‘Am I being punished for something?’ Kurik asked him, mopping his streaming face with a piece of cloth.
    ‘You know I wouldn’t do that.’
    ‘Then why am I locked up in this stove?’
    ‘Sorry. It’s necessary.’
    About mid-afternoon, when they were passing through a long verdant valley, a dozen or so gaily dressed young men galloped from a nearby estate to bar their way. ‘Go no farther,’ one of them, a pale, pimply young fellow in a green velvet doublet and with a supercilious, self-important expression, commanded, holding up one hand imperiously.
    ‘I beg your pardon?’ Sparhawk asked.
    ‘I demand to know why you are trespassing on my father’s lands.’ The young fellow looked around at his sniggering friends with a smugly self-congratulatory expression.
    ‘We were led to believe that this is a public road,’ Sparhawk replied.
    ‘Only at my father’s sufferance.’ The pimply fellow puffed himself up, trying to look dangerous.
    ‘He’s showing off for his friends,’ Kurik muttered. ‘Let’s just sweep them out of the way and ride on. Those rapiers they’re carrying aren’t really much of a threat.’
    ‘Let’s try some diplomacy first,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘We really don’t want a crowd of angry serfs on our heels.’
    ‘I’ll do it. I’ve handled his sort before.’ Kurik rode forward deliberately, Bevier’s armour gleaming in the afternoon sun and his white cape and surcoat resplendent. ‘Young man,’ he said in a stern voice, ‘you seem to be somewhat unacquainted with the customary courtesies. Is it possible that you don’t recognize us?’
    ‘I’ve never seen you before.’
    ‘I wasn’t talking about who we are. I was talking about what . It’s understandable, I suppose. It’s obvious that you’re not widely travelled.’
    The young fellow’s eyes bulged with outrage. ‘Not so. Not so,’ he objected in a squeaky voice. ‘I have been to the city of Venne at least twice.’
    ‘Ah,’ Kurik said. ‘And when you were there, did you perhaps hear about the Church?’
    ‘We have our own chapel right here on the estate. I need no instruction in that foolishness.’ The young man sneered. It seemed to be his normal expression.
    And older man in a black brocade doublet was riding furiously from the estate.
    ‘It’s always gratifying to speak with an educated man,’ Kurik was saying. ‘Have you ever by chance heard of the Knights of the Church?’
    The young fellow looked a bit vague at that. The man in the black doublet was approaching rapidly from behind the group of young men. His face appeared white with fury.
    ‘I’d strongly advise you to stand aside,’ Kurik continued smoothly. ‘What you’re doing imperils your soul – not to mention your life.’
    ‘You can’t threaten me – not on my father’s own estate.
    ‘Jaken!’ the man in black roared, ‘have you lost your mind?’
    ‘Father,’ the pimply young man faltered, ‘I was just questioning these trespassers.’
    ‘ Trespassers? ’ the older man spluttered. ‘This is the King’s highway, you jackass!’
    ‘But – ’
    The man in the black doublet moved his horse in closer, rose in his stirrups and knocked his son from the saddle with a solid blow of his fist. Then he turned to face Kurik. ‘My apologies, Sir Knight,’ he said. ‘My half-wit son didn’t know to whom he was speaking. I revere the Church and honour her Knights. I hope and pray that you were not offended.’
    ‘Not at all, My Lord,’ Kurik said easily. ‘Your son and I had very nearly resolved our differences.’
    The noble winced. ‘Thank God I arrived in time then. That idiot isn’t much of a son, but his mother would have been distressed if you’d been obliged to cut off his head.’
    ‘I doubt that it would have gone that far, My Lord.’
    ‘Father!’ the young man on the ground said in horrified shock. ‘You hit me!’ There was blood streaming from his nose. ‘I’m going to tell mother!’
    ‘Good. I’m sure she’ll be very impressed.’ The noble looked apologetically at Kurik. ‘Excuse me, Sir Knight. I think some long overdue discipline is in order.’ He glared at his