Balin and Columbine (A Children of the May Novella - Book 1.5b)

Chapter Fourteen: A Phantom in the Woods

Columbine was too suspicious, Balin knew. He understood why, of course: although she put a brave face on it, the strains of trying to be a girl quester had unbalanced her mind. He knew her well enough by this time not to tell her this directly, as it would only make her angry, but he had to make her understand that not everyone was a threat. Especially not Elia. If Columbine had been listening properly she would have heard the little harper emphasise that Bellina Saunce Pité was one of the May-children King Arthur had tried to kill. Although the knight in the marbled armour was known to be a vicious man, he could be trusted not to betray them to Camelot. Sir Breuse wanted vengeance for Arthur’s attempted murder of the lovely Bellina. The Marble knight’s party were allies to them, and their assistance could be useful in taking down Lady Nemone at Spar-Longius. The Ladies of the Lake were friends to Arthur, and Elia had implied that there were few who would miss them in the house of King Pellam.

Though Balin knew all this with certainty, he could not think of a way of framing it in words that would not send Columbine into a fit of rage, so he stayed silent as they pushed into the undergrowth, moving away from the road. He wished his companion was more like Sir Breuse’s daughter: a young lady of beauty that was obvious even to Balin, and one who did not set her mind off-kilter by trying to take on tasks that properly belonged to men. Bellina knew herself well, and understood that her greatest power lay in her ability to inspire men to action. That was why Elia had laid such emphasis on Arthur’s threat to her mistress: what man wouldn’t rally to a cause under Bellina Saunce Pité’s banner?

As they got further away from the road the sound of Sir Breuse’s procession faded from hearing. The sunlight filtered through the green leaves, dappling the blossom. It was warm, and Columbine tied the pigeon cloak around her waist, where it flapped like a poor, torn skirt. She stared directly ahead of them, not meeting his eye. How pointy her nose was in profile, it seemed to stab at the air. 

‘What now?’ he said after a while. Balin thought this was pretty clever of himself, to make her feel like she was in charge.

‘Same as before. To Spar-Longius.’ She hopped over the rotting trunk of a fallen tree. Her brown hair had fallen loose at the back, one lock tickling the soft skin of her neck.

‘We’ll have to sneak in now. We could have gone in with Sir Breuse if we’d stayed with them.’

‘I’ve been thinking,’ she said. ‘Sir Garlon knows me. He courted Lily before she met your brother; though perhaps it’s more fair to say he courted my uncle with his riches. He knows my face.’ She turned to Balin. ‘And Lady Nemone knows you?’

‘Of course, she was often at Castle Fulfarne, and, to be fair, I look quite a lot like my identical twin brother who she was in love with. Emphasis on the identical.’

Columbine winced. ‘Stupid question. Sorry. But... we should swap. You kill Sir Garlon. I’ll do Lady Nemone.’

Balin licked his lips; he could still taste bacon grease and mustard from their lunch.

Columbine stepped towards him and took his hands in hers. She looked up at him with her big grey eyes.

‘Say yes,’ she said. ‘We should admit that neither of us knows for certain which of them killed Lily and Balan. The only way can be certain we’ve avenged them is if we kill both Garlon and Nemone.’

Balin touched a loose strand of soft hair from her forehead. He broke her gaze and looked above her head. She was leading him into folly, he could feel it.

‘It would be unjust,’ he said. ‘Whoever killed the wrong one would go to hell for it.’ He didn’t say it, but while he was happy to go to hell as long as his brother was revenged, he could not bear the thought of Columbine condemning herself to that fiery place.