As fair as thou seest
Brides on the bench abiding.
Let not love's silver
Rule over thy dreams;
Draw no woman to kind kisses.
LAY OF SIGRDRIFA.
As Rothada sprang up the step of the dais to nestle close to her father,
Gerold drew out a bench from the nearest wall. On this Olvir seated
himself, and the king beckoned to Liutrad and Roland.
"Come forward, heroes," he said; "and you, Gerold."
The quick advance of her companions left Fastrada alone in the midst of
the bower. She hesitated and looked appealingly to the king. Karl had
bent over the children clasped in his great arms; but Hildegarde saw the
girl's look, and signed to her to take the place on the bench beside
Roland.
Crimson with shamefaced delight, the girl glided forward. Near the
bench, however, she began to falter, seemingly overcome by diffidence.
A very audible tittering from the other bower-maidens sent her edging
around the end of the bench farthest from Roland. Then the king, drawn
by the note of merriment, looked up and fixed his gaze upon her. Was it
to be wondered that, between her diffidence and the awe of the royal
presence, the girl shrank back to the bench in such confusion as to
thrust herself between Liutrad Erlingson and his lord?
Karl burst into a hearty laugh.
"Holy Mother!" he exclaimed, "it is our herald maiden. She plays her
own part more ill than another's. Did you not tell me, sweetheart, that
Roland--ay, it was Roland! We will mend matters if this young Dane bear
will barter seats on the bench with a stricken hero."
Liutrad sprang up at the word. But Count Roland sat firmly in his
place.
"The maiden has good eyesight, and there is space beside me," he said.
A second and louder titter ran down the row of bower-maidens, and even
Hildegarde could not suppress a smile. Fastrada only blushed the more,
and sat with downcast eyes, not even venturing a glance at the young
sea-king beside her. Her drooping shoulder pressed lightly against the
gold spirals on the Norse hero's mailed arm. She sat very quiet.
Again Karl laughed, this time at the frowning face of his nephew.
"Ha, kinsman," he admonished in a jesting tone, "the maiden seems coy.
Your wooing has been over-hearty."
"That could not be, dear lord, if the maiden loves him," observed
Hildegarde, softly.
"Which is to say--"
"Nothing, sire, nothing!" broke in Roland. "We were merely talking of
my sword-brother."
"A choice subject," rejoined Karl; "yet had I worn the buskins of Count
Roland, I should have talked more of the maiden herself, and of Count
Roland's thoughts of her."
Roland's frown deepened, and Fastrada's blushing face bent still farther
forward. Olvir sat rigidly erect, striving to resist his desire to gaze
down on the drooping maiden. He had caught one glimpse of her face as
she stood between him and the king,--a glimpse that of itself was enough
to set his pulses wildly throbbing; and now there was added to it the
warmth and perfume of her person close against his side. The temptation
was almost greater than he could bear. Only by the strongest effort
could he hold in mind his duty to his foster-brother. Of all present, he
perhaps felt most keenly the constraint of the silence which followed
the king's well-meant raillery.
The pause was broken by Hildegarde, with the kindly thought of diverting
attention from the lovers.
"Dear lord, you told me that Count Olvir was the foster-son of Otkar the
Dane. Have I not also heard you say that Lord Otkar was the craftiest
as well as the strongest of warriors?"
"He was a foe worthy a king," answered Karl. "Would that the hero were
now beside my throne, with his grey wit and mighty axe! Yet I should
not complain. Here is one whom he has reared in all his lore and
wisdom."
"The lore, but not the wisdom, lord king," replied Olvir. "He could
give me the one; the other no man may impart."
"True; and the saying tells me you have found wisdom for yourself.
Beware, for now I shall put your wit to the test. I would ask your
counsel on this Saracen war. All my other borders are pacified. Even
the Saxon Mark--"
"Count nothing on the Saxons, lord king," interrupted Olvir.
"How! already a difference from my councillors? Not one in my hall but
will tell you those wolves are at last tamed. I have planted their wild
land with fortresses and chapels."
"Your church tithes and the preaching of your priests will soon stir the
sons of Odin to renewed anger. I speak words from Otkar's lips. There
will be blood on priestly robes. Your burgs and your chapels will see
the torch. Look for no sure peace in Saxon Land so long as Wittikind the
Westphalian bears his head upon his shoulders."
"He dwells with Sigfrid the Dane, as you yourself bring word."
"Scant cheer! When he comes again, it will be with a following of Dane
warriors. If he is content to dwell always with the Nordmannian king,
why should he send the murderer Hroar to bear off this little maiden by
your knee?"
The king laid his hand on Rothada's head, and his face grew stern with a
look of majesty and power before which even Olvir sat half awed.
"Dane and Saxon,--sea-wolf and forest-wolf,--let the wild hordes come!
They shall find other than lambs to greet them!"
"Yet now you 'd lay open the Mark to them, lord king," persisted Olvir.
"You plan to lead your host still farther from the Rhineland."
"By Thor, Olvir," broke in Liutrad, with Norse freedom, "why seek to mar
such fair chance of sword-play? The more of war, the merrier for heroes.
And would you turn aid from your Saracen kin?"
"Saracen kin; how's that, my Norse hawk? Is the boy mad?"
"No, lord king," replied Olvir; "my face should tell otherwise. Because
of it, men in the North call me Elfkin; but this is the truth,--in my
mother's veins Greek and Arab blood were mingled. Her father, Sheik
Suleyman, is known to you as Al Arabi,--leader of the Saracen envoys."
"Al Arabi!"
"One-time Emir of Armenia. The wife who bore him my mother was of kin
to the Emperor Leo, whom men call the Isaurian."
"By my crown! no longer do I wonder at your unbending knee! I have done
well to honor you. What is your knowledge of the Saracen folk?"
"As to those in the Eastland, I learned much from Otkar and from Arabic
writings; but of these in Andalus, I know only what came to me last
night from the lips of my mother's father."
"And what did he say of Abd-er-Rahman? The Saracen king has the name of
a great warrior."
"True, lord king; yet the Beni Al Abbas cherish undying hatred against
the Omyyad."
"These Saracen pagans are loath to take oath; but the envoys swore to
the fealty of their faction. I count no less on aid from the Christian
folk in that land."
"And Duke Lupus, your Majesty," added Roland, with a sudden show of
interest. "He brings us safe passage of the Pyrenees."
"I have heard Otkar speak of the Vascons," rejoined Olvir, dryly. "It
is said they do not love outlanders. As to this duke, is he not of
Merwing blood?"
"True,--and therefore lacks boldness to break his allegiance," answered
Karl.
Olvir's lip curled in a slow smile.
"A fox will snap in his own den, and, at the best, the mountain-cats are
hard to hold. You may look for aid to the Beni Al Abbas; but count
neither on Christian Vascon nor Christian Goth."
"What! do you hold that the Christian folk would choose their pagan
oppressors before a ruler of their own faith? Our Holy Father Hadrian
numbers them among the truest of Christians."
"And yet, lord king, the Moslem yoke is lighter on their necks than is
your own upon the folk of Aquitania."
At the bold assertion, Karl's heavy brows met in a frown, and an angry
light shone from his grey eyes.
"My yoke,--my yoke!" he repeated slowly. "By my sword, young Dane, you
are no court-man. Otkar himself would scarce have ventured so bitter a
jeer."
"Jeer! The king asked my counsel, and I gave it. I believe what I
spoke; it came to me from Otkar. Why, then, should I not speak it?"
"Why not?" rejoined Karl; and he burst into hearty laughter. Then,
falling grave again, he nodded, and called out approvingly, "Here, in
truth, is a king's son! Hearken, my Dane hawk; though I have bold counts
as well as sleek flatterers, my ears are not used to such biting truths.
It shall be otherwise hereafter. I will not willingly part with so
straight-tongued a counsellor."
The great Frank paused to pat the heads of the three boys astride his
knees.
"May these bairns prove as bold," he added. "And now, enough of such
matters. I had intended, Olvir, to test your learning, and that of your
ruddy-cheeked follower; but that must now wait. After the feast of
Lupus, we will have you both come of an evening to feast us on your
book-lore."
"The feast of Lupus!" sighed Hildegarde, pausing in her needlework. "I
wish that I might attend it with you, dear lord."
"And why, sweetheart?"
"Fastrada, tell his Majesty of the feast."
Thus called upon by her royal mistress, Fastrada raised her eyes with a
timid glance, which, as she spoke, faltered and turned appealingly aside
toward Olvir.
"Your Majesty," she murmured, "it is said that the Vascon duke has
planned his feast after the manner of the old-time Romans. Instead of
seats, he will place couches for the guests to recline upon while they
dine."
"What!--to lie and sup together? The Vascon proves his Merwing blood.
None other would think of mating bed and board. Yet he is host; we must
make the best of it."
"Surely no harm will follow, sire," said Gerold. "Abbot Fulrad and other
churchmen will be there, and thus to act out an ancient custom will give
play for much merriment."
"Joy works no harm," replied Karl, nodding. "At the least, we shall
give the duke's hospitality fair trial. Meantime, there is much else to
demand our care. Farewell for the present, my Dane hawk, and you, young
Samson."
All on the bench rose at the word of dismissal. Olvir, with a bow to
the queen and a kindly glance for Rothada, turned quickly away after
Gerold and Liutrad, resolutely refraining from a single glance at the
lovely bench-mate whom he thus suddenly deserted.
In vain Fastrada gazed longingly after the Northman; while, no less
vainly, Roland lingered for a parting look from the girl. Both were
alike disappointed.
As the bower-maiden glided silently back among her companions, the
wounded count followed Olvir from the chamber with a heavy tread.