made that minstrels made song of the fondness that gentled her and stirred Lord Canny to acts of greatness on her behalf. In her name, he slew the bear that had taken more than a dozen cattle from a Buck farmer’s herd. Many a feast he held in her honor, and when she presided over his table she was decked as royally as any queen in the jewels and furs and silks he bestowed upon her.
It was announced that they would wed as soon as her kinfolk could make the journey to Buckkeep to witness the nuptials. For Lord Canny himself went to King Charger and asked of him that they be allowed to say their vows before the Witness Stones of Buck and dance their wedding dance in the Great Hall. King Charger could hardly refuse this favor without looking both mean and spiteful, and so he said it might be so, but any could see that it clove his heart to do so. As fate would have it, no sooner was the joining announced than the weather turned kind, and spring seemed to rush over the land as if to make up for the lost days.
So it was that King Charger presided over the wedding feast of the woman he had hoped to claim. He sat Lord Canny upon his right hand, and Lady Wiffen upon his left, and his mouth smiled but his eyes were empty. After the couple had danced their first dance as wedded partners, then did Lord Canny, smiling all the while, offer his wife’s hand to his king, that he might lead her in a dance upon the floor. What Charger said to her while they trod their measure no true minstrel heard and hence no true minstrel can say. Some with black tongues say that he threatened the vengeance of the Witted upon her family and home if she did not yield herself to his wishes, and some say that he whispered to her with his father’s wily tongue that could spell any maid, and some say that he but spoke from his own broken heart, words of disappointed love and dashed hopes that would have wrung any maiden’s heart. No man can know what was truly said as they spun and bowed, and so no true-tongued songster will sing of it. But whatever words passed between them, all remarked that it was a chastened Lady Wiffen that the king returned to her lord’s hand, and that afterward she did not seem so merry of heart, nor so light of foot. Often and often that evening her eyes turned from Canny to Charger, and some say they saw her regret her choice as the lovelorn king sat brooding alone at his high table.
However that may be, it was too late to change it, then or now.
So off the couple went to their marriage bed, with many a lusty jest thrown after them. After they had departed, the rest of the court continued to dance and eat and drink to their happiness and to many children for them. The king, too, remained in his high seat, cheerful as a corpse, and many of those who came to join him at his high table as the evening progressed were likewise grim, for they were among those who had lost their Wit-beasts in the stable slayings. Some false minstrels will sing that that was the first time Lord Elkwin of Tower Rock had been seen clothed and on his feet since his horse was slain. But it was not so. Redbird had seen him, walking in the garden on his lady’s arm, grave of mien but correctly garbed and clear of eye, every morning for nearly six days before the wedding feast. That is the truth of it and so it should be sung. Yet it is true that this was the first feast he had attended since his Wit-beast had been slain, and that he dressed and moved still as a man in the madness of mourning. So were many soberly garbed, despite the gay occasion, and some drank in a manner that was more to drown sense and sorrow than to celebrate a wedding. It seemed, some say, that a darkness began to seethe at the end of the hall where the Motley Court gathered, and that what came next was planned at the king’s own high table, but as no true minstrel witnessed it, no true minstrel will sing that as so.
However it might have been, before two nights had passed, before
It was announced that they would wed as soon as her kinfolk could make the journey to Buckkeep to witness the nuptials. For Lord Canny himself went to King Charger and asked of him that they be allowed to say their vows before the Witness Stones of Buck and dance their wedding dance in the Great Hall. King Charger could hardly refuse this favor without looking both mean and spiteful, and so he said it might be so, but any could see that it clove his heart to do so. As fate would have it, no sooner was the joining announced than the weather turned kind, and spring seemed to rush over the land as if to make up for the lost days.
So it was that King Charger presided over the wedding feast of the woman he had hoped to claim. He sat Lord Canny upon his right hand, and Lady Wiffen upon his left, and his mouth smiled but his eyes were empty. After the couple had danced their first dance as wedded partners, then did Lord Canny, smiling all the while, offer his wife’s hand to his king, that he might lead her in a dance upon the floor. What Charger said to her while they trod their measure no true minstrel heard and hence no true minstrel can say. Some with black tongues say that he threatened the vengeance of the Witted upon her family and home if she did not yield herself to his wishes, and some say that he whispered to her with his father’s wily tongue that could spell any maid, and some say that he but spoke from his own broken heart, words of disappointed love and dashed hopes that would have wrung any maiden’s heart. No man can know what was truly said as they spun and bowed, and so no true-tongued songster will sing of it. But whatever words passed between them, all remarked that it was a chastened Lady Wiffen that the king returned to her lord’s hand, and that afterward she did not seem so merry of heart, nor so light of foot. Often and often that evening her eyes turned from Canny to Charger, and some say they saw her regret her choice as the lovelorn king sat brooding alone at his high table.
However that may be, it was too late to change it, then or now.
So off the couple went to their marriage bed, with many a lusty jest thrown after them. After they had departed, the rest of the court continued to dance and eat and drink to their happiness and to many children for them. The king, too, remained in his high seat, cheerful as a corpse, and many of those who came to join him at his high table as the evening progressed were likewise grim, for they were among those who had lost their Wit-beasts in the stable slayings. Some false minstrels will sing that that was the first time Lord Elkwin of Tower Rock had been seen clothed and on his feet since his horse was slain. But it was not so. Redbird had seen him, walking in the garden on his lady’s arm, grave of mien but correctly garbed and clear of eye, every morning for nearly six days before the wedding feast. That is the truth of it and so it should be sung. Yet it is true that this was the first feast he had attended since his Wit-beast had been slain, and that he dressed and moved still as a man in the madness of mourning. So were many soberly garbed, despite the gay occasion, and some drank in a manner that was more to drown sense and sorrow than to celebrate a wedding. It seemed, some say, that a darkness began to seethe at the end of the hall where the Motley Court gathered, and that what came next was planned at the king’s own high table, but as no true minstrel witnessed it, no true minstrel will sing that as so.
However it might have been, before two nights had passed, before
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