King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 2 Read online

  CHAP. V.

  The Drost had been brought from the ladies' apartment to a remote andquiet chamber, in the knights' story. Although he had sustained noserious injury in his heavy fall, he was, however, shattered in everylimb, and unable to move. After a restorative bath, he had been carriedto his couch and had fallen asleep; but the harrowing anxiety which hehad endured so agitated his mind that it was impossible for him tosleep soundly. At one time he dreamed he was wrestling with corpses indark graves, at another that he hovered over unfathomable abysses; butthe idea of the king's danger, and the pitfall under the staircase,seemed to work most powerfully upon his imagination, and he frequentlyexclaimed in his disturbed slumber, "Beware, my liege! Now opens thegrave under thy feet. Believe him not, believe him not, he is atraitor!"

  It was late in the evening. A lamp burned on the table in Aage'schamber, and an aged, withered crone sat by his bed, mutteringconstantly to herself with toothless gums and shaking head. The doorpresently opened, and the king entered the darkened chamber,accompanied by Count Henrik and Junker Christopher. The nurse instantlywithdrew, half in alarm, and with oft-repeated curtsey, without,however, allowing herself to be interrupted in her mutterings, andunconscious monologue. Junker Christopher and Count Henrik remainedstanding at the entrance, where they conversed together in a low toneand at intervals, of the chase and their horses, and of the largeantlers of the stag over the door, while the king approached theDrost's couch, and drew the lamp forward on the table that he mighthave a full view of his features. Aage appeared for a moment to besleeping soundly; but as the king stood by his couch, and withsympathising sorrow bent over his handsome though pallid face, theDrost suddenly opened his eyes and stared wildly before him. "Is itthou, my liege?" he whispered; "art thou still living in this murderousden? Beware! Believe him not!"

  "Recollect thyself, my Aage, thou dreamest," said the king. "Thypious wish is fulfilled; I and my brother are reconciled. Look!there he stands. He also wishes to see thee. The whole was amisunderstanding--the desperate plan of a rebel--one of the outlaws'race and friends. Be calm, my Aage; I am now a peaceful guest here withmy brother--We have drunk to reconciliation and brotherly fellowshiptogether--I have done him injustice also in the affair with Bruncke. Iwill give him back both Holbek and Kallunborg. He is now to accompanyme on the expedition against the dukes."

  "Noble, generous, kingly soul!" exclaimed Aage, seemingly quite rousedfrom his dreaming state. "Hath a word, hath a cup of wine effaced suchenmity and wrath? Now the Lord and our blessed Lady be praised! Lovehealeth all wounds, and mercy is a precious virtue. _How_ great is nowthy love and clemency, my liege!" he continued, again somewhat wildly,and as if half dreaming; "doth it extend even unto the outlaws andtheir unhappy race--even unto Marsk Stig's kindred and children?"

  "Ha! breathe not that accursed name, Aage," interrupted the king, withstern vehemence; "_so_ far my clemency will never extend--Now sleepwell, my faithful Aage," he added, with his former mildness andaffection. "Think not on what it is best to forget--they tell me thouart already out of danger, and can, perhaps, follow me to-morrow, or ina few days."

  "Where sleeps my liege to-night?" asked Aage, in an anxious voice, andagain gazing wildly around him.

  "Close by thee, here in the knights' story; only be thou calm and sleepin peace. I sleep under a brother's roof."

  "Come, my royal brother," interrupted Christopher, hastily approachingthe couch, "speak no more with that sick dreamer, he is in a fair wayto infect you with his feverish phantasies."

  "Good night, my Aage," said the king, pressing the Drost's hand as hedeparted. "I will keep that I promised him," he said to the junker. "Iwill sleep near him, here in the knights' story."

  "As you command, my royal brother," answered the junker, with a coldand bitter smile; and they left the sick chamber.

  Count Henrik had also given his hand to Aage, and was about to followthe king; but the Drost detained him for a moment, in a state ofpainful anxiety. "Look, look!" he whispered, "there goes the murderedKing Eric with Junker Abel[2]; _they_ once were brothers! and, hark! aflood roars beneath this castle. It is surely the bloody Slie,--takeheed!--take heed, that no misfortune happens here!"

  "You have perturbed dreams, Drost Aage," said Count Henrik, letting goAage's fevered hand. "Sleep ye but in quiet; I watch." He then hastenedafter the king and the junker; but first glanced out of the window, andsaw with secret horror, by the deepening star-light, a high, blackscaffold in the back court of the castle, without the knights' story.He hastily drew the curtain before the window and departed; whereuponthe old nurse (still shaking and muttering) re-entered the Drost'schamber. She was attired in the homely dress of a country burgher'swife; her eyes were large and sunken, and her pale, emaciated visagegreatly resembled that of a corpse. With a distaff and a rosary in herhand, she resumed her station by the Drost's couch before the lamp,which she drew aside, that it might not shine in the face of thepatient. All was now soon quiet in this wing of the castle, which onlycomprised the sleeping apartments of the knights. Aage lay longlistening in anxiety. In the unusual stillness of the evening, however,a distant sound as of lutes and mirthful songs reached his ear.

  "What is that?" he asked, raising his head with pain and difficulty.

  "There is merriment in the knights' hall, noble sir! yes in troth! thatthere is," answered the nurse; "our stern junker hath caused minstrelsand jugglers to be fetched from the town. There is no lack either ofmead or sweet wine, that knoweth the precious Lord in heaven! He drinksto friendship with his brother, they say. Alack yes!" she added, "thegreat can be merry, doubtless, and leave care to the fiddle; ay! ay!when they quarrel among themselves, it all falls on the small! yes, introth! does it--all falls on the small. My departed husband was, by mytroth, doomed to death, in the great Marsk Stig's feud--alack yes! bymy troth was he, he was but a poor man, I must tell ye: _he_ hadneither knightly nor princely honour to swear himself free with, likethe high-born junker; no, by my troth! had he not, that was the wholemishap. There sits now our old commandant in the tower--ay! ay! he willhardly see sun or moon more; they say he is to be executed to-night;alack yes! and yesterday he was master here at the castle; yes, introth! was he so, but so goeth it in the world; alack yes."

  "Executed?" repeated Aage; "the Lord have mercy on his soul; the kingis strict and hasty: ha! but knew he?----"

  "He doubtless knew, what we all know, that his high-born brother hathborne false witness," sighed the old woman; "but what care the greatabout cutting off an insignificant head, when they would save theirown? The law must have its course--yes, in troth! that it must, _one_head doubtless must fall, after such a commotion and uproar, but thejunker's is placed too high, I trow! 'What should great lords keepservants for, if they could not wash themselves clean in their blood?'said my departed husband, when he was executed; yes, in troth! said heso, the blessed soul--But see now if ye can get to sleep, noble youngsir! that is assuredly best for you. I talk mayhap rather too much:'tis my bosom sin, they say--yes, by my troth! one talks too little,and another too much; was there no such thing as talk, no poor manwould talk himself over to the evil one, and no high-born rogue wouldtalk himself from the gallows."

  "I must speak with the king," burst forth Aage, with eagerness, andvainly strove to rise, but his strength entirely forsook him, and hefell back in a swoon. The old nurse thought he slept, and indeed hesoon appeared to have fallen into a kind of slumber. The nurse lookedat him several times, with the lamp in her hand, and nodded, as shecontinued to chatter to herself; "Ay! ay! a good honest face, introth!" she muttered. "But who is honest in this sinful world? heconsorts with the great,--ay! ay! and those good folk one should neverbelieve--no in troth, one should never believe. He would have spokenwith the king--yes, forsooth! when it is question of saving a poordevil's life, and telling the king that his brother is a rogue andtraitor; then such a fine courtier fellow swoons or falls asleep, tillit is too late. Wake up, Sir Knight! wake up!"
She shook him in vain;"Alack! I verily believe it is death's sleep,--well then he is excused:after such a fall and being battered into a pudding, there candoubtless be no great life in him--he draws breath though, I believe!yes, in troth he does! Youth is strong, perhaps nature will helpherself--Hark! now they follow the king to bed," she continued, andlistened: "he will surely sleep close by here, ay! ay! This is hisfavourite servant, this same Drost. Weil, the Lord keep his hand overthe king! he means well by us all; yes, in troth he does--alack yes!even though he should doom many a poor devil to death--but indeedthat's his business--it is therefore he is king. He upholds law andjustice, yes in troth! and makes, besides, no difference between highand low. Should he now have doomed to death his own brother accordingto the flesh? That would have been too hard--yes, in troth, would it;he is after all but a man, and who is just in all things in this sinfulworld? Ay, ay! but the junker--alack, yes! The Lord preserve us fromhim--if we get _him_ for a king, it will be a bad look-out--yes, introth will it! alack, yes!" Thus she muttered to herself, and noddedbeside the lamp until she fell asleep in the arm-chair. It might besomewhat past midnight, when Drost Aage awoke, strengthened in body,and refreshed by the deep sleep, caused by exhaustion, which seemed tohave given a favourable turn to his illness. He was still, however, ina feverish state; he looked around him with surprise, and appeared notto know where was. The pale sleeping nurse, beside the lamp, seemed tohim, as the light faintly lit up her emaciated visage, like a sittingcorpse. He half arose and stared fixedly at her; he remarked signs ofstrong agitation in her deathlike face; her toothless gums mumbled, butwithout any sound; it appeared as though she wished to speak, but hadnot the power to utter a word. It seemed to him, as if he now beheldwhat he had often heard and read of in ancient sagas and poems of oldentime. The dark vaulted chamber in his imagination was a subterraneanprophet's cave, and the old mumbling crone a dead prophetess, on whosetongue Runic letters had been laid to cause her to prophesy.[3] Hetried to rise and the attempt succeeded; his shattered limbs werestrengthened and pliant. He wrapped the white woollen coverlet aroundhim, and soon stood listening on the floor, and gazing on the oldwoman's visage. "Whom talkest thou with?--corpse! what dost mumble ofin thy grave?" he whispered, and she moved her mouth still faster."Murder, murder!" she exclaimed, at length, in audible words. "Hark,hark! now his head falls before the axe."

  At the same instant Aage actually heard with dismay a sound outside thewindow, as of the stroke of an axe; he rushed forward, and pulled asidethe curtain. The light of a number of torches glared on him from theback court of the castle. He saw with horror, a body of men-at-armssurrounding a scaffold, on which stood an executioner with a bloodyhead in his hand. A cold shudder came over Aage; he knew not, as yet,whether he waked or dreamed; he stood speechless, as if rooted to thespot, and gazed on the horrid sight; a low chant fell on his ear, andhe beheld a crowd of Franciscan monks advance under the scaffold with ablack coffin. Among the spectators he recognised Junker Christopher'sdark countenance, strongly lit up by a torch. The bloody head fell fromthe executioner's hand, and it seemed to him, to his inexpressiblehorror, to be the king's; he staggered back and overturned the tablewith the lamp. The old woman waked in affright, and shrieked loudly;but Aage rushed out of the chamber, into the dark passage, inindescribable consternation. "Murdered!--the king murdered!" was thecry of his inmost soul; but no word passed his lips; he went on, like asleep-walker, with staring eyes, not knowing whither he was going."Here he was to sleep--here close by me,"--he thought, and stopped at aside door. He had already extended his hand to open it, when he saw alight, and heard footsteps at a distance in the passage. The doorbeside which he stood, was enclosed between two pillars projecting fromthe wall--he stopped behind one of the pillars, and kept his eye on thelight in the passage. It approached slowly, and often stopped; at lastit came so near that he could see, it was carried by a tall figure in adark mantle. The light fell only on the lower part of the shroudedform; his walk was tottering and hesitating; a large sword glitteredunder his mantle. The figure came nearer and nearer; but with stealthyand almost noiseless steps. At last it advanced close to the pillar,behind which Aage stood, and paused again. The light was now; raised,while the shrouded bearer looked around him on all sides, and the lightfell on a long and wildly glaring visage--it was Junker Christopher.

  "Ha! fratricide! regicide!" shouted Aage, in a frenzy, and rushed outupon him.

  With a cry of alarm the junker let fall the light, and sprang backward."Murder! help! a madman!" he shouted, and drew his sword.

  Amid this noise the door between the pillars opened, and Count Henrikstepped forth with a light. "What is the matter here?" he askedeagerly, but in a low tone. "Who dares to wake the king?"

  "The king! the king!" exclaimed Aage, with inexpressible joy, "helives?--the Lord be praised! it was then but a dreadful dream! but sawI not the junker here?"

  "Yes, assuredly, thou saw'st him, madman!" cried the junker, returninghis sword into the sheath. "Had you not come out. Count Henrik, Ishould have cut that mad fellow down on the spot. He fell upon me here,with a wild incoherent speech, as I was stealing softly to my chamberthat I might not wake the king. If I see aright, it is the chivalrousSir Drost, who is walking in his sleep, or would play the ghost. Onewould think my castle was turned into a madhouse."

  "A _singular_ adventure, noble Junker," said Count Henrik, gazing witha penetrating look on his perturbed countenance. "Our good Drost issick, as you know, and hath disquiet fevered dreams," he added in alight courtier-like tone. "He must in his phantasies have taken you fora murderer and traitor; but you must excuse him; his loyalty anddevotion for your royal brother are alone to blame for it."

  "You come from an execution, Sir Junker!" said Aage, whoseself-possession was now fully restored; "it was, I presume, yourunhappy commandant, who so ill underwood your order and will?"

  "Right!" answered the prince; "he hath got his well-merited wages--thepresumptuous madman! but madness spreads here, I perceive."

  "Your highness's imagination hath surely also been at work," continuedAage, "since my dreams could scare you thus. I beseech you meanwhilegraciously to pardon me for stopping you just beside _this_ door. Itwas, perhaps, however, a lucky chance; you might easily have made amistake between your own and the king's sleeping chamber."

  "Go to thy couch, madman!" replied the junker, with gloomy harshness,and with his hand on his sword. "You dream as yet it seems to me, andmight deserve to be wakened by my good sword--One should bind and shutup a visionary and dreamer like you when one would have a quiet night:"so saying, he hastily snatched his candle, which Count Henrik had takenup from the floor and lighted, and the junker went with rapid stridesthrough the next side door into his own sleeping apartment.

  "I have a fearful suspicion," whispered Aage to Count Henrik; "but Iwas ill and over-excited--I may be wrong: it is too dreadful to thinkof--Let it not disturb the king's peace."

  "What you mean, Drost, I am also loth to think of," answered the count,"though after what hath here happened, almost every thing is possible.Come, let us stay here together to-night."

  They then both entered the door between the pillars, and all was soonperfectly quiet at the castle.

  The next morning early the king and his men rode out of the burnt anddilapidated gate of Kallundborg castle. Count Henrik, MargraveWaldemar, and Junker Christopher accompanied him on horseback, togetherwith his fifty knights, and a numerous troop of lancers. Drost Aagefollowed slowly behind in a litter, borne by two horses. He was farfrom recovered from the effects of his dangerous fall, but was not tobe kept back.

  The king and his brother rode in silence through the town, at somedistance from their train. "Thou hast surely wished to take from me thedesire of being oftener thy guest at Kallundborg, Christopher!" saidthe king in a gloomy, dissatisfied mood, as they rode slowly up thehill to St. George's hospital, and looked back on the castle and town."I have used thy fair castle gate badly it is true; some broken pates,too, I
have left behind me; but neither didst _thou_ prepare me anyfair spectacle at my mattins."

  "What! the criminal on the wheel?" muttered Christopher. "Hath his headsaid good morning to you from the stake? The fault was not mine: thatunpleasant sight would have been kept from your eyes, but you yourselfchose your sleeping apartment with that unsightly prospect. To saytruth, my royal brother," he added in an upbraiding tone, "you seemedto me to require _proof_ that there was no manner of doubt in thiscase."

  "That word then sounded ill to thee," answered the king. "Understood'stthou me not? There might be a doubt of the criminal's sanity, but notof his miscreant deed; there might be a doubt of the ambiguity of thycommands to him, without there being the slightest doubt of thymeaning, as thou didst explain it to me on thy knightly word. Only onthat ground did I make over to thee my privilege of pardon, togetherwith the power of confirming the sentence: there was no need, either,to hasten with the execution of the bloody doom."

  "It was needful to decide the matter ere you left the castle," repliedChristopher eagerly. "I, for my part, had no ground for doubt. I haveshown I feared not to witness the fall of the traitor's head, as yourDrost can affirm, if he hath come to his senses."

  "He is now quite collected," answered the king. "I know he walked inhis sleep last night, and gave thee a start by my door."

  "Ay, indeed! hath he told you of that pleasant adventure!" said thejunker, starting and changing colour. "Had he been in his right senses,I would have demanded that he be declared infamous for the audaciousoutrage."

  "As I have heard the circumstance, he is excused: thy alarm he hathalso accounted for to me."

  "How mean ye?" asked Christopher, in the greatest anxiety.

  "Truly, it is not good to return to one's couch with such a bloodyspectacle before one's eyes," said the king, with not unsympathisingglance at the junker pale and agitated countenance. "Be not ashamed ofit, Christopher! mayhap it does thy heart honour--Thou wert sick atheart, and greatly moved by the sight of thine aged servant's executionAage supposed. I see myself how it hath taken hold on thee. It is thefirst death-warrant thou hast sealed--I know by experience such actsexcite peculiar and painful feelings."

  As the king said these words the junker's countenance seemed suddenlyto brighten, and he again breathed more freely. "In truth, my royalbrother," he said, hastily while a deep crimson flush succeeded to hisformer paleness, "the stupid fellow was a brave man, notwithstanding!It was not the most agreeable duty you put upon me. I was in some sorta party concerned; but I was perfectly right; no one could know mycriminal servant as well as I; and the sentence was passed according tolaw and justice, by impartial men. Your Drost is an excellent knight,"he added, "but somewhat disposed to be visionary: he is devoted to you,however, and I have nought against him, on account of his foolishdreamings."

  Count Henrick and Margrave Waldemar now approached the royal brothers,and the conversation turned on indifferent topics. The processionproceeded on the road to Korsoer, from whence the king intended tocross the Belts, in order to join the Marsk, and the forces which wereto march against the turbulent dukes of Slesvig.

  At the famous sea-fight of Groensund, the young King Eric had gained adecided victory over these haughty princes, who frequently sought towithdraw their allegiance to the Danish crown, and since the regicideof Eric Glipping had secretly, as well as openly, made common causewith the foes of the country and the outlawed regicides. By thisvictory the king had indeed gained a high reputation with the dukes aswell as with the neighbouring northern powers, and the princes of northGermany; but the quarrel with the archbishop and the Romish see, andstill more the king's excommunication at Sjoeborg, had given all hisfoes courage, and renewed their hopes of shaking his throne, andfrustrating his bold projects. It was feared, not without reason, thatthe young high-spirited King of Denmark, who now appeared as though hewould defy ban and interdict, might possibly have a desire to regainthe influence and power won by the great Waldemar the Victorious inGermany. That monarch's chivalrous character, and the lustre hisconquests had shed on the Danish name, seemed early to have inspiredhis bold descendant with the wish to tread in the paths of his renownedancestor, and a glorious reputation like that of Waldemar theVictorious was assuredly the secret wish of Eric's heart, though helived in a time and under circumstances which demanded no ordinarydegree of power and wisdom, in a sovereign, even to save the countryfrom downfall, and preserve his own life and crown.

  The renewed demands of the dukes, and the revival of long-accommodateddifferences, but, especially, tidings of the outlaws having again foundprotection and shelter in Slesvig, had in a great measure induced theking to take up arms; and since the archbishop's flight, he had becomemuch more precipitate than formerly, and more inclined to carry everything through by the strong hand. The people well knew but cheerfullytolerated Eric's youthful and often impetuous eagerness, and his likingfor chivalrous pomp. His firmness of purpose was indeed often calledobstinacy; and it was admitted he was not altogether free from anexcessive love of show, but from his childhood he had been the people'sdarling, and such he continued to remain.

  This breach with the dukes appeared to many to be rash andinconsiderate; but the king's wrath was deemed justifiable, and thepublic mind was calmed by the belief that with all his impetuosity hehad too much love for his people, and possessed too much sound policynot to spare the blood of his warriors, and the scanty revenues of hiscountry, could he, sword in hand, honourably negotiate. The calm,thoughtful Drost Aage contributed not a little to restrain the king'svehemence, and now that Eric's older and more experienced counsellors,the aged Jon Little and Drost Hessel were absent, the greater number andmost peaceably minded of the people rejoiced to see Drost Aage in theking's train. The Drost's suffering state, and the perilous adventurewhich had caused it, which was daily exaggerated by rumour, with themost marvellous additions, attracted towards him the sympathy andadmiration of the lower classes. Those especially who had beforeshunned him as an excommunicated man, now mourned over his misfortune,since the king himself shared the same fate. The energetic and warlikeCount Henrik of Mecklenborg, with his bold commanding glance, alsofound favour with the people, who looked up to him with confidence. Heand Aage were often received with animated shouts of acclamation, whilea dumb and almost timorous courtesy was, on the contrary, shown to thegloomy Junker Christopher; and the foreign Margrave Waldemar, whoalways rode by the junker's side, was looked on as a half suspiciousguest, whose presence might well be dispensed with. Wherever theprocession passed, the young chivalrous monarch himself was receivedwith the most loyal demonstrations of the people's affection, which hadbeen more than ever called forth by the knowledge of the ecclesiasticalpersecution he then endured. Even the much dreaded lightnings ofexcommunication seemed transformed into a halo of martyrdom around thehead of Eric, the avenger of his father, and the defender of thethrone; especially as the greater and most estimable part of the Danishclergy boldly declared his cause to be just and honourable.

  The sorrow and displeasure which it was known had been caused the kingby his brother the junker's suspicious conduct had still more increasedthe sympathy of the people for him.

  "For Eric, the youthful king!" was the general salutation, when allhats and caps waved in the air in his honour. "Away with the red hatfrom Rome! Away with all traitors! King Eric! and none other!" oftenresounded as he rode through the crowded street. "Long live PrincessIngeborg! Long live the king's true love!" also shouted many a merrybachelor. Where this salutation greeted the king, his own greetingbecame doubly kind and gracious. "Thanks, good people! thanks!" heanswered cheerfully, and waved his hand; "if the Lord and our blessedLady will it so, you shall see her here as your queen in the summer!"