Arbros and his esquire go to Kapgar Kûm: chapter 2 of The Great Severing

 

Now not only were Lansenet and Thilfri twin brother and sister, but they seemed as alike as youth and maiden could be. They were of a similar stature and shape, for both were slender and yet tough and wiry, and the voice of Lansenet was high for a man while Thilfri’s voice was low.

Now it happened that about a fortnight before the combat, Lansenet took sick and was conveyed to his bed in a high fever; and Thilfri nursed him and forbade any to come into the house or go out of it, lest they carry the contagion abroad. But she herself remained free of the sickness. And when Lansenet recovered of the fever, he was without strength, so that he could barely go about the house. So Thilfri said:

Brother, you cannot go on this errand. You will not have the strength to sit in the saddle for a five days’ journey and after that enter battle.

And Lansenet said:

I cannot fail of my vow. I shall have shame before all the people of Tídris.

And she said:

When you and I are in harness of battle, my brother, none can tell one of us from the other. I shall cut my hair to the length of yours, and bind about me a tight body garment, and put on your helm and mailcoat, and take your sword Daitharon, and your horse Damarâw, and go as esquire to my lord Arbros.

But Lansenet was appalled at his sister’s foolhardiness, as he thought it, and they contended long. But she said:

Whether is the foolhardier, that you, a sick man, low in spirits, should attempt a five days’ journey on horseback to confront the son of Oigenas in the accursed lair of Onskabâ, or that I, a maiden in health and good spirits, who am nigh as strong and war-hardy as you, should attempt the like feat?

And after much wrangling, Lansenet allowed Thilfri to persuade him; but then he rose up from his couch and embraced and kissed her saying:

Belike I shall never see you again, my sister.

And they both wept.

But at length she said:

Now I shall go to the Queen; for she already knows of my resolve, which I put to her while you yet tossed in your bed; and she has promised that she will say to the lord Arbros that, by her judgement and desire, Lansenet is to carry Sporni; and she will instruct me in the simple powers of Sporni, and darsedu-san ta Émarul Sápha, we will come away with victory.

So Arbros and the pretended Lansenet passed out of the Berugwanna and into the Northlands, and rode for five days; and by the virtues of Sporni, Thilfri concealed her sex from her lord, and seemed to him in every way to be the true Lansenet.

And on the eve of the combat they rode up the Giants’ Road and entered the steep-sided valley. The road began to rise sharply towards Hogunoth. Then they saw on their left side the first turning and the path that climbed up the mountainside; and thankful for Pedrekkarpon’s instruction, they shunned that path. And they began to draw near to Kapgar Kûm. And as night came on, so also there arose strange mists from the ground, so that they were surrounded by darkness. And then began the crying of fell voices, with harsh laughter, howling, and wailing. Then Thilfri was sore affrighted, but she bethought herself of her brother, and took courage. And she could see that Arbros, too, was somewhat daunted, but held on his way with determination. And the mist seemed to draw ever nearer, so that it seemed to be about the feet of their horses; and their mounts began to sweat with fear. Then Arbros said:

I know this from of old, friend Lansenet. It is a mist of the fell Sheefra, which, when I was young, assailed Pedrekkarpon and myself in the Eastlands. That time, we were delivered by the Lord Rauno. But let us ride on, and see what Sporni can do.

So Thilfri drew forth Sporni. And he shone out brightly, and seemed for a moment to stay the onset of the mists. But even as Arbros and Thilfri took fresh heart, the greyness swirled even more thickly around them; and it came between them and parted them from each other’s sight. Above the howls and wails of the Sheefra-voices, Thilfri could hear Arbros calling her name once or twice, but then no longer. She could see nothing but the patch of ground in the path before the head of her horse, Damarâw. All she could do was ride on, hoping that somehow the virtue of Sporni would avail both Arbros and herself. 

And then she felt that her horse was descending. They were riding a path down the mountainside, fenced in by the dread of the mists and the voices. Surely this was the way that they had been warned against? Was Arbros following? She tried to hold Sporni aloft, and he gave a little light. But now she began to feel drowsy, as the mists lulled her senses. The voices were now become an insistent murmur, commanding her to sleep. She bowed over the neck of Damarâw, clinging to him, and still clutching Sporni tightly. The horse stumbled onwards, he too under the spell. They reached level ground and Damarâw stopped walking. Thilfri slipped slowly from the horse’s back and, senseless, crumpled to the ground.