Slungandi took care to guide Hugturágis to the bottom of the mountain path leading up to the Ruined Circle. Leaving Groiznath there, and secreting the Beast as usual in a secluded spot, he went to the Great Gate of Kapgar Kûm. With a show of obeisance, Slungandi reported that the noble Prince Groiznath had become free from the bonds which he had formerly endured, that he was now returning from a visit to his Mother in Nanôr, and that he would be honoured to meet his noble brother, Prámiz the Proud, in the Ruined Ring, as soon as the latter should be ready to do so.
He had chosen the Ruined Ring because of its position on the summit of Mount Hogunoth: it signified supremacy over the whole of Kapgar Kûm lying below, level beneath level; and as the last place in which Negobith had shown himself in power, it was a fitting place to seize that power. And as it was in the open air, it was less easy for anyone to set traps or launch surprise attacks there than in the labyrinthine passages that encircled the Round Halls.
Prámiz the Proud lost no time in preparing for his brother’s arrival. He assembled the forces of Kapgar Kûm to welcome him and to persuade him to cooperate with himself. He sent word to Groiznath that he would receive him in the Ruined Ring with pleasure.
As soon as the message reached him, Groiznath passed through the kâdrollad and entered the Ring. The Hawk-headed ones were posted around its perimeter. The Runewives were at hand in case their special powers should be called upon. Prâmiz had placed himself upon the highseat of Negobith, facing the kâdrollad. In the midst of the Ruined Ring, between him and Prámiz, stood a large block of stone, no doubt the sacred stone of the former settlement. Groiznath, undaunted, advanced to the stone. He met the gaze of his brother with a steady eye. Then he spoke:
In the Name of Negobith Nightlord, hail!
Groiznath gladly greets his brother.
And you yokebearers, of yore loyal,
Pay swift service to the Sword Gantzor!
And to the astonishment and consternation of all, he swung the great Sword from his back and held it high above his head. Prámiz stood up abruptly, while the Falakkazri glanced at one another with uncertainty. The visage of Prámiz the Proud became pale. He cried:
When our father felled the foe Ingos
That sword was hid. What sign show you
That this is no counterfeit, but the Coldsword truly?
Groiznath replied:
Speak now, Gantzor, and silence doubters.
He brought the sword straight down and plunged it into the stone to its hilt. While Prámiz and his attendants looked on in silence, he continued:
Now let Kapgar’s chief command his servant
To pluck forth promptly and proffer Gantzor
To the one worthy to wield him well.
Prámiz remained silent. He made a brusque gesture to his attendants. Angash stepped forward, bowed to his master, took a few paces to the great stone, took hold of the hilts of the sword, and pulled with all his might. It did not move. Letting go of the sword, he looked uncertainly back at Prámiz. Before anyone else should respond, Groiznath stepped lightly to the stone, grasped the sword’s hilts, swept it out from the stone, and replaced it in its scabbard. He said:
Twice Gantzor spoke: his true self told
And true owner openly showed.
Let all unwilling to eat icedeath
Confess fealty to Firungwáfi’s fruit!
Then Prámiz the proud retorted, triumphantly:
No hand can strike with that sword unscathed
Save the hand of Dreygan, dead by Tonxor.
You may bluster, thane, but the threat is vain.
The first blow you give will be Groiznath’s bane.
Groiznath held up his gloved hands and replied:
Firungwáfi’s fruit is his gut’s offspring,
And will not work evil on the womb that formed him.
These gauntlets white were the worm’s innards.
No curse can harm the hand they clothe.
Murnag wove them, the mother spurned
By the son craving to conquer Kapgar.
Who cares to counter the claims of Groiznath,
Let him gamble a throw of the game with Gantzor!
To this, Prámiz had no answer. He conferred for a few moments with Angash. Then he spoke:
Prámiz, keeper of Kapgar Kûm
Begs his brother that they be bound by oaths:
He will grant Groiznath Gantzor’s keeping
And forswear seeking that sword by force.
For his part Groiznath shall grant his aid
By bodily presence of bone and blood
To open a flesh-house for father Negobith
That his homeless anya may be housed again.
To this Groiznath assented. Each brother believed he had gained a point of advantage from which he could later outwit and overcome the other.
Then once more Groiznath planted the Sword in the living rock at the centre of the Ruined Ring, and, with his hands on its hilts, gave his oath:
Hereby Groiznath, Gantzor’s master,
Swears by the Sword to stand helper
At the rite holden to house anew
Negobith’s anya, at next Moon-death.
And Prámiz stepped up to the stone and placed his hands on the Sword’s hilts, and swore:
Hereby Prámiz, Prince of Kapgar,
Swears that Gantzor shall be Groiznath’s own,
And holds him only to the housing rite
For their Father’s anya in Onskabâ.
Then once more Groiznath drew forth the Sword and sheathed it. The brothers briefly struck their hands together, without much warmth. Then Groiznath departed from the Ruined Ring to return to Higutigna, and Prámiz and his retinue descended the passageway leading down to the Round Halls.
These oaths were called Vadhrath Vorni, the Oaths of the Brothers, or Vadhrath Thrâkúna. But some call them Íswe Vadhri, the Short Oaths, because they endured not long.
No comments:
Post a Comment