– the banner of her brightness harries
The hosts of Shadowland from off the way
That she now wills to tread – for what can stay
The triumph of that radiance she carries?
Yes, it was clearly going to be a rondel. Therefore the next two lines were:
My lady comes to me like break of day.
I dream in darkness if it chance she tarries.
He had gotten that far when abruptly she said: ‘Cappen, this is such a fine
excursion, such splendid scenery. I’d like to watch sunrise over the river
tomorrow. Will you escort me?’
Sunrise? But she was telling Jamie, ‘We need not trouble you about that. I had
in mind a walk out of town to the bridge. If we choose the proper route, it’s
well guarded everywhere, perfectly safe.’
And scant traffic moved at that hour; besides, the monumental statues along the
bridge stood in front of bays which they screened from passers-by – ‘Oh, yes,
indeed, Danlis, I’d love to,’ Cappen said. For such an opportunity, he could get
up before cockcrow.
– When he reached the mansion, she had not been there.
Exhausted after his encounter with Illyra, Cappen hied him to the Vulgar Unicorn
and related his woes to One-Thumb. The big man had come on shift at the inn
early, for a fellow boniface had not yet recovered from the effects of a dispute
with a patron. (Shortly thereafter, the patron was found floating face down
under a pier. Nobody questioned One-Thumb about this; his regulars knew that he
preferred the establishment safe, if not always orderly.) He offered taciturn
sympathy and the loan of a bed upstairs. Cappen scarcely noticed the insects