The Secular Wizard - Wis in Rhyme - 4 by Christopher Stasheff Page B

shop."
    Matt sighed. "No, I've no wish to go hiking back to town." He really didn't, especially after that tangle with the Watchhaving a peasant recognize him in lord's clothing would be bad enough, but having a watchman catch him at impersonating a lord could be a lot worse. Real trouble, in fact, with the upshot being him having to re-veal his true identity-and he wasn't quite ready to do that. "Well, five ducats is far too much, but if I must pay it, I must. I've only the royals of Merovence, though.
    Will you take four of those?"
    "Gladly!" the herdsman said, and watched with avid attention as Matt counted the golden coins into his hand. Well he might, Matt reflected sourly-the royal was worth almost two of the ducats; he was paying about seven ducats for a nag that couldn't be worth more than two!
    It was significant, though, that the man had asked for the coins of Latruria, rather than those of Merovence. He hoped it indicated nothing more than Latruria's nearness. Surely the peasants of Merovence couldn't have more faith in a foreign king than in their own queen! At least, when he saw the colt, he could see it was worth two ducats-though the distinction between a plow horse and a warhorse was a bit ambiguous, when the chargers had to be built to carry a full load of armor. This draft animal was testimony to the fact that a smart stallion, scenting a mare in heat, can outwit even the strongest stable and the smartest groom, for the colt was at least half Per-cheron. The other half wasn't much smaller or less massive, either-but the colt was a hand or two short of a Clydesdale and built a little more lightly; it wouldn't quite have blended in with a team of horses

Chapter
    pulling a TV beer wagon. All in all, Matt didn't feel too badly about having been robbed, especially since the herdsman threw in a saddle
    and bridle. They were old and cracked, but they worked. Two So, mounted as befitted the dignity of a wandering knight, Matt rode up to the local castle, braced for them to ask where his armor was.
    The lords and ladies of King Boncorro's court laughed, clinked glasses, drank, and laughed some more. Here and there a man slipped a hand beneath the long table to stroke a lady's thigh; there and here the lady returned the gesture. Some were bolder and more open, kissing and caressing above the board, where all could see; in fact, there was as much fondling as conversation. The only rule seemed to be that the interplay had to be with someone else's spouse, but even this was not always followed to the letter. The married couples who kissed, though, did shock their neighbors.
    A Puritan would have said that the surroundings encouraged such behavior, for King Boncorro's great hall was hung with tapestries depicting scenes from the newly rediscovered classics, ferreted out of moldering libraries by lapsed clerics. Here Venus cuddled within the circle of Adonis' arm; there she reached out to Mars, while Vulcan stood by, fuming. Dana@ stood in her shower of gold; Europa rode off on the back of the white bull; Cupid gazed down at Psyche, asleep in the posture of a wanton. All of them, true to the spirit of the Classical statues that had been unearthed, were completely nude. King Boncorro, though, seemed to be quite pleased with the overall effect. He leaned back in his chair at the high table, gazing at his court over the rim of his goblet with a feeling of satisfaction as he watched the high spirits below him. "It is good to watch my courtiers enjoy themselves, Rebozo." "Yes, your Majestyespecially since their dallying here means
    they are not plotting rebellion on their estates in the provinces." The chancellor looked up at his king with a cracked smile.
    "Your tapes-tries are very well-chosen toward the encouragement of such vices."
    "I know," Boncorro sighed. "I had meant them to be an inducement to education and culture. It seems I still overestimate human nature.
    " "Perhaps, though, they would be a bit more effective if