Page 61 of The Last Kingdom

The assembled sang an ode.

Our brothers strong,

Are mingled here in a happy throng,

To welcome friends, with bumper and song,

And with music’s sweetest strain.

We’ll proudly greet and gladly extend,

A welcome warm to every friend,

Who’ll bear a lance and our cause defend,

And in our service remain.

The whole thing appeared to be some sort of initiation ceremony. The guy in the white robe apparently was a new member. The three men stopped their parading before the raised platform. The assembled group formed a semicircle behind the newbie several men deep.

“Sentinel, what report have you to make of this stranger?” Fenn asked.

“I found him at the moat, unarmed and bearing a branch of olive, when he hailed me with a friendly greeting. He now awaits the pleasure of you, My Master.”

The sentinel handed White Robe a sprig of evergreen. “I present you to the grand master, standing here clothed in a stranger’s garb. Take this branch of olive. Otherwise, your life and mine would be in peril. Yours as a hostile intruder, and mine for admitting you here.”

Fenn stepped to the front of the platform and lifted a sword from a small table. “What is the purpose of your presence here?”

White Robe said, “To solicit a conference, with a view of enlisting in your cause.”

Fenn raised the sword. “Your name and purpose are in part revealed. Good reports have been brought concerning you. True, you come as a stranger, but we have reason to believe you to be true and honorable, and worthy of acceptance in our Order. We are a brotherhood established by good men and true for the advancement of those great principles as first established by our departed sovereign, Ludwig II. Friendship. Loyalty. Aid. Protection. Were you fully advised of these purposes before entering the castle?”

“I was.”

“Are you in sympathy with them?”

“I am.”

“Not all who come with professions of friendship, and bearing in their hands olive branches, are friends. Hence we have a test that proves the true and condemns the pretender. Once you have passed the ordeal, and are admitted to full fellowship with the loyal brothers of our Order, we will grapple you to our souls with the links of the mystic chain. But not until then.”

A blindfold was tied around White Robe, covering the eye slits in the hood.

“You come among us clothed in the garb of a stranger,” Fenn said, “in which there is a typical significance. We see you as in the broad glare of a noonday’s sun and you appear fair enough. White being emblematic of innocence, truth, and virtue. We do not expect you to be perfect. But it is only those who strive with honor and courage to attain the highest excellence that we admit to full fellowship among us.”

The lights in the hall dimmed.

Fenn approached the table and lifted a gold goblet. “When duty calls, we obey. If you are true and courageous, no harm will follow. But if you are a spy, and have evil designs against this Order, this liquid will at once reveal your true character. It is a charmed distillation, discovered by an ancient sorcerer, its ingredients unknown, save to one who shall be nameless here. It has battled all the arts of the chemist. ’Tis bitter as wormwood to the taste of one who is false at heart. But if honest, true, and brave, it is in sweet accord with both the blood and the palate. As gentle as spring water. If you are what you profess to be, fear not to drink and all will be well.”

The goblet was handed to the blindfolded initiatewho raised it to the ceiling, then sipped its contents.

Nothing happened.

“Well done, my son,” Fenn said. “The poison is only in a guilty conscience, which shrinks from the touch of what is pure. Your truth and courage stand approved. Good brothers of the Order, in the name of purity, I pronounce this friend true and brave, and worthy of the honor and confidence of our goodly realm.”

The assembled group broke out in loud applause.

The blindfold was removed and Fenn raised the sword. “You have done well and we welcome you to our Order.” The blade was brought down to gently touch the top of the head, collapsing the hood point. “You are now a member of this Order with all the rights and privileges appertaining thereto.”

The sword was removed.

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