Lebbick tells the Tor he must wait, and Geraden steps forth and sets aside Lebbick's denigration of him, to offer the the King's audience for the Tor "in the name of the Domne". Geraden's desire to step forward and brave the Castellan's angry disdain seems comprehensible considering how pitiable the Tor is in this scene. It's just too bad that Geraden's courage and empathy turn out to increase the Tor's pain.In Chapter 11 of [i]The Mirror Of Her Dreams[/i] was wrote:The rider were on the road outside the castle. They had almost reached the gate, despite their mourning pace. She saw now that the men were all in black. The breath of the horses steamed silver in the iron cold, but their trappings were black. Black draped the litter that four of the mounts supported from their saddles. The man who led the group hid his face under a black hood, and a black cloak was wrapped around him.
This figure was so fat that Terisa wondered how his horse could bear his weight.
He led his riders toward Castellan Lebbick, then halted within the precise formation of the honor guard. Their horses seemed to sag under the burdens they carried.
"Greetings, my lord Tor," the Castellan said gruffly. His shoulders were braced as if they had the weight of the whole winter on them. The purple band across his forehead emphasized the anger of his eyebrows. "You are welcome in Orison. No matter what reason has brought you here at such a time, you are welcome."
Slowly, the Tor raised his black-gloved hands and lifted his hood, revealing thin white hair that straggled from his pale scalp; features the shape and color of cold potatoes, bleak eyes. His fat cheeks were hurt with cold.
In a husky voice, he rasped, "I will see the King."
The sharpness of the air made everything distinct. Terisa saw the shadow of a wince pass across Lebbick's hard face. "My lord Tor," he replied, "King Joyse has been informed of your coming. At present, he is busy with other matters." He couldn't keep his disdain for those "other matters" out of his tone. The King was probably playing hop-board. "I'm sure he'll grant you an audience shortly."
The clouds sealing the sky were the color of tombstones. Cold seemed to close around the courtyard. The guards were silent. The champing of the horses and the squelching sound of his boots in the mud could be heard clearly as he moved like an old man among his people toward the litter.
From the litter, he lifted in his arms the black-draped shape of a man or woman who must have been taller than he was. He didn't look strong enough to bear so much weight; nevertheless he cradled the body against his belly, carrying it forward until he stood directly in front of Castellan Lebbick.
In the same dried-out hollow voice, he said, "This is my first son. I will see the King."
Now the Castellan's stress was unmistakable. "Your son, my lord Tor? That's a terrible loss." Terisa remembered that Lebbick was acquainted with loss. "All Mordant will sorrow with you. How did he die?"
For a moment, a flicker of passion lit the Tor's speech. "His face was torn away by a wolf such as Mordant and Cadwal and Alend together have never known. Do you care to see the wound?" He extended the shrouded body toward Lebbick.
But almost at once his energy faded. Dully, implacably, he repeated, "I will see the King."
At this point in the story, the only hints we have of the Tor's hidden reserves of strength is in how he can hold his son high and close to him, and in how he can pull himself together despite his stunned grief to demand action from his King."King Joyse and Adept Havelock were playing hop-board. You [Terisa] probably guessed that. What else," he [Geraden] asked acidly, "would make him too busy to see the man who got him started on the road to becoming King of Mordant? But he didn't seem to resent the interruption. When I barged in, he left his game to welcome us. And he smiled the way he does--the way that makes you want to lie down in front of him so he can walk on you.
"Then he saw what the Tor was carrying. I told him who it was. And for a few moments there I thought I had finally done the right thing. For once in my life, I had finally done the right thing.
"He seemed to remember his strength and call it back from somewhere. Suddenly, he was taller, bigger, and his eyes flashed. "How was this done?" he demanded. The Tor couldn't speak, so I said, 'Imagery. Some kind of strange wolf.' Gambling that I knew what I was doing, I said, 'Look at his face.'
"King Joyse lifted the cloth." Geraden shuddered. "It was terrible. But it would have been worse if the body hadn't been frozen for ten days while the Tor was on the road.
"When King Joyse saw it, he seemed to stand up inside himself. He took the body out of the Tor's arms. He raised his head as if he was going to howl. There was so much outrage and hurt in him that it practically shouted from his face. I thought that finally--finally--he was going to get angry enough to do something.
"I was wrong."
Geraden made no effort to muffle his pain. "Adept Havelock chose that moment to say, 'Joyse, it's your move.' As if he didn't know anyone else was in the room.
"And King Joyse just collapsed.
"His face crumpled, and he started crying--softly, almost not making a sound. 'Oh, my old friend,' he said. 'Forgive me. Forgive me.' Then he fell to his knees--he couldn't hold up the weight any longer." Geraden was weeping himself, with his elbows hugged to his ribs and his hands across his chest. "As carefully as he could, he rested the Tor's son on the floor. For a while, he bowed over the body. Then he got his feet under him again"--Geraden had to grip his determination on both fists in order to say the words--"and went back to his game."
For a while, Geraden stood still, fighting to regain control of his emotions while Terisa ached for him and the Tor and King Joyse and said nothing.
"After that," Geraden resumed with a shuddering sigh, "he didn't respond to anything. He didn't give any orders for the funeral. He didn't answer any questions. Maybe he forgot we were there. Eventually, he moved one of his pieces. As far as I could see, it improved Havelock's position.
"All this time, the Tor hadn't said a word. He looked too stunned, too hurt, to say anything. I thought he was going to fall on his face. But now he pulled himself together a bit. 'My son is dead,' he said as if maybe King Joyse had failed to notice that detail. 'Is this the best you can do?'
"The King still didn't respond. Adept Havelock said, 'Close the door on your way out.'"
Geraden shrugged. "Then Castellan Lebbick made us leave. Two of his men had to move the Tor by main force. But I was actually grateful. He did us a favor by getting us out of there."
This first time I encountered him, in this scene, the Tor seemed to me to be only a symbol of the victimization of Mordant by Imagery from an unknown source. I had no idea in my first MN read of how important the Tor would be in standing up for justice and for the defense of the kingdom.
Perhaps these things about the Tor becoming a pleasant surprise for me as I continued to read along made me love his character all the more.
