slither down under the sheets to lie against the Dane’s skin. When the king awakened the snake would strike him with deadly venom in his fangs. The king’s final thoughts might bend to how even nature is treacherous; he might see that we are all betrayed by one thing or another eventually, by men or by snakes, by sons or by fathers, or by the heavens themselves.
I walked out of the castle, the air biting my lungs and skin, and I shrank into my fur cloak as I followed the narrow road down the hill and through the portcullis. Once beyond the high brick ramparts I turned right with the curve of the moat, walking to where the great ditch joined with the sea on the east edge of the island. It was a remote spot and, although a curious guard atop the battlement could have seen me, I thought that the distance and my turned back would hide what I was doing.
My hands were stiff with cold, and clumsy. I worried that I would not move quickly enough once I had opened the case, that it would be I who would know the betrayal of nature. I held the imprisoned serpent at arm’s length, fumbled with the latch, and lost my grip on the box, dropping it into a snow bank.
“Soren!”
I looked up and saw Straslund coming toward me. He moved like a plow horse in a muddy field, lifting his knees high and shaking the snow from his boots. My hands ached when I plunged them into the snow, digging for the viper in his case.
“Soren! What do you out of doors on such a morning as this?”
“Knud, well met! I am conducting an experiment on snow dissolving into saltwater. As you see, when the snow falls on the ground it accumulates, but when it falls on the moat it melts. What do you here?”
“I have come out into the weather to privately remind you of my offer regarding Brahe’s tools out on that island. You have not forgotten?”
“Nay. Nor should you forget what my answer was. So we are concluded, I think. Good day to you, Knud.”
Straslund came up and stood beside me. We were a yard or so from the bank of the moat. My arms and chest were white where I had been searching in the snow.
“I saw you drop something. What was it?”
“Nothing to concern you, Knud. An instrument to measure the density of the falling snow.”
“Indeed? It sounds a most clever device. I must see it.”
“Nay! You’ll ruin the experiment.”
He had already bent down and scooped away handfuls of snow. I leaned over and joined my efforts to his, hoping to find the box before him. His hands touched it first and he lifted the case from the snow bank. He shook it at me.
“It’s just a wooden box.” He seemed disappointed and then smiled. “You are hiding something, Soren. What can it be?”
“It is a box of snakes. Give it to me.” I held out my hand and Straslund took a step back.
“You are lying. What can little Professor Andersmann be concealing in the snow?”
Straslund undid the latch and dropped the lid to the ground. He held the box close to his face, peering in and shaking it again.
“Is that some kind of chain?”
The viper had been only momentarily dazed by the cold, and that moment passed. I reached out, intending to take the box away from Straslund but I was not swift enough. The snake uncoiled and flung himself forward out of the box, his mouth open and his long fangs yellow with drool and venom. Before Straslund could react, the viper sank its fangs into his right eye, slid entirely free of the case, and coiled over the unfortunate idiot’s face.
Straslund clutched the empty box with one hand and with his other beat at the adder clinging to his face. He cried out, a high keening like a whipped dog or a bird with a broken wing, and hopped madly from side to side, and then he spun aboutand ran directly over the bank of the moat and disappeared beneath the water. All of this took no more than half a minute.
I stood at the lip of the moat flapping my arms in fear and anger, and waited for Straslund to surface. The fool. The
I walked out of the castle, the air biting my lungs and skin, and I shrank into my fur cloak as I followed the narrow road down the hill and through the portcullis. Once beyond the high brick ramparts I turned right with the curve of the moat, walking to where the great ditch joined with the sea on the east edge of the island. It was a remote spot and, although a curious guard atop the battlement could have seen me, I thought that the distance and my turned back would hide what I was doing.
My hands were stiff with cold, and clumsy. I worried that I would not move quickly enough once I had opened the case, that it would be I who would know the betrayal of nature. I held the imprisoned serpent at arm’s length, fumbled with the latch, and lost my grip on the box, dropping it into a snow bank.
“Soren!”
I looked up and saw Straslund coming toward me. He moved like a plow horse in a muddy field, lifting his knees high and shaking the snow from his boots. My hands ached when I plunged them into the snow, digging for the viper in his case.
“Soren! What do you out of doors on such a morning as this?”
“Knud, well met! I am conducting an experiment on snow dissolving into saltwater. As you see, when the snow falls on the ground it accumulates, but when it falls on the moat it melts. What do you here?”
“I have come out into the weather to privately remind you of my offer regarding Brahe’s tools out on that island. You have not forgotten?”
“Nay. Nor should you forget what my answer was. So we are concluded, I think. Good day to you, Knud.”
Straslund came up and stood beside me. We were a yard or so from the bank of the moat. My arms and chest were white where I had been searching in the snow.
“I saw you drop something. What was it?”
“Nothing to concern you, Knud. An instrument to measure the density of the falling snow.”
“Indeed? It sounds a most clever device. I must see it.”
“Nay! You’ll ruin the experiment.”
He had already bent down and scooped away handfuls of snow. I leaned over and joined my efforts to his, hoping to find the box before him. His hands touched it first and he lifted the case from the snow bank. He shook it at me.
“It’s just a wooden box.” He seemed disappointed and then smiled. “You are hiding something, Soren. What can it be?”
“It is a box of snakes. Give it to me.” I held out my hand and Straslund took a step back.
“You are lying. What can little Professor Andersmann be concealing in the snow?”
Straslund undid the latch and dropped the lid to the ground. He held the box close to his face, peering in and shaking it again.
“Is that some kind of chain?”
The viper had been only momentarily dazed by the cold, and that moment passed. I reached out, intending to take the box away from Straslund but I was not swift enough. The snake uncoiled and flung himself forward out of the box, his mouth open and his long fangs yellow with drool and venom. Before Straslund could react, the viper sank its fangs into his right eye, slid entirely free of the case, and coiled over the unfortunate idiot’s face.
Straslund clutched the empty box with one hand and with his other beat at the adder clinging to his face. He cried out, a high keening like a whipped dog or a bird with a broken wing, and hopped madly from side to side, and then he spun aboutand ran directly over the bank of the moat and disappeared beneath the water. All of this took no more than half a minute.
I stood at the lip of the moat flapping my arms in fear and anger, and waited for Straslund to surface. The fool. The
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