“Did I not tell you,” the king stormed, “that they were murderous men? Did you take no heed in your work.”
“It was the woman saw me,” the guard stammered. “She told the man, and before I could move he threw a chessman at me and knocked out my eye. My leg is broken too, master, for I fell from the window.”
“You will make a better herdsman than soldier,” said the king harshly. “You are one-legged, one-eyed, and stupid. Go to your bed, and be careful that you do not cut your throat by taking off your boots. What did the woman look like?”
“What woman, majesty?”
“The woman I sent you to look at.”
“She looked like the woman I saw in the crystal.”
“I know she did. What did she look like, fool?”
“She looked like the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Conachúr turned his great head and wide eyes on the soldier.
“Be careful how you report to me, guard. How did that woman look? Is she thin-faced? Is she pale and haggard and wretched?”