Between Two Fires
by Christopher Buehlman
Contents
Seventeen: Of St. Lazarus and the Rotten Fruit
Overview
Starving near Nemours, Thomas resists both eating the mule and the lure of seemingly noble knights that Delphine identifies as shades. Barred from the town, the trio work for food in a hard-bitten survivor camp called St. Lazarus, then depart, passing a hanged squire in saffron labeled a rapist—an ominous echo of the earlier encounter.
Summary
At dawn near Nemours, hunger drives Thomas to suggest eating their mule, provoking Delphine’s firm refusal and Père Matthieu’s dismay. A troop of knights appears, one praising Thomas’s valor at Crécy and offering him a spare horse for a journey to Avignon. A youthful blond knight calls Thomas a brigand, and an acneous squire in saffron sneers.
As the exchange grows tense, Delphine warns Thomas that the riders are shades feeding on his anger. The knights’ heraldry and faces seem to warp, confirming the illusion. Thomas breaks the enchantment by laughing at them, and the troop rides off toward Nemours.
Nemours refuses entry, its gaunt watchman threatening to shoot and joking about cannibalism. Downriver the trio find a survivor camp calling itself St. Lazarus, led by a red-cheeked woman who explains they all had the plague and live by strict rules. She offers food for half a day’s work and forbids blessings.
Thomas and Père Matthieu help build a fence while Delphine learns net mending from a one-eyed boy who recounts his harrowing survival. That night the community doles out equal portions of rich stew; a sparrow fouls Thomas’s bowl. The travelers sleep in a threshing room and receive blueberries and a squash for the road, plus a warning not to eat any yellow “rotten” fruit.
Departing through thick woods, they pass a hanged squire in a saffron cotehardie with a placard reading “RAPIST,” seemingly the same acneous squire from the spectral troop. The sight chills them and underscores the rotten truths lurking behind tempting appearances.
Who Appears
- ThomasStarving and irritable; resists eating the mule and spectral knights’ provocation by mocking them.
- DelphineStops Thomas from violence; identifies the knights as shades feeding on anger; learns net mending.
- Père MatthieuDrives the cart; negotiates for food and work; respects camp rules; unsettled by the hanged squire.
- Red-cheeked woman of St. LazarusSurvivor leader; sets work-for-food terms, forbids blessings, explains their plague-tested community.
- Acneous squire in saffronRides with the spectral knights; later found hanged, marked RAPIST, in a saffron cotehardie.
- Recognizing knightPraises Thomas’s Crécy valor, offers a horse to Avignon; visage and heraldry warp like a shade.
- Youthful blond knightCalls Thomas a brigand, heightening tension during the spectral encounter.
- One-eyed boyTeaches Delphine net mending; shares brutal tale of surviving plague and abandonment.
- Nemours gatekeeperEmaciated sentry who bars entry and grimly jokes about cannibalism.