The Grey Knights Pursue and Punish the Red Knights

The Gray Knights’ pursuit and punishment of the Red Riders brings one pursuit to a close but leaves their chief quarry at large. Following the trail of the Black Knight with the Red Shield, the knights return east; King Dagonaut then calls on his wandering knights for a new duty, dividing their efforts between the kingdom’s immediate concerns and the unfinished hunt.

Pursuit and Recall

Ristridin recounts the episode to Tiuri: the Gray Knights had tracked down the Red Riders and punished them. Still following the trail of the Black Knight with the Red Shield, they turned east and reached the vicinity of the City of Dagonaut. When King Dagonaut learned they were nearby, he summoned them. Their return thus leads directly from the pursuit to a royal assignment.

The King’s Order

The king asks Ristridin and Bendoe to investigate reports from the Wilderness Wood: robbers who avoid daylight, wild hunters, and Men in Green. He wants them to establish what is true and go at once, since dangers from the wood might threaten the realm. Only after that investigation, he insists, may the knights resume their pursuit; the safety of their own country takes precedence over vengeance.

Divided Duties

Ristridin accepts the priority of the king’s command, though he regrets that the Black Knight with the Red Shield has not yet been found. King Dagonaut permits either him or Bendoe to continue the hunt. Bendoe heads south because the knights believe their quarry has fled to Eviellan, while Ristridin sets out for the Wilderness Wood. Arwaut is expected to join him soon with soldiers, and their planned approach runs through Robbers’ Wood and across the Green River. The pursuit is therefore neither abandoned nor completed: it is split, with one knight investigating a possible danger within the realm and the other following the fugitive’s trail.