Edwinem Is Murdered in an Ambush is the killing of one of Unauwen’s most celebrated knights, betrayed after an apparent victory in single combat. Ristridin’s account makes the death more than a report of a body found in the woods: it traces the Red Riders’ arrival, the pursuit that followed, and the contrast between Edwinem’s prowess and the treacherous means used against him.

The Riders’ Arrival and Pursuit

A company of Red Riders crossed the river and travelled north into the Kingdom of Dagonaut. When Ristridin and his brother stopped them to ask what they were doing there, the riders claimed they had been sent by their lord to pay homage to King Dagonaut for the celebration of Midzomerdag. The explanation came against a period of improved relations between Dagonaut and Eviellan, leaving the brothers no grounds to prevent the company from continuing. Ristridin nevertheless remained troubled by their presence. Back at the castle, he and Bendoe discussed what to do; Ristridin decided to follow the riders and watch them, while his brother stayed behind to guard the border. Bendoe accompanied Ristridin, and the two set out that same day.

On the journey they heard that an unknown knight in black armor, bearing a red shield, had joined the riders. The report sharpened their concern: the red-clad company was no longer merely a diplomatic party, but was travelling with a knight whose colors recalled a conflict with Edwinem. Ristridin and Bendoe pursued the riders north, fearing that they were following the Lord of Forèstèrra. That suspicion was part of their uncertainty, not something the account confirms as fact.

Edwinem’s Encounter in the Woods

News from a village near the Green River supplied the crucial account of what had happened. Two black-armored knights had fought there, one carrying a red shield and the other a white one. Edwinem had removed the black from his shield, and the white-shielded knight defeated his opponent but did not kill him. The distinction matters: Edwinem had won the encounter and spared the man he overcame. The defeat therefore did not end in a settled, honorable contest.

A band of Red Riders arrived afterward and drove the victorious knight into the forest. Then the riders and the knights disappeared. The reported sequence turns the apparent duel into the opening of an ambush: the Red Riders intervened only after Edwinem had prevailed, and the pursuit carried him away from the place where the fight had taken place. The village account does not describe the actual killing or identify each attacker, but it establishes the betrayal that preceded Edwinem’s death.

An old man who had been travelling with the winning knight later returned and rode at speed toward the capital. His sudden journey offered a possible lead, but did not reveal what had become of Edwinem. Ristridin and Bendoe divided their search: Bendoe rode to Dagonaut City, while Ristridin went into the woods. Ristridin found no trace of a rider or of the White-Shield Knight. Bendoe, in turn, could not find the old squire. The fragmentary reports thus leave the two investigators with signs of flight and disappearance, but no immediate answer.

The Search and Discovery

Ristridin reached the city just after the new knights’ ceremonial investiture. Talk there centred on the young man who had run away, but Ristridin’s attention remained on Edwinem and the Red Riders. He and Bendoe met again, and Ristridin learned that only a few of the riders had appeared before King Dagonaut and that no Black Knight had been seen in the city. The king gave the knights permission to investigate at once. Ewijn, who happened to be in the city, joined them, as did Arwaut, Bendoe’s cousin.

The search did not continue for long before its purpose changed. That same day, word arrived that the Black Knight with the White Shield had been found murdered in the woods, not far from the Inn at Yikarvara, where he had stayed briefly. The discovery fixed the outcome of the disappearance reported near the Green River: Edwinem had not escaped into the forest or simply vanished on the road. He had been killed after being driven from the fight, and the place where his body was found lay near an inn that had briefly sheltered him.

Ristridin’s Account and the Meaning of the Death

Ristridin later told Tiuri what had happened while they shared the watch. His account identifies Edwinem as one of Unauwen’s bravest knights and most faithful paladins, a man regarded as invincible. That reputation makes the manner of his death especially stark. He had not been overcome in a fair duel; he was lost to treachery, after a victory that had not included killing his opponent. The narrative sets the knight’s mastery of combat against the Red Riders’ numbers and pursuit, exposing the difference between defeating an adversary honorably and arranging his death by deceit.

The death also fulfils the foreboding in Ristridin’s recollection: Edwinem would never see his homeland again, or his beloved Forèstèrra by the sea. Ristridin’s telling carries the loss forward into Tiuri’s present. Earlier, Tiuri had told the knights that Edwinem was murdered and explained that the Black Knight with the Red Shield had challenged him as part of a trap, with many Red Riders attacking. Tiuri also described removing Edwinem’s mask because the dying knight had insisted that death should be met with an open visor. The knights’ changed attitude toward Tiuri, followed by a heavy silence, marks how Edwinem’s fate links the evidence of a dishonorable killing to the perilous mission Tiuri has inherited.