[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
all history? She spat these questions at me. Do you have to watch him waste all this effort? She waved
a thin hand at the fires. You are a fool, she added bitterly. If Merlin farts, you think it s wisdom
speaking. He s an old man, Derfel, and he has not long to live, and he is losing his power. And power,
Derfel, comes from inside. She beat her hand between her small breasts. She had stopped on the
rampart s top and turned to face me. I was a strapping soldier, she a tiny slip of a woman, yet she
overpowered me. She always did. In Nimue there ran a passion so deep and dark and strong that almost
nothing could withstand it.
Why do Merlin s emotions threaten the ritual? I asked.
They just do! Nimue said, and turned and walked on.
Tell me, I demanded.
Never! she snapped. You re a fool.
I walked behind her. Who is Olwen the Silver? I asked her.
A slave girl we purchased in Demetia. She was captured from Powys and she cost us over six gold
pieces because she s so pretty.
She is, I said, remembering her delicate step through Lindinis s hushed night.
Merlin thinks so, too, Nimue said scornfully. He quivers at the sight of her, but he s much too old
these days, and besides we have to pretend she s a virgin for Gawain s sake. And he believes us! But
that fool will believe anything! He s an idiot!
And he ll marry Olwen when this is all over?
Nimue laughed. That s what we ve promised the fool, though once he discovers she s slave born and
not a spirit he might change his mind. So maybe we ll sell her on. Would you like to buy her? She gave
me a sly look.
No.
Still faithful to Ceinwyn? she said mockingly. How is she?
She s well, I said.
And is she coming to Durnovaria to watch the summons?
No, I said.
Nimue turned to give me a suspicious look. But you will?
I ll watch, yes.
And Gwydre, she asked, will you bring him?
He wants to come, yes. But I shall ask his father s permission first.
Tell Arthur he should let him come. Every child in Britain should witness the coming of the Gods. It
will be a sight never to be forgotten, Derfel.
So it will happen? I asked, despite Merlin s faults?
It will happen, Nimue said vengefully, despite Merlin. It will happen because I will make it happen.
I ll give that old fool what he wants whether he likes it or not. She stopped, turned and seized my left
hand to stare with her one eye at the scar on its palm. That scar bound me by oath to do her bidding and
I sensed she was about to make some demand of me, but then some impulse of caution stopped her. She
took a breath, stared at me, then let my scarred hand drop. You can find your own way now, she said
in a bitter tone, then walked away.
I went down the hill. The folk still trudged to Mai Dun s summit with their loads of firewood. For nine
hours, Gawain had said, the fires must burn. Nine hours to fill a sky with flame and bring the Gods to
earth. Or maybe, if the rites were done wrong, the fires would bring nothing.
And in three nights we would discover which it would be.
Ceinwyn would have liked to come to Durnovaria to witness the summoning of the Gods, but Samain
Eve is the night when the dead walk the earth and she wanted to be certain that we left gifts for Dian and
she thought the place to leave those gifts was where Dian had died, and so she took our two living
daughters to the ruins of Ermid s Hall and there among the hall s ashes she placed a jug of diluted mead,
some buttered bread and a handful of the honey-covered nuts Dian had always loved so much. Dian s
sisters put some walnuts and hard-boiled eggs in the ashes, then they all sheltered in a nearby forester s
hut guarded by my spearmen. They did not see Dian, for on Samain Eve the dead never show
themselves, but to ignore their presence is to invite misfortune. In the morning, Ceinwyn told me later, the
food was all gone and the jug was empty.
I was in Durnovaria where Issa joined me with Gwydre. Arthur had given his son permission to watch
the summoning and Gwydre was excited. He was eleven years old that year, full of joy and life and
curiosity. He had his father s lean build, but he had taken his good looks from Guinevere for he had her
long nose and bold eyes. There was mischief in him, but no evil, and both Ceinwyn and I would have
been glad if his father s prophecy came true and he married our Morwenna. That decision would not be
taken for another two or three years, and until then Gwydre would live with us. He wanted to be on the
summit of Mai Dun, and was disappointed when I explained that no one was permitted to be there other
than those who would perform the ceremonies. Even the folk who had built the great fires were sent
away during the day. They, like the hundreds of other curious folk who had come from all over Britain,
would watch the summons from the fields beneath the ancient fort.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]