It was dusk, and Arthur was standing in a grove of trees, the oncoming dark like a shawl drawn over the land. A crescent was beginning to glow in the sky, a halfway moon, balanced between light and dark. A king must be like the Sun, Father had said, steady and constant, shedding light upon his people. A moon is a fickle thing, wayward and inconstant as the Old Goddess. At times alight, at others darkened, her nature ever changing. She hides her secrets, and cannot be trusted.
There were four people before Arthur. Three of them he knew to be priestesses of the Old Religion, cloaked and hooded, marking the points of a triangle. Within the space they defined was a great stone, before which the fourth woman stood like a votary before an altar. She was veiled, and in place of robes, she wore a finely embroidered gown.
"Here comes the bridegroom," said the first priestess, in robes white as bone. "Arthur Pendragon! Draw close to us."
Arthur stepped forward and stood before the great rock, flanked by two of the strange women.
The second priestess, in scarlet robes, said, "Unsheathe that sword, and return it to the Earth whence it came."
He did as he was instructed, pulling the blade from its place at his waist. For a moment he held it above the stone, hesitating. Then he drove it downwards in one decisive thrust. As the tip of the sword struck the boulder, it sang, as though it touched pure crystal, and then it plunged into the stone as smoothly as into well-oiled leather.
The third priestess was in robes black as shadow. "Would-be king of Albion, we speak for the Earth, and the Goddess who is the land's bounty."
The white priestess continued, "The king makes a covenant with the land and its people. He takes the Great Lady as his bride in sacred marriage, and makes her fruitful. She is the mother of all life, and the whole Earth is her dowry."
The red priestess said, "Your father resented the power of the Goddess. He would not bow to Her or Her servants. He cut down Her sacred groves, and found priests to call Her evil. Though he attained to the Pendragonship of the land, he tore a wound in the land's heart, and scattered the people of the Old Ways. Would you undo the damage, knowing the cost?"
"Mistress," said Arthur, "what cost do you speak of?"
"The cost of healing this land," said the white priestess. "It will tax you and all you hold dear, even unto death. But the cost of not acting will be steeper still, for your kingdom and all who live in it."
"What must I do?"
The priestess in black said, "You must make the Hieros Gamos, the Sacred Marriage, with the land. Even as the Ancient Kings, you must solemnise your rule by attending the Bridal Feast of the Goddess. When the Kings of Camelot kept faith with us, there was peace between their throne and the Threefold Goddess. But even in those times, some who took up the Dragon Crown forgot the source of this island's power. They sought to dominate the Goddess, or to take Her dowry as their birthright, and abandon her.
"Your father was not the first. There were false kings of old who broke their betrothal vow with Avalon, and marched on the Isle of the Blest. Great were the wars fought in those days, wars of dragons and druids, wars of sorceresses and kings. The Lamias and the snake-beasts were born in those dark days, when Men of War turned their blades against Women of Magic, and the priestesses resorted to dark magic to defend themselves. The land became scarred and warped by the evil arts. It has never healed… those days must not come again…"
The priestess in red said, "Bring forth the bride of the Blessed Isle, the daughter of the Goddess. Let her stand unveiled before her lord husband, the Bridegroom of the Earth, the King of Albion."
The veiled maid, who had neither stirred nor spoken til this moment, came a few paces closer to Arthur, keeping the great stone between them. She was near enough now that she and Arthur could have stretched out their arms and touched, their fingers meeting on the hilt of the sword which he had embedded in the stone.
The maid's bridal gown was of fine silk, woven in hues of white, black and red, and upon it were mystical symbols, and embroidered beasts. Three ravens Arthur saw, and three serpents, and three phases of the moon, and he felt that if he went on staring for the whole night he would not fathom all the intricacies of that gown's design. On the maid's arms were ornaments fashioned of white pearl, black onyx, and garnets red as blood. When the maid lifted her hands to her veil, Arthur saw that nine of her fingers were shining with precious stones of different colours, and that only a single ring finger of her left hand was bare.
"Do you see?" asked the priestess in white. "The bride comes adorned with nine rings, gifts from the nine High Priestesses who once ruled the Isle of the Blest. Three faces has the Goddess, and three-by-three were the women she called to serve her on the holy isle. Nine rings sit on the bride's hands, gifts from her foster-mothers. But the tenth finger is bare, for on that finger alone she deigns to wear the gift of a man, and that finger shall carry the sigil of her lord husband, the Pendragon of Albion."
Now the maid's fingers raised her veil, and uncovered the beauty of her face and form. Arthur saw a face pale as the driven snow, a fall of hair like black silk, eyes the blue of still lakes. For a moment his breath was taken away. The woman had a more than natural beauty. In her was all the abundance of the Earth. Her locks tumbled and curled like rapid silt-bearing rivers, and the swell of her bosom and curve of her hips was as the heaviness of ripened fruit, as the gently rolling hills. She was robed in the grace of the Goddess, and the land itself was her endowment, for she brought all the riches of her Mother's house as her inheritance.
"Now take the hand of your bride, Arthur Pendragon," said the red priestess.
Arthur's hand began to move - but then something stopped him. Instead of the woman before him, he saw a phantom, a memory from so long ago.
It had been springtime that day, out in the wide forest. Arthur's idea of elegance had been halls of marble, gold appointments, fine hangings of silk. Now he saw how beautiful the woods were. The ancient trees stood like pillars embroidered with moss and ivy, and pale beams of sunlight lit the parti-coloured wildflowers growing on the riverbanks.
Gwen had looked like a nymph of the forest, her bare head covered by no fine veil or bonnet, but strung with fresh blooms. Her complexion was beaten by the sun and chapped by wind, and her hands were pricked and worn from labour, but she glowed with a rich colour, and her simplicity and beauty were adornments which all the goldsmiths of Avinhon and tailors of Venice could not manufacture.
She had waited for him all this time. And she was still waiting.
Arthur hesitated, and in that moment, something changed. It was as though a second veil had been lifted from the face of the mysterious woman before him, or perhaps scales had fallen from his eyes. In an instant, he recognised the Bride of the Blessed Isle, and shock and horror struck him.
It was Morgana.
He stumbled back. "No!" he said. "This I cannot do. I will not be betrothed to my sister."
"What prates he?" said the priestess in red.
The black priestess said uneasily, "The Goddess has shown him the face of his near kin. He will not take her to bride."
The white priestess said, "Morgana? But they are cousins through the line of their mothers, no more. It is not forbidden."
The red priestess said, "The Nazarins regard even cousin marriage as incest. But this is nearer still, for Morgana claims to be Uther's daughter. This is consanguinity of the highest degree, even among us."
"But how may this be? The line of Avalon must be united to the Throne of Camelot. Why would the Goddess put brother and sister opposite each other, knowing they would refuse to mingle their blood?"
"Let it be thus!" said the priestess in black harshly. "So Fate has ordained, and we must see it through to the end. Sibling marriage is not practiced among us, but there are exceptions. There are precedents in history. So let them be joined, and may the Goddess keep us from whatever evil follows."
"I will not do this!" said Arthur. "What is this? Who are you crones? Why have you shown me this vision? What are you to me, that you can dictate whose hand I should take in marriage? No noble in this land presumes so much, nor any priest."
The black priestess said, "We are keepers of the Old Religion."
"A religion," said Arthur, "I do not know, and have sworn no allegiance to."
"You were born from it," said the priestess in white. "You were to be its champion, before your father purged it from his kingdom."
"Then you should have found me and taught me it sooner," said Arthur, "The only servants of your Old Religion I have encountered have been those who wished to slay me, not convert me, or teach me your ways. I have taken vows and been anointed in the cathedral of Camelot. My word, once given, is not easily broken. My father taught me a king is the head of his people, as Our Lord is the head of the Church. Even so, a husband is the head of his wife. There must be unity between all limbs of a body, and so my queen cannot bind me to serve her Goddess and her priestesses. A man cannot be a servant of two masters, and nor can I serve the jealous God of my fathers alongside the Goddess of the Old People.
"I will not marry whom you have chosen for me, be she my kin or no! Ask me to stop the oppression of your people. Ask me to return your holy relics, and rebuild your groves. Ask me for freedom to practice your rites. But do not ask me to swear to serve your Goddess, for I do not know her, and I cannot break a solemn vow I made in the Faith I do know."
There was silence for a time.
Then the priestess in white said, "Were we mistaken? Were the stars wrong? How may he heal the rift in our land, when he cannot be consecrated to the Goddess?"
"There is a way," said the priestess garbed in black. "Destiny has joined the king and Emrys, making them of one heart and mind. In the dawn times, when men grew too weak to be proficient in all the arts, the task of kingship was split. The king became head over his druids and sorcerers, for he could not embody all their powers himself. So let Emrys stand in the place of the king. Emrys has taken no vows to prevent him honouring our Goddess. He may bridge the Old Religion and the New, passing between both worlds, between this brother and sister."
The priestess in red looked at Arthur. "Will you let Emrys speak with your voice, O King?"
And Arthur thought, Are they trying to enthrone Merlin beside me? To have a sorcerer take my place, so they can influence Camelot towards the Old Ways? My father never trusted these crones and their secret ways. I do not understand their philosophy, or what they would bind me to through Merlin. But I swore to heal what we had broken... He thought of how many times Merlin had saved his life, and how the kingdom itself would have fallen long ago without a serving boy giving all he had to protect it.
"Merlin and I will never be apart," said Arthur.
"Then it is well," said the three priestesses, speaking as one.
The white priestess said, "The king stands as the head of the land, and the head of his people. Let him see the power of the Earth, as the people of the Old Religion do." She bent low, and brought up some dust from the Earth, and mixed it with a liquid she poured from a flask. Then she bade Arthur close his eyes, and anointed his left eyelid with the unguent.
"Open, and see truly," she said, and Arthur opened his eyes.
He saw the stone not with mortal eyes, but as the High Priestesses did. This stone was alive, its mineral veins trailing into the heart of the land. Many such stones had been brought up from the bosom of the Earth and scattered across the green valleys. The stone's brethren had been carried for hundreds of miles, and circles and doorways had been built out of them, gateways to many worlds. Giants had built seats out of them, and when men came to Albion, they had dethroned the giants and put their monarchs in those great seats of rock. Blood from sacrifices had spattered the stones, nourishing them, and spirits had been poured out for them in libation. Crowning stones cried out when kings sat before them, for the land would not suffer herself to be long ruled by the unworthy.
All these things he saw now, and it was this stone he had drawn his sword from. Not just a rock, a dead thing standing alone, but the hand of the Goddess, who would not release her grip on a king's weapon until one who was worthy stood before her.
"Now," said the red priestess, "let him see the power of Earth even as his New Religion teaches."
She brought forth another paste and anointed Arthur's right eyelid. This time, when Arthur opened his eyes, the stone was once more transformed.
He saw shadowy figures standing around it, some lamenting, and others yet rejoicing, and prostrating before it in reverence. From their Oriental dress he knew that they were Avramites, and that they also revered the stone before them, though they could not worship it as the followers of the Goddess did. It was this stone which had first appeared when the waters were parted at Creation, this stone from which clay had been taken and first formed into Man. This stone was the foundation of their destroyed Temple, the promise of their future king's return, and the capstone of Hades.
"Now do you see, Arthur?" said the priestess in black. "Behold what Emrys has done for you. A king's power comes from his land and his people. 'Tis the true king's weapon Emrys has remade for you. This is the sword which was thrust forth from the Waters of the Lake of Avalon, the sword burnished in the Fire and Wind of a dragon's breath. This is the sword drawn forth from the bosom of the Earth. And all the Earth shall acclaim him who wields it!"
A phrase recurred to Arthur from the Scripture: lapis quem reprobaverunt aedificantes factus est in caput anguli. The stone which the builders rejected is become the cornerstone, the head of the corner. Merlin had obtained this sword for him, and imbued it with all his magical protection. Merlin had restored Arthur's kingship again and again, renewing Arthur's own faith in himself, and orchestrating miracles to prove Arthur's kingship before his people. A serving boy, put upon, mistreated as the meanest and the lowest of the low, had built up a kingdom for Arthur from the shadows, like some wondrous puppet master, like some Old Testament prophet, with no thanks or credit.
"I understand," said Arthur. "I understand now what the Psalmist meant, when he sang that the stone rejected by the builders shall be the foundation. I understand now that the lowest stone, trodden upon by all, cast aside by the architects, shall be raised up as the cornerstone, and the capstone of the new temple. Merlin has been the rock upon which my kingdom was built, though I knew it not. I will not forget what he has done for me."
"Then," said the priestess in black, "retake your sword with our blessing, O first among princes. And remember well what the first among sorcerers has wrought on your behalf."
And Arthur stepped forward, and placed his hand upon the sword-hilt, and drew the weapon, lifting it high into the Air. Light flared around him, as if torches blazed, and he felt the steel singing as though imbued with new life.
"All hail the King!" said the priestess in white. "May he herald the dawn of a new age for Albion! May the sun ripen his fields and multiply his harvests!"
"All hail the King!" said the priestess in red. "May the Goddess spread her cloak over his city walls, and may the treasures of his coffers run over! May the moon shed her silver light on his land, and grant wisdom to his people!"
"All hail the King!" said the priestess in black. "May he pluck out evil from the Earth, stem and root! May his sword be ever strengthened, and his warriors know no defeat! May the mysteries of the stars be opened to his scholars, and may his bards and poets praise him to the ends of the Earth!"
But the fourth woman, the jilted bride with the face of Morgana, was silent, and watched Arthur with no expression.
Merlin awoke somewhere dark and warm, nestled in the womb of the Earth. He looked up and, far above, he saw a glittering sky with stars of azure, emerald and amethyst trailing in beautiful patterns, constellations unlike any he had seen. It came to him eventually that these were no true stars, but luminescent minerals, lit by glow-worms. He was in the belly of the land. There was no sky here, no moon or sun to guide him.
He sat up. The darkness began to recede, as more light shone from rocks around him. He was surrounded by precious stones, spilling out of the stone walls, growing and spreading in strange towers and webs and glassy ropes. There was chrysoprase, beryl, garnet, jasper and countless others he could not identify.
"Welcome, Merlin," said a deep voice, startling him. "This is the Crystal Cave, where the bones of the Earth were conceived. The forge of the Goddess. The birthplace of magic."