A/N: The eighth chapter, finally. I am so sorry for taking that long to update but I concentrated on finishing my other story "Ghosts from an ignominious past" first.

By the way, as some of you have asked, yes, Anwar of Llanfair is – or rather was (or is he still, as Merlin believes in his cell?) the 'old Count' from my story "Dragon Hearts", the evil amateur sorcerer who almost succeeded in killing both Pendragons. Young Antek is his son.

As for the next chapters of "The Llanfair heritage" I have to admit that this story is not following the plot line of the third series. Therefore King Cendred in this story is not the Cendred from the series. Presently I do not intend to have Morgana and Morgause in this story, so that's AU, too.

I don't give any guarantees, though; I really do like them both.

By now, I think, it's time to jump back into the story.

Please send me some reviews; it's very embarrassing, naturally I should be more independent, but I like getting them so very much.

8. A traitor betrayed

Antek of Llanfair had no eye for the barbarian splendour that surrounded him while he paced restlessly to and fro. A part of his mind fretted for the outrageous amount of time which had already elapsed without King Cendred as much as acknowledging the young Count's presence in his border stronghold, not too far away from Blanchefleur Manor.

With the rest of his brain, or what rest worry and an increasingly guilty conscience had left available to him, Antek was pondering much more important problems. Such as having sworn an oath of allegiance to two different Kings, one of which was now missing in action and the other one was missing out on all the necessary action because he rarely left the bed of his mistress.

Llanfair virtually jumped when the door banged against the wall, making way for a rather dishevelled King of Cymbria. The man looked like the furnishings in his castle – rich, resplendent yet neglected and more than a bit vulgar.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the King now snarled, his blood shot eyes narrowed by something which quite obviously qualified as a tremendous hangover. With a wild mane of fair blond hair and eyes of an icy, turquoise blue Cendred could not hide the Saxon blood in his veins nor his quick, predatory intelligence that the man's carefully groomed appearance of laziness and self-indulgence barely covered.

At least the Cymbrian King would not have been able to hide this from experienced men like Uther Pendragon or his healer friend Gaius. Arthur, even Merlin would at least have sensed something of the formidable opponent inside this outer shell of primitiveness and barbarism. Unfortunately the young Count of Llanfair was many things, brave but careful, loyal but only selectively so, reliable but only up to a certain point and definitely extremely handsome, utterly charming, witty and a good sport – the one thing he was not was a fair judge of human character.

So he sneered at the King's wild looks and smell but he missed out on Cendred's slyly staring eyes. His reply was more than just disrespectful "Looking for some lost property, Your Grace. Royal property, of the walking kind."

"You'd better take care of your share of the Pendragon Crown jewels; if Camelot should ever find out that you betrayed them Uther's whelp would skin you alive with his bare hands, friendship or no." Cendred guffawed loudly before he belched with equal discretion. "It would make their day, at least one Llanfair fur to cover the Pendragon throne on a cold winter day. They did not call your father the old wolf for nothing."

Antek felt his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword and relaxed his fingers only with a considerable effort. "The idea was, correct me from wrong, for you to take King Uther to a safe place. No one should be hurt and no one should be the wiser while you held your …..colleague for some 'delicate negotiations on a private matter', as Your Majesty so aptly put it. I was to tell Uther's son a convenient fairy tale that would have kept both our backsides covered until you and Uther had it all sorted out." He huffed impatiently while he silently finished his thought "or until you would have killed each other".

"What an excellent memory you have my boy, now if you can remember your orders why can't you go back to this cottage you call your home nowadays and carry them out?" Apparently Cendred wasn't very interested in this conversation.

"Because your men messed it all up, damn their stupid souls." Antek yelled indignantly. "What fairy tale should I have told Arthur after he had found the rubble that remained of Uther and his escort in the middle of the road?"

This sobered the King of Cymbria sufficiently to let go of his casual attitude. "What are you saying?"

Llanfair's deep green eyes spat contempt and disgust. Other than his father he was much more akin to a cat than to a wolf. Right now he looked like a cat that unwittingly had dug her teeth into a rotting carcass instead a piece of fresh meet. "I am saying, My Lord, that your men have caused havoc in Uther's escort, they're all dead except for one old man who has told Prince Arthur all about your attack."

"What blasted attack you're talking about?" the Cymbrian Majesty roared. "When my men arrived at the crossroad to apprehend your friend's father nobody came. Finally they thought they'd mixed up the dates and turned back. By now they should be in their beds. Or wherever they go to enjoy themselves. End of story."

"Do you mean that it weren't your men who attacked Uther only a few hours away from Blanchefleur Manor?" Llanfair paled considerably when his worst suspicions were confirmed.

"That's exactly what I am saying. I have no idea where the illustrious King of Camelot is dwelling right now or with whom; the only thing I know for sure is that he is not dwelling with my younger sister. Blast it."

Llanfair frowned. "What has she to do with anything?"

"And who is 'she' to you, you cheeky young bastard of a mad father and a flirtatious bitch, the cat's mother?"

Antek drew a very deep breath. He did not care much for his parents but that was strong stuff, even for him. "Forgive me, My Liege, I meant Her Royal Highness the Princess Morgyan."

"Well, there we go" the King grumbled, somewhat appeased. "Morgyan is the delicate private matter I wanted to discuss with Uther."

"I do beg your pardon?" So far Antek had thought that Cendred wanted to settle some old bills with the King of Camelot. Indeed, the fact that his Liege had some justified cause to take the Pendragon King prisoner had made things easier for the young Count's conscience, at least for a while.

However, Cendred destroyed Antek's illusions with his next words without even noticing it. "I want my sister to marry a Pendragon and so she will. Either Uther gets this insolent brat of a son back in hand long enough to drag him to the altar with my sister or he marries her herself. Anyway, Morgyan will be Queen of Camelot before I die. Would serve this wayward Prince right if his father were to have another son with my sister, eh?" Cendred chuckled menacingly under his breath.

Antek's head whirled. "Someone should have told Your Majesty that Prince Arthur is already married and that he has got a son."

The Cymbrian King waved his hand dismissively. "That brat he got from this scullery maid. Who gives a damn? I have at least half a dozen bastard sons running around but no children from my wife; the wretched creature never was good for anything but sewing and whining."

"May Her Majesty rest in the peace she never found in life" Antek said, thoroughly disgusted.

"Yes, rest, that's all she ever did. But some of my sons show promise, especially my eldest, Gyrrin. I will declare him my heir and to hell with all who oppose me." Cendred waved a bottle of strong liquor vaguely in the direction of his guest. "Want to join me?"

"No, My Lord, 10 o'clock in the morning is a bit early for me."

"You young puppies are a bit delicate nowadays, aren't you? Anyway, if the Pendragons were to back my boy up, his succession would be secure and that's all I want. And they would have to back him up if they were related to him, wouldn't they? Most illustrious family they are, the Pendragons, what with that prosperous realm, their nice well-staffed army and this handsome Prince. I admit Uther is of somewhat dubious origins but Arthur's mother came from an ancient and impeccable family line, as well as my wife, the bloody bitch. Only your ancestry is more ancient, Lllanfair."

Cendred smiled predatorily, showing his surprisingly strong and healthy teeth. "So you're saying that Uther is gone? Gone for good, you think?"

Antek's guts twisted painfully. He did not like where this was going. "How am I to know, My Lord? I came here because I thought that you had captured him." On second thought, this explanation might not do the trick Antek was striving for. "Besides, I think the Pendragon wealth and power is somewhat overrated. It has been diminished by recent events and you might wish to consider other families as your allies."

"For example the Llanfairs?" Cendred smiled. "You would like that, wouldn't you? As my brother-in-law you'd certainly have no reason to worry about the future of Blackrock and the Llanfair estate, hmh?"

"No, I'd spend all my time fearing for my life" an almost panicking Antek thought. Renowned for having the face of an angel, the body of an antic goddess, the greed of a troll and a heart as warm and tender as an ice pick the Princess Morgyan had a singular ability to bring misfortune and destruction to all men. Not even someone as naïve as Antek of Llanfair had been able to ignore this fact.

Sipping from his large drink – his third in a row – Cendred began pacing while a calculating look came to his face. "Let's leave the jesting for later, my boy, shall we?" he said. "And let's pretend for a moment that old Uther has kicked the bucket and good riddance. That would make his son the King of the realm, is that not so?"

"Yes, surely, Your Grace but….."

"This leaves me with two options: Either I take the boy myself and make him see reason or I open negotiations with his realm's nobility. They have to acknowledge his marriage before his wife can be declared Queen, did you know that? Of course if Uther had had this servant wretch confirmed as Crown Princess before he got lost, this would not have been necessary but as far as I know he didn't."

"Which means…..?" Antek's sickness got worse by the second.

"Which means, my dear boy, that your precious friend isn't married, at least not if it comes to his own realm; not until either his father wrenches a confirmation from his Council or the nobility themselves oblige their new King before he is crowned."

Antek straightened his shoulders. "Arthur would never leave his wife and child, that much is certain. Nor would he abandon his father as long as there is any hope that he is still alive!"

"So rumours of Uther having fallen out with his son for good were somewhat premature, aye? However, if your young friend opposes his own nobility in this he will not become King, as sure as eggs is eggs. This is not in my best interest. I do not need a Camelot in shambles and on the brink of civil war, what I need is a stable, distinguished and prosperous ally to back up my son now and in future. So there's nothing for it. You'll bring your dear young friend to me and I will put him in his shoes until he's got back his senses."

"My Lord, you gave me your word that Arthur would be left out of this" Antek said while his hand wandered towards his blade again.

"Aye, my boy, that I did. As much as you gave your oath to King Uther. We both had our plans, hadn't we, and now it's time to change them. From now on I will take care of your royal friend and you can go back to this nice little hell-hole Blackrock and play with all the pretty rubble there." Cendred screwed up his nose when he watched Antek's hand close on the hilt of his blade. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, my boy. My men may not be especially fond of me but they haven't been paid yet."

Antek let out a breath he had not known he was holding and raised both hands. "Whatever you say, My Lord."

Cendred acknowledged the young Count's surrender with a very friendly smile. "No hard feelings, Count Antek. This is a difficult situation for you. Extremely difficult, I understand that. You know what? Let's get it over with. My men will escort you back to Blanchefleur right now. They can return to me with our young misled Prince in tow by noontime. The sooner you can wash your hands of this affair the better."

Antek nodded hesitatingly. "I'm sure you're right. May I suggest that I face the Prince alone? It would be much safer if he would not get suspicious prematurely and…."

"What an excellent strategist you are, my dearest Count. However, I would not want to take any risk in this. For all I know the poor misguided lad is a born stray; he may even try to run if he smells a rat. He could get hurt and I am not interested in aggravating his people, I want their everlasting friendship. Or Uther's, should he reappear." All of a sudden Cendred's amiable features hardened. "So my men will escort you and that's final!"

Helplessly Antek nodded again. Great. This was just great. He had felt miserably being caught between two stools. Now he was to be caught between enough stools to equip a concert hall.

While they were trotting towards Blanchefleur in a comfortable pace, young Llanfair counted his assets and the result was close to zero. So much for his great promises to keep his princely friend safe at all costs; how was it that such awful situations always befell him and nobody else? He had tried to make the best of his situation, not for himself but for his realm and for his people. What was wrong with that? Everybody did this, Uther, Cendred, everybody. It was a sacred tradition among rulers, betraying each other to gain an advantage. And everybody got away with it, all the time. Everybody except the Count of Llanfair, obviously.

The young Noble's heart beat painfully at the thought of what his beloved old tutor and friend Merco would say to this disastrous turn of events; Merco, the old innocent fool, who had tried to talk his young Lord out of this whole intrigue to the best of his abilities; saying that friendship and loyalty should come first and that a certain Pendragon Prince deserved better than to be let down once more by someone he trusted. The Count concentrated very much on Merco's reaction because what Arthur and his wife would have to say to this – Llanfair had no wish to think about that right now.

This was all so horribly unfair. For the rest of the way Antek was at odds with his King, the world in general and his personal lot especially.

At least until he and his 'guard of honour' reached a crossroad not too far away from where their path took a turn to the west, to the old way through the woods that led directly to Blanchefleur.

The leader of the 30 men escort gasped, then moaned as if in some pain. It was almost comical to see him fall from his mount so very slowly. His men gawked at him when he hit the ground with a mighty crash of his armour hitting the road's cobble stones.

One of his companions dismounted and checked on his superior, only to sink down by his side. The others now unsheathed their swords and looked around nervously. Out of nowhere came a gust of wind. It brought eerie whispers and a peculiar fog that slowly drifted through the clearing.

Antek jerked violently when he felt a ghostly hand touch his leg from out of the fog. In this very moment, all hell broke loose.

The horses whinnied and panicked. With their riders clinging to the saddles for dear life the escort was scattered all over the clearing in an instant; a whirl of kicking, biting and screaming beasts and terrified humans shot out of the wood in different directions, heading heaven knew where. Swords flew low when they were ripped out of their owners grasp by invisible hands, daggers and maces fell to the ground and on horse legs, spooking the mad beasts even more.

A minute later the most noble Count of Llanfair was pretty much alone in the middle of the clearing, sitting on his backside, the bridle his horse had torn before it stormed away still in his hand. Bewildered he stared at the still unconscious leader of the Cymbrian escort; then he looked up at the three men who had left the brushwood and marched towards him.

The eldest of them he knew only from Arthur's narratives of what had happened after his initial escape from Blackrock Castle. But the two others were familiar. Very familiar.

"I'm done for" Antek thought. "Yep. That was it. I'm dead."

With wide eyes and a hanging jaw the Count of Llanfair looked directly into the faces of the two men that towered over him.

Silently, Merlin and Uther Pendragon glared back.