19. The female touch
A week had passed since Guinivere had heard or seen from Uther - or from any of her friends for that matter. They too were held somewhere in the Cymbrian castle, that much she knew, but preciously little else.
Slowly but surely isolation and uncertainty undermined her resistance. If she as much as thought about Arthur running off in the middle of the night without a word – followed, of course, by a certain warlock who obviously thought of no one but his Prince these days – Gwen's resolve to deny her captors the satisfaction of seeing her cry was reduced to zero.
She felt abandoned, betrayed, belittled, to say the very least and while her imagination ran wild with pictures of Arthur being sick, injured or running into a trap, her hurt pride made her wish some – lesser! - injury might befall her husband, as a just punishment for what he'd done.
On top of it all she felt threatened and terribly humiliated by the perspectives the Cymbrian schemes gave her.
Admittedly she and her baby had been made comfortable and an – alas strictly non-talkative – wet nurse took care of the little boy most conscientiously. But other than young Prince-to-be Thomas Pendragon, his mother could draw no comfort from that.
As a result the said little Prince was showered with motherly attention more than any child could - or ever would - wish for.
Again, Guinivere had been impatient for her son to wake up from his nap and as soon as he had done her the favour, she had begun playing with him; throwing herself into the act until she forgot most of her surroundings and situation.
So she was violently startled by the door to her room being unlocked and reflexively she grabbed her child more closely.
Little Thomas, a true Pendragon in his firm belief in personal independence and liberty of action, rewarded that with an angry squeal.
"Guinivere?" a tentative female voice said. "That is your name, isn't it?" The other woman removed her hood and cloak and smiled kindly enough. "I'm Morgyan of Cymbria. King Cendred's sister."
Gwen forgot to answer as fury and spite rose in her soul. "That's it" she thought after one long look at her rival. "No doubt about it. I'm divorced. No man can look at her and still notice me afterwards. Especially not a man who runs from home, wife and child at the first opportunity!"
"I wanted…." The Cymbrian Princess continued, but to no avail.
"I know what you want" Gwen spat. "Your brother's men made it very clear to me that a royal wedding is planned. You and my husband!"
"Actually there's been a change of plan. Now it's Uther and me, but that's not important right now….."
Gwen didn't get it. "But they said, as soon as Arthur is found, you and he…"
"But that's what I wanted to tell you" Morgyan blurted out agitatedly. "Arthur has been found. I know what has become of him."
"And what would that be?" Guinivere felt the blood vanish from her face as her cheeks grew cold. This didn't sound very promising.
"Alined's men have apprehended him, Antek of Llanfair and this young sorcerer of yours somewhere near Blackrock. Apparently they forced your husband to recover something for them from the stronghold's rubble before they dragged them all away to heaven knows where. Only old Merco they left behind. He's told me everything; he's come to me an hour ago, half dead."
Morgyan smiled, a mysterious little smile, half fondly, half longingly. "It's so very much like Antek to give himself up for his old healer's sake, is it not? Antek has always been very devoted and selfless, even as a youth."
"Count Llanfair" Gwen said, utterly dumbfounded by the abstruse idea. "The Count of Llanfair selfless and devoted!"
St. Antek! Oh, for crying out loud! The alien concept was a welcome distraction from the other news the Cymbrian Princess had brought.
From the treaty negotiations in Camelot some years ago Guinivere remembered King Alined as she would remember a slimy, poisonous worm that had crawled into her food. The man's way of looking at Arthur when he thought no one noticed! Like a wild animal would scrutinize its prey. It had sent shivers down her spine back then and it certainly did so now.
Apparently Cendred's sister had no such memories to spoil her good cheer. "Your Druid friend Marwon told me this thing Arthur was forced to deliver could be very dangerous. I've decided I will go and rescue Antek. Will you come with me?"
"Excuse me?" This was too fast for Gwen. Morgyan was supposed to be an enemy, right?
"I just thought…" Morgyan hesitated. The Camelot woman looked at her, goggling like an imbecile. Could it be that there was something amiss with her? "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"No" Gwen said flatly. "I don't!"
Morgyan was thoroughly disappointed. She had heard great things about this woman. The gallant rescue the servant girl had staged more than a year ago, to save her Prince from old Anwar of Llanfair – it had been heart-warming to hear for every other woman with a sense of honour and self-respect. Now it came to light that it had all been an exaggerated fairy-tale.
"What exactly did the Druids tell you?" Gwen interrupted the other woman's angry thoughts.
"There's a book, this Marwon fellow says" Morgyan repeated, very slowly, very patiently, which required a considerable effort on her side. "A book of evil magic called the Rashnijaan. For some reason Arthur decided to recover it from Blackrock and to bring it back to the Druid village. Alined wants to have the thing too and so he's taken your husband and the others."
Now even the Cymbrian Princess shuddered. "Alined is a pig, I will not leave Antek to him. I thought you might want to do as much for Arthur." She picked up her discarded cloak and shrugged. "But as you aren't interested….."
Finally Gwen's penny dropped. This sounded just like the Arthur she knew. He felt obliged to the Druids, much more than he was comfortable with, and to go on a secret quest, almost alone, to face all powers of evil on their behalf would be his idea of repaying that debt as a means to regain his self-esteem!
But the conclusion she drew from these thoughts - that was the best of it. "So it had nothing to do with me or the child!"
She smiled angelically, finally released from a part of her torment. True enough, Arthur could still be killed, maimed or meet any other misfortune on the way – but then, that was his and his wife's every day life. Leaving his wife because he didn't love her was a much worse perspective.
Having come that far at lightning speed, Gwen's mind now made it all the way. She didn't care one bit about this absurd 'marrying-off-Uther' idea but what had Morgyan just said about the younger Pendragon? "So you never wanted to marry Arthur?" Gwen tried to make sure that she had heard correctly.
Morgyan looked her over with all the arrogance a royal Princess could muster. "Do I look as if I needed my brother to capture me a man against his will? A Pendragon marriage was Cendred's idea, not mine."
"I do not think you'd need much force once a man had set eyes on you" Gwen said, the honesty doing her credit while the self-doubt did not. However, it finally won her Morgyan's affection.
"I've known Arthur for many years" the Cymbrian Princess grinned. "Since we all were page boys – or girls – at King Olaf's Court. He's kind and gentle under all his bully-façade and he's handsome. We like each other well enough, but I'm not his type."
Gwen felt dizzy with relief. She could hardly believe her luck. "And you would bring me out of here?"
"I will take Merco and Marwon back to the Druid village before I go and search for Antek, with or without you. If you prefer to stay here nice and comfy, I'll give Arthur your regards if and when I find him."
Guinivere winced under the barely hidden scorn of this jibe. Somehow Morgyan's beauty and high rank made this even worse. The other woman had all the advantages.
But this would end here and now, Gwen decided. "You will do no such thing" she said. "And if you ever come anywhere near my husband without my permission, I'll cut your heart out and that's a promise!"
A moment later a second cloak hit Gwen in the face, wrenching another indignant squeal from the baby. "Pull that on" Morgyan said, grinning more broadly. "And tell your little Crown Prince to be quiet."
"Just a moment. What about the others, Leon, his knights and Mirella?" She swallowed before she continued "and my father-in-law?"
Morgyan rolled her eyes impatiently. Gwen already assumed correctly that impatience was one of the fiery woman's most prominent shreds of character. "They'll have to stay. Mirella's pregnancy is an obstacle and as for the knights, they'd only send word to Camelot and give my brother's plans and whereabouts away."
Gwen now lifted her own chin defiantly. "I cannot leave our King and our knights in peril. I'm supposed to be the Crown Prince's wife."
"And I cannot endanger my brother's safety" Morgyan snapped back. "If Camelot hears of what he's done before he's come to a binding agreement with Uther, his life and our throne is not worth a farthing."
"Cendred should have thought of the risks before he abducted us."
The Cymbrian Princess turned away arrogantly. "Suit yourself. I'm not dependant on you."
"What about your plans if I scream?"
"If you scream I will not leave, Cendred will hear of this and Arthur will either stay Alined's prisoner or he'll change one captor for another, is that what you want?"
Gwen wrestled with her conscience. What she really wanted was to get out of here, snatch her wayward husband away under Alined's very nose – since she knew from last year's tribulations how gorgeous that would make her feel – and run home to Camelot as fast as possible. Suddenly Camelot's strong walls seemed so very comforting and soothing that Camelot's tongue-wagging gossipers lost their threatening powers.
Morgyan saw the conflict in the other woman's face and softened a bit. "Without you and the child for hostages, my brother will not harm a hair on Uther's head" she said. "He fears Camelot's power like hell and he respects Uther, even though he'd never admit that. Cendred will keep your precious King much safer than his own Crown Jewels."
"But the men" Gwen insisted. "What about them?"
"Would Uther give a shilling for them?" Morgyan asked sarcastically.
Guinivere pouted briefly before she thought of her dignity. Besides, Morgyan was perfectly right. Unfortunately. "No" Gwen admitted with some defiance.
"But he would be angry if someone slaughtered them for nothing? Because knights and well trained soldiers are hard to come by?" Morgyan added, every inch a royal politician.
"Yes!" Gwen said curtly, cursing, as she had done a thousand times before, the special way royalty appreciated their fellow humans.
"Then my brother will not harm them" Morgyan said dismissively. "Why aggravate Uther and weaken a knight guard Cendred wants for an ally for nothing?" And it was obvious that the Cymbrian considered the matter closed.
It was also obvious that Morgyan was in command here. Gwen didn't like that much, but for the time being she was willing to let it go unchallenged.
It was a wise decision. As Cendred had said, his men worshipped their Princess. They also feared her tantrums and the remarkable sanctions Cendred used to deal out if his sister had been crossed. No one as much as asked about her intentions or permissions when she and a hooded group of unknown people demanded to be let out.
Therefore Guinivere, Thomas and Merco together with a most reluctant Marwon left the castle undisturbed in Morgyan's wake.
The Druid had not easily agreed to leave his sister behind, and without even telling her why. Silently Gwen was astonished that he should do such a thing at all, he'd never struck her as selfish or a coward. But Marwon, being a Druid, kept his motives to himself.
The ride was mostly silent as anyone dwelled on his or her own share of gloomy thoughts. Only on the arrival in the Druid village the withdrawn travellers turned into a bunch of babbling people, as Marwon tried to explain to his compatriots that he had come back alone, Merco tried to explain why he was back – also alone! – and Gwen tried to explain why she was back with her son but without her father-in-law or his men.
As they all talked at the same time to the same lot of astonished Druids, the effect of all the talking was practically nil.
Until Morgyan decided that she had had enough. "Quiet!" she roared and her voice echoed from the walls and trees that surrounded them. Suddenly Gwen remembered how it felt, to her, to Merlin, to everybody, when Arthur sprang into action, pushing all resistance or second thoughts aside.
With her blond hair, her armour, sword and autocratic attitude, Morgyan was a female version of the Pendragon Crown Prince. "We don't have time for this. Merco will stay here; he's done more than enough. Marwon, you're with us, we need your knowledge about the Rashnijaan. Guinivere, you're sure you're up to it?"
Only now Thomas' mother had second thoughts. "I am up to it" she said "Arenboarth and his healers made sure of that when I first came here…." Her look at her little boy made clear where her sudden qualms came from.
"Please tell me that you're not thinking about taking the child with you into battle" another voice said pleadingly from behind. "I'm sure neither his father nor his grandfather would ever forgive you."
"Who are you to speak to her like that…" Morgyan began to say, but she was cut short by Gwen hugging the stranger for dear life with her free arm. "Gaius! I thought you had been killed. When I didn't see you among the prisoners…." Gwen almost sobbed, only Morgyan's derisive snort prevailed.
"Are you a Druid?" the Princess asked the healer impatiently. "Or what business is this of yours?"
"He's King Uther's Court Physician" Merco chimed in. "And a magician!"
"And that's exactly why I am coming with you whilst this young Lady and her child will stay here" Gaius calmly explained.
"No I will not" Gwen protested. "No way."
"Agneta can take care of little Thomas. She has done so before. I would not stay behind in a quest to defeat the evil of the Rashnijaan before it can harm my people. Nobody has the right to deny the Lady Guinivere the right to do the same for her Prince!"
"That explains it" Gwen thought, taken aback. "In order to chase after this book he was willing to forsake his own sister!"
Meanwhile Gaius raised a brow and Morgyan glanced at Marwon, with surprise written all over her face. The fragile and insignificant looking, unobtrusive young Druid with the sand-coloured hair and the shy brown eyes had not stricken her as a man of decisive opinions, let alone a leader of his people.
But that was what Arenboarth's son proved to be. With a few words he ordered the best magicians among the Druids to create a warden spell that would hide the village from Cendred's men, something they – to their cost – had not thought necessary before. The indeed utterly exhausted Merco was ordered to take over Gaius' duties as a healer and, at last, everything was settled and decided.
Reminded of the damage the Cymbrian soldiers had done to the innocent Druid tribe, Morgyan preferred to hush her mouth during these discussions. It was painfully obvious that the not altogether unselfish rescue of Marwon could not make up for the more than two dozens of men, women and children Cendred's men had killed, or for the many wounded Druids. Or for Mirella and her husband staying behind in Cendred's hands.
So the Cymbrian Princess stood aside when Gwen took her leave of her little son whilst Gaius had trouble convincing a young Druid boy to let him go.
However the restraint took its toll on Morgyan's underdeveloped patience and she was at the end of her tether when she and her three companions could finally depart for Blackrock to pick up the track of Alined's men and their prisoners.
During the ride the others were once more lost in thoughts, and so Gaius had some time to think about what they would find at the end of their journey.
He had asked Mercator a few hasty questions in the Druid village, in spite of Morgyan's impatient fretting. How Merlin had been used to press Arthur into revealing the Rashnijaan's whereabouts was plain and simple enough, albeit it made Gaius' hairs stand up.
Some detail had struck him as odd, though. Why should Alined's men have released the old Llanfair healer, just like that? For sure, it was just like Alined not to antagonize Antek without dire need; the King liked keeping loopholes. But the witness to the abduction of Camelot's Crown Prince and the Count of Llanfair had to be a doomed man nevertheless.
After some hesitation Merco admitted that, although Alined's commander had made a big show of releasing him at Antek's request, a soldier had followed the healer, doubtlessly to dispose of him somewhere quiet and well out of the young Count's sight.
However Mercator, for all him looking like a daft old weasel, was as shrewd as one would wish. He, too, had once studied on the Isle of the Blessed and so the soldier had met an untimely end after drinking from a well that had been conveniently laced with poison. The man's horse, Merco said with some humble pride in his craftsmanship, had refused to drink from that water.
The unpleasant story of a knight who sent out a soldier to insidiously kill an old, unarmed civilian from behind told Gaius what they were up against.
It was also plain to him that neither Morgyan nor Guinivere had any kind of plan, that they were taking things as they came, nourishing their confidence and determination only by their fierce will to find their loved ones.
There was nothing for it; he'd have to do the same, as Gaius had no idea of what was in store for them either. Although what little he knew about the Book of Demons was enough to depress him thoroughly.
On their arrival in Blackrock, Marwon categorically refused to go anywhere near the ruins and so it fell to the two women and Gaius to enter Llanfair's grave, where, according to Merco, Arthur had thought to find the Rashnijaan.
Gwen almost froze in shock at the appalling sight of the body. Or rather, bodies. For the burial side harboured two men, Count Anwar of Llanfair and his life long friend, victim and murderer, Sir Badagere. The knight's remains, in a disgusting state of progressive decomposition, lay on the ground. His arm, peculiarly still attached to the body, outstretched; his hand cramped around the hilt of knife that was buried in Llanfair's chest.
From Merlin's report about the events around the old Count's death, Gaius knew that the knight should be hunched over his master's remains, as it had been the dying man's body weight that had at last driven the blade into the otherwise immortal Llanfair's heart.
So the bodies had been disturbed, doubtlessly by Arthur and the men who had forced him to reveal the Rashnijaan's resting place to them. The Prince had correctly assumed that the old Llanfair Wolf had taken the Book of Demons along into his grave. Apparently his head had been resting on it until Alined's henchmen had yanked it out, as Llanfair's skull was now bent over the barrow's side in an odd angle, as if it had been recently moved with some force.
Other than Badagere's corpse, Anwar's body showed almost no signs of decay or putrefaction. His eyes had sunk into his skull, his jaws were protruding and his claw-like hands, although still covered with flesh and bone, looked skeletal. But that was about it.
From where Gaius stood, it looked as if Anwar of Llanfair was grinning derisively. "Exactly" this grin seemed to say. "I'm not easily destroyed."
Camelot's Court Physician shook these morbid thoughts off with a will. "Merco was obviously correct". Angry that his voice should be hoarse enough to betray his feelings, he cleared his throat. "With Arthur's help they've found the book. As soon as these fools make it to their leader, Alined's got all he wanted: The Rashnijaan, the magician and the hostage to bring him to heel."
It sounded much harsher than he had intended, for inwardly Gaius was raging. Raging against another dead man and his selfish foolishness. "Look at what you've done, Arenboarth. You had no right to drag them into this, no right to do this to me and Uther. If there's justice in the other world you'll suffer to all eternity for what you did to our boys!"
"At least that means he needs them both alive" Gwen said bravely but her heart skipped a beat.
"It also means that he has to keep them somewhere; a place not too far away, not too obvious, but strong enough to keep a man like Arthur Pendragon prisoner without anyone being the wiser whilst half of Albion is looking for him." Morgyan was visibly in her element. "If I were Alined, I'd chosen a fortified building on Camelot's own territory; it would be the last place anyone would look for a kidnapped Pendragon."
She shook her head in anger, looking questioningly at the two Camelotians. "Blanchefleur would've been a perfect choice but it is occupied by Antek's men. That leaves….."
Gwen was at a loss. She had been bred and raised in Camelot but the list of royal or noble strongholds had not been part of her education.
However, Gaius had reason to remember many a noble family of the realm for one reason or another. "Markentower" he said in sudden revelation. "It's small, heavily fortified but mostly abandoned since old Sir Morden was executed for sorcery. Some people use it as a rest house with Camelot's permission, so a foreign group staying there would not draw immediate suspicion. It's far away from Camelot Castle but close enough to the busy Roman road to the North to look inconspicuous."
"That's our best bet then" the Princess replied relieved. "How far is it from here? Four, five hours on horseback?"
"More like a day's ride. Or a night's ride rather, as the sun must be setting by now."
"What are we waiting for?" Morgyan asked, already turning to leave the dreadful burial chamber. She had no need to say that after more than a week at their captors' mercy, any day more was one too many for the prisoners. "The sooner we find those rascals the sooner we can get our friends back."
Gaius didn't need to be told twice and he was already half way out in the corridor that led from the grave to the outside world when he noticed that Gwen was no longer behind him. Alarmed, he turned back, only to find her wrestling with the knife that was stuck in Llanfair's chest. "My Lady, what on earth…?
"There was something…. aach, it's stuck, blast it… something about this knife Merlin once said to me…. it's magic or something….damn it, it won't come out… anyway it had to be this knife and no other that could kill the bastard…and I…. think….. we need ….. all the support we can get. There, at last."
Triumphantly she held up the blade while she jumped over Badagere's body and its now severed right arm towards her healer friend. Gaius shoved her out before him, where he could see her. The sight of her messing around with the two bodies had been almost enough to make him puke.
In the very last moment, the physician turned back for a last look at Llanfair and his murderer. Gaius could not have said what had urged him to do it, but what he saw made his blood run cold.
Badagere's body had virtually vanished, his flesh and bones crumbled to dust as if he had been dead for centuries, his clothes tattered and rotten almost to invisibility.
Anwar of Llanfair's body still lay on the barrow, still looking at Gaius, still grinning.
With a stifled yell, Gaius took Guinivere's hand and ran, ran much faster than his age normally allowed, until they bumped into a fretting Morgyan who gave them an earful for vanishing like that without a word.
They found Marwon where they'd left him and together they rode into the falling dusk. To the north, towards Markentower. Marwon's magical abilities, limited as they were, were those of a hunter and after a short while he made out the traces of Alined's men and their involuntary companions. Led by his clear sight, they could go on much faster than before.
Gaius tried to concentrate on which of his long since buried magical abilities or spells might be useful in their upcoming struggle or if there might be a way to somehow contact Merlin. However, his mind refused to think of anything else but the last sight of Anwar of Llanfair, after Gwen had pulled out the blade.
Had the corpse's eyes been open and glittering from the very beginning?
Had they?
Gwen, on the other hand, felt strangely hilarious since she had recovered the knife. If this blade was magical, cursed or whatever made it strong enough to kill the Llanfair monster, it would be of great help although she not yet knew how. It had almost felt as if the blade had been calling out to her, tempting her to take it, to dare and use it. Now it was calling out to her to make haste, to reach Markentower as soon as possible. There was a feeling of urgency, of knowing that the blade was needed there, now.
Ridiculous, wasn't it. A knife talking to her inside her mind!
However, it wasn't that easy to reach the small moated castle and after a few hours they knew they had to rest, if only to save the horses from collapsing.
Marwon curled up and dozed off immediately, Gaius did the same after a short while. Both were envied by the two women, who could not sleep, whatever they tried. The thought of what might be happening to the men they loved in this very moment was too overwhelming.
To distract herself, Gwen began talking. Talking had always helped her unwind, as it had always calmed her to share her thoughts. "Morgyan, what will your brother do? I mean, won't he be mad at you?"
"Leave Cendred to me, I know how to handle him when the time comes" the Princess replied haughtily.
"But a Pendragon marriage was crucial for his succession plans."
"As was a royal marriage for his son and heir to Uther. Look what good it did him" Morgyan said drily. "Arthur married you and I will marry Antek. Just like that."
"So you and Antek are in a secret agreement" Gwen said, the romantic notion appealing to her much more than she cared to admit. Camelot's future Queen was bound and determined to show the other woman what a tough cookie she was; romanticisms surely were no way to do that.
"Not yet!" Morgyan said stubbornly and with an angry frown. "But we will be!"
And with that, she turned her back on Gwen and pretended to be fast asleep.
Gwen stayed awake and pondered. Most of all on Arthur and Merlin, and on her child of course, even a bit on Uther's wellbeing. But every so often her thoughts came back to the Cymbrian Princess and young Llanfair and the question whether the Count even knew that Morgyan loved him.
Somehow Guinivere was pretty sure that Antek did not.