Page 13 of Warrior Queen
Nial shrugged. “That don’t bother me. You takes yer time. I’ll be happy with me rod and not havin’ to winnow in all that dust.” He gave a conspiratorial wink.
I thanked him, then Merlin and I turned away from the little wharf to head inland. We walked in silence for a while, until we’d left the wharf and Nial well behind, and the rows of farmed apple trees I remembered began. A few monks, the skirts of their long habits tucked out of the way into their belts, moved between the trees gathering windfalls into large woven baskets, but they were far enough away not to hear anything we said.
Merlin halted, and I stopped beside him, my heart doing odd leaps and bounds of apprehension. Did I still have the inclination, or the courage, to tell him about Medraut? Considering I’d asked him to bring me here so I could get him to talk, the tables seemed to have very much been turned.
“Now,” Merlin said, taking me by the shoulders. “Tell me what it is that’s worrying you.”
I pressed my lips together, searching for the words I only half-wanted to utter.
Merlin sighed. “I feel a strong responsibility for you, Gwen. It’s because of me you’re here. I saw you in my visions, and deliberately went to your world to find you. If there’s something wrong, you need to tell me so I can help you.”
My own troubles had certainly loosened his tongue. He was definitely talking now.
“It’s Medraut,” I muttered.
“What about him? I thought we’d sorted out your silly worries?”
Ignoring his dismissal of my other worries as having been silly, I licked my dry lips. “I knew the moment he was born. When Morgawse told me his name.”
“Knew what?” His brows furrowed in what was probably a mixture of puzzlement and frustration.
“What he’ll do.” My voice sounded small and insignificant in the silence that pressed all around me. Even the birds seemed to have fallen silent, listening.
He stiffened, his grip on my shoulders tightening. “Whatwill he do?” His voice had gone as still as his body, low and urgent, almost as though he sensed what was coming. He did have the Sight, after all.
“Have you not seen?” I asked, blurting the words out in a hurry. “You told me once that you saw me with Arthur to the end. Then you said, ‘If there is one.’ What does that even mean? Did you see his end or not? Did you see how it will come about?”
“I…” He hesitated, his mouth working as though he sought the right words. It seemed he had as many secrets as I did.
I stared into his eyes. “Well?”
He shrugged, his fingers like a vise on my shoulders. “I can’t be sure.” His voice shook. “Nothing was clear to me but you. You were there. At the end.”
I swallowed. “And was Medraut?”
He stared. “What do you mean?”
“Was Medraut there too?” My voice rose with urgency.
Behind us the monks edged closer with their baskets. Still out of earshot, but maybe curious.
“I– I don’t know.”
“Well, he should have been,” I snapped. “You should have seen him there. Because he will be. It’ll be he who brings Arthur to his final battle– to Camlann. He’s the one who’ll cause Arthur’s death.”
There. I’d said it. The words hung between us as though someone had etched them in words of fire, blazing unquenchably.
His fingers dug into my flesh. “How?” Just one word. No other question, no words of reassurance that this couldn’t come to pass. Nothing.
I couldn’t tell him. Most likely it wasn’t true– another medieval fabrication. My whole being recoiled from the thought, disgusted. From the story that said Medraut would seduce Arthur’s queen. That I, Guinevere, would betray Arthur with his nephew.
I shook my head. “That’s just it. I don’t know how. All I know is that the legends say Medraut will rebel against Arthur. They’ll meet in a final battle– at Camlann. Medraut will die, and Arthur will be fatally wounded.”
Merlin’s eyes bored into mine. He believed me. If my heart kept on beating this fast, I was going to die of a heart attack pretty soon.
“Well,” Merlin said. “We’ll have to make sure that never happens.”
Chapter Five
