Page 58 of The Dragon Ring
“Long live King Cadwy!”
“Long live King Arthur!”
A cheer went up, and then a din of stamping feet on the mosaic floor. It was noticeable that there were more calls for Arthur than his brother. His men must have been placed with careful consideration to influence the crowd. Could Cadwy not be popular here, despite his ten years as War Leader? Or maybe because of it?
The penny finally dropped. Of course. I saw it all. Merlin had said that Arthur could never be elected High King because he wasn’t a king, because Cadwy would inherit the throne as he was the older brother. But this had turned the tables. Uthyr had neatly overcome that hurdle for Arthur. Whatever the customs of old were, they’d allowed him to name his younger son as a king as well. And now Arthur would have a place on the Council as a king in his own right, and he could be elected High King, as Merlin’s prophecy said he would.
And I would be his queen.
Chapter Sixteen
The Council ofBritain was to be called in two days’ time. That much I learned as I stood alone and forgotten in the midst of the chaos that followed Euddolen’s shock announcement.
The room swiftly divided into two factions– those supporting Cadwy and those supporting Arthur. There were a surprising number of the latter. I’d have thought there would have been few more than the men he’d brought with him since he’d been absent from his father’s court for so long. But this wasn’t so. Which was just as well, because if he’d not had such support, I think Cadwy would have turned on him there and then, and that would have been it for us. It dawned upon me now why he’d brought so many men.
There was a stir as Cadwy got to his feet, towering over the assembly. For a moment he stood looking at us all, his lips curled in an angry snarl, and then he swept down the steps, Morgana following in his wake. The crowd parted for him like the Red Sea before Moses, his own faction falling in behind as he stormed out of the chamber. Silence fell as the last of his men hurried out after him. Then everyone who was left started talking at once.
Merlin shouldered his way through the crowd to stand by my side. His eyes were alight with excitement, and a flush had risen to his cheeks.
“That was well played,” he said, leaning close to me so that I could hear him over the racket. “Neatly carried out by the Seneschal.”
“Was this all planned?” I asked. “Did you know there was a testament?”
Merlin tapped the side of his nose.
Euddolen, who had carried out the coup, was beside Arthur, talking volubly.
There was a lot I wanted to know. I put my hand on Merlin’s arm. “How come Cadwy didn’t know his father had left a testament?”
Merlin grinned. “Because he hadn’t. At least not until last night. Our timely arrival– with you– brought about that change of heart. Uthyr always loved Arthur’s mother more than he loved Cadwy’s, and Arthur’s very like his mother. It’s natural he wouldn’t want to leave her son with nothing.”
There was something he wasn’t telling me. “But Arthur had fallen out with his father. It doesn’t look as though it took much to make his father welcome him back.”
Merlin frowned at me. “Well, he did.”
Theodoric emerged from the throng. He had his arm around the shoulders of the little pregnant woman, who clung to him for support. In her pale face her brown eyes were wide with anxiety. Theodoric thrust her into my arms. “This is my wife, Morgawse,” he almost shouted at me. “Take care of her. Get her to somewhere safe. I have to return to Arthur.” And he was gone.
Morgawse pressed herself against me, shivering with fear. Her body felt small and delicate, fragile as a little bird– at odds with her massive swollen belly. She looked as though the birth might be imminent, although I was no expert on pregnancy. My only experience was vicariously through my best friend, Sian, from university, whose baby was now four months old. Or rather, she would be in about fifteen hundred years. I’d had the description of her delivery in rather too graphic detail, and it didn’t sound at all like a pleasant experience.
I put my arms around the girl and held her tight. “Don’t worry,” I said into her ear. “It’ll be all right. Merlin and I will keep you safe.” Only that wasn’t true, because when I looked round, Merlin had gone, following Theodoric back into the press. I was alone with a frightened, heavily pregnant girl whom I didn’t know.
A decision had to be made. Where we were standing wasn’t the safest place. My arms still around her, I moved back toward the wall where we were less likely to be jostled, and we watched from there.
Arthur mounted the dais, head and shoulders above the crowd, who were still all shouting at him and at one another. He raised his hands above his head and stood there, waiting for them to fall silent.
When the room was quiet, he waited a few seconds longer until he had their total attention.
“My father has made me a king,” he began, his gaze sweeping the room. “And a king I intend to remain. My brother has gone to call his warriors. I must do the same. Your support is invaluable.” His eyes fell on a tall man near the back of the crowd. “Eudaf, call out the City Guard. We have need of their numbers.”
In my arms, Morgawse turned her head. “He’s the Captain of the City Guard,” she whispered. “My husband said he would declare for us.”
So this was a planned coup. The headlong rush to get here before his father died was all because Arthur had wanted Uthyr to name him king. Had this been planned for a long time? Was Theodoric, who had all this time been in Uthyr’s court, the architect of it? No wonder Cadwy was angry. His brother had been in virtual exile for years, and Cadwy had thought his father’s entire kingdom was his birthright. Only now it wasn’t. If I were Cadwy, I’d be planning to fight back and finish this once and for all.
Eudaf made Arthur a quick bow, and with half a dozen other men hurried out of the audience chamber.
“The rest of you, to arms!” Arthur finished.
The chamber emptied like water down a plughole. What was I supposed to do? No one was paying any attention to Morgawse and me. I followed the last of the men outside, taking her with me. The guards by the doors had gone. Arthur’s followers were running down the colonnaded walkway. Armed soldiers came charging up the pathway through the gardens from the vestibulum. They had swords in their hands and dragon shields on their arms. They didn’t look at all friendly.
