Page 73 of The Dragon Ring
Merlin seemed to be of the same mind as me. His lip curled in disdain. “Melwas, King of the Summer Country, Lord of the Mount of Frogs. Overlord of Caer Baddan and sub-king of Dumnonia.”
I looked at him with more interest. Sub-king or not, he walked across the hall as though he owned it, his expression haughty, his contempt for the watching rabble obvious. One of his entourage pulled out his seat for him, and he sank into it with conscious elegance, leaving only one place still empty apart from the throne.
The press of the audience grew greater. Merlin put an arm about my shoulders to steady me as those behind pushed against us, eager to get a better look at the kings seated about the round table.
The man who came in last wore Roman dress of a deep red tunic beneath a cream toga. His ascetic face was clean-shaven and his grizzled, dark hair cut severely short.
Merlin leaned toward me again. “Aurelius Caninus, King of Gwent. Cousin to Arthur– and to you now– and son to the great Ambrosius himself.”
Aurelius Caninus took the last empty seat, beside Arthur, and their heads came together. They had their backs to me, but even if they’d been facing me, with so much noise in the hall, I could never have heard them. I hoped when the Council started it would be different.
It was.
As the son of Ambrosius, Caninus began the proceedings by getting to his feet to stand motionless, waiting for silence to fall. This had the desired effect. The noise died away as the mass of people realized the Council was about to start. Caninus didn’t speak for a full minute. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop. All eyes rested on him.
“Fellow kings,” he began. He had a deep, sonorous voice. He’d have been good on the stage. “People of Britain.” He paused again, encompassing everyone with his gaze. “We are gathered here with much sadness to honor the passing of a great man. The wise King Uthyr, brother to my father, Ambrosius.” A ripple of agreement ran through the crowd. Caninus waited again for silence to fall.
“His funeral rites will be held tomorrow. Today, we meet to acknowledge his heirs and to elect a new High King.”
Cadwy’s profile was visible from where I stood. His bushy, black hair had been bound back from his face in a long sausage of a plait, and it was evident from his expression that he’d softened nothing toward his younger brother. His jaw jutted forwards belligerently, and he appeared to be grinding his teeth. Not a good idea when there’s no chance of any dental care.
Caninus looked down at Arthur in the seat beside his, and then at Cadwy, still glaring angrily round the table. He was Cadwy’s cousin as well as Arthur’s. Whose side did he favor? His thin face gave away nothing.
His voice boomed out. “I have seen the testament of King Uthyr Pendragon and declare it just and true. Today we ratify his wishes.”
Beside me, I heard Merlin give a sigh of relief. Had he doubted it would be so?
Caninus went on. “He leaves as his heirs his two sons. We welcome to our Council King Cadwy Pendragon, elder son of King Uthyr, now ruler of the kingdom of Powys.”
Cadwy got tohis feet and tried to school the scowl off his face, not very successfully.
Caninus inclined his head. “We welcome you to our Council.”
The kings echoed Caninus’ words in some disunity. Cadwy made a rather curt bow to the table and sat down again, his cheeks now flushed an unbecoming blotchy red.
Caninus looked down at Arthur. “And we welcome, also, King Arturius Pendragon, younger son of King Uthyr, now ruler of the kingdom of Dumnonia.”
Arthur got to his feet far more gracefully than Cadwy had done. Only the back of his head was visible, but his spine was ramrod straight.
Caninus allowed his solemn expression to slip into a half smile. “We welcome you to our Council.”
And again, this was repeated by the other kings, except for Cadwy, whose mouth stayed firmly shut.
Arthur made a bow and sat down again. Applause rumbled from the watching people. Standing at the front of the crowd of Cadwy’s supporters, Morgana briefly allowed her beautiful face to contort in anger before she had it back under control. What did she have against Arthur? He did, after all, share both parents with her, whilst she and Cadwy just had the same father. I couldn’t imagine not loving your brother.
That seemed to be Uthyr’s last wishes accounted for. But would acceptance by the Council of Kings be enough to quiet Cadwy’s yearning for both kingdoms? I doubted it.
Merlin’s body stiffened beside me, and I glanced sideways at him. His eyes were shining brightly, but he wasn’t looking at the round table. Instead, he stared at Morgana, her face now a picture of innocence, and she looked back at him, her long hair hanging in a veil of darkness to her waist. I was struck again by her beauty, and by something else that lurked beneath that show of perfect womanhood– her wickedness– as though a shadow of darkness rippled beneath her alabaster skin.
Caninus had begun to speak again. I had no time to speculate. My gaze returned to the round table.
“Now it is my task to call for nominations for High King. It is long since we had the last election– twenty years ago Uthyr took the title by fair vote. Many of you will not remember what it is to elect a new High King. I myself was just a boy.” He looked round at the crowd on the lower level of the hall. “Any man who has today come with their king may make a nomination. Any king may do the same. A king may even nominate himself. A king and only a king may be nominated. After nominations we will hear from each man why he is suitable to rule. And then we will vote by show of hands. Our decision this day will be final.”
Caninus sat down.
A buzz of excited conversation filled the air.
The kings began to talk amongst themselves.
