Page 79 of The Dragon Ring
Two and two came together for me. Arthur had called Breanna mother and yet she hadn’t been. Could she, like Cottia, have been his nurse? And if so, could she have been Cadwy’s as well? A woman as close to the children in her care as their mother would have been.
“You made her drink the wine on purpose.” Cadwy hissed.
Arthur shook his head. “You put the wine in her hands when you brought it to our father’s rooms. The best wine. Fit for a king. Did you not expect her to try some for herself? An old woman who had been a slave all her life.”
His twisting of the truth impressed me. In his place I’d have done the same. No one needed to know he’d given Breanna the wine, least of all his murderous older brother.
By his sides, Cadwy’s fists clenched until the knuckles whitened. Clearly he was fighting to control his emotions. Could he have loved her too? It’s all too easy to demonize someone and deprive them of all the emotions that by rights are theirs. I was guilty of doing that to Cadwy. I didn’t like him; he’d tried to murder both me and Arthur by stealth, so in my head he’d been incapable of human feelings. Now, I saw that he wasn’t quite the ogre I’d made him out to be. Tears glistened in the corners of his eyes.
Dubricius emerged from the dark doorway of the tomb, the bearers filing out behind him. The oak doors closed. Uthyr Pendragon had been committed to his final resting place.
*
We were toleave the following day to get back to Dumnonia before the worst of winter fell upon us. We’d been lucky so far, but the weather wasn’t going to stay like this. Arthur saw old Breanna interred with due respect in a little cemetery outside the city walls reserved for slaves, close to where her lord and master lay at rest. Cei went with him because it turned out she’d also cared for him as a small boy. Neither of them told Cadwy.
The next morning at first light, a hammering shook the door of our bedchamber in the Domus Albus. Arthur was already dressing, but it seemed someone had been up before him that morning.
Picking up his sword, Arthur threw open the door, and Cei came striding in, already in his travelling clothes of mail shirt and leather braccae, his helmet tucked underneath his arm.
Arthur put down his sword.
Cei briefly glanced at it. “You need to come and see this.”
I was still in bed, the furs drawn up to cover my nakedness, but Arthur had been lacing up his braccae. He’d gone barefoot to answer the urgent pounding.
“Give me a moment. What’s so important? What’s happened?”
Cei handed Arthur his undershirt from the floor where he’d discarded it the night before. “There’s something strange in the old forum. You need to come and see.”
Arthur pulled his shirt over his head. “All right. I’m coming. Go and ask Theodoric to come too. I won’t be long.”
Cei disappeared, and I got up. Arthur turned back, and his eyes took in my naked body. I sensed his eagerness to discover what was in the forum fighting with his desire for me. Good. I wanted him to want me. It fed my desire for connection with another human being. I, too, wanted the closeness sex brought. With him in particular. The belonging. I’d wanted it last night and now I wanted it again. I could see he did too. Against all my instincts, I was beginning to like him a lot.
Temptation lured him, and he crossed the room and put his hands about my waist.
“I need to go.”
I buried my hands in his hair.
“I know.” The smell of him was intoxicating. My body’s instincts prevailed. I leaned forward, pressing myself against him. His arousal pushed hard against my belly. My hand slid down and held him. He gave a little groan of desperation.
“I can’t.” He released me and stepped back. “Help me with my armor, will you?”
I wasn’t going to win this one. “Can I come with you?”
He nodded.
I helped him with his armor and then dressed in my travelling clothes of braccae, tunic and heavy cloak, tying my long hair back in a thick braid.
Outside in the misty, late autumnal morning, we found Cei and Theodoric waiting for us with most of Arthur’s original men. Added to their number were faces I recognized from the Council chamber and others I’d never seen before. It looked as though our ranks had swollen considerably.
We marched on foot through the narrow streets until we came to the forum. Long before we arrived, we heard the roar of a crowd up ahead of us.
Though still early morning, the forum was packed. The city had risen at dawn, it seemed, and made the discovery straight away. The crowd of onlookers parted to let us pass, and Arthur and Cei led the way into the center of the marketplace. Already the smell of cooking filled the air, and, having gone without breakfast, my empty stomach grumbled.
The onlookers had left a clear space, holding themselves back a good ten paces from what stood there. And as we came out of the throng of people, I saw straight away what had fired up Cei.
A sizeable rock had appeared in the center of the forum. It must have weighed several tons. Out of the top of the boulder protruded part of the blade and hilt of a sword. And it was there because of what I’d told Merlin about the sword in the stone legend.
