Crown of Dreams (5 page)

The crowd muttered again.

“He does, when he’s the same man who commanded the traitor’s army,” Sir Bors grunted. He wrenched their captive’s arms behind his back and hauled him to his feet. “Come on, scum. Maybe we’ll get some answers out of you after you’ve spent a night in the dungeon.”

“This proves King Arthur’s dreams for Camelot are dead!” the bloodbeard shouted as he was marched away. The crowd watched him go, still muttering uneasily.

Sir Bedivere sighed. He gave Rhianna’s shoulder a squeeze as they followed the knights. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, Damsel Rhianna, don’t worry. That was a brave thing
you did out there. I thought young Cai was going to get himself skewered, as well. Don’t know what’s got into the boy lately – he seems to think a magic lance can turn a squire into a champion knight without all the hard work in-between. In fact, he’s rather like a damsel I know, who thinks a magic sword can turn a girl into a Pendragon…”

He eyed Excalibur’s muddy blade in amusement and lowered his voice. “Next time, use your left hand if you’re in trouble. Staying alive is more important than knightly codes.”

Rhianna flushed. “I’ve fought more battles than Cai has.”

Sir Bedivere stared after their prisoner and sighed. “I know you have, Damsel Rhianna. And I’ve a feeling there will be a few more
to fight before Camelot’s safe from the dark knight. Prince Mordred obviously hasn’t given up yet.”

A
fter the excitement of the challenge and the capture of Mordred’s captain, Camelot was in uproar. Some people said that
the duel was a disgrace on Arthur’s Day, while others blamed Arianrhod for bringing the bloodbeard into their midst in the first place. The knights were jumpy about security and doubled the guard on the gates.

As they rode back into the castle, Rhianna tried to tell Sir Bedivere what Merlin had said about her father’s crown. But the knight they called ‘Soft Hands’ wouldn’t listen to her. “We’ve more important things to think about now, Damsel Rhianna,” he told her. “Your poor mother’s upset enough, what with that bloodbeard ruining Arthur’s Day and you flinging yourself on the end of his lance like you did, without worrying her about jewels and crowns.”

“But it’s not just any crown!” Rhianna said. “Don’t you understand? It’s the Crown
of Dreams, the third
Light
!”

“And if you want to keep the first two Lights, you’ll let us deal with this new threat from Mordred before we do anything else,” Sir Bedivere said with uncharacteristic firmness. “Go see to your horse, and leave the fighting to us men, for once.” He shook his head at her and went off to supervise the squires, who were excitedly discussing the duel instead of getting on with their work.

As a last resort, she tried to find her mother to tell her that the jewel in her pendant had come out of King Arthur’s crown. But the queen had retired to her rooms with Sir Lancelot and would not answer the door.

“She’s not very pleased with you for missing King Arthur’s special lunch,” Lady Isabel said, giving Rhianna’s muddy armour a disapproving
look. “Probably best to let her calm down a bit before you see her.”

Rhianna retreated to her room in frustration, where she found Arianrhod sobbing on the bed. She spent the rest of that afternoon reassuring her friend that the bloodbeard had been taken to the dungeons and couldn’t hurt her, then giving Merlin a blow by blow account of the duel, by which time it was too late to do anything except fall asleep with her hair still full of mud from the jousting field.

Rhianna woke with a stiff neck to find the Damsel Tower buzzing with fresh gossip. It turned out the knights had spent the night questioning their prisoner, and Queen Guinevere had called a meeting of the
Round Table straight after breakfast.

“I haven’t time to eat all that now,” she said, pushing away the laden tray Arianrhod had brought her and leaping out of bed. “I mustn’t be late for the meeting!”

Arianrhod immediately started fussing about the state of Rhianna’s dress, which had been flung into a corner yesterday when Rhianna had changed into her armour to help Cai.

“Leave it!” Rhianna snapped as Arianrhod tried to drag a brush through her tangled hair. “It doesn’t matter what I look like. I want to hear what they found out from that bloodbeard, and why he wanted you.”

A herald in the courtyard below her window announced the meeting was about to start.

“I’ve got to go,” she said, snatching an apple from the tray. “You stay up here, all right? Then
you’ll be safe. Lady Isabel won’t let any strange men into the Damsel Tower – you know what she’s like.”

Arianrhod managed a little smile. “I’m sorry, Rhia,” she sniffed.

“What for?”

“For attacking you in the chapel.”

“That wasn’t your fault.” Rhianna buckled her sword belt over her dress, distracted by the knights hurrying across the yard towards the Great Hall. “Elphin says you were under a spell. We’ll talk about this later, when the meeting’s finished. You can get a bath ready for me.”

Arianrhod brightened up immediately. “Shall I bring up lunch from the kitchens, too?” she said. “So we can eat while we talk?”

“Whatever you like.” Impatient with the
domestic details, Rhianna hurried down the spiral stair, munching the apple.

She paused before the big doors of the Great Hall to get rid of the apple core, smooth her skirt and run her fingers through her hair. A pile of swords waited outside the door. The knights were already inside, taking their seats around the circular slab of blue stone marked with druid-spirals, but the queen had not arrived yet. She straightened Excalibur – the only sword allowed into a Round Table meeting – and took a deep breath before she entered.

Sir Bors, Sir Agravaine and Sir Lancelot stood at one side of the hall in the shadows, arguing. She caught the words
Dragonland
and
Mordred
. Then Sir Lancelot said, “Shh!” and turned his strange pale gaze upon her. Seeing her, the other two lowered their voices.

Rhianna marched past them with her head held high. She took her usual place at the Round Table, next to her mother’s seat.

Sir Bedivere picked a grass seed out of her hair as he took the seat on her other side. “The queen’s still at breakfast,” he said quietly. “You’ve time to snatch a few bites, if you’re hungry.”

“I’ve already had breakfast,” Rhianna said, thinking of the apple. “What are Sir Lancelot and the others talking about? Is it to do with that bloodbeard? Arianrhod said you questioned him last night. Did he talk?”

Sir Bedivere grimaced at the three older knights. “I wasn’t involved, but I expect we’ll find out soon enough. Ah, here she is.”

Queen Guinevere swept through the doors, wearing a green silk gown trimmed with gold. A tiara twinkled in her hair as she
walked through a sunbeam that was slanting through the hole in the roof above the Round Table. She’d regained her beauty since her imprisonment in Mordred’s dark tower, and all the men’s eyes followed her.

Rhianna wished her mother would move faster so they could start. But just before the big doors swung shut, a plump figure squeezed through with a half-eaten honey-cake in his hand, distracting everyone.

“Cai!” she said with a flush of pleasure. This was the first meeting of the Round Table since she’d knighted her friend up at the lake. She’d forgotten he could join them now.

The knights blinked at the boy as he hesitated near the doors. It seemed they had forgotten, too.

“Well, come in then, young Sir Cai,” Sir
Bedivere said, smiling. “Take a seat. We’ve got a few vacancies, thanks to Mordred’s lot up at the North Wall.”

“The boy’s too young!” protested Sir Agravaine. “We’ve got important matters to discuss this morning.”

The queen had been frowning at the state of Rhianna’s hair. She turned her frown on Cai as he began to slide into one of the big chairs. “What’s that squire doing in here?” she asked in a confused tone.

“Cai’s a knight now, Mother,” Rhianna reminded her.

Sir Bors cleared his throat and said, “Cai, I know that you’ve been knighted, but the next meeting might be more suitable for your first time with us. Agravaine’s right. We’ll be discussing the things we’ve learned from that
bloodbeard we caught yesterday, and they’re not pretty.”

“If I’m old enough to hear it, then Cai’s old enough,” Rhianna said firmly. “Without him and the Lance of Truth, you wouldn’t have caught that bloodbeard in the first place. He’d still be creeping about Camelot, spying on us all.”

“I know what you’re going to talk about, any rate,” Cai said, glancing at her. “You tortured the prisoner last night, didn’t you? All the squires are saying so. We heard his screams.”

Some of the knights frowned.

“Now, you know very well King Arthur forbade the use of torture at Camelot, Cai,” Sir Lancelot said. “Just squires’ gossip,” he reassured the queen. “You know what they’re like.”

Guinevere frowned too. But then she sighed and said, “I suppose what we’ve got to discuss today is no worse than squires’ gossip. He can stay, if he promises not to tell all his friends what goes on in here. You understand, young Cai? What is spoken of at the Round Table is for the ears of Camelot’s knights and those of Pendragon blood only.”

Cai nodded solemnly.

Sir Bors gave him a doubtful look. “Right,” he said. “We’ve wasted enough time. Sit over there and keep quiet, Cai. If you open your mouth just once, I’ll throw you out myself, get it?”

Cai nodded again. He grinned at Rhianna and quickly stuffed the rest of his breakfast into his mouth before anyone could tell him off for eating at the Round Table.

Rhianna had hoped to learn what the bloodbeard wanted with Arianrhod, but the knights seemed more interested in the information he’d given them about Mordred. Sir Lancelot stood up and gave an account of the interrogation, interrupted now and again by Sir Agravaine.

When they’d finished, the men muttered uneasily.

“So it seems Mordred’s holed up in Dragonland,” Sir Lancelot said. “I wondered where he’d got to after he escaped from our dungeon at midsummer. He’s probably avoiding the roads and working his way back north. I propose we go after him and cut him off before he reaches the North Wall. If we can trap him in Dragonland without his army, we should be able to finish off the traitor once and for all.”

The older knights nodded in agreement.

“I agree. Let’s put an end to all this stupid wrangling over the throne,” Sir Agravaine said. “We don’t need Mordred now we’ve got Rhianna. I say we kill the dark knight and have done with it.”

Queen Guinevere frowned. “And leave Camelot unprotected?”

“Mordred’s hiding like a frightened rabbit in Dragonland,” Lancelot continued. “We routed his army in the north, and we’re at peace with the Saxons now, thanks to our princess here, so there should be no threat to Camelot while we’re gone. If you need us, my lady, light the druid beacons and we’ll return at once. We shouldn’t be long. The prisoner will soon tell us where his master’s hiding now we’ve loosened his tongue.”

But Sir Bedivere said, “I don’t like it. What if the bloodbeard’s lying? That nonsense about Damsel Rhianna’s maid could be just a smokescreen. What if he came here to lead us into a trap? And what about the dragons?”

This set off more grumbling. A grizzled old knight said, “The maid’s probably part of it. We should question her, too.”

“No!” Rhianna said, her stomach doing strange things. If Mordred was in Dragonland, then that would be the perfect excuse for the third part of her quest. All she had to do was make sure the knights didn’t leave her behind. “Arianrhod’s got nothing to do with this. I think I know what Mordred wants…”

“We never found out who her parents were, did we?” continued the old knight. “Mighty convenient, how we found her abandoned
on that hillside as a baby. The witch planned for the long term, we know that now. What if she planted the girl in Camelot as a spy to be brought up here among us hearing all our secrets, and now his mother’s dead, Mordred wants the maid back so she can tell him everything she’s learned about us?”

“Don’t be silly!” Rhianna said, but she couldn’t help thinking of her friend being found senseless in the dungeon after Mordred escaped. And Arianrhod herself had told her how she’d been found as a baby, abandoned outside Camelot’s gates. She couldn’t believe her friend would betray them, though.