Crown of Dreams (8 page)

Sir Agravaine went to question them and came back looking grave.

“It can’t be the shadrake that attacked us last year,” he said uneasily. “Unless it’s learned to breathe fire as well as ice. We’re getting close to the border. If this is Mordred’s doing, we’ll have to keep a good lookout from here on in.”

Sir Bors rode his horse across to the bloodbeard and seized his hair in one fist. “You know anything about this?” he growled.

The prisoner bared his teeth. “Ask the damsel,” he said. “She’s a Pendragon, isn’t she? Meant to be able to control dragons, I’ve heard. Maybe she sent the beast?”

“You know that’s a lie!” Rhianna clenched her hand on Excalibur’s hilt and glared at the bloodbeard.

“Don’t, Rhia,” Elphin whispered, putting
his hand over hers. “He’s only trying to upset you. Stay away from him.”

She was glad when they left the burning town behind. She felt sorry for its people, but the knights didn’t have time to stop and help them. The road got rougher as they rode. The mist horses delicately picked their way over the stones and puddles, but the bigger horses stumbled, and the wagon wheels kept getting stuck in the mud. Wooded valleys dripping with wet ferns led off between the hills. They went slower and slower as the road became little more than a sheep track. Rhianna divided her attention between the hills and the trees, keeping an eye out for dragons and worrying about Merlin.

As she was wondering how they would ever find her cousin or the Crown of Dreams in such
a wild land, shouts came from the front of the party, and the wagon carrying their supplies jerked to yet another stop.

“It’s that bloodbeard again,” Elphin said.

Cai stood in his stirrups to see, and almost dropped his lance when Sandy put a hoof down a pothole.

“He’s sat down in the mud,” Cai reported. “Sir Bors is trying to make him get up. Dunno why he’s bothering. They should just drag him if he refuses to walk.”

Rhianna frowned. “Cai, stop showing off,” she said. “Don’t forget that’s the Lance of Truth you’re carrying, not a squire’s spear.”

Cai pulled a face. “It might as well be! The knights still treat me like a squire. They seem to have forgotten I was the one who challenged that spy to a duel and lured him
into their trap so they could catch him.”

“They haven’t forgotten you fell off, though,” Elphin said, winking at Rhianna.

“I wouldn’t have done if Damsel Rhia hadn’t got in the way,” Cai grumbled. “I’d have unhorsed that bloodbeard. I’m supposed to be her champion. She should have let me take care of it. Tell her, Elphin.”

“I tried,” Elphin said, still teasing. “You know she never listens when she’s got a sword in her hand.”

Before Rhianna could argue, Sir Bedivere came trotting back down the column. “Cai, get down off that pony,” he called. “We need something for the prisoner to ride that won’t get him very far if he makes a run for it. This road’s not made for carts. We’re going to leave the wagon here and carry the supplies between us.”

Cai frowned at the bloodbeard. “But what about me?”

Rhianna saw the men unhitch the horses from the wagon and smiled in understanding. “You wanted a bigger horse, didn’t you Cai?”

“You can take one of the carthorses, Cai,” Sir Bedivere confirmed. “That grey mare’s quiet enough.”

Cai’s face broke into a grin. He patted the pony apologetically. “I’m sorry, Sandy. I’ll come and groom you tonight.”

While Cai struggled on to the back of the tall dappled mare, the knights hauled the bloodbeard into Sandy’s saddle and linked his ankles under the pony’s belly with the rope. They passed Sandy’s reins to Sir Bors. The bloodbeard sat silently and sulked.

“He hoped they’d untie him so he could
make a break for the hills,” Elphin said.

Rhianna watched the unloading of the wagon impatiently, itching to make a break for the hills herself. Then Cai barged between them on his big mare. Alba shook her mane and made a comment about human boys who could not control their horses.

They made better progress after that, though still too slow for Rhianna’s liking. In the afternoon, it started to rain. She pulled her cloak over her head and thought how pointless a hairbrush would have been.

That night, they camped in a wooded valley with a loud stream rushing down a gully. The bloodbeard was hauled off his pony and leashed to a tree as usual. Cai went to comfort
Sandy, while Elphin took Evenstar for a drink. As Rhianna unsaddled Alba, she felt the bloodbeard watching her again. She scowled at him.

“You,” he hissed. “Yes, you, Pendragon girl! Come over here. I’ve got something to tell you.”

She glanced around. Nobody else had heard. His guards were struggling to erect a shelter in the rain and wind. The knights were still seeing to their horses and trying to light a fire so they could cook supper. Sentries patrolled the edges of the camp, keeping a lookout for enemies in the dark.

“Don’t be scared,” the bloodbeard said, raising his bound wrists. “What can I do, trussed up like this? I’ve been trying to talk to you for ages. But them knights of yours keep you wrapped up like a soft damsel who’s
afraid of getting a twig stuck in her hair.”

This got Rhianna’s blood up. Clenching her fist on Excalibur, she strode across. But even though he seemed docile enough, she remembered Arianrhod’s warning and stood carefully out of reach. “What do you want?” she said.

He glanced at his guards, who cursed the shelter as a sudden gust of wind ripped it from its ties to collapse on their heads. “Come closer, Pendragon girl,” he whispered.

She wasn’t going to fall for that trick. “I can hear you just fine from here.”

The bloodbeard pulled a face. “Please yourself. But my information isn’t for anybody else’s ears. It concerns your father’s crown.”

Rhianna’s skin prickled. She glanced back at Elphin and Cai, who were still grooming
the horses. “What do you know about King Arthur’s crown?” she said. “Have you seen it?”

“Oh, I’ve seen it all right.” The bloodbeard grimaced. “Want to know where, don’t you Pendragon maid? Got your eye on it yourself, no doubt? Mighty pretty it is too, with all those jewels. Suit you very well, I’d say.”

She saw one of the knights glance in their direction, and crouched behind a bush so her bright hair wouldn’t give her away. “If you tell me where you saw it, I’ll see if I can get you something hot to eat tonight,” she whispered.

The bloodbeard’s face twisted a bit, and she knew she’d touched a nerve. “I’m not hungry,” he grunted. “We northerners are used to fighting on empty bellies, unlike you soft summer landers.”

“Please yourself,” Rhianna said. She eyed
his leash. It looked too short to allow him much movement. She crept behind his tree and quietly drew Excalibur. With a quick leap, she put the blade to the bloodbeard’s throat. “Now tell!” she said.

He grinned at her. “Nice move. But I think you’re bluffing, Pendragon maid. I’ve heard you can’t blood that sword of yours if you want to take it back to Avalon for your father.”

“Maybe I don’t want to give it to my father. Maybe I want to keep it for myself. So tell me where you saw the Crown of Dreams! Quick, before the knights come back. I’ll count to three. One… two…” She pushed the sword a little harder against his throat.

He pressed his head back against the tree and laughed softly. “All right, all right! You’d do a better job of interrogation than your
knights, I’m thinking. But if you cut my throat, you’ll never find your father’s crown, because I’m the only one who can lead you to it. It’s in a dragon’s lair quite close to here. If you release me, I’ll take you there.”

“Why are you helping me?” Rhianna asked, suspicious.

“Prince Mordred abandoned me. He sent me to Camelot alone to punish me for letting him get captured in the summer, knowing I’d be caught and tortured. If I help you gain the crown, you’ll keep Mordred off the throne and I’ll be safe from his revenge. If you want to kill me afterwards that’s up to you, but I prefer to put my trust in Arthur’s daughter than in Morgan Le Fay’s witch-brat.”

She stepped towards him, lowering Excalibur. “Where?” she demanded. “Where is
this dragon’s lair? Is Mordred there, too?”

“Funnily enough, that’s just what your bullies of knights want to know.”

He suddenly lunged forward and grabbed her ankle. She stumbled in surprise as the leash uncoiled from where he’d been hiding it under some leaves and looped around her arm. He slammed her wrist against the tree, sending the sword flying. His hands grabbed her hair, catching in the tangles, and she felt his filthy fingers fumbling at her throat.

It was a trick, after all.

“You’re lying!” she choked, trying to free herself but only getting more tangled in the rope. “You’ve no idea where the Crown is. You just want to escape… so you can run… back to your master… let me
go
!”

T
he sound of their struggle alerted the knights. Help came in a confusion of shouts and running feet. Cai, who was closest, charged across the clearing with the Lance of Truth and launched it at Rhianna’s
attacker with a furious yell.

She fought to free her hair from the bloodbeard’s grasp as he hauled her in front of him to make a human shield. “No, Cai!” she gasped.

Fortunately, the boy missed his target in the dark. The lance sparkled past Rhianna’s ear and got stuck in the tree. While Cai struggled to free it, Elphin’s harp tinkled out into the night, distracting the bloodbeard. Sir Bors and Sir Agravaine came running with Sir Bedivere hot on their heels, shouting at the prisoner’s guards to help.

The men struggled out of their collapsed shelter. They grabbed the bloodbeard and hauled him back against the trunk, wrapping his leash around his neck until he half choked.

Sir Bedivere helped Rhianna up, while
Sir Bors thumped the prisoner on the nose. The bloodbeard grinned and spat blood into the big knight’s face, so Sir Bors thumped him again.

Sir Lancelot arrived and took charge with a furious glare. “What’s going on here? Get the princess away from that man! I promised Queen Guinevere I wouldn’t let him get within spitting distance of her!” He scowled at the two guards. “How did this happen? What were you two doing while the prisoner was attacking our princess?”

The men flushed and mumbled something about the shelter falling on them.

Sir Bedivere took Rhianna’s elbow and tried to lead her away. She pulled free of him and picked up Excalibur. She looked down at the bloodbeard, panting, and gripped the hilt
of her sword. She wanted to punish him for tricking her but couldn’t get past Sir Bors, who seemed intent on beating the prisoner to death.

Then Elphin’s music
changed
, and she began to think more clearly. She raised Excalibur until its blade gleamed in the firelight and shouted, “Stop!”

The big knight stepped back. Cai, who had finally managed to free the Lance of Truth from the tree, came to stand beside her. He pointed the lance at the bloodbeard.

“Don’t kill him,” Rhianna said. “He didn’t hurt me, not really. It was my fault. I was stupid, I got too close.”

Sir Lancelot frowned at her. “You sure you’re all right, Princess?”

“Yes. I didn’t see him down there in the dark, and he… er… caught my ankle as
I went past.” She saw the bloodbeard’s eyes flicker to her face and dared him to say more. “We need him to show us where Mordred’s hiding, don’t we?” she said. “He won’t be able to do that if you strangle him.”

At this, the guards loosened the rope from the prisoner’s throat. The bloodbeard coughed and sagged in relief, gasping for air.

Sir Lancelot sighed. “Princess Rhianna’s right,” he said. “Secure that man so he can’t move, and don’t take your eyes off him from now on. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll not try that again!” he added to the prisoner. “You’ve just said goodbye to your supper. We don’t feed scum like you who think it’s funny to attack defenceless damsels in the dark.”

“I’m not a defenceless damsel,” Rhianna pointed out.

But the knights were not listening.

“Serves you jolly well right if you starve to death!” Cai said, giving the bloodbeard a jab with the Lance of Truth before they left him to his guards.

Rhianna discovered she was shaking. It took her three attempts to sheathe Excalibur. She clenched her teeth, still angry with herself for being fooled by the bloodbeard’s lies.

“Why did you go over to talk to him?” Elphin whispered later, as they sat beside the fire sharing some nuts and berries, while the men chewed strips of salty journey meat.

“She didn’t,” Cai said with his mouth full. “You heard her. He tripped her up in the dark, the sneak. Probably been looking for a chance
to get his greasy hands on her ever since we left Camelot. Are you
sure
you’re not hurt, Damsel Rhianna? He looked like he was trying to strangle you! Good thing we stopped him in time.”

She rubbed her throat and frowned. “I don’t think he wanted to kill me. I think he was looking for something.”

Elphin’s gaze flew to her neck. “King Arthur’s jewel? Is it still safe?”

“I hope so,” Rhianna said, thinking of Arianrhod locked in Camelot’s dungeon.

Cai frowned. “What do you mean, you hope so? Can’t you check?”

“She can’t check, because she hasn’t brought it with her,” Elphin said quietly. “Have you, Rhia?”

Her friend’s violet eyes held hers, full of the magic of Avalon. She couldn’t lie to him,
even if she wanted to. “No,” she admitted with a sigh. “I left the jewel with Arianrhod.”

“You did
what
?” Cai jumped to his feet. “But that’s no good! I thought we’re supposed to put it back into the crown when we find it, so that its magic will work properly?”

“Sit down, Cai,” Elphin said, still quietly. “Don’t tell the whole world.” He glanced across at the prisoner’s tree to check the bloodbeard wasn’t listening. “So now he knows you haven’t got the jewel.”

“He knows I’m not wearing it. He doesn’t know we haven’t brought it with us in one of our packs.”

Elphin nodded. “Good point. You might be right about it being safer where it is, if Mordred’s lurking around these parts as well. I don’t like the sound of those dragons
burning towns. But you still haven’t told us why you went to talk to that bloodbeard captain in the first place.”

“She didn’t—” Cai began.

“I wanted to find out more about King Arthur’s crown,” Rhianna admitted. She told the others how the bloodbeard claimed to have seen it. “But he’s lying, isn’t he? He obviously only said that to lure me close enough for him to grab me so he could steal the jewel and take it to his master.”

“Yeah,” said Cai. “He must be lying, because whoever wears that crown becomes the next king of Camelot, and we all know that’s not going to be Prince Mordred.”

Elphin said nothing. They looked at the tree again, where the prisoner was slumped in his tight bonds. He’d have a stiff neck in
the morning. Rhianna wished she’d had time to ask him more questions before he’d grabbed her. Could she creep over there when the others were asleep?

“Don’t even think about it, Rhia,” Elphin whispered, guessing her thoughts. “I played the sleeping magic for him. He’ll be dead to the world until we’re ready to ride in the morning.”

Morning dawned grey and damp. While she saddled Alba, Rhianna fretted about Merlin. How would the druid ever find them in these foggy valleys? He was such a small hawk. What if he’d got lost or eaten by a dragon on his way across the Summer Sea? Then she fretted about the bloodbeard and his claim to have seen the Crown of Dreams. What if he
hadn’t been lying? What if he really did want to betray Mordred and help her? She needed to ask Merlin what to do, but as usual the druid was never around when she needed him.

Alba had to nudge her for attention.
You are very distracted this morning
, the mare snorted.
You put my bridle on backwards. It is hurting my ears
.

Rhianna stopped looking for the little hawk and patted her mist horse. “Oh! I’m sorry, my darling!”

She sorted out the bridle. Then she helped Cai mount his big grey mare and passed him the Lance of Truth, before vaulting into her own saddle. Elphin was already mounted on Evenstar. She watched the bloodbeard as the men hauled him on to the pony. In the daylight, she could see his new bruises.
One eye was swollen shut, and he seemed woozy, almost falling out of his saddle. His guards had to walk alongside to hold him on.

Elphin’s enchantment must still be working, she supposed. She’d have to wait until later to get any sense out of him.

The track wound steeply upwards, and soon they were surrounded by thick mist. The knights had to ride in single file, and they lost sight of the front and the back of their party. Rhianna gave up hoping for the merlin to appear. If the druid was flying in this, then he could look after himself. Alba tucked her head to her chest in misery.

Just as she wondered if they had lost the road entirely, she glimpsed green lights in the mist. She squinted uneasily at them. The jewel on Excalibur’s hilt began to glow.

“I don’t like this, Rhia,” Elpin whispered, reaching for his harp. “There’s magic at work here…”

Even as he spoke, an unearthly shriek came out of the fog. They heard the flap of large wings overhead.

“Look out!” Cai yelled. “Dragons!”

Rhianna ducked as a monstrous, winged creature dived out of the clouds to strike the knight riding in front of them. He fell from his saddle with a grunt, and the dragon snatched up his dropped sword to add to its treasure pouch. The other knights spun their horses on the narrow path, drawing their swords as a second dragon swooped down on them.

Alba reared in terror, and Rhianna had to grab the mare’s mane to stay on. She fumbled desperately for Excalibur and drew the shining
blade, trying to see where the first creature had gone. Yells of alarm sounded ahead, and a riderless horse galloped past them.

Shouts and curses came from the back of the party as the loose horse reached them.

“What’s happening?”

“Who fell off?”

“Is Merlin back?”

“That’s no hawk, stupid! Don’t you know a dragon when you see one?”

“One? There’s hundreds of ’em up there! Look out…”

Rhianna tensed. She could only see two of the creatures. Then Sir Lancelot yelled back down the path, “Protect the princess!” and several big horses pressed close to Alba, blocking her view.

The second dragon made another dive at
the column, causing yet more panic and confusion. Seeing the shadow of its wings in the mist, she thought at first it was the shadrake that had attacked them in the summer. But then it opened its mouth and belched out flame, rather than ice, and she realised it must be one of the dragons that had burned the border town.