Grail of Stars (19 page)

Her heart gave a lurch of joy. “Avalon!” she breathed.

Alba forgot to be scared of the fish-people and snatched at the reins in excitement.
Home
! she whinnied.

“Throw the Grail to me!” Rhianna instructed.

She sheathed Excalibur so that she could catch the cup. Arianrhod eyed the distance doubtfully. Then a fish-girl grabbed the maid’s ankle, and Arianrhod flung the shining Light over the water towards Rhianna and Alba.

Not hard enough.

As its light faded, the cup dropped towards the waves, where the fish-people swam to catch it. The ones on the ship dived over the rail after it, too.

“That’s
mine
!” Rhianna yelled, digging her heels into Alba’s ribs.

The little mare leaped forwards.
You do
not have to kick me like that
, she snorted.
I am very fast
.

The fish-tails came together in a thrashing whirlpool beneath the falling cup. But Alba was faster. With a fierce squeal, the mare flattened her ears and charged into the scrum with bared teeth. Rhianna leaned down and caught the cup just before it splashed into the water. She snatched it clear of the grasping hands and pulled herself back into the saddle.

“Don’t mist, Alba,” she said through gritted teeth as her mare carried her through the churning tails into clear water. “I’m not holding Excalibur any more.”

It is all right
, the mare said.
You hold the shining cup
.

Rhianna cast a quick look back to check her friends were safe. Seeing the ship start to move
forwards again as the wind filled its sails, she smiled grimly. The Grail had been what the fish-people wanted. They were all chasing her now, leaving the Lance with Cai so he could help the others protect the queen. The further she led them from the ship, the safer her friends and her mother would be. She crouched low over Alba’s neck and urged the mare towards the jetty.

“Race the fish-people, Alba!” she shouted.

It was a wild race.

Rhianna could barely see through the water in her eyes, her mare’s flying mane, and the light blazing from the cup she clutched against her armour. She grinned as the jetty loomed closer. The fish-people swam fast, but Alba galloped faster.

I smell apples
! Alba said, pricking her ears at the beach where the Wild Hunt’s horses crowded the shore. Rhianna gripped the Grail tighter, preparing herself to face Lord Avallach. But Alba shied as a green head surfaced right under her nose, the hair glistening with coloured lights. Rhianna almost lost her balance. She fumbled for Excalibur, holding the Grail awkwardly.

She couldn’t think how the fish-people had got ahead of her. Then she recognised Queen Nimue, whose turquoise eyes held her gaze until Rhianna slid her sword back into its scabbard. She could not hurt Nimue, who had helped her so often in the land of men, even if the fish-lady
had
tricked her into wearing the Crown of Dreams in the Grail Castle. Rhianna felt a bit guilty that she hadn’t waited for an
explanation before stealing the cup and fleeing on the ship.

Lady Nimue shook her head sadly. “I knew you were a wild one, Rhianna Pendragon. But I never had you down as a thief. Did you think you could just steal one of my magic cups and I would not notice?”

Rhianna glanced at the dented goblet she held. “I didn’t think you’d miss it,” she mumbled. “Arianrhod told me you had lots of prettier ones.”

She could see some of the Avalonians she’d grown up with, running through the woods to see who had opened the mists. She wondered if she could throw the cup as far as the jetty.

The fish-people caught up and formed a circle around Alba, moving their tails lazily to keep their heads above water. Rhianna tried
to ride the mare closer to the shore, but the fish-people massed together, forming a scaly barrier between her and the beach.

The little mare snorted and backed off.

“Come now,” Lady Nimue said, shaking her head at Rhianna again. “You can do better than that. You know that’s no ordinary cup you drank from. A princess of Camelot has no need to steal a dented goblet.”

“All right!” Rhianna admitted. “I thought it was the Grail of Stars, and I thought you’d tried to poison me, so I took it before it could turn me into a ghost like Sir Galahad and the others. I need it to wake my father. I promise I’ll give it back afterwards, but I’m not going to let you stop me now. So please let me pass. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Nimue laughed. “That’s better! More what
I’d expect from a girl with Pendragon blood. I didn’t give you poison to drink, silly, or you’d be dead by now. It was merely a potion to help you find the answer to my riddle – your Grail test, which you did not complete. So how do you know if you have the right Grail?”

Rhianna’s heart missed a beat. She looked at the cup more carefully. It had stopped shining, and looked ordinary again. “The
right
Grail?” she said, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“There are many Grails,” the fish-lady said gently. “One for each person who undertakes a Grail Quest, as all seek something different. Sir Galahad made his choice. So did young Percival. They chose to remain in the Fisher King’s castle so they could stay together for all time. Your quest is different. That’s why I asked you a special riddle of your own… 
What does the Grail contain?”

“I’ve already answered that one!” Rhianna said, scowling at the fish-people who surrounded her. “I told your Guardians when they tried to stop us leaving – didn’t they tell you?”

She should tell Alba to mist through the fish-people while she could still see the shore of Avalon. Lord Avallach would surely help her. But what if she had chosen the wrong Grail?

She looked back the way she had come, undecided. She could no longer see the ship in the mist, and her stomach fluttered. She hoped her friends and the knights hadn’t got lost in the mist between worlds.

“Tell me yourself,” Nimue said.

“Nothing, see!” Rhianna turned the cup upside down to demonstrate. “It’s a trick question.”

Lady Nimue gave her a sad look. “Why do you think that?”

Rhianna set her jaw. “Whatever you gave me to drink spilled out when Arianrhod threw it across your hall, and I haven’t put anything else into it yet. So let me through! I’ll soon find out if it’s the right Grail or not, when I take it to the crystal caverns and use it to give my father water from the Moon Pool to drink, like Merlin said.”

Lady Nimue laughed her tinkling laugh. “Don’t give up easily, do you? Nor old Merlin! I gather he tried to spirit-ride that shadrake – more fool him. So the druid told you how to use it, did he? Well then, the answer should be obvious. Don’t look so worried, Rhianna Pendragon. It’s not a trick question, and now you’ve defeated Mordred there’s no reason you shouldn’t borrow it. I just need to know
you’ll use its power in the right way. Answer correctly, and I’ll let you pass. What does the Grail contain?”

Rhianna stared in frustration at the cup she held. She still couldn’t see anything inside it. She cast another desperate glance at Avalon’s shore. She had not come this far to fail now.

She started to gather up her reins. Then she grew still as two ghostly arms slid around her waist.

I carry King Arthur as well
! Alba said.
He is very light
.

Rhianna’s breath caught in her throat as her father’s ghost whispered in her ear, “
What do you want it to contain, daughter
?”

She thought of how his arms would feel, warm and alive, and imagined his breath on the back of her neck. She thought of her mother,
who had insisted on coming with Sir Lancelot to find her. She thought of Elphin lying on the ship, enchanted by the dark magic of Annwn. And suddenly she knew the answer. Sir Galahad’s and Sir Percival’s Grails had brought them death, but they had chosen to become ghosts so they could stay together. Hers might be a different choice, as Lady Nimue said, but the answer was the same.

The fish-queen smiled at her. “Well, Rhianna Pendragon? Your father is waiting. The shadrake flies to Annwn with the Crown of Dreams. The Wild Hunt guards the shores of Avalon. We haven’t time to sit out here in the mist between worlds, playing riddle games.”

“Love,” she said, as her father’s arms tightened into a ghostly hug. “The answer’s love!”

L
ady Nimue smiled. “Congratulations, Rhianna Pendragon. The cup you took from my castle has magic enough for your purpose. You may take it to Avalon and use it as you wish, but be warned – after it has been filled, its magic will work only once. I’ll meet
you at the Moon Pool so you can return it when you have completed your quest.”

With a splash of her tail, the fish-queen slipped beneath the surface and vanished underwater, followed by the rest of her people.

Rhianna looked warily at the Wild Hunt waiting for her on the beach.

“
Well done, daughter
,” said her father, giving her waist another ghostly squeeze. “
You do not need to fear Avallach’s people. Hold your head high. Remember you carry what they dare not touch. I’ll meet you tonight. I had better not tempt the fairy lord’s Hunt with my soul
.” His arms faded, and he left her on a breath of warm wind.

Alba pricked her ears at the jetty and shook her mane. Rhianna held the little mare back. Part of her was as impatient as Alba. She wanted to gallop as fast as she could to Lord
Avallach’s palace and take the Grail straight down to the crystal caverns to wake her father. But Merlin had said she must wait until the stars were out before she filled the cup at the Moon Pool, and the sun still shone on Avalon’s golden wood. After all that she and her friends had been through to find the Grail, she didn’t want to ruin the magic by getting the timing wrong. And now that she was back, she felt nervous about meeting the Avalonians again, who had teased her for her lack of magic when they had been growing up.

Alba fidgeted and pawed at the water.
What is wrong
?

“Nothing, my darling.” Rhianna patted the mare’s sweaty neck. “We’re waiting for the others, that’s all. They might get lost.”

Alba snorted.
They are not lost. Evenstar
is coming. I want my apples! You promised
.

By this time, the ship had emerged from the end of the spiral path. With a loud neigh, Evenstar galloped past them to the beach, where he bucked wildly, as if trying to dislodge a rider, before stopping to talk to the mist horses ridden by the green-clad Avalonian hunters. Lord Avallach rode the leading horse, a bow slung across his back. He stared at the ship with purple eyes, and Rhianna shivered. She knew exactly who the Avalonian lord was looking for.

Drawing herself up straight in Alba’s saddle, she raised the Grail before her. The cup flashed in the Avalonian sun, filling her eyes with rainbows that reflected in the water all around them.

She took a deep breath. “All right, Alba. Time to go home.”

The Avalonians drew back to let her through as she trotted Alba up the beach to meet the Hunt. They stared curiously at the cup she held. Those on the jetty finished securing the ship. The knights and Queen Guinevere disembarked and gazed about them in wonder.

Cai jumped eagerly off the jetty to join Rhianna, tripped over the Lance of Truth and fell flat on his face in the sand. He picked himself up, red-faced. But nobody noticed the boy’s embarrassment. They were all watching the Hunt, which had formed a snorting, stamping circle to watch Rhianna and Lord Avallach meet.

Alba whinnied to Lord Avallach’s stallion, which blew gently into the mare’s nostrils to welcome her home. Rhianna licked her dry
lips and met the Avalonian lord’s purple gaze. After her stay in the land of men, his wild black hair and crown of berries seemed very alien.

“
Faha’ruh
, Lord Avallach,” she said, showing him the dented cup. “I’ve found the Grail of Stars! And I’ve got Excalibur back, and my champion Cai here carries the Lance of Truth.” She beckoned to Cai, who squeezed nervously through the mist horses to join them, gripping his lance. “But I’m afraid we… er… lost the Crown of Dreams to a dragon on our way here,” Rhianna continued. “We lost Merlin, too.”

She wondered what had happened to the druid. Was his spirit still trapped in the shadrake’s body with Mordred’s?

Lord Avallach barely glanced at the cup she held. “Where is my son?” he asked.

Rhianna looked at the ship, where Elphin still lay motionless on the deck. Arianrhod knelt at his side, trying to explain to the Avalonians on the jetty what was wrong with their prince.

“He’s still alive, Lord Avallach,” Rhianna said quickly. “But he was captured by Mordred and bound with enchanted ropes from Annwn. We’ve brought him home so you can lift the spell…” Her voice faltered. “You
can
lift the spell, can’t you?”

The Avalonian lord’s eyes darkened. “Annwn’s magic causes us more pain than any mortal weapon,” he said. “I warned Elphin he would get hurt if he stayed in the land of men, but he wouldn’t listen to me. You stole him away with your human charms, so now he’s paying the price. I was afraid something like this would happen.”

Rhianna flinched. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It was my fault. I didn’t realise the danger he was in, or I’d have rescued him before I went to look for the Grail.”

Lord Avallach’s gaze rested on the glittering cup she held. “Not so easily, I suspect. At least you seem to have found what you were looking for. And I see Queen Guinevere has graced us with her presence, too.” He sighed. “What’s done cannot be undone. Let’s get Elphin into the crystal caverns, and see if that grail you’ve found can wake King Arthur. Then maybe you’ll take your knights and your family back to the land of men, and leave us all in peace.”

Rhianna relaxed slightly as Lord Avallach raised a hand and his hunters drew their horses aside to let her and Cai pass. A horse was brought for Guinevere, and the Avalonian
lord rode across to the jetty to greet the queen. The knights helped Arianrhod lift Elphin off the ship and laid the unconscious prince gently over Evenstar’s back. The little horse bent his head to sniff his limp rider and whinnied sadly.

He thinks his rider might sleep for ever
, Alba told her.

Rhianna’s heart jumped. “No,” she said, watching one of the Avalonian boys take Evenstar’s rein to lead him along the woodland trail behind Lord Avallach and the queen. “Elphin will be all right now he’s home. The crystal caverns will heal him, just like they used to heal me when we were little. He’ll be better in no time, you’ll see.”

“And he’s going to be dead impressed when he hears we’ve sent Mordred’s spirit to Annwn, found the Grail of Stars and woken
King Arthur!” Cai said, running alongside Alba. “That’ll show him humans don’t need fairy magic to finish quests!” He tripped over his lance again and winced. “Do you have to ride so fast, Damsel Rhianna? We don’t know these woods like you do, remember.”

Seeing her friends and the knights were getting left behind, Rhianna slowed the mare so they could catch up. Arianrhod carried Elphin’s harp, the broken string twanging softly as it bounced on her back. “I’m going to see if I can find someone to mend this harp so Elphin can show us those song pictures you told us about,” the maid explained with a smile. “I’d like to see some magic before we go back to Camelot.”

Rhianna grimaced at the thought of another ballad about her, complete with life-sized pictures in the walls of Lord Avallach’s palace
for her mother and everyone else to see. “Maybe we shouldn’t heal Elphin too quickly,” she said. “I’d like some time alone with my father before the whole of Avalon starts watching us.”

“You’ll be lucky!” Cai said. “Everyone’s going to want to watch you bring King Arthur back from the dead. It’ll be even more exciting than his wedding to Queen Guinevere.”

“You’re too young to remember King Arthur’s wedding,” Arianrhod said.

“Well, everyone knows how much food there was,” Cai said. “The squires say Camelot was just as beautiful and safe as Avalon in those days, before Mordred joined the Round Table and started plotting with his witch-mother to take the throne. And it’ll be safe and beautiful again when we return with King Arthur. We’ll be heroes!”

“And heroines,” Rhianna said, exchanging a smile with Arianrhod.

Maybe it would be all right, she thought. They had reached Avalon with three of the Lights. All she had to do now was fill her grail from the Moon Pool and take it into the crystal caverns to wake her father.
The cup has magic enough for your purpose
, Lady Nimue had said. Did that mean she would succeed in her quest to bring her father back to Camelot?

“Watch yourself, Damsel Rhianna,” Sir Bors muttered, interrupting her thoughts. “I don’t like the way them Avalonians are lookin’ at you.”

She followed his gaze and saw her childhood rivals casting glances at her and whispering together in the trees.

In spite of a mounting worry that the
magic might not work without all four Lights together, Rhianna laughed. “Oh stop it,” she told the knights. “I grew up here, remember? If they wanted to hurt me, they could have done so a hundred times already while I was small, and I didn’t even have a sword back then!”

“You had Elphin, though, didn’t you?” Arianrhod reminded her.

Rhianna’s heart tugged again.

“I’ve still got Elphin,” she said firmly. “And I’ve got the Grail now, too! I can always use it to heal him as well as my father, if I need to.”

Only then did she remember Lady Nimue’s warning that the magic would only work once.

Her friends looked at her doubtfully.

“Will the magic work on an Avalonian?” Arianrhod asked.

“I don’t know,” Rhianna admitted. She managed another smile. “Let’s not worry about that until we have to. Lord Avallach always holds a feast when he has visitors from the land of men, and you haven’t seen a real feast until you’ve been to one in Avalon!”

Cai cheered up immediately. “Will there be a lot of food?” he said. “Because I’m starving.”

They settled Alba and Evenstar in the mist horse stables with buckets of oats sweetened by Avalonian honey. Rhianna gave Mordred’s rotting fist to Cai and ordered him to look after it. Then she allowed Arianrhod to dress her for the feast.