Grail of Stars (22 page)

Rhianna took a deep breath. “There’s no need,” she said, still watching her mother.

“You mean now Mordred’s gone?” Sir Bors said, glancing at the others. “Yes, it’s probably for the best if Prince Elphin stays here in
Avalon with his people. If you can just guide us through the mists as far as the Tor, lad, we’ll make our own way back from there.”

Arianrhod frowned at Rhianna and bit her lip. “She means there’s no need for Elphin to take Merlin’s place at Camelot, because she’s not coming back with us – are you, Lady Rhia?” she whispered.

The queen nodded. Sir Bors turned red. Sir Agravaine scowled. Sir Bedivere started to tell her not to be so silly, of course Rhianna must come back with them.

But Sir Lancelot laughed. “I knew it,” he said. “The pair of them are as besotted as me and Guinevere used to be when we were younger!”

The knights glanced at one another, a bit embarrassed. But when the queen smiled
and said age had nothing to do with it, they chuckled too.

“We’ll visit Camelot for all the feast days, Mother,” Rhianna promised. “I release my maid Arianrhod so she can marry Cai if she likes. I’ll look after my father’s body, don’t worry about that, and you can come over to Avalon to visit us sometimes, too…”

“Enough, Rhianna!” Guinevere said, drawing her into a flower-scented embrace. “It’s all right, you know. Lord Avallach has explained everything. You must find your own happiness, and if your quest ends here in Avalon then so be it. You’ve rid us all of Mordred, that’s the main thing. No mother could wish for a braver daughter. But I don’t think you’re entirely a lost cause as a princess, either – at least you’re wearing a dress with
your boots these days…” She released Rhianna and gave Elphin a mischievous look. “I’m just wondering how many fingers my grandchildren will have?”

Elphin’s eyes gleamed violet. Rhianna blushed furiously, and everyone laughed.

D
ARK
G
ATE

M
other!” Mordred screamed as the shadrake crashed through the Gate of Annwn, shattering the Crown of Dreams into a million pieces and releasing his spirit into the void.

He became aware of other disembodied spirits wailing around him, the souls of all the men he had killed. He screamed again as they reached for him with their ghostly green hands. Whenever one of them touched him, he felt his crippled body around him again, along with all its old pains.

“MOTHER!” Mordred yelled again.

He thought she couldn’t hear him. Then the witch’s spirit appeared in a twist of dark smoke.

“I warned you to look after your mortal fist!” she snapped. “But you let the girl take it. And now she’s destroyed your final link to the world of men. I can’t help you any more.”

“But… can’t you send me back as a ghost, like Grandpa Uther and his men?” Mordred begged. “We can ambush Arthur and his daughter in the mists before they get halfway to Camelot, and—”

The witch hissed. “Foolish boy! Have you learned
nothing
about spirit magic after all these years? The shadrake has destroyed the Crown of Dreams! Without it, there’s no one I know who has the power to summon your soul back through the dark gate. Besides,
Arthur is not yet awake so will lie safely in Lord Avallach’s crystal caverns for some time to come.”

These words found their way through Mordred’s pain. “B-but I thought Rhianna found the Grail of Stars!” he said in confusion. “Didn’t its magic work, then? Didn’t she use it to wake her father?”

His final hope faded – that he would somehow escape from this place, get the Grail off his cousin, and use it to raise himself from the dead.

The witch laughed, a mad cackle. “She tricked us all, my son. Our brave damsel used the Grail all right, but not in the way anyone expected, not even old Merlin. Lancelot sits on the throne of Camelot beside Queen Guinevere, while Arthur heals in Avalon. 
The Lights have returned to their makers, as Nimue must have intended all along.”

She gave him a look that chilled his spirit.

“We’ve failed, my son. The balance of power is restored, and the gate of Annwn is shut. Rhianna and her friends have won.”

Katherine Roberts’ muse is a unicorn.
This is what he has to say about her…

My author has lived in King Arthur’s country for most of her life. She went to Bath University, where she got a degree in Maths and learned to fly in a glider. Afterwards she worked with racehorses, until she found me in 1984 and wrote her first fantasy story. She won the Branford Boase Award in 2000 with her first book
Song Quest
, and has had me hard at work ever since, seeking out more magical stories for her to write.

www.katherineroberts.co.uk

@AuthorKatherine    @PendragonGirl