Grail of Stars (7 page)

A
t first, the triumph of escaping Sir Lancelot and her mother kept the grin on Rhianna’s face. Then she remembered the way the merlin had vanished into the mist and sobered. If the ship was travelling between worlds, she didn’t want to lose sight of it as well.

She rode Alba alongside the ship. Gareth’s ghost took one look at her fairy horse trotting on the water, groaned and went below. Arianrhod leaned over to speak to her, clutching the wooden rail with white knuckles.

“Where are we going, my lady?” she whispered.

“To the Grail Castle, of course, to find your mother and collect the Grail of Stars.” Rhianna glanced at Sir Galahad half expecting the golden-haired young knight to fade from sight now that she had sheathed Excalibur. She only hoped the ship wouldn’t vanish with him. But obviously the magical rules worked differently out here. Lancelot’s son stood at the tiller, watching her from his pale eyes.

“Did you see a merlin, earlier?” she called. “It flew off into the mist when you arrived.”

Galahad shook his head. “No, Princess. But I expect it’ll find its way back to Camelot eventually. Hawks usually do if they get lost hunting.”

She wondered if she should tell him about Merlin’s spirit being inside the falcon’s body, and admit her friends had taken him to the Lonely Tor in case they needed to call for help. But the merlin they had seen in the wood might have been an ordinary wild bird, and she didn’t want to distract Galahad from their quest.

“How far is it to the Grail Castle?” she asked.

Sir Galahad smiled. “Nobody knows, Princess. The way changes all the time.”

She scowled. Now he sounded like Merlin. “How long will it take to get there, then?”

“It depends on the mists.” The knight frowned at a dark patch behind them. “We
weren’t alone when they opened just now. I think something’s following us. It might be safer if you came aboard, Princess.”

“I prefer to ride,” Rhianna said, resting her hand on Excalibur’s hilt. The white jewel shone brightly, its light spilling between her fingers. “Don’t worry. Alba’s a mist horse so she can follow anywhere your ship can go. And I carry the Sword of Light so I can fight if need be.”

Sir Galahad frowned at her. “That’s not exactly what I meant. The Grail Castle is well defended. When we arrive, this ship will be allowed to land, but if the guardians see you riding a fairy horse they’re likely to react badly. The Wild Hunt is not welcome at the Grail Castle. We have souls to protect.”

“The souls of the knights killed by the Grail, you mean?” Rhianna said.

“Yes.” Galahad said. “It might kill you, too. Aren’t you scared, Princess?”

“No.” Rhianna wondered for the first time what would happen if she failed to win the Grail. “If I die on my quest the Wild Hunt will take my soul back to Avalon.”

“Those who have seen the Grail of Stars don’t belong anywhere the fairy lord can take them,” Galahad said, drawing himself up and suddenly looking very like a younger version of Sir Lancelot. His eyes gleamed, and his hand moved to the ghostly blade at his side. “If Avallach comes for my soul, I will fight him every step of the way.”

Rhianna shivered. “I’m sure Lord Avallach won’t take it if you don’t want him to, Sir Galahad,” she said. “I’ll ask him not to.”

Galahad threw back his head and laughed.
“And why do you think the fairy lord will listen to
you
, Rhianna Pendragon?”

“Because he looked after me when I was little, so he’s practically my father, that’s why.” She glanced across the deck, half expecting her father’s ghost to appear and remind her she was human. But Arianrhod stood alone at the rail, her fingers twisting nervously into her skirt as she listened to their conversation. “He’ll listen to his son, Elphin, if he doesn’t listen to me,” she added. “Prince Elphin’s waiting for us on the Lonely Tor.”

Evenstar’s rider not on lonely hill
, Alba said, flattening her ears.

A sudden wind tugged at the mare’s mane, and a pale shadow rippled towards them across the water. Rhianna heard faint splashing like someone rowing very fast.

Arianrhod gasped. “It’s another ghost, my lady!”

Rhianna drew Excalibur and the sword’s blade gleamed as she looked for an enemy to fight. The splashing drew closer, but she still couldn’t see anything.

Then, in a blur of silver, a horse appeared right in front of them. She only just stayed in the saddle as her mare misted to avoid a crash. Alba neighed a welcome, and Rhianna knew how the other horse had got so close without them seeing it coming – it had misted, too.

“It’s Evenstar!” She laughed in relief. When the mists opened, her friend must have taken a shortcut back from the Tor using the spiral path, like they had done between stone circles on their quest for the Lance of Truth.

“
Faha’ruh
, Elphin!” she said, turning her
mare. “What were you trying to do, scare us to…”

The words died in her throat as Evenstar trotted up to Alba, arched his neck and blew into the mare’s nostrils. His reins were tangled around his knees, and his beautiful silver coat dripped with green slime.

Rhianna stared at his empty saddle in confusion. She felt a bit sick. But realising she was upsetting both mist horses, she pulled herself together. “What have you done with Elphin, you silly horse?” she said. “Ask Evenstar what happened, Alba.”

The two mist horses touched nostrils, and Alba snorted.

He say a dragon chase him
, the mare reported.
He say his rider fall off in the water. He was frightened and get lost in mist. I am frightened, too
.

Rhianna stroked the mare’s trembling neck and frowned into the mist. But she could see no sign of a dragon chasing Evenstar. “There’s no need to be, my darling,” she said. “It’s gone now, whatever it was.”

“What did Evenstar say?” Arianrhod asked.

“He says Elphin fell off. Evenstar must have panicked and got trapped on the wrong side when the mists closed.” She tried to sound cheerful for her maid’s sake. But her stomach refused to settle. She kept imagining her friend falling into the water, and his dark curls disappearing beneath the surface.

Elphin can’t swim
, she remembered, feeling sick again.

Sir Galahad looked at Evenstar and nodded gravely. “I’ve heard fairy horses from the enchanted isle can be tricky to ride. At least
that explains what’s been following us. Maybe we can continue our voyage now.”

Rhianna gave the knight a distracted look. “No, we’ve got to find Elphin first. Take us to the Lonely Tor!”

But Sir Galahad shook his head. “I’m sorry, Princess, I can’t do that. This ship does not sail lightly in the world of men, and if your fairy prince fell off in the enchanted mists he might be anywhere. I’m afraid you need to make a choice. Your friend or the Grail… which is it to be?”

Rhianna gazed across the water, undecided. She could see no sign of life, just the endless mist over a shining white sea, rather like her visions whenever she used the Crown of Dreams to look for the Grail. But she couldn’t abandon her friend. She gathered up Alba’s reins.

Arianrhod grasped the rail. “Lady Rhia!” she gasped. “Don’t leave me on this ship, please! Elphin’s got Merlin’s spiral pathfinder, remember. He’ll be able to find us easier than we’ll find him.”

Rhianna looked at the maid’s terrified face and knew her friend was right. Elphin would survive without his horse for a bit. He had his magic harp, too, and he was of the immortal Avalonian race so he couldn’t drown like Gareth had done. Whatever had happened when the mists opened, he would be all right until they got back to the land of men. Whereas if she rode off into the mists looking for him, she might lose the ship and her only chance of finding the fourth Light.

“I won’t leave you, silly,” she said. “You’re the only Grail maiden I know. I need you to
help me take the Grail of Stars to Avalon, once we find it.”

Arianrhod relaxed slightly. “You’ll need the Lance of Truth as well, won’t you? So we’ll have to find Cai, too.”

Rhianna sighed. “Cai too,” she promised. “Will you help us look for our friends on the way back, Sir Galahad? They went to the Lonely Tor together, so Elphin might still be with Cai.”

“Sir Kai’s boy?” Galahad shook his head. “You’ll be better off without that clumsy squire. Couldn’t even ride, as I remember.”

“Well, he can ride now,
and
he’s fought dragons,” Rhianna said, her blood rising. “Which is more than you ever have, I bet!”

Galahad regarded her in amusement. “It seems you know as much about me as I know
about you and your friends, Princess. All right, if you survive the test of the Grail I promise to bring you back as far as the Lonely Tor. Are you coming aboard now? It’ll be dark soon, and when the night wind picks up we’ll go faster. Not many people can follow this ship in the dark, not even in their dreams.”

Arianrhod peered nervously past the ghost. “Please come aboard, Rhia,” she said. “You have to eat something. You haven’t had a bite since breakfast.”

Rhianna pulled a face. Food was the last thing on her mind. But Sir Galahad’s words had given her an idea how she might find out what had happened to Elphin.

She patted Alba’s neck. “Stay with Evenstar,” she whispered to the mare. “I need to wear my crown for a bit, and I can’t ride you as well.”

She made sure her shield was secure. Then she stood in the saddle and vaulted lightly over the rail to join Arianrhod aboard the Grail ship.

Considering it had been built for ghosts, the ship carried plenty of supplies. They found a sack of juicy apples, another of biscuits, and a barrel of something fizzy. While Arianrhod unpacked the picnic they had brought from Camelot, Gareth’s ghost reappeared and crouched beside them. He tried to pick up a honey cake and pulled a face when his fingers passed through it.

“Leave that alone!” Arianrhod said, shifting away from the ghost. “You’re dead now so you can’t eat it, anyway.”

Gareth scowled at her. “I’m not hungry. I have to talk to Princess Rhianna.”

“She’s too tired,” Arianrhod said.

But Rhianna looked curiously at the squire. “Do you remember how you died, Gareth?” she asked gently. “The Saxons said they found your body in the river.”

The ghost scowled. “That makes sense, I suppose. Last thing I remember is Mordred’s bloodbeards shoving my head underwater. Then next thing I know, I’m on this weird ship with Sir Galahad sailing through the mist.”

“So it was bloodbeards!” Arianrhod said. “Sir Bors thought it was. Did they attack you on your way home?”

But Gareth shook his head impatiently. “I never got a chance to start for home. They attacked my family’s village.” He glanced across
the shadowy deck and lowered his voice. “I saw Mordred over on the Tor,” he whispered. “He had two hands.”

“That’s impossible,” Rhianna said, her stomach fluttering as she remembered her vision. “You must have seen his ghost, that’s all. We burned his body last year. You were there.”