Grail of Stars (12 page)

“No,” she said firmly. “Not this time. We’re going together, or not at all. They’ll never forgive
you for letting me take their fourth Light.”

Arianrhod looked at her pack and gave a nervous giggle. “You don’t really think that old cup is the Grail of Stars, do you Rhia?”

“We’re going to find out,” Rhianna said.

“You’re going to be in a lot of trouble, you mean!” said a voice in her ear.

She spun round in alarm to see Gareth’s ghost standing at her shoulder, peering out of the window too. “There are easier ways to die,” the squire remarked as the door crashed open.

Rhianna drew Excalibur and thrust Arianrhod behind her. At first she could see nothing but a blinding light. Then she recognised the plump figure standing in the doorway with the Lance of Truth shining in his hand.

“Cai!” she said, lowering her blade. “Don’t
burst in on us like that! I might have killed you.”

“Did you want this door opened or not?” Cai said, grinning at them. He raised the Lance and blew on the glittering point. “Rubbish locks they have in this place.”

“Cai!” Arianrhod ducked past Rhianna and threw herself at the surprised boy, hugging him in relief. “Thank you!”

Cai’s grin widened as he looked over Arianrhod’s head at the knotted tapestries. “Planning to escape out the window, were you? Do you have any idea how far down it is?”

“I don’t want to know,” Arianrhod said with a shudder. Seeing Gareth’s ghost smirking at them, she stepped away from Cai and hid her blush behind her hair.

“Where’s Sir Bors?” Rhianna asked, peering
out into the corridor. Two of the grey-cloaked guardians slumped against the wall outside, snoring gently.

“Dead to the world,” Cai said. “I couldn’t wake him. Them girl-guardians are all over the place, asleep too. I’m glad I’m not the only one awake. This place is really spooky, with only the ghosts to talk to.”

“Watch your tongue,” Gareth said. “I didn’t have to show you all the way up here.”

“I didn’t mean you,” Cai said. “I keep forgetting you’re dead.”

“I’d be asleep too otherwise, wouldn’t I?” Gareth sighed. “Not creeping around the castle helping you steal something that could destroy us all.”

“Don’t be silly,” Arianrhod said, picking up her pack and glancing at Rhianna. “It’s probably
just an old cup. And if it does turn out to be the Grail of Stars, Rhianna knows how to use it… don’t you, Lady Rhia?”

Rhianna hoped someone would tell her how to use the Grail once they got to Avalon, but there was no time to worry about that now. She looked out of the window. Dusk was already falling. “We’d better hurry if we’re going to get down to the ship before everyone wakes up,” she said.

She picked up the guardians’ bows and eased the quivers off their shoulders. She passed one weapon to Arianrhod and dropped the other out of the window.

“But I can’t shoot,” Arianrhod protested.

“Doesn’t matter. If anybody tries to stop you, take this arrow, put it on the string and point it at them. Cai, show us where you left Sir Bors.”

They hurried down a winding stair that seemed to go on forever. As they descended, Rhianna was glad they had not used the window – the knotted tapestries would not have been nearly long enough. It grew darker with every step, but Excalibur and the Lance lit their way. This was both good and bad. The Lights would also betray their escape to anybody who was awake to see them.

“Faster!” she urged.

From the narrow windows there was still enough light to show them a beautiful terraced garden with a series of ponds linked by waterfalls leading down to the sea. At the bottom, white steps glowing in the dusk led through an arch to the harbour, where she could see the ship that had brought them here.

But the first stars reflected in the pools,
and the guardians were waking up all over the castle. Several grey-cloaked figures ran to block the stairs below, arrows on their bowstrings.

“What are you doing out of bed, Princess Rhianna?” one called, frowning at her sword. “Queen Nimue said you were to stay in your room until she returns. You failed the test of the Grail so you can’t go home yet.”

Cai stepped in front of Rhianna and lowered the Lance. “She’s not drinking any more of your potions!” he said. “We’re leaving now. Let us through.”

The guardians glanced at one another. They didn’t seem to know what to do.

“She’s not even meant to be awake…” they whispered. “The other questing knights slept for many days. We should ask Queen Nimue, but she’s gone swimming…”

Outside, Gareth shouted and waved his ghostly arms. At first Rhianna couldn’t think what he was doing. From the window, she saw more of the grey-cloaked guardians running across the moonlit lawn with drawn bows.

Then Cai pointed. “Damsel Rhianna, look – the mist horses!”

Rhianna leaned out of a window to see Alba and Evenstar prancing across the grass. The horses’ silver coats shone in the moonlight. Their necks were arched, and their tails plumed high over their backs. They looked beautiful and magical. They also made perfect targets.

“Be careful, Alba!” she warned.

The guardians outside loosed their arrows at the two Avalonian horses. She shut her eyes in horror. When she opened them, Alba was galloping one way and Evenstar the other,
their tails high, whinnying in amusement. Arrows shivered in the grass where they had misted out of range.

The grey-cloaks are stupid,
Alba said.
They aim where we are not.

Rhianna grinned. The mist horses were doing a good job of distracting the guardians in the garden, but that still left the ones at the bottom of the stair. Gareth had vanished somewhere. She looked back for Arianrhod. “Stay close,” she whispered. “They can’t shoot around corners. We should be all right until we get outside.”

She drew a deep breath, raised Excalibur and leaped around the final corner. She found herself face to face with a stout woman in a blue dress embroidered with tiny fish like the king’s cloak. The lady had dark hair streaked
with silver and crinkles at the corners of her eyes. She stood unarmed in the doorway. The guardians waited warily behind her.

“Don’t kill me, Princess,” she said, stepping back with her hands raised. “I’m Lady Elaine. Galahad told me you might need a bit of help.”

While they stared at her, Lady Elaine turned and said something to the guardians, who cast Rhianna and her friends a final glare before running off across the lawn.

“I’ve sent them to find Queen Nimue,” Elaine explained. “That should keep them occupied for a bit, since our fish-queen is rarely found when she wants to be with her people.” She smiled. “I wouldn’t hang around, though. The castle is waking up, and the others will tire of their mist horse hunt soon enough.”

Rhianna warily lowered her blade. “You’re
Sir Galahad’s mother, aren’t you?” she said. “Is that why you’re helping us?”

Elaine nodded and looked fondly at Arianrhod. “Among other reasons.”

Arianrhod’s eyes went wide. “Are you my mother, too?” she whispered.

Lady Elaine smiled. “So you guessed, did you? Yes, you were born the year Lancelot returned to Camelot with our son. He didn’t realise I was pregnant again, or he might have stayed. I wish we had more time, but I can’t answer questions now. Galahad will explain – he’s waiting down on the ship with your drowned squire.
Go
, while you still can.”

While Elaine gave Arianrhod a quick cuddle, Rhianna turned to Cai. “Where’s Sir Bors?”

“That way.” Cai stopped gawping at Lady
Elaine long enough to point along the shadowy corridor. “But he’s a heavy lump, Damsel Rhianna. I dunno how we’re going to carry him all the way down to the ship. It was bad enough getting him on his horse in the Saxon camp that time after Mordred’s bloodbeards tortured him. Do you think Alba can carry him?”

“Who are you calling a lump?” growled a voice from the shadows. “There’s a lot of things I’d do for you, Rhianna Pendragon, but riding your tricksy fairy horse is not one of them.”

“Sir Bors!” Cai said, his face lighting up. “You’re awake!”

“Not my fault if that mead last night was strong enough to knock out a horse,” the big knight grumbled. “Must’ve slept the whole day, and my head’s still pounding loud enough to wake the dead. Speaking of which, is that
Lancelot’s lovely wife I see over there? How are you, Elaine my dear? Lancelot tried to come with us too, but Damsel Rhianna here had other ideas.”

Lady Elaine let Arianrhod go and exchanged a few quiet words with the knight. Rhianna stared uncertainly at Sir Bors, afraid he’d become a ghost like Galahad and Gareth and the others. But then he staggered up to them and clasped her in another of his crushing hugs.

“Now what’s all this I hear about leaving?” he grunted, eyeing the bulge in Arianrhod’s pack. “Lady Nimue give you the Grail after she tried to poison you with it, did she?”

“Not exactly.” Rhianna exchanged a glance with Arianrhod and grinned. She tossed her pack to Sir Bors. “Here – carry this.
Galahad’s waiting for us on the ship. I’ll explain on the way.”

They ran down through the garden towards the harbour, darting from bush to bush so the guardians hunting the mist horses would not see them. Rhianna kept Excalibur in its scabbard so that the shining blade would not give them away, and Cai wrapped some leaves around the glittering head of the Lance. Arianrhod kept casting glances back at Lady Elaine, who stood in the castle doorway clutching her cloak around her shoulders.

“Did you know she was my mother?” she asked Sir Bors, but the big knight only grunted and hurried them on.

The night shadows helped hide them, and Rhianna thought they were going to make it. But as they passed the last pool, the moon rose
and glinted off her armour, and a furious shout went up from the castle.

“Stop them! They’ve stolen Queen Nimue’s cup!”

The surface of the pool rippled, and a large fish-tail splashed. Rhianna saw a swirl of green hair in the water. The guardians abandoned their mist horse hunt and came running back across the moonlit lawn, fitting new arrows to their bowstrings.

“Stay away from the pool!” Rhianna warned, drawing Excalibur and taking a stand at the top of the steps that led down to the harbour. “Quick, get on the ship – I’ll hold them off.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Sir Bors growled, dumping their packs on the steps so he could draw his sword too.

Rhianna scowled at him. “I’ll catch you up on Alba,” she said. “I’m wearing my Avalonian armour so arrows can’t hurt me, but they can kill you! Get Arianrhod and the packs to the ship, and cast off. That’s an
order
.”

Though it made her dizzy, she gripped Excalibur’s jewel and concentrated on controlling the big knight’s spirit.

Sir Bors glared at her. But when the first arrows hissed around Rhianna, and she still did not move her hand from Excalibur, he shook his head in annoyance. He ducked another volley of arrows, grabbed the packs in one hand and Arianrhod’s wrist in the other, and hurried down the steps.

“You too, Cai,” Rhianna said, gritting her teeth with the effort of using Excalibur’s magic on her friends.

“I’ll get the mist horses!” Cai called as he ran after the others.

Rhianna saw Sir Bors reach the harbour and toss their packs containing the Grail and the Crown on deck. She relaxed slightly and turned to face the guardians, Excalibur shining in the night. The grey-cloaked girls slithered to a stop and reached for more arrows.

“We can’t let you take Queen Nimue’s cup, Princess,” said the one who had stood guard while Rhianna and Arianrhod bathed. “Let us pass!”

“No,” Rhianna said, widening her stance as Sir Bors had taught her and bending her knees slightly. She hoped they would not try to shoot her in the legs. “My friends and I are leaving now. Don’t try to stop us.”

A second tail splashed in the pool, and her vision sparkled as water showered around her. She blinked the drops from her eyes and tightened her grip on her sword.

“We can’t let you go home until you’ve completed the test of the Grail and answered Lady Nimue’s riddle,” the guardian said.

Rhianna smiled. “That’s easy! I know the answer now.”

The guardian frowned at her. “You do?” The others lowered their bows in surprise.

“Yes.” Rhianna grinned. “But I’m only telling it to Lady Nimue… have you found your queen yet?” She kept a wary eye on the water and checked to see if her friends were safely on board the ship.

The guardians drew together in a huddle of grey cloaks and held a whispered discussion.
One of them knelt to speak to the fish-people in the pool.

Rhianna took the opportunity to call Alba. With a whinny and thud of hooves, her mist horse appeared right in the middle of the group. The guardians scattered in alarm, swinging their bows around to take aim at the little horse that had sprung out of nowhere.

Grey-cloaks not catch me!
Alba said.
We go home now?

“Yes, my darling!” Rhianna grabbed hold of the mane to vault into Alba’s saddle, but to do this she had to lower Excalibur. A guardian grabbed her braid from behind, and Alba misted again to avoid another who tried to catch her reins. Rhianna missed the saddle and stumbled, while the mare fled across the nearby pool.

“Not that way, Alba!” she warned, in sudden
fear for her horse.

Too late. A webbed hand reached up out of the pool and seized the mare’s dangling reins. Alba tried to mist again, but just blurred on the spot. The little horse snorted in fear as the fish-people dragged her head down towards the water. Her enchanted horseshoes scrabbled at the surface, and her legs splayed as she tried to escape.

Need help!
she called urgently.

Rhianna swung Excalibur at the guardians to clear them out of her way and skidded to a halt at the edge of the pool. She eyed the water. How deep was it? Could she swim wearing her armour, sword and boots?

She had no choice. She dared not remove her armour, or the guardians’ arrows might kill her.

“Let my horse go!” she shouted at the fish people.

She recognised two of them from the feast, younger than Lady Nimue with shells plaited into their green hair. They giggled as they dragged her poor mare further out across the water. “We’ve caught an Avalonian horse!” they teased. “It has very pretty shoes. Can we take them off?”