The Dragon's Banner (33 page)

BOOK: The Dragon's Banner

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The attackers crept to the base of the hill
of Caer Guricon in the pitch blackness of a moonless night. It took
some time, but they finally found the secret passage they'd been
told about. It was open, again as they had been told. There were
seventy of them, skilled fighters all, and they had come for Uther
Pendragon.

While the assassins crept through the narrow
tunnel leading into the heart of Caer Guricon, throughout the
castle, the men of the garrison were, one by one, falling into
unconsciousness. Indeed, all who had drunk from the well had become
first dizzy, then overcome with fatigue.

Eldol felt the strength draining from his
body, and he staggered from his post, seeking Kelven to warn him.
Finally, he stumbled through the door of Kelven's chamber and fell
to his hands and knees. "We are poisoned. The garrison is poisoned.
The well, it..." With that, the great warrior who had slain Hengist
fell at Kelven's feet in deep slumber.

Kelven grabbed his sword from where he had
set it a few hours before when he'd retired. There was no time to
don his armor or aid Eldol. He stormed from the room, raising the
alarm and calling to any of the guards who were still able to
respond.

Uther, who had become used to lying awake
nights, had fallen into a rare sleep, but he was awakened by the
banging on the door. "Sire, forgive the intrusion. It is Kelven. We
are under attack. The garrison is poisoned. You must come with
me."

Igraine was also roused, and she sat up next
to Uther, who leapt from the bed and unbolted the door. "Enter,
Kelven. Tell me what is happening."

Kelven bowed quickly before Uther, and
glanced briefly at Igraine. "My apologies, my lady." He looked back
at Uther. "Most of the garrison have been rendered helpless. I fear
the well was poisoned. Eldol himself warned me before he too faded
to slumber. There are but few men fit for battle. We must get you
to safety."

Uther turned to Igraine. "Wake the children.
We must get you to a safe place until we can retrieve things."
Igraine nodded and jumped to her feet, quickly disappearing through
the door that led to the children's rooms.

"What men do we have, Kelven?" Uther was
strapping his sword to his waist, even as he spoke.

"I have naught but two guardsman in the
corridor, sire, though doubtless there are others still fit. I will
find them."

Uther thought for an instant. "Nay, first we
must get my family to..."

They were interrupted by Igraine's screaming
in the next room. "Uther, I cannot find Morgan. She is gone!" She
came running into the room holidng Arthur, with Anna following
close behind.

Uther swore under his breath. "Kelven, get my
family out of the castle. Take your two warriors and protect them
with your life."

"Sire, I cannot leave you." The captain was
anguished at the thought of abandoning the king.

"Kelven, obey my commands. I rely upon you in
this. I put all that is valuable to me into your hands. Do as I
say." Uther turned to Igraine. "Go with Kelven. Take Anna and
Arthur. I will find Morgan." He looked into her beautiful emerald
eyes one last time and kissed her. Then, he was gone.

Kelven led Igraine and the children down the
main stairs toward one of the secret passages leading to the woods.
He had resolved to get them out of the castle and then, if he could
find none of the Pendragon retainers, to steal horses and ride to
Caerleon. The king's family would be safe with Leodegrance.

At the base of the stair they turned left
toward a small passage that was normally blocked by a closed
portcullis, however the gate was open, and out of it came warriors,
one after another. The leader spoke, his voice harsh and thick. "It
is the king's family. Take them!"

Kelven sprung forward, swinging his blade
with terrible resolve. He slew the warrior closest to him and then
was upon the leader, with whom he traded great blows. His two men
rushed forward and, for a moment, the three fighters of Powys held
off ten times their number. But first one, then the other of
Kelven's warriors fell, and the guard captain stood alone. At least
ten of the invaders lay dead at his feet, and he bled from many
wounds. Yet still he fought. Behind him, Anna crouched in the
corner, Arthur cradled in her arms, and Igraine stood in front of
her children holding a sword taken from one of the dead
warriors.

At last, surrounded and overwhelmed by the
numbers of the enemy, Kelven, the great captain of Caer Guricon
fell, pierced in a dozen places. He lay on the cold ground, feeling
his blood pumping from his body, and in his mouth was the bitter
taste of defeat. As he faded to darkness he gasped his last words.
"Forgive me, my king, for I have failed thee.”

The enemy warriors glowered at Igraine and
Anna. They had suffered greatly in the fight, and while their
orders were to take these women prisoner, they thought first to
have some fun, for both were exceedingly beautiful. The leader,
bleeding from a wound Kelven had given him, stepped forward, and
with a great swing of his sword, he knocked the blade from
Igraine's hands. He reached a filthy hand to her, grabbing the
material of her dress to tear it off when his body froze and an
unnatural fear took him. "Hold!" The voice was deafening, and none
could disobey the command. There was a blinding flash in the room,
and that was the last thing Igraine saw until she awoke hours
later.

Uther Pendragon finally found Morgan in the
kitchens behind the great hall. She stood near the door to the
stairs and in her hands she held a key. On the table next to her
was a large flask, now empty.

"Morgan, what have you done?" Uther was
relieved to find the girl, but confused as well. "What are you
doing here?"

She looked up at him and smiled, and in that
instant he could see the face of Gorlois. "I have avenged my
father, King Uther." She spat the word "king," pronouncing it with
mockery. "I poisoned the well and opened the passage. I have
brought House Pendragon down."

At that moment Uther realized what had
happened, but it was too late. Enemy warriors streamed into the
room from all of the entrances, and Uther found himself surrounded
and overwhelmed. He fought with a terrible ferocity, and for a
moment it looked as if he might somehow defeat every enemy within
reach. But he was wounded, first in the leg, then in the arm, and
finally he was pierced through his chest by a great spear. Still he
fought on, covered in his own blood, and two more foes he
dispatched before the last of his strength was gone and he fell to
the stone floor. His enemies were on him, stabbing again and again,
making certain their work was done.

Uther felt the first stab, but no more. He
was floating now, and images passed before him. Days of his youth,
playing in the castle courtyard with his brothers, the first time
he had seen Igraine as a woman. Igraine…his hazy thoughts drifted
back to Igraine. Is she safe? Was Merlin able to keep his promise
to me? Such was his final thought as he at last gave in to the
growing darkness and saw no more. Uther Pendragon was dead.

Igraine awoke lying in the back of a covered
wagon. For a moment she thought she was in bed with Uther at Caer
Guricon, and that she had awakened from a nightmare. But Uther was
nowhere to be seen, only Eldol, who sat grimly beside her with his
sword drawn and sitting on his lap. Beside her slept Anna. Morgan
sat quietly on the other side of the wagon, a small smile on her
lips.

"Eldol, where is the king?"

The captain looked at the queen, and in that
instant she knew. "King Uther is dead, my lady." Eldol was a grim
warrior, who had slain many men, yet tears streamed down his
face.

Igraine gasped for air, for her grief was
overwhelming. "No, it cannot be so. We had so little time together,
my love." She wept uncontrollably. "And Arthur? Where is
Arthur?"

Eldol swallowed hard, for he could not bear
to say what he must. "The boy is also slain, my lady, and Caer
Guricon is taken and burned. The Pendragon have fallen. I take you
and your daughters to Leodegrance."

Igraine wailed in agony and heartbreak, and
she cursed the fact that she had survived. "How did we escape?” Her
voice was agony itself.

"It was Merlin, my lady. He saved you and
your daughters from the assassins and bade me take you to Caerleon,
to Leodegrance."

Anna had awakened, and she too sobbed
piteously and threw her arms around her mother. Morgan just sat
quietly in the corner of the wagon, saying nothing. She suppressed
her slight smile, and thought to herself, father, I have avenged
you.

Merlin walked swiftly from the ruins of Caer
Guricon, carrying young Arthur, wrapped in a scrap of cloth.
Nowhere will you be safe, young king, for your father's enemies
will assail you wherever you are. I must allow all to believe that
you are dead, slain in this treacherous attack, or I fear I shall
be unable to protect you. To the east I shall bear you, to an
unimportant place where no one will think to look.

Igraine, poor Igraine, he thought. I must let
you believe your son is dead. Truly have I been your bane, though
unwittingly so. And again I must hurt you, though it is only to
protect your son...and the future of Britannia. I pray that one day
you may forgive me for all I have done.

He walked down to the riverbank where the
kings and lords had camped so many years before for Constantine’s
great council. There he walked up a gentle hillside, at the center
of which stood a large outcropping of rock. Merlin carefully laid
young Arthur on the cool, grassy hill and took a large canvas sack
from under his robe. From the wrappings he pulled a sword. Not just
any sword, but the blade of Constantine, Uther's grandfather. The
sword of a Roman emperor. The sword that Uther Pendragon had
wielded in his wars.

Slowly he walked toward the top of the great
rock, careful not to lose his footing on the damp, moss-covered
stones. Aloft he held the great sword, and he spoke loudly in an
ancient and forgotten tongue. "Let this sword serve none but he to
whom it rightfully belongs."

As he spoke the words he turned the sword
over and drove the point deep into the center of the rock. Sparks
flew all around, but the stone yielded until the blade was stuck
deep, held fast in the solid granite.

Merlin pulled on the sword, but though he
strained with all his might, he could not budge it from where it
was lodged. Satisfied, he gently took Arthur into his arms and
walked slowly away. When he reached the edge of the forest he
glanced back over his shoulder, speaking softly to himself. "Only a
true Pendragon shall remove the sword from the stone." He looked at
the young child he carried. "You, Arthur. You shall be king of all
Britannia."

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The Cost of Victory (Crimson Worlds
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The First Imperium (Crimson Worlds
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To Hell’s Heart (Crimson Worlds VI)
The Shadow Legions (Crimson Worlds
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Fall (Crimson Worlds IX)
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Crimson Worlds Prequel Novellas
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The Gates of Hell

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