by Gail Merritt
Sandor eventually left for Vellin with Deric, and the gypsies began their annual journey to the Horse Fair at Taegel. I lingered, wandering the hills with the fox until I could avoid Vellin no longer. The King had summoned all the Talarin to witness the unveiling of a handsome monument dedicated to his father. I went and did my duty, standing with the rest of the Souran, sharing their table at the banquet and then slipping out of the city at dawn with Gilbert and the two foxes. Ralph remained behind in the Talarin for he had grown too fond of Black Mantle for me to separate them. During my stay, Ardin had made no attempt to speak to me and I had nothing to say to him.
As we travelled east, I thought of Sandor, Tregrin and Tamora and was happy for them. Once more, I followed the river, living the life of the Green. It was early summer, and the opulence of the land spilled over every meadow and hedgerow. Everywhere we went, the gifts of nature dazzled the senses and I knew that for a while there was no need for Mantle magic.
One night, I was watching the embers of my fire blow hot in the breeze when I became aware of someone beside me. It was Gwythin.
‘I have to travel far,’ she said, as if in explanation, ‘but, before I do, there is something that I must tell you, lest others tell you in their own way. It is my story and you must hear it from me.’
‘Is it about when you knew my father?’
‘Partly.’ She waited for me to sit up and then clasped her hands together. ‘I have often wondered when I would tell this story to you, where we would be and what I would say. Now the time has come, I don’t know how to begin.’ I tried to take her hand but instead she squeezed my own then released it.
‘I was very young when I married. My father was the King’s Councilor and he used his great influence to secure the match.’ She paused and shook her head. ‘This is not coming out properly. It began before that.’ She took a breath.
‘I fell in love, when I was very, very young. Vellin was an exciting, beautiful place and there was always laughter everywhere. He was so handsome, and gentle and he treated me like his very own princess. I suppose I was flattered but it was more than that. I believe he really loved me. I was studying with the novices of the Talarin but after our studies were over for the day, he would stroll across the Angirat with his friends and we would go off for picnics and have a merry time.
‘Was that my father?’
‘Not Remwith, far better if it had been. He was there of course, one of the Prince’s closest friends, but no, not Remwith. I speak of the Prince himself.’
‘Ardin’s father, the old king?’
‘The same.’ She closed her eyes. ‘He was so beautiful and so strong. Of course, I knew that I was not the only one to be in love with him, but he definitely showed his preference for me. Then, on the evening of the summer solstice, when the court was celebrating in the great courtyard, we stole away to the banks of the Listi.’ She looked into my eyes and pushed a wisp of hair from my forehead.
‘I suppose I was foolish to imagine that they would allow him to marry the daughter of the King’s Councilor. He had been betrothed to the Princess of Thanis when they were both children and the marriage had taken place less than a year earlier. She was a pitiful creature who could not even speak the same language and spent all her days embroidering in her chamber. She was heavy with Prince Ardin and would not speak to anyone. There were even rumours that if the child was a girl, then she would be sent back to her parents and a new bride found. I think that I clung to that possibility for a long time. When I could no longer hide my condition, both my father and the Souran agreed that I should be found a suitable husband as soon as possible and that my child, the evidence of my shame, be brought up as his own.’
The smoke from my camp fire filled my nostrils. The fox moaned in his sleep and the night was silent, listening.
‘You were born with red hair, just like Remwith. Everyone said how like him you were, but he and I knew the truth about your real father, and it came between us from the moment you were born. I could not bear to see the king’s eyes whenever I looked at you, and Remwith could not bear to be reminded of my folly. The King was his closest friend and our betrayal hurt him deeply. When you were only a few months old, I ran back to the Talarin, begging the Souran for their help. Olemia had just become Silver Mantle and I hoped our friendship would count for something. It did not. They commanded me to return to my husband or suffer banishment. To disappear from the world as if I had died, they called it.’
‘You are Megan, daughter of Joris? Remwith spoke your name before he died.’ I could not fight the tears that gnawed at the back of my eyes.
‘Megan died when you were born,’ she sighed. ‘She left a shell behind her and that shell became Gwythin of Vrace.’
‘You abandoned me.’
‘I had to go. They would not allow me to take you with me.’
We sat for a long time, both watching the logs of the fire transform as the flames consumed them. She was my mother, that lost mother that I had longed for so many times. I remembered all the intimate things we had shared over the past months and realised that the bond had never quite broken. She waited for my judgement of her. After all those years, she had risked everything by telling me the truth. And what of the Souran’s part in all this? Black Mantle had known and, worst of all, so had Silver Mantle. Megan, daughter of Joris, had been her closest friend. And what about the King? Would he have saved her if he had known the truth?
I froze, struck by a sudden realisation. ‘Ardin! Ardin is my brother!’
‘Half-brother, yes.’ She folded her hands neatly on her lap. ‘Now you know the truth of why Silver Mantle wished to end your romance. The King never knew your true parentage, but the Souran did and they feared for you both. I came here tonight for two reasons. The first was to tell you the truth. As your mother, I may have lost any right to your affection but my love for you is as strong as it was when you were born, strong as it was for the father you never knew. And I told you so that you would not judge Olemia so harshly.’
‘You defend a friend who betrayed you?’
‘Her path has never been easy. She loved him too and devoted her life to him. In bringing you to the Talarin, she saw a way of protecting you, even, perhaps, of drawing the three of us closer. That I cannot say but I know she would not have taken pleasure in what she did for you both.’
‘And you?’ I felt the need to stand. ‘How should I judge you?’
‘That I cannot tell you.’ She stood also, put out her arm to touch mine but withdrew it. ‘You will need time to think about what I have said. Forgive Ardin and Remwith for they were mere pawns in this deception. The Lord of Brak was a true father to you and at his death he forgave me. Let him rest peacefully. I must leave you now, but on my return we will talk again, if you wish it.
She offered me her hand and I looked down at, the hand of my mother. The very thought made my cheeks burn. I faced her and saw the misery in her eyes. She had watched over me from a distance for all those years and then risked my rejection by telling me the truth. I ignored her hand and threw my arms about her, holding her fast until both our tears subsided, laughing and crying together in equal measure. We did not speak further but curled side by side by the fire and in the morning she took her leave of me, urging me to visit her island when she returned. Her perfume lingered and I drank it in until my nose could no longer find it.
We continued our journey and I explained to Gwythin’s story as we went. The fox and Gilbert were my steadfast friends and we had no secrets. The fox kept his thoughts to himself, preferring to announce that his own mate would give birth to a second litter soon, in the comfort of the Meed castle in Brak. Gilbert, who had found his own mother again only a few months earlier, nuzzled me gently to show his affection and understanding. To Sandor, busy and excited by his new position amid the construction of ships at Sarnmouth, I sent my thoughts. He was far from surprised about my news concerning Gwythin. He had suspected a close blood tie between us for a long tim
e and it gladdened his heart to know that we were reunited.
In the quiet times, when we kept our own thoughts, I revisited the faces of those closest to me, in light of my new knowledge. Silver Mantle had served both her kings in more ways than they could ever know and Ardin had been saved from falling in love with his own half-sister. I had found a mother who shared so much with me and discovered a man who had been the best father to me that he could be. As for Black Mantle, he was relieved to find the secrecy was over. He had always thought that the rest of the Souran dealt too harshly with Gwythin, and even thought the Old King should have been informed. Now he felt free to tell me this and of the many hours Olemia had wrestled with her conscience.
At Wyke, we stopped, avoiding the town and following the river to the forest. We set up camp and, as I intended to stay for a long time, I set Mantle magic to hide us from the inquisitive nature of the suspicious Wykemen. It was time for me to resume my education, and I knew of no better place to begin than in a certain cave within the forest.
Place Names
(I sought the assistance of Blue Mantle when compiling this list. It was accurate at the time of writing).
Anardis - Town in the Northern Meeds, famous for its Festival of Music held annually to celebrate the harvest.
Angirat - A high escarpment above the city of Vellin. The King’s Palace and the Talarin of the Mantles are the only buildings.
Bashiria - Most remote of the Five Kingdoms, not one of the original ‘Five’. Capital city is Orestin, north of the Western Wastes.
Blemar - A rumoured independent northern kingdom, in the far north. No formal ties with the Five Kingdoms but legends tell of its mountains being the last refuge of dragons and other mythical beasts.
Brak - Market town in the Northern Meeds. Governed by Lord Remwith.
Camlan - A fertile region of Magra, still bearing its ancient name. Was once the most powerful and cultured area in the southern lands.
Dereculd - One of the Five Kingdoms, to the south of Magra. Capital is Pellian on the Weddon River, sometimes part of Magra, sometimes ruled by a separate king, often a younger son, from the House of Magra.
Erba River - Forms part of the natural boundary between Magra and Dereculd.
Gaheil - Town on the River Listi. Famous for its caves.
Grat Hills - The north-western boundary of Magra.
Lanti Island - Largest unpopulated island in Rush Bay. See also Tron Island.
Listi, River - Rises in the western mountains, below Mount Befell, close to the shores of Lake Trantor. Flows south through Vellin and reaches the sea at the estuary of the Marshes, the most southern boundary of Magra and Dereculd.
Lore, Forests of - Extensive forests in the Southern Meeds that once stretched from the western wastes to the sea, dividing the kingdoms of Magra and Dereculd. Now mainly south of Gaheil and west of Vellin, although remnants remain in the Meeds. Uninhabited and best avoided.
Magra - First of the Five Kingdoms. Capital city is Vellin. Bounded in the north by the Kingdoms of Urvik and Thanis and in the south by the Kingdoms of Bashiria, Mosagin and Dereculd.
Malister - Town on the edge of the Northern Meeds. Famous for deer hunting.
The Marshes - Extensive marshland and estuary of the River Listi. An old landscape rich in myth but sparsely populated.
The Meeds - Regions of the Kingdom of Magra, typified by heathland, marshes, woodland and gentle hills. Split into the Northern and Southern Meeds. Governed by Lords of the Gathering, titles originating from the time of the first Magran queen, Katherine.
Mosagin - Southern scrublands. One of the Five Kingdoms, often influenced and sometimes ruled by the kings of Dereculd.
Nordinay - A Southern Meed, famous for its red wine production and the hospitality of its people.
The Point - Large coastal outcrop of limestone in the form of cliffs, at the southern end of Rush Bay. Access forbidden to the Citadel of the Sisterhood of Hope.
Ransom - Abandoned village on the northern edge of the Listi Estuary.
Rush Bay - a large bay, the majority of the coastline of Magra. Fishing being the major industry for a number of towns and villages, particularly Sarnmouth.
Sarn, River - Rises in the Grat Hills and flows east through the Northern Meeds to the sea, at the town of Sarnmouth. Prone to flooding.
Stovin - Northern Meed town.
Thanis - One of the Five Kingdoms, lies north of Magra.
Tron Island - Smallest of two unpopulated islands in Rush Bay. See also Lanti Island.
Urvik - One of the Five Kingdoms, to the north of Magra
Vellin - Capital city of Magra, on the River Listi
Western Wastes - wilderness, part desert with few roads or inhabitants. Natural boundary for both Magra and Bashira.
Wyke - Ancient capital of Camlan, now a provincial city of Magra
About The Author
Gail Merritt
Gail Merritt is a retired teacher, who has lived in several parts of the world before settling in Gippsland. When she is not writing, she spends her time in her garden watching ducks on her pond, walking through the forests and continuing to learn. She loves all kinds of literature and when pressed confesses to having attended at least one ComicCon event!
She writes adult books as H.G. Merritt.
The Chronicles of the Mantles
Megwin, a young girl who can talk to animals and make plants flourish is developing her powers and navigating the dangerous world of mantle magic. From the Royal Court, to the inhospitable marshes, from fiery volcanoes to treacherous storms at sea, she slowly uncovers her past and how she is linked to the ancient forces of the land.
Silver Mantle
The College of the Mantles finds their new novice a challenge. Megwin is younger than any have been before her and she is already powerful. She becomes the protégé of the most important of the Mantles, Silver Mantle, but Megwin finds the rules hard to follow and inadvertently missuses her powers.
Green Mantle
Now she is Green Mantle, Megwin is called upon to uncover the cause of a terror disturbing the wild marshes. On her quest she gets help from some unlikely and unexpected sources and encounters the secretive Sisterhood.
Red Mantle
When Red Mantle goes missing, Megwin joins a search party that travels far beyond the borders of Magra. They discover that Mantle magic is not enough when facing deeper, natural forces and Megwin uncovers a secret that might change her life forever.
Blue Mantle
King Ardin is seeking adventure. He has built a fleet and wants to sail to the fabled Green Islands. By accident, Megwin finds herself a passenger. She takes the opportunity to meet the creatures of the sea and angers the Mantles by disobeying their rules. When they reach the islands, they are not what anyone expected.
Black Mantle
There is something happening in Rynth. The people and the animals are fleeing. It will take more than Mantle magic to restore the land and protect the ancient powers from a dangerous threat. The Mantles unite with new allies to defeat an enemy that needs no battlefield to destroy them all.
Books By This Author
Silver Mantle
The Chronicles of the Mantles Book 1
When young Megwin finds she can communicate with animals and make plants flourish, she becomes the pupil of Silver Mantle and begins to learn how to use her powers. Silver Mantle has plans of her own for the girl and manipulates the rules of the College of the Mantles to protect her. When Megwin's mentor, Green Mantle, dies, she is given his title and responsibilities to heal a battle-scarred land.
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