“Then she said that when the day came that a woman could love me no matter my history; and would be willing to sacrifice herself for me; and if I were willing to renounce my fairy side in favor of the mortal one, the curse placed upon me by the Lady of Shallot should be lifted, and dissolved. I would then begin to live a totally mortal life as a mortal man. I should age as other men. I should beget heirs.”
“And your magic?” Maia asked.
“If I am mortal, my dearest, my magic will be gone,” he told her.
“I don’t care!” Maia said. “As long as we may be together for ever and always, Emrys, I shall be content. I never sought anything other than a husband who would love me as I loved him, and children of our union. Let your magic be gone, that we may live as ordinary mortals.”
“Then,” he said, “you will have to meet the Lady of the Lake herself, my love. It is she who must be convinced of your sincerity before I may be released from this ancient curse.” He drew her into his arms. “I knew you would be the one to free me, Maia! I knew it. Drysi said I must seek a female descendant of Arthur who would love me for myself. I did not know of any but for Morgant, and I could never love her.”
“Morgant descends from Arthur? I did not know that,” Maia said softly.
“She comes through Mordred’s line,” Emrys explained. “She was very surprised to learn of your family’s existence.”
“What will happen to the fairy folk when we live as mortals?” Maia asked.
“They will return to their own world,” he answered her.
“Even those with only half-fairy blood?” she persisted.
“They will be given the choice, but most will prefer to return to fairyland.”
“And you, my lord husband,” Maia said softly. “Are you truly willing to give up your mother’s heritage to live as a full mortal? To grow old? To know pain and sorrow?” She reached up and touched his smooth cheek. “I love you, Emrys, and I know in my heart that I shall never love another. But this is a very serious decision that you must now make. You cannot go back once you have, can you?”
“Nay, I cannot, Maia,” he told her.
“Be certain what you want, my husband,” she warned him. “If you would remain as you are, never growing old, I will understand.”
“But you would grow old,” he reminded her.
“Aye, I would,” she agreed.
“And if we had children they would grow old as well. You would all leave me behind, Maia. I should rather grow old myself than lose you,” he told her.
“How will your mother test me?” Maia asked him.
“I do not know,” he admitted. “It did not come to that with my other wives. They never knew the full story. I tried to tell Rosyn, but she fled me.”
“I am afraid,” Maia said, “but on the morrow you must call your mother to us. We dare not wait if this is to be done, Emrys. There will be those among your people who will not be happy to see this magical world of yours come to an end.”
He nodded. “You are right, my love.”
They remained seated in the window looking out over the lake for some minutes. The snow had stopped falling, and the skies had cleared. The moon silvered the landscape, and the stars twinkled brightly in the black night sky. The lake was frozen. Maia wondered how the Lady of the Lake would emerge from her underwater home under the circumstances. Well, she would know on the morrow. She began to feel sleepy again, and her head drooped upon her husband’s shoulder. He smiled down at her, and picking her up, carried her to their bed.
“Do not call the Lady without me,” she murmured to him as he laid her down.
“I won’t,” he said, and he gently kissed her lips before joining her.
It was almost dawn, but yet still dark when Emrys arose and dressed himself. He slipped from their bedchamber, and climbed to the south tower of Ile du Lac to speak with Drysi. She was awake, and obviously expecting him. “I have told her,” he said as he entered the old woman’s chamber.
Drysi nodded. “And what said she?”
“That she loved me, no matter. That if I chose to remain as I am she would be willing to grow old by my side,” he replied to his old nurse.
“She is the one,” Drysi said. “I knew it from the beginning.”
“How did you know of the Pendragon family, Drysi?” he asked her.
“There were rumors now and again at Camelot, my lord. And I was younger and fairer then. Once I lay with Sir Cai, the king’s foster brother. He was in his cups, and he told me of the king’s first love, and the child born of that union. He said Merlin the Enchanter had hidden the boy and his mother in the hills of Wales, that Arthur’s true blood might survive. Merlin saw far into the future when he chose to do so. I think he knew that Arthur’s half-sister, Morgan le Fey, would seduce him, but he knew he could not prevent it. I kept that information to myself.”
“But Arthur’s blood by his young lover might not have survived,” Emrys pointed out to his old nurse.
She cackled knowingly. “If Merlin took the trouble to hide the child and its mother, he knew by doing so that the line would survive,” she said. “I wonder in what cave the old sorcerer sleeps today, just waiting to be recalled.”
“Have Efa bring me the crystal in the Great Hall,” Emrys Llyn said quietly. “I will go and awaken my wife.”
Drysi nodded. “I know not what your mother will do, my lord,” she said. “Her opinion of humanity is not very high, given her experience at Camelot and with your father. She protected you as best she could, but even you must beware of her, for I do not think she ever meant for you to choose your full mortality. Do you understand me?”
“I know my mother,” he said, “and I will indeed be mindful, for she can be overproud and overprotective of me. But I will do what I must for Maia.”
“It is your lady wife who must face whatever challenge your mother gives her,” Drysi said. “Go to her now, my lord. Assure Maia of your great love before she must face the Lady of the Lake herself.”
He left his old nurse, and returned to the chamber where Maia lay still sleeping in her innocence of what was to come. Bending, Emrys kissed his wife’s lips and gently shook her by her shoulder. “Awaken, my love,” he said to her softly.
Maia’s emerald green eyes flew open. “Did I dream last night?” she asked him.
“Nay,” he said. “You did not dream our conversation. I have not yet called my mother from her castle beneath the lake. Do you still want me to do so, my love?”
Maia sighed. “You must, Emrys, if we are to have a normal life together. It is what I want, but I will accept whatever you want. You know that.”
“I want what you want,” he said quietly. “Dress yourself in your finest gown, my love, for my mother will consider it a sign of respect, and be pleased. I would not frighten you, but be warned that she is not an easy woman.”
“I will wear my wedding gown,” Maia said. “It is my best.” She called her servant to her, and while he awaited her in the hall, Maia prepared to meet the Lady of the Lake. Her serving woman dressed her hair in the graceful knot at the nape of her neck, and Maia wore her silver and gold chaplet, but no veil. About her neck she slipped a filigreed chain of gold at the end of which dangled a pendant with the red dragon of her father’s house. Her woman held up a polished silver mirror. Maia nodded, and thanked the woman for her help. Then she hurried down to the hall to meet her husband.
Emrys Llyn smiled as his wife came before him. She was pale, but her look was a resolute one. “Come,” he said holding out his hand to her, leading her to the high board in the center of which had been placed a tall diamond crystal next to which was a small and slender wand of purest gold. They stood before the crystal, and taking it in his hand Emrys Llyn asked his wife a final time, “Are you ready, my love? Once I summon my mother, there can be no going back for either of us.”
Maia nodded. “I am ready,” she replied. Her throat was tight with the words.
He took up the de
licate wand, but at that moment Morgant entered the hall. Seeing him she cried out, “What are you doing, my lord? Are you mad?” She ran across the chamber to stand before them.
“I am calling the Lady, as you can see,” he said. “It is time.”
“No!” Morgant said. Her tone was desperate. “No!”
“This is not your decision, cousin,” he told her quietly. “It is ours, and we have made it. My wife would be tested. We would live as mortals do.”
“You cannot!” Morgant began to sob. “You would give up your magic to live as a mere man? Like your father? You would die one day, and allow your bones to rot away within the bosom of the Mother? No, Emrys! No!”
He struck the crystal with the golden wand in reply. Once. Twice. A third time.
Morgant gasped, shocked. Her hand flew to her mouth to still her cry of despair.
Maia was stunned by the girl’s desperation, and not just a little angry. Emrys was her husband! This half-fairy girl behaved as if Maia were merely incidental to her plans. I would scratch her eyes out if I could, Maia thought jealously.
The wand striking the crystal made the most exquisite sound that echoed throughout the entire castle of Ile du Lac. And then a pale smoke appeared in the center of the hall, writhing and twisting upward, slowly taking shape, its color a thousand shades of blue, until finally the Lady of the Lake herself was visible to them. She stepped forward, smiling, her eyes only for her son.
“Emrys!” she said, and he stepped down from the dais to greet her, taking both of her elegant slender hands in his, and kissing them.
“Mother,” he greeted her. “It is good to see you once again.”
“Why have you called me?” the Lady of the Lake asked him, but her eyes were sweeping over Maia, and her expression as she looked at the girl was unreadable.
“I have called you to meet my wife, Maia Pendragon,” he said, and he drew Maia forward.
She curtsied deeply to her husband’s mother. “Lady, I am honored,” she said.
The Lady of the Lake reached out, and inspected the pendant that Maia wore. “Is this not the symbol of Arthur, once king of Britain?” she asked.
“It is,” Maia replied quietly.
“By what right do you wear this symbol?” the Lady demanded.
“I am the descendant of Arthur through his first son, Gwydre, who was born to Lynior, daughter of ap Evan,” Maia responded proudly.
“The child the old enchanter, Merlin, hid away?” the Lady said.
“Aye, the very same,” Maia told her.
“A union between Arthur and Lancelot’s blood,” the Lady considered. “Interesting.” She looked at her son. “For how long have you had this wife, my son?”
“We wed November first,” he answered his mother.
“Just three months ago,” the Lady mused. “And Morgant has not taken her life yet? I am surprised.”
“What?” Emrys looked astounded. “What did you say?”
The Lady of the Lake laughed. “Be careful, my son. Your humanity is showing far more than I would have it show. Did you not know that Morgant is responsible for the demise of both Rosyn and Gwynth?” She laughed coldly. “She frightened them with hints and innuendo, did you not, Morgant? And so Rosyn flung herself from a height, and Gwynth drowned, did they not, Morgant?”
“Lady, they did not love him!” Morgant cried. “But I do, and I descend from Arthur too! My blood is equal to hers.”
Maia was shocked. Emrys had told her his previous wives had died in their beds. What else was he possibly keeping from her? And then it occurred to her that the explanation given her family was a more palatable one than the truth. Her parents would not have let her wed with a man whose first two wives were apparent suicides. She kept silent.
The Lady of the Lake laughed scornfully. “Seed of Arthur, and his evil spawn Mordred, you do not know what love is. It is Emrys’s power and prestige you seek.” Her look turned to Maia. “But you are different, girl. You love my son, I can see it in your eyes—but more important, I can see it in your heart. The question is, just how much do you love him?”
“What do you want of me, my lady?” Maia said bravely. “I will do what I must to prove my love for Emrys, and to lift the curse that binds him.”
“Will you, indeed?” The Lady’s voice was tinged with amusement. “We shall see, Maia Pendragon. We must consider well the trial you will face to prove your worth to me. I will not let my son go easily, you understand. I have protected him his entire life, and I will continue to do so if you cannot.”
“I will make you no promises other than to do my best for my husband,” Maia said. “I do not dissemble, and am known as a woman of my word, my lady.”
The Lady of the Lake nodded. “We will set you an ordeal, Maia Pendragon, and you are free to refuse it if you think it too difficult. But if you refuse it, or if you fail, my son will retain his immortality, and you will be driven from Ile du Lac to grow old alone.”
“I will do whatever it is you ask of me,” Maia said, “yet I wonder why you would ask further proof of my love for Emrys when you say you see that love, both in my eyes and in my heart.” She looked directly at the Lady when she spoke.
“It is my right to ask because I am his mother. I want what is best for my son, Maia Pendragon.” The Lady’s blue eyes narrowed with her burgeoning annoyance.
“I can understand that,” Maia responded, “but Emrys is no longer a boy. He is a man. Do you not think him capable of making his own decisions?”
“You are a bold creature!” the Lady said. “I could destroy you with a wave of my hand, Maia Pendragon.”
“I have no doubt of that,” Maia answered, “but you will not destroy me if you truly love your son as you claim.”
“Hear my conditions!” the Lady began.
“No!” the Lord of the Lake suddenly spoke up. “Say not another word, my mother. I have always revered you, and I have respected you, but I have at last found true love. I will not let you take it from me in an effort to destroy it.”
“Emrys!” the beautiful fairy cried, “you are so human, and humans are weak! Your father was weak. And Arthur of Britain was weak. You must not be weak!”
“Oh, Mother,” he responded softly, “I far prefer my human side, I fear. You have protected me for over seven hundred years, but this is a different age from the one into which I was born. Britain is no more, and while Wales is yet wild, the land beyond it, England, is a civilized country. The Northmen are long gone. I love my wife, and she me. Will we have bad times as well as good? Aye, we probably will, but it is our love for one another that will help us to survive. I have no doubt in Maia’s love for me, and I know she has no doubt in my love for her. Accept my decision in this matter, for it is my life, our lives, that are important here.”
“Humankind is unstable and vacillating, my son. You can trust no one, least of all a human,” the Lady said.
“Then you do not trust me,” Emrys Llyn replied.
“No! No!” the Lady cried. “It was your father I could not trust. He betrayed every woman he ever involved himself with, my son.”
“You are wiser than most,” the Lord of the Lake said to her. “You must have known the kind of man he was, and yet you wanted him, Mother.”
“I thought my love for him would change him,” she said brokenly, and then catching herself up, she continued, “but Lancelot was weak as all his kind are weak.”
“He ensorcelled you with his beauty, and his charm,” Emrys Llyn said. “So much so that you deliberately set out to steal him from the king’s half-sister. You knew, mother, that he would be flattered by your interest. I suspect that my father did not seduce you, but rather you seduced him. He was a weak man, but not all men are like that. I know I look like my father, but I am not my father. You can no longer revenge yourself on Lancelot through me for the heartbreak he caused you. I have found the one woman I shall love through eternity. I have married her. You amended Elaine of Shallot’s curse so
that my immortality would vanish when I found true love. I have found it, mother. You must release me!”
The Lady of the Lake looked at her son, and she saw the truth in his eyes. With a cry that was half despair, half anger, she vanished before their eyes. And in the lake beyond the castle’s Great Hall, they heard the ice cracking with the sound of terrible fury.
“What have you done?” Maia asked her husband.
“I am not yet certain,” Emrys answered her.
Old Drysi hobbled forward, for she had come down from her tower. “You have bearded her, my lad. ’Twas time. She has never forgiven your father, and she has been deluding herself that she protected you for love of her son. But in her heart she meant to keep you caught between worlds forever as a means of revenge against Lancelot.”
“She could destroy us all, you fool!” Morgant cried.
“I would rather be destroyed than live without Maia,” the Lord of the Lake snapped back.
“We must make our peace with her,” Maia said.
“Not if it means exposing you to one of her mad schemes, my love,” Emrys told his wife. “I have found you, and I shall not lose you!”
“If she lets you have your full humanity,” Morgant said bitterly, “you will grow old, and die one day.”
“Aye,” he said, “I will.”
“You have lost your wits!” Morgant said angrily. “It is her fault!” She glared at Maia. “I should have killed you immediately!”
Maia laughed aloud. “I am not the meek Rosyn, afraid of her own shadow, Morgant. Nor am I the greedy and jealous Gwynth. I knew you coveted Emrys, but he did not want you, else he should not have come and wed me,” Maia mocked Morgant.
“I have magic, and you do not,” Morgant threatened.
Again Maia laughed. “You cannot harm me, Morgant. Do your worst! I am protected from creatures like you.”
Morgant’s odd-colored eyes narrowed, and she flung her hand out toward Maia. Almost immediately she was thrown back herself. A look of fear crossed her beautiful face, but she pointed a finger at Maia nonetheless, only to cry out with pain. “What is this magic?” she gasped. “Emrys, let me destroy her! We can be happy together, I swear it!”
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