The Priestess of Camelot

by Jacqueline Church Simonds

  “These items will go in the grotto,” I said. He must not get the idea that these items were his to possess.

  “Yes, Mama,” he said with a stiff bow.

  He was abashed and perhaps angry with me. But Falcon would help me explain the importance of our work with the Goddess and the reason these items were kept for future generations.

  Next, I had the boys, Fredic, and Lairgnan remove three strongboxes filled with all the gold ten men could use in a lifetime. Arthur had promised me “and more” for the boy, and this he had.

  “This, however, is yours,” I told Stephen.

  The boy gave me a fierce grin. He was so like his father in that moment, I almost cried out Arthur’s name.

  But, I forced myself to business. I directed the men to remove the large tapestries. They were heavy and wedged in firmly. How my heart pounded in fear that they would damage the cloth! I was actually sweating.

  In order not to betray my feelings, I stepped away and left them to it. The wreckage in Arthur’s bedroom made the place unrecognizable. I sighted an orange and white box lying on its side in the corner of the room. I recalled the onyx box with the dragons carved upon it. It had rested on the corner of the mantle, but I don’t think I ever looked inside it. I decided (or mayhap the Goddess prompted me) to take it and place Arthur’s bloodied bandage inside.

  It took two trips to bring the tapestries down to the wagon. Tired, dusty, and sweaty, we ate a cold meal surrounded by the sad broken building and slept overnight in the ruined stables.

  Tomorrow would be a day of destiny. I was not sure I was strong enough. But the Goddess said it must be done.

  On Midsummer’s Day, we rode to the ancient place where we used to call the barge to Avalon. I had Fredic and Lairgnan ride a ways away to wait for us. They should not witness this next part. They would not understand it.

  At noon, I summoned my power and made my demands heard in all realms.

  At first, nothing happened. I was frightened that all this was for naught. Then the mist parted, and the barge floated forth with Morgaine and eight other priestesses. Morgaine bore the great sword Excalibur in her hands. Her lifeglow was a strange set of colors: red as before, but also a strange dark brown and deep gray took up most of what once was violet.

  The meeting had taken much time and work to arrange.

  Using my power from the Sacred Grove, I had spent the past three moons trying to convince Morgaine to give up Excalibur. At first, the Lady of Avalon ignored me. But through persistence, I forced Morgaine to respond. It was during the full of the Flower Moon that I at last had a direct exchange with my former superior.

  We met in mindspace, a place not of this world, where we could send our thoughts.

  So, you seek to place your get on the throne, hm? Morgaine’s disdain seeped through the mental connection.

  I was not surprised Morgaine knew I had a child by Arthur. Avalon was now separate from the realm of men and gone almost completely into the mists, but Morgaine still had the Sight.

  Stephen will sit no throne, nor his son after him, I responded.

  There was a lengthy pause. Why then do you wish it? Excalibur is safe in Avalon for when it is needed.

  I had known Morgaine would refuse to relinquish the great sword.

  Avalon is fading, I pointed out. Already people begin to doubt you and Avalon exist. The Christians now rule every throne in Britain and all the northern kingdoms. Those who serve the Goddess are called witches and thought evil. Some are burned at the stake. You have no influence in the place of men now.

  They but forget our value, our power! Morgaine stormed. They will have need of us soon.

  You have seen this? I asked.

  It is only a matter of time, Morgaine responded, less certainly.

  I will tell you what the Goddess has commanded to me: that Stephen and his heirs have the keeping of the sword Excalibur for a Time Foretold. It is not for you, Morgaine.

  You dare command me?!

  Go now and listen to the Goddess, if you can still hear Her will. If you see Her wishes otherwise, do not respond to my call at midday at Avalon’s lake on Midsummer’s Day. But if you hear the Goddess, if She tells you Her wish is for Excalibur to be in Stephen’s care, then you must respond to my summons on that day.

  Morgaine had not replied. I came to the Lake wondering what would happen. But now, here she was, and with the sword. At least she still heeded the Goddess.

  “I come as you demand, Sister,” Morgaine said with a snarl under her words. “The Goddess was clear in Her wishes regarding who has the keeping of the sword.”

  Oddly, Morgaine’s hatred made me feel stronger. I put out my hands, wordlessly demanding Excalibur. She glared at me, as if her glance could cause me hurt. But I was not the young priestess she toyed with all those years ago. “I will take the sword now, Lady.”

  For a wild moment, I felt Morgaine about to summon her powers and do something rash.

  I concentrated and felt my power expand out, like a bubble enclosing us all.

  Startled, Morgaine looked all around her. I could see her lifeforce dimmed. She seemed to sag a bit, then passed the sword into my hands.

  I gave it to Stephen, who hugged it to his chest, as if embracing his lost father.

  Morgaine made to leave, but I shouted, “Hold, kinslayer!”

  She whirled back to face me. “Do not call me thus! You and Merlin broke a sacred vow!”

  “At the behest of the Goddess.”

  She gasped. “He said nothing about this.”

  I had waited long to bring justice to this hateful woman. It was hard not to gloat or revel in my triumph. But I could not. Would not. That way led to evil such as ate at Morgaine right that moment. Instead, I pronounced the judgment: “You are not just kinslayer for killing Merlin, but for setting your son to destroy Arthur and the kingdom. For that, you must pay.”

  Morgaine turned pale. “What would you have me do?”

  I stretched forth my hand, feeling the Goddess guide me. The water of the Lake gathered and formed a low tower. The top of it broke off and spun into an oval. Slowly, it floated to my hand. Even though it was my magick, I was surprised at the realness of this creation. The weight of it in my palm. It glowed like a sparkling rock.

  “What is this?” Morgaine whispered.

  “The Goddess sets my sons’ sons a task in the far future. Britain will be threatened and will need King Arthur and Merlin to return. But the undertaking will be formidable. They will need all of Avalon’s help to heal the land. Swear on this stone made of the lake that you will heed the call and do as you are asked—or be foresworn and suffer the Goddess’s condemnation!”

  Morgaine’s eyes narrowed. Quick as lightning, she tried a spell of pain on me. . . but nothing happened. She cast a hex on Falcon, but her power would not reach him. Morgaine shot a bolt of fire at Arianrhod, but the girl easily shielded herself. Morgaine tried to slap the stone from my hand, but her move was repelled.

  Morgaine took a step back. “Your powers have grown.”

  “My magick is stronger, yes. I also have not given myself to the negative forces as you have.”

  Morgaine glowered at me. I could tell she was desperately trying to come up with some spell or plot. But nothing she could think of would defeat me; in this, I had the assurance of the Goddess. Sullenly, she held her hand out. I placed her palm on the Oathstone and then mine on top. “Repeat after me,” I said.

  With a look of terror, Morgaine repeated: “I, Morgaine, Lady of the Lake and priestess of Avalon, swear with all my power that I will heed the call from this stone in the Time Foretold. I will assist the heir of Arthur and the heir of Merlin to heal Britain and restore what was lost or else face the full wrath of the Goddess.”

  When she finished, Morgaine asked, “How long must I wait for this call?”

  “With the Sight, I have searched hundreds of years for the plan to unfold, and still it has not. The world will change in ways so remarkab
le you will not know it. Lands unknown now will rule, speech itself will change, what is commonplace will be utterly forgot.”

  “No!” Morgaine screamed, her eyes wild with fright. “Do not so condemn me to this fate, this hell of waiting!”

  “Begone until you are called!” I said in the voice of command. I put out my free hand and unleashed the power. The barge flew across the waters, back into the mist.

  “So ends Avalon in this age.”

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  That night, I took Falcon, Arianrhod, and Stephen down to the grotto. Stephen was proud of the purple robe I had made for him. He looked quite regal. “Why did Morgaine want to keep Excalibur, Mama?” he asked, as we walked toward the grotto with the items.

  “I believe she intended to bind the next strong King of Britain to her through it. Excalibur is an object of great power, and Merlin made it more so when he enchanted it to be wielded only by the rightful king of Britain.”

  Fredic, Lairgnan, and the boys had brought the tapestries down from the wagon earlier, but it was up to Falcon, Stephen, Arianrhod, and I to wrestle them into position in the grotto.

  As we attached them to the rods I had brought, I explained the details to them. “This smaller tapestry hung in King Arthur’s bedroom. Arthur told me it was created just a few years before I arrived in Camelot. I think it interesting that it depicts that actual room.”

  “I would have imagined such a place more richly decorated,” Falcon said. For the depiction showed no other tapestries on the walls, only shields, swords, and spears on bare rock.

  “He was a warrior,” Stephen said. “He didn’t like fussy things.”

  “I think that you are right,” I said. I had always wondered at the lack of decoration in Arthur’s room. But his son possessed an insight I had not.

  “Were you in that room often, Mama?” Arianrhod asked.

  “Yes. I healed the king’s terrible wound and watched over him for almost three moons.”

  “Someday, Mama,” Falcon said, “you must tell us all of your story.”

  “My tale is not of interest. Merlin and Arthur are the ones we are here to venerate. So attend as I show you the importance of this arras.” I pointed out the rough table the group sat around. I explained that King Arthur worked at that small square table day and night—plotting battles, creating roads, making treaties. “But what is important about this tapestry is that it shows all the regalia you now have at hand.” I pointed to King Arthur, seated on the right, with his crown in front of him. One could make out his ruby ring and the thick gold Saxon necklace. I directed them to observe the hilt of Excalibur at his side, with its large ruby button.

  Behind him stood Merlin. In his left hand, on which there was a hint of purple on his finger indicating the stone of his Tree of Life ring, was the great carved staff. Around his neck was the High Druid’s wooden necklace.

  Beside Arthur was a blond woman in a blue dress and an all-but transparent veil over her hair. She wore gold earrings and a large gold cross. “This was Queen Guinevere. She was a good queen and very pious in the ways of the Christians.” Behind the woman stood a blond man with the erect bearing of a warrior and a handsome face. “That is Lancelot, the bravest of King Arthur’s knights and the king’s truest friend.”

  “Didn’t you tell us Lancelot and the queen were lovers? How is it possible to be a pious Christian, but be what they call an adulterer?” Arianrhod asked.

  I sighed. “It is very difficult being a human being. It is perhaps even more difficult to be a queen.”

  “What is the large tapestry about?” Stephen said, impatiently.

  “It is the Round Table.” I helped them unroll the great tapestry and set it on its rod. The children gasped once the picture was revealed. “Indeed, you may be impressed. The Round Table was even more remarkable in life.” I saw an earlier version of this arras when I lived in the castle. It was clear the king commissioned a new one not long before his kingdom fell, as it had many knights I had heard of, but not met. The large table was depicted as if seen from on high. It was actually three arced tables with an empty center; the fifty knights and the king were seated around the outside. I explain it was constructed that way to allow servants to reach those seated. “Originally, Merlin created it for King Uther.”

  “Why did he choose that shape?” Stephen asked.

  “Three reasons,” I replied. “Merlin heard that one was constructed for the Emperor Constantine. Secondly, he felt it was a good idea for the same reason that leader did—it kept the knights from arguing who was more important and could sit near the head of the table—and therefore be more honored. Lastly, Merlin shaped it as a circle to symbolize the Goddess’s presence in the world of men.”

  I pointed out how the names of the fifty knights shown were beside or behind the depictions. Merlin was depicted, even though I believed he was dead by the time the tapestry was woven.

  “Is that really what all these men looked like?” Stephen asked, studying the faces.

  “Yes. I met many of them.” I pointed out Sir Gawaine and Sir Gareth, and their father King Lot, dark and short. To his right was Sir Bedevere, no longer young, but still blond. Handsome Lancelot sat to Arthur’s right, as always. Merlin sat to the left of Arthur. Even Mordred was depicted, with his long dark hair and sharp nose, just as I saw him in the dream—although I did not tell the children that part. I showed them how Mordred was seated as far from Arthur as was possible. Perhaps as a sop to him, my old friend, bald, paunchy Sir Cai sat to his right. “Mordred was the king’s son by Morgaine. It was he who destroyed the kingdom and killed Arthur.”

  “Didn’t you say that Morgaine, the Lady of the Lake, was the king’s sister?” Arianrhod asked.

  “Yes, and they were also first cousins,” I said.

  Arianrhod shivered. “No wonder he was mad.”

  “Enough of this picture-looking! Let us consecrate our young man as the heir of Arthur!”

  Stephen looked relieved that we were finally turning to the matter at hand.

  I repeated the rites I developed for Falcon. Then, with a particular thrill, I placed the crown on Stephen’s head, the ring on his finger, and Excalibur in his hand. Just as with Falcon, Stephen’s eyes took on a sort of glow. I felt Arthur shining through our son.

  I called forth my power and intoned: “Stephen, son of Arthur, you carry the line forward that will do the Goddess’ bidding. You will protect and serve this place. You will use your strength to protect and defend both families!”

  “Mother, you contain a shard of the Goddess!” Falcon said, eyes filled with awe.

  After the children went back upstairs, I returned and cast a spell to make everything in the grotto incorruptible. Between then and the Time Foretold would be incredibly lengthy, and no cloth or steel could last so long without aid.

  That night, I wrote down the words Falcon and Stephen’s heirs were to use in the ceremonies in the grotto: the twice-yearly celebrations, as well as the consecration of a new heir. I also made rules I felt they should follow to guide the families in the future, although these did not come from the Goddess.

  Later, when all was quiet, my tears flowed in remembrance of my beloved Arthur.

  The next day, I pondered what to do with the Oathstone. The future heirs would need it for their task at the Time Foretold. The previous night, I left it in a box in one of the chests in the grotto. But it was too powerful a thing to have within reach. How easy it would be to see a threat and think “this must be the time” when it was not yet. Calling Morgaine prematurely would be a disaster!

  I could not think of any place else to put it just yet. However, I knew the answer would come.

  Meanwhile, I re-wrote the last page of the Merlin and Arthur book to read:

  In Britain’s darkest hour, the King and Merlin shall come again, and with the Oathstone, heal the land and its people.

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  The seasons sped by.

  Falcon too
k Neala, the daughter of a minor lord who traveled through Glast at midsummer, as his woman. I moved down to my workroom and gave them the largest bedroom. Neala quickly bore a fine son. I asked Falcon and his heirs to name the eldest boy after a bird of prey—as I had Falcon—but never to use Merlin. I made him swear to keep that tradition with the first sons of the first sons. They called him Kestrel.

  Arianrhod had graciously stepped back from her former duties as lady and daily taught Neala her place. But I often found Falcon and Arianrhod in private corners, discussing things or sharing a little joke. Falcon’s marriage had not changed their relationship.

  I turned over the whole of Drunemeton to Falcon, encouraging the villagers to refer to him as Lord Drunemeton. But, Falcon refused to play the stand-offish landholder. He frequently visited Glast with his family, taking his harp and lute on festival days. He made up songs about brave King Arthur and the wise wizard, Merlin. He sang of their deeds and adventures and taught traveling bards the tunes.

  In a ceremony only Arianrhod and I celebrated, under the bright Flower Moon, I initiated Arianrhod into the rites of those who serve the Goddess. The following moon, I took her to an old man, a former Druid priest. Showing him a design that came to me after many days of prayer, he used blue woad to tattoo the pattern onto the inside of Arianrhod’s left wrist.

  Later, at home, Arianrhod asked, “What does it mean, Mama?”

  I showed her the Avalon tattoo I bore. “You are of no order but your own. I could not—would not—give you the symbol of Avalon or its mistress. We did not have such marks in Viborg, but I see that this way is good. We can identify our members, and others can see that we belong to something larger than ourselves.”

  “But what of the pattern? It is more elaborate than the one you have.”