Prophecy: Web of Deceit (Prophecy 3)

by M. K. Hume

  Incidentally, if you want to learn what happens to Merlin, Dragon’s Child will answer most of your questions.

  Morgan and Ulfin were two particularly difficult characters to place within my version of the legend. Ulfin assisted Merlin to inveigle Uther into Tintagel for the specific purpose of the rape of Ygerne, so he becomes a person of importance. Yet anyone who served under Uther Pendragon when he was at his murderous worst could not be a benevolent character. Hence, Ulfin becomes very like the guards at Belsen or Auschwitz. He is not entirely monstrous, because he lacks the intelligence to be truly evil, but he is a born follower who gains all his status and respect by sheltering in a powerful man’s shadow. If such a flawed character should lose the approval of Uther, it would be much like losing the ability to breathe, so Ulfin would have searched for Ruadh until he found both her and Artorex. Only death could stop him from completing this quest. I decided he should die appropriately, at the hands of a woman and during an attempted rape.

  Morgan did not become wicked overnight. I hope I showed that her desire for power pre-dated her father’s death. In many ways, she would have made an excellent man, but as the warrior’s role was denied to her, she takes power in the only way she can. After all, she lacks the glamour and beauty of her mother while possessing Gorlois’s strength and determination. Perhaps, out of love for her father, she would have rejected the role of fabled witch eventually if he had survived to old age, and might have chosen the more benevolent role of wise woman and herbmaster. Hence, Gorlois’s death sent her into a dangerous new search for power and revenge that would ultimately poison her life.

  Botha is another matter entirely. His terrible fate in King Arthur: Dragon’s Child and the lessons that his loyalty to the High King teaches Artor makes him a pivotal figure in my version of the Arthuriad. Botha is the only person who actually loves Uther Pendragon, although he is aware of the dark side of his master’s nature. To a certain extent, The High King protects Botha and his precious honour from Uther’s excesses. I found it extremely difficult to create a character who serves with Ulfin, but who is as decent as Ulfin is vile. As with Myrddion’s character, I had to analyse Botha’s difficult situation, which rose to a crescendo with the murder of the little girls, and marked the end of Botha’s more privileged position with his master.

  Readers of Dragon’s Child will see a notable difference in Uther’s treatment of Botha. The High King no longer has a brute such as Ulfin to serve as a buffer between himself and his most loyal servant.

  What can be said of Uther Pendragon? In modern times, his lack of conscience would mark him as a sociopath or a high-functioning psychopath whose excesses are kept in check by his obsessive love for his brother. But that love becomes a two-edged sword, and Uther would have considered it a weakness. An oath can be manipulated, so that he feeds his demons while, ostensibly, remaining true to his promises to his brother. His one saving grace as a monarch is his brilliance in warfare and his steadfast hatred of the Saxons. Ultimately, because of his childhood banishment and the travails in his youth, Uther becomes the man he is because he has grown stunted and angry.

  Today, we recognise the damage done to children if security and love are taken from them at an early age. They never recover from this early loss. Uther is as he was made by Vortigern when he lost his mother and his brother at one fell swoop and was cast away from his home, left only with another brother to provide any sense of stability. The same could be said of Myrddion Merlinus, but the healer is loved passionately by his grandmother, Olwen, who is a grown person rather than the child Ambrosius is when he becomes Uther’s sole support. Just as Myrddion grows to be assailable because he needs friends, so Uther turns more brutal as he actively rejects the need for a companion. Under his vices, Uther is an impotent figure, like Morgan, because he rejects love and beauty.

  The problem of his hatred of any heir is another odd part of the legend, in that transference of power from father to son was of paramount importance in those dark and unpredictable ages. Uther seems to hate the very thought of being replaced by anyone, least of all a child who is a tangible reminder of his murder of Gorlois and his treatment of Ygerne. Even Uther was capable of shame, and the birth of such an heir at such an inopportune time would have opened him to suspicion and ridicule. Besides, my Uther is a megalomaniac who hates the idea of a son who is as capable and competent as he is. He aspires to being remembered as the greatest of the Celtic war chiefs, one who can rival the feats of his ancestors. No one, not even a child of his own blood, can be permitted to eclipse or weaken his reputation. Today, he would be diagnosed as a dangerous narcissist: but then he was a man of the times, ideally suited to keeping the Saxons at bay.

  Andrewina Ruadh is a complete invention sparked by a woman I saw modelling nude for a room of painters at an artists’ colony is Montville, Australia. I have rarely met anyone who embodies the Celtic look so accurately. This woman also radiated an aura of steadfast loyalty and strength of character. We met briefly and, if she should read this book, I hope she recognises something of herself in the character. Unfortunately, I can’t remember her name.

  Ultimately, Andrewina Ruadh, the ultimate tragic outsider and heroine, has her opposite: the fragile and sometimes irritating Ygerne.

  Ygerne’s beauty is a vital part of the legend, for Uther Pendragon becomes obsessed with possessing her. He risks his throne to murder her husband, and uses a disguise to breach her fortress, thereby also risking his life. I once knew a woman who was very beautiful, but utterly ignorant of the nature of her looks or the effect they had on others. I confess I used this woman as a starting point in my descriptions of Ygerne.

  Ygerne is not totally weak and helpless. In fact, despite appearances, she has considerable fortitude, although her relatively charmed life becomes less so when she accompanies her husband to Venta Belgarum. After all, because she is certain that her new husband has killed her son, she aborts three other unborn children. This is a mortal sin that she knows will weigh heavily on her soul. Nor does she kill herself, although she longs for death.

  Sometimes it takes more courage to live.

  How such a pious woman could produce Morgan and Morgause seems impossible, but the girls have certainly been spoiled by their parents. She also tries to accept her gift of the Sight, although she is appalled by it. Ygerne, in my Arthurian world, is a special innocent who is also a very tragic figure.

  Men ruled the Dark Ages; women could only hack out a place for themselves if they were very beautiful or very skilled. But great, good or infamous, time washed over them and they vanished from the pages of history. Only the odd, old name remains to remind us of the faint perfume of their skins, or the sheen of their hair by torchlight.

  Vale, brave hearts.

  GLOSSARY OF PLACE NAMES

  The following is a list of place names in post-Roman Britain with their present-day equivalents.

  Anderida

  Pevensey, East Sussex

  Anderida Silva

  A forest north of Anderida

  Aquae Sulis

  Bath, Avon

  Bravoniacum

  Kirkby Thore, Cumbria

  Brocavum

  Brougham, Cumbria

  Caer Fyrddin

  Carmarthen, Wales

  Caer Gai

  Llanuwchllyn, Gwynedd

  Calcaria

  Tadcaster, Yorkshire

  Calleva Atrebatum

  Silchester, Hampshire

  Cataractonium

  Catterick, Yorkshire

  Corinium

  Cirencester, Gloucestershire

  Deva

  Chester, Cheshire

  Dinas Emrys

  Ffestiniog, Snowdonia, Gwynedd

  Dubris

  Dover, Kent

  Durnovaria

  Dorchester, Dorset

  Durobrivae

  Water Newton, Cambridgeshire (Fort bridge)

  Durobrivae, Cantii

  Rochester, Kent (The walled to
wn of bridges)

  Durocobrivae

  Dunstable, Bedfordshire

  Durovernum

  Canterbury, Kent

  Eburacum

  York, North Yorkshire

  Forest of Dean

  Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

  Gesoriacum

  Boulogne, France

  Glastonbury

  Glastonbury, Somerset

  Glevum

  Gloucester, Gloucestershire

  Isca

  Caerleon, Gwent

  Lactodorum

  Towcester, Northamptonshire

  Lagentium

  Castleford, Yorkshire

  Lavatrae

  Bowes, Durham

  Lindum

  Lincoln, Lincolnshire

  Londinium

  London, Greater London

  Magnus Portus

  Portsmouth, England

  Melandra

  Glossop, Derbyshire

  Mona island

  Anglesea

  Moridunum

  Carmarthen, Dyfed

  Nidum

  Neath, West Glamorgan

  Olicana

  Ilkley, Yorkshire

  Petrianae

  Stanwix, Cumbria

  Petuaria

  Brough on Humber, Yorkshire

  Portus Udurni

  Portchester, Hampshire

  Ratae

  Leicester, Leicestershire

  Segontium

  Caernarfon, Gwynedd

  Seteia Aest

  Dee and Mersey Rivers

  Tamesis River

  River Thames

  Templebrough

  Templeborough

  Tintagel

  Tintagel, Cornwall

  Tomen-y-Mur

  Llyn Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd

  Towy

  Towy, Wales

  Vallum Antonini

  Antonine Wall

  Vallum Hadriani

  Hadrian’s Wall

  Vectis Island

  The Isle of Wight

  Venonae

  High Cross, Leicestershire

  Venta Belgarum

  Winchester, Hampshire

  Venta Silurum

  Caerwent, Gwent

  Verlucio

  Sandy Lane, Wiltshire

  Verterae

  Brough, Cumbria

  Verulamium

  St Albans, Hertfordshire

  Viroconium

  Wroxeter, Shropshire