Merlin then hit his staff on the ground and a small globe on the top of the staff lit up. “You see you do not become a recluse for so many years without learning a few tricks. The top of this staff contains a globe that will help guide us out of this place. These are special fireflies, creatures whose light is powerful enough to lead us through the fog and back into the light of the sun.” So Merlin moved ahead of Arthur, guiding him through the foggy maze for several minutes until they emerged from the fog and back into the grassland.
Arthur sighed with relief. He was eternally grateful to finally see normal land again.
“It will be much faster to return home with a horse!” exclaimed Merlin.
“But Llamrai is dead,” replied Arthur.
“No matter!” Merlin suddenly sent out a loud whistle, which seemed to vibrate through the field and into the nearby forest. Then, a few moments later, two horses emerged from the forest. One was a spotted grey, but the other, more obvious and beautiful to Arthur, was a gallant white stallion.
Merlin smiled, eyeing the stallions as they approached. He then sunk his hands into their hair. “Llamrai may be dead, but there is another horse here, a horse I give to you now. This white one is young, the daughter of my horse, a horse I rode in ancient days. She is strong and fast, the fastest horse that now lives if I might add.”
“What is her name?” asked Arthur.
“Hengroen,” said Merlin. “But you may call her whatever you wish.” Merlin then guided the white horse to Arthur, allowing Arthur to run his hands through her hair and along her side. He felt refreshed as he ran his hands along her white back and neck, cleaving her hair hard with his fingers.
“Hengroen it is,” said Arthur. “Yes, this seems like a great name. Will you ride with me Hengroen?” Hengroen nodded, lifting herself up boldly on both feet. “Excellent! So you shall be my noble steed!”
Merlin looked happy to see Arthur so happy, happier than he had been for a long time. “Yes, you will find that she will serve you well. But now we must ride, through the forest and marsh towards my hut where we must prepare for our return to Camelot!” Merlin mounted his horse, which Arthur found to be quite odd because he never thought Merlin young or healthy enough to ride a horse. But there he was, riding his horse with ferocity and agility like he were as young and strong as Arthur. The two rode quickly that day as the sun gradually set behind them.
Chapter 15: The Broken Covenant
While the witch’s banner flew over Camelot the city became more and more possessed by her evil spirit and darkness continued to creep over the land. The witch stood in the top tower of the castle looking over Camelot and was quite pleased with her plan.
But it here that she suddenly felt herself becoming weaker. She suddenly felt a powerful pain in her chest and collapsed the ground. Her hands raced towards her heart. For several moments she held her hands to her heart in an attempt to alleviate the pain. But her efforts were in vain because it was only gaining in intensity.
Mordred must have heard the sound of the witch falling because, in a matter of moments, he was upstairs, in the top tower, right next to her. “My lady, what is it? What has happened?” He reached down to lift her up from the ground, but she pushed him away.
“Get away!” she snapped. “Nothing is wrong!”
Although the witch said these words she didn’t truly believe that there was nothing wrong, for she had never experienced this pain in her heart before and wondered what devilry could have caused it. She knew herself to be immortal by nature and was always perfectly healthy. But then her mind was drawn to an ancient covenant, a covenant that her woman rescuer used to tell her…it was a covenant attached to the rose…a covenant that, if broken, could spell a certain doom to her. “No!” she exclaimed. “It can’t be! He couldn’t have survived!”
“What is it my lady? Who couldn’t have survived?”
“Arthur,” she snapped as she looked back at Mordred. “Arthur has survived somehow…survived the depths of the pits.”
“But that is impossible. You said it yourself.”
“I was wrong!” She now seemed angrier than ever. She had never been wrong about anything before and the fact that she was now wrong seemed to make her extra angry and afraid.
“What is happening?” asked Mordred.
“I am dying you idiot. Arthur has somehow survived the pits. Now the second plan must be enacted. Your work and preparation for me has been greatly appreciated, but now we must make sure that we are extra nice to Alice because she will be the next witch and will bring the final devastations to this kingdom.”
After this Mordred immediately knew what covenant the witch was referring to. The covenant of the Poison Rose was now broken and the witch’s power, he knew, would gradually fade away until she died. Above all, of course, this was terrible news for Mordred who intended on marrying the witch and living with her forever off of and in enjoyment of her immortality and beauty. Now Mordred knew the witch would be most unpleasant to live with and her beauty would slowly die away as she died. Granted, he knew that this process would take time, many days perhaps, but his hope of living with and being married to the witch seemed to dissipate before his eyes. Although he knew it would be possible for Arthur to refute her love and survive, he thought the chances so low that he didn’t even consider what he would do should this back-up plan need to be enacted. And this incited him to anger against Arthur.
“Arthur has done this to you,” said Mordred. “We must make him pay! If we kill him soon enough then I may still have you in marriage!”
“No,” retorted the witch. “It is too late for that. Once Arthur has refuted my love killing him will not affect me. I will still find myself weakening until death claim me. But no matter…” The witch used her staff to lift herself up from off the ground and moved towards the window. “This perhaps will be even better…Arthur’s own daughter will soon be ours and it will bring him even more sorrow to see his kingdom completely corrupted by the hand of his own daughter. Quickly now! We must gain his daughter’s complete loyalty. Bring her to me and I may soon begin her training. The transformation must begin soon!”
“But my lady,” mumbled Mordred. “Arthur may not know of the covenant and so we cannot be sure of what he will do. He may attempt to come back here to Camelot, right into our hands. Or he may simply fear your rule and hide out.”
“Either way he will fail. After you bring Alice to me gather some of your men and make way for the Devil’s Wasteland. Search the entire area and if you find him there kill him immediately. But do not waste time. If he is alive he may quickly return to this city, and it is best to have you here. I must admit however, that it is odd and suspicious that, even with my vision, I cannot see him!”
So Mordred obeyed her command and with a dozen other men, men whose heart she had also seized, he left Camelot on horseback in search of Arthur.
******
After Mordred departed in search for Arthur the witch invited Alice to come into the council room. The witch smiled gleefully as Alice entered, again speaking her flattering, but yet deceiving words: “Oh Alice, my dear Alice, thank you for coming.”
“Why have you asked me here?” Alice didn’t really want to talk to this woman.
“Because, we have not had much time to talk, you and I,” said the witch. “You see, we are very much the same—you and I. We both have suffered a terrible injustice from the world and, because of that, we deserve so much more than the world can give us. I lost my parents as a young child and you too, have now lost both of yours. Arthur left you for me. I was there Alice, there when your father Arthur came to me and, in his greed and lust for power, he saw me and, like all other men, wanted me—wanted to use me for his own benefit. But, like all men, he failed to get me.”
“Then what happened to him?” asked Alice, still feeling a longing for her father.
“It is a sad story,” said the witch, wrapping her arms around Alice’s body. “I do not wish to tell
it, for it would only dishearten you further. But if you insist I will tell you what happened to your father in my palace. Your father would have been very satisfied of living in my palace with me forever if it weren’t for the fact that he realized I would not fall for him. So, in the night and while I slept, your father—the man you thought was virtuous and honest—took one of my potions…” Suddenly the witch revealed from behind her back the love potion and handed it to Alice. Alice looked surprised as she read the label. “Yes, your father wanted to force me to fall in love with him just as he forced you to remain in this castle. He tried to use my own magic, my own sacred magic against me. Luckily I woke up from my sleep before he could use it on me. Instead, your father fled from my presence and left the palace that night. Now he is out of my sight.”
“He did all that?” asked Alice, surprised.
“Yes, he did,” replied the witch. “I am sorry. I wish I could tell you otherwise. I wish that I could tell you that your father loved you with a pure love, but that would be a lie. The great truth is that your father is the reason why this kingdom now faces such dire circumstance. Your father is the true ‘Poison Rose.’”
Tears streamed down Alice’s cheek. Deep down she still loved her father greatly, but the witch’s words seemed truthful (at least partially) and she felt herself becoming more and more intrigued by the witch’s words.
“So now what would you have me do?” asked Alice.
“I would have you do whatever you wish, whatever makes you happy,” replied the witch. “For so long you have lived a life of bondage and pain. But now, my dear Alice, you are free. And, if you choose, I can give you a power and freedom unlike any other. I can give you the same power I have.” The witch drew her wand, revealing it to Alice. “With this wand I can perform almost anything! But this wand is just a portion of my power. Apart from my potions, which are vast and considerable, I offer to you my palace, my garden, and most importantly, all my beauty and powers of seduction. If you so choose I can give you the power to get revenge against the kingdom of men. I can give you power to rule this world. I know that you desire this…”
Alice’s ears perked up. She liked the sound of having great power and responsibility. She liked the idea of being free. “I do hate what has become of this world, and my life,” said Alice. “I hate that my mother was taken from me. I hate that my own father neglected me and went after another woman.”
The witch smiled. “Yes, those are terrible things.”
Alice then thought about the witch and how little she knew about her. She knew it would be best to wait before deciding. “But I should choose not to decide yet.”
The witch looked puzzled. Although she didn’t exactly prefer her response, she knew that, with time and effort, Alice would eventually side with her. “Very well,” said the witch. “You have spoken true but now you must go. Go downstairs where I will have a wondrous meal prepared for you by my servants.”
The witch then led Alice downstairs to the great hall where they ate a bounteous meal and then prepared to go to sleep. Although it would take time the witch knew that she could get the loyalty of anyone, even if it was Arthur’s own daughter.
Chapter 16: The Secret Council
Darkness had quickly descended as Arthur and Merlin rode back to Merlin’s hut in the south-western part of his kingdom. It was around midnight that night when Arthur and Merlin arrived at the hut. As they approached the hut Arthur could see several men outside of the hut surrounded by fires that they had built to keep themselves warm. From inside the hut he could hear the sound of discourse and knew his knights must be inside.
Before reaching the moat surrounding Merlin’s hut, Merlin and Arthur dismounted from their horses near the forest’s end. Arthur went to grab some rope and secure them to the trees, but Merlin stopped him. “There is no need for that,” said Merlin. “These great horses will remain here of their own accord.”
Arthur nodded. Clearly Merlin knew much about animals and nature than Arthur did.
Merlin and Arthur then walked towards the hut. Arthur waved to the soldiers as he past, but they did not wave back. They looked very dirty and exhausted from their journey. Arthur didn’t blame them.
As Arthur entered Merlin’s hut he was greeted by the cheers of many of his knights. “Arthur has returned!” they cheered. Arthur smiled. He was amazed that so many knights could fit into such a small space, but there they were. In the center of the room stood the statue of Arthur, now completely constructed, with his sword and face pointed up towards the ceiling. Then, by the roaring fireplace, stood Lancelot, Galahad, and Tristan. At the far table sat Percival and the rest of the knights, a table now filled with cups of ale and various drinks that the knights had exchanged. The only two knights Arthur did not see were Mordred, of course, and Gawain, who was at Camelot.
“So only ten there are now, two less than we should have,” said Arthur, looking on each one of his knights as brothers. “Well, be that as it may, I return from my grand mission at the witch’s palace, suffer in the pits of the Devil’s Wasteland, nearly die, and what do I find you doing? Drinking and celebrating? My knights, we have won nothing worth celebrating.”
“We celebrate your arrival Arthur!” exclaimed Percival, holding up a cup of ale.
Arthur looked around at the many knights there, all of whom set down their cups and folded their arms, in respect for Arthur. “Now times have become dire,” said Arthur. “And now is no time to celebrate. That time may come, but now we prepare. We have been banished, all of us, from our own city by this terrible witch who has seen it in her right to control the world and inflict it sorely. I think you do not understand the severity of what the witch can do.”
“But Arthur, we have much to joy in,” said Tristan. “You have returned, and thanks to Merlin we are all here in the same room away from this witch. God has seen it in his mercy to free us.”
“And for that we must all be grateful,” said Arthur boldly. “But our people need us and it is time to remember the covenants we have made to all the people who now suffer in Camelot and throughout the kingdom.”
Suddenly the knights realized Arthur was serious. “But, Arthur, how do you expect us to fulfill our covenants?” asked Percival, who got up from the table and rubbed some drink from off his beard. “You don’t know everything that we have been through. We waited for you in Camelot for three long days not knowing exactly where you went or what befell you. For those three days there was not an hour that passed that we did not pray for you, hoping that you were safe. We were then forced to watch, instead of Arthur, the witch enter our city. And, on top of that, we had to witness our own brother in the Round Table, Mordred, betray us. Because we did not ally with the witch or Mordred we were thrown into the dungeon—and I know what it is like to be in that prison. I have been there before and who rescued me but you. But now you were nowhere to be seen.”
“I would have if I could have!” declared Arthur boldly.
“Arthur, you don’t know what horror the witch has inflicted on that once sacred and beautiful city,” said Lancelot. “Yes, many of us saw the effects of this witch’s power on small towns and provinces in the past, but we could never imagine what horrors the actual presence of the witch could be on the city. Men in the city, noble men, were awed by her beauty and so quickly allied with the witch. It is only a matter of days before that city is completely under her possession.”
“Which is why the longer we linger the more the witch gains control of the city,” said Arthur.
It was then that Merlin whispered in Arthur’s ear. “Be patient and understanding of your knights Arthur, for they have journeyed long and far for you and have been through much.”
Arthur looked back over all his knights and finally seemed to see the weariness and faintheartedness in their eyes. “I am sorry for my anger my valiant knights, but you see, I have seen with my heart and my eyes what evil this woman is capable of. I will now tell you of my experiences with this woma
n. Her palace and garden are amazing and beautiful, second only to her own beauty and power. But surrounding the palace were hundreds of men that were once like you and I, men that somehow became deformed, abused, and impoverished as most of the women and children of this kingdom. She used them for her purpose, to serve her day and night, but, no matter how awful this was, this was not what frightened me most. No, apart from that she had in her garden statues of men who had fallen for her but came to hate her. And, finally, worst of all, she had hearts, living hearts of all those men who had fallen for a witch—men like Mordred who knew her evil and still loved her. Such a terrible woe should never occur, my friends. As we speak men as old as the oldest of witches live throughout our land, as her spies and emissaries. This whole time the witch has been secretly obtaining information about our kingdom, planning until the time was right to take it over. It was her plan to corrupt the kingdom, thus getting myself, as its king, to go to her palace and fall in love with her, thus proving that she could capture all men within her grasp and take over this free land. It was there that she tested me! She attempted to flatter me beyond measure and then walked among the garden with another man in order to incite me to anger. And it was then that I found a love potion with which I could have used to make her fall in love with me. But, alas, this was what she wanted! She wanted me to stoop to her level and use her evil magic. But I would not use her evil magic, for in times past and present there has never been a magic as evil as a witch’s. After this I was stabbed and left to die in a pit in the Devil’s Wasteland where who else but the noble and wise Merlin found me and helped me escape the pit. But it is now, after all this evil that the tide has turned, for we have all survived and must prepare to assault and retake the city of Camelot. We shall retake the city that is rightfully ours!”
The Poison Rose: A King Arthur Tale Page 18