The whole time I was aware of a dull roaring in my ears, the sound of Excalibur.
The engine started making a funny noise just as we got back to the quieter roads towards the Becons. It made a loud clunk and then began to whine. Lance glanced at me but I shrugged helplessly.
We’d slowed to a crawl before the engine died completely. Icy fear curled in my stomach as sudden silence fell. My fingers were tingling again, a feeling I’d started to associate with the presence of magic.
“Get out of the car,” Vivian said in a whisper. “Be ready to defend yourselves.”
I shot Lance a frightened look and he squeezed my fingers before pushing me towards my door.
Stumbling out onto the side of the road, I raced round to the back of the jeep, pulling Excalibur out of the boot. We were in a valley between two hills and I hadn’t seen another car for a while.
Moments later Lance was at my side, his own sword held loosely in one hand.
I watched Wyn help Vivian down from the car then the three of them joined us at the back.
The breeze picked up and an all too familiar smell reached me.
“Not again,” I whispered, a shiver running down my spine at the stench of death. The sky suddenly seemed darker, and I edged closer to Lance.
Our frozen tableau lasted for a few seconds before the trees at the side of the road rustled, and the dark shapes of the wraiths closed in.
Even with Excalibur in my hands, I felt helpless as Lance, Wyn and Percy leapt forward to meet the wraiths. They hacked and slashed but the wraiths just kept coming. I expected a car to come at any moment, but the road remained unnaturally quiet.
One caught Percy with a heavy blow to his already broken arm and he staggered away, groaning with pain. A wraith charged at Wyn, hitting him with such force that they both crashed into the ditch at the roadside.
Lance backed up a few paces, turning slightly to try and keep himself between the wraiths and Vivian and me.
“Can’t you do something?” I asked her, flexing my hands around Excalibur.
“The sword,” she replied. “Excalibur is the only weapon that can destroy a wraith.”
I looked down at the faintly glowing blade then held it out to Lance.
“Take it.”
“I can’t,” he shouted as the wraiths drew closer. “Only a Pendragon can wield Excalibur.”
“But I don’t know how!” I looked up, terrified, into Vivian’s glowing amber eyes.
Suddenly she smiled and something about it worried me. I remembered what both Lance and Merlin had told me. The Fair Folk only helped if it had the potential to amuse them.
“What we need, Cara Pendragon, is a little more – time.”
She grasped my shoulder in one hand and spun me away from her.
It didn’t feel like that hard a push, but I turned violently, the world spinning around me.
Then I was falling.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I seemed to fall for a long time, and when I hit the ground it was with a bone-jarring crunch that knocked the breath out of me. I lay on the ground for a minute, panting and gasping, before finally pushing myself up onto my hands and knees.
It was quiet, far too quiet. I lifted my head and found myself completely alone.
I scrambled up, standing on shaking legs. “Lance? Wyn? Percy?” My voice rose with each name, a hint of hysteria creeping in. I spun, looking for the car. It was gone, and so was the road itself. Instead, a dirt track wound away through a forest that hadn’t been there two minutes before. I’d dropped Excalibur as I’d fallen and now it was gone, along with everything else.
The smile on Vivian’s face just before she grabbed me flashed through my mind. What the hell had she done?
My jeans were ripped from the fall and my knee was stinging, but I forced myself to start walking. I wasn’t going to just stand there waiting for the wraiths to find me.
“Lance?” I called his name again and again, but the forest stayed quiet around me.
I walked for over an hour. My knee was starting to really hurt and I was fighting a rising panic. What scared me most was that Arthur was gone. I couldn’t feel him there at all. It was strange, his presence had once been the thing that terrified me the most, but now I felt very, very alone.
I staggered on a little longer, trying to hold back the tears burning my eyes. A noise reached me and I spun towards it, a spark of hope erupting in my chest. It sounded like hoof beats coming up the path behind me.
Certain suspicions were growing in my mind, but I didn’t want to consider them, because if they were true then I was in serious trouble. They were confirmed as two horses came round the bend in the path. The knights riding them drew to an abrupt halt when they saw me, their faces half hidden by heavy visors.
“Lancelot?” The name slipped from my lips before I could stop it.
It wasn’t Lance, or Wyn or Percy. I knew that straight away. But the older of the two frowned at my voice and swung himself out of the saddle with a clang.
“You seek Sir Lancelot, fair lady?”
In my head I screamed a thousand curses at Vivian. Time. That’s what she’d said. We needed more time. The Fair Folk had a rotten sense of humour. I was going to kill her when I got my hands on her.
The knight was still watching me closely. If he knew Lancelot then perhaps he was from Camelot, and Camelot meant Merlin, the only person who could possibly get me out of the mess Vivian had gotten me into.
“Yes,” I said at last. “I’m looking for Lancelot.”
“You are far from Camelot, fair lady. It is many leagues from here. Do you travel by foot?” He wasn’t speaking English, I knew that for certain, but somehow I understood him. Some left over mark from sharing my mind with Arthur.
I wanted to make a sarcastic reply, but I held my tongue. “Yes. I – uh – lost my horse.”
The knight stepped forward and took my hand, bowing over it. “I am Sir Kay, and I beg of you to allow me to escort you to Camelot. My companion, Sir Lamorak, and I travel there ourselves.”
I had to hold back a smile at the stiff formality, but my reply came too easily to my lips. “My thanks, Sir Kay, it seems the knights of Camelot are as noble and honourable as the rumours say.”
Kay’s eyes lit up at my reply and he escorted me to his horse. The beast was huge and there was a vicious look in its dark eyes, but Kay lifted me easily onto its back just in front of the saddle and then swung up behind me.
I didn’t like horse riding. I hadn’t liked it when I’d tried it aged eight, and I didn’t like it any better with an armoured knight behind me. It was bumpy and uncomfortable, and I felt that at any moment the horse was going to bolt.
“I must ask, my lady, your attire is – unusual.”
I glanced down at my jeans. “I – uh – come from a long way away.”
“Indeed,” Sir Lamorak said from beside us. “You are a most unusual lady.”
“May I ask how long it will take us to reach Camelot?” I couldn’t really afford to have them paying too much attention to where I might be from.
“Half the day, my lady,” Kay answered. “We should reach the walls by sunset.”
He was pretty accurate. The sun was just reaching the horizon as we crested a hill and emerged from the forest. Suddenly Camelot was before us. Nestled in a narrow valley, the town was a warren of twisting streets and low one story buildings, smoke rising from the chimneys. Yet it was Camelot Castle that drew my eye. It was breath-taking. This was no fairy-tale castle, but a solid fortress towering over the town. Scarlet pennants snapped from the battlements, and even from a distance I could see red liveried guards pacing the top of the wall.
We clattered through the streets at pace, people hurrying out of the way as we passed, and didn’t slow even as we approached the castle portcullis. The guards stood aside without question and we trotted into a wide paved courtyard. High white walls rose on three sides and on the fourth rose the castle itself. A set of
wide marble steps were flanked by two gleaming statues of men on horseback, their stone faces set in expressions of grim determination.
Two young squires hurried forward to take the horses as Kay and Lamorak dismounted. Kay reached back to lift me down and led me up the wide steps to a set of towering doors.
The castle corridors were dim, lit by torches along the walls that cast their flickering glow over dark stone walls and flagstones. The heavy booted footfalls of the knights echoed, but otherwise the place was still and silent. For some reason it reminded me of walking the corridors of Snedham. It was not a pleasant association.
I shook the thought off as we reached another set of massive doors guarded by two more men.
“Sir Kay.” One of them bowed. “The King is holding court.” His eyes moved to me and my ripped jeans.
“I know, Peldin. The lady is with me.”
The guard didn’t look convinced but he pushed open the huge doors.
The throne room was vast, the ceiling so high I had to crane my neck to see the intricately carved beams. Kay marched up the centre of the room, but I hesitated in the doorway. There were thirty or more people in the room, mostly men, but there were one or two women in long, flowing dresses.
There were faces I recognised. Percival leant against a tall column, an expression of idle curiosity on his face. He was younger than the Percy I knew, but older than the memory of him I had seen. This must have been a couple of years after his entry into the knighthood, but he still couldn’t have been more than sixteen or seventeen. A faint downy beard covered his chin, but he was already the biggest, most solidly muscled man in the room.
Gwain stood a little distance from him with three other knights. They were all in full armour, and looked tired. The heavy shadow of stubble on Gwain’s jaw and the dark circles under his eyes suggested a recent long journey.
But my gaze was drawn to the front of the room, where the three people I wanted to see most stood waiting.
Arthur rose from his throne as we’d entered an expression of polite welcome on his face. Like the last time I’d seen him his clothes were far from the regal silks and velvets I expected. He wore chainmail with a leather jerkin over the top, though the leather was intricately tooled. He looked young still, mid twenties at the oldest.
To his left stood the robed and bearded Merlin. Merlin was the only one who was really looking at me. His eyes were narrowed, his lips pursed as he checked me over.
On the right of Arthur stood a figure all too familiar to me. Lancelot, and I couldn’t use his nickname even in my own head, stood one step behind the throne. He wasn’t wearing armour, but leather trousers tucked into high riding boots and a black jerkin trimmed in dark blue over a chainmail shirt. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword and he stood sharply to attention. He was a little older than the Lance I knew, but not by more than a few years, and his hair was longer.
As I stared at him he shifted his gaze from Kay to me and the look I saw in them felt like a blow to the stomach. There wasn’t a single flicker of recognition. Of course, rationally I’d known he wouldn’t know who I was, but it still hurt.
There was no familiarity, but there was interest in his eyes, and his lips curved into a faint smile as he looked me over.
“Kay,” Arthur stepped forward and I realised that what felt like a lifetime to me had only been a few seconds. “I’m glad you’re back. And you bring us company?”
Kay bowed. “Your Majesty, Lamorak and I found this fair lady alone in the forest. She seemed lost and on my honour I couldn’t leave her there. Besides, My Lord, it seems she seeks one of our own. Sir Lancelot.”
Lancelot’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, and Arthur turned to him.
“Lancelot? You are acquainted with this lady?”
A crooked grin appeared on Lancelot’s face. “Sire, I only wish I were. I am certain that I should never forget such a fair face, but the lady is not known to me. Though, I should gladly rectify that.”
There was a ripple of laughter through the court and I felt my cheeks flush.
Arthur smiled indulgently and turned back towards me. “I’m afraid you have some advantage over us, my lady.”
I thought quickly, wondering what I could possibly say.
“I – I do not know Sir Lancelot personally,” I stuttered. “I know only of his reputation as the greatest knight to grace the court of King Arthur.”
Lancelot’s expression grew smug, but at the same time I heard a snort from Gwain across the hall.
“When I met Sir Kay on the road, I hoped that he was Sir Lancelot purely because I knew he would aid me. But Sir Kay is as noble as a lady could wish and – “ I ran out of things to say, and Arthur was watching me curiously. I gulped. “I sought only the court of King Arthur, because it is the one place I thought I might find Merlin.”
Merlin had been watching me carefully the whole time and he nodded abruptly, but I wasn’t finished.
“Vivian, sister of Nimue…”
Arthur started forward at the mention of the Lady of the Lake and I saw his fingers drop to the sword at his hip.
A low muttering filled the room and Lancelot was watching me more intently than ever, his eyes glittering under lowered lashes.
“Here is not the place to speak of such things,” Merlin said quickly, sweeping down the steps. “Come with me, child.”
Both Lancelot and Arthur looked like they were going to protest, but Merlin had already taken my arm and was hustling me from the room. We strode down corridors and hallways far faster than Merlin’s apparent age should have let us, but we didn’t speak until we were inside a spacious set of chambers and Merlin had closed the door.
“Very well, Cara, you had best tell me everything.” He sounded exactly like the Merlin I knew, the overly formal speech dropping away entirely.
I blinked. “How do you know my name?”
“I wouldn’t be much of a prophet of the future if I didn’t. Now talk to me.”
I started talking and didn’t stop for nearly an hour. I told Merlin everything, from when my mother had first started losing her mind, right up to the last moments in the forest.
Once I’d finished Merlin sighed. “That sounds like Vivian. She would have found this very amusing.”
“But can you send me back?”
“No, it’s not within my power. To move through time requires moving through Avalon. Avalon exists in a timeless place and so from there you can access any time. I have done it many times, but only with Nimue’s assistance.”
“So we go to the Lake?”
“I wish we could. But I cannot take you at the moment, and it is too dangerous for you to go alone. This is not your time, Cara Page, and you would be at great risk. We are waiting on representatives of a neighbouring kingdom in the next few days, coming to agree a peace treaty. I must be here with Arthur.
“But when? I can’t stay here.”
“Give me a week.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
A week. A week stuck more than a thousand years in the past. I couldn’t think of anything worse. Only one thing about it appealed to me, the idea that I might get to know Arthur whilst I was there, to know the real person, not just the voice in my head.
Of course, I thought as I trailed after Merlin across the castle, Arthur would have no idea who I was. Lost in thought I didn’t wonder about where we were going, until Merlin knocked on a door and it was answered by a young girl. She was around my age, maybe little older, with chestnut hair and bright brown eyes. Even though she looked nothing like them, she reminded me somehow of Rebecca and Samantha.
“My Lord Merlin?” She seemed surprised to see him. “Is there something I can assist you with?”
“Cara, this is Lady Elaine. My Lady, I was hoping you might help my young friend here. She is to stay here in Camelot for a few days and I think she could use some different attire.”
Elaine’s eyes travelled over my ripped jeans and she laughed. “Of course.” Sh
e welcomed me in and Merlin turned to leave. I reached for his arm, suddenly afraid of being left alone.
“Elaine will take care of you. Try to – fit in.”
I snorted but let him close the door. The bed chamber was large and spacious, dominated by a massive four poster bed covered in heavy blankets and embroidered bolsters. The furniture was all made from the same dark wood, gleaming richly in the candlelight.
“You must come from very far away,” Elaine said as she crossed to a large closet. “For them to allow women to dress like men.”
“Mmmm,” I murmured. “Further than you think.”
She smiled and pulled open the door of the closet to reveal a rack of long dresses. I watched her as she started sorting through them. Elaine. The name rang a bell, but I could quite place it. I wondered what had brought her to Camelot.
She tugged a bell by the door, distracting me from my musing. It opened a few moments later to admit a young girl who made an impressively low curtsy.
“Ah, Linna, I need you to draw a bath for Lady Cara. And then you will need to assist her in dressing.” She pulled out a long dress in deep green. “I think this one would suit you.”
The bath was heavenly and I could finally wash the dirt out of my scraped knee. When I got out the girl was there, trying to help me dry and get dressed. I found it a little embarrassing. The dress was exquisite though, with long flowing sleeves and a silver embroidered girdle sitting low on the hips. The girl then made me sit and began brushing out my hair and pinning sections of it up.
I wasn’t sure I liked being waited on, but I had to admit, when I looked in the polished bronze sheet they used as a mirror, I looked pretty good. The dress clung in just the right places, and my hair was pinned at the front to then tumble down my back in soft waves. It was the girliest I’d ever looked, but a little part of me liked it. I realised I must have looked similar to this that day back at the Lake when Nimue had given me the dress to wear.
Elaine returned to the room just as I was turning away from the mirror and she beamed.
The Last Knight (Pendragon Book 1) Page 16