Crown of Dreams (18 page)

Mordred winced and raised his hand to his head.

“
Take off my crown, traitor, and let my daughter go
!” Arthur commanded. “
Or I’ll cut off your
other hand when I return to the world of men
.”

Her cousin flinched. To Rhianna, her father looked more solid than he had in the shadrake’s lair, but Mordred obviously couldn’t see him as well as she could. He must have been able to hear him, though, because he laughed.

“You do that, uncle –
if
you return! I think we’re going to have a long wait, though, before you can pick up your sword again… A very long wait, if you’re relying on your daughter to find the Grail of Stars, which no knight has ever found and lived to tell the tale. So how can anyone expect a damsel to succeed?” He laughed again. “Especially alone, without her friends. Merlin won’t escape the shadrake this time, and her fairy prince seems to have vanished off the face of the earth along with all your fine knights. No doubt the lad has seen
sense and ridden back through the mists to Avalon by now.”

Rhianna’s heart thumped. “That’s a lie! Elphin would never abandon me.” But she couldn’t help thinking of her friend leading the knights through Annwn’s green flood, and the Lonely Tor that led to Avalon, only a day’s ride away.

Seeing the doubt on her face, Mordred chuckled. “Are you so sure of that, cousin? I wear the Crown now. I can see through the shadrake’s eyes, remember.”

“Only if you can spirit-ride,” Rhianna said. “Which you can’t.”

“Maybe I’ve learned how,” Mordred snapped back. “Come, shadrake!” he called, raising his arms to the hole in the roof. “Come to your new Pendragon!”

A shadow passed across the sun. Her cousin looked up with a triumphant smile.

Rhianna’s stomach tightened as huge wings blocked the light. But the dragon flapped on past. As Mordred squinted after it, a small, feathered missile dived through the hole above the Round Table and flew into the dark knight’s upturned face, knocking the Crown askew.

“Merlin!” she gasped in relief.

Her cousin flung up his arms to protect his eyes, and the gauntlet’s grip on her wrists loosened as he lost control of the shadow magic. She thumped it against the table, and the horrid thing dropped to the floor.

In a heartbeat, she had dragged off her remaining bonds, danced around the empty chairs, snatched up Excalibur and leaped on to the table. She thrust the blade into the slot that
Merlin had made for it long ago, and ghostly knights long dead shimmered into view all around the hall.

“Who summons us?” they breathed.

“I do!” Rhianna said quickly, before her cousin could speak. “I summon you to aid your king, Arthur Pendragon, guardian of the Round Table and rightful ruler of the world of men!”

The knights blinked at King Arthur’s ghost. “Our king!” they whispered. “Our king has returned to Camelot… what is your command, sire?”

“
Throw the traitor Mordred out of here
,” King Arthur ordered. “
He has dared to wear my crown, but he will never be king of men while my spirit survives
.”

Mordred, meanwhile, staggered from his seat and stumbled around the hall, pursued
by the screeching merlin. The ghosts crowded around him. He bumped into pillars and tripped over a chair as the crown slipped over his eyes. He backed into a corner, fending off the pale knights. “Get away from me,” he growled. “
I’m
your Pendragon, not Arthur! Don’t you recognise me? I’m Prince Mordred, son of the king’s sister, Lady Morgan Le Fay, and I wear the Crown now! You have to obey
me
…”

Rhianna closed her eyes to concentrate on the sword’s magic. “Sir Lancelot?” she called. “Sir Bors? Sir Bedivere? Can you hear me? It’s Rhianna! I’m at the Round Table. Where are you?”

She held her breath. If Sir Bors and Sir Bedivere were still following Elphin through the floods, would they be able to hear her?

“Right outside!” boomed a voice at the door,
making her jump. “Hold on, Damsel Rhianna, we’re coming.”

The double doors burst open. Sir Lancelot and Sir Bors rushed in with the other knights who had ridden to Dragonland. Their armour dripped and they left wet footprints across the floor, but their weapons were dry. Cai stood behind them with his oversized Saxon helmet in his hand, grinning. Rhianna grinned back in relief. She left Excalibur in the table and jumped down, looking for Elphin.

She’d forgotten the dark fist.

As she jumped off the table, it flew up from the floor and seized Excalibur’s hilt. The ghostly knights disappeared. In the shadows, Mordred jerked his right arm. The sword came out of the table with a shower of blue sparks and flashed straight for Rhianna’s throat.

She staggered back against a pillar, where the sword pricked her chin. She swallowed in fear as something warm trickled down her neck.

Blood
, she thought in horror.
Blood on Excalibur’s blade.

E
veryone froze, staring at Rhianna and the blade the dark fist was holding to her throat. Despair filled her. Now she couldn’t take Excalibur back to Avalon for her father. Even if she found all four Lights,
she could not complete her quest.

Mordred struggled to his feet and struck the merlin a blow that sent the poor little hawk tumbling across the floor. He adjusted the crown, which had slipped over one eye, and spat out a feather. Before the knights could stop him, he limped towards Rhianna and grabbed her wrist, pulling her in front of him.

“Nobody touches me!” he said, twisting her left arm up behind her back. “Lay your weapons on the floor and let us walk out of here. And keep that crazy bird off me as well, or your princess joins my mother in Annwn. I mean it.”

With the dark fist and the sword following her every move, Rhianna had no choice but to shuffle with her cousin towards the door. The merlin lay on the floor under the table where
Mordred had knocked him, wings spread and panting. She couldn’t see Elphin. Where was he when they needed his magic? She heard the clash of swords in the corridors outside and wondered if the Saxons had changed sides yet again.

When she thought of how stupid she’d been to let go of Excalibur, she felt like crying. Then she got angry. This was her father’s castle! Mordred had no right to threaten her inside Camelot.

“Don’t worry about me,” she choked out. “It’s only shadow magic. Arrest him!”

The knights stared uncertainly at the dark fist holding the sword to her throat. Sir Lancelot took a step towards Mordred, who raised his right arm. The fist jumped sideways, knocking Lancelot’s sword from his hand
before returning swiftly to Rhianna’s throat.

“I’m not bluffing!” he warned as Lancelot hugged his wounded wrist. “That’s my right hand holding Excalibur, the one King Arthur chopped off at Camlann. It’s been to Annwn and back, and I know how to use the shadow magic now.”

“He’s only trying to scare you!” Rhianna spluttered. “He won’t kill me. He knows he’ll never get out of here alive if he does.”

The knights muttered angrily. But none of them dared approach the dark knight.

“That’s better,” Mordred said. “As you can see, my fist holds the Sword of Light. That means I command your knightly spirits now. So lay down your weapons and get down on your knees! And someone bring me my horse and the Lance of Truth. I know it’s here
somewhere, if the little champion is around. Don’t make me look for it, or it’ll be the worse for your princess.”

The knights glanced at Rhianna again, but whoever held Excalibur controlled them. Slowly, one by one, they laid their swords on the mosaic floor and dropped to their knees. Cai cast her an apologetic look and hurried outside. Another squire went running towards the stables.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” she said as Mordred dragged her past the kneeling knights, into the corridor that led to the courtyard. “I can’t believe you’re just going to let him walk out of here! He killed my father remember? Pick up your swords, you fools, and arrest the traitor!”

Sir Bedivere shook his head at her as they passed. “Your life is more important, Damsel Rhianna,” he said. “Don’t do anything rash.
We can’t fight Mordred while he’s got two of the Lights – the spirit magic is too strong. But Cynric’s still outside. The Saxons aren’t controlled by Excalibur’s magic, don’t worry.”

“Those two-faced barbarians won’t get in my way if they know what’s good for them,” Mordred growled as he hustled Rhianna down the corridor.

The fighting had stopped. Rhianna wondered who had won. She made it as difficult as she could for Mordred to drag her along, slowing him down as much as possible to give the Saxons time to get into position.

An out of breath Cai waited outside in the courtyard with the Lance of Truth. A small group of bloodbeards stood warily near the open gates with their horses. The shadrake crouched on the battlements, watching every movement
with its red eyes. When he saw no sign of the Saxons, Mordred relaxed slightly and pushed her down the steps towards his men.

“Strap that lance to my horse’s saddle and get down on your hands and knees,” he ordered Cai. “I need a mounting block, and you’ll do nicely.”

“Don’t do it, Cai!” Rhianna called. “Go and get Elphin. Tell him to bring his harp.”

“Forget it,” Mordred said with a laugh. “Avalonian magic doesn’t work against the power of Annwn, as your fairy friend knows.”

The squire stopped. His hands trembled as he aimed his lance at the dark knight. “
I’ll
save you, Damsel Rhianna!” Teeth gritted in determination, he advanced towards Mordred. But since Rhianna had knighted Cai with Excalibur in the summer so that he could
be her champion, he had the same problem as the other knights. With the sword held by the dark fist controlling his spirit, each step the boy took was slower than the last.

“Stop!” Mordred said in alarm, dragging Rhianna in front of him again.

Sweat broke out on Cai’s brow. His face twisted in pain as he fought the magic, but he kept the Lance of Truth pointed at the dark knight and managed another step.

“I command you by the power of this Sword that controls your knightly spirit to stop!” Mordred yelled, a flicker of fear in his eyes. “You’re the Pendragon’s champion, aren’t you? I hold Excalibur, which means you have to obey me now, not her! Do what I told you, or your princess dies, here and now.”

Mordred’s bloodbeards closed around their
prince and Rhianna. The knights were still weaponless, watching helplessly from the top of the steps.

Cai’s shoulders slumped. He carried the lance over to the black stallion, mouthing “sorry” as he passed her. Was he really under Mordred’s control, or only pretending to be? This was getting ridiculous.

She jerked her elbow into Mordred’s stomach and stamped down hard on his lame foot with her heel. This might have had more effect if she’d been wearing her boots, but Mordred doubled over in pain and grunted as his crippled leg gave way.

Before he could recover, Rhianna ducked under Excalibur’s wildly waving blade and grabbed the dark fist in both hands. It twisted in her grip and froze her hands, but she had
anger on her side and prised the black fingers open one by one.

“Give me back my sword!” she yelled at the dark knight. “I’m not scared of you!”

“You should be,” Mordred hissed as his captain helped him up. “You’ll be sorry you did that, cousin. You can’t fight magic.”

“I’ve been fighting magic all my life,” Rhianna growled back through gritted teeth. “What do you think I had to do growing up in Avalon?”

As soon as her fingers touched the white jewel on Excalibur’s hilt, it flared brightly. Freed from Mordred’s control, the knights shook their heads as if waking from a daze. They picked up their weapons and staggered down the steps into the courtyard to help Rhianna with her struggle against the dark fist.

Mordred retreated behind his bloodbeards and raised both arms to the sky. The green jewel at the front of the Crown glowed, and the shadrake swooped down from the battlements, its shadow darkening the sun.

He laughed. “See?” he called. “This crown gives me the power of the ancient Dragonlords! Keep the silly lance, if you want. I don’t need the Light made by the hands of men. The Crown and the Sword should be enough for now to make people obey me. When I find the Grail, I’ll be invincible!”

“You’ll never find
that
without King Arthur’s jewel, traitor!” Cai said scornfully, swinging the Lance of Truth at the dark knight.

Mordred scowled and turned to deal with the boy. Cai’s lance sparkled through the air, in danger of skewering Rhianna. While her
cousin was distracted, she wrenched Excalibur from the dark fist’s grip and yelled at the knights to help Cai. Seeing that she had her sword back again and could look after herself, they at last tackled the bloodbeards.

Rhianna leaped towards the dark knight, meaning to put Excalibur to
his
throat and make him give her the Crown. But before anyone could touch him, her cousin fell to the ground and began to thrash about, clawing at his head as Arianrhod had done in the chapel before they had set out for Dragonland. Seeing they could not win, the surviving bloodbeards abandoned their prince and fled for the gates.

The knights gathered warily around Mordred, forming a ring of swords. Annwn’s green jewel brightened still further, and the crown began to smoke. Mordred groaned and
thrashed some more. Then his back arched, he gave a final spine-tingling scream, slammed to the ground and lay still. The Crown rolled from his head, and the dark knight’s spirit twisted up over the wall and vanished.

As everyone stared at the dark knight’s body, a wild shriek raised the hairs on Rhianna’s neck. There came a rush of wings, and the shadrake swooped into the courtyard making everyone duck. The horses reared in terror and bolted out of the gate.

“I WILL TAKE THIS NOW, PENDRAGON,” the creature’s familiar voice boomed in her head.

Rhianna tightened her grip on Excalibur and threw herself over the Crown, yelling a warning to Cai to keep a good hold of the Lance. But the creature did not try to steal any
of the Lights this time. Instead, its scaly claw grabbed Mordred’s fist from where she’d cast it aside. Before anyone could react, the dragon had escaped over the wall with its prize.

She climbed to her feet, shaking. She eyed the Crown, wondering if she dared put it on and call the dragon back. No, she wasn’t ready yet for another battle with magic. Let the dragon take its treasure – her cousin wouldn’t be using his dark fist to torture anyone else now.

The knights had dropped to the ground when the shadrake attacked, covering their heads with their shields. They gave Rhianna a sheepish look and turned their attention back to Mordred. Her cousin lay rigid, his face still twisted with its final scream. Sir Bors poked him with his sword. The dark knight did not move.

“Is he dead?” she asked, her stomach doing strange things.

Sir Lancelot bent over the motionless body and put a finger to the dark knight’s neck. He frowned, then looked up and nodded. The others relaxed slightly.

Sir Bedivere sighed. “The Crown must have killed him,” he said. “There’s an old druid’s tale that says it will kill anybody who tries to take the throne unlawfully, but we’ve never seen its magic in action before.”

“It killed Morgan Le Fay too,” Rhianna told them, staring at Mordred. She still could not quite believe he was dead.

“Serves the traitor right!” Cai said fiercely, gripping the Lance of Truth. “I wish you’d let me kill him for you though, Damsel Rhianna. It don’t seem real he was killed by
magic like that. Is Excalibur all right?”

She examined Excalibur’s blade, reminded of the blood. But with Mordred dead, maybe it wouldn’t matter so much if she couldn’t take her father his sword when she went back to Avalon? She could always leave Excalibur at Camelot with her mother until the king returned to claim his throne.

Chief Cynric arrived at the gates with a bloodbeard’s head dangling from each hand. The big Saxon’s axe dripped blood, and he was grinning. “Caught these two devils running off. Guess Prince Mordred won’t miss them now. Do you need any more help, Princess?” he asked. “It’s a bit wet outside still – you won’t be having any jousts for a while, but we’ll soon get the place cleaned up for you. What happened in here? Looks like the Wild Hunt hit it.”

Rhianna looked around the courtyard with its scorch marks, dead bloodbeards and scattered weapons. “Magic did,” she said with a grin.

While everyone argued about whether the Crown’s magic had really killed the dark knight or he’d finally died of his old battle wounds from Camlann, Queen Guinevere appeared at the castle door. She wore a nightgown and her bright hair was still tousled from her pillow.

Her frantic gaze swept the courtyard. When it reached Rhianna, she let out a gasp of relief and rushed down the steps towards her. “Oh, my brave darling! Thank God. I could hardly believe it when I woke up and they said you were back. He told me you were
dead
! He had your shield and your boots…”