Crown of Dreams (3 page)

After the service, people gathered in the courtyard. Stalls had been set up serving roast boar and mead to those who couldn’t fit inside the dining hall. Squires and servants hung about in groups in the autumn sunshine, discussing Arianrhod’s strange behaviour and whether the maid could really be a witch like her first
mistress. One of the older knights muttered about a trial by fire. The squires, overhearing this, began to gather sticks and bits of straw to build a bonfire so they could ‘test’ the other damsels, who screamed and fled towards the dining hall with the laughing boys in pursuit.

Rhianna elbowed through them all, chilled by their teasing. “Grow up!” she snapped at Gareth as she passed the squire. “How can you joke about burning someone? You know it’s not Arianrhod’s fault she had to serve Morgan Le Fay while the witch lived at Camelot.”

She hadn’t found her pendant in the short time she’d stayed behind in the chapel to look for it. One of the knights must have picked it up. She’d get it back later. Her friend was more important. She hurried to the Damsel Tower with Elphin at her heels.

Lady Isabel, the tall golden-haired woman who looked after the damsels, tried to stop the Avalonian boy at the door. But Rhianna seized his hand and pulled him inside. “I need him to play his harp to help Arianrhod get better,” she explained breathlessly.

Lady Isabel shook her head. “First Sir Bedivere, and now a fairy prince! I don’t know what Camelot is coming to since you arrived, Damsel Rhianna.” She grabbed the back of Cai’s tunic as the boy tried to follow them in. “Not you as well, young squire! I draw the line at two boys in Rhianna’s room at once.”

“But she needs my help, too,” Cai protested. “I’m the Pendragon’s champion.
And
I’m a knight now.”

“All the more reason why I’m not letting you up there.” Lady Isabel turned the boy around
and marched him firmly back into the courtyard. “You go off to lunch, young knight. It’s not like you to miss the chance of a good meal.”

Cai pulled a face and looked up at the high windows of the tower in frustration. “Elphin’s a lot more dangerous than me,” he grumbled. “He might charm all the girls away to Avalon with his harp.”

Rhianna smiled as she led the way up the stairs. “Just don’t charm Arianrhod away until we find out what’s wrong with her, will you?” she told her friend, pausing at the door to her chambers.

Elphin did not reply. He was looking past her, his eyes whirling purple. “That explains what happened to your father’s pendant,” he said in a wary tone.

They stared at the sleeping maid. Sir
Bedivere had put her on the bed and pulled a cover over her, but Arianrhod was trying to kick it off. She seemed to be having some kind of nightmare. Rhianna’s missing pendant dangled from her hand, its chain wrapped about one slender wrist.

“It must have got tangled round her arm when I tried to help her in the chapel,” she said in relief, rescuing the pendant. “She’s having another bad dream, poor thing. Can you play your harp for her again?”

Ever since the guards had found the maid unconscious in the dungeon after Mordred’s escape during the midsummer feast, Arianrhod had suffered from nightmares. No one knew exactly how she’d come to be down there. She claimed not to remember a thing.

Elphin ran his fingers over the strings, and
Arianrhod’s back arched. She cried out in her sleep and mumbled something. They caught the words ‘crown’ and ‘jewel’ and ‘Annwn’.

He lowered his harp and shook his head. “Sorry, Rhia. Something’s working against my magic. I think she’s under a spell.”

“Morgan Le Fay again?” Mordred’s mother had used the poor girl for a spell once before, cutting her cheek with a dagger and leaving a pentacle scar. Lady Morgan’s spirit was in Annwn now, but the witch could still use her magic to reach the world of men.

“I don’t know,” Elphin said, still wary. “But your pendant’s not black any more. Something’s happening to the stone, look.”

R
hianna hurried to the window and dangled the pendant against the sun. Although still dark, the stone no longer seemed ugly. A dim red light now flickered at its heart. Wondering if it had been damaged
during the struggle in the chapel, she touched it and felt a slight heat.

“Careful, Rhia,” Elphin warned. “We don't know where it came from yet.”

Crown
…
jewel
…
Annwn
… Arianrhod's words suddenly made sense.

“The Crown of Dreams, which hides the Jewel of Annwn!” She stared at Elphin, shivering with a mixture of excitement and terror. “That's what the song says, isn't it? The one Merlin sang for us in Avalon, when he brought my father's body through the mists? I should have realised before! My father gave this jewel to my mother the night before his last battle. She told me it turned black when he died, and you sensed an echo of magic in it the first time I showed it to you… Oh Elphin, I know it's only small but
what if this is the
Jewel of Annwn
!”

She held the dark jewel at arm's length by its broken chain and looked at it with fresh eyes. Thank goodness she had kept it, and hadn't thrown it into Lady Nimue's lake as an offering as she had thought of doing at first.

But Elphin shook his head and said quietly, “If that were a thing of Annwn, I would not be able to touch it without pain, Rhia.”

“But you didn't touch it, did you?”

“I touched it when you wore it at the Midsummer Feast, remember?”

“I'd forgotten that. But it was still black then, so maybe its magic wasn't working properly. We have to show it to Merlin!”

They went through to Rhianna's sitting room, where a small, grey-blue falcon was leashed to a
perch under the window. No one had cleaned in here this morning, and feathers spiralled up from the floor. Rhianna pulled off the bird's hood and rested her hand on Excalibur's hilt so she could talk to Merlin. The druid's spirit had been trapped inside the little merlin falcon since Morgan Le Fay drowned his man's body on their way over from Avalon last year.

The bird fluffed its feathers, making Rhianna sneeze. “Have you brought my breakfast?” he grumbled. “No one's fed me this morning. Where is everyone?”

“The damsels will be back soon, Merlin,” Elphin said with a smile. “I expect they'll bring you some meat from the feast.” He ran a slender finger down the speckled breast. The merlin shivered in pleasure and nibbled at his knuckle.

Rhianna sighed. “When you two have quite finished grooming each other, we've got something to show you, Merlin.”

She opened her hand to reveal the pendant. Merlin gave it a keen stare. She felt sure he recognised the stone. But as she tried to decide if it had changed colour again, the bird turned its back on her and returned to his grooming. “Put that thing away, Rhianna Pendragon,” he grumbled. “I'm not interested in your baubles. Go and show it to the damsels, foolish girl.”

She checked the door to make sure they were alone, and lowered her voice. “You might be interested in this one. We think this is the Jewel of Annwn.”

“Whatever gave you that idea?” The merlin stretched a wing and eyed Elphin in amusement. “The Jewel of Annwn, she says…
as if such a thing could be worn around her neck without stealing the breath from her throat, or lie against a mortal heart without stopping it stone dead. Even set into the Crown, Annwn's jewel is dangerous enough, but there at least, the rightful heir to the throne can wear it without fear of dying.”

Rhianna felt faintly disappointed. She frowned at the stone and scrunched up the chain to put it back into her pocket. “Then it's just some old pendant my mother gave me, after all. I thought when it changed colour like it did—”

“It
what
?” Merlin turned round so quickly he almost fell off his perch. “Let me see.”

“You wanted me to put it away just now,” Rhianna said, irritated. “Make up your mind.”

“Hold Excalibur closer,” the druid instructed.
“That's better. Now then, let's have a proper look.” He twisted his head to examine the stone with each eye in turn. “Hmm, mmm… ah yes, I see now. This isn't Annwn's jewel, you silly girl – it's Arthur's. Seems your father's secrets did not die with him, after all.”

“What secrets?” she asked.

The bird fluffed its feathers again, grumpily. “If I knew that, they wouldn't be secrets, would they? Only another Pendragon can look into the king's jewel and see the secrets he stored inside.”

Rhianna frowned. “So why can't I see them? I've got Pendragon blood.”

“Because, Rhianna Pendragon, its magic won't work by itself. You'll have to put it back into your father's crown before you understand.”

“So Rhianna's right – this stone
did
come
from the Crown of Dreams,” Elphin said. “I sensed its power before, but never thought it might have come from one of the four Lights! Why didn't the queen tell us what it was? Didn't she know?”

“Of course not,” the merlin said. “If she'd known what it really was, she'd have been too scared to accept it. I told Arthur to take it out of the Crown before the battle in case things went badly – and a good thing I did! As far as Guinevere was concerned, it was a parting gift from her loving husband. I counted on its ugliness to keep it safe from any light-fingered maids. While Arthur's jewel is here with us, no impostor can use its magic to take the throne. But that light you can see inside means the Crown has been found… Hmm. This changes things.”

Rhianna had been thinking of Arianrhod's fingers on the pendant. But when Merlin said the Crown had been found, she instantly forgot her friend's strange behaviour. “Who's found it?” she said. “If it's Mordred, we've failed! I need all four Lights to bring my father back from Avalon…”

“You're not listening, as usual.” Merlin pecked at her hand again, almost making her drop the pendant. “I never said you needed all four Lights to bring Arthur back to the world of men – but it's true he'll need as many of them as possible if he's to defeat the dark knight and restore Camelot to its former glory when he does return. I'd hoped the Sword and the Lance might be enough to lure his soul back into his body. Arthur never possessed the Grail anyway, and while the Crown was buried
in a dragon's lair, it was safe enough from enemy hands until he came back to reclaim it. But now the Crown has been found, which changes things. Without your father's jewel in place, it won't work properly and it's dangerous to wear. But it's the Pendragon crown and it contains the secrets of the old Dragonlords, so Mordred might be able to use it against us if he gets hold of it. You need to go to Dragonland and get it back as soon as possible.”

“That's what I've been telling my mother and the knights for months!” Rhianna said in frustration. “But they won't listen to me. They keep saying they can't leave Camelot unprotected to ride out on another quest, in case Mordred's planning to attack the castle with a new army. They don't seem to understand I need to find the Crown before he does.
Will you fly in to the Round Table meeting again, Merlin, and talk to them all again like you did in the spring? If you tell them what you just told us, they'll have to let me go and look for it!”

“Let
us
go,” Elphin corrected. “You're not going anywhere without me and Cai.”

Rhianna grinned. “All right, us.” She pulled a face at the little hawk. “I suppose we'll have to take Merlin as well to show us the way…”

Shouts in the courtyard below the window distracted them. Merlin fluttered up and down his perch. “What's going on out there?” he grumbled. “Rather a lot of noise for a memorial service, if you ask me.”

“They've been drinking mead,” Elphin said, his eyes purple with disapproval. “It's probably another fight.”

Then they heard feet pounding up the stairs and Lady Isabel's angry shout. Rhianna drew Excalibur as Gareth, the squire who had called Arianrhod a witch in the chapel, burst into the room.

“Damsel Rhianna, you got to come quick!” he puffed. “There's a man in black armour outside who says he's come for Arianrhod, and Cai's challenged him to a duel!”

A chill went down Rhianna's back as she remembered the shadowy figure she'd seen in the chapel before Arianrhod had attacked her.

“Mordred!” she breathed, staring at Elphin.

Her friend shook his head. “He wouldn't dare come alone, not after what happened at midsummer. And anyway, Cai's got more sense than to challenge Prince Mordred to a duel.”

“I'm not so sure.” She thought of how proud
Cai had been when she knighted him last year.

“Young Sir Cai, the shortest knight who ever lived, duelling?” The merlin let out a screech that sounded suspiciously like a bird-laugh. “That'll be something to see! Take me outside.”

“It's not
funny
!” Rhianna said, rushing to the window. “Cai's going to get himself killed out there.”

“Cai's going to get hurt,” Gareth agreed. “That's a real war lance the challenger's carrying, not a wooden jousting spear.”

Rhianna leaned out to see the jousting field where, in the spring, the squires had tilted for fun. Today, the autumn sun cast long shadows across the course from the wall, and at first she couldn't see anyone. Then she saw Cai's pony, Sandy, gallop out of the gates with his mane glowing like fire.

The boy still wore his squire's uniform, but he carried the Lance of Truth, which left a trail of glitter through the air. After him ran a crowd of eager squires, cheering him on, followed by the adults from the courtyard shouting at them to stop. At the far end of the field, a shaggy black horse reared as the stranger raised his lance to answer Cai's challenge.

Rhianna tried to see if the man had a crippled leg and one hand like her cousin, but he was too far away.

Gareth jostled behind her, trying to see as well. “I'd say the maid's as good as his,” he said.

“Oh stop it, Gareth!” Rhianna said, wondering why he'd run all the way up the Damsel Tower to warn them if he disliked her friends so much. She sheathed Excalibur and scowled at the boy. “If you want to make
yourself useful, go and saddle Alba for me. I've got to get changed, and I'm not doing it with you in here.”

Gareth looked alarmed. “Saddle your fairy horse? Not me!”

“I'll do it, Rhia,” Elphin said, slinging his harp over one shoulder and pulling Gareth out of the room. “Better be quick changing, though. They're not hanging about out there.”

Rhianna saw the knights' big horses gallop out of the gates and set out across the field after Cai's pony. She relaxed slightly as she recognised Sir Bedivere's chestnut, Sir Agravaine's black, and Sir Lancelot's white stallion.

“A knight who carries the Lance of Truth cannot be killed,” Merlin said. “Where are you going, Rhianna Pendragon? Let the lad take care of it—”

His words ended in another screech as she fixed the hood back over the druid's head.

Rhianna hurried back to her bedroom and found Arianrhod at the window, woken by the noise. Her friend swung round with frightened eyes. “Who's that man out there?” she asked. “Why is Gareth saying he wants me? I had a horrible dream about my old mistress Lady Morgan… she didn't send him, did she?”

“Don't worry, we won't let him touch you, whoever he is,” she told the maid, opening her clothing chest and pulling out her armour. “And Lady Morgan's dead now, you know that. Stay here.”

Lady Isabel had reached the top of the stairs. She pressed a hand to her side and frowned at Rhianna and Arianrhod. “I don't know what's been going on up here…” she began.