Crown of Dreams (6 page)

“The maid’s not important,” Sir Lancelot said firmly. “Mordred’s man didn’t even get to see her, so let’s not get distracted. If we take all our knights, we should be able to deal with the
traitor, even if it is a trap. We know Mordred hasn’t had time to raise another army. At most he’ll have a few bloodbeards with him, and if there’s enough of us we’ll be able to handle them and any dragons that might show up. I doubt there’s many of the creatures left these days, anyway.”

“There’s at least one,” Rhianna said, thinking of the shadrake that had attacked them last year. “And I think I know why Mordred’s gone there – my father’s crown is in Dragonland too.”

The knights stared at her.

“The Crown of Dreams is in Dragonland?” Sir Lancelot said. “How do you know?”

“A little bird told me.” Rhianna smiled sweetly at them, enjoying herself now she had their attention.

Cai grinned, seeing the joke.

“She means Merlin,” Sir Bedivere explained for the benefit of those who did not know how the druid had escaped Morgan Le Fay’s ambush. “His spirit lives in the body of a hawk now.”

“So
that’s
why Mordred went to Dragonland!” Sir Bors said. “The little devil’s cleverer than we thought. A dragon stole the crown from the battlefield after Arthur died – where else would it have taken its treasure? It’s probably got a lair somewhere in the hills.”

“Yes,” Rhianna said. She fumbled in her pocket for the black pendant and started to explain about King Arthur’s jewel, but the men weren’t interested in the dull-looking stone.

“The prisoner didn’t say nothing about a crown,” Sir Agravaine said, scowling.

“Good,” Sir Bors grunted. “Then at least we know Mordred hasn’t found it yet.”

“That bloodbeard’s lying through his rotten teeth, more like,” growled Agravaine. “He talked too quickly for my liking. I said we should have used more persuasive methods to loosen his tongue.”

The knights began to argue about the best way of doing this. Cai listened eagerly, but Rhianna felt a bit sick.

She was glad when the queen leaned across and touched the pendant. “This jewel came from Arthur’s crown?” her mother whispered. “I never knew… why didn’t he tell me? I just thought it was a magic stone that changed colour when he died.”

“Maybe he wanted you to keep his secrets safe?” she said, too embarrassed to tell
Guinevere the real reason her father had been sparing with the truth. “I have to go with them, Mother! I have to get the Crown of Dreams back. It’s one of the four Lights my father will need to defeat Mordred when he returns to Camelot.”

“Oh no, darling.” The queen shook her head. “This is a war party. There might be fighting.”

“I can fight! I’ve been training to use Excalibur in my right hand like a proper knight.” Rhianna stood on her chair so she could draw her sword to demonstrate. The blade glimmered faintly as it sensed the magic of the Round Table. This got the knights’ full attention, and she announced, “I’m coming with you! I’ve got Pendragon blood – I can speak to the dragons if you need me to.”

She expected another argument. But Sir Bors merely sighed and said, “Sit down, Damsel Rhianna. Don’t worry, we’re not leaving you behind – you and your friends will only ride after us like you did last time, and then Mordred will just pick you off one by one. I’m taking you with me, where I can keep an eye on you. If we see a dragon, we might need Excalibur’s magic. But you’ll stay out of the fighting this time, even if I have to tie you to a tree to keep you out of it.”

Rhianna grinned.

“Does that mean I can come, too?” Cai asked, his eyes shining. “I’m the Pendragon’s champion now, and I’ve got the magic lance.”

“Cai, shut it,” Sir Agravaine warned. “Of course you’re coming. We’ll need someone to groom our horses.”

The queen shook her head again. “Take the squire and the Lance of Truth with you if you must, but you’re
not
taking my daughter into those wilds everyone knows are crawling with druids and dragons – and now, it seems, Mordred’s bloodbeards as well! I forbid it.”

“You can’t keep me here, Mother,” Rhianna said, her blood rising. “Sir Bors is right. I’ll just ask Elphin to help me with his magic again, and we’ll ride across the Summer Sea after them. Besides, you said I could go and look for my father’s crown, didn’t you?”

“That was when Mordred was safely locked up in Camelot’s dungeon, not loose in Dragonland with God knows what riff-raff he’s persuaded to help him this time,” the queen said. “Be sensible, Rhianna darling. The knights can easily look for Arthur’s crown
on their way to get Mordred. After all, they know what it looks like, and you don’t.”

Before Rhianna could explain about the song pictures in Avalon, and how Merlin had shown them the first three Lights in the crystal walls of Lord Avallach’s palace, Sir Lancelot put a hand on Guinevere’s arm and whispered something into her ear. The queen gave Rhianna an exasperated look.

The silver-haired knight slammed his hand down on the table for attention.

“We’ve discussed this long enough,” Sir Lancelot said. “If Princess Rhianna’s right about Arthur’s crown being in Dragonland too, then we can’t delay. We have to go after Mordred before he finds it, because if he discovers how to use its magic to control dragons like the old Pendragons used to do, then having an army
won’t help us very much. I thought we’d have more time to get the information we needed out of the prisoner. Now it looks as if we’ll have to take the bloodbeard along with us. We’ll leave the older squires and enough men here to hold Camelot. Cynric and his Saxons should be able to deal with any threat to our boundaries in the meantime. Use the rest of today to polish your swords and say your goodbyes. We ride out tomorrow at first light.”

The hall filled with noise as the knights began to discuss the campaign in excited voices.

Guinevere still looked worried. Sir Lancelot reached across to squeeze the queen’s hand and told her not to open the gates until he got back. Cai was grinning from ear to ear. Rhianna smiled and slipped the black jewel back into her pocket.

Dragonland
, she thought.
We’re going to Dragonland tomorrow
!

The meeting broke up soon after that. Cai slid out of his chair and rushed around the table to Rhianna, his eyes shining with excitement.

“That was great!” he said. “It’s going to be a proper war party, just like in King Arthur’s day! Do you think they’ll let me have a bigger horse to ride? Sandy’s getting too small, really, now I’ve got a lance to carry. Will you ask the stablemaster to find a new mount for me? He’ll listen to you…”

While the boy chattered on, a guard came in and muttered something to Sir Bors. The big knight exchanged a dark glance with Sir
Agravaine, and the pair of them hurried from the hall.

“Come on,” Rhianna said. “I want to see what they’re up to.”

Her mother broke off her conversation with Sir Lancelot. “Darling, where are you going? I want to talk to you before you leave. I thought we could have lunch together…”

“Later, Mother! “she called back. “I’ve got to have a bath first.”

The queen frowned after her as she and Cai escaped the hall.

Giggling, they ran down the long corridors after the two knights. “You shouldn’t lie to your mother,” Cai said. “A bath? That’s a good one.”

“Actually, I do have a bath waiting for me.” Rhianna thought guiltily of Arianrhod,
waiting up in the royal bathroom with the scented soaps, and lunch.

“Yeah, you do stink a bit,” Cai said.

“So do you,
Sir
Cai!” She pushed him into the wall, and he gave her another grin.

“Watch it, Pendragon!” he teased. “Don’t forget I carry the Lance of Truth now.”

“Don’t forget
I
carry the Sword of Light and can call on your knightly spirit to die for me any time I like.” She rested her hand on the sword’s hilt, but did not call on the magic. Excalibur was too powerful to use in play.

Cai sobered. “Is it true what you said about that pendant you wear being one of the jewels from King Arthur’s crown?”

“Merlin says so. It hides my father’s secrets, apparently. He doesn’t know what they are, though.”

The boy pulled a face. “More trouble, I expect. And now we’re going to Dragonland, which is supposed to hide the gate to Annwn. I just hope Mordred’s not found that! His bloodbeards are bad enough, without having the dead on his side as well.”

Rhianna frowned, thinking uneasily of Mordred’s witch-mother. “I thought the dead couldn’t come back from Annwn? I thought only dead heroes who are taken to Avalon can return to the land of men, like the ones who ride with the Wild Hunt?”
Like my father will, when I take him the four Lights and his soul returns to his body
, she added silently.

“I dunno, Damsel Rhianna. The squires say the dead haunt the abandoned dragon lairs, and that’s why it’s so wild there. Nobody really knows what lives in Dragonland. Sir Lancelot
said all the dragons were dead, and we know
that’s
not true…”

“Shh!” Rhianna said. “Hear that?”

Sir Bors and Sir Agravaine had turned down the steps leading into the dungeons. Torchlight flickered below, and they heard a faint scream. The sound was swallowed by stone and darkness, but the back of Rhianna’s neck prickled.

She drew Excalibur and crept down the steps after the knights. Cai followed, his dagger clutched in his fist, treading on her skirt. The door at the bottom stood open. Beyond it lay darkness.

As they hesitated, a shadow loomed up the wall. A slender figure appeared in the doorway below, struggling to free her arm from Sir Agravaine’s grip.

Rhianna’s heart jumped in recognition. “It’s
Arianrhod!” she said. “What’s she doing down here? I told her to stay in my room. Come on!”

She leaped down the rest of the steps with Cai clattering at her heels and ran smack into Sir Bors, who stood guard at the bottom.

He whirled, his sword half out of its scabbard. “Damsel Rhianna!” he growled in exasperation. “Haven’t I taught you never to creep up on an armed man like that? I might’ve killed you!”

“Where’s Sir Agravaine taking Arianrhod?” Rhianna demanded. “She’s innocent! She shouldn’t be down here with the prisoners.”

“Too right she shouldn’t,” Sir Bors said. “Bring her over here, Agravaine.”

The dark-haired knight dragged the weeping Arianrhod across to them. The maid’s eyes lit up in relief when she saw Rhianna.
She raised her tear-streaked face and said, “My lady, please tell them! I dozed off while I was waiting for you and had another dream, and when I woke up I was down here…”

“She brought food for that bloodbeard scum,” Sir Agravaine growled. “I told the guards nothing to eat till I said, so they stopped her at the door and sent for us.”

“It’s cruel not to feed him,” Arianrhod whispered.

“Are you crazy?” Cai said to her. “That man almost killed me out there yesterday, and now you’re
feeding
him? Maybe you really are a spy for Prince Mordred, like everyone says you are.”

“That’s enough, Cai,” Sir Bors grunted.

Arianrhod shook her head miserably. “No! I’m not a spy, I promise! Lady Rhianna, tell them, please.”

Rhianna frowned at the maid, who cast nervous glances at something in Sir Agravaine’s other hand that reflected the torchlight. With a chill, she recognised the dark mirror she’d stolen from Mordred in the summer – the one that worked as a spirit channel and they’d all assumed Mordred took with him when he escaped. Morgan Le Fay used it for her enchantments. Now she knew why her friend had been acting so strangely.

Mocking laughter came from the cells. “Throw the girl in here with me!” shouted the bloodbeard. “I’ll soon teach her a lesson.”

The guards went off to silence him.

“Why did you hide this mirror, Arianrhod?” Rhianna asked, taking the thing from Sir Agravaine and warily turning the glass to the wall.

The girl hung her head and whispered, “Lady Morgan came to me in a dream and told me to… I think I must have sleepwalked, as I don’t remember hiding it.”

“Did she tell you to take my pendant in the chapel, too?”

Arianrhod flushed. “I… don’t remember.”

Sir Bors sighed. “We haven’t time to get to the bottom of this now. We’ve got work to do.” He opened an empty cell door and checked inside. “Lock the maid in here for now. That’ll keep her out of mischief till we’re gone. We can’t afford to lose the bloodbeard like we lost Mordred. We need him to lead us to his master.”

“No!” Arianrhod gasped, and began to struggle afresh. “Please, my lady! Please don’t let them put me in there!”

Rhianna stiffened. “It’s not Arianrhod’s
fault. She’s under an enchantment.”

“All the more reason to lock her up for her own safety,” Sir Bors said gruffly. But his expression softened when Arianrhod started to cry. He called to one of the hovering guards. “Get the girl a proper bed down here, and whatever else she needs. She’s to be treated well, but she’s to be kept under guard till we’re back from Dragonland.”

The big knight frowned at Rhianna’s blade. “Damsel Rhianna, be sensible and put that sword away before you hurt someone. I don’t want a stupid fight over this. If you want to ride with us tomorrow, you’ll let us deal with your maid the way we think best. Otherwise, we’ll have to waste time sorting out the matter before we leave, and then Mordred might get hold of this crown that you and Merlin
seem to want so much. So which is it to be?”