LANCE OF TRUTH (11 page)

As she looked anxiously for her mother, Mordred kicked Lancelot’s shield aside and thrust his sword between a gap in the knight’s armour into his shoulder. Sir Lancelot roared in pain and dropped his own sword.
Blood dripped down his arm as he fell to his knees clasping the wound.

“No!” Rhianna shouted, gathering up her reins and giving Alba a hard kick in the ribs.

“Rhia, wait—” Elphin called behind her.

His words cut off as the mare leaped bravely into the green mist. The air around them darkened and cooled, and the sound of the fight faded. Riding underwater must be a bit like this, Rhianna thought. Then a long, thin shadow twisted down out of the arch towards her and formed into a dark-haired woman with eyes black as midnight. “I see you, Pendragon girl,” the shadow hissed. “You may not pass.”

Rhianna shuddered.

“We’ll see about that!” She slashed at the shadow with Excalibur. “Get out of my way!”

The sword passed right through the shadow,
which became long and thin again and fastened itself to Alba’s tail. The little mare kicked and squealed in terror, then misted under her. Rhianna felt herself falling and grabbed for the mane.

“I don’t know who you are,” she said determined to stay on. “But you’re not really here, are you? This is just spirit magic.”

The shadow-woman laughed. “Just spirit magic? How little you understand, Pendragon girl! I’d have thought a child raised in Avalon would be wiser than that. You’ve no idea how the world of men works, have you? Coming all the way up here with your young friends and Arthur’s has-been knights, thinking to get past my spells and rescue your queen! You won’t get her even a day’s ride home before my son catches you.”

My son.
Rhianna froze. But it made sense. Who else would be helping Mordred with dark magic?

“You’re Morgan le Fay!” she whispered, chilled. “But you’re supposed to be in Annwn now.”

“That’s right.” The witch smiled. “That mirror you see up there is my spirit channel. It’s connected to your mother’s prison at the moment so she can watch my son kill her foolish lover, Lancelot. Shall I let you see her tears when it happens? Or maybe you’d prefer to visit me? A girl should get to know her aunt.”

Rhianna looked up and noticed a black looking-glass wedged into the arch above them. It made her head spin. Now she could no longer see the way into the fort, only those
writhing shadows all around her. She turned Alba in a circle, confused. The green mist became thicker and colder, until she could barely breathe. Shadowy hands clutched at her from all sides, grabbing her ankles and twisting themselves into Alba’s mane – though they stayed well away from Excalibur as she swung the sword around to make them let go, at the same time trying not to cut herself or the mare.

I am frightened,
said Alba, trembling.
We are neither here nor there. We might be stuck in this green mist for ever.

Rhianna shuddered at the thought and felt a sudden hopelessness. Mordred was killing Lancelot in there, protected by dark spells of Annwn. She and her friends were out-numbered. The queen was a prisoner in an enchanted tower. Even if they did manage to rescue her, they still
had to get her all the way back to Camelot with Mordred’s army on their heels…

She heard the witch laugh. But just as her arm started to tire, Elphin’s harp tinkled through the mist. The shadows hissed and whirled upwards, sucking back into the mirror. Now that she could see it properly, her stomach gave a jolt of recognition. It was the same mirror Mordred had used to show her the dragon that was attacking Camelot, when she’d travelled around the spiral path to challenge him last winter.

Alba whinnied in relief as Evenstar misted into view beside them, his silver coat shining with the magic of Avalon. Rhianna had never been so happy to see her friend. If they hadn’t been on horseback, she’d have thrown her arms around him and kissed him.

“This way, Rhia,” Elphin said, catching her reins and turning his horse.

“No, wait… I think I know what’s casting the spell on the fort.” She reached up with Excalibur and levered the mirror out of the crack. It fell into her lap, flashing darkly.

As she grabbed it, noise exploded around them. Mordred’s men lined the walls of the fort, cheering and making bets on the outcome of the duel, just as the squires had done during the spring joust at Camelot. Lancelot was still fighting on his knees but tiring fast. As Mordred raised his sword over the wounded knight’s head to deliver a death blow, the green mist began to drift away. Lancelot’s stallion raised its head and whinnied to their horses in relief.

The bloodbeards nearest the entrance whirled round to stare at them in surprise.

“Hey!” one demanded, blinking. “How did you get in here?”

Elphin played his harp faster, making the bloodbeards yawn, while Rhianna thrust the mirror into her belt and urged Alba past them towards the duallists.

“Where’s my mother?” she yelled, making Mordred fumble his stroke.

His sword knocked off Lancelot’s helm. The champion knight scrambled clear of the black horse’s trampling hooves and blinked at Rhianna through the blood running into his eyes.

“Beware… took Lance…” he gasped, before collapsing face down in the mud.

Mordred raised his blade again over the prone knight.

Without thinking of the danger, Rhianna galloped Alba between the duellists and
brought Excalibur up in a shining arc. It struck Mordred’s sword in a shower of stars, and the Excalibur lookalike snapped off at the hilt and went spinning away into the mud. The magical force knocked Mordred sideways. He should have fallen off, except that his crippled arm was still tied to the reins, which had tangled about his shield. His horse spooked and carried him towards the northern gate, where more bloodbeards had run up from their camp to help their prince.

At the southern gate, Sir Agravaine and Sir Bedivere finally arrived with their men, and galloped their big horses through the arch, yelling war cries.

“Well, don’t just stand there!” Mordred roared as his men tried to push him back into the saddle. “Pass me that lance and come
with me… That was stupid, cousin!” he called over his shoulder. “Now you’ll never find the queen, because only I know where she is.”

Realising her mistake, Rhianna dragged Alba’s head round, meaning to put Excalibur to her cousin’s throat and
make
him tell her where her mother was. But there were too many bloodbeards at the northern gate. They had already given the Lance of Truth to Mordred and were running back down to their camp in the wake of his black stallion.

“Rhia, I think he’s in a bad way…” Elphin jumped off Evenstar to help Sir Bedivere with the groaning Lancelot, while Sir Agravaine and his men rounded up the remaining bloodbeards, who had been trapped in the fort when the knights arrived.

She gave the wounded champion a distracted
glance but he didn’t look as if he’d die. She stared after the disappearing dark knight, one thought only in her head. She had to get to her mother before Mordred did.

“Come on, Alba,” she whispered. “I need you to race for me now.”

She sheathed her sword and headed the mare towards the northern gate.

“Damsel Rhianna, wait…!”

Sir Bedivere’s plea fell on deaf ears. Thinking of her mother chained in Mordred’s dark tower, Rhianna was already galloping through the gate and down the slope into the northlands.

Sir Agravaine clubbed the final bloodbeard on the head. “Well, hurry up, then!” he yelled. “Go after her! I just hope Bors has had time to get into position, because otherwise that crazy girl is going to get us all killed.”

A
s Alba galloped down from the ridge, Rhianna could think only of finding her mother before Mordred spirited her away again. The way was steep and rocky, and she had to concentrate on her riding. By the time they reached the bottom, her cousin had
disappeared on his black stallion, leaving his camp in confusion.

Bloodbeards scattered from her path as she swung Excalibur in a gleaming arc. She heard Elphin and Cai calling behind her, and Sir Agravaine’s knights pounding after her on their big horses, but did not slow down. If they caught up, they would only try to stop her.

“Faster!” she called to the mare. “Faster!”

Alba flattened her ears in excitement.
We will win this race.

Rhianna smiled grimly and risked a look back. Behind her, Sir Agravaine’s men were slashing at ropes and felling the standards that stood before the tents. More bloodbeards ran out, armed with axes and bows. Arrows began to hiss around her. She ducked, remembering the arrow that had knocked her off Alba’s back
when the Saxons had captured them last year. Her Avalonian armour had saved her life back then, but she had fallen off and lost her horse in the mist. That would help no one.

Coming to her senses, she slowed the mare and took shelter behind an outcrop of rock to wait for her friends.

A breathless Elphin caught up first, Evenstar misting to avoid a stray arrow. He gave her a relieved look. Then Cai charged up on Sandy, bringing down another tent as the pony’s legs caught in the ropes. “Oops,” he said, catching hold of the mane. “He can’t do that fairy trick, sorry.”

“You carry on,” Elphin said, eyeing the struggling lumps under the cover in amusement. “Looks like you and Sandy are doing a fine job of conquering Mordred’s army all by yourself.”

Cai patted the pony and grinned. “He’s nearly as good as your harp.”

Rhianna frowned at the boys. “This isn’t a game! My mother’s still in danger – which way did Mordred go, did you see?”

They shook their heads. Back in the camp, men were fighting for their lives. But here among the rocks it was eerily quiet.

“Then we’ll just have to find him another way.” Rhianna took a deep breath and pulled out the mirror she’d taken from the arch.

Elphin’s eyes whirled violet. “Be careful Rhia,” he warned. “That’s a thing of Annwn.”

“I know what I’m doing. Be quiet a moment.” She rested a hand on Excalibur’s jewel and warily looked into the mirror. Shadows writhed in the glass, but the witch did not appear.

“I command you in Excalibur’s name to
show me where Mordred’s keeping my mother!” she said.

The mirror reflected back her freckled cheeks, flushed from the chase, and for a moment she didn’t think it was going to work. Then the shadows cleared, showing her the tower room they had seen at the Round Table.

The queen lay on her bed, hugging her chain, her hair in tangles and her eyes red. She was weeping. A bloodbeard poked her with his spear, grinning.

“Prince Mordred has killed Lancelot,” he said. “We have the Lance of Truth. Soon we’ll have your daughter, too. She’s come north with the knights and the Sword, just as our master ordered. Seems she must care about you, after all.”

“No…” The queen lifted her chin. “I will not let him use me to get to my Rhianna.”
Suddenly, she lurched forwards and made a desperate grab at the bloodbeard’s spear.

Rhianna gasped. “No, Mother!” she shouted. “He’s lying! Lancelot is still alive.”

The queen flinched and stared around, wide-eyed. “Who’s there…?”

Rhianna’s heart lifted. She could hear her! Then the shadows writhed back across the scene, and the mirror went dark – but not before she’d seen the lonely tower that was her mother’s prison.

Fixing the image firmly in her mind, she thrust the mirror back through her belt and took up Alba’s reins.

“We’ve been looking in the wrong place,” she told the others. “The tower’s that way… it’s not part of the Wall at all! Quick, before Mordred moves her.”

The boys glanced at each other but did not waste time asking how she knew. When she closed her eyes, the path stretched like a glittering black snake across the moor. They crossed a boggy area, the mist horses keeping their feet dry, though Sandy sank to his knees and splashed Cai with mud. She led the way up a bleak, rocky hillside into the mist – and stopped in confusion.

“It should be here,” she said, staring around in despair. Had the mirror tricked them?

Elphin tugged out his harp. As the Avalonian music tinkled across the hillside, the air
shimmered
and they saw the tower, standing up on a rock with green mist curling around it. Rhianna gripped Excalibur tighter and sent Alba cantering up the slope towards it.

She was a bit afraid that they would find Mordred waiting for them inside. But there was
no sign of her cousin’s black stallion. Two bloodbeards guarded the entrance, stamping their feet and warming their hands over a fire. Elphin led them around the back way, still playing his harp, while Cai untied the guards’ horses and shooed them away down the hill.

I have told them the grass is greener in the next valley,
Alba snorted.
They believed me.

As they trotted up to the entrance, the guards whirled in surprise. “Where did you spring from?” one said, blinking at them. “There’s an enchantment on this tower. Nobody’s supposed to be able to see it.”

“Prince Mordred sent us to keep the queen company,”
Elphin sang, magic in his voice.

The bloodbeards exchanged a glance. They shook their heads. “Nobody’s allowed in here on pain of death. Prince Mordred’s orders!”

“
You must be very tired of being stuck up here, guarding her… why not have a rest?
” Elphin sang. He carried on playing, until the men yawned and curled up by their fire.

As soon as their eyes closed, Rhianna dismounted. Heart thudding, she pushed open the door and stepped warily into the tower. No torches had been lit inside, but Excalibur blazed brighter than any flame. She raced up the stairs, with Cai and Elphin at her heels.

Another bloodbeard guarded a locked and bolted door at the top. When he saw Rhianna, he grabbed his spear. But Elphin’s music enchanted him too, and he slumped against the wall. Cai unhooked the keys from the unconscious guard’s belt and opened the door.

Rhianna pushed past him, all caution forgotten.

The queen lay on the bed hugging her chain, exactly as Rhianna had seen her in the mirror, with her dirty hair tangled across her face. She had been dozing. But when they entered the room, her eyes snapped open and she sat up straight. She blinked at the sword in Rhianna’s hand.

“Excalibur!” she whispered. Her gaze rose to Rhianna’s face, and she blinked again. “I must be dreaming.”

“Mother…” Her throat closed. All those years growing up in Avalon she’d looked forward to this moment, and she didn’t know what to say.

“
Rhianna
!” The queen went very still, her eyes going wide. “Oh God, I
thought
I saw you at the Round Table, and I heard you speak to me when they told me Lancelot was dead…
but what are you doing here? Did Mordred capture you, too?” She stared fearfully at the door, where Elphin stood with his harp and the echoes of magic on him.

“Lancelot’s not dead, Mother,” Rhianna said, a choke in her voice. “They lied to you. But he’s badly hurt, and Mordred’s still around somewhere, so we have to get you out of here right now!”

The queen shook her head in wonder. “My daughter, all grown up and back from Avalon with Excalibur!” She looked at Cai and Elphin. “And accompanied by a squire and a fairy prince. It’s like something out of a song.” She frowned. “You’re not one of Merlin’s tricks, are you?”

Rhianna grinned. “No, Mother,” she said. “We’ve come to get you out of here. Hold still, I’ll have to cut your chain.”

Cai held the chain taut. Praying it wouldn’t harm the sword, she raised Excalibur over the horrid thing and brought the blade down with a clang that echoed through the tower. The links parted easily in a shower of sparks. The queen stretched her arm in relief and winced as Rhianna helped her stand.

She braced herself for a hug, hoping her mother wouldn’t embarrass her. But Guinevere stumbled to the window and peered out. “Is Lancelot here, too?”

Rhianna fought down a pang of jealousy. “No, I’m afraid he was too badly wounded to come, but we’ll take you to him now. I hope you don’t mind riding double?”

Her mother drew a deep breath and nodded. She made her way stiffly down the stairs, leaning on Cai’s shoulder. When they emerged,
she looked in confusion at the snoring bloodbeards and the two mist horses standing with the pony. “But where’s your army?”

“They’ll be here soon,” Rhianna said, hoping it was true.

She helped her mother up on to Sandy, behind Cai, and they made their way back towards the Wall. They went as fast as they could, but her neck prickled and her hands sweated the whole way. She kept expecting Mordred to gallop out of the mist with the Lance of Truth and challenge them. She knew it was only a matter of time before the guards at the tower woke from Elphin’s enchantment and raised the alarm, and they still had to get back through the fort.

They were about halfway to the north gate when bloodbeards raced up from their camp to cut them off. Rhianna sliced Excalibur through
the air to make a cage of light around them. But more of Mordred’s men appeared and drove them back, trapping them against the wall. She cast a desperate look at the stones behind them, but the Wall was high here and the ground rose steeply to meet it. Jumping it would be impossible. Elphin’s fingers danced faster and faster over the strings of his harp as he tried to enchant the increasing number of enemies surrounding them.

Their leader pushed his way to the front and bared his teeth at them. With sinking heart, Rhianna recognised the bloodbeard captain who had captured them last year and almost made her blood Excalibur in the battle. She’d thought the shadrake had killed him. She could see the scars made by its talons under his blue warpaint.

“Someone fetch Prince Mordred!” he ordered. “Tell him we’ve caught his slippery little fish.” He turned his attention to Rhianna. “And you be careful waving that sword about, damsel. You might cut yourself.”

“I’ll cut
you
if you come any closer!” she yelled back.

The queen raised her chin to glare at the men over Cai’s shoulder and called in a clear voice, “I order you to let us through! Prince Mordred has no right to keep me here! I am Queen of Britain, so this is treason.”

The bloodbeards laughed. “You’re queen of nothing now King Arthur’s dead.”

Rhianna rode Alba forward. “King Arthur’s not dead, and I carry the Sword of Light that was forged in Avalon! By Excalibur’s name, I command you to let us pass.”

The sword blazed. She felt the energy surge along her arm. The bloodbeards eyed it
uneasily
, but did not stand aside.

“Your magic doesn’t work on us, lassie,” said the captain. “We’ll not obey Excalibur until it is in the hands of our master Prince Mordred, the true King of Britain.”

“Rhia,” Elphin whispered. “I’m going to try misting through them. The knights can’t have gone far. I’ll fetch help. Stay here and look after the queen. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

The bloodbeards frowned at the Avalonian boy as he trotted Evenstar towards them, calmly playing his harp.

“And your fairy magic don’t work on us, either…” the captain began. He covered his head with a shudder as Evenstar misted around him. The little horse misted through the other
men as well, neatly avoiding their weapons, and galloped away across the moor.

“Go, Elphin!” Cai yelled, grinning.

But Rhianna shivered. Without her friend at her side, she felt very vulnerable. She moved Alba closer to Sandy and held Excalibur ready for an attack.

I can mist like that too,
Alba offered.
You will not fall off me if you carry the shining sword.