King Uther Pendragon's Christmas court this year was held in Sarum Castle. There, the young knights, fresh from their surreal experiences in the lands beyond our own, met again with Merlin. The young man walked slowly now, like a man who had suffered a stroke, but he still bore the sword Excalibur, which they had helped him retrieve. On Saint Stephen's Day, when gifts were being handed out, Merlin appeared in court unexpected and presented Excalibur to King Uther Pendragon, singling out those who had assisted him for especial praise. All present knew of the sword - some said it was the flaming sword of the Archangel Michael, others that it was Dyrnwyn or Balmung of legend. As long as King Uther remained virtuous, he would never lose a battle!
Over the rest of the winter, Merlin recuperated at Sir Percival's estate, and the two became friends. It was Sir Percival who learnt that Merlin was largely a charlatan - while he had the ability to see the future, a gift that had become keener since his foray into Faerie, most of the stories about him were superstitious nonsense - which he himself helped to cultivate - reinforced by a superior intellect and extensive learning. He had not flown Stonehenge from Ireland to the Salisbury Plain; instead he had used his knowledge of Roman engineering. He had not created a fog to hide King Uther's army at Mount Damen; instead, he had simply recognised the weather conditions of the day! And his ability to appear and vanish at will, and to change his form - those were simply theatrics and disguise. Sir Percival gave Merlin the gift of a wooden staff to help him walk, and when Merlin had recovered from plunging himself into the water of death, he went on his way.
It was also at this time that the knights became aware of news that they had missed during their long sojourn in Faerie. King Aethelswith had completely conquered Caercolun now. The Duke of Caercolun was dead, the land was under the control of the Saxons, and was now called "Anglia". Meanwhile, the last Roman province on the Continent, Soissons, had been destroyed by the Saxons. Praetor Syagrius of Soissons had escaped the final battle and fled to the court of the Pendragon, and was currently petitioning the King for aid in reclaiming his home. In other important news, Sir Percival's uncle had vanished - Sir Gherard knew that it was because the man had eloped with Sir Gherard's elderly but still sensual grandmother, Nicolette. Sir Gherard tried to follow in his grandmother's footsteps by seducing one of Uther's royal wards, but the attempt fell flat! Finally, the obsessive Lady Elaine left Sir Aeronwy. She had returned a changed woman after her adventure in Faerie, humble and less cruel, and Elaine lost interest in her.
There were two tragic events that occurred as well. A group of heavily-armed bandits attacked Sir Neddig's estate in force, and burnt much of it to the ground. The fat knight swore revenge, but first realised that he had to find the funds to rebuild his lands. A stranger fate befell Sir Angharad, whose estate at Pitton was almost completely demolished by a Fabulous Boar! Sir Angharad rallied her companions into a hunt for the Fabulous Boar, but to no avail: they were unable to find its spoor.
At the end of winter, the knights were approached by Prince Madoc, the handsome but illegitimate son of the Pendragon. Prince Madoc was leading a small elite force by sea to attack the Saxons. They would destroy as much of the Saxon fleets as they could, to cut off the Saxon supply lines. At the same time, Sir Talferyn, the Marshal of Britain, would be launching an invasion of Kent, hoping to reclaim it for Logres. Sir Angharad, Sir Gherard, Sir Neddig and Sir Percival volunteered to join the Prince!
The expedition departed from Hantonne, commanded by Prince Madoc and Admiral Gwenwynwyn. Their first stop was at Pevensey in Sussex, where the fleet swiftly landed, scuttled the South Saxon navy, and were on their way again before any could react. Their next stop was at Dover, where they again destroyed the Saxon ships. Here the Prince intended to attack the city from the harbour while Marshal Talferyn besieged by land, but the Marshal's army was not present, and so Prince Madoc ordered his forces to withdraw. It would later be discovered that Sir Talferyn had captured Canterbury and celebrated Easter Mass there, but King Oisc of Kent had counterattacked, driven him back to London, and reclaimed Canterbury. (NB - This was the result of two games of Saga: Dark Ages played before the session with Sir Cadfael's player! In each game, we chose stakes to game - we both chose to wager land. Sir Cadfael won the first and I won the second, so the army of Logres captured Canterbury, only to lose it again. Hopefully we'll have more of these battles in the future - it was a lot of fun!)
The fleet continued north, up the Blackwater River to Maldon in Essex, where only a few ships were found. Prince Madoc was about to order these to be burned, when lookouts spotted the rest of the Saxon fleet. It was a trap: the Saxons had put out to see, and were now sailing up the river behind the Prince, cutting off his retreat! Sir Gherard had a cunning plan, and persuaded the Prince to tow the few decoy Saxon ships at Maldon into the river, and then set them on fire. This would create a diversion that would slow down the Saxon advance, giving the navy of Logres time to react, and would channel the numerically superior Saxon fleet, allowing them to be engaged one by one rather than overwhelmed by all at once!
The Prince immediately approved this plan, and a terrible battle was soon joined. Sir Neddig did well for himself, striking down many Saxons. Sir Percival was badly wounded and fell off the side of the ship! He would surely have drowned, but Sir Gherard saw him fall, and, bound by the bonds of loyalty and kindred (after the antics of Nicolette!), he leaped over the side of the ship in full armour and saved Sir Percival's life. But the saddest fate was that of Sir Angharad - who found herself face to face with a frothing berserker. Her swift sword cut deeply into the berserker's flank, but the enraged warrior did not notice and hewed her down. Prince Madoc (whom Sir Angharad had fallen in love with during the expedition) rushed to her rescue and slew the berserker, but Sir Angharad's wound was fatal, and she perished, the Prince's handsome face the last thing she ever saw.
The British forces won the battle of the Blackwater River, but casualties were high and the Prince ordered the expedition to withdraw to Logres. Their mission had ultimately been a success: the navies of Sussex, Essex and Kent had been destroyed, and for a time the British had control over the Channel. Sir Neddig made enough money from plunder that he was able to begin rebuilding his estate, while Prince Madoc paid for the repairs to Sir Angharad's home, and (after being told of her bravery) Earl Roderick granted the estate of Nether Wallop, which she had protected two years earlier, to her and her heirs. As her heir, Balthazar, was too young, Balthazar's father Sir Arnulf was appointed steward of Pitton and Nether Wallop.
RIP Sir Angharad, 460 - 487. Slain by a Saxon berserker in the Battle of the Blackwater River.
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