As the year 489 began, armies began to ready themselves. Newly escaped from the Tower of London, Octa and Eosa travelled north to the shores of Malahaut. They were joined by men of Kent, by Saxons fresh from the continent, and by the scattered remants of their force of five years earlier. Meanwhile, King Uther Pendragon was readying his own army for war - against Cornwall. Too long had Duke Gorlois taken Saxon gold in exchange for betraying his feudal oaths. With Excalibur in hand, it was time to bring the wayward lords in line, and that meant making an example of Cornwall! And Duke Gorlois was sounding the call for every able-bodied man to take up arms, to hold off the invasion of his lands.
Following the hardships of the previous year, only a few of the knights of Salisbury joined King Uther's forces: Sir Arnulf, Sir Cadfael and Sir Percival. They joined Uther's forces in Silchester. With them went Ambrose the scholar, more famously known as Merlin Ambrosius. Merlin and Percival were friends now, and so Merlin had come to visit him again over the winter. They shared stories of the previous year's adventures, and Merlin confirmed that it was he who had travelled to Gaul and told Prince Madoc to return to Britain - even though the Prince broke his oath to aid Praetor Syagrius as a consequence. Merlin also gave Sir Percival a present: a small round rock with a hole in the middle. The enchanter gave no particular reason why Sir Percival might need it - just that he foresaw it coming in handy in the future.
From Silchester, the King's army moved into the Kingdom of Somerset, ruled by King Cadwy. The opportunistic young man had taken advantage of the previous year's chaos and sent raiders into Logres to steal livestock. All knew that it would be impossible to blame the King - at the most, he would hang some scapegoat for acting 'independently' - but instead of this, King Uther took him aside and privily delivered an ultimatum. The Pendragon would overlook this if Cadwy swore on the bones of the Saints to support his quest to become High King - otherwise Uther would simply crush Cadwy completely and install a new puppet ruler upon the throne of Somerset. It did not take long for King Cadwy to acquiesce!
From here, the army of Logres continued westwards into Cornwall. But on the banks of a broad and swift-flowing river, they found themselves opposed by Duke Gorlois and his host. Logres would win the ensuing battle, but the cost would be very high... and then Merlin emerged theatrically, revealing himself to all present. "Show him the sword," the enchanter hissed, and Uther drew the sword, its light shining across all present. Merlin then convinced Gorlois to stand down and renew his oaths, and for Uther to confirm Gorlois as Duke of Cornwall, and adding more lands to his demesne, in exchange. Peace in Logres!
The threat of civil war was gone. Uther led a large part of the army north to Malahaut, to help fight Octa, but many of the knights were now allowed to return to their estates. Amongst these knights were the three knights of Salisbury, who found themselves freee to pursue their own endeavours for the remainder of the year. Sir Percival returned to his estate and spent the year trying to improve the lot of the peasantry, with little success. Meanwhile, Sir Cadfael decided to return to Illwind Castle, to woo Lady Violette, whom he had fallen for the previous year, and Sir Arnulf agreed to accompany him. After all, Sir Arnulf's family were naturally loveably, while the less said about Sir Cadfael's efforts to gain a wife, the better!
So Sir Cadfael and Sir Arnulf travelled to the Campecorentin Forest, and to Illwind Castle. They were free of any trouble on the road - while there were reports of stragglers from the army of the previous year, no bandits wished to challenge the two formidable warriors! Soon the pair arrived at the isolated forest village, and once they were recognised, they received a warm welcome from the women of the village, especially Sir Arnulf's friend Bronwyn. (Since Sir Percival had stayed behind, his player took the role of Bronwyn for the remainder of the session.) A feast was organised that night for the visitors, simple by the standard of the visitors but sumptuous for Illwind Castle. Sir Cadfael was hoping that Sir Arnulf could begin to plead his case during the feast, but was not counting on Sir Arnulf getting a rather bad case of flatulence during the feast - and then deciding to entertain the women of the castle with it! Many were scandalised, but the beautiful Lady Violette seemed to be more amused than anything else - and Sir Arnulf could rejoice in his new epithet, "The Wind Dragon."
The next day, at Bronwyn's prompting, Sir Cadfael invited Lady Violette to a joust. Sir Arnulf and Bronwyn stayed just out of sight and hissed advice to Sir Cadfael. The Lady of Illwind was a keen sportswoman, and the only defender of the town, and so she was keen to engage in a bout against the visitor. Sir Cadfael held off talking about his feelings and instead set his lance and knocked Lady Violette clear off the back of her steed. She fell heavily and did not move, and the panicking Sir Cadfael rushed over - only to be tripped and find a blade at his throat. "Do you yield?" asked Violette, her eyes twinkling with mischief, and the valiant Sir Cadfael was forced to admit defeat. While Sir Cadfael had not yet admitted his feelings, Sir Arnulf and Bronwyn felt good about his prospects.
However, there was another obstacle. Ever since the death of her father, Violette had looked up to the wise woman Odie. Odie was like a mother to her, and it was she who had come up with the elaborate scheme that was protecting the village. She did not approve of Sir Cadfael - she doubted his sincerity and thought that Violette leaving would doom Illwind. Bronwyn knew that Sir Cadfael had to win her over - it was unlikely that his suit would be successful otherwise. The knight decided that the best way to prove his sincerity was to find some way to help defend Illwind. One method soon presented itself: there was word of a terrible giant which roamed the area, striking as far west as the Campecorentin Forest and as far east as Silchester. This giant was responsible for stealing and eating livestock, and even the occasional missing human was blamed on it! Sir Cadfael felt that giant-slaying would be an ideal task, and so the two knights and Bronwyn set out to find and destroy the giant.
Tracking down the giant proved to be an easy job - the three discovered a ruined Roman villa in the wilderness, the lair of the giant. But when the giant itself emerged, their expectations were dashed. The giant was an ugly brute, dressed in a mismatched costume. It was pretending to be a Roman legionnaire! Feeling somewhat less than threatened, the knights decided to talk to the giant rather than fight. The giant, named Onion for the hideous stench of raw onions from his mouth, proved to have the mentality of a toddler, and was obsessed with the Romans. He had only taken sheep when he was hungry, and denied eating anyone. Onion had collected all manner of Roman refuse in the villa, and delighted in spending hours in showing off the collection to the trio. They, for their part, decided that Onion could be a useful defender of Illwind, and offered him a home and a place for his collection there, as well as a bribe of a better Roman costume! The happy giant accepted, and showed off his collection a second time, before the four returned to Illwind. Initially the villagers were alarmed, but they soon lost their fear of Onion, and realised how useful having their very own giant (and one with a fondness for costumes at that) could be for them!
With Odie appeased, the only thing that remained was for Sir Cadfael to finally pluck up the courage to tell Lady Violette how he felt about her! The noble knight went out riding with Violette to tell her how he felt. Violette's response was to challenge Sir Cadfael to a horse race, the stakes her hand or his service, and she immediately kicked her steed into a gallop. Sir Cadfael followed, and the two chased each other out of the castle, through the streets of Illwind, and into the forest - where Sir Cadfael did not pay attention to a low tree branch. He was swept from his steed, and could only watch Violette vanish in the distance.
When Sir Cadfael returned to the castle, Violette was nowhere to be found. Old Odie asked him what he could do, and Sir Cadfael replied that regardless of the race, his life and his heart were always Violette's to do with as she pleased. Until she reappeared, he would wait outside the castle for her instruction. Two days passed, with Sir Cadfael not leaving his position for rain or food. Eventually, he fell asleep at his post. When he awoke, Bronwyn invited him back inside to the hall - where everyone was gathered, and Violette was waiting for him. She told Sir Cadfael that, just as his heart was hers, so also hers was his forever, and the two kissed while the womenfolk of Illwind cheered them on.
The two knights stayed at Illwind Castle for the rest of the month. Sir Cadfael and Lady Violette were married, on the condition that Sir Cadfael had to keep their marriage a secret - he could not reveal the secret of Illwind! Lady Violette would remain in the forest to look after her people, and Sir Cadfael would remain in Salisbury, but every year he would journey to see her again. At the end of the month, he reluctantly took his leave of his new bride and returned home with Sir Arnulf.
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