The end was coming. Only one year to go until the Second Coming, the priests said. And so Britain prepared itself for the final days and the Rapture. In some parts of the war-torn kingdom, there was anarchy and rioting; in others, missionaries preached the Good Word in an attempt to save as many souls as they could before the return of Christ.
The world was indeed about to end for the knights of Salisbury, although they did not know it at the time. For all that Logres was in chaos, beset by enemies from within and without, Salisbury was enjoying a respite from the bloodshed. She had proven herself more mighty than her enemies had known when Sir Rhisiart of Leucomagus had attacked two years ago, and had entered into an alliance with King Cerdic of Wessex, ensuring her further protection. Salisbury boasted one of the foremost religious leaders in Britain, in the person of Saint Gwiona. And furthermore, word came from Silchester that Sir Rhisiart of Leucomagus was dead in a riding accident. True, there were still enemies, but for now the situation seemed better than it had in many years.
But there were visitors to Salisbury, who arrived as the snow receded, whose coming was the first winds of the black storm upon the horizon. Prince Mark was the well-spoken young heir of King Idres of Cornwall. He seemed charming and personable, though crying serving-girls were a hint that there was a darker side to his nature. His father's armies had spread throughout the south-west, and were on the verge of attacking Jagent. From there, it would be only a year or two before they reached Salisbury. Accordingly, the King of Cornwall sought submission and fealty. "This land will be claimed by the sword," Mark argued, "and surely, better a Cymric King than a Saxon."
Meanwhile, emissaries from the Saxons arrived. The Saxon kings fought amongst one another for the title of Bretwalda, the ruler of all Britain. There were rumours of a new Saxon warchief, a deadly mercenary chieftain called Saexwulf, who sought no kingdom for himself but would serve the mightiest of the Saxons. King Cerdic sent his son, Prince Cynric, to garner military assistance from his new vassal kingdom. Other Saxon emissaries also came to court Salisbury, seeking any edge in their forthcoming battles.
Salisbury needed strong friends. Her long-serving Marshal, Sir Elad, suffered a stroke and was bedridden. Countess Ellen decided to follow the advice of Sir Brietta and Sir Helbur, and pledge herself in marriage to gain an alliance. Therefore, they planned to hold a great tournament, inviting emissaries from all of the major factions. The winner of three challenges - mind, body and soul - would win the hand of Lady Ellen, and the support of Salisbury.
Three of the knights of Salisbury put themselves forward. Sir Bleddyn, who had all the scheming ways of his older brother Sir Cadfael, sought to gain control of Salisbury. Sir Brietta was working for the Ladies of the Lake, who wanted control over Salisbury as a first step in the rebirth of paganism. Sir Helbur also competed. Prince Mark came from Cornwall, and Sir Alain (who had once met Sir Arnulf, five years earlier) from King Nanteleod in Escavalon. For the Saxons stood Prince Cynric of Wessex and the formidable Saexwulf on behalf of King Aelle in Sussex. The most unexpected competitor was Sir Brastias. Once the bodyguard of King Uther Pendragon, he was now lordless. Gaining control of Salisbury would make him a significant power once more. There were many other competitors as well, but these eight distinguished themselves in each event, and all knew that one of them would win the challenge.
There were three challenges for the tournament. The Test of the Mind and the Test of the Soul would determine who fought whom in the Test of the Body, which would end the tournament. The first challenge was a series of riddle-duels. Prince Mark proved himself quick-witted here, but mighty Saexwulf proved to have a mind as sharp as a dagger, and won the first challenge with ease. The second challenge was to spend a night in the Countess' famed Allegorical Zoo, and in the morning to identify the virtues which the animals therein personified. Here, Sir Alain triumphed, with Prince Mark coming second again (although there were whispers that he had cheated!)
The final round was a series of duels, which would decide the winner of the tournament. These duels would be fought until one warrior either surrendered or was incapable of continuing. Sir Alain and Prince Mark entered the duels in the lead, which gave them first choice of their initial opponents. Prince Mark chose Sir Bleddyn, thinking him the least threatening enemy, while Sir Alain surprised everyone by calling out the gigantic Saexwulf! Sir Brastias challenged Prince Cynric, owing to his hatred of the Saxons, and finally Sir Helbur and Sir Brietta were to duel.
In the first bout, Sir Alain surprised everyone when he struck Saexwulf down with two blows, and receiving not a scratch in return! Sir Bleddyn schemed with Prince Mark and threw his match. Sir Brastias took out his fury with the Saxons by humiliating Prince Cynric, and nearly dishonoured himself by murdering his enemy once he had defeated him, though with effort he restrained himself. Finally, Sir Helbur proved himself a better warrior by far than Sir Brietta, but the giant woman refused to surrender until she was beaten to the brink of unconsciousness. In the second round, the veteran Sir Brastias easily subdued young Prince Mark, while Sir Alain of Carlion, bastard son of King Nanteleod, continued to prove his worth to his father by defeating Sir Helbur. The final battle was a duel for the ages, where both Sir Brastias and Sir Alain landed many mighty blows and bled profusely from many wounds, but in the end Sir Brastias was triumphant!
The various competitors withdrew, gracefully or bitterly, as the forthcoming nuptials were arranged. The three knights spent some time in bed recovering from their fights. When they had healed, they set off upon a new quest. At the close of the previous year, Sir Brietta had accompanied Sir Esther and her ward Nimue to Glastonbury, so that Nimue could begin learning how to control her magic from the Ladies of the Lake. While there, the Ladies had spoken to Sir Brietta of the coming rebirth of paganism. For this to happen, however, the long-missing Merlin had to be discovered, for he was destined to be the first archdruid since their faith had been destroyed by the Romans, over four hundred years earlier, and to usher in the return of the old gods.
It was into the Forest Sauvage, upon this quest, that Sir Brietta now led her companions. Sir Helbur had heard rumours of a strange hermit on the outskirts of the forest. The knights travelled to Medbourne, where they paid their respects at the monument to Cadfael and Violette, before entering the forest to look for the hermit - for this was almost certainly Merlin Ambrosius. They spoke to villagers who had seen the naked man, but none knew where he was, for he fled whenever anyone approached.
Entering further into the forest, the three knights were startled as the trees began to shake around them. An immense beast of many hues appeared, terrifying Sir Helbur and Sir Bleddyn as it knocked down many trees. Sir Brietta recognised the creature as an elephant, far from its native land and bright with all the colours of the rainbow. She hailed the faerie beast respectfully. It transpired that the elephant was blind, and 'saw' with its trunk. Faerie hunters had blinded it and taken its eyes for sport, but then a strange hermit healed the elephant's wounds and showed it the way to the heart of the forest. There, the elephant had petitioned the King of Sauvage for recompense, and had received the eyes of the huntsman in restitution: it kept them in its mouth, and proudly displayed them to Sir Brietta. She was disgusted, but also pleased to learn where she would have to travel to deal with her changeling nephew. For now, she asked the elephant if it knew where the hermit who had treated its wounds was, and the elephant was able to point the knights in the correct direction.
Continuing onwards, the group discovered an old man: naked, with tanned skin and a wild beard, sitting beneath an apple tree with a pig by the banks of a river. The man babbled randomly to himself and the pig, but his words bore the weight of prophecy as he unknowingly revealed the souls of those who stood watching, who he had not even noticed as yet! The knights noticed that all of nature seemed to be bending towards the man - in some way he had returned to a state of primitive innocence and had truly become one with the natural - and supernatural - wilderness.
Sir Brietta approached, and Merlin fled from her. She gave chase, and managed to catch the insane enchanter. Sir Helbur then spoke to him, and so powerful were his words that he managed to soothe the panicking master magician. Sir Helbur spoke of Logres' need for Merlin, of how imperilled the kingdom had become since the death of Uther and the madness of Merlin. Merlin did not respond - but the trees began to rearrange themselves, and a straight path led onwards. The knights could tell that it led in the direction of Stevington Well, where they had hoped the magical healing waters of the famous well could restore Merlin's sanity. Subconsciously, it seemed, Merlin was exerting his new and puissant powers to aid them.
The knights, their squires, and the insane hermit followed the road east towards Stevington Well. As they drew near, Sir Brietta remained with the horses and with Merlin, who refused to continue onwards. Sir Bleddyn and Sir Helbur continued on foot towards the sound of singing, where they discovered the beautiful Lady Vithelen, white of face and black of hair. Sir Bleddyn hung back, suspicious of the custodian of the waters, but Sir Helbur agreed to subject himself to her trial, to demonstrate his honesty and chastity, to prove himself worthy of the miraculous healing waters. The two walked through the woods together, while Lady Vithelen asked Sir Helbur about his quest. While they talked, the lady innocently but very provocatively bared one perfect breast to Sir Helbur. Though gripped with desire for the beautiful faerie, Sir Helbur managed to restrain himself, and pass the challenge. After what seemed like hours, he returned alone to the others, bearing a wooden bucket with the diamond-clear waters of the well.
Merlin drank deeply of the waters, and his reason was restored to him. He thanked the three knights for saving him, but refused to accompany Sir Brietta to the Ladies of the Lake, dismissing them as fanatics whose desperation blinded them to the divinity all about them. Instead, he said that he had his own plans - a boy, who would grow to be the saviour of all Britain. Before he departed, he gave the three knights two pieces of advice. The first was positive, for Merlin pointed the knights upon the road that led into the heart of the forest, where Faerie itself held court, and where the King of the Forest Sauvage dwelt. With this aid, Sir Brietta would finally be able to rescue her nephew.
The second was less positive. For dark events had befallen in Salisbury since the knights had left upon their quest. The changeling child, no longer pacified by the influence of Nimue, had slipped his prison and spoken to Prince Cynric. The Saxon prince was already bitter about how Salisbury had all but cast off their alliance with Wessex. The changeling twisted Prince Cynric's mind to a bloody vengeance. And so, on the day when Sir Brastias was to marry Lady Ellen, a force of Saxons had entered Sarum by stealth, and then attacked. With Marshal Elad bedridden after his stroke, there was no defence of which to speak. The Saxons massacred many at the feast, including Sir Brastias and Lady Ellen. Their bloody bodies were cast into the Allegorical Zoo, to be devoured by the animals there.
But not all had perished in the Saxon treachery. Lady Jenna, Sir Esther and Sir George led an exodus from Salisbury, smuggling out Robert, the young heir. For now, they were encamped in the sanctified sanctuary of Amesbury, until they decided upon their next move. They would need allies to give shelter, and to aid in reclaiming their homeland. For now, however, all of Salisbury lay in the bloody grasp of the Saxons, and above all echoed the maniacal laughter of the changeling, revelling in the ultimate chaos that he had wrought upon his adoptive homeland.
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