With the conquest of Wales completed, King Nanteleod had sworn that he would turn his attention against King Cerdic, and reclaim Salisbury from the Saxons. However, his armies did not march to war this year. With the word that Malahaut was preparing for a mighty war, the King spent this year consolidating his forces. His victories in Wales meant that more lands were willing to openly swear allegiance to him - Gloucester, Orofoise, Galvoie, Cheshire, Cameliard, and Wuerensis. It was more important, he judged, to shore up his position against Malahaut than to make enemies on more fronts by turning against King Cerdic.
The knights of Salisbury were disappointed by Nanteleod's decision, but understood and accepted it readily. They spent the year engaged in no great quests, but in small tasks of diplomacy. It would take a great alliance to be able to defeat Malahaut in the war that all knew was soon to come. Standing neutral thus far was Duke Corneus of Lindsey. As one of the few lords who had not died at Saint Albans, he had kept his lands thus far. Winning his allegiance for the next year could be essential.
Meanwhile, in other parts of Britain, the Saxons continued to war amongst one another to become Bretwalda, their version of High King. King Aelle of Sussex challenged King Cwichelm of Anglia and defeated him at Hertford, but chose not to pursue: the battle cost Cwichelm little save his pride.
And so the year ended: a gasp for breath before the chaos that was to ensue...
Saturday 26 April 2014
501 AD, Part Two: The Quest for King Pellinore
The armies of King Nanteleod were marching. Through hidden roads in the Cambrian mountains, they made their way north, into the lawless lands of North Wales. There, the local cantrev lords had put aside their endless feuding to unite against his advance. Should Nanteleod win the forthcoming battle, he would have all Wales united behind him. Should he fail, he would be forgotten: another would-be king brought low by the Anarchy.
The knights of Salisbury were summoned to his war camp for an urgent task, a few short weeks after the raid upon Amesbury. Sir Bleddyn, Sir Cuthbert, Sir Edwin, Sir Gherard and Sir Helbur were joined by Sir Esther's twin brother, Sir Jeremy. He was more of a hedonist than his sister, a hunter and a womanizer. With Sir Esther now Abbess at Amesbury, she had convinced her brother to fulfill his responsibilities at last.
King Nanteleod himself did not meet the knights as they arrived at his encampment. He was too busy with the forthcoming battle. Instead, one of his subordinates gave the knights their orders. They were not to take part in the forthcoming battle, as the presence of a few knights would have little bearing on the outcome. Instead, Nanteleod had his eye on restoring stability to North Wales after the battle had been won. The area had fallen into chaos ever since the disappearance of its king, many years early. King Pellinore had departed to hunt the fabled Questing Beast - but now Nanteleod wished him found and returned to his kingdom.
How to find such a man, a vagrant knight who never slept in the same place twice? The knights left Wales, talking to those they met upon the road, peasants and gentry alike, to find someone who had seen the elusive King Pellinore. They found themselves lucky when they found the young wife of a shepherd, six months pregnant after an encounter with the King. She remembered their meeting fondly, and was able to point the knights in the direction that he had left: northwards. Now that they had a lead, Sir Gherard, Sir Helbur and Sir Jeremy were able to trace his path through Malahaut and beyond, to the imposing shadow of the Roman Wall that marked the edge of civilization and the beginning of the Pictish Highlands.
In the shadow of the Wall lay Walton, a tiny little forgotten hamlet. As the knights drew closer to it, they could tell that it was in disrepair. Some of the crops were missing from the field, and some buildings looked damaged. The peasants huddled together for defence, although they seemed relieved when they saw knights approaching. Sir Gherard and Sir Jeremy went to the local tavern, where they spoke to the barmaid, Breta. She was the widow of a carpenter, who had fled to Walton from north of the Wall. They learned from her that a small band of Pictish scouts, returning from the south, had attacked Walton.
Meanwhile, Sir Edwin went to the local blacksmith, Philomore, as his horse had thrown a shoe. Philomore was wounded from fighting the Picts, and Sir Edwin insisted on properly dressing the man's wounds to stop the onset of infection. He also spoke to Philomore about the raids, and learned that Picts attacked every year across Hadrian's Wall - but that this year, instead of the raid, there was only a small band of Pictish scouts, coming from the opposite direction. He did not know why the Picts had not launched their usual assault.
Sir Bleddyn, Sir Cuthbert and Sir Helbur were less successful in gathering information. Sir Bleddyn and Sir Helbur went to speak to a man in the stocks, with rotten lettuce dripping off his face. The thief, Bort, had stolen food after the Picts had attacked, to supplement what little he had. Sir Bleddyn threatened to use force on the man to learn more from him, but Sir Helbur stopped him. Finally, Sir Cuthbert visited the farm of one peasant who seemed different from the others. The man's name was Thaddeus, or Ted, and from his size and mannerisms, Sir Cuthbert realised that the man was clearly nobly born! However, the older man was reticent. Sir Cuthbert attacked him, to try and prompt him into reacting instinctively - instead, he wound up striking Thaddeus, and out of guilt spent the rest of the day helping him dig ditches around his farm.
Sir Bleddyn, Sir Cuthbert, Sir Gherard and Sir Helbur reunited and swapped stories. They had heard that there was a wild-woman who lived in the woods near Walton, called Leona. As Sir Cuthbert was still doing manual labour, they decided to try and track her down on their own. They found her without much difficulty, but they spooked the girl, who tried to escape. Sir Jeremy outpaced her, but Leona managed to knock him down. Ultimately, the knights decided to let her escape into the forest, since they would not be able to get any useful information from her.
The knights decided to delay their quest for a while to help the village, and discover the purpose behind the Pictish raid. The peasants were overjoyed that someone was paying attention to their problem and willing to help them. Sir Bleddyn, Sir Cuthbert, Sir Helbur and Sir Jeremy decided to venture north of Hadrian's Wall to track down the Pictish raiders, while Sir Edwin and Sir Gherard remained behind to help build defenses for Walton. The four knights venturing into Pictland followed the trail of the raiders east for some time before they crossed the ruins of the wall. The knights had heard rumours in Walton that the ghosts of the Roman defenders still slew Picts who attempted to cross the wall - perhaps this was why the raiders had taken such a circuitous route?
A few hours north of the Wall, young Pictish warriors appeared from the wilderness about the four knights, throwing javelins at them. However, the Picts were young and inexperienced, and the four knights were anything but... the fight was short and brutal, with the assailants swiftly dispatched, save for one youth whom the knights took alive for questioning. The boy did not know much - just that the chieftain of the Salmon Tribe had forbidden raiding for that year, and the Picts truly did believe that the Wall was haunted. This young group of warriors had disobeyed orders to seek glory. It had not ended well for them. Now that they had learned all that they could from their captive, Sir Helbur wanted to release the boy, while Sir Bleddyn demanded that no survivors be left. Faced with this challenge to his leadership, Sir Helbur capitulated, and Sir Bleddyn murdered the Pictish captive.
The knights north of the wall now split up. Sir Bleddyn and Sir Cuthbert headed south with the bodies of the slain Picts. They intended to leave them at the Wall, to try and convince the Picts that their crossing-place was haunted. Meanwhile, Sir Helbur and Sir Jeremy would continue north after the raiders, to try and discover what was going on. They discovered a Pictish village, and Sir Helbur decided to immediately ride up to them and ask to parley. Sir Jeremy tried to change his mind, but Sir Helbur would not be swayed. Just as Sir Jeremy predicted, the Picts were hostile and attacked, and the scarred knight barely managed to escape. The two knights galloped south towards the Wall, pursued by Pictish warriors.
Just before reaching the Wall, the two fleeing knights met Sir Bleddyn and Sir Cuthbert again. They spun their horses to flee - when Sir Cuthbert's dog, the Questing Beast, began to bark and indicated a different direction, to the east. Sir Jeremy noticed that there were tracks of Pictish travelers on foot, but also hoofprints from a band of knights. The knights decided to head east to investigate, and discovered a ruined Roman staging post. However, when they entered they were attacked by Picts from many tribes, and by warriors of Malahaut, led by Prince Berrant, the son of the Centurion King! Malahaut was preparing to expand its borders by attacking Logres, and they were negotiating an alliance with the Pictish tribes. Now that their secret alliance had been discovered, Prince Berrant demanded that the four knights be imprisoned and tortured until they revealed who sent them to spy on the meeting and why, before being executed...
Meanwhile, in Walton, Sir Gherard and Sir Edwin constructed some basic barricades for the peasants, as well as a shrine for Saint Gwiona. They also had a father-son talk, and began to reconcile. Having finished their work, they headed north to investigate Hadrian's Wall. The weather soon changed, and in the middle of the storm the two were confronted by a Roman ghost... who, it turned out, was no ghost! Sir Julian was the descendant of the last Roman defender of the wall. His ancestor (also called Julian) had been badly wounded just before the Romans withdrew from Britain, and so his legion had been forced to leave him behind. The original Sir Julian had continued to patrol the Wall single-handed. When he grew old, he took a wife, and trained his son to succeed him. So it was that for the last hundred years, a single Roman knight, taking the name Julian, would attack Picts as they crossed Hadrian's Wall, giving rise to the rumors of a ghostly guardian.
Sir Julian had also seen the four knights crossing Hadrian's Wall, and knew that they had gone to investigate the Roman ruins - and had not returned. Sir Gherard and Sir Edwin realized that their comrades were in danger, and decided to prepare a rescue mission. They convinced Sir Julian to join them, and headed to Walton to gain more assistance. They first met Bretta, the refugee. She and Sir Julian fell in love at first sight, and Bretta agreed to help the knights. Sir Gherard went to confront Thaddeus. Thaddeus revealed that he had, in fact, been Sir Thaddeus of Malahaut. He had fled in fear from a battle against bandits, leaving his comrades and the village they were defending to die. As a result, he regarded himself as a failure, and no longer worthy to be a knight. Sir Gherard convinced him to take up his sword one more time, to redeem his failure. Finally, they took Bort (the villager in the stocks) with them, as his sneakiness would be an asset.
The group traveled north towards the ruined staging-post. They found the way blocked by Pictish warriors, but managed to sneak around them and reach the little fort. The six entered secretly over the ruined wall, and Sir Julian slew a Pictish sentry who would have raised the alarm. The group entered the dungeon, where they fought against the Malahautians and Pictish defenders. Meanwhile Bretta and Bort slipped further on and found Sir Helbur, being tortured for information. Bretta found a piece of wood and struck the jailer from behind, knocking him out and rescuing Sir Helbur. The rescuers successfully freed the other three knights and took a Malahautian shield for evidence, before setting the building on fire and escaping. There was no sign of Prince Berrant, however. He had fled as soon as the fighting began - and had thus dishonoured himself in front of his would-be allies. The Pictish alliance was no more, and the knights would be able to report to King Nanteleod about Malahaut's battle plans.
The group returned to Walton. Sir Julian married Bretta, and the two returned to the wall with Thaddeus, who had decided to take up his sword once more and keep defending Britain. The knights said that they would try to get King Nanteleod to reinforce the Roman Wall, and then bid everyone in Walton a fond farewell and continued south, following King Pellinore.
The mad huntsman's trail had almost gone cold now, but they managed to follow him into the Pennine Mountains. There, one cold night, their camp was attacked by a group of desperate peasants. Their homes had been destroyed in the fighting of the anarchy, and they were reduced to banditry to survive. The knights talked them down and agreed to share food with them, and then told them to seek shelter with Nanteleod. Without any supplies remaining, Sir Jeremy had to forage for the knights as they headed south and east, slowing their pursuit of King Pellinore down even further.
The trail led into the Fens. Pellinore's trail became harder to follow through the marshes and the reeds. There, the group met Roger, a friendly trapper, who spoke to them about what lay in the marsh. There lived a witch and her son, a giant, whom the knights decided to avoid. There was also a band of Saxons who had fought their way into the swamp some years earlier and then never emerged again. The knights did not trust Saxons, but decided to visit this strange tribe. They found a small village in the swamp, living self-sufficiently and hiding from the outside world.
The men of the swamp were, in fact, not Saxons but men of Thule, a far distant land. Their King Aguar gave the knights hospitality and offered to help them navigate the swamps. He had been exiled from his lands when one of his lords, Sligon, had led a coup against him. He and his followers had sought sanctuary in Britain, and sought no conflict with the inhabitants of the land. Meanwhile, Sir Cuthbert was bombarded with questions by a young boy of Thule: Val, son of Aguar, who dreamed of adventure far from the swamps. Sir Cuthbert entertained Val, and the two played together for a while.
The next day the knights set off southwards, out of the swamp. Not far south of the fens, the knights saw signs of a Saxon army marching to war, and hid from them. By their banners, they could tell that it was the men of Anglia, driven by King Cwichelm to invade the County of Huntingdon. The knights did not wish to abandon their quests, but they knew that Huntingdon must be warned. Sir Gherard turned to his squire, Hubert, and made the boy a knight, and entrusted him with riding swiftly to warn the men of Huntingdon. Sir Hubert galloped east, while Sir Gherard led the others south. They would never meet again in this life.
King Pellinore's trail led further south. His pursuers stopped briefly at Saint Albans, and saw the memorial where Archbishop Iestyn and Sir Albrecht had perished, years earlier. The next night, the group sheltered at a monastery just outside London loyal to the teaching of the martyred Saint Gwiona. The monks asked for a favour from the knights. Nearby was the manor of Sir Heward the Pale. This generous knight accepted refugees on to his land, but refused to accept any priests, and the monks were concerned about the state of his soul, and of those with him. Since it was not out of their way, the knights agreed to talk to Sir Heward.
Sir Heward offered his hospitality, and took the knights around his estate. He was afflicted with a club foot, and was unable to fight; his time spent indoors was the source of his pale complexion. There were peasants sheltering all about his lands, and the knights could tell that Sir Heward had more men living upon his land than he could afford to support. In his manor, Sir Heward showed the knights the paintings which he had created, and was now forced to pawn to pay for food for the refugees on his land.
Speaking tactfully, Sir Gherard teased out of their host at dinner the story of how he had been betrayed by the church in years past, and how he still bore great resentment for this. His lover had died in childbirth, and as she had had sex out of wedlock the church had refused to give her a Christian burial - unless Sir Heward paid then. Sir Gherard used soft words to convince Sir Heward to let the Church show how it had changed with the coming of Saint Gwiona by letting them helping him care for the peasants. When the knights left the next morning, Sir Heward agreed to let the monks visit his lands.
The trail led onwards. It doubled back upon itself, heading to the north and the east - deep into the lands of the Saxons. The knights managed to elude Saxon patrols and entered the trackless depths of the Quinqueroi Forest, where they found a small hunting lodge. Its owner had but recently left, but it was sumptuously provisioned. The knights interrogated the servant and discovered that this was the lodge of none other than King Aescalax himself, the King of Essex - and the man who was responsible for the death of Saint Gwiona. He was hunting in this part - but more interesting by far, he would be returning this way in a week or less, on his way back to Colchester. The knights decided to stay and to slay the King upon his return. Sir Bleddyn argued that they should murder the King, but Sir Gherard's honour forbade him from such strategies. Instead, they decided to barricade the door when the King entered, to split him off from the bulk of his bodyguards, and then to challenge them to a fair fight,
For a week, the knights feasted on King Aescalax's largesse. When signs of the travellers came, they took their prearranged positions. Only the King and a few of his attendants entered before the knights dropped a crude wooden portcullis over the doorway. Sir Gherard drew his sword and denounced the King, and battle was joined! The King's defenders fought ferociously to protect their liege, but the knights were driven by their hatred of the Saxons and their indomitable desire to avenge Saint Gwiona. They slew the bodyguard and attacked the King himself. Sir Edwin's blade cleft King Aescalax's heart asunder, and a moment later Sir Bleddyn struck the King's head clear from his shoulders.
Their victory was not without cost. Sir Gherard was struck down by the axes of King Aescalax's bodyguard. He died happy, knowing that he had found a glorious end worthy of his ancestors. Sir Edwin spoke to him before he died, and acknowledged him as his father, in spirit if not in blood, taking his signet ring. Sir Cuthbert took the King's highly trained warhorse on a whim, which he named Aescalaxing. But there was no time to dally - for outside, the rest of the King's bodyguard was hacking through the portcullis to avenge the King's death. Sir Bleddyn dropped a torch to bar their escape, and the knights fled through the back of the lodge, through a route that they had prepared earlier.
The trail of King Pellinore now grew cold. Once, on a distant wind, the knights thought that they could hear the baying of fifty hounds questing, but there was no further sign of him. Perhaps if they had not delayed so often, they would have been able to find him. However, they had accomplished great good that year, and so they returned to Wales proudly. There, they found that King Nanteleod had vanquished the Cantrev lords in a pitched battle, and was master of all Wales. He listened to their report with great interest, and appointed one of his followers as King of the Isles in the place of the missing King Pellinore.
Not all news was positive. Word came that Huntingdon had been overwhelmed by the Saxons of Anglia. and was lost. Essex, with the deaths of King Aescalax and Prince Aescwine in the same year, was dissolving into anarchy, and King Nanteleod predicted that Anglia would annex it and grow still more powerful. The great conflict between Nanteleod and the Saxons would surely not be long off - and the army of Malahaut would soon be ready as well...
The knights of Salisbury were summoned to his war camp for an urgent task, a few short weeks after the raid upon Amesbury. Sir Bleddyn, Sir Cuthbert, Sir Edwin, Sir Gherard and Sir Helbur were joined by Sir Esther's twin brother, Sir Jeremy. He was more of a hedonist than his sister, a hunter and a womanizer. With Sir Esther now Abbess at Amesbury, she had convinced her brother to fulfill his responsibilities at last.
King Nanteleod himself did not meet the knights as they arrived at his encampment. He was too busy with the forthcoming battle. Instead, one of his subordinates gave the knights their orders. They were not to take part in the forthcoming battle, as the presence of a few knights would have little bearing on the outcome. Instead, Nanteleod had his eye on restoring stability to North Wales after the battle had been won. The area had fallen into chaos ever since the disappearance of its king, many years early. King Pellinore had departed to hunt the fabled Questing Beast - but now Nanteleod wished him found and returned to his kingdom.
How to find such a man, a vagrant knight who never slept in the same place twice? The knights left Wales, talking to those they met upon the road, peasants and gentry alike, to find someone who had seen the elusive King Pellinore. They found themselves lucky when they found the young wife of a shepherd, six months pregnant after an encounter with the King. She remembered their meeting fondly, and was able to point the knights in the direction that he had left: northwards. Now that they had a lead, Sir Gherard, Sir Helbur and Sir Jeremy were able to trace his path through Malahaut and beyond, to the imposing shadow of the Roman Wall that marked the edge of civilization and the beginning of the Pictish Highlands.
In the shadow of the Wall lay Walton, a tiny little forgotten hamlet. As the knights drew closer to it, they could tell that it was in disrepair. Some of the crops were missing from the field, and some buildings looked damaged. The peasants huddled together for defence, although they seemed relieved when they saw knights approaching. Sir Gherard and Sir Jeremy went to the local tavern, where they spoke to the barmaid, Breta. She was the widow of a carpenter, who had fled to Walton from north of the Wall. They learned from her that a small band of Pictish scouts, returning from the south, had attacked Walton.
Meanwhile, Sir Edwin went to the local blacksmith, Philomore, as his horse had thrown a shoe. Philomore was wounded from fighting the Picts, and Sir Edwin insisted on properly dressing the man's wounds to stop the onset of infection. He also spoke to Philomore about the raids, and learned that Picts attacked every year across Hadrian's Wall - but that this year, instead of the raid, there was only a small band of Pictish scouts, coming from the opposite direction. He did not know why the Picts had not launched their usual assault.
Sir Bleddyn, Sir Cuthbert and Sir Helbur were less successful in gathering information. Sir Bleddyn and Sir Helbur went to speak to a man in the stocks, with rotten lettuce dripping off his face. The thief, Bort, had stolen food after the Picts had attacked, to supplement what little he had. Sir Bleddyn threatened to use force on the man to learn more from him, but Sir Helbur stopped him. Finally, Sir Cuthbert visited the farm of one peasant who seemed different from the others. The man's name was Thaddeus, or Ted, and from his size and mannerisms, Sir Cuthbert realised that the man was clearly nobly born! However, the older man was reticent. Sir Cuthbert attacked him, to try and prompt him into reacting instinctively - instead, he wound up striking Thaddeus, and out of guilt spent the rest of the day helping him dig ditches around his farm.
Sir Bleddyn, Sir Cuthbert, Sir Gherard and Sir Helbur reunited and swapped stories. They had heard that there was a wild-woman who lived in the woods near Walton, called Leona. As Sir Cuthbert was still doing manual labour, they decided to try and track her down on their own. They found her without much difficulty, but they spooked the girl, who tried to escape. Sir Jeremy outpaced her, but Leona managed to knock him down. Ultimately, the knights decided to let her escape into the forest, since they would not be able to get any useful information from her.
The knights decided to delay their quest for a while to help the village, and discover the purpose behind the Pictish raid. The peasants were overjoyed that someone was paying attention to their problem and willing to help them. Sir Bleddyn, Sir Cuthbert, Sir Helbur and Sir Jeremy decided to venture north of Hadrian's Wall to track down the Pictish raiders, while Sir Edwin and Sir Gherard remained behind to help build defenses for Walton. The four knights venturing into Pictland followed the trail of the raiders east for some time before they crossed the ruins of the wall. The knights had heard rumours in Walton that the ghosts of the Roman defenders still slew Picts who attempted to cross the wall - perhaps this was why the raiders had taken such a circuitous route?
A few hours north of the Wall, young Pictish warriors appeared from the wilderness about the four knights, throwing javelins at them. However, the Picts were young and inexperienced, and the four knights were anything but... the fight was short and brutal, with the assailants swiftly dispatched, save for one youth whom the knights took alive for questioning. The boy did not know much - just that the chieftain of the Salmon Tribe had forbidden raiding for that year, and the Picts truly did believe that the Wall was haunted. This young group of warriors had disobeyed orders to seek glory. It had not ended well for them. Now that they had learned all that they could from their captive, Sir Helbur wanted to release the boy, while Sir Bleddyn demanded that no survivors be left. Faced with this challenge to his leadership, Sir Helbur capitulated, and Sir Bleddyn murdered the Pictish captive.
The knights north of the wall now split up. Sir Bleddyn and Sir Cuthbert headed south with the bodies of the slain Picts. They intended to leave them at the Wall, to try and convince the Picts that their crossing-place was haunted. Meanwhile, Sir Helbur and Sir Jeremy would continue north after the raiders, to try and discover what was going on. They discovered a Pictish village, and Sir Helbur decided to immediately ride up to them and ask to parley. Sir Jeremy tried to change his mind, but Sir Helbur would not be swayed. Just as Sir Jeremy predicted, the Picts were hostile and attacked, and the scarred knight barely managed to escape. The two knights galloped south towards the Wall, pursued by Pictish warriors.
Just before reaching the Wall, the two fleeing knights met Sir Bleddyn and Sir Cuthbert again. They spun their horses to flee - when Sir Cuthbert's dog, the Questing Beast, began to bark and indicated a different direction, to the east. Sir Jeremy noticed that there were tracks of Pictish travelers on foot, but also hoofprints from a band of knights. The knights decided to head east to investigate, and discovered a ruined Roman staging post. However, when they entered they were attacked by Picts from many tribes, and by warriors of Malahaut, led by Prince Berrant, the son of the Centurion King! Malahaut was preparing to expand its borders by attacking Logres, and they were negotiating an alliance with the Pictish tribes. Now that their secret alliance had been discovered, Prince Berrant demanded that the four knights be imprisoned and tortured until they revealed who sent them to spy on the meeting and why, before being executed...
Meanwhile, in Walton, Sir Gherard and Sir Edwin constructed some basic barricades for the peasants, as well as a shrine for Saint Gwiona. They also had a father-son talk, and began to reconcile. Having finished their work, they headed north to investigate Hadrian's Wall. The weather soon changed, and in the middle of the storm the two were confronted by a Roman ghost... who, it turned out, was no ghost! Sir Julian was the descendant of the last Roman defender of the wall. His ancestor (also called Julian) had been badly wounded just before the Romans withdrew from Britain, and so his legion had been forced to leave him behind. The original Sir Julian had continued to patrol the Wall single-handed. When he grew old, he took a wife, and trained his son to succeed him. So it was that for the last hundred years, a single Roman knight, taking the name Julian, would attack Picts as they crossed Hadrian's Wall, giving rise to the rumors of a ghostly guardian.
Sir Julian had also seen the four knights crossing Hadrian's Wall, and knew that they had gone to investigate the Roman ruins - and had not returned. Sir Gherard and Sir Edwin realized that their comrades were in danger, and decided to prepare a rescue mission. They convinced Sir Julian to join them, and headed to Walton to gain more assistance. They first met Bretta, the refugee. She and Sir Julian fell in love at first sight, and Bretta agreed to help the knights. Sir Gherard went to confront Thaddeus. Thaddeus revealed that he had, in fact, been Sir Thaddeus of Malahaut. He had fled in fear from a battle against bandits, leaving his comrades and the village they were defending to die. As a result, he regarded himself as a failure, and no longer worthy to be a knight. Sir Gherard convinced him to take up his sword one more time, to redeem his failure. Finally, they took Bort (the villager in the stocks) with them, as his sneakiness would be an asset.
The group traveled north towards the ruined staging-post. They found the way blocked by Pictish warriors, but managed to sneak around them and reach the little fort. The six entered secretly over the ruined wall, and Sir Julian slew a Pictish sentry who would have raised the alarm. The group entered the dungeon, where they fought against the Malahautians and Pictish defenders. Meanwhile Bretta and Bort slipped further on and found Sir Helbur, being tortured for information. Bretta found a piece of wood and struck the jailer from behind, knocking him out and rescuing Sir Helbur. The rescuers successfully freed the other three knights and took a Malahautian shield for evidence, before setting the building on fire and escaping. There was no sign of Prince Berrant, however. He had fled as soon as the fighting began - and had thus dishonoured himself in front of his would-be allies. The Pictish alliance was no more, and the knights would be able to report to King Nanteleod about Malahaut's battle plans.
The group returned to Walton. Sir Julian married Bretta, and the two returned to the wall with Thaddeus, who had decided to take up his sword once more and keep defending Britain. The knights said that they would try to get King Nanteleod to reinforce the Roman Wall, and then bid everyone in Walton a fond farewell and continued south, following King Pellinore.
The mad huntsman's trail had almost gone cold now, but they managed to follow him into the Pennine Mountains. There, one cold night, their camp was attacked by a group of desperate peasants. Their homes had been destroyed in the fighting of the anarchy, and they were reduced to banditry to survive. The knights talked them down and agreed to share food with them, and then told them to seek shelter with Nanteleod. Without any supplies remaining, Sir Jeremy had to forage for the knights as they headed south and east, slowing their pursuit of King Pellinore down even further.
The trail led into the Fens. Pellinore's trail became harder to follow through the marshes and the reeds. There, the group met Roger, a friendly trapper, who spoke to them about what lay in the marsh. There lived a witch and her son, a giant, whom the knights decided to avoid. There was also a band of Saxons who had fought their way into the swamp some years earlier and then never emerged again. The knights did not trust Saxons, but decided to visit this strange tribe. They found a small village in the swamp, living self-sufficiently and hiding from the outside world.
The men of the swamp were, in fact, not Saxons but men of Thule, a far distant land. Their King Aguar gave the knights hospitality and offered to help them navigate the swamps. He had been exiled from his lands when one of his lords, Sligon, had led a coup against him. He and his followers had sought sanctuary in Britain, and sought no conflict with the inhabitants of the land. Meanwhile, Sir Cuthbert was bombarded with questions by a young boy of Thule: Val, son of Aguar, who dreamed of adventure far from the swamps. Sir Cuthbert entertained Val, and the two played together for a while.
The next day the knights set off southwards, out of the swamp. Not far south of the fens, the knights saw signs of a Saxon army marching to war, and hid from them. By their banners, they could tell that it was the men of Anglia, driven by King Cwichelm to invade the County of Huntingdon. The knights did not wish to abandon their quests, but they knew that Huntingdon must be warned. Sir Gherard turned to his squire, Hubert, and made the boy a knight, and entrusted him with riding swiftly to warn the men of Huntingdon. Sir Hubert galloped east, while Sir Gherard led the others south. They would never meet again in this life.
King Pellinore's trail led further south. His pursuers stopped briefly at Saint Albans, and saw the memorial where Archbishop Iestyn and Sir Albrecht had perished, years earlier. The next night, the group sheltered at a monastery just outside London loyal to the teaching of the martyred Saint Gwiona. The monks asked for a favour from the knights. Nearby was the manor of Sir Heward the Pale. This generous knight accepted refugees on to his land, but refused to accept any priests, and the monks were concerned about the state of his soul, and of those with him. Since it was not out of their way, the knights agreed to talk to Sir Heward.
Sir Heward offered his hospitality, and took the knights around his estate. He was afflicted with a club foot, and was unable to fight; his time spent indoors was the source of his pale complexion. There were peasants sheltering all about his lands, and the knights could tell that Sir Heward had more men living upon his land than he could afford to support. In his manor, Sir Heward showed the knights the paintings which he had created, and was now forced to pawn to pay for food for the refugees on his land.
Speaking tactfully, Sir Gherard teased out of their host at dinner the story of how he had been betrayed by the church in years past, and how he still bore great resentment for this. His lover had died in childbirth, and as she had had sex out of wedlock the church had refused to give her a Christian burial - unless Sir Heward paid then. Sir Gherard used soft words to convince Sir Heward to let the Church show how it had changed with the coming of Saint Gwiona by letting them helping him care for the peasants. When the knights left the next morning, Sir Heward agreed to let the monks visit his lands.
The trail led onwards. It doubled back upon itself, heading to the north and the east - deep into the lands of the Saxons. The knights managed to elude Saxon patrols and entered the trackless depths of the Quinqueroi Forest, where they found a small hunting lodge. Its owner had but recently left, but it was sumptuously provisioned. The knights interrogated the servant and discovered that this was the lodge of none other than King Aescalax himself, the King of Essex - and the man who was responsible for the death of Saint Gwiona. He was hunting in this part - but more interesting by far, he would be returning this way in a week or less, on his way back to Colchester. The knights decided to stay and to slay the King upon his return. Sir Bleddyn argued that they should murder the King, but Sir Gherard's honour forbade him from such strategies. Instead, they decided to barricade the door when the King entered, to split him off from the bulk of his bodyguards, and then to challenge them to a fair fight,
For a week, the knights feasted on King Aescalax's largesse. When signs of the travellers came, they took their prearranged positions. Only the King and a few of his attendants entered before the knights dropped a crude wooden portcullis over the doorway. Sir Gherard drew his sword and denounced the King, and battle was joined! The King's defenders fought ferociously to protect their liege, but the knights were driven by their hatred of the Saxons and their indomitable desire to avenge Saint Gwiona. They slew the bodyguard and attacked the King himself. Sir Edwin's blade cleft King Aescalax's heart asunder, and a moment later Sir Bleddyn struck the King's head clear from his shoulders.
Their victory was not without cost. Sir Gherard was struck down by the axes of King Aescalax's bodyguard. He died happy, knowing that he had found a glorious end worthy of his ancestors. Sir Edwin spoke to him before he died, and acknowledged him as his father, in spirit if not in blood, taking his signet ring. Sir Cuthbert took the King's highly trained warhorse on a whim, which he named Aescalaxing. But there was no time to dally - for outside, the rest of the King's bodyguard was hacking through the portcullis to avenge the King's death. Sir Bleddyn dropped a torch to bar their escape, and the knights fled through the back of the lodge, through a route that they had prepared earlier.
The trail of King Pellinore now grew cold. Once, on a distant wind, the knights thought that they could hear the baying of fifty hounds questing, but there was no further sign of him. Perhaps if they had not delayed so often, they would have been able to find him. However, they had accomplished great good that year, and so they returned to Wales proudly. There, they found that King Nanteleod had vanquished the Cantrev lords in a pitched battle, and was master of all Wales. He listened to their report with great interest, and appointed one of his followers as King of the Isles in the place of the missing King Pellinore.
Not all news was positive. Word came that Huntingdon had been overwhelmed by the Saxons of Anglia. and was lost. Essex, with the deaths of King Aescalax and Prince Aescwine in the same year, was dissolving into anarchy, and King Nanteleod predicted that Anglia would annex it and grow still more powerful. The great conflict between Nanteleod and the Saxons would surely not be long off - and the army of Malahaut would soon be ready as well...
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