500 AD: Monster Slaying

The refugees of fallen Salisbury sheltered in Cameliard as they planned their next course of action. Sir Bleddyn, Sir Helbur and Sir George contemplated what they should do to reclaim their homeland. Meanwhile, Sir Cuthbert, newly returned from Faerie, had a different task. Sir Esther had been morose and despondent ever since the death of her sister-in-law Lady Argyl, and her comrade in arms Sir Brietta. Sir Cuthbert made it his task to bring some levity to her life to cheer her up. In this task he had an ally: the adorable three-year-old Guinevere, daughter of King Leodegrance. Guinevere drew a picture for Sir Esther (of Jesus,  and bunny rabbits), while Sir Cuthbert and his dog the Questing Beast snuck fish into her quarters to attract all the cats in the castle. After that, fish kept showing up when Sir Esther least expected it. It did manage to pull Sir Esther out of her fugue: she began playing pranks on Sir Cuthbert in revenge!

Sir Esther had also received a letter from a long-lost friend. After Sir Gherard moved to Devon, he had corresponded with Sir Esther regularly, but after the death of King Uther, the letters stopped. In the chaos of the subsequent years, she had been unable to discover what had happened to him. But now a merchant delivered a weather-beaten letter to her from her friend.

Sir Esther,

You must forgive the tardiness of my reply to your letter, and also the brevity of my response. I do not know if this letter will even reach you. If it should, know that I have been imprisoned upon the Lost Island of Manannan for many years. Any assistance which could be rendered would be appreciated.

Your friend,
Sir Gherard

There was no time to start investigating just yet, however. The leaders of Salisbury decided that it was important that Sir Bleddyn, Sir Cuthbert, Sir Esther, Sir George, and Sir Helbur begin the restoration of their homeland. They would have to seek out alliances (for while King Leodegrance was happy to shelter the exiles, he did not have the military strength needed to defeat the Saxon force occupying Salisbury). There would also need to be a scouting mission to gain information about the Saxons.

Sir Cuthbert knew that all of this was unimportant compared to his counterpart - the redcap changeling. Now that he had returned, there was no place for the Redcap in Salisbury any more. Furthermore, the Redcap was responsible for the fall of Salisbury by corrupting the Saxon Prince Cynric. If the Redcap were destroyed, the black heart of the Saxon occupation would be no more.

And before any of these tasks were undertaken, there was a problem closer to home. In the town of Wednesbury, in southern Cameliard, a rapacious green dragon had been attacking the chapel on Sundays and massacring the faithful. It had already eaten the Mayor, and many people were no longer attending services. The knights of Salisbury decided that they should confront this terror, in the name of Jesus Christ and for the sake of their current alliance with King Leodegrance.

The five knights travelled to Wednesbury on a Thursday, giving them a few days to prepare for the arrival of the dragon. Sir Esther and Sir George convinced the townsfolk to hold a service on Sunday despite the danger (with some knights suggesting that Sir Esther, as the most pious, would be acting as bait). Sir Cuthbert thought about what he knew of dragons, and remembered that most dragons have a weakness, connected to their nature. He was sure that the Green Dragon's weakness would be connected with its hatred for Christianity. Sir Helbur spoke to his new squire, Siegfried (the eldest son of the deceased Sir Albrecht). Siegfried told Sir Helbur about the legends of his namesake and how he slew the dragon Fafnir. Fafnir had a weak underbelly, and Siegfried dug a pit so that he could hide in it and then attack the dragon's weak point; Sir Helbur decided to do the same. Sir Bleddyn tried to take charge of the defence, although the other knights did not trust him and his plans, expecting that he would betray them and flee if things went wrong. He organised for more pits, with spikes and oil, to be dug.

On Sunday, the (small) congregation gathered outside the ruins of Wednesbury's chapel as Sir Esther rang an improvised church bell, and listened to Sir George's sermon. Sir Helbur and Sir Cuthbert hid in trenches, while Sir Bleddyn sat nearby on his horse, to oversee the situation. The first sign of the dragon was the terrible smell, followed by the rasping slither of its scale and the crashing of breaking trees. Finally the monster itself emerged, a terrifying serpent with row upon row of teeth and gleaming red eyes. Sir Bleddyn and Sir Esther's nerves broke at the sight of the fiend, and they turned to flee, along with most of the peasants. One brave peasant boy who was going to ignite the oil in the first trenches panicked as well and fled in the wrong direction; the serpent tore him into shreds without stopping its advance towards the congregation. But to do so it had to pass over Sir Helbur's pit. Crushed by the weight of the dragon above him and gagging on its terrible reek, the brave knight still had the strength to drive his sword into the slug-like underbelly. The dragon's own weight and momentum did the rest, tearing open its innards. The dragon screamed in terrible agony, rupturing Sir Helbur's eardrums. Its black blood ran down into the trench, melting away Sir Helbur's armour, skin and flesh.

Gravely wounded, the Green Dragon turned to flee. Sir George refused to let it depart, however. He mounted his nearby horse, seized his lance and galloped after it. Meanwhile, Sir Cuthbert climbed from his trench, and Sir Esther regained her nerve; they rushed to Sir Helbur and dragged the gravely wounded man from his trench. Sir George screamed a prayer at the dragon in challenge. It spun to face him, charging forward like a striking serpent. His lance struck it in its open mouth, and went through the roof of its mouth and out the other side of its skull. Still the dragon would not die; Sir Esther drew her blade and rushed to help him. She hacked the monster's tail nearly entirely off, and Sir George's own sword split the already wounded skull. The dragon thrashed about in its death throes. It flung itself into the spiked trenches, impaling itself repeatedly. It tore itself free, with many of the spikes still driven through it and struck the forest, impaling itself anew on broken trees.

At last, the dragon was dead. But as Sir Esther, Sir George and Sir Cuthbert tended to their fallen companion, they heard a sound behind them. Although it still had spikes and tree limbs still in its flesh, the dragon's wounds were knitting together, and it was beginning to stir once again. Sir Esther and Sir Cuthbert drew their blades and then attacked once more, cutting the terrible beast into bloody chunks. As they did, Sir George administered the last rites of the church upon each piece of the dragon - and by doing so, slew the dragon permanently. It was foul work, all three soon becoming soaked in the dragon's caustic blood, but the Green Dragon of Wednesbury was no more.

Sir George and Sir Esther held Mass immediately, to thank God for delivering Wednesbury from the peril of the foul worm. They set about directing the villagers in rebuilding their ruined church. Some time passed as the knights recovered from their ordeal.  For a time, they did not know whether Sir Helbur would live or die. But he gradually began to recover, in body if not in spirit. He had a mask made for him of wood, to fit into the places in his face where the dragon's blood had eaten away at him. Meanwhile, Sir Esther and Sir Cuthbert headed into the forest and tracked down Sir Bleddyn. His terror, and perhaps a sense of guilt, had driven him witless. None of his comrades were surprised by how he had fled the battle. When Sir Bleddyn was found, he was raving incoherently. As Sir Esther tended to him, some of his ravings about dragons began to make sense, as he ranted about what he had done the previous year. For now, Sir Esther kept Sir Bleddyn's secret to herself, and said nothing to anyone.

Two months after the battle with the dragon, the five knights set off upon a new quest. They decided to seek an alliance with one of the powerful lords of Britain, who could help them reclaim Salisbury. Some of the knights thought that King Idres of Cornwall would be the best to seek aid from; others, King Nanteleod of Escavalon. King Idres was openly seeking as much power as he could seize, believing Logres dead, while Nanteleod was trying to become High King to restore order. The knights decided to seek an alliance with the more honourable King Nanteleod. They travelled to Estregales. King Nanteleod had recently defeated the Irish who had conquered it, and restored King Dirac to the throne as his vassal. The King agreed to help reclaim Salisbury when he could spare the troops, in exchange for Lady Jenna officially acknowledging his claim to become High King.

The knights spent a little time in Pembroke, while messengers settled the negotiations between Jenna and Nanteleod. While they waited, the knights helped drive out one of the remaining groups of Irish. Sir Helbur told a story, Sir George played the harp, and Sir Cuthbert and Sir Esther danced. They also did their best to avoid King Dirac, remembering his abnormal attraction for Sir Esther. He asked to see Sir Cuthbert privately, which left the group feeling worried that he had transferred his feelings to the beautiful young man. Fortunately, King Dirac was not interested in him and just wanted to ask him tips for attracting Sir Esther's attention, after he saw the two dancing together!

Word came from Lady Jenna: a proclamation that Salisbury acknowledged King Nanteleod as High King of Britain, and would swear vassalage to him. While Nanteleod was preparing war against northern Wales, he could not spare an army, but he assigned a group of ten experienced mercenaries to accompany the knights. They would do reconnaissance in Saxon-occupied Salisbury. They would also find and slay the Redcap, who was responsible for the entire affair. With Cuthbert's return, the presence of the Redcap was an imbalance which had to be corrected. The leader of the mercenaries was Sir Cador, formerly of Cornwall. He did not like how dishonourable the mission was. Sir Helbur immediately antagonised him by telling Sir Cador about how his father Duke Gorlois had died. Sir Cador was furious, but managed to stay focused on the mission at hand.

The knights decided to send a small scouting group ahead to Amesbury, to learn what had happened in Salisbury in their absence. Sir Cuthbert, Sir Esther, and her attendant Asha disguised themselves as nuns and made their way across Salisbury, avoiding the main routes. However, they did not know that the Redcap was anticipating their arrival, sooner or later. A group of Saxon warriors intercepted them in the Chute Forest and called for their surrender. Sir Esther and Asha managed to escape, but Sir Cuthbert was captured and taken as a prisoner to his evil counterpart, the Redcap.

Sir Esther returned to her companions, waiting outside Salisbury. As the Saxons were aware of the mission, Sir Cador followed his instructions and sent his knights home. He himself refused to abandon a comrade, however, and proposed a lightning strike at Sarum to rescue Sir Cuthbert. The five knights rode like the wind along the road, before any preparations could be made for their arrival. They struck down the Saxon patrols that they encountered, and reached Sarum that evening, to find that they were expected. The gates were open and unguarded, and Sir Cuthbert's flayed body was staked up, still wearing the nun's habit disguise, along with a message, "The Zoo." The knights were appalled, but they recognised that the corpse was too short for Sir Cuthbert - it was just a sick joke by the Redcap.

The knights entered the city, and made their way into the Allegorical Zoo. It was overgrown, and the animals howled and screeched at them. In one of the cages, Sir Cuthbert was imprisoned, naked but largely unhurt. The Redcap had only barely started to play with him. The sadistic faerie locked the doors to the zoo behind them, and opened the animals' cages. The seven animals that had represented Christian virtue had been driven insane by the Redcap's influence, and attacked the knights, while the Redcap himself fought with Sir George and Sir Esther. Sir Cador single-handedly held off the lion, while Sir Bleddyn fought the eagle, and the dog attacked Sir Helbur. The birds and the camel were less effective, but served as a distraction from the more lethal adversaries. Sir Cuthbert used his own faerie talents to soothe some of the animals from within his cage. As for the Redcap himself, he vastly underestimated his enemies. Sir Esther, usually a pacifist, was driven into a quiet fury by the horrors that her foe had unleashed, and decapitated the evil faerie with a single mighty blow. His cackling head flew off into the gloom. Freed from his fell influence, the animals fell upon their hated oppressor and devoured his remains.

The knights had been victorious against the second supernatural enemy of the year. They took Sir Cuthbert and fled the city. With the Redcap dead, reclaiming Salisbury would be a far easier task - but one for another day.

Prelude to 500 AD: The Journal of Sir Esther the Mourner

Among the possessions of Sir Esther is a book of worn leather containing amateurishly bound pages, telling of the regular additions over the years. The cover is well-cared for. Yet, each leaf of paper is tear-stained which has marred the generally neat and careful script of the Lady of Letters. These are the last farewells of Esther to her family, friends, and acquaintances. The short letters grieve for their loss and speak to the personal pain and misery of their author, Esther the Mourner.

To the memory of Argle, my beloved sister-in-law,

Our household changed for the better that blessed day you married into our family. With your quiet, warming presence, our manor was full of stories and wonderment. A sweet folktale to chase away tears, a cautionary tale to scare disobedient children, or a wise parable for us lost adults. The loss of my brother to war left a deep, paralysing scar in both our hearts. But together we shared our grief through night after night of tears. Together, you gave me the strength to carry on and come to peace with our collective loss.

But now you have been snatched away from me, from Idmiston, from all who you would have touched with your love. I have not felt such pain and utter, utter misery since the day news arrived of Percival's passing. Why, why must misfortune befall good, kind souls? For now, I take comfort in that you and your beloved can finally rest and finally be together.

In the confidence of this journal, I share with you my darkest worry. In the evenings, as I lay tear-ridden in bed I wonder... if I hadn't made that deal in the Forest Sauvage, to invite sorrows onto me in exchange for Nimue's protection... would you still be here today?

With great, grieving love,
Esther

* * *

To the memory of Sir Brietta, “Mountain Lady”...

Out of our entire family of knights, you were always the favourite aunt of my dear Nimue. She called you Mountain Lady and in the secrecy of my diary I confess that I thought it appropriate for years. I thought you a brutish, cold, uncivilized individual. I thought you uncaring, wishing for nothing more than to cavort with your beloved faeries rather than face the difficulties of the world.

I have never been so wrong; so deeply ashamed of my pre-judgement. You are a great, inexorable mother bear; quiet, introspective, and slow to rouse. But when others threatened your beliefs and loved ones, you were unstoppable and fought for your righteous cause. Sir Brietta, you were decisive, brave, and strong. The heart of a lion tempered by a heart of gold.

Yet just when my eyes were opened to your courage and nobility, just when we opened up to each other with loving respect, you are snatched away. No. That sentiment does not do your actions justice. You would want us to celebrate your legacy - paying the ultimate price for your loved ones and for the future of Logres.

They say that the mountain does not move. But you, the mountain, have moved me. Without your firm foundation, I don’t know how I can find the strength to carry on. You wished me to be your anchor. But with your loss, I too am now cast adrift.

Your little bear-cub,
Esther

499 AD, Part Two: The King of Sauvage

In the middle of the Forest Sauvage, there was a reunion. Sir Esther had come to find her comrades-in-arms, to tell them of the fall of Salisbury to the Saxons. She told them of what had befallen: how Sir Brastias and Lady Ellen had perished, and how Lady Jenna had led an exodus to Amesbury. There, the Saxons had pursued them, led by Prince Cynric and the Redcap instigator. Saint Gwiona had gone forward to confront them. Sir Esther had feared for her lady's life (remembering tales of how Archbishop Hywel had died eleven years earlier), but Prince Cynric had been nervous about attacking a house of God, and Gwiona used this - unsettling the Prince by meeting his threats with serenity, and then calmly pointing out the retribution that God would visit upon those who would despoil his churches. She then presented her cross to the Redcap, and its burning purity repelled him. Prince Cynric withdrew his force, and Lady Jenna and the other refugees were able to escape - escorted by Sir George, they went north to Cameliard, where Sir Esther's friend King Leodegrance lived.

Sir Esther herself had been sent to find Sir Bleddyn, Sir Brietta and Sir Helbur, and to bring them to Cameliard. However, Sir Brietta was not willing to abandon her quest to find her missing nephew, Bert. With Merlin's aid, the path to the heart of the forest lay open at last, and there may not be another chance! The knights argued about what they should do, but eventually decided to aid Sir Brietta. The four knights continued deeper into the forest. The path seemed to turn back upon them, to go in circles, but the travellers knew that it was unerringly leading them into the heart of the strangeness of Sauvage. They soon came to Towchester, a town which seemed altogether too clean, too nice. The knights responded with paranoid suspicion - Sir Brietta destroying the food that was offered to them, and Sir Bleddyn all but assaulting a peasant girl who tried to give him wildflowers! Sir Brietta felt like discovering what strangeness was responsible for this entirely pleasant town, and Sir Esther wished to relax and enjoy the serenity of Towchester, but the group decided to swiftly press onwards.

After some time - which may have been minutes, or may have been months - the twisted trees suddenly stopped. Brilliant sunlight, blocked by the murky canopy, flooded the glade ahead. The knights entered, and their eyes beheld a strange vista: an immense field, where workers toiled to harvest the heads of multi-coloured flowers, which became crowds of brilliant and iridescent butterflies. At the heart of the field was a castle, tall and proud and white, of a style alien to mortal eyes and made of a metal unknown to humanity. Sir  Esther wished to leave the path, to look at the beauty of the butterflies. Sir Brietta stopped her: the huge pagan woman was on the verge of losing herself to the fey sensations all about her, and needed Sir Esther to be her 'anchor'.

The knights continued towards the castle, and two riders emerged from the castle: one so bright that he could not be looked at directly; the other so dark that he seemed to drain the colour from all around him. Sir Sun and Sir Moon challenged the mortals: they should not be here! The knights of Salisbury explained that they had come to see the King of Sauvage, and were led into the castle by their fey escorts. The castle's paths twisted and turned amongst themselves, with the knights feeling as though they were walking upon the walls or the ceiling at times! They came to a great feasting hall, empty save for three courtiers: a handsome knight, a beautiful lady, and an ugly dwarf. Each of the three had a challenge for the mortals to overcome; otherwise they would have to leave Faerie and be unable to seek to return until a year and a day had passed.

The dwarf challenged Sir Bleddyn to a game of chess, where the pieces seemed not to stay still upon a board that bent behind the eye; the cunning Sir Bleddyn still managed to win. Sir Brietta went hawking with the knight. She had to pick a bird, representing a virtue that she would hunt with. Thanks to the Allegorical Zoo, she knew that the Eagle was the bird of Justice, and that Justice was what she sought here in Faerie. She was easily able to bring down prey, and pass the knight's challenge. Sir Esther had to demonstrate her courtesy to the Lady. Being an extremely polite and unaggressive woman, this challenge was simplicity itself for her.

With the three challenges passed, the four knights were taken to see King Madog, the lord of the Forest Sauvage. He was an exceedingly repulsive man, clad in the finest of silks and furs. For finding their way to him, he was prepared to offer a boon to the four knights, though he urged them to choose wisely. Sir Helbur was offered knowledge of Prince Madoc's lost child, which Sir Helbur rejected - after they spoke for a time, the King realised that what Sir Helbur needed was self-confidence. The King gave him a potion to drink which contained the memories of Sir Arnulf: everything that he had ever thought about Helbur; every time Helbur had been useful; how he thought of Helbur as his son. Sir Bleddyn initially refused any gift, which offended the King. Eventually, the King offered him an army upon his return to the mortal world, such as would strike fear into any heart and bring destruction upon his enemies. However, the King cautioned him that he might not be able to control it, and that it would not bring him happiness.

Sir Esther sought, rather than a boon, a pact with the faeries. She was troubled by the strife of the last few years, and so her wish was that her adopted child Nimue should be safe and happy. She wished that the Lady of the Lake, the faerie spirit that watched over Merlin, should protect Nimue as well. Such a deal would require Sir Esther to make a sacrifice in turn. She offered her own happiness, to protect Nimue's happiness. The King of Sauvage agreed: a life of sadness for Sir Esther, in exchange for a life of happiness for Nimue.

Finally, Sir Brietta asked for her boon: the return of her stolen nephew and his dog, the Questing Beast. The King of Sauvage was troubled by how the exchange was not an equal one, and summoned the Mother for arbitration. The Mother, who had given birth to the Nuckulavee that Sir Aeronwy slew and the Redcap that now plagued Salisbury, and who had stolen young Cuthbert, appeared in the form of Sir Brietta's own mother. But she attacked Sir Brietta with her own fears and insecurities, that she was never as good as her sister Sir Aeronwy and was a disappointment to her friends and her family. Sir Brietta's companions stepped forward to her defence, and turned aside her arguments. She said that the Questing Beast had come to faerie voluntarily and therefore the exchange was equitable; Sir Helbur argued that this did not change that it was unbalanced and unjust. The Mother said that Cuthbert was not her child, and that she could not even name his father; Sir Esther said that it was not blood but love which was important. Finally, the mother said that it was not Sir Brietta's quest, but Sir Aeronwy's, whom Sir Brietta did not even like; Sir Bleddyn retorted that nevertheless families had to work together.

With her excuses torn down about her, the Mother led Sir Brietta alone into the heart of faerie: the Lake of Death, from whence Merlin had drawn Excalibur and where Sir Aeronwy had slain the Nuckulavee. There, Cuthbert and the Questing Beast awaited Sir Brietta: but they had themselves become the Nuckulavee, and would never return to Sir Brietta. The Mother cursed the pagan woman, and hissed that she hated mortals, and would never consent to the exchange being reversed, no matter what the King of Sauvage said. Sir Brietta ignored her, and began talking to the Nuckulavee. She threw a stick, and saw the faerie creature's horse instinctively react. She began to sing a lullaby for Cuthbert, and to dance along, and saw the Nuckulavee begin to dance in reaction. Some of the seaweed and slime began to slough from its body, as the memories of the aunt who loved him returned to Cuthbert.

Wailing in fury, the Mother attacked Sir Brietta with claw-like fingernails, which cut through armour, flesh and bone. Sir Brietta ignored it as she walked towards the Nuckulavee and seized her nephew in a tight embrace. She felt the claws of the Mother rend her body asunder and tear out her heart - but as she died, she felt Cuthbert return her embrace, and felt the wet tongue of the Questing Beast as it licked her face...

The Mother screamed as the Nuckulavee died a second and final time. She was overcome by grief - her punishment for transgressing the rules of Faerie was that her sorrow would make her unable to leave the shore of the Lake of Death forever. Cuthbert, restored to his mortality, gave his aunt's body to the Lake, before returning to the others with his dog. Although only nine years had passed since his birth, his time in the Faerie realm had aged him, marking him forever. The mortals left the castle, and found themselves on the outskirts of the Forest Sauvage, not far from Cameliard.

Over the winter, the knights settled into their new home with the refugees from Salisbury. Cuthbert received his knighthood from the hands of Lady Jenna. Sir Esther learned that her sister-in-law and friend, Dame Argyl, had perished during the fall of Salisbury. She wept as she realised that the deal which she had made in the Forest had claimed its first victim, and prayed that it would truly save Nimue from sorrow.

As the snows thawed at the beginning of the year 500, which Christians claimed would see the end of the world, Sir Bleddyn secretly departed Cameliard. He had been given instructions by the King of Sauvage on how to wake the army which slumbered within the earth. His road took him deep into the Cambrian Mountains. He took no man with him, and carried only what he had been told he would need. Eventually he found a ruined tower upon the summit of a mountain, and sought the hidden cave beneath it. There was a pool within the cave. Sir Bleddyn had been told to make an offering to the pool of something that he valued, something that he hated, and something that he desired. He cast into the pool his brother Cadfael's sword, as well as his brother's coat of arms. For that which he desired, he cast in his first warrior's ring, representing the power and prestige that he craved. The final sacrifice was one of blood: Sir Bleddyn drew a knife and ran it along the palm of his left hand, letting his blood drip into the pool slowly.

There was a rumble, and the water drained from the lake. The earth shook, and the cavern began to collapse about him. Sir Bleddyn sprinted from the cave. Behind him, two monstrous forms emerged into the sky, screaming with satanic force and casting flames about them. And across Britain, more of their hellish brood awakened. From the top of the mountain where he stood, Sir Bleddyn could see plumes of smoke reaching into the sky, and a black cloud spreading as an ancient evil took wing once more.

Dragons...

499 AD, Interlude: A letter from Sir Esther to Nimue

To Nimue, my dear, sweet child.

It is a beautiful summer’s day here in Amesbury and I write this from underneath our favourite birch tree, snacking on a sweet, crisp apple and a slice of hard cheese. Despite these gifts from our Goddess, the highlight of my day is the chance to write this letter to you! We have been very busy around the monastery. Sir George and I are planning a trip up to Cameliard to see his highness, King Leodegrance as we may be staying there over the winter. Meanwhile I hear that Sir Brietta, Mountain Lady as you call her, is leading another expedition into the Forest Sauvage. I hope she found the time to meet up with you and the Ladies of the Lake as I know you do so enjoy asking about her wild adventures.

Speaking of stories, I have just spotted an eagle soaring up ahead and am reminded of a story by your Aunt Argle, the wife of my late brother Percival. It is about a young eaglet who was eager to explore the world, hopping from nest to nest. She is taken in by several families of coots along the way, facing exciting experiences each time she travels. You remind me of this young eaglet, travelling from family to family. The Ladies of the Lake tell me you are a gifted, special child and have high hopes for you to make the world a better place. This much was apparent to me from the day I took you home to Idmiston. Things will be challenging at time. Always remember there are many who deeply love you and will gladly share your troubles.

Everyone from Amesbury sends their love. Sister Taffy complains that the windows do not shine quite so brightly as when you used to clean them, while Brother Wren moans that the dinner table has never been set so perfectly as under your careful hand. I send with this letter a rosary made by your close friend Gwyn, who you may remember cried so dearly when you left. She practices her birdsong to this day, though she doesn’t sound quite as sweet as you do. Aunt Argle also sends her famous honeycakes from Idmiston. Don’t eat them all at once.

Thinking of you always,

Esther

499 AD, Part One: The Fall of Salisbury

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.

498 AD: The Allegorical Zoo

Countess Ellen had a plan.

This was a prospect fit to make grown men run screaming. The Countess was famously airheaded and impractical, and the only mercy about her reign as Regent of Salisbury for her son Robert was that she was generally so distracted that other, more capable souls (such as Sir Elad, the Marshal of Salisbury) could do the work for her. But now she had an idea that she was fixated upon, and there was no getting out of it!

First was the small matter of Sir Rhisiart, the Steward of Leucomagus. He had made a deal with the Saxons of Essex to invade Salisbury and have himself installed as puppet ruler, a plan which went wrong when Sir Elad led a far more spirited defence than anyone had expected. The Saxons, disgusted by their erstwhile ally, had abandoned him to his enemies and departed, and now he languished in the dungeons. The knights of Salisbury debated vigorously about what should be done, with Sir Cadfael's younger brother Sir Bleddyn advocating that he be put to death immediately. However, the faction that suggests peace won the day, and Sir Rhisiart was ransomed back to his home for a princely sum, which went towards finishing the inner ramparts of Sarum - the stone walls would be useful in case the Saxons came back!

 

As the meeting was about to adjourn, the Countess revealed her new orders to her son's vassals. Salisbury had been through much hardship and suffering over the last few years. It was also said by the Christians that there were only two more years until the second coming of Christ and the end of days. Too many people were not prepared for Heaven, and so Ellen intended to solve both problems at once. She wanted to build a zoo! Not just any zoo, but an allegorical zoo, with animals representing the most important Christian virtues, so that everyone who visited would become a better person and be sure of going to heaven!

 

Sir Bleddyn, Sir Brietta, Sir Esther, Sir George and Sir Helbur were assigned the job of assembling the zoo. Sir Esther withdrew to her books for the year, looking through as many bestiaries as she could to discover exactly which animals represented the most important virtues, as well as checking the Bible to remember what the virtues actually were.  The other knights took turns aiding her, or going out into the field to track down the animals that she assigned them to find. Over the course of the year, she decided that the key virtues were prudence (represented by a stork), justice (represented by an eagle), temperance (represented by a camel), courage (represented by a lion), faith (represented by a pelican), hope (represented by a dog) and love (represented by a coot). The hunt was on!

 

Sir Brietta was soon able to track down a dog; then she and Sir Helbur went looking for a dove, thinking that it represented one of the virtues. The quest became awkward immediately, for Sir Helbur and Sir Brietta had slept together two years earlier; then Sir Brietta been taken by Faerie, and their child Deidre had grown wings and flown away. They spent more time arguing than they did looking for doves, and so failed to find any. Finally, Sir Helbur hired an expert, Michael Falconer, to help track down the doves for him.

 

The next animal that the knights needed to find was a stork. White storks were a very rare bird in Britain, but Sir Brietta had a brainwave. The Forest Sauvage was a place where the borders of reality weakened, where fable walked under the boughs. And fable said that a stork would attend a woman in labour. Perhaps if a pregnant woman were taken deep into the wildest parts of the Forest Sauvage, she would be able to summon a stork. Sir Helbur agreed, and then asked his lady-love, Lady Jenna. Jenna and he had been in love for a long time, since before she was married to Sir Arnulf. She, lonely, had propositioned Sir Helbur while she was living in Tilshead, but the knight had refused to betray his lord. However, after the strangeness of his fling with Sir Brietta, Sir Helbur had returned to Lady Jenna and slept with her, and she was to be delivered of a child soon. So Sir Helbur used his amazing skills of oratory to convince his beloved to travel to the borders of Faerie to give birth, all so that her mother could complete her allegorical zoo. To everyone's surprise, she agreed!

Sir Bleddyn, Sir Brietta, Sir George, Sir Helbur, Lady Jenna and her retinue headed north to the Forest Sauvage. On the way, they were accosted by apologetic bandits: a group of peasants who had turned to banditry to survive after the storm of two years earlier destroyed their livelihood. Rather than fight them, Sir George chastised them in the name of God, and shamed them into surrendering. The knight told them to go find a monastery for aid, and then sent them on their way.

Continuing to the Forest, the party encountered a traveller upon the road: Nineve, the Lady of the Lake who had recruited them to defeat Sir Gorboduc the previous year. She greeted the knights and asked for their company as she conducted the errands that she had on the outskirts of the forest. In exchange for this help, she would act as midwife for Lady Jenna, and help with the capture of the stork for which they quested. The knights agreed.

 

While they rode under the boughs of that strange forest, Sir Brietta was eager to talk with Lady Nineve, as she was a fervent follower of the old ways, and the Ladies of the Lake were virtually the only remnant of paganism left. She learned that Lady Nineve was looking for children who had magical gifts to join the Ladies of the Lake – one in particular, of whom Lady Evienne had dreamed: a child with powers as great as any of the Ladies, and constantly growing in strength. Sir Brietta told Nineve about Sir Esther’s child, entrusted to her by Merlin, who had calmed the changeling child the previous year. They also spoke about Ganeida, about whom the knights had heard many strange rumours. Nineve confirmed that Ganeida, although stillborn, was The Lady of the Lake, the faerie spirit who led the mortal Ladies, and, by extension, the faerie godmother of Merlin. The answers left Sir Brietta realising that she would never truly understand the ways of Faerie.

 

On the first day that they were with Nineve, the group met a beggar upon the road who requested a cloak to keep him warm; in exchange, he would guide them upon the road. Sir Brietta immediately offered hers; however, when the beggar put it on, it only covered one shoulder. Sir Helbur, Sir Bledri and a reluctant Sir George were forced to surrender their cloaks as well, until the vagrant was fully covered, and pointed them upon the correct path.

Upon the second day, the knights heard the jingle of small bells and the sound of approaching horses. A group of beautiful women, led by a fair lady so pale she seemed almost white, attended by a number of handsome young pages, were riding upon the road from the opposite direction. The two groups stopped to take food together, during which time Lady Blanche of Blanche introduced herself, and made a curious request of the knights. "I would like you to teach my ladies something," she said. "Will each of you please tell us why you are a good person?" The knights happily spent the afternoon bragging of their exploits to the attentive audience, before continuing onwards.

On the third day, the cavalcade passed through a field of red poppies, with a beautiful fragrance floating through the air. So beautiful was the odour that the riders began to fall asleep in their saddles. Only Sir Brietta was able to force herself to stay awake, and led the group through safely. All soon recovered from their brush with the poppies - save Sir George, whose beard mysteriously vanished while he was sleeping. Sir Brietta only grinned when she was asked about it.

Around mid-day on the following day, Nineve called the procession to a halt outside a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. She then asked for everyone to wait outside, while she went in to talk to the inhabitant. After an hour or more, a grim Nineve emerged and explained what was happening. The cottage belonged to a friend of hers, dying of an inoperable illness. Nineve was now going to go and pray over a poison which would end her friend’s suffering. The knights argued about the morality of this while she was gone, with Sir George particularly upset; meanwhile Sir Helbur went inside and used his skill as an orator to tell the bedridden old woman a beautiful story. While he was telling it, Nineve returned with cups of tea for them all, and the old woman slipped away from her pain-ridden life as Sir Helbur finished his story.

It was now time for Lady Jenna to give birth. The group headed deeper into the forest, for only where the border between reality and the other world blurred could the group hope to find a stork. With Nineve and the elf-stone as their guides, the procession was able to penetrate deep into the forest. In a empty glade, Lady Nineve delivered  the child, with Sir Brietta’s aid. A stork watched from the branches of a nearby tree, and the Lady of the Lake sang to it, so that Michael Falconer could catch it. The quest of the stork was a success! The new mother, her attendants, the knights, and the Lady of the Lake departed the forest. Nineve left the group behind to visit another friend of hers who lived nearby, while the others returned to Salisbury to learn what Sir Esther had learned next.

Sir Esther, in the time that the knights had been gone, had successfully discovered the location of camels! During the Roman invasion of Britain under the Emperor Claudius, a regiment of camels had been brought across in case they were needed. The descendants of the camel-handlers had settled in Dorset, and had continued to look after a herd of camels in case the Romans ever returned and needed them again. She decided to leave her books and join the other five, as they rode to meet Sir Gaius, custodian of the imperial camels. Sir Gaius received the five knights hospitably, but refused to surrender any camels to them: they were not his to give away, but the property of the Emperor!

Eventually, Sir Gaius relented and decided that if the five proved themselves to be true Romans, he would entrust them with a pair of camels – but they had to promise to give them back immediately if the Romans ever returned and wanted them! This did not prove to be a difficult task. Sir Esther, as a woman of letters, was able to quote from a number of latin literary texts, impressing Sir Gaius. Sir Brietta offered sacrifices to Epona, the pagan goddess of horses (and camels) – a deity that the Romans respected. Sir Helbur demonstrated his excellent rhetorical skills in a debate with Sir Gaius. Impressed by their Roman virtue, Sir Gaius decided to entrust the knights with a pair of camels for the zoo.

Returning to Salisbury, Sir Esther returned to her studies as she directed the group upon their next challenge: finding a lion, the symbol of courage. This would be a difficult challenge, for lions were notoriously rare in the British Isles, as well as being extremely dangerous: it was only five years since Sir Aeronwy had been devoured by one in Malahaut. Sir Bleddyn, Sir Brietta, Sir George and Sir Helbur headed out into the wilderness (with considerable trepidation) to look for a lion. After much hunting, they discovered the trail of a lion and followed its spoor until they discovered the beast itself. Sir George thought about what he knew of lion-hunting, and remembered erroneously that a lion could be subdued by an act of supreme bravery. Accordingly, he stripped off his armour and approached the lion naked – only to discover that he was mistaken in his beliefs! The lion pounced at them, its breath fetid with the stink of meat, and only Sir Bleddyn and Sir Helbur stood to fight it – Sir Brietta and Sir George turn and fled in terror! A ferocious battle ensued, in which the lion savaged the knights brave enough to withstand it. As they vainly tried to resist its claws, Sir Brietta and Sir George gathered their courage and returned to the battle. Sir Brietta drew the lion’s attention from her bleeding companions, and Sir George, still naked, struck a mighty blow with his sword, knocking the lion unconscious. With the terror subdued, it was hurried back to Salisbury, where it was put in a very secure cage.

Meanwhile, Sir Esther journeyed to London to meet with a merchant there. As pelicans, the bird of faith, were not native to Britain, she decided that it would be easiest to purchase one, and only in that metropolis might she be able to find one. She managed to track down a merchant who sold exotic animals, and after some bargaining she found herself the proud owner of an Egyptian pelican. She also had the merchant throw in some Occitanian lapdogs – a better animal for a zoo than the commonplace British hounds that the knights had already acquired.

There were only two animals left to acquire, the coot and the eagle. Sir Esther’s continued reading had revealed that both animals could be found in close proximity, in the peaks of Wales. The noble eagles made their nests at the summit of the mountains, while the coots were lower down, and often raised the offsprings of eagles which were forced from their nests for failing to meet the exacting standards of their parents. On the way to the mountains, the five knights encountered a group of Welsh tribesmen, who refused to believe that anyone would come such a distance simply for a few birds. Sir Esther and Sir Brietta went with the Welsh as hostages. True to Sir Brietta’s expectations, the Welshmen soon attempted to attack them, but Sir Brietta fought them off, and the two women knights escaped back to their companions. The Welshmen’s mountain ponies could not keep up with the stronger warhorses, and they soon abandoned their pursuit.

The group, led by Michael Falconer, found the cliffs where eagles and coots nested. Sir Bleddyn volunteered to scale the cliffs and steal eggs from their nests. He was easily able to reach the coots, and took several eggs without difficulty. Stealing from the eagles proved more difficult, as the parents attacked him. He attempted in vain to defend himself from their incensed talons with his knife on the summit of the mountain. When this proved ineffective, he decided to simply climb down again, ignoring the eagle as best he could. Sir Bleddyn managed to climb down the mountain again, even with an eagle tearing at his face, and Michael Falconer shooed off the attacking eagle. When the knights returned to Salisbury, they installed the eggs in their new enclosures. The Allegorical Zoo was complete!

That winter, Sir Helbur was married to Lady Jenna with much pomp and ceremony in the grand hall of Sarum. Sir Brietta drank too much, and the next morning woke up naked save for a codpiece in the camel enclosure, with no idea of how she got there. In addition, Sir Esther had visitors: two of the Ladies of the Lake had come for her adopted daughter. They won over Sir Esther by impressing upon her how the girl’s power would grow to be a threat to her unless she was trained in its use – and so the girl Nimue was taken from Amesbury and her playmate Morgan, to go to Glastonbury and train to become one of the Ladies of the Lake. Sir Esther was assured that she could visit whenever she wanted. Sir Brietta confessed to Sir Esther that she had told Lady Nineve about Nimue when they were travelling in the Forest Sauvage. Sir Esther forgave Sir Brietta, and as the snows began to thaw, the two travelled west to Glastonbury, to visit Nimue and the Ladies.

497 AD: The Forest Sauvage

Sir Cadfael was morose this year, brooding over what had been taken from him by the faerie knight he had encountered in the forests around Winchester. To lose all sensation of feeling, scent and taste of his beautiful wife Violette was a heavy curse. His annual reunion with her in Illwind had been awkward, and he had returned to his lands in Salisbury early, trying to decide how to find his fey adversary and reclaim what was lost. However, his plans were interrupted by the arrival of a cloaked traveller, come to entreat his aid.

The traveller was Bronwyn, the intelligent handmaiden of Lady Violette who had aided him in his courtship. Illwind Castle was haunted! For years, they had shielded themselves behind a web of deceit, intended to frighten any who meant them harm away from the defenceless homes. But now Illwind was beset by the same ghosts that they had used on others, but this time they were no charade! Odie, the old wisewoman who had masterminded the ruses, had perished in an attempt to confront the hauntings. Furthermore, any who sought to escape the town were attacked by a Black Knight, much like the one that Violette herself played. Only Bronwyn had managed to slip past it, and had then made haste to beseech Sir Cadfael and his companions to save Illwind.

There were other concerns in Salisbury as well. Peasants were in rebellion in Winterbourne Stoke, the former home of Sir Neddig, who had died at Saint Albans. They had attacked Sir Bremius, the steward of Winterbourne Stoke, and his tax collectors with sticks. Now Sir Bremius hid in the manor house and plotted his next move, while the peasants built barricades around their village. Sir Esther and Sir George met with Sir Cadfael, and they decided to ride first to Winterbourne Stoke, before continuing north to aid Illwind.

It did not take the three knights long to resolve the situation in Winterbourne Stoke. They soon discovered that Sir Bremius had been a neglectful lord, who still insisted on his feudal due despite the condition of the estate, and despite the terrible storm of the previous year. The peasants, meanwhile, had been lying about the extent of the damage done, so that they could survive comfortably. The knights could see that both sides were right, and both sides wrong. Sir Esther soon resolved the situation by arranging for Sir Bremius to collect the tribute from the village, the peasants to be fed from her own pocket, and a steward to be hired to prevent the situation from deteriorating again. In this way, the peasant rebellion was easily quashed without recriminations.

The three knights then headed north to the Campecorentin Forest and Illwind. They were delayed by an encounter upon the road - a group of robber knights attacking a merchant and his family. The knights of Salisbury easily overcame the robbers and brought them back to Salisbury to face the legal consequences of their action, and gave the brigand knights' armour and horses to the merchants in recompense for those that had been slain.

At this time, Sir Cadfael, Sir Esther, and Sir George were joined by Sir Brietta, and they returned north to Illwind, to seek out the cause of whatever was plaguing the town. Sir Cadfael went first to see his wife, who was still grief-stricken after the death of Odie, who was like a mother to her. The tension between them as a result of the fae curse, and Violette's grief, soon led to the two quarrelling, and before long Sir Cadfael made his departure, to help search the village for signs of what was going on.

The knights spread out to investigate the goings-on. They all experienced strange and unsettling occurrences as they did so - a house making strange noises, a peasant who was being stalked by something unseen whenever alone, a puppy that seemed to speak, a woman who seemed to be giving the Evil Eye. (In this last case, Sir Brietta soon realised that the woman simply had a lazy eye!) They also met some people with definite opinions about what was going on. Sir Cadfael was led astray by a deranged woman called Cya; when she implicated Lady Violette in the goings-on, Sir Cadfael refused to have anything more to do with her. A younger woman, Kada, was quite offensive: she blamed all the problems on the interloper knights. Illwind had never had any problems before they came along! Sir Esther managed to calm her. Meanwhile, Sir George dealt with Oda, who was jealous of Kada and tried to blame her.

Something definitely seemed to be happening here. Suddenly Sir Esther remembered the stone which Merlin had given her brother Percival years ago. A stone with a naturally occurring hole in it - an elfstone, which could see the truth behind all glamour! She had worn it for years as a keepsake. But now, when it was needed, it was gone! Whatever mysterious force was behind this had taken it. And on top of all this, the knights had the strange sensation that someone, glimpsed from the corner of the eye, was watching them. Sir Brietta began to hunt for the elfstone, and saw a small form, like a child, heading into the Campecorentin Forest.

Sir Brietta and Sir Cadfael entered the Campecorentin Forest as well, to follow the strange youth. The path led them deeper into the forest, where the two intrepid hunters followed... off the edge of a cliff. Sir Cadfael was gravely hurt in the fall, and would not respond intelligibly to his companion. Sir Brietta, who was less hurt, put a splint on his broken leg, set up a campfire, and waited for the morning, when the other two knights might come and help them. During the long watch of the night, a spectre impersonating Kada appeared nude to Sir Brietta and tried to tempt her from the campfire. Though sorely tempted, Sir Brietta stayed to guard over Sir Cadfael, and the visitation vanished.

The next morning, the other two knights and their squires entered the forest and soon found Sir Brietta and Sir Cadfael, who had now lapsed into a feverish unconsciousness. They were able to rig up a travois to help him back to town, and began to transport him, when they realised that they were not alone. The terrible spectre of the Black Knight - like unto Lady Violette's alter-ego, but larger, more imposing, and more real in every way - was following behind them. Sir George went to confront this devil, but his nerve failed him at the last moment, and he fled into the town. The Black Knight watched him go, and then wheeled his immense war-horse and vanished into the forest.

Sir Cadfael was rushed into the castle and to the tender ministrations of his lady wife. Then a council-of-war was called, to deliberate about what it was that beset Illwind, and what could be done about it. Sir Brietta had realised that the entity was of faerie, a being of deceit that was attracted to the village due to the charade perpetrated there, and which was now causing chaos by turning that very deceit against those who dwelt there. Since it was drawn to lies, the knights now attempted to summon the faerie by lying, but Sir George, Sir Brietta, and Sir Esther were unconvincing and unenthusiastic liars at best, and the faerie did not manifest itself.

Lady Violette sighed, and stroked her temporarily lucid husband's face. "Don't worry, my love," she said. "I didn't mean any of those things that I said before. What happened to you has not changed anything about how I feel about you," she said, her heart breaking as she said it. The faerie became apparent by the door, a short and gleeful fellow. The knights rushed at him, trying to grab him, but he easily slipped their clumsy attempts. Sir Brietta stared, fascinated. She had long been obsessed with the world of faerie, and the story of her sister's journey with Merlin into that land, and dreamed of doing the same herself. She thrust her companions aside. "Faerie, take me with you!" she screamed, and the fae spirit acknowledged her, grinned, and then vanished.

As did Sir Brietta.

The haunting of Illwind was now at an end, as Sir Brietta and the deceitful faerie departed together. The Black Knight (which was no more than another illusion) was gone, and so Sir Esther, Sir George and Lady Violette set out to find the place in the forest where the faerie had been keeping all the livestock and valuables which it had taken from the village. Sir Brietta's squire Jamie found a cave full of animals, and with the missing elfstone as well! However, the cave also turned out to be the abode of an angry bear, which had been expelled by the faerie. Now it was free to return home, and attacked the panicking livestock, turning the scene into a confused massacre! The knights, deciding not to confront a furious bear, fled with the elfstone, leaving most of the animals to be slaughtered.

The group spent some time in Illwind, waiting for Sir Cadfael to recuperate. Their next destination was the Forest Sauvage, where Sir Cadfael hoped to find the faerie knight who had stolen his senses. Lady Violette donned her armour as well: she was going to accompany them, along with Bronwyn, and there was nothing that they could do to dissuade her.

The group decided to pass by Rydychan, after their misadventures of the previous year, and instead took the road north to Wuerensis, entering the forest from the west. Here they met guards belonging to the kingdom of Tribuit, which were preventing anyone from entering the strangeness that lay beyond their lands. Rather than provoke a fight, the knights decided to withdraw and seek to enter further to the north. Entering off the road only led them astray, however. Even with the elfstone to reveal the truth behind the shifting paths, they soon became lost, and after a few days of aimlessly wandering emerged from the south-east of the forest near Bedford, over fifty miles away.

In Bedford, the knights heard a strange story: nearby was Stevington Well, a magical spring with healing waters. The knights received directions towards the well, but once they entered the forest, they soon became lost once more, and missed the path that would have taken them to the well. In the midst of the forest, a terrible wind soon rose, whipping words away. The boughs of the trees shuddered, and a terrible pelting rain fell. Howls came from all around, and the sound of hooves: it was the Devil himself, a skeletal form with flaming eyes, and his hellhounds, come to hunt for the souls of the damned! No mortal instruments could withstand the Devil, and so the knights fell on their knees and began to pray. Sir Esther began to praise God and Jesus Christ in loud, ringing terms, and the savage yelps of the dogs turned to whining as they shied away. So powerful was her faith that the Devil could not touch her, or any with her, and soon he departed with his hounds, vanishing deeper into the forest.

After this traumatic encounter, the knights continued along to find a fort in the middle of the forest, with its gates wide open and no sentries to be seen! They cautiously entered, to find the guards reclining within, relaxing by talking, drinking, and playing chess. Sir Garmon, a rotund knight who was the lord of the Castle of Ease, welcomed them and offered the knights his hospitality, which they were anxious to refuse, seeing how slothful the castle made its inhabitants. But in the name of hospitality, they were honour-bound to take one meal there. The food was plentiful and delicious, the wine rich but never intoxicating, and a very pleasant evening was had by all – but when the feast ended, it was too late at night for the knights to continue deeper into the forest. Sir Garmon offered them rooms for the night, with soft and luxurious beds for them to sleep in. They slept deeply, and woke in time to refresh themselves for the next meal… and so it went, until Sir Brietta realised that they had been in the Castle of Ease for over a week already! Fortunately, she did not find it hard to rouse the others to action, and they immediately made their apologies to Sir Garmon. The genial host regretted that they had to go, but saw them to the road, and welcomed them to return any time they so desired.

Continuing deeper into the ever-shifting pathways of the Forest Sauvage, the knights continued to wander for many days. At one point they were attacked by a group of bandits, driven nearly feral as a result of being lost in the enchanted woods. The night after the bandit attack, all four of the travellers experienced the same, strange nightmare. They dreamed that they were upon a hillside, overlooking a village. As they watched, an immense snake slithered forth and spat upon the little wooden church within the village. Smoke hissed off the church as it burned and melted from the serpent’s venom. Once the church was no more than ashes, the snake coiled widdershins about a second hill, rearing back as if to strike. The snake’s body shifted to become the walls of a castle, and its raised head became a tower. With a fearsome sound, the gates of the castle opened wide, and began constantly vomiting forth many more snakes, like unto the first but smaller, which spread out from the village and returned with fledgling eagles, young lambs, wolf cubs and human babies in their envenomed maws. With this, the nightmare faded. Lady Violette, shaken, identified that the snake coiling widdershins was a sign of bad luck or evil –as if the rest of the vision had not been ominous enough!

The next morning, the travellers were met by a strange woman upon the road, who seemed to know them by name. “I have need of your aid, brave knights,” she said, “or else a great evil shall be loosed upon the land.” The woman was Nineve, one of the Ladies of the Lake. She warned the four heroes that the task before them would be truly perilous, but that for the good of Logres it must be undertaken. Nearby was the village of Medbourne, which was ruled over by Sir Gorboduc the Fiend. Sir Cadfael and Sir Esther remembered Sir Brietta having spoken of this Sir Gorboduc, of whom she had heard fell tales. The former lord of Medbourne had been one Sir Staterius, whose daughter had become pregnant when she visited a faerie well on Samhain night, and was delivered nine months later of a fiendish child, dying in childbirth. Gorboduc grew to the height of a man within only seven years, and terrorised the area. At the age of nine, he slew his grandfather and seized control of Medbourne. Nineve revealed that Sir Gorboduc and his reavers planned to abduct virgins from the area and then tie them down at the faerie well to be raped, and thus engender an army of monsters like Sir Gorboduc. Although the peril would be great, the knights agreed that the Fiend had to be vanquished.

At noon on the next day, the knights reached Medbourne, the village of which they had dreamed, and saw the fearsome tower being constructed. Guards were watching over the workers – and by the flails in their hands, they were not above using force to motivate their labour. The four warriors drew their weapons and charged into battle. However, Sir Esther did not wish to slay the brigands, who she saw as not culpable in their master’s devilry, and did not fight with all of her prowess. Furthermore, Lady Violette was not a trained combatant as were the others, and struggled to defeat her adversary. Soon the advantage of surprise was lost, and reinforcements appeared from Medbourne, leaving the knights grievously outnumbered. Sir George, incensed with rage, lost control of himself and charged them, but left his defences open and was struck down. The situation seemed hopeless.

Sir Cadfael, deciding that there was no means of victory, flung himself at the bandits, shouting for Sir Esther and his beloved wife Lady Violette to flee. Sir Esther was swift to comply, mounting her horse and pausing only to drag away Sir George’s gravely wounded body. Lady Violette remained, however, unable to abandon her husband. She could only watch her husband’s final moments. Sir Cadfael was a truly mighty warrior, but the weight of numbers was too great for him to prevail. Blades hewed into him and brought him low, and the great hero perished. Lady Violette howled in rage and charged forward, seeking to slake her grief with the blood of those who had slain her husband. In a berserker fury, she struck down several of them, but her sword shattered in her hand and she was herself laid low, to the very edge of death. Sir Esther cried in horror, and then wheeled her steed and departed with Sir George.

Still barely alive, Lady Violette saw Sir Gorboduc approach. The immense fiend taunted her – but the fire that burnt in her veins would not be extinguished so swiftly. “You… slew… my… love!” she gasped, and with her final burst of strength she seized Sir Cadfael’s sword and cleft the demonic knight in twain, before falling dead upon the body of her own true love.

Lady Nineve met Sir Esther in Medbourne and sorrowfully congratulated her – for the Lady knew what had transpired as it happened, and the price that had been paid for victory. She used her potions and unguents to bring Sir George back from the brink of death. As for the fallen, there was no sign of Sir Gorboduc’s body save a scorched mark on the ground where the grass had burned away. Sir Cadfael and Lady Violette she had placed in a single tomb. Above it she placed a stone bearing the inscription: “Here lies Cadfael and Violette – two lovers who gave all for the sake of all.” Over the graves she planted two trees, whose branches would in future years grow together over the graves.

Sir Esther and Sir George slowly returned south, shattered by the tragic events that had befallen. They found Salisbury in ruins. In their absence, a Saxon warband allied with the Steward of Leucomagus had attacked, ravaging the countryside. Despite the damage, the Saxons had been repulsed by Marshal Elad and the forces which he had been training ever since the Battle of Saint Albans. His victory had kept Salisbury free, and the Countess Ellen had been forced to pay a humiliating tribute to force the Saxons to withdraw. However, they had grown angry with their erstwhile ally, who had lied to them about the defences of Salisbury in a self-serving attempt to seize the Countess’ hand, and had left him behind for the defenders of Salisbury. Sir Rhisiart of Leucomagus languished a captive in the dungeons of Sarum.

As the year drew to a close, Sir Brietta emerged, looking more savage than usual as a result of her sojourn with the faerie of Illwind. It had grown tired of her and had abandoned her. She had other news awaiting her at home: her child Deidre by Sir Helbur, which had been conceived in the magical Forest Sauvage, had apparently grown wings and flown away!

She was also concerned about her changeling nephew Bert, who she feared might become a second Sir Gorboduc. This fear grew worse when she learned that the changeling had slipped away and gone to the nunnery at Amesbury, doubtlessly for some horrible purpose. But at Amesbury, she discovered  that the changeling had met Sir Esther’s adopted daughter, who had been entrusted to her many years earlier by Merlin, and this miraculous child had somehow managed to pacify the changeling’s wild urges.

And so the year drew to a close. It had been a time of great tragedy and great heroism also, for all those who dwelt in Salisbury.