At the Crossing Places Read Online Free PDF Page A

and their scales are tiny tiles of emerald and amethyst.
    Merlin raises his speckled hands, and in his grand, dark voice, he calls out: “King Uther’s son! Queen Ygerna’s son! Arthur, the trueborn king of all Britain! We have been leaderless, bending ourknee to the Romans, succumbing to the Saxons. We have fallen out amongst ourselves, we have fought one another. But Arthur’s time has come. Britain’s time has come. At this feast of Pentecost, let each earl and lord and knight in this church step forward, one by one by one, and swear his king allegiance.”
    At once a whole army of shawms and trumpets strikes up. They blare and bellow and slice through the gloom. They welcome the bright day to come.
    Sir Pellinore, Sir Lamorak, and Sir Owain, and now the Knight of the Black Anvil: Each knight names himself, kneels before me, and swears to be my liege man. The spade-faced knight and the copper-colored knight, Sir Balin, Sir Balan…
    And now Sir Ector comes forward, my own foster father, with his son, Sir Kay. Together they kneel. I know my father’s right knee often hurts him, so I place my left hand under his elbow to support him.
    â€œSir Ector,” I say, “when you first knelt to me, I said you will always be my father. I told you that if ever I became king, you could ask me for whatever you wished.”
    â€œYou did, sire,” says Sir Ector.
    â€œAnd you replied, ‘Only this. Kay is your foster brother. When you become king, honor him.’”
    Tears are glistening in the corners of my father’s eyes.
    â€œRise, Sir Ector!” I say. “Rise, Sir Kay!” And now I rise myself, and call out clearly: “Sir Kay! Before God and all these great men of Britain, I name you the foremost man in this country. I appoint you my steward.”
    Sir Kay and Sir Ector bow and back away from me, and now Sir Baudwin kneels to me, and I name him constable of Britain. SirBrastias kneels, and I give him the Northern command, leader of all men loyal to the crown living north of the River Trent. Now Sir Ulfius! I don’t like him much. He insulted my mother, Ygerna, and accused her of failing to reveal my name. Merlin says it’s wise to hold a man like him at court where I can keep a close watch on him, so when he kneels and gruffly swears his allegiance, I put Sir Ulfius in charge of the royal household, and name him my chamberlain.
    When each and every man in the church has sworn me his allegiance, I embrace my mother, and then I turn towards Merlin. Merlin looks at me, smiling and unsmiling, and then says in a low voice, so quietly that only I can hear him: “A king! But what kind of king?”
    â€œA thousand men have sworn oaths to me,” I say, “but I am lost in the forest of my life.”
    â€œTrue,” says Merlin, “some men here in this church of Westminster are against you. They may have sworn you allegiance, but they’d still gladly stab you in the back. But other men here, brave men, loyal men, would sacrifice their own lives to save their king. Petitions, pardons, and punishments; but worse, far worse, trickery and infidelity, the dark drumroll of war: There’s no avoiding them. They’re the sharp stones on the path of a king. But friendship and loyalty, love and adventure, defending the weak, feeding and clothing the poor: Arthur, these also will be part of your story.”
    â€œBut how?” I ask.
    â€œYou are not alone,” Merlin replies. “I helped your father, Uther, and three kings before him. You are the king who was and will be. For a while I will help you.”

7 DEEPER THAN WORDS
    O N MY WAY DOWN TO THE STABLES LATE THIS AFTER noon, I was thinking about Arthur-in-the-stone. To begin with, I actually believed I was him and he was me. But then I saw him doing things I could never do, and now he has pulled the sword from the stone and been crowned at Westminster.
    But to see Arthur reunited