M. K. Hume [King Arthur Trilogy 04] The Last Dragon Read Online Free PDF Page A

kings.’
    ‘Aye. You have the right of it, Elystan, and we have to live with the consequences,’ Mellyr agreed.
    ‘And we’re like to die of them as well,’ Elystan answered, leaning towards the fire as if he felt a sudden cold. ‘Don’t be so foolish as to believe our master hadn’t already met King Modred and become part of the conspiracy long before it became common knowledge. Mark travelled regularly into the south at that time, and only lacked an excuse to openly adopt Modred’s cause. The High King gave him that excuse.’
    The servants nodded their heads glumly and Pedr slammed his horn mug down on the table top so hard that the ale splashed on his neighbour. In retrospect, the romance between Queen Iseult and Lord Trystan was anything but a source of humour, for the lovers were damned as traitors when their liaison became common knowledge. Ostensibly, Mark made his decision to betray his oaths to the Celtic tribes because of the lovers’ shameful behaviour and his own impotence, frustration and greed. But, inevitably, he would have betrayed the High King anyway, for he had been one of the first of the kings to voice his disapproval of Artor before the coronation at Venta Belgarum. Even Pedr, faithful as he was, could find no valid excuse for his master’s actions.
    ‘We can talk forever about why our master decided to act as he did on that fatal night, but all our wisdom can’t change the past,’ Mellyr continued. ‘Such an adulterous passion couldn’t be allowed to continue, and King Mark believed the queen had decided to cast away her status, her reputation and her crown to flee Canovium with her lover. Our King pretended to leave for the south. Queen Iseult . . .’ The seneschal’s voice faltered, and he crossed himself with Christian piety as he considered the events of that night.
    ‘The queen arranged to meet Lord Trystan on the beach to make good their escape. I became aware that she intended to flee because she asked me to pack her saddle bags for a long journey. I swear that I said nothing to King Mark – nothing. I cannot tell how Mark became aware of her plans, but someone must have informed him of their intention to beg King Artor for sanctuary at Cadbury. Such public humiliation! They only reached the old ruined cottage at the headland to the north, where they planned to hide for the following day. On the night they eloped, a small troop of warriors was ordered to pursue them and surround their refuge, and our master and I went with them.’
    Mellyr permitted the silence to stretch as his audience tried to imagine how the queen had felt. Excitement, a giddy sense of freedom and an overwhelming faith in the power of love must have made her feel invincible, even if only fleetingly. Every man and woman present could recall a time when their future seemed full of promise, only to have it dashed away as if by a pail of cold water thrown in the face.
    ‘Mark managed to enter the hut on his own without alerting the lovers. It was late in the night, the witching hour before dawn when our blood moves slowly in our veins, and every man understands that evil things prowl at that time. Wickedness went into that hut with him, I swear, although Mark will tear out my tongue if he hears what I’ve said.’
    ‘You’d do well to keep your mouth closed then, Mellyr,’ Pedr threatened from alongside the guttering fire in the kitchens. ‘No man should have to tolerate the betrayal of his wife with another man. By the goddess, I’d have killed them both if I’d been in our king’s shoes.’
    ‘Perhaps you have the right of it, Pedr.’ Mellyr’s mouth twisted as he spat into the red embers of the fire. ‘But where’s the honour in killing Lord Trystan from behind? You’d own that it’s an unmanly thing to do. Although our master had the right to kill them both, I’d have preferred that he faced his betrayer man to man.’
    ‘And how do you know he didn’t face him, Mellyr? You’re all