There was another thing. Igierne was a trained priestess, and Morgause had seen her often in the willed and disciplined stillness of ritual. But there had always been a tension, a sense of leashed power in reserve, like a warhorse on a tight rein. Now, her mother simply sat still.
“I have brought the gift of the Goddess back to its place . . .” said Morgause, letting the lead rope fall.
“You do not say that you have brought it back to me,” observed Igierne.
“It is not yours,” said Morgause. “Nor is it mine . . . that is what I have learned.”
“If you know that, you have learned a great deal.”
“I have indeed . . .” Morgause gave a rather shaky sigh and dropped down to sit cross-legged in the dust at her mother’s feet. Through the trees she could see sunlight dancing on the blue water, and knew the Lake for another vessel of power.
Manus was nearly the last of the seekers to come back to Camalot, and when he returned, he rode clad as a warrior, escorting a young priestess who had been sent by Igierne.
“I am glad to see you!” said Guendivar when the babble of welcome had died down. “But what is all this?” she indicated his armor. “You have changed!”
He blushed as everyone turned to look at him once more, but all could see that he wore the gear as one accustomed, not like a kitchen boy who had stripped some armor from a body he found by the road.
“Why did the Lady send you to guard her messenger?” wondered someone.
Aggarban pointed the stick upon which he had been leaning at the kitchen boy.
“And why are ye wearing a Votadini plaid?”
“Because it is mine!” snapped Manus, reddening once more. “And you are a blind oaf, brother, that never stooped to look at the folk who serve ye, or ye would have recognized me before!”
There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Gualchmai guffawed with laughter. “Oh indeed, he has ye there, Aggarban. And in truth he does have the look of Goriat, does he not, Gwyhir?”
“Oh, he does, he does—” agreed the second brother, his gaze travelling upward, “but much, much larger.. . .” And then everyone, even Artor, who had finished his conversation with the priestess, began to laugh.
“And he has outdone you all,” said the king, “for Goriat has found the Cauldron, or at least brought word of it. That is the message my mother has sent to me. The sacred vessel is safe in its shrine, and the Lady of the Votadini is there as well.”
“Mother?” exclaimed the three older brothers, amazement stamping their faces with a momentary identity.
“Was it Morgause who stole it, then?” exclaimed Cai amidst a rising babble of speculation.
“The message does not say, and whatever lies between my sister and my mother is their own affair,” Artor said repressively.
“If the Cauldron has been found, then all our wandering warriors can come home,” Guendivar said then.
“It will not matter,” observed Betiver. “Pagan though it was, I think the Cauldron was what the priests mean by a sacrament—an earthly symbol that points the way to something beyond. That was what we saw that night, and that is what they are looking for.”
“Perhaps we have been too successful,” Cai said ruefully. “When we were constantly in danger from the Saxons or the Irish, men had no time to worry about much beyond their own skins.”
“And now they worry about their sins.. . .” Artor sighed.
“Take comfort, my lord. So long as human beings must live in the world, they will need good government, and heaven does not hold the only beauty of which men dream.”
For a moment, Betiver’s glance touched Guendivar. Then he looked away. But others had followed the motion, and now she stood at the center of all men’s gaze. She heard their thought clearly, though it was not with her physical ears.
“For some, the Vessel of Light is here . . .”
Igierne made her way along the edge of the Lake. Beyond the farther shore, the humped shapes of the mountains rose up against the luminous blue of the night sky like a black wall, shutting out the world. Beyond the lapping of the water and the crunch of her footsteps on stone and gravel, the night was still. The surface was uneven and she moved carefully, using her staff for support, for her stiff joints would not be able to save her if she should fall. It was one of the disadvantages of growing older, and at this moment, she felt both old and tired.
But for the first time in many moons, she was at peace. Her daughter had come home as Igierne’s own mother had foretold. Morgause had much to unlearn as well as to learn before the rage and hatred in which she had lived for so many years were entirely replaced by wisdom and love. Igierne did not suppose that their relationship would always be peaceful, but at least they now had one, instead of a state of war. And the Lady of the Lake had no desire to break her daughter’s will—to rule the Isle of Maidens, Morgause would need to be strong, as she had been strong. But Igierne could foresee, now, a time when she herself would be able to let go.
The Lake slept beneath the stars, reflecting only an occasional flicker of light, and on the island, the priestesses slept likewise. Only the Lady of the Lake was still wakeful. On the eastern point a bench had been set for those who wished to salute the sun or watch the moonrise. With a sigh Igierne settled herself upon it and laid down the staff. Her priestesses came here often when the moon was new or full. But the waning moon was an old woman who rose late and ruled the silent hours between midnight and dawn, and she had few worshippers.
She is like me . . . Igierne smiled to herself. Let Morgause learn to wield the full moon’s power. Her coming had freed her mother to study the secrets of the waning moon and the dark, to truly become the raven whose wings shine white in the Otherworld—Branuen, the Hidden Queen.
As if the thought had been a summons, Igierne glimpsed behind the mountain a pallid glow. In another moment, the Crone’s silver sickle appeared in the sky.
“Lady of Wisdom, be welcome,” whispered Igierne. “Cut away that which I need no longer, and purify my spirit, until it is time for me to return to your dark Cauldron and be reborn.. . .”
PEOPLE AND PLACES
A note on pronunciation:
British names are given in fifth-century spelling, which does not yet reflect pronunciation changes. Initial letters should be pronounced as they are in English. Medial letters are as follows.
SPELLED PRONOUNCED
P.................b
t.................d
k/c..............(soft) g
b.................v (approximately)
d.................soft “th” (modern Welsh “dd”)
g.................“yuh”
m................v
PEOPLE IN THE STORY:
CAPITALS=major character
*=historical personnage
( )=dead before story begins
[ ]=name as given in later literature
Italics=deity or mythological personage
*Aelle, king of the South Saxons
Aggarban [Agravaine]—third son of Morgause
(*Ambrosius Aurelianus—emperor of Britannia and Vitalinus’ rival)
(Amlodius, Artor’s grandfather)
Amminius—one of Artor’s men
ARTOR [Arthur]—son of Uthir and Igierne, High King of Britannia
BETIVER [Bedivere]—nephew to Riothamus, one of Artor’s Companions
Bleitisbluth—a Pictish chieftain
Brigantia/Brigid—British goddess of healing, inspiration, and the land
CAI—son of Caius Turpilius, Artor’s foster-brother and Companion
CATAUR [Cador]—prince of Dumnonia
Cathubodva—Lady of Ravens, a British war goddess
*Catraut, prince of Verulamium
*Ceawlin—son of Ceretic
Ceincair—a priestess on the Isle of Maidens
(*Ceretic [Cerdic]—king of the West Saxons)
*Chlodov
echus [Clovis]—king of the Franks in Gallia
*Constantine—son of Cataur
*Cunobelinus—warleader of the northern Votadini
Cunorix—an Irish warleader, formerly Artor’s hostage
*Cymen—Aelle’s eldest son
Doli—a Pictish warrior in the service of Morgause
*Drest Gurthinmoch—High King of the Picts
Dugech—one of Morgause’s women
*Dubricius—bishop of Isca and head of the Church in Britannia
*Dumnoval [Dyfnwal]—lord of the S. Votadini
Ebrdila—an old priestess on Isle of Maidens
Edrit—a young warrior in the service of Aggarban
Eldaul the younger [Eldol]—prince of Glevum
*Eormenric—son of Oesc, child king of Cantuware
Ganeda [Ganiedda]—Merlin’s half-sister, wife of Ridarchus
(Gorlosius [Gorlois]—first husband of Igierne, father of Morgause)
Goriat [Gareth]—fourth son of Morgause
Gracilia—wife of Gualchmai
GUALCHMAI [Gawain]—first son of Morgause
GUENDIVAR [Gwenivere]—Artor’s queen
Gwyhir [Gaheris]—second son of Margause
Hæthwæge—a wisewoman in the service of Eormanaric
(*Hengest—king of Cantuware, leader of Saxon revolt)
Ia—a priestess on the Isle of Maidens, in service of Morgause
*Icel—king of the Anglians in Britannia
IGIERNE [Igraine]—Artor’s mother, Lady of the Lake
*Illan—King of Leinster, who for a time holds part of North Wales
Julia—a nun from the Isle of Glass, Guendivar’s companion
Father Kedi—an Irish priest at the court of Artor
Leodagranus [Leoderance]—prince of Lindinis, Guendivar’s father
Leudonus [Lot]—king of the Votadini
Leuku—one of Morgause’s women
Mother Maduret—abbess of the nuns at the Isle of Glass
Matauc [Madoc]—king of the Durotriges
MEDRAUT [Mordred]—fifth son of Morgause, by Artor
Melguas [Meleagrance]—an Irishman born in Guenet, abductor of Guendivar
MERLIN—druid and wizard, Artor’s advisor
MORGAUSE—daughter of Igierne and Gorlosius, queen of the Votadini
Morut—a priestess on the Isle of Maidens
(*Naitan Morbet—king of all the provinces of the Picts)
Nest—a priestess on the Isle of Maidens
Ninive—daughter of Gualchmai by a woman of the hills
(*Oesc—grandson of Hengest and king of Cantuware, Eormenric’s father)
Peretur [Peredur]—son of Eleutherius, lord of Eboracum
Petronilla—wife of Leodegranus, Guendivar’s mother
*Ridarchus—king at Alta Cluta and protector of Luguvalium
Rigana—widow of Oesc, Eormenric’s mother
*Riothamus—ruler of Armorica
Tulach—a Pictish priestess, wife of Blietisbluth
Uinist—a Votadini warrior who serves Morgause
Uorepona—“the Great Mare,” High Queen of the Picts
(Uthir [Uther Pendragon]—Artor’s father)
(*Vitalinus, the Vor-Tigernus—ruler of Britannia who brought in the Saxons)
PLACES
Afallon [Avalon]—Isle of Apples, Glastonbury
Alba—Scotland
Alta Cluta—Kingdom of the Clyde
Anglia—Lindsey and Lincolnshire
Aquae Sulis—Bath
Belisama Fluvius—River Ribble, Lancashire
Bodotria Aestuarius—Firth of Forth
Britannia—Great Britain
Caledonian forest—southern Scotland
Calleva—Silchester
Camalot [Camelot]—Cadbury Castle, Somerset
Cantium, Cantuware—Kent
Cantuwareburh—Canterbury
Cicutio—Brecon, Wales
Demetia—Pembroke and Carmanthenshire
Durnovaria—Dorchester, Dorset
Fodreu—Fortriu, Fife
Gallia—France
Glevum—Gloucester
Guenet [Gwynedd]—Denbigh and Caernarvonshire
Isle of Glass [Inis Witrin]—Glastonbury
Isle of Maidens, the Lake—Derwentwater, Cumbria
Isca (Silurum)—Caerwent
Lindinis—Ilchester, Somerset
Lindum—Lincoln
Londinium—London
Mona—Anglesey
Sabrina Fluvia—the Severn River and estuary
Segontium—Caernarvon, Wales
Sorviodunum—Old Sarum, Salisbury
Summer Country—Somerset
Urbs Legionis [Deva]—Chester
Uxela Fluvius—River Axe, Severn estuary
Venta Belgarum—Winchester
Venta Siluricum—Caerwent, Wales
Viroconium—Wroxeter
Voreda—Old Penrith, Cumberland
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DIANA L. PAXSON is the award-winning author of The Lord of Horses, The Wolf and the Raven, The Dragons of the Rhine, The White Raven, and The Serpent’s Tooth and co-author (with Adrienne Martine-Barnes) of Master of Earth and Water, The Shield Between the Worlds, and Swords of Fire and Shadow, the chronicles of Fionn mac Cumhal. She lives in Berkeley, California.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
ALSO BY DIANA L. PAXSON
The Hallowed Isle series
The Book of the Sword
The Book of the Spear
Wodan’s Children Trilogy
The Dragons of the Rhine
The Wolf and the Raven
The Lord of Horses
With Adrienne Martine-Barnes
Master of Earth and Water
The Shield Between the Worlds
Sword of Fire and Shadow
COPYRIGHT
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.
Copyright © 1999 by Diana L. Paxson
Published by arrangement with the author
ISBN: 0-380-80547-2
EPub Edition May 2013 ISBN 9780062290953
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data:
Paxson, Diana L.
The book of the cauldron / Diana L. Paxson.
p. cm. — (The hallowed isle ; bk. 3)
1. Great Britain—History—Anglo Saxon period, 449-1066 Fiction. 2. Arthurian romances Adaptations. 3. Arthur, King Fiction. I. Title. II. Series: Paxson, Diana L. Hallowed isle ; bk. 3.
PS3556.A897B64 1999 99-38405
813'.54—dc21 CIP
First Avon Eos Printing: November 1999
AVON EOS TRADEMARK REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. AND IN OTHER COUNTRIES, MARCA REGISTRADA, HECHO EN U.S.A.
OPM 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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