Merlin's Daughters, Page 5

  Chapter 4

  When Nimue picked up the replica of the Pendragon sword at the Elf forge, she noted that this version was more finely crafted than the original: it was better balanced, with a stronger blade and the decorative carving was a work of art. The sword's beauty was perhaps second only to Excalibur's. She knew that the Black Fairy would notice the difference, even if few Humans would. At first she considered asking the Elf to make it look more like the product of human hands. Upon further consideration, she decided she wanted the Black Fairy to know that she had been foiled.

  After lavishing an appropriate amount of praise (and an exorbitant amount of gold) on the Elf, she took the sword and headed for Avalon. Before she left Avalon, she hid the sword deep inside a tree and transformed herself into a tall woman whose rough hands and ragged clothes told a tail of hard work tilling uncooperative soil. She went to the village and purchased a rough cloak, tunic and skirt from a haberdasher. Then she purchased a hoe, shovel and a pitch fork from a vendor at the market. She hurried back to her hiding place and changed into her new clothes. She hid the sword in the middle of the bundle of tools and wrapped them all in her old cloak, tying the packet with a rope. The ends of the tools stuck out from the package, but she managed to hide the sword completely.

  She summoned the Boatman who operated the ferry from Avalon to the Human Realm. Before stepping onto the vessel she cloaked herself in an enchantment that made her magic invisible. She knew the Black Fairy would be watching for her. She wanted to approach unnoticed.

  She made her way to Londanum on foot. She did not dare use magic. She traveled in the guise of a widow who had been turned off her lands by a landlord and who was going to Londanum to appeal to the High King. Others traveling with her sympathized but advised her not to press her case in Uthur's court. She insisted that she had heard Uthur was a fair and just king who looked out for his subjects. It was hard for her to get those words out of her mouth because in reality nothing could have been further from the truth. The ruse, however, got her to Londanum without incident. Her traveling companions considered her to be a person of slow mind (if she believed all that rot about Uthur), and were very protective of her as they traveled.

  After arriving in Londanum she split off from her group and wandered around in what she hoped would appear to be aimless exploration of the city. Eventually she approached the place where Excalibur stood with its blade driven deep into the stone. Excalibur responded to her presence with glee. Using the silent Fair language she ordered it to be silent and, for once, it cooperated.

  She dared not use magic in casting about to find the Black Fairy. Instead, she used her nose. She knew that Gwyneth exuded a faint musky and earthy odor that was similar to Merlin's. She smelled the same scent and knew the Black Fairy was near. She settled down to wait. Sleeping in a nearby stable, in exchange for cleaning out stalls and feeding the horses, she waited.

  After three days, the scent was gone. Nimue wandered up and down the streets, stopping by inns and taverns, making sure the Black Fairy was not hiding.

  Having assured herself the moment had come, Nimue waited until the darkest part of the night, and was grateful clouds blocked the moon and stars. She approached Excalibur with a stern admonishment that it was to remain silent and not to respond to her touch. She jumped up on the stone, grabbed the handle of the blade and pulled it straight out of the rock. Before the rock could solidify in the wake of the removal of the glowing blade, she plunged the replica deep into the stone, jumped down and covered Excalibur in a black cloak. The magnificent sword glowed and hummed. It throbbed with power and its rage at the Black Fairy was almost more than Nimue could bear. Excalibur's rage and might traveled up her arm and into her heart, and filled her with a blind desire to seek out the Black Fairy and cut her down.

  It took most of Nimue's enormous self-control to resist the temptation to call out the Black Fairy then and there. She stood in a dark corner holding Excalibur like a mother would embrace a beloved but unruly child and eventually convinced Excalibur that it must be quiet and wait until the appropriate time to take revenge on the Black Fairy. Excalibur fell silent and cold. Nimue urged the sword to remain silent and still as long as the were out in the open.

  Nimue hurried away from Londanum, clutching the most precious treasure of the Nether World under her cloak. When she was far enough from Londanum that she thought the Black Fairy might not detect her, she cast off the enchantment that hid her magic, and turned herself into a knight. Then she cast an enchantment on Excalibur disguising it as an ordinary sword. Excalibur protested but she convinced it to cooperate a while longer. The knight slid the sword into the scabbard at his waist. A horse emerged from the fog; the knight mounted and streaked off into the night, disappearing into the darkness.

  At daybreak, the knight appeared at the edge of a lake in a remote area of the ancient forest. Nimue silently summoned the Fairy Messenger who appeared in the guise of a humming bird which perched on the pommel of the saddle. Nimue explained her plan to the Messenger and instructed her to fly straight to Gwyneth with the news. The Messenger bowed in a birdish manner and flew away in the direction of Avalon, and then disappeared.

  The knight dismounted and patted the horse's nose. The horse walked away into a clearing and began to munch grass. The knight walked into the lake fully clothed, carrying both sword and shield. Had anyone been watching, it would have appeared to be a suicide.

  Once under the water, Nimue cast off the enchantments that disguised both herself and Excalibur. She dove for the bottom of the lake with Excalibur vibrating and humming in her hand. Far in the inky depths of the lake there was a pocket of air inside a Temple that was an exact replica of Excalibur's abode in the Fairy Realm. Nimue lay Excalibur on a silken pillow atop the stone altar. Then she turned her body into a sarcophagus that would look like a rock to any observer who might by some miracle dive to that great depth in the dark and frigid waters of such a remote lake.

  Excalibur wanted to break free and fight the evil that threatened the safety of the Nether World it was committed to protect. Nimue whispered, “Wait. The day will come when you will rise to the surface of this lake and I will put you in the hands of One who will love you the way the beings of the Nether World love you. That One will wield you in battle against many enemies, including the terrible one who endangered the Nether World by bringing you to this Human Realm. Excalibur vibrated sadly for a while and then stilled itself to wait for that day.

  Nimue guarded and protected Excalibur, and foiled the Black Fairy – at least for a while.