Children of the May (Children of the May Book 1)

Chapter Twenty: King Anguish (part two)

I don’t know how many weeks passed like this, but it was more than a few. The sun shone, the leaves stayed green, and I began to wonder if autumn would ever come to the island.

The hull of the longboat was now ready for assembly, and we were concentrating on fashioning a rudder, masts for the two sails, seats, and oars that we would need to ride the waters. Piers was with us that day, as he was our best woodworker. ‘Though being quite honest with you I don’t know why I’m helping build this thing,’ he had said. ‘I’m having the best living of my life here – I’m better fed, and having more fun that I’ve ever had on the manor. Bit of a love affair going on too, like. Don’t see why anyone would want to leave.’

‘A l-l-l-l-love affair?’ I whispered to Palomina when Piers was out of earshot, planing an oar at the front of the cave.

‘Is that an offer, Drift?’ she said, her eyes bright.

‘N-N-N-N-No, him.’

She glanced at the farm boy and then back to me. ‘My brother.’

‘B-B-B-B-But they’re always c-calling each other names.’

‘Yes, they are, aren’t they.’ She looked into my eyes. ‘You fool.’

I felt my cheeks burning, and went to check on the forward section of the boat. 

Sometimes, when Palomina looked at me, I felt guilty about Margaret, as if I was betraying the memory of my first friend.

We were a little awkward with each other for the rest of the day, and I was glad Piers was there with his endless store of good humour. We finished work and headed back to the castle. When I got the bathhouse, leaving a little extra time for Piers to have his bath, I was surprised to find Mordred relaxing at the far end of the long pool, his long arms stretched along the sides.

‘Oh, s-s-s-s-sorry,’ I said, feeling embarrassed. ‘I-I-I-I-I-I’ll come back later.’

‘No, please,’ he said. ‘Come and join me. The water’s warm as ever.’

‘N-N-N-N-No, I should –’

‘Drift,’ he said firmly. ‘It’s fine.’

‘B-But I’ll be able to –’ I tapped my head, trying to show that I’d be able to see into his mind if I joined him in the water. For weeks I had been avoiding contact with the others, apart from Christian, through water. A glancing contact with Palomina when we were both wet from sea spray, had made me feel that I was invading minds when I connected without permission. I did not like that sensation at all, and had tried to forget the things I had seen within her. They were nice things, on the whole, but I thought she was mistaken, about myself especially.

‘I know,’ said Mordred. ‘Epicene told me about that ability of yours. But that’s fine: I’ve got nothing to hide from you, and perhaps you’ll be able to tell me if I’ve made mistakes. Just like you all did on our first night here. For instance, I’ve been thinking about Accolon. He’s known about the boat for weeks. Why do you think he hasn’t done anything about it?’

I hid behind one of the pillars to undress. ‘I-I-I don’t know. P-P-Perhaps he wants to c-come with us.’

‘You think?’ I heard him swilling the water with his arms. ‘Are you suggesting we’ve misjudged him?'

‘H-H-He’s had all this t-t-time to tell Lady B-Bertilak, but there’s n-no sign h-he has.’

‘True.’ He didn’t sound convinced. Suspicion of Accolon had become such a habit that it wasn’t easy for either of us to think well of the prince. ‘You done?’