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

Chapter Thirty-One: Revelations

We sat in the great hall in silence. The table before us was bare. Epicene, Palomina and Elia were there with me.

Melwas had insisted that Piers and Palomides help her carry Mordred back to his chamber. Once they had carried him inside she had locked them out. The others had hammered on the door, pleading with her to let me in, to see if the healing waters from my hands were capable of saving him. She had refused, telling us that she would slay anyone who tried to cross the threshold.

The sun had left the eastern windows of the great hall, and had yet to arrive in the west. Epicene slid into the chair next to me.

‘The winter has gone from my eyes,’ she said. ‘I see the summer again. I see this place clean and living, not as it truly is.’

‘I-I-I-I-It didn’t last long for me either. I’m glad y-y-y-y-you can still remember.’

She tapped her fingers on the table. Her black skin was red where the frost had bit her. ‘I saw the second sorcerer at the tilting ground.’

My blood ran cold. With a glance behind me I moved my head closer to Epicene’s ear and whispered: ‘I-I-Is it Elia?’

Epicene gave me a puzzled look. ‘No, Drift, the second sorcerer has not disguised himself as Elia.’

‘Oh thank you very much, Drift,’ said Elia.

The fire-sorcerer was incapable of whispering.

‘N-No, I-I-I just thought – your songs, you seemed to know so m-much.’

‘Songs have their own kind of magic in them,’ said Palomina.

‘Too right they do,’ said Elia. Then she looked puzzled. ‘I was angry a moment ago. What I was angry about?’

Epicene turned back to me. ‘Lady Bertilak and Merlin’s spell of illusion will keep asserting itself until it is fully broken.’

‘So the other sorcerer is M-M-Merlin?’

Epicene nodded. ‘Another Merlin inside the shell of a child. Inside the shell of Accolon. I saw him. This one is more powerful than the other that wore a glamour of Margaret, but it is still not the whole sorcerer. It is just one aspect of Merlin, containing the energies of one wizard, one of his victims. There is one natural magic in the Accolon-shell: an earth magic. A magic, I believe, that came with us on the ship, and made the stone stairs we climbed up the cliffs.’

‘I-I-I-I-I remember; they looked b-b-brand new.’

She nodded. ‘I believe Merlin removed this portion of himself and sent it on the ship with us.’

‘That’s how he c-could harmonise with Lady Bertilak’s magics: b-because there’s only one m-magic in the Ac-c-colon-thing?’

She patted me on the hand. ‘You are learning, my friend. I fear that your untrained power prevented me from sensing him when you came aboard the ship. Your noise drowned the earth magic out. You are very powerful, water-mage.’

‘How c-can we show the others the truth? How do we stop them from k-keeping us here f-f-f-forever?’

‘I will fetch the book, there are answers in it.’

When Epicene had gone, Palomina took her place. The captain put her arm around me and said nothing. I rested my head on her shoulder.

Elia began to sing softly of Odysseus, a sad song on the subject of his longing for his wife, many seas away.

‘H-H-H-H-How did Odysseus escape the sorceress who turned his men into pigs, Elia?’

The musician stopped singing. ‘He lived a year and a day as Circe’s husband,’ she said. ‘And then she sent him on his way.’