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

Chapter Thirty-Two: Search

Two worlds flickered in and out of each other. In the one it was summer: shafts of light lanced through the west-facing windows of the great hall. In the other it was winter: thunder rumbled outside, and the great hall of Castle Eudaimon was full of dead men.

Some things were the same in both summer and winter: Epicene was on the far side of the hall, crumpled against the wall. The others had been broken free of their trance. Aglinda and Alisander were terrified by the things they saw in front of them, they pressed their faces into Piers’ apron so they wouldn’t have to see. The others – Palomina and Palomides, Agravaine and Melwas, Elia and Bellina – were all staring open-mouthed at the flickering world. Those who had weapons had drawn them.

The long table was empty in summer; in winter, dead men filled every seat, the remains of long-rotten food spilled before them. In the summer, Prince Accolon lay still on the floor; in winter he was replaced by the man with the ram’s skull staff, who also seemed to be unconscious. In summer Lady Bertilak sat sewing on her chair, but in winter the Questing Beast was in her place, roaring its many roars.

‘Drive it out!’ cried Melwas in both seasons, advancing on the beast in one, on Lady Bertilak in the other.

Piers pushed Aglinda and Alisander behind him and drew his sickle from his belt. Bellina rushed to the little ones and buried her face in Aglinda’s hair.

In winter, the Questing Beast snapped its jaws at the points of their advancing blades; in summer, Lady Bertilak ordered the children to sheath their swords, to not dishonour themselves in her husband’s house.

Epicene struggled to her feet. I did the same.

The others advanced on Lady Bertilak and the beast.

The whirl of seasons began to slow. Lady Bertilak bent and grew. Things began to claw at the insides of her belly, as if trying to scratch their way out of her and into the air.

Finally it was winter, and Lady Bertilak was the beast. She had always been the beast that stood in the way of our true quest.

The others formed a horseshoe, the beast snapped at them on the right side and the left.

There was a bright light in the corner of my eye. Epicene had stretched her hands out in front of her. A fireball was slowly forming between her palms. 

I stretched out my hands, imitating her. I concentrated on a central point. Water vapour began to swirl in the air. It formed itself into a pea-sized ball of ice which grew and grew.

By making small lunges at the Questing Beast, the others had driven it back almost to the threshold of the hall.

Epicene flicked her hands at the beast, and I did the same. The fire-sorcerer’s fireball and my ball of ice sped through the air, as if they had been shot from catapults. The fire struck the beast on one side, the ice on the other. It screeched a many-voiced howl of pain, and retreated into the small courtyard.

‘The doors!’ screamed Melwas. ‘Close the doors!’

Palomides and Piers leapt forward and slammed the great doors closed. They drove its bolts home. Palomina and Melwas dragged the great table towards the door, the dead men dropping to the floor, the rotten food scattering everywhere. The rest of us took their lead, helping to haul the heavy table. We barred the door just as the Questing Beast’s courage returned. It threw itself at the entrance, shaking the old wood, but not coming close to breaking it. 

We looked at each other in silence, getting our breath back.

‘What can we do?’ whined Bellina at the far end of the room. ‘Where’s Accolon?’ Merlin, like everything in the room, had remained in his true form when the season settled.