Ides of the May (Children of the May 2 - updates weekly)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Aftermath

‘Ma!’ screamed Agravaine. He leapt over the side of the gallery, dropped to the floor, and rushed to Queen Morgawse.

A moment later King Lot appeared at the rail of the gallery, his eyes wide. He said nothing.

I stood on my good leg. My hands went to my head. I tried to take in the whole scene.

Norma – Neave – turned from me. She raised her hand and tendrils of water snaked towards the wound in the queen’s chest. Apart from the sons of Orkney, the rest of us stood in shocked silence. Gaheris ran towards his mother. Epicene was trapped beneath the queen. The fire-sorcerer’s body was still jerking from the after-effects of the Spear of Longius.

‘What you doing?’ said Agravaine, shocked at the watersnakes coming from Norma’s fingers. ‘Drift?’ he said, turning to me.

‘It’s alright,’ I reassured him. ‘She’s my sister.’

‘Is he dead?’ said Agravaine to Neave. ‘Did you kill Lamorak?’ He screamed in frustration as Neave concentrated on his mother.

The snakes probed at the edges of Queen Morgawse’s wound, but did not find their ways into the bloody hole in her chest.

Epicene struggled from beneath the queen, and started walking towards the door. This wasn’t her usual graceful walk, her glide that hardly looked like walking at all, but the shambling gait of Garnish and my mother after they had been pierced by the spear.

‘Stop her!’ I shouted, but no one moved. All eyes were on the queen and my sister.

A wave of nausea swept through me as pain throbbed through my knee. The world was woozy and slow. I threw up in the puddle of water that had been Sir Lamorak. My body was shaking. My own watersnakes crept towards my shattered leg.

Gaheris sobbed by his mother’s side, grasping her hand, stroking her skin with his hook. Neave shook her head and her watersnakes broke.

‘What are you doing?’ Agravaine said angrily. ‘Save her! Save my ma!’

Neave frowned. ‘My magic can do nothing for this wound, Prince Agravaine,’ she said with a shake of her head.

He pushed the woman – who still appeared as the ancient nursemaid – two-handed. She took a step backwards but did not fall. Agravaine crumpled to the floor by his dying mother’s side, sobbing.

‘Stop her,’ I said again. I left the Spear of Longius where it was and chased after Epicene, who was almost at the door. A line of guards were standing at the threshold, watching their princes around their dying queen, paying no attention to the husk of the fire-magician. They were disturbed from behind, and Mordred appeared through the crowd. He threw his arms around Epicene, and although she still tried to walk, she was too weak to break free of his grasp.

‘I came as quickly as I could,’ said Mordred.

‘Well you’re too late!’ screamed Agravaine. ‘Too late!’

The guards wore solemn faces, maidservants wailed in corners. And the Queen of Orkney died on the floor of King Lot’s hall. Her husband and three of her sons were there to see her passing. Gaheris released his mother’s hand and threw his arms around Agravaine, to stop his much bigger brother attacking everyone in the room.

* * *

An hour or so later, when I was called to King Lot’s chambers, Agravaine was sitting white-faced by his father’s side, his fists still clenched. The king himself was impassive. The Spear of Longius, the weapon that had killed his wife, was propped against the wall behind him. The room was crowded with all sorts of attendants and advisors. Mordred, Piers, Elia and Bellina were there, but for the moment the king’s attention was focused on Neave, who had removed the glamour of Norma, and replaced it with that which was familiar to me: she now appeared as the beautiful young woman in a simple white dress, her raven hair falling straight down to her waist.