Marion Bradley - The Mists of Avalon

The bells that had waked her . .. she had seen, but she had not known what she saw.

She dropped her eyes. There would always be a bond between them now. Would any blow which struck him always fall like this, a sword into her naked heart?

"And now it seems I am to get another sword," Arthur said. "From having no sword at all, suddenly I have two special ones!" He sighed and said almost plaintively, "I don't see what all this has to do with being a king."

AS OFTEN AS she had seen Viviane in the robes of the High Priestess of Avalon, Morgaine had never grown used to the sight. She saw Arthur look back and forth between them, and saw the likeness mirrored in his eyes. He was silent, awed once more. At least, thought Morgaine, feeling an empty sickness again, they did not make him keep the magical fast. Perhaps she should have eaten with him, but the thought of food made her feel queasy. Prolonged work with magic could do that; no wonder Viviane was so emaciated.

"Come," Viviane said, and leading the way-the Lady of Avalon, in her own place, preceded even a king-she passed from the house and along the shores of the Lake and into the building where the priests were housed. Arthur walked quietly at Morgaine's side, and for an instant she half expected him to reach out his hand as he had done when he was very little, clinging to hers ... but now that little hand she had held was a warrior's hand, bigger than her own, hardened with long practice at sword play and with other weapons. Behind Arthur and Morgaine came the Merlin, and at his side Kevin.

Down a narrow flight of steps they went, and the dank smell of underground surrounded them. Morgaine did not see anyone strike a light, but suddenly there was a tiny glow in the darkness and a pale light flared around them. Viviane stopped, so abruptly that they jostled into her, and for an instant Morgaine was surprised that she felt simply soft and small, an ordinary woman's body, not a remote image of the Goddess. The Lady reached out and took Arthur's wrist in her small dark hand; it did not come near to reaching around his.

"Arthur, son of Igraine of Avalon and of Pendragon, rightful King of all Britain," she said, "behold the most sacred things in all your land."

The light flared on gold and jewels in cup and platter, the long spear, the crimson and gold and silver threads of the scabbard. And from the scabbard, Viviane drew forth the long, dark blade. Dimly, stones glinted in its hilt.

"The sword of the Sacred Regalia of the Druids," she said quietly. "Swear now to me, Arthur Pendragon, King of Britain, that when you come to your crown, you will deal fairly with Druid as with Christian, and that you will be guided by the sacred magic of those who have set you on this throne."

Arthur reached for the sword, his eyes wide; Morgaine could see it in his eyes-that he knew what manner of sword this was. Viviane made a quick gesture, preventing him.

It is death to touch the holy things unprepared," she said. "Arthur, swear. With this sword in your hand, there is no chieftain or king, pagan or Christian, who will stand against you. But this is no sword for a king who is bound to hear only the Christian priests. If you will not swear, you may depart now, bearing such weapons as you can get from your Christian followers, and the folk who look to Avalon for their rule shall follow you only when we bid them to do so. Or will you swear, and have their allegiance through the sacred weapons of Avalon? Choose, Arthur."

He stared at her, frowning a little, the pale light glinting on his hair,| which looked almost white. He said, "There can be only one ruler in this land; I must not be ruled from Avalon."

"Nor must you be ruled by the priests who would make you a pawn of their dead God," said Viviane quietly. "But we will not urge you. Choose whether or no you will take this sword, or refuse it and rule in your own name, despising the help of the Old Gods."

Morgaine saw that strike home-the day when he had run among the deer and the Old Gods had given him victory, so that he was acclaimed king| among these people, the first to acclaim him. He said quickly, "God forbid I should despise-" and stopped, swallowing hard. "What must I swear, Lady?"

"Only this: to deal fairly with all men, whether or no they follow the God of the Christians, and always to reverence the Gods of Avalon. For whatever the Christians say, Arthur Pendragon, and whatever they may call their God, all the Gods are as one God, and all the Goddesses but one Goddess. Swear only to be true to that truth, and not to cling to one and despise another."

"You have seen," said the Merlin, his voice deep and resonant in the' silence, "that I do truly reverence the Christ and that I have knelt at the altar and shared their sacred meal."

Arthur said, troubled, "Why, that's true, my lord Merlin. And you, I think, are the councillor I shall trust more than any other. Do you bid me swear, then?"

"My lord and king," said Taliesin, "you are young for this rule, and perhaps your priests and bishops would presume to keep the conscience even of a king. But I am not a priest; I am a Druid. And I say only that wisdom and truth are not the special property of any priest. Ask your own conscience, Arthur, if it would be wrong to swear to deal fairly with all men and whatever Gods they worship, instead of swearing allegiance to one only."

Arthur said quietly, "Well then, I will swear, and take the sword."

"Kneel, then," Viviane said, "in token that a king is but a man, and a priestess, even a high priestess, no more than a woman, but that the Gods are over us all."

Arthur knelt. The light on his fair hair, Morgaine thought, was like a crown. Viviane laid the sword in his hand; his fists closed around the hilt. He drew a long breath.

"Take this sword, my king," Viviane said, "and bear it injustice. This sword was not made of iron raped from the body of the earth, our mother; it is holy, forged of metal which fell from the heavens, so long ago that even the tradition of the Druids keeps no accurate account of the years, for it was forged before there were Druids in these islands."

Arthur rose, the sword in his hand.

"Which do you like better?" asked Viviane. "The sword or the scabbard?"

Arthur looked admiringly at the richly worked scabbard, but he said, "I am a warrior, my lady. The scabbard is beautiful, but I like the sword better."

"Even so," Viviane said, "keep the scabbard always by you; it was wrought with all the magic of Avalon. While you bear that scabbard, even though you take a wound, you will not shed enough blood to endanger your life; it is set about with blood-stanching spells. It is a rare and precious thing, and magical."

He smiled, saying-almost laughing with the breaking of the long tension-"Would I had had it when I took this wound against the Saxons; I bled like a sheep in the slaughterhouse!"

"You were not then a king, my lord. But now the magical scabbard will protect you."

"Even so, my king," said the melodious voice of Kevin the Bard, shadowed behind the Merlin, "however much you trust in the scabbard, I advise you to get yourself arms masters and cease not to practice with weapons!"

Arthur chuckled as he belted on sword and scabbard. "Never doubt it, sir. My foster-father had me taught to read by an old priest who read to me from one of the Gospels, how the Devil tempted the Lord Jesus, telling him that God had given him angels to watch over him; and Jesus said that it was ill done to tempt God. And a king is no more than flesh and blood-remember, I took my first sword from where Uther was lying dead. Don't think I shall tempt God that way, Lord Druid."

Somehow, with the sword of the Sacred Regalia belted at his waist, Arthur seemed taller, more impressive. Morgaine could see him crowned and robed as a king, seated upon his high seat... and for a moment, around him, it seemed that the small room was thronged with other men, shadowy, armed, richly clad, noble, standing around him closely, his Companions ... then they were gone, and he was only a young man again, smiling uncertainly, wearing his rank a little uneasily as yet.