Stephen Lawhead - Grail

The Grail Maiden bade us farewell, saying, 'The Grail abides. For the sake of all who stand in need of its blessing, I charge you to guard it well.' Raising her right hand, she made the sign of the cross, and said, 'All grace, and power, and righteousness be upon you now, and forevermore. So be it!'

She seemed to grow both larger and taller as she spoke, and her form lost its solidity, becoming crystalline and sharp before fading from sight in a muted flare of dazzling starlight. The gleam lingered for a while where she had stood, and then that, too, disappeared. When I looked, the Sacred Grail had vanished, and in its place was the same vessel I had seen in Arthur's hands at the consecration of the shrine. The altar stone was merely a stone once more, and the chapel only a bare room with walls of figured stone.

We three came slowly to ourselves, like men waking from a dream we all had shared. I looked at Bors and Gereint, and my heart moved within me to see them. Good and faithful men, noble-hearted, loyal through all things – to death, and beyond. How was it possible that I should have gained a portion of such friendship?

Gereint saw my look and said, 'If that was a dream, never wake me.'

'It was no dream,' Bors replied, stirring himself and looking around. 'Did you not drink from the Holy Cup?'

'What did it taste like to you?' asked Gereint.

'It was the wine, of course,' I told him. 'And fine wine, too.'

'Wine!' roared Bors. 'I wonder at you, Gwalchavad. It was never wine. Have I lived so long not to know mead when I taste it?' He looked to Gereint to support this assertion. 'What say you, brother? Mead or wine?'

'It was the sweetest, most pure water I have ever tasted,' replied Gereint, blissfully ignoring Bors' lead. 'Like water from a living spring.'

'Wine and water!' scoffed Bors, shaking his head in mystified disbelief. 'It was mead, I tell you. Mead! Sweet elixir of life, and libation of kings! How can anyone say otherwise?'

I gazed longingly at the altar. The cup remained, but not a glimmer of that wild, exultant light persisted. 'How strange,' I murmured to myself. 'We held eternity in our hands, had we but known.'

'Eh?' said Bors, glancing at me over his shoulder. 'What was that?'

'We have been given another chance,' I said. 'Let us vow here and now to prove ourselves worthy of our charge this time.'

'Aye,' Bors agreed solemnly. 'She called us Guardians, and I will die before I leave this place undefended.'

Gereint agreed, and we all pledged ourselves to stand guard over the Grail until Arthur returned, or death overtook us. 'We had best look outside,' I said, starting for the door.

'Lord Gwalchavad, your leg – ' Gereint began.

'There was healing in the cup,' I declared. 'I tell you, Bors, I feel more refreshed and alive than I have in years.'

His smile was ready and wide. 'I believe you, brother. For my part, I do not believe I ever felt this good.' He gazed around him in expectant wonder, as if hoping to see something of the splendour that we had witnessed only moments before. 'Truly, I begin to understand what Arthur must have felt when he was dragged from death's door.'

With the greatest reluctance, we left the altar and crossed the chapel to the door, where, one by one, we bowed low and passed through the narrow way. In recognition of my healing, I placed my rude staff just inside the door and stepped through. Once outside, the darkness struck us like the blow of a fist. Though the clearing still glimmered as if with pale moonlight, we reeled on our feet for a moment before finding our balance again.

'All is quiet,' mused Bors, gazing around at the forest, dark and forbidding as it loomed over the small circle of the clearing. 'As much as I wish it, I doubt it will remain so.'

I was about to suggest that one of us should make a circuit of the chapel to ensure that the clearing remained secure, when Bors said, 'Shh!' He stiffened, his eyes narrowing as he stared into the darkness.

Gereint and I froze and waited for Bors to speak. 'Someone is watching us,' Bors said after a moment, his voice low and tight. I heard Gereint ease his sword from the strap at his belt, and wished I had something better than a knife.

'Where?' whispered Gereint, stepping closer. 'I see no one.'

'There,' Bors replied, indicating the place with the blade in his hand. 'You there – waiting in the shadows. Come out!'

'Careful, brother,' I warned. Taking my place behind his right shoulder, I motioned for Gereint to guard Bors' left side. 'There may be more lurking in the trees beyond.'

We advanced halfway across the clearing and stopped. 'You there!' called Bors sternly. 'Come out and declare yourself.'

From the deep-shadowed darkness a voice called out. 'Bors! Gwalchavad!'

'It is Peredur!' said Gereint, starting forward.

Bors caught him by the arm and pulled him back with a warning look as a solitary figure stepped from the surrounding wood into the clearing. We waited. The young warrior stepped nearer and I recognized the familiar shape and stance at last.

'It is Peredur,' Gereint insisted, and hastened to welcome his friend. 'I feared you had been killed by the beast long since. Have you seen the others?'

'Is there no one else here?' Peredur asked, looking past Gereint to Bors and myself. 'Arthur and Myrddin – are they here?'

'It is only the three of us,' Gereint told him. 'We have seen no one else since coming to this part of the wood.' Raising a hand to the chapel behind us, he said, 'We have seen the Grail. It was here.'

'Truly?' wondered Peredur. 'I would give much to have seen that.'

The remark was innocence itself, but the way he said it made our holy experience seem a petty thing. If we had said we had seen a green dog, or a calf with two heads, it might have drawn the same remark.

Bors scrutinized the young man closely. 'Where is your horse?' he asked.

'Oh, nearby,' answered Peredur indifferently. 'I have ridden hard and the animal is tired. I found a trail -1 think the others used it not long ago. Come, we can find them and -'

'Did you come by way of the burning oak?' asked Bors abruptly. I noticed he had yet to put up his weapon.

'No,' answered Peredur. 'I came a different way.'

The young warrior seemed disinclined to say more, but Bors pursued the matter. 'Which way would that be, then?' he said, more in the way of a demand than a question.

Peredur turned and looked Bors full in the face. 'I came by another way,' the young man said, speaking plain and low. There was an edge to his voice I had never heard before.

'Who can find their way in this wood?' said Gereint.

'How long have you been waiting out there?' demanded Bors.

Peredur's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Bors, but he made no reply.

Bors did not allow the query to go unanswered. 'It is perfectly simple,' he said, bristling with animosity. 'How long were you standing out there waiting for us?'

Gereint, who had been eager to interpose himself between the two, looked to me for help. I warned him off with a motion of my hand and he stepped back. Peredur put out his empty hands in a show of goodwill. 'Your suspicions are ill-placed, my friends,' he said with an awkward laugh. 'Yet I bear no grudge. Indeed, I forgive you right readily. Come, now, let us put aside this contention and think what we must do to unite ourselves with our swordbrothers once again.'

Peredur turned away and made to step around Bors. He had taken but one step when Bors seized him by the shoulder and yanked him back around. 'Stay where you are!' he shouted. 'Gwalchavad, relieve him of his sword.'

Knife in hand, I stepped slowly towards the young warrior, saying, 'Stand easy, brother. There is nothing to fear. We are your friends.'

'You behave like enemies!' he snarled, backing away. The hate in his voice struck me like a balled fist.