Jack Whyte - The Sorcer part 2 - Metamorphosis

Ahead, in the distance, I had seen bright colours and movement on the road from the main gates of the fort as a welcoming party headed down to greet us. Tressa looked and then stood up and climbed gracefully over the bench, disappearing into the body of the wagon beneath the leather canopy. She had time, I knew, to do what she needed to do, which was to make herself presentable according to her own criteria. The welcoming party would not reach us for some time yet.

I shifted into a more comfortable position on the bench beside Derek, who was gazing off to my right, towards the broad drilling plain, where several formations of cavalry had been wheeling and cantering as we emerged from the forest road. Now they were all motionless, their eyes on our approach. As I noticed their stillness, a distant voice rang out, loud and peremptory, and they surged into motion again, resuming their interrupted patterns.

"That's the campus, Derek, the drilling ground. It's been there since first we started building the fort above. No weed, no flower, no blade of grass ever had time to root itself here before some horse's hoof either trampled it flat or dug it up. In high summer, the dust of it never has a chance to settle. The fort is the centre of Camulod's defences, but the campus is the heart of its strength."

Derek did not address that directly. He simply muttered, 'This is a big place."

"Aye, it is. Much bigger than it was when I set out for Ravenglass, six years ago. That's Ambrose, at the head of the group, there. There's no mistaking him, is there?"

The welcoming party had reached the head of our procession, and were exchanging greetings with Philip, Falvo and Dominic, who rode at the point. I could see my brother pull his horse around in a rearing turn as he searched for me back among the wagons, and then he was cantering towards us, calling the occasional greeting to familiar faces as he passed. When he reached the first wagon, with Donuil and Shelagh on the driver's bench, he reined in his horse to exchange a few words with them.

As they spoke, Arthur came thundering up with his trio of friends, and then stopped, suddenly shy, waiting for his Uncle Ambrose to acknowledge him. Ambrose welcomed all four boys expansively, and then leaned forward in his saddle. He whispered something into Arthur's ear and then slapped the boy's mount on the rump, sending all four of the lads galloping off towards the distant fort. He watched them ride off, said something further to Donuil or Shelagh, then swung down to the ground and strode back to where we waited, his whole face alight in a great, beaming smile. I leaped down to meet him and we threw our arms about each other.

He pushed me back from him eventually, his hands grasping the points of my shoulders firmly, and looked into my eyes. "Welcome home, Brother," he said softly. "Your place awaits you, and everything is ready for your arrival." His smile broadened to a grin. "Your clothes, your proper clothes, are cleaned and dried and all laid out for you, and your armour is polished brighter than it has ever been. Time to wash out the drab brown from your hair and take your" place in Camulod again. The fanner Cay has no place here! This is Merlyn's home." He glanced up at the wagon. "Where is Tressa?" But then his eyes widened in surprise. "Derek of Ravenglass! Welcome to Camulod."

Tress now emerged from the rear of the wagon and stood, holding the edge of the bench and smiling down at Ambrose, her eyes wide and timid looking. He stepped forward and placed his foot on the hub of the lead wheel, then swung himself up to take her hand and kiss her cheek. "And you, too, Lady Tressa. We've looked for you this past week and more. Welcome. Ludmilla has been fretting, thinking that some ill might have befallen you along the way, but had we known King Derek himself rode with you, her mind would have been eased." Derek flushed and smiled at the words.

Ambrose perched on the end of the bench and spoke down to me, still holding Tressa's hand. "You've seen some changes here, eh, Brother? I promise you, there are more yet. But we'll talk of all that later. For now, we have to take you home and feed you. You must all be hungry and ready for a good, hot bath and a deep massage. After that, we will relax, drink a little mead, perhaps, and exchange idle talk in warmth and comfort. Tomorrow tonight, we'll feast and celebrate your coming, since everyone wants to join the celebration. The only place big enough to accommodate that gathering is the campus itself, and that will take the entire day to organize."

He turned to Tress again, raising her hand. "We regret the delay of an entire day when we should celebrate tonight, dear Tressa, but we have no other option. The campus is in daily use, since it's our only training ground. Tomorrow, therefore, will be a day of rest and preparation for the coming night. There are tents to put up, seats and tables to be put in place, fires to be built and cooking to be done. We have plenty of food, though. Hunting and fishing parties have been going out every day for the past week and more, so no one will go hungry. We have mountain stream salmon and river trout and saltwater fish to offer you, and we have venison, wild boar and fattened swine, goat flesh for those who like it—I do not—and an entire fat ox, well fed on grain and groomed for just this feast. What have I missed? Ah yes, the birds of the air! We have geese, swans and ducks, partridge and grouse and many smaller fowl. And in addition to all of that we have music, mummers, acrobats and wrestlers, and prodigious horsemanship, which we are ever eager to display. So, this afternoon, when you have bathed and rested for a while, we will show you our Colony, or as much as we may without tiring you. After that, your man and I must talk, at great and serious length, of many things, so I must ask you to be patient with my demands on him."

Tressa lowered her head in a gracious nod. "My man, sir, as you call him, came back to pursue his obligation to serve this Colony, not to please me. I am quite happy to be here with him and I've no doubt I shall find much to occupy me while he spends time with you."

I was smiling, proud of Tressa's self possession and amused and pleased by Ambrose's courteous reception. "Have we then so many things to talk about, Ambrose?"

"Oh, aye, Brother, I fear we have, and few of them are pleasant. But none of them are dire enough they cannot wait until tonight. You have been gone nigh on seven years while they were all agrowing, so a few more hours will make no massy difference to them. So come, let's move on, up to the fort. Merlyn, you take my horse and tell the other wagon drivers to follow us, while I stay here and talk with this beautiful woman and enjoy being conducted by a king. Derek, if you would, pull to the side of the road here on the right, and take us past this blockage. We'll lead the wagons separately up to the gates. The troopers will disperse down here when they're dismissed and we've no need to wait for them. "

Derek swung the lead horse out to pull the wagon forward as I began to pull myself up into the saddle of my brother's horse, thinking that I would find time in the course of the afternoon to ask at least a few of the questions he had postponed so lightly. I heard Ambrose calling to Donuil in the cart ahead, telling him to fall in behind our wagon. And now as I rode back and forth, marshalling the wagons of our train, I saw recognition in the faces of the people of Camulod as they saw me, mounted upon my brother's splendid horse, which alone informed them who I was.

The time that followed was hectic. Our return, as I should have anticipated, was seen as a cause for great rejoicing in a time when there was little else to celebrate. During the course of that day and the one that followed, I met and greeted everyone I knew in Camulod, together with a large number of people whom I did not know at all. Many of the latter were new officers, selected from the ranks of the new intakes assembled since my departure, and most of them seemed ludicrously young to me.