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CHAPTER 12
The spring sun wasjust warming the cobbled streets as a group of rowdy children gathered by the banks of the Greenbriar River that ran through the center of Camelot to the lake and from there to the sea far beyond. Led by Merlin and a cohort of young priestesses from the temple, the group of children held onto a large crudely-made effigy in the shape of a woman, fashioned from sticks and straw, and dressed in a real woman's clothing–a blue flowered blouse and bright red skirt that had been donated that morning by a devout beaming peasant woman.
With a raucous chorus of laughter and singing, the priestesses directed the children as they began to wade into the chilly river water, carrying the effigy in with them. More children joined them, splashing and playing as close to the priestesses as they dared, soaking their clothes as they entered the water to be near the excitement.
A large crowd stood on the bank, observing the springtime spectacle. Brightly painted wooden street carts selling hot mulled wine and roasted sugared nuts were set up along the street, with lines of people chattering as they waited to place their orders. The festivities would go on all day and long into the night, culminating in dances in the city squares and special night-time markets.
While the citizens of Camelot danced in the streets, the nobles and courtiers would all be attending the gala ball in the Great Hall of the castle that evening.
As the children reached waist-deep water, they raised the effigy high over their heads and the priestesses beside them lifted the burning torches they carried, setting the effigy ablaze.
With a cheer from the crowd on the bank and a triumphant shout of glee from the children, the effigy was hurled into the river waters. Slowly it sank below the surface, flames flickering and then dying out in the murky depths.
As the straw woman disappeared from view, the children and priestesses began to chant a silly nursery rhyme I could easily remember from my own childhood, their voices rising in unison:
Marzanna's lady, Marzanna's lady,
We'll set you on fire now.
In the icy river waters, you are sure to drown.
But spring is here, the sun is warm, the flowers are in bloom,
So down you must go, down you must go,
Down to your watery tomb!
The chant echoed across the river, bouncing off the stone walls of the city and fading into the distance. The ritual over, the children began to splash the priestesses who shrieked and splashed back, in a most improper but hilarious display.
I saw Merlin watching from the bank, her back tall and proud, the barest hint of a smile on her handsome face.
“Macabre, don’t you think?” said a voice in my ear.
“Gruesome,” I agreed, a grin beginning to form.
“Innocent fun!” Galahad insisted. He glared at Lancelet and I. “Good innocent fun!”
“Oh, yes, I always think it's fun to drown a woman each spring to celebrate the changing of the season,” Lancelet said sweetly.
I giggled, but then remembered how I had strongly protested my uncle’s suggestion that the effigy was meant to be a real woman.
“But it’s only a game,” I said, starting to switch sides. “The temple would never...”
“Of course not,” Galahad said hotly. “The Three do not ask for blood tribute. That goes against the nature of the goddesses. They are above such things as petty bloodlust.”
Someone cleared their throat from beside him. “Does it, young Galahad?” Merlin had appeared. She looked at Galahad with a glimmer of amusement in her dark eyes. “You do not believe Marzanna, the goddess of things as powerful as life and death, who oversees the changing of the seasons, and the yearly victory over cruel winter would ever expect such a sacrifice?”
Galahad stared at the High Priestess as if uncertain of how to answer.
“Perhaps humans misinterpreted the will of the goddesses in the past and made such offerings, but surely the Three never intended such sacrilege,” he finally ventured.
“Sacrifice is sacrilege?” Merlin mused. “Interesting. You may be correct. But certainly, in the past, a real human woman must have been cast into the river at some point.”
