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“Bastard king,” she snarled.
Silently, I groaned. So much for subtlety.
“She’s a traitor,” Arthur declared. “That’s clear to see.”
“She killed three of our men,” the soldier leading the others said. “She was bludgeoning the fourth to death when we found her. Took five of us to pull her off him. Like a wild animal, she was,” the soldier marveled, looking down at Lancelet with an expression of near admiration.
My heart surged with pride. I knew exactly what Lancelet had been doing when they found her. Covering Galahad and Guinevere’s escape.
“Five of my men against one woman?” Arthur glared at the talkative soldier. “A humiliation, that’s what it is. I shall have some thinking to do about the quality of my soldiers.”
The soldier shifted uncomfortably. “Yes, my king.”
“And Guinevere?” Arthur demanded. “Where is she? You bring me this hellcat, spitting and foaming, but where is the woman we came here to retrieve?”
I nearly snorted. Hellcat? I thought of Nightclaw. My brother hadn’t seen a true hellcat yet.
Yes, Lancelet was fierce, but if Arthur could get a single glimpse of Nightclaw, he’d piss in his gleaming boots. I longed for the opportunity to show him an exmoor.
“But Merlin suggested—” Fenyx began.
Arthur raised a hand. “Who knows if anything that witch told us was true or not.” But he seemed to relent a little. “Once you have searched the rest of the temple thoroughly, every nook and cranny, you will split the men into two groups. One will remain here to search the temple a second time. Who knows what rats may emerge when they think we have left.”
“Excellent thinking, my liege,” Fenyx murmured from beside Arthur.
Arthur ignored him. He was probably used to the fawning. “The second group will go into the city and turn it upside down until you have found Guinevere of Lyonesse and brought her back to me. Is that understood?”
Between the two soldiers, Lancelet started to growl.
“Oh, the hellcat is most displeased,” Fenyx observed with amusement. He wrinkled his nose as he peered down at Lancelet. “God, what have you done to her face, man? Is that a hole?”
“Bite marks, my lord,” the soldier replied. “And she had most of those to begin with. Ghastly, aren’t they?”
“By Perun’s blade.” I thought Fenyx sounded gruesomely fascinated. “Just when I thought I had seen it all. No man will have her now. Who did that to you, girl?”
Lancelet bared her teeth and snapped.
“Truly a wild thing,” Fenyx marveled. He hoisted me slightly in his arms, and for the first time, Lancelet seemed to realize I was there.
Her eyes widened.
I stared back at her in silence, not daring to say a word.
“We have not yet found the High Priestess,” the soldier leading the other group said, pulling Lancelet back roughly. But as soon as we have discovered her hiding place, I will send a report at once.”
“That won’t be necessary, Captain,” my brother said. He glanced at Fenyx. “You’ll find the High Priestess’s body in her chambers. Dispose of it.”
There was total silence in the hall for a moment.
Then Lancelet let out a moan of agony so deep that it sent my heart splintering into even smaller pieces.
Even the soldier’s face had paled a little. Was he a believer? Had he visited this temple as a child? Had he grown up watching Merlin lead the festivals and perform the rites?
My brother did not seem to notice the man’s discomfort.
“Very good, my king,” the soldier mumbled. “Of course. An honorable burial. We shall see it done.”
My brother had begun to turn away. Now he stopped in his tracks. “Honorable? Nothing was said abouthonor. Do we honor traitors, Captain? Perhaps you believe we should give Merlin a royal funeral procession through the streets of Camelot?”
