Merlin's Gold

Merlin's Gold - Chapter 3 - Merlin

Chapter 3 - Merlin

As the sun lifted over the cliff, Percival joined Grayle by the side of the shale mound. The dead raiders had been unceremoniously dumped into a mass grave outside the boundary of Tintagel, and anything of value stripped from them prior to burial. As Percival drew level with him, he heard the last whispers of prayer, and Grayle muttered "Amen".

"Good morning father," he said quietly, lifting his head to look Percival in the eye.

As if saying farewell to the souls of the recently departed, a gentle breeze bullied the grass into movement on either side of the grave. Percival smiled at him, his unbound hair dancing lightly around his face.

"You were up early again."

"I wanted to pray for the recently deceased."

"You deceased some of them yourself," said Percival with a wry smile.

"Aye, but although they deserved death, they also deserve forgiveness."

Percival linked arms with his son, and the two walked back towards Tintagel. "Father Tristan had quite an effect on you didn't he son. I'm glad to see you at peace, and although you know I don't share your beliefs, I am happy that you have found something that gives you such strength."

"He was a good man," stated Grayle simply.

"Aye, he was; damn good with a quarterstaff too if I remember rightly."

Grayle chuckled, his mood lightening. "He certainly dumped the both of us on our backsides often enough." He paused and looked at Percival. "So what do we do now? Arthur has told us to come here and have a rest, but for how long?"

"Son, relax. We have been granted some time to build our strength, practice our skills, and forget about the horrors of war for a while. Enjoy yourself, find a nice cuddly girl, and have some fun."

Percival grinned as Grayle flushed red with embarrassment. "Come on lad, your grandfather will be having breakfast, let's go and steal some bacon from him."

Grayle nodded and changed the subject. "Did Captain Morholt find anything of interest on any of the bodies?" asked Grayle as they moved on together.

Percival nodded. "The warrior you took out with an arrow was carrying an unusual coin. It was solid gold and had a lion and a bull engraved on one side. I have absolutely no idea if it's important or not, but we'll see Arthur at Camelot. He'll know more, and will have access to all the intelligence coming in from the various parts of the country."

The two men waved at Morholt as they passed the main gate into the castle, and a few seconds later, a robed figure stepped out from behind a tree where he'd been eavesdropping and followed them through the archway.

~

"So boy, are you going to show your old grandfather what you've learnt?"

Mark stood in his chain mail, grinning at him from under a plain pot helm, a training sword held in one hand, wooden shield in the other. Grandfather was a bit of an odd term for him thought Grayle as he stood facing the powerfully built king. Mark had inherited his throne early, and had been married and widowed by the time he was twenty-two. At just thirty-eight summers, he was greying and developing a bit of a paunch, but the power was still there, and even when not dressed in chainmail, the king was still a formidable opponent.

Grayle stood similarly clad in the great hall of Tintagel castle. All the tables and chairs had been moved aside, leaving Grayle and Mark in the centre. Percival and Camlan, Mark's Man at Arms, stood off to one side. Percival leant nonchalantly against the wall with his arms folded, a faint smile on his face as he watched the two armed men slowly circling each other. Camlan leaned forwards slightly, his dark eyes intent on the mock battle. He had missed the fight with the Franks, being on an errand for Mark, and had not seen Grayle fight before. But now, he seemed to miss nothing, watching intently as the men sparred.