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won?
Slowly came the words, and then faster and
louder as the apparition gathered power.
Not by battle, not by the sword. They
that take the sword will perish by the sword.
There will be no victory, no triumph of arms.
The Kingdom of Arthur, like the kingdom of
his Lord, is not of this world, else would his
servants fight . . . Not in this generation,
nor for many to come, but generation after
generation, soul after soul, mind after
mind . . . For the Saxons also will bow the
knee to Arthur, but not now and not thus.
The conquered shall lead the conqueror, and
200 THE THREE DAMOSELS
the vanquished shall overcome the victors.
Shall the colours of the dyer strive against
the cloth . . .?
Oh, speak more plainly! Melior cried.
Tell us is it not yet Arthur s hour? Are we
to wake him in this extremity?
No no no. Not yet. Not thus is it
written. By Arthur s line, but not by Arthur s
name. By blood, but not by bloodshed. By
the distaff, not by the sword.
One of the knights cried out, What,
then is there to be no victory? Are we not
to fight?
And another cried, How do we know this
is Merlin?
Be silent, said Melior, suddenly
authoritative, and then addressed the cloudy
presence.
Are you are you indeed my master
Merlin? Give us a sign
I am Merlin Ambrosius, the voice
pronounced, and then suddenly changed
from the hieratic to the tenderly
familiar.
Melior, you bad boy, you made the ass
run away with my Plato.
The voice concluded with the dry chuckle
of an old man.
Melior gave a sob as from the depths of
his heart, and fell forward with his head on
KING ARTHUR S DAUGHTER 201
the table, his arms groping towards the feet
of the apparition. Then he raised his head
and looked round at the others.
It is he it is my old master. That was
something none knew but he and I. Then he
dropped his head again and they could hear
him weeping bitterly. And again the thunder
rolled above them.
The hieratic voice began again.
Hail to the daughter of Arthur, Ursulet the
Lesser Bear, daughter of Guinevere, bearer
of the distaff. But where is Ambris? Where
is Sir Ambrosius? Without him the prophecy
cannot be fulfilled. Where is Ambrosius son
of Gawain, son of Gareth, son of Lot . . .
The voice was fading, and the figure began
to dissolve then the crash of thunder shook
the roof above them, and the lightning fell.
For one moment they all saw each other
outlined in blue fire, and the shape of Merlin,
not veiled now, but plain and recognizable,
and in front of him, also plain to see, the
shape of young Morwen, kneeling with
his back to Merlin like a runner poised to
start he was naked and shining as if with
rain. Merlin seemed to point with his hand
and to release the kneeling figure like an
arrow from a bow. Then the darkness closed
down, and each one for a second seemed to
be blinded. Melior s voice intoning: Thanks
202 THE THREE DAMOSELS
and blessing depart in peace into the bliss
of Gwynfyd, was all but drowned in the
crash that followed the lightning.
They sat dazed and silent in the dark the
torches had blown out. Then, as pages ran to
relight the torches, they gradually gathered
their wits. The rain was roaring down on the
high roof of the church above them, and at
first it was hard to hear each other s voices.
Ursulet had drawn Lynett to her, and sat
trembling with her face pressed against
Lynett s hard bosom.
Voices began to make themselves
heard.
What, so we are not to fight?
The wizard prophesied no victory?
Do you understand it?
No, do you?
This is no answer.
This is no proper augury.
Ursulet suddenly felt strength and
resolution come into her. She sat upright
upon her throne again then she stood and
cried as clearly as she could.
Worthy knights, hear me!
But her voice failed in the hubbub.
Bedivere drew his sword and beat it
against his shield, and the clamour pierced
all other sounds.
KING ARTHUR S DAUGHTER 203
Silence for her Grace the Queen.
Now they were silent only the rain
hissed and Ursulet said,
Victory or not, my lords, we must break
out of here. We must not be shut up in
Avalon. Sir Ector and Sir Bors are my father s
oldest veterans, with Sir Bedivere I choose
that they three shall direct the army. So let
us go and prepare to march.
24 " In the Lightning
he guards at Camelot, that great fortress
Twithin its circle of earthworks, where
Cadwallo had taken the place that had
long been Arthur s, had orders to wait upon
the young Prince Morwen, protect him and
watch him, but nothing had been said about
restraining him. It had not occurred to Cadwallo
that there would be any need to do so.
The storm that had long been creeping up
on the countryside, sharpening everyone s
nerves and weighing on everyone s brain,
had broken in terrifying force crash after
crash, lightning flash after lightning flash,
and the rain coming down in a hissing
sheet through the solid dark that broke,
every few heartbeats, to show all objects
curiously reversed, white for black, before
the dark came again. What hour of night it
was, no one could tell. Some counted the
flashes others just hid their eyes and
waited.
The two sentries in the passage outside
the door of Prince Morwen s room had hidden
KING ARTHUR S DAUGHTER 205
the bright heads of their halberds, and leant
against the wall each side of the door, watching
the flashes through the little arrow-slit that
lighted the passage. In the pause between two
roars of thunder the door creaked and opened.
They turned and stared silently as into the
lightning flash stepped a pale and luminous
figure Morwen quite naked, his eyes shut,
his hands groping before him. His short
brown hair stood straight out from his head
in a wild bristling mop. Although he groped,
he walked fast and surely as if someone were
leading him. The guards stood spellbound
and let him pass.
Did you see? the one whispered to the
other. Fast asleep, and walking
Should we stop him?
We daren t. Stark naked, and walking in
his sleep. The hand of God is on him.
The hand of the gods is on him, said the
other man, who believed in older things.
No, we daren t stop him.
Past sentry after sentry, it was the same.
None dared lay hands on the naked boy
who walked with his eyes shut in the midst
of the thunder and lightning. Out into the
pouring rain, with the levin-flash all round
him now the rain pouring over his head
quenched his bristling hair, and his bare skin,
206 THE THREE DAMOSELS
washed all over, gleamed when the lightning
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