shall regret."
"He's murdered Colgrevaunce!" someone said.
"Vengeance!" cried another.
"Kill him!" shouted a third.
"Kill them
both!
" cried yet another. If Sir Mador had been there, Agrivaine would have said that this last voice was his, but he had no time to look around because someone near the back had lunged toward the open door, pushing others ahead of him, and then they all had their swords out and were erupting into the room. Agrivaine thought once, desperately, about slipping off to one side, but he had not made it quite to the back, and there were still knights behind him, pressing him forward. He stumbled through the open door, tripped over a prone figure, then scrambled to his feet. Lancelot was fighting furiously, striking with deadly precision, while his attackers were in confusion. Agrivaine saw his cousin Florence go down beneath Lancelot's sword. Melion and Meliot were already down. Terror tightened Agrivaine's throat; he couldn't breathe; his arm felt heavy and his feet unable to move. He stood, frozen, at the edge of the battle.
A voice called in his ear. It was Florence's brother Lovel. "Now, Agrivaine! While he's fighting Galleron!"
Lovel threw himself toward Lancelot's back, but Agrivaine remained frozen, watching. Lancelot seemed to sense Lovel's attack and stepped quickly to one side. Lovel's sword missed. Lancelot threw himself at a clump of attackers, driving them backwards with his borrowed shield, then turned again, parried a second blow from Lovel, then struck back. Lovel fell to the floor beside Florence, and Agrivaine watched, transfixed, as blood began to pool beneath him. Looking up, Agrivaine met Lancelot's eyes and instinctively cringed and stepped backwards, but Lancelot didn't attack. Instead he turned his back toward Agrivaine and faced the other knights. It was clear that he considered Agrivaine no threat at all.
Agrivaine felt his face reddening and swore with shame and fury. His voice cracked, which only increased his anger. "I'll show you," he muttered. "I'll show everyone." Raising his sword, he ran toward Lancelot. The knight wore no armor; his back was completely unprotected. Agrivaine pointed his blade and thrust.
He didn't see exactly what happened then. Something jarred his arm and deflected his lunge. His sword passed harmlessly over Lancelot, who seemed to have dropped to a crouch. Agrivaine saw rather than felt Lancelot's sword enter his body, driving up beneath his breastplate. He felt a mild jolt but no pain. Then Lancelot was somewhere else, fighting with another knight, but Agrivaine wasn't interested anymore. Like a flicker of lightning, the thought flashed through his mind, "If this is what it's like to die, why have I spent all my life so afraid?"
A gray haze, like morning fog, filled the room. Agrivaine opened his mouth and said, "Mother? I..."
4. The Siege
Lynet
For the first time since she had been trained as a sorceress, Lynet regretted that she hadn't learned any curses. Her preceptress, Morgan Le Fay, had been very willing to teach her, and had even forced her to listen to a lecture on the basic patterns behind all hexes and malevolent charms, but Lynet had taken little note and had promptly forgotten whatever she did hear.
The reason for her inattention was something Morgan had said early in the training. "Every power that you learn," Morgan had explained, "has an opposite power held in balance. As you master one skill, your capacity for the opposite skill diminishes. So, for instance, the better you are at making things grow, the worse you'll be at making things wither and die."
"So," Lynet had said, "the better I get at curses, the worse I'll be at helping people?"
Morgan had not seen this as much of a loss, but from that moment Lynet had lost any desire to master curses. Only now, looking from the castle walls at the army that had encamped around them for the past two weeks, did she wonder if she had been a bit shortsighted. It would be lovely to
"He's murdered Colgrevaunce!" someone said.
"Vengeance!" cried another.
"Kill him!" shouted a third.
"Kill them
both!
" cried yet another. If Sir Mador had been there, Agrivaine would have said that this last voice was his, but he had no time to look around because someone near the back had lunged toward the open door, pushing others ahead of him, and then they all had their swords out and were erupting into the room. Agrivaine thought once, desperately, about slipping off to one side, but he had not made it quite to the back, and there were still knights behind him, pressing him forward. He stumbled through the open door, tripped over a prone figure, then scrambled to his feet. Lancelot was fighting furiously, striking with deadly precision, while his attackers were in confusion. Agrivaine saw his cousin Florence go down beneath Lancelot's sword. Melion and Meliot were already down. Terror tightened Agrivaine's throat; he couldn't breathe; his arm felt heavy and his feet unable to move. He stood, frozen, at the edge of the battle.
A voice called in his ear. It was Florence's brother Lovel. "Now, Agrivaine! While he's fighting Galleron!"
Lovel threw himself toward Lancelot's back, but Agrivaine remained frozen, watching. Lancelot seemed to sense Lovel's attack and stepped quickly to one side. Lovel's sword missed. Lancelot threw himself at a clump of attackers, driving them backwards with his borrowed shield, then turned again, parried a second blow from Lovel, then struck back. Lovel fell to the floor beside Florence, and Agrivaine watched, transfixed, as blood began to pool beneath him. Looking up, Agrivaine met Lancelot's eyes and instinctively cringed and stepped backwards, but Lancelot didn't attack. Instead he turned his back toward Agrivaine and faced the other knights. It was clear that he considered Agrivaine no threat at all.
Agrivaine felt his face reddening and swore with shame and fury. His voice cracked, which only increased his anger. "I'll show you," he muttered. "I'll show everyone." Raising his sword, he ran toward Lancelot. The knight wore no armor; his back was completely unprotected. Agrivaine pointed his blade and thrust.
He didn't see exactly what happened then. Something jarred his arm and deflected his lunge. His sword passed harmlessly over Lancelot, who seemed to have dropped to a crouch. Agrivaine saw rather than felt Lancelot's sword enter his body, driving up beneath his breastplate. He felt a mild jolt but no pain. Then Lancelot was somewhere else, fighting with another knight, but Agrivaine wasn't interested anymore. Like a flicker of lightning, the thought flashed through his mind, "If this is what it's like to die, why have I spent all my life so afraid?"
A gray haze, like morning fog, filled the room. Agrivaine opened his mouth and said, "Mother? I..."
4. The Siege
Lynet
For the first time since she had been trained as a sorceress, Lynet regretted that she hadn't learned any curses. Her preceptress, Morgan Le Fay, had been very willing to teach her, and had even forced her to listen to a lecture on the basic patterns behind all hexes and malevolent charms, but Lynet had taken little note and had promptly forgotten whatever she did hear.
The reason for her inattention was something Morgan had said early in the training. "Every power that you learn," Morgan had explained, "has an opposite power held in balance. As you master one skill, your capacity for the opposite skill diminishes. So, for instance, the better you are at making things grow, the worse you'll be at making things wither and die."
"So," Lynet had said, "the better I get at curses, the worse I'll be at helping people?"
Morgan had not seen this as much of a loss, but from that moment Lynet had lost any desire to master curses. Only now, looking from the castle walls at the army that had encamped around them for the past two weeks, did she wonder if she had been a bit shortsighted. It would be lovely to
Similar Books
