falcon
--"
"He'll not hurt me." I picked up the
merlin; he had fluffed his feathers out against the cold, and felt
soft as a young owl in my hands. I pulled my leather sleeve down
over my left wrist, and he took hold of this, gripping fiercely.
The eyelids were fully open now, and the wild dark eyes watched me.
But he sat still, with shut wings. I heard Cerdic muttering to
himself as he bent to retrieve my things from the place where I had
taken my meal. Then he added something I had never heard from him
before. "Come on then, young master."
The merlin stayed docile on my wrist
as I fell in at the back of my grandfather's train for the ride
home to Maridunum.
10
Nor did it attempt to leave me when we
reached home. I found, on examining it, that some of its wing
feathers had been damaged in that hurtling crash after the
ring-dove, so I mended them as Galapas had taught me, and after
that it sat in the pear tree outside my window, accepting the food
I gave it, and making no attempt to fly away.
I took it with me when next I went to
see Galapas. This was on the first day of February, and the frost
had broken the night before, in rain. It was a grey leaden day,
with low cloud and a bitter little wind among the rain. Draughts
whistled everywhere in the palace, and curtains were fast drawn
across the doors, while people kept on their woolen cloaks and
huddled over the braziers. It seemed to me that a grey and leaden
silence hung also over the palace; I had hardly seen my grandfather
since we had returned to Maridunum, but he and the nobles sat
together in council for hours, and there were rumors of quarrelling
and raised voices when he and Camlach were closeted together. Once
when I went to my mother's room I was told she was at her prayers
and could not see me. I caught a glimpse of her through the
half-open door, and I could have sworn that as she knelt below the
holy image she was weeping.
But in the high valley nothing had
changed. Galapas took the merlin, commended my work on its wings,
then set it on a sheltered ledge near the cave's entrance, and bade
me come to the fire and get warm. He ladled some stew out of the
simmering pot, and made me eat it before he would listen to my
story. Then I told him everything, up to the quarrels in the palace
and my mother's tears.
"It was the same cave, Galapas, that
I'll swear! But why? There was nothing there. And nothing else
happened, nothing at all. I've asked as best I could, and Cerdic
has asked about among the slaves, but nobody knows what the kings
discussed, or why my grandfather and Camlach have fallen out. But
he did tell me one thing; I am being watched. By Camlach's people.
I'd have come to see you sooner, except for that. They've gone out
today, Camlach and Alun and the rest, so I said I was going to the
water-meadow to train the merlin, and I came up here."
Then as he was still silent, I
repeated, worried into urgency: "What's happening, Galapas? What
does it all mean?"
"About your dream, and your finding of
the cavern, I know nothing. About the trouble in the palace, I can
guess. You knew that the High King had sons by his first wife,
Vortimer and Katigern and young Pascentius?"
I nodded.
"Were none of them there at
Segontium?"
"No."
"I am told that they have broken with
their father," said Galapas, "and Vortimer is raising troops of his
own. They say he would like to be High King, and that Vortigern
looks like having a rebellion on his hands when he can least afford
it. The Queen's much hated, you know that; Vortimer's mother was
good British, and besides, the young men want a young
king."
"Camlach is for Vortimer, then?" I
asked quickly, and he smiled. "It seems so." I thought about it for
a little. "Well, when wolves fall out, don't they say the ravens
come into their own?" As I was born in September, under Mercury,
the raven was mine.
"Perhaps," said Galapas. "You're more
likely to be clapped in your cage sooner than you expected." But he
said it
--"
"He'll not hurt me." I picked up the
merlin; he had fluffed his feathers out against the cold, and felt
soft as a young owl in my hands. I pulled my leather sleeve down
over my left wrist, and he took hold of this, gripping fiercely.
The eyelids were fully open now, and the wild dark eyes watched me.
But he sat still, with shut wings. I heard Cerdic muttering to
himself as he bent to retrieve my things from the place where I had
taken my meal. Then he added something I had never heard from him
before. "Come on then, young master."
The merlin stayed docile on my wrist
as I fell in at the back of my grandfather's train for the ride
home to Maridunum.
10
Nor did it attempt to leave me when we
reached home. I found, on examining it, that some of its wing
feathers had been damaged in that hurtling crash after the
ring-dove, so I mended them as Galapas had taught me, and after
that it sat in the pear tree outside my window, accepting the food
I gave it, and making no attempt to fly away.
I took it with me when next I went to
see Galapas. This was on the first day of February, and the frost
had broken the night before, in rain. It was a grey leaden day,
with low cloud and a bitter little wind among the rain. Draughts
whistled everywhere in the palace, and curtains were fast drawn
across the doors, while people kept on their woolen cloaks and
huddled over the braziers. It seemed to me that a grey and leaden
silence hung also over the palace; I had hardly seen my grandfather
since we had returned to Maridunum, but he and the nobles sat
together in council for hours, and there were rumors of quarrelling
and raised voices when he and Camlach were closeted together. Once
when I went to my mother's room I was told she was at her prayers
and could not see me. I caught a glimpse of her through the
half-open door, and I could have sworn that as she knelt below the
holy image she was weeping.
But in the high valley nothing had
changed. Galapas took the merlin, commended my work on its wings,
then set it on a sheltered ledge near the cave's entrance, and bade
me come to the fire and get warm. He ladled some stew out of the
simmering pot, and made me eat it before he would listen to my
story. Then I told him everything, up to the quarrels in the palace
and my mother's tears.
"It was the same cave, Galapas, that
I'll swear! But why? There was nothing there. And nothing else
happened, nothing at all. I've asked as best I could, and Cerdic
has asked about among the slaves, but nobody knows what the kings
discussed, or why my grandfather and Camlach have fallen out. But
he did tell me one thing; I am being watched. By Camlach's people.
I'd have come to see you sooner, except for that. They've gone out
today, Camlach and Alun and the rest, so I said I was going to the
water-meadow to train the merlin, and I came up here."
Then as he was still silent, I
repeated, worried into urgency: "What's happening, Galapas? What
does it all mean?"
"About your dream, and your finding of
the cavern, I know nothing. About the trouble in the palace, I can
guess. You knew that the High King had sons by his first wife,
Vortimer and Katigern and young Pascentius?"
I nodded.
"Were none of them there at
Segontium?"
"No."
"I am told that they have broken with
their father," said Galapas, "and Vortimer is raising troops of his
own. They say he would like to be High King, and that Vortigern
looks like having a rebellion on his hands when he can least afford
it. The Queen's much hated, you know that; Vortimer's mother was
good British, and besides, the young men want a young
king."
"Camlach is for Vortimer, then?" I
asked quickly, and he smiled. "It seems so." I thought about it for
a little. "Well, when wolves fall out, don't they say the ravens
come into their own?" As I was born in September, under Mercury,
the raven was mine.
"Perhaps," said Galapas. "You're more
likely to be clapped in your cage sooner than you expected." But he
said it
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