Sword of the Rightful King by Jane Yolen Page A

ye summat fer he, but ye will have to carry it oop yersel’.”
    Gawen nodded again.
    â€œAnd best ye tak summat fer yersel’. That old wizard’ll ferget to feed ye.”
    â€œHe already said I could...” Gawen started.
    However, it was clear Gawen’s audience with Cook was over. Two of the kitchen boys gave Gawen a hand choosing what to put on a tray.
    â€œHere, ye try that mutton,” said one, shoving a large slab toward Gawen’s face, while the other popped several boiled potatoes onto a trencher for him.
    Only then was Gawen ready to go back up the many stairs to the tower, with a tray overflowing with a chine of mutton, a quart of beer, a quart of wine, a dish of buttered eggs, and a half loaf of the black.
    â€œHe likes the black, do our mage,” said one of the boys. None of them volunteered to help carry the heavy tray.
    Gawen managed to get the tray to the tower without spillage, but it was a close thing. By that time Merlinnus was fast asleep on the bed, snoring, his mouth wide open and showing a full set of yellowed and broken teeth.
    Setting the tray down on a nearby table, Gawen drew a coverlet over the old man and left. But not before snatching another potato from the mage’s tray. It had been a long day.

 
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    III
KING’S HOPE/PRINCE’S DANGER
    The stones of the churchyard and the stone of the church walls and the stone with the sword were all one color: the grey of sin, of celibacy, of mourning. The sword in the stone was grey as well, but it had a life to it, the blade the grey of lake water and the hilt the grey of vapor rising over the lake
.

15
Riding South

    F IVE DAYS OUT found Morgause’s sons camped near a river. It was the first time they had found such a good spot. Gawaine wondered if it were
too
good and set three men to stand watch, including Hwyll, who was handy with a dagger if not a sword. He could always count on Hwyll’s even temper not to get them into a brangle unless he was certain of danger. Unlike Agravaine, who always found danger even when there was none.

    Agravaine complained, of course. He had been complaining every step of the way, since he had been expecting to stay in castles with some great lords, or at least in comfortable inns each night. He felt insulted and ill used and was not choosy about whom he whined to. Gawaine suspected that he was still feeling sick from the crossing.
    However, the twins enjoyed the freedom of camping from the start.
    â€œMother would never have allowed...” they began together, then smiled at each other. That Mother would not have allowed seemed to be the biggest compliment of all.
    Gawaine had nodded. “But Mother is not here now. She is busy at home ruling other folks’ lives.”
(And ruining them
, he thought bitterly.) “We want to get to Cadbury on the fastest road possible. Besides, as long as we are still in the Highlands, what few inns there are, are scarcely safer than the road. Often they are run by cutthroats and thieves. And the great lords hereabouts are not all friendly to Arthur.”
    The twins had listened, but whether they heard him or not, he could not tell. Still, they at least seemed happy enough with the arrangements.
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    T HIS NIGHT the twins were exhausted and, wrapping themselves in their woolen cloaks, fell asleep quickly.
    Gawaine sat up by the fire, trying to think about what he should tell the king about his mother, about his brothers. Or wondering if he should say anything at all. Loyalty to family had been drummed into him from birth. But loyalty to the king was something he had learned on his own.
    Hearing a noise, he turned. When he saw it was only Agravaine, he looked back to the fire.
    â€œTell me about Arthur,” his brother said, making no attempt to dress up his interest. He sat down heavily by Gawaine’s side.
    For a moment Gawaine thought to ask if Agravaine wanted to know for himself, or for their