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which gave way eventually to deep green glens and cold-running streams and wild, wind-mumbled
heights. The world was growing colder, I thought, and it was more than idle speculation, for we woke
several times to snow in the night, though Samhain had not yet passed.
At length, we arrived at Ector's Rock weary and disheartened, the futility of our long sojourn clinging to
us like our own sodden cloaks. Ector, who had been riding the circuit of his lands with Cai and Arthur,
found us a little way from Caer Edyn.
Arthur gave a loud whoop and raced to meet me. 'Myrddin! Pelleas! You have returned.' He threw
himself from his horse and ran to me. 'I thought you would never come back. I am glad to see you. I
missed you both."
Before I could reply, Ectorius rode up, shouting, 'Hail, Emrys! Hail, Pelleas! If you had sent word, we
would have met you on the road. Welcome!'
'Hail, Ector! I give you good greeting,' I replied. My gaze fell upon young Arthur, standing at the head of
my horse. He fairly danced in place, hopping first on one foot, then the other, as he held the reins of our
horses. 'I have missed you, lad,' I told him.
'Things are well in the south?' Ector asked.
'The south is lost,' I answered. 'Folly reigns. All day long the petty kings give themselves to treachery
and war. What they do not destroy, the Saecsen stand ready to steal.'
Ectorius, the smile still playing on his face, glanced from one to the other of us, as if struggling to believe.
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Indeed, the rain had ended, the sun shone brightly, and hopeless words held no force against it. He
cocked an eye towards the dazzling sky. 'Well' Ector shrugged his shoulders lightly 'you have had
a long and difficult journey, to be sure. Perhaps you will find yourselves in a different mind after you have
washed the road from your throats. Come, there is ale aplenty for that purpose.'
He turned and called to Cai and Arthur. 'What? Do you still linger here, young sluggards? Get you into
your saddles and take the news home. Our friends have found their way back to us; we must celebrate
their return. Tell the kitchens to prepare the best we have at hand. Ectorius demands a feast, tell them.
Hie! Away!'
Arthur was in the saddle and off before Lord Ectorius had finished speaking. And he was waiting at the
gate when we arrived at the fortress, grinning, calling out our names. 'Myrddin! Pelleas! Here I am!'
Just seeing the enthusiasm burning bright in the boy's face made me laugh and I had not laughed in a
very long time. In this way, Arthur, just being Arthur, cheered the Soul of Britain a deed unsung yet no
less worthy than any lauded by the bards.
Yet the trouble I sensed was not in the imagining only. The oppression, the darkness, was real enough,
and as cogent as I believed it to be. Did I not intimately know its source?
That day of homecoming, it was only the boy Arthur lifting our hearts with his boundless joy at our
return.
'I was wrong to leave him, Pelleas,' I confessed. 'All our roaming accomplished nothing. Instead, I have
no doubt made matters worse for my ill-conceived interference.' I paused, watching Arthur run towards
us.
'Myrddin! Pelleas! You were gone so long almost a year! I missed you! Do you want to see me throw
a spear?' He had spent the long summer hours perfecting his throwing arm, and was proud of his growing
proficiency.
I quickly dismounted. 'I have missed you, too, Arthur,' I said, pulling him to me.
'It is Earth and Sky to see you! Oh, Myrddin, I am so happy you have returned!' He threw his arms
around my waist.
'And it is joy itself to see you, Arthur,' I whispered. 'I am sorry to have been gone so long. It could not
be helped.'
'You missed Lugnasadh,' Arthur said, pulling away. 'Still, you are just in time for the autumn hunt! I was
afraid you would miss it. Lord Ector says Cai and I can ride this year. I want to ride with you, Myrddin,
so you can watch me. Some of the northern lords are coming, and Lord Ector says that we can '
'Peace, Arthur! What of the Gathering?' I asked. Had we missed that, too?
Arthur's fleeting frown gave the answer. 'There was no Gathering this year,' he replied. 'Because of some
trouble somewhere, Custennin said the Gathering could not take place.'
'Oh,' I said, nodding. 'That is too bad.'
'But,' continued Arthur, brightening immediately, 'Ectorius says that next year we will have an even
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bigger Gathering twice as big! That makes it almost worth the wait.' He turned and darted off. 'Come
on, I will show you how well I throw a spear! I have been practising all summer!'
He was gone in an instant.
'Well?' I turned to Pelleas. 'It appears that we are to witness a throwing trial. Ectorius' good ale must
wait a little, I think. This is more important. Send the lord our regrets; tell him a matter of some urgency
has arisen, and that we will join him as soon as may be.'
Pelleas hastened to do as I bade him, and returned to find Arthur and me on the field behind the boys'
house. There we watched Arthur display his considerable ability as time after time he struck the mark
a feat made more remarkable by the fact that he threw the longer, warrior-sized shaft, and not the shorter
practice length used by the boys.
The dying day stretched our shadows long on the field and we stood together watching Arthur tirelessly
throwing and retrieving his spear, his face ruddy with the flush of pride in his new-mastered skill. We
cheered his successes and praised his prowess while the flame-struck sun sank lower behind us.
A last 'Well done' and I gathered the boy beneath my arm. We started back to the hall where the feast
was being prepared. 'You have a champion's touch.'
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