Muse of Avalon by Michele Amitrani

Author:Michele Amitrani [Amitrani, Michele]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Michele Amitrani

6

The Night Seeker

A long time has passed since Morgana’s deceit, and every day I am reminded of my failure. I know that without the stability I wished for, people are suffering. The Saxons have in all likelihood continued the bloodbath. Not only was I unable to share my culture and to bring stability, I welcomed a snake to my bosom and trusted her with my life.

There is nothing I can do now, except hope against hope that there really is a man with the qualities I seek to unite this land and fight the invaders.

It has the probability of a coin landing on its edge, but still, it is better than nothing.

The moon is a silver sickle set in the night sky. The air is crisp and quiet. I wonder what my sisters are doing. Are they well? Has Morgana’s treachery harmed them? Questions upon questions storm my mind and fill my heart with dread.

I hear the low buzz before I see the bee approaching from the patch of bushes on the edge of the mountaintop, and I shift my attention to the insect.

“Hello, my dear,” I greet her as she rests on my hilt. “What news do you bring?”

Bees are the only company I have. They are the only living creatures I know how to talk to. They have made my long isolation somehow more manageable.

The bee’s yellow body vibrates.

“A small group of men, you say,” I vibrate back to her, “camping not far away from here. Well, that would not be surprising. Probably mercenaries coming to try their luck, tomorrow. We’ve had our fair share in the last few weeks, haven’t we? Oh, there is something else?” I wait for her to stop moving. “Are you sure? A man is climbing, you say? Right now?”

The insect vibrates her assent, her small wings flickering pearl white in the moonlight.

“It cannot be,” I say to her. “Only a madman would climb the mountain in this darkness.”

Again the insect moves her body.

“That is true,” I say. “All the scorpions and the snakes sleep at night, there’s that. But still, it’s easier to misplace a foot in the darkness. I wonder what would push a man to try his luck like that.”

I listen to the air, waiting for the thud of a body falling, crashing against the distant bottom, but I hear nothing but the sound of the wind brushing the dry plants.

One hour passes, then two. Finally, I glimpse a movement on the edge of the mountaintop, then a hand roughly grasping the cliff, and then a head emerges. A body lifts itself up and then rolls on its side. The newcomer is breathing heavily, his back on the ground and his chest rising and falling.

I can see the climbing must have cost him much of his strength. He stays down for a long time, then he finally rises. It’s difficult to see his features in the darkness. All I can see in the moonlight is that he looks short and frail.

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