Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley [452]
“Forgiven you, lad? I envied you,” Arthur said, smiling. “Do you think I did not know Lancelet was the greater warrior of us two?”
Cai spoke for the first time, his somber scarred face twisting in a smile. “I told the lad then that he was a good fighter and would make a good knight, but he was certainly no courtier!”
“And so much the better,” said Arthur heartily. “God knows I had enough of those!” He added, leaning forward, speaking directly to Galahad, “Would you prefer that your father should knight you, Galahad? He has knighted enough of my Companions. . . .”
The boy bowed his head. “Sir, it is for my king to say. But it seems to me that this knighthood comes from God and it does not matter who bestows it. I—I do not mean that quite as it sounds, sir—I mean, the vow is made to you, but mostly to God—”
Arthur nodded, slowly. “I know what you mean, my boy. It is much the same with a king—he vows to rule over his people, but the vow is given not to the people but to God—”
“Or,” said Morgaine, “to the Goddess, in her name, as token of the land the king shall rule.” She looked directly at Arthur as she spoke and he shifted his eyes, and Gwenhwyfar bit her lip . . . Morgaine reminding Arthur again that his allegiance had been given to Avalon—damn her! But that was past and Arthur was a Christian king . . . under no authority but that of God.
“We will all be praying for you, Galahad, that you make a good knight, and that one day, you will make a good king,” said Gwenhwyfar.
“So, as you make your vows, Galahad,” said Gwydion, “you are making, in some form, the same kind of Sacred Marriage to the land that the King used to make in the old days. But you will not, perhaps, be so hard tested.”
The color rose in the younger boy’s face. “My lord Arthur came to the throne proved in battle, cousin, but there is no way I can now be so tested.”
“I could think of a way,” said Morgaine softly, “and if you are to rule over Avalon as well as the Christian lands, one day you must come to that, too, Galahad.”
He set his mouth firmly. “May that time be far—surely, my lord, you will live many, many years—and by then all those old folk who still believe they must give allegiance to the pagan ways will have gone.”
“I trust not,” said Accolon, speaking up for the first time in that company. “The sacred groves still stand, and in them, the old ways are done as they have been done from the beginning of the world. We do not anger the Goddess by denying her worship, lest she turn upon her people and blight the harvests and darken the very sun that gives us life.”
Galahad was startled. “But this is a Christian land! Have no priests come to you to show you that the evil old Gods among whom the Devil had sway have no more power now? Bishop Patricius has told me that all the sacred groves have been cut down!”
“Not so,” said Accolon, “nor will be while my father lives, or I after him.”
Morgaine opened her mouth to speak, but Gwenhwyfar saw Accolon lay his hand on her wrist. She smiled at him and said nothing. It was Gwydion who said, “Nor yet in Avalon, while the Goddess lives. Kings come and kings go, but the Goddess shall endure forever.”
What pity, Gwenhwyfar thought, that this handsome young man should be a pagan! Well, Galahad is a good and pious Christian knight, who will make a Christian king! But as she reassured herself with that thought, a faint shiver went through her.
As if Gwenhwyfar’s thoughts disturbed him, Arthur leaned forward to Gwydion, and his face was troubled. “Have you come to court to be one of my Companions, Gwydion? I need not tell you that the son of my sister is welcome among my knights.”
“I admit I brought him here for that,” said Morgause, “but I did not know that this was Galahad’s great ceremonial. I would not steal the luster from this occasion. Surely another time will do as well for that.”
Galahad said ingenuously, “I would not mind sharing my vigil and vows with my cousin.”
Gwydion