They Will Rise Again
written by Lilia Le Fay
Morgana Pendragon, sister and mortal enemy of the great King Arthur, was never known to have a daughter. But if this is so, who is the girl found in the forest claiming to be her? Maurelle Pendragon is on a quest to avenge her mother's death, sent to the 21st century. To do that, she must find the sorcerer Merlin, who lives on in present day. However, a dark power is stirring, and the Knights of King Arthur ready themselves to rise again...
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
34
Reads
1,461
Chapter Seven
Chapter 8
Chapter 7 ~ The Story Continues.
The rest of august went by slowly for Karil. Half the time he didn't know where Maurelle was. He tried not to care about this arrangement, but Karil didn't like being ignorant, he wanted to know what her plan was, and most of all, her side of the classic story he thought he knew. The thing is, he'd only managed to get a short conversation out of her one time, for the hard, cruel shell of emotion that covered her true self was hard to get past. Though after the time in the glade that night, he was beginning to wonder if that was the real Maurelle. She had been hauntingly cruel, one of the few emotions he'd actually seen her convey, but it had seemed sincere. Was there really a soft side to the young sorceress?
In that department, Karil was unsure.
It was a grey, heavy day, humid but raining storm droplets from the heavens after a fortnight of hot, dry weather. Karil was in the library again, this time avoiding the appearance-enhancing volumes. Instead, he found a large, dated leather book and aid it down carefully.
''The Tales of King Arthur.'' He read from the worn cover. It was a very original version. But was anything truly accurate? He settled down to read the small, calligraphic print, and discovered much was different, even from the small amount of info he'd got from that one talk in the forest. It didn't say much about Uther, missing the part about him banning magic, said Morgan Le Fay was not his ward but his daughter, and dragons were never mentioned. After half an hour, Karil shut the book, leaning back and raking back his hair with one hand. Were these tales true? Or were Maurelle's false?
''Why are you reading that?'' Karil jumped as the cold voice of the very person herself rang throughout the library. Lifting his head, he greeted the not angry, but curious face of Maurelle staring at him.
''I, I wanted to see if the stuff you told me was in here.''
She sat down on the other side of the book and opened it as it lay on the seat. She snorted frequently as she flicked through it, before shutting it with a thud.
''It's not insulting.'' She said, noticing the somewhat surprised expression on Karil's face. ''It's ludicrous.''
''So, was none of it true?'' He asked, trying to be casual. Unluckily, casual was not a thing that worked with Karil.
''Oh they had a few facts right. But oh, so many wrong.'' She glanced at the volume. ''For one, Merlin was most definitely not an old man when Arthur was ruling.''
Karil lent forward, confused. ''But, that was always the way he was portrayed, in every story, you'd think-''
''Every story then, is wrong.'' She cut in quietly. ''He was young, about 28 when he killed my Mother.''
''Why did he do it?'' He asked simply.
She turned to him, eye's sparkling. ''To avenge Arthur. He was dying. She'd been defeated by Merlin in battle, but Mordred's blade had done it's work.'' The subject of her Mother's death was touchy, he could see.
''So Mordred was on your Mother's side?''
''He was my Father.'' She spoke quietly.
Was. So he must have gone too. Karil shook his head. She'd clearly had a tragic life, maybe the result of her cruel, determined nature. He decided it was best to end the questions there, instead walking over to a table and retrieving a quill and some parchment.
''If all the stories are wrong, then why not write the truth?'' He held them out to her. ''Everyone should know the true story, from your point view.''
She smiled at him, the rare smile that he'd seen once or twice during the past three weeks. She took the items, and went over to a table, the sound of a quill scratching coming a second or two later.
He watched her intently. Was all she told him true? Arthur couldn't have been evil. Maybe he was from her angle, having been her Mother's enemy. Why had Morgan Le Fay hated Arthur in the first place? Merlin couldn't have been all she told him, a dark sorcerer going around murdering Arthur's enemies. From their history, he had been a good wizard. Then came that repeated question. Had they got it right?
But Maurelle was planning to kill him. And he knew, whatever her story was, he must do everything to stop her.
