“What the devil do you mean?”
“Once we’ve cleared him-”
“Cleared him?” Arthur bellowed it. “Do you mean to say he’s under suspicion, too? My military commander? Is there anyone near me you don’t suspect of murder?”
“He was seen leaving the Great Hall at the start of the ceremony, Arthur. He’s even admitted it himself. And he was not seen to return.”
Arthur got up and started pacing. “What will you need? And who? I want this ended as quickly as possible.”
“I’ll have to visit the various suspects on their home ground. I’ll need plausible reasons for that. With Mark, we can come up with some reason for me to inspect the tin mines. Perhaps we can concoct some story for Morgan about wanting to go over the ceremonies for Midwinter Court. For Guenevere-I don’t know. Nothing convenient occurs to me. Do you have any suggestions?”
“Not offhand. She’s likely to be suspicious of any story, anyway.”
“A fine wife.”
“What do you think wives do? She has her fortieth birthday coming up next winter. Perhaps we can tell her we want to make it a national feast or something, and you’re going to visit her for preliminary discussions.”
“Do you want to make her birthday a national feast?”
“Don’t be absurd, Merlin. But I’d be surprised if the idea hasn’t occurred to her already. So there’s nothing to lose. Maybe we can invite her father and then imprison him.”
“Provoke an international incident?”
“He’s as minor a king as you could find in Europe. I doubt if anyone would mind. And it would give Guenevere a reason to start behaving herself.” He drank. “For once.”
“Well, fine, then. Let’s give all of this some more thought, though, shall we? There’s no sense stirring things up more than we have to.”
“I thought you liked stirring things up.”
“Don’t you be foolish, Arthur.” He stared at the chart. “There has to be a way to decipher this.” Then he looked at Arthur again. “I want Britomart. I know her and trust her. And I know she can’t be the killer. She was with me in the Great Hall the whole time. Can you do without her for a time?”
“Fine, yes, take her. Who else?”
“My apprentice, Colin. I know I can rely on him.”
“Fine. And who else?”
“I may need Greffys. Or at any rate someone who’s on good terms with the servants. I suppose any of the pages would do. But since Greffys is already involved in this, I think…”
“Fine. Anyone more?”
“No, I don’t think so. We’ll need horses for ourselves, and a few more to carry luggage and supplies. And I think that should be all. For the time being, at least. I don’t think we should travel with an armed escort. It will be better to keep a low profile.”
“Good. Go and get started. Remember, Merlin, I want the killer exposed by Midwinter Court.”
“I’ll do my best, Arthur.”
“Good.” His cup was empty. He picked up the wineskin and took a long drink from it. “I don’t mean to roar at you. But this situation… it’s so horrible. Who else do you suspect? ”
“Well… Pellenore.”
Arthur snorted derisively.
“I know how unlikely it is, but we can’t afford to overlook any possibility, can we?”
“I suppose not. And who else?”
“Those are the most important suspects. Everyone else who left the hall that night seems to have come back fairly quickly. It’s unlikely any of them did the murder. Oh, and it might be useful for you to write Morgan, Mark and Guenevere to let them know I’ll be visiting them on your business.”
“Draft the letters. I’ll sign them and send them.”
“You’ll have them by morning.”
“They may be suspicious. Especially Guenevere. The notion I want to honor her on her birthday will put her on her guard at once. You’ll never get her to talk. And Morgan won’t be any easier.”
“I plan to be subtle. You’re a warrior. You wouldn’t understand. Besides, it’s primarily Lancelot and Mordred I plan to cross-examine. Neither of them is exactly… well, you know.”
For a moment Arthur fell silent. When he spoke again he avoided looking at Merlin. “You know me. I’m not a thinker. I like to believe I’m an able administrator, a competent general, an honorable man-but I don’t think a great deal. But Merlin,” he turned his head to face him, “I honestly can’t think of anything that’s getting better.”
“Middle-age weariness, that’s all. When you reach a certain age, nothing in the world looks good anymore.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I remember what it was like when I first became king. When I first conquered all of England. You knew me then, you were there. I had such hopes. Such dreams for the kind of land I wanted to build.” He picked up the wineskin and poured more. “I’m so afraid this isn’t it.”
“Nothing human is perfect, Arthur.”
“I’m not talking about perfection. I’m talking about simple peace. Find the killer for me, Merlin. Find him. And while you’re at it, find my crystal skull and its shrine. And Excalibur. I feel naked without it.”
On the way back to his tower, Merlin encountered Pellenore. The man was galloping as usual along a winding corridor, astride an imaginary horse, shouting, “Giddyup, boy! Faster! Faster!”
Merlin stepped back into a recess, hoping the mad fallen king wouldn’t see him. And for a moment it seemed that he wouldn’t. He came careering along, directly toward Merlin, and seemed about to keep going. But then he pulled up his steed and stared straight at him. “Have you seen them?”
“Your dragons?” He was not in a mood to humor the man. “No, Pellenore, I haven’t seen them, no more than anyone else has.”
“See how cunning they are? They need to be rooted out and killed.”
“Of course.” He stepped out of his recess and started to walk away. “Pellenore, I wish I didn’t find you so alarming. ”
He ignored this. “I was a king, you know. I deserve a bit of respect. I never get it.”
“No, I suppose you don’t. You’re not a king any longer, after all. Arthur is the one.”
“For now.”
Merlin looked around. “There are people who would consider a statement like that treasonous. There have been murders. You might want to be a bit more discreet.”
“The beasts kill everyone they can. You’ve seen it. First Arthur’s squires. Next…” He looked away from Merlin and smiled shyly. “I’m the only one who understands. If they kill Arthur, I’ll be king again.”
“Naturally. And that would be so good for all of us.” But it occurred to Merlin this was an opening not to be missed. He switched seamlessly to a friendly tone. “Why don’t you come walking with me for a while? We never talk.”
“Well, all right, for a few minutes at least. But I have dragons to hunt.”
“Yes, of course.”
He took Pellenore by the arm, and they ambled along the hall together. “What do you know about the death of the squires?”
“What squires?”
Knowing it was probably pointless, Merlin said, “Ganelin and Borolet. You’ve only just mentioned them.”
“They were killed by a beast.”
“Did you see it? Were you there?”
“It isn’t just dragons, you know. There are griffins, manticores, ogres. A malevolent gnome lives directly underneath Camelot. And there is a sphinx. She sharpens her claws on the castle’s stones. She is vicious. Arthur must beware. ”
Merlin smiled, wondering if someday madness might take him himself. Certainly most of the knights thought him… eccentric. “I’ll be sure to tell him when I see him.”
“Don’t humor me, Merlin. I’m only mad in one direction. ”
What on earth could he mean? Or was this simply more madness? “Suppose the one who killed the twins is a human monster, not the kind you’re hunting?”
“Do you know the answer to the riddle of the sphinx, Merlin? What walks on four legs in youth, on two in maturity and on three in old age? Answer: man. We humans are the worst, monstrous or not.”