38
“You are wise for your ..age.” Vortigern had
invited Merlin to his tent after he had dismissed the building of the castle.
He had told the masons, the dragon can have their lair, while he seek another. The
King was roasting the meat over the open fire.
“It smelled nice with the generous herbs,:
Vortigern voiced. “Have you tried it in your lifetime?”
“Lifetime is like age, my King, just words to
the ones who fear death.” Merlin smiled. “I am of what age does not matter but
my pursue in the journey.”
“I am sure I had seen you before, druid. His
name eludes my tongue.” Vortigern smiled. “I had met my list of druids and even
monks. I detest one named Gildas who will never leave my castle. He has sat
there since King Constantine to Constan and mine, though I had him banished to the
stables. He still meets up with the stench of the horse’s dung. The last time
he wanted to see me, I had him dunked in the water trough and washed away the
stench.”
“Gildas? I heard of the name but he is
unimportant in my journey.” Merlin smiled.
“A gnat he was to me…..” Vortigern recalled his
last meeting with the monk. It was before the gathering that his Lords were all
killed. Gildas had come to him to avoid the gathering.
“Does the lion roam without his fangs? I plea
of you, Vortigern. I am disliked by you but you are still the King.” Gildas wet
from his bath had approached the King.
“Bah, you need not a bath but a total
changeover of the skin.” Vortigern had ignored the mink of his plea. “How could
I back down from an invite when the Lords are in attendance?”
“No more than a lioness may retreat to hunt
another day.” Gildas looked to the King.
“I am not a lioness but a lion. I do not hunt
when my assigned Lord does that for me.” Vortrigern dismiseed the monk. He then
told his lover to give a barrel of the scenting water to the monk.
Vortigern had regretted the decision that day,
“I smelled no better today.” Vortigern muittred
to himself.
“Pardon me, my King. Did you ask me a
question?” Merlin asked when he heard part of Vortigern’s words.,
“Nay, Yes, I do. As you are good at your tales,
what other skills do you possess?”
“I can foresee the future but at times it can
be elusive, I like to foresee the coming of the King to the land,” Merlin
replied.
“I am the King. You have seen me.” Vortigern
laughed.
“You are a King but not the King I was looking
for. I am looking for the King of the Kings.:” Merlin explained. "There
have been Kings on the land but not one that could unite the entire isle. Even
the Roman Empire is not united.”
“Bah, do not compare us with the Romans. They
are no longer here.” Vortigern snapped out. “They ..”
“They are gone. And gone will be us one day.
All hold a beginning and then an end. Nothing last forever.” Merlin sighed. He
could have been reflecting on the journey he had taken.
“Tell me, druid. How will I die?” Vortigern
posed rthe question. “I am mortal but had survived many battles, and wounds
that had healed on my body, or reminded me when the season changed.”
“Why do you ask about your mortality?” Merlin
asked. “Are you dying?”
“I am not. I am still fine. It’s just the
mention of …. Mortality had me about mine. When I was much younger, I had the
vision that death will be a killing blow. Now at this age, I asked if I were to
die in the same manner or on the bedding perhaps soon to be suffocated by the
soft covers to end my breathing.”
“Do you fear death, my King?” Merlin asked.
“No. I welcome when I am …ready.” Vortigern
replied to the druid. “I had seen King Constantine, dying on the bedding while
his son was beheaded. I had done similar acts on others… the barbarian’s
chiefs. All of …Well, most welcomed their death by it. I want to know mine. You
are a druid. Can you foretell mine?”
Merlin sat there in silence and studied the
expression on the other’s face. He then spoke out.
“Death is a welcome act of the end to the
journey. How we die but I may be as seen the end of misery in the journey
taken. Our death may be seen by others or none at all.” Merlin sighed. “Some
are not in sadness.”
“Tell me of mine.” Vortigern pressed on.
“I need to ….see.... to remain focussed….. ”
Merlin went quiet while the King waited.
“You will die…The King will die when the one
named the dragons returns… the dragons
will rally the people to the cause and the rightful King will be crowned.” Merlin spoke those words seen by his vision.
“The kingdom will be reinstated while the white dragons flee once more. I saw
the great white dragon covered with blood. Death may be there, but I was not
sure. From the red dragons, a King will emerge.”
“Did I die?” Vortigern was curious. “No, how
will I die?”
“The death of yours cannot be foretold but the
death of the King was.” Merlin then opened his eyes. “If the King dies, another
will take the crown.”
“How will I die?” Vortigern was getting irate.
“As a King would…” Merlin stopped at that.
“As I …” Vortigern stopped. He was to say he
took over the crown when Constan died. If he dies, then there will be another
King, and himself without an heir, it would be someone else or the young
princes of the old King once more. Constan died with his head rremoved,
Constantine and Vortimer by illness.
“Will I die like one?” Vortigern asked. “By the
sword or by deceit.” Vortigern was pressing on.
“Only the event will be told when it happens. I
can’t say.” Merlin added. “I have seen Kings that die but they may be by the
sword or age. I can’t tell at all.”
“Are you whom I believe to be?” Vortigern
stared at Merlin. “I am sure you reminded me of a druid I once met at the
castle. He was elusive and yet intimidating.”
“Are you him? It can’t be. He was older.”
Vortigern shook his head as if the rattling of it will improve his memory.
“I am whom you asked of your fate. I only can
tell you what I had seen.” Merlin replied. “I am no sorcerer as claimed by
others. I do however know from the words of the people, the red dragons have
landed at Totnes.‘Your days are numbered, King Vortigern.” Merlin spoke out
plainly.
“Your day may not last till dusk, druid.”
Vortigern cautioned the other.
“It’s past dusk now. My King. We are near the
coming dawn and I will see the next dusk. If you behead me, I will die but you
will die as seen in my vision.” Merlin looked at the King. “We can’t change
what is fated in our journey.”
Vortigern sat there without a word to the
druid. It was Merlin who spoke again.
“I would have welcomed death that eludes me
many times, but my journey cannot end till the King is crowned.” Merlin looked
at the palm of his hands. “If only I knew who it will be.”
“Be gone, druid. I will spare your life for
today.” Vortigern dismissed the druid. He then called on his guards and
advisers to return to the castle.
“We returned to …Caer Guorthegirn.” It was his
fortress taken by him to be away from the Anglo-Saxons. He sought refuge there
to avoid Rowena,
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