Free Web of Deceit by M. K. Hume

further band across his eyes and the bridge of his nose, which had been uncovered, was stippled with red, matting his golden eyebrows and staining the creases around his pale eyes. He looked like a bleeding gladiator or a monster out of legend whose sole purpose was to bring death to mankind.
    Then, just as Myrddion began to turn away, Uther looked upward into the morning light and his hard blue eyes fell upon the healer, who was littlemore than a dark shape looking down on him. The prince’s brows narrowed with perplexity for a moment as he searched through his memory for this shadowy face, outlined by the last of the fires, but then the machine-like brain recognised the healer and Ambrosius’s brother raised his blade in an ironic salute.
    As Myrddion flinched away in alarm, the gates were thrust open and Uther applied his spurs to his horse’s flanks. The startled creature leapt forward into Verulamium.
    Myrddion shuddered. As clearly as if it had been yesterday, he heard again the prince’s mocking words as Myrddion finished dressing his wound, six years before: ‘When you return from your journey to Constantinople, I would have one of the finest healers in the land as my personal physician.’ If Uther remembers me, he’ll have me ordered to Venta Belgarum with no hope of refusal. I’ve travelled thousands of miles to avoid having a master, only to be betrayed by fate once I arrive home.
    But Myrddion did not complain aloud. Men such as Uther Pendragon purchase sharp ears and eyes everywhere, so any criticism would certainly be repeated to the High King’s brother. The reckoning that followed would be bloody and swift.
    And so Uther’s force secured Verulamium, and as his warriors executed the last of the Saxon wounded, the crows and ravens began to mass in the nearby woods. The birds were hungry, but like all scavengers they were prepared to wait. When armed men set the dawn ablaze, the meat-eaters knew that they would soon dine well.

THE FAMILY TREE OF UTHER PENDRAGON

    THE FAMILY TREE OF KING GORLOIS OF CORNWALL

    The information above is culled from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s work, The History of the Kings of Britain . Other historical sources include Wace, Layamon, Gildas, Nennius and John Rhys.

CHAPTER III
    AN UNWILLING SERVANT
Three things always threaten a man;
Sickness or age or the shock of quick death
Will snatch the soul from the strongest warrior
Thus has he need, who treasures his name,
The praise of his people after his parting,
To daunt the devil before his departing,
Do well on earth and worthily conquer.
From a very old English poem, The Soul’s Voyage
    ‘Shite!’ Myrddion sworecrudely whileCadoc and Finn stared at him askance. ‘I know Uther Pendragon saw me. I know it! I saw his eyes try to place me in his memory. Damn and shite!’
    ‘Perhaps you need to rejoin the women, master. Surely he won’t search too hard for you if he can’t find you among the wounded.’ Cadoc wasn’t convinced by his own argument, whatever platitudes his mouth might utter.
    Myrddion wasn’t convinced either, knowing full well that Uther Pendragon had a mind that was wholly focused on achieving his personal ends and fanatically fixed on the destruction of his enemies. By Uther’s reasoning, Myrddion would serveto keep his warriors alive and fighting: ergo, Myrddion must be forced to accede to Pendragon’s wishes.
    ‘Finn, listen to me. Have you and Bridie discussed what I said to her? If Uther Pendragon decides to demand my services, I’ll try to ensure that you are free to continue on to Segontium. If Annwynn is still alive, she will take your family into her household and give you a good life in exchange for your skills. But if she has already passed to the shades in our absence, you should seek out Eddius, my grandmother’s husband. He will ensure that you and yours are kept safe.’
    The healers had reached the gate and found the bodies stacked three high as Uther’s warriors stripped the dead of