Free Microsoft Word - LadyPendragon by test

Tristan jumped off his gallant steed, lifting his arms for Molly to be placed into them.
    Adria and Morganna were nearly upon him, and Arthur quickly slid off of Llamrai, and reached out to take back Molly. She was safer in his arms than in Tristan’s. Tristan could be swayed by the lady knights’ magical charms. Arthur on the other hand was more resistant to their mind probes.

    “Merlin,” Molly gasped. Pain continued to contort her features. Mirrored pain entered Arthur’s heart. The Order of Merlin’s Light Bearers were upon him and they quickly circled him, as Adria stared at him stern-faced, an implacable expression molded across her usually easygoing countenance. Power buffeted against him. It buffeted against him in waves. The Light Bearers’ magic danced in the air.

    “Merlin would not want this,” Adria declared, deliberately blocking his way. Arthur, as the undisputed High King of Britain, was not accustomed to such a display of outright disobedience, and since he was holding his beloved daughter in his arms with her blood seeping across his own tabard, he was not in the mood to humor Adria and her ladies. Could they not see LADY PENDRAGON MARLEY MATHEWS 34
    that they were delaying Molly’s treatment? Precious time was being wasted. With each moment that passed, Molly slid closer to The Angel of Death.

    Queen Gwenhwyfar and her ladies in waiting rushed out of Tintagel, with their long skirts hiked up nearly past their ankles. Gwen’s shocked half-scream, half-shout seemed to cause everyone to waver in their resolve. Her somewhat grating voice always did have a way of piercing even the most steadfast warrior.

    “What has happened?” Gwen cried fearfully, pushing her way past Morganna and Adria.
    Blotchy redness covered Gwen’s normally milky white complexion. Fear skipped in her eyes.

    “Molly has been struck by a black rider’s blade,” Arthur bit off, his voice cracked with emotion. He could not will himself to say anything further without cracking beneath the strain.

    Gwen’s long bell-shaped white sleeves became splattered with blood, as she reached to look underneath the makeshift linen dressing that Arthur had ripped from his own tunic.

    “Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus,” she murmured. Mouthing a fervent prayer, she then replaced the dressing, which had yet to staunch the flow of blood. “Make haste and take her to our bedchamber, I shall gather together my healing herbs, and assemble my needle and thread. “
    Gwen’s voice welled with confidence, yet it did nothing to assuage the worry that was speeding through him.

    Gwen turned back toward Tintagel and was immediately confronted by Adria.

    “Nay, you shall not!” Adria stared challengingly at Gwen. Gwen tossed her head haughtily, bristling with pure indignation.

    “Pray remove yourself from my path, sorceress!” Gwen slightly lifted her chin up as if to pronounce her queenly authority. Gwen’s voice rumbled with the force of her command, though Adria didn’t seem affected in the slightest.

    “I shall not,” Adria reaffirmed. Their discourse was interrupted when Molly let out another heart-wrenching moan.

    “We need to do something!” Arthur shouted above the argument of Gwen and Adria. He shoved the two women aside, barely paying any heed to Gwen’s outraged gasp. If only Mildred would here. He would allow Mildred to take any steps she thought necessary in saving Molly’s life. Mildred had always known what to do.

    He moved into the Grand Hall named Ehangwen, and took the stone steps up to the rooms above two at a time. Women followed him, but his knights kept their distance as they realized their talents lay in warfare and not in the art of healing. A heavy feeling washed over the interior of his castle. Foreboding hung in the air.

    He moved into his private chambers that he shared with Gwen, and gently laid Molly on the fur-covered bed. Finely woven bed hangings canopied the bed, and he pulled the one side