Free Merlin's Booke by Jane Yolen Page B

last trick brought great consternation to the guards, especially when blood appeared to leak from the boxes, blood which when examined later proved to be juices from the meat which Viviane had kept in a flask. And when she reappeared, whole, unharmed, and smiling once the swords had been withdrawn from the box, the great hall resounded with huzzahs.
    The duke smiled and whispered to the Lady Renwein. She covered his hand with hers. When he withdrew his hand, the duke held out a plump purse. He jangled it loudly.
    â€œWe are pleased to offer you this, Ambrosius.”
    â€œThank you, my lord. But we are not done yet,” said the mage with a bow which, had it been a little less florid, would have been an insult. “I would introduce you to Merlin, our dream reader, who will tell you of a singular dream he had this day in your house.”
    Merlin came to the center of the room. He could feel his legs trembling. Ambrosius walked over to him and, turning his back to the duke, whispered to the boy. “Do not be afraid. Tell the dream and I will say what it means.”
    â€œWill you know?” asked Merlin.
    â€œMy eyes and ears know what needs be said here,” said Ambrosius, “whatever the dream. You must trust me.”
    Merlin nodded and Ambrosius moved aside. The boy stood with his eyes closed and began to speak.
    â€œI dreamed a tower of snow that in the day reached high up into the sky but at night melted to the ground. And there was much weeping and wailing in the country because the tower would not stand.”
    â€œThe castle!” the duke gasped, but Lady Renwein placed her hand gently on his mouth.
    â€œHush, my lord,” she whispered urgently. “Listen. Do not speak yet. This may be merely a magician’s trick. After all, they have been in Carmarthen for two days already and surely there is talk of the building in the town.”
    Merlin, his eyes still closed, seemed not to hear them, but continued. “And then one man arose, a mage, who advised that the tower of icy water be drained in the morning instead of building atop it. It was done as he wished, though the soldiers complained bitterly of it. But at last the pool was drained and lo! there in the mud lay two great hollow stones as round and speckled and veined as gray eggs.
    â€œThen the mage drew a sword and struck open the eggs. In the one was a dragon the color of wine, its eyes faceted as jewels. In the other a dragon the color of maggots, with eyes as tarnished as old coins.
    â€œAnd when the two dragons saw that they were revealed, they turned not on the soldiers nor the mage but upon one another. At first the white dragon had the best of it and pushed the red to the very edge of the dry pool, but it so blooded its opponent that a new pool was formed, the color of the ocean beyond the waves. But then the red rallied and pushed the white back, and it slipped into the bloody pool and disappeared, never to be seen again whole.
    â€œAnd the man who advised began to speak once more, but I awoke.”
    At that, Merlin opened his eyes and they were the blue of speedwells on a summer morn.
    The Lady Renwein’s face was dark and disturbed. In a low voice she said, “Mage, ask him what the dream means.”
    Ambrosius bowed very low this time, for he saw that while the duke might be easily cozzened, the Lady Renwein was no fool. When he stood straight again, he said, “The boy dreams, my lady, but he leaves it to me to make sense of what he dreams. Just as did his dear, dead mother before him.”
    Merlin, startled, looked at Viviane. She rolled her eyes up to stare at the broad beams of the ceiling and held her mouth still.
    â€œHis mother was a dream reader, too?” asked the duke.
    â€œShe was, though being a woman, dreamed of more homey things: the names of babes and whether they be boys or girls, and when to plant, and so forth.”
    The Lady Renwein leaned forward. “Then say,