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capture her. But it seemed that Lancelot and his men were busy searching for the queen. They had been riding along the North Wall day and night, checking every tower and fort, looking for her. When they’d seen the sparks from their fire and the horses grazing outside, they’d thought Sir Bedivere’s party were Mordred’s men.
    “You’re lucky we needed information, or we might have killed you first and asked questions later.” Sir Lancelot glanced at Rhianna, amused. “The last thing I expected to find was a damsel carrying Arthur’s sword! The girl’s quick on her feet, I’ll give her that. Is she really Guinevere’s daughter? You must be crazy bringing her uphere so close to Mordred’s territory, if she is.”
    “I didn’t have a lot of choice,” Sir Bedivere said, giving Rhianna a frustrated look. “I’m afraid Damsel Rhianna was raised in Avalon and has never learned the meaning of fear.” He explained about the stone circles and the spiral path.
    Lancelot eyed Elphin, who was still softly strumming his harp. “A fairy prince helping men? That’s a first. I know Mordred killed Arthur in the battle, but I’m a bit out of touch. Where’s Merlin and the other knights of the Round Table?”
    “More to the point, where’s my mother?” Rhianna interrupted. “Mordred sent us a message saying he’ll exchange her for Excalibur, and Sir Bors planned to take him the sword to find out where he was keepingthe queen so they could rescue her. But we swapped it, because I need Excalibur for when my father gets reborn.”
    Lancelot raised an eyebrow. So Sir Bedivere had to explain about that, as well as losing Merlin in the mists between worlds and the druid’s spirit ending up in the body of a bird. Meanwhile, the men swapped their own stories, while Arianrhod nervously heated soup for everyone.
    More talk. Rhianna wanted to slap the two knights into action, but she supposed there wasn’t very much they could do in the middle of the night. Besides, Sir Lancelot and his men claimed they had already checked all the towers between here and the west coast and not found her mother.
    Lancelot told them how Guinevere hadbeen captured on midwinter night and smuggled out of his castle by magic. There had been an eerie sea mist that night, and nobody even realised the queen had gone until the trail was cold. The snow up in these parts had lain deeper than at Camelot, so they had been unable to ride out to look for her. Everyone had been worried about her, though most people thought Arthur’s knights had come north and taken her back to Camelot.
    Then, when the passes opened again, Sir Lancelot had got a message from Mordred, too – a challenge to joust against the dark knight for the queen’s life.
    “So it seems Prince Mordred’s lying to at least one of us,” Sir Lancelot finished, glancing at Rhianna again. “Because he’s obviously no intention of letting Guinevere go until he’skilled both me and the damsel, and probably not even then, if I know him. Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s thinking of marrying his aunt to secure his claim to the throne, once we’re both out of the way.”
    Everyone went quiet. The men gave Rhianna sympathetic looks.
    She frowned at the silver-haired knight. “But I thought you’re supposed to be my father’s champion?” she said, her voice loud in the shadows. “You’ll beat Mordred easily in a joust! He’s only got one hand now. I’ve seen him…” She thought uncomfortably of the grisly fist the shadrake had stolen away, but surely even the dark magic of Annwn couldn’t stick her cousin’s severed hand back on again?
    “So I heard,” Lancelot said. “But not even the Pendragon’s champion can fight magic,as you demonstrated so well earlier.” He rubbed his throat and smiled ruefully at Sir Bedivere.
    “But I’m not going to give Excalibur to Mordred,” Rhianna said, still frowning. “So you needn’t worry about that. If you’re too afraid to ride