The Winter King

In the narrative present, Igraine asks about Guinevere’s beauty, and whether she loved Arthur. Derfel replies that she had a striking presence, and loved the idea of Arthur as “champion of Dumnomia” (218). Igraine then presses Derfel on his own love life, but he demurs, insisting that it will come with the unfolding of the story. She again wishes that the story were more romantic, with tales of Camelot and ladies fair, Lancelot and Merlin, but here also Derfel counsels patience.

Derfel resumes his story. In the wars with Powys, the Irish, and the Saxons, Derfel’s prowess earns him the name “Cadarn,” or “the mighty.” Sagramor, a Numidian captain of Arthur’s army, invites Derfel to join the cult of Mithras, a god of soldiers. He is blindfolded, sent into a cave, and tested for his ability to follow orders without question, such as slaughtering what he is told is a child and then drinking its blood, only to find out that it was a baby lamb. His entry confirms his status as a leader of men in battle, and his celebratory feast brings together men who are otherwise at war in shared recognition of a worthy addition to their ranks—one enemy even asks Derfel to switch to Gundleus’s side. He refuses but is honored to have been asked.

With the Saxons pressing the frontiers, Arthur receives a summons from Ban, the king of Armorica across the sea where Arthur had previously been in service. He demands his help, which Arthur is pledged to provide. Arthur insists that he cannot leave without violating his oaths to Mordred, but he pledges to come as soon as possible and sends Derfel and a war party in his stead. In his preparations, Derfel first hears the name of Lancelot, Ban’s son and heir, and Arthur tells him to check on Guinevere before leaving for Armorica.

Derfel meets Guinevere, who takes a necklace from Arthur and immediately places it on the neck of a statue. To his surprise, Guinevere asks him about Nimue, and whether she really can perform magic. She speaks disdainfully of the Christians in her midst, who are “building a shrine to a dead carpenter” and pining for the color and majesty of Roman art and architecture (238). Guinevere is rumored to be an initiate in the cult of Isis, Queen of the Egyptian gods, and, knowing that Arthur is curious about her religious habits, she shows Derfel their shrine, which is just an empty black room. She presses Derfel further on Nimue’s magic, telling Derfel that she wants her as an ally against the Christians. She then warns, darkly, that “a man might sit on a kingdom’s throne, but Isis can determine who that man is. That is why I worship her” (244), suggesting that Arthur should be elevated over Mordred. After a rough journey across the channel, Derfel and the war band land on the shores of Armorica. Derfel prays for a safe return to Britain.

King Ban’s citadel of Ynys Trebes is a marvelous city where “everything old was treasured and nothing ugly was allowed to mar its grace” (248). Derfel is usually not permitted within the city walls, since his job is to defend its frontiers against the Franks, but he is allowed to meet the king in his palace, and Derfel finds it “a place worth fighting for” (250). The king is an amiable and knowledgeable man, who tells Derfel that his name means “pertaining to a Druid” (251), and upon learning that Derfel was raised by Merlin, he inquires into the missing Druid. He is distressed that Derfel commands only 60 men, but is pleased that Derfel is literate, showing him the palace’s extraordinary library filled with Roman volumes. Charmed by the scholar-king, Derfel then meets Lancelot, who is striking and handsome, “though there was something disconcertingly serpent-like in Lancelot’s aloof looks” (255). He is also rude and argumentative, repeatedly calling Derfel a child until Derfel strikes him in anger. The fight is interrupted by Lancelot’s brother Galahad, and tensions calm, since Lancelot is well known for his provocations, as well as for fighting well beyond his actual capabilities. Galahad also tells him that victory is hopeless, that his “father has spent his money on buildings and manuscripts, not soldiers” (259), and that all Derfel can do is fulfill his oath honorably.

Derfel spends two years defending Ynys Trebes against the Franks. He notes that Lancelot never takes part in battle but makes sure that the bards sing of his glorious achievements. It is a nasty war of forest ambushes, and Galahad proves himself a worthy ally, but he is also despondent that the world is going to darkness, and all they are doing is delaying the inevitable. Galahad’s predictions come to fruition, as the countryside falls and refugees flood into the city. Lancelot is made commander of the city’s defense and calls for hiding behind the walls, with his father particularly insistent on saving the library. They can repulse the initial Frankish attacks on the city walls, but with the city entirely dependent on fish for food, they are vulnerable. Franks send out boats to attack the fishing crews, and the troops inside the walls lack the ammunition to fend them off. By the summer, the Franks have built a causeway to the city walls, and they launch a series of attacks with battering rams and ladders. The defenders fight desperately and kill many, but some Franks manage to enter the city through the harbor, and panic ensues. Derfel rescues Galahad from dying by suicide to hold off the invaders, but as Galahad and Lancelot prepare to escape by sea, Derfel hears the voice of Ban saying, “I lay my life on your conscience, Derfel of Dumnomia” (279). Derfel decides to go to the palace instead.

Bursting into the palace with Galahad, Derfel finds the king attending to his studies and cursing Arthur’s failure to help him more. Frankish soldiers crash in and promptly kill Ban, and as they prepare their escape, Derfel realizes that an old priest whom he saw in the library was actually Merlin. Derfel and Galahad fight off the Franks as Merlin searches for one last book, but before they can leave, they must first rescue Merlin’s cat. Galahad leads them to a departing boat, which already contains the scrolls that Merlin most wanted to rescue. As they row away, they watch the city burning. Galahad weeps.

Derfel returns to Britain with Galahad and Merlin, who reveals that he knows much of what has transpired, having received correspondence from Bedwin. He also reveals that his most prized scroll is a testimony from the Druid Caleddin, which provides “the only record of our old religion; all its secrets, all its rituals, all its meanings and all its power” (292). Lancelot and his mother arrive first in Britain, and he tells Guinevere how valiantly he fought despite Derfel’s incompetence. When retelling the story to Arthur, he omits his father’s resentment of Arthur. Finally, Derfel can take no more, and he accuses Lancelot and his ally, Bors, of lying, with Galahad’s backing. Arthur quickly pacifies the situation, insisting “there was glory enough in Ynys Trebes for all to share” (298). Derfel tells Arthur that Merlin has returned, only to turn around and see that Merlin is no longer present. People think he was delusional. Derfel reunites with Lunete, who tells him that Guinevere is pregnant, and he also learns that the military situation in Britain is growing ever more desperate. Derfel asks about Nimue, and learns that Sansum denounced her as a witch, and exiled her to the Isle of the Dead. In more bad news, Derfel learns that the beautiful Ceinwyn is betrothed to Gundleus, in the expectation that he will displace Arthur in Dumnomia. Once autumn arrives, war will come in earnest.