'Llyonesse…' He muttered the word as if it hurt his mouth to say it. 'A wasteland by another name. The dead rest uneasy there.'

'In truth,' I replied, and confessed to seeing the Mithrian lepers.

'I have not heard of them for a long time,' Myrddin mused.

'You know them?' I wondered.

'When I was a boy, my grandfather Elphin used to tell me stories about the Lost Legion. I never thought to hear about them again.' He paused for a moment, reflecting unhappily. Then, glancing at me again, he said, 'This fortress – how did you find it?'

'From the smoke,' I replied, then described coming upon the ruin and finding Llenlleawg trapped in the ironwork house inside the caer. 'Do you know the place?' I asked.

'From what you tell me, I believe the stronghold you found was Belyn's.'

I had never heard the name before, and said so.

'Belyn was Avallach's brother,' Myrddin explained. 'When the Fair Folk came to Ynys Prydain, they settled first in Llyonesse, but the land was not good to them, so Avallach and his people came here. Belyn, his brother king, would not leave the southlands, so he and his people stayed, and now they are no more.'

The place was more cairn than caer,' I pointed out. 'Could this have happened so long ago?'

'Yes,' the Emrys answered, nodding at the memory, 'long and long ago.' Turning once more to the subject at hand, he said, 'The woman – you never saw her?'

'I never did, Emrys, and I do not know whether Llenlleawg can tell you more. He said she led him into Llyonesse, but seems to remember little else.'

'Leave it to me,' Myrddin said, rising. 'I will speak to him when he is better rested. Now, then, I have kept you from your bath long enough. Go; we will talk again later. I want Arthur to hear what you have to say, but that can wait until tomorrow. Until then, Gwalchavad, I would have you say nothing to anyone else of these matters. I believe treachery stalks the Summer Realm, and I would not care to alert the enemy that we are on his trail.'

'Treachery?' His use of the word brought me up short. 'Emrys, are you saying one of the Cymbrogi is a traitor?'

'Just so,' he replied solemnly, moving away. 'He has yet to show his hand, but I sense dire purpose in this – no doubt that was why you were allowed to find Llenlleawg.'

'Allowed to find him?' I challenged, jumping to my feet to follow him. 'In truth, Myrddin, they meant to kill him! And would have succeeded, too, if we had not seen the smoke and arrived in time to save him.'

'If the enemy had wanted him dead, a quick thrust of a blade through the ribs would have sufficed,' Myrddin replied, calmly deflecting my objection. 'The smoke, on the other hand, was meant to lead you to our Irish friend so that you could rescue him. That, I am persuaded, is one of the few certainties in all of this twisted tale. You rescued him because you were meant to rescue him – nothing more.'

'It is absurd!' I concluded, stopping in my tracks. 'You make it seem as if we were on a fool's errand.'

The Emrys turned back and regarded me with a slow, solemn shake of his head. 'Never say it,' he intoned gravely. 'Never say it, my friend. Something brutal, cruel, and sinister is at work among us -1 feel it.'

'But why?' I demanded. 'To what end?'

Myrddin, troubled now, and hesitant, answered, 'In truth, I wish I knew. Still, we would all do well to remember this: where great good abides, there great evil gathers. It is ever so, and we have been warned. We must all tread very carefully from now on.'

With that he turned and walked away. I glanced uneasily around the hall – feeling unseen eyes on me, watching me -then fled the great empty room and proceeded at once to the warriors' quarters. Though I expected to join the others, they had finished by the time I arrived, and so I had the entire bath to myself.

The room was warm and damp, the air heavy with steam. Two torches burned in tall stands either side of the square pool, their flames shimmering and dancing on the water. I stripped off my filthy clothes and slipped gratefully into the bath. The hot water, heated from the ovens in the old Roman way, did much to restore me. I confess I stayed overlong, and perhaps the heat and steam went to my head, for as I lay back in the soothing water I saw a black mist gather before my eyes.

I pressed my eyes shut for a long moment and drew a deep breath, and when I opened my eyes once more, the mist was gone, but I felt light-headed and queasy. Concluding that I had had more than was good for me, I rose and was about to climb from the pool when I heard my name.

'I have been looking for you, Gwalchavad!'

I felt an icy breath on my naked skin and turned. A woman stood opposite me across the room. Dressed in long, loose robes of blue and deepest green, her fair hair shimmering in the feeble torchlight, she was tall and slender, and possessed of the beauty men see only in their dreams. She was watching me intently, an expression of approval on her face.

'Woman, who are you?' I said.

'You were but a boy when I last saw you,' she said, drawing a step closer. Her feet made no sound on the flat stones. 'But look at you now – what a fine, handsome man you are. The very figure of your father. Lot would be pleased.'

Strange to say: until she uttered my father's name, I did not recognize her. But the instant she invoked Lot, my heart clutched and my strength flowed out of me like water poured out upon the sand. It was all I could do to hold myself upright.

'Morgian!' I gasped, trembling inwardly as with cold, or with frozen rage.

'My son,' she said nicely, extending her arms to me. 'Have you no welcome kiss for your mother?'

'You are not my mother,' I replied, revulsed. 'My mother is dead.'

'Poor Gwalchavad,' she pouted, folding her hands prettily before her. 'And to think I always treated you like a son of my own blood.'

'Get away from me, witch,' I said. I made to turn away, but could no longer make my limbs obey.

'I would speak to you, dear Gwalchavad,' she replied, her voice growing as smooth and sinuous as a serpent coiling around its prey. 'There is something I wish you to do.'

'Never!' I spat. 'I would sooner cut off my hand than lift a finger for you.'

'Oh, I think I may find a way to change your mind,' she said, her smile beguiling with concealed treason. 'Men are such simple creatures, after all.'

I tried to speak, and felt my tongue clench in my mouth. My jaws seized up tight.

'You see, I am not to be denied,' she continued, stepping nearer. She raised a hand and absently described a figure in the air. I felt my throat constrict and I could not breathe. 'It is a small thing – a trifle of no particular consequence. I think you may find it far easier to obey than to refuse.'

'I will die first!' I forced the words out through clenched teeth, my jaws aching as if to break.

She raised her head and laughed, her voice warm and lovely. 'Charming!' she said, pressing her hands together beneath her chin. 'That is exactly what your brother said,' she informed me cheerfully. 'Alas, poor Gwalcmai. He forced me to take him at his word. Still, I do not expect you to make the same mistake.'

'No!' I shrieked, pressing my fists to my eyes. 'Jesu, save me!'

There came a fluttering sound like that of wings in flight, and when I opened my eyes, I was once again lying in the water, still alone. One of the torches was out. I rose and looked at the stone floor where Morgian had stood, but despite the steam and damp, there was no trace of any footprint, nor any sign of her at all. I shouted and received only the dull echo of my own voice in return.

Frightened now, I left the bath and fled to the warriors' quarters. There was no one around, and as I dried and dressed, I gradually calmed and convinced myself that it was only a bad dream brought on by fatigue and the uncanny experiences of my recent journey.