Guns Of Avalon

Ganelon's face was drained of color as I spoke.

«All those names you mentioned - Brand, Bleys, Eric,» he said. «I heard him mention them in days long gone by. How long ago did you hear of this thing?»

«It was about four years back.»

«He deserved better.»

«After what he did to you?» «Well,» said the man, «I've had a lot of time to think about it, and it is not as if I gave him no cause for what he did. He was strong - stronger than you or Lance, even - and clever. Also, he could be merry on occasion. Eric should have killed him quickly, not the way that he did. I've no love for him, but my hate's died down a bit. The demon deserved better than he got, that's all.»

The second boy returned with a basket of bread. The one who had prepared the meat removed it from the spit and set it on a platter in the center of the table.

Ganelon nodded toward it. «Let's eat,» he said.

He rose and moved to the table.

I followed. We did not talk much during the meal.

After stuffing myself until my stomach would hold no more and soaking down its contents with another glass of too-sweet wine, I began to yawn. Ganelon cursed after the third one.

«Damn it, Corey! Stop that! It's contagious!» He stifled a yawn of his own.

«Let's take some air,» he said, rising.

So we walked out along the walls, passing the sentries in their rounds. They would come to attention and salute Ganelon as soon as they saw who it was approaching, and he would give them a word of greeting and we would move on. We came to a battlement, where we paused to rest, seating ourselves on the stone, sucking in the evening air, cool and damp and full of the forest, and noting the appearance of the stars, one by one, in the darkening sky. The stone was cold beneath me. Far off in the distance, I thought I could detect the shimmer of the sea. I heard a night bird, from somewhere below us. Ganelon produced a pipe and tobacco from a pouch he wore at his belt. He filled it, tamped it, and struck a flame. His face would have been satanic in the spark light, save for whatever turned his mouth downward and drew the muscles in his cheeks up into that angle formed by the inner corners of his eyes and the sharp bridge of his nose. A devil is supposed to have an evil grin, and this one looked too morose.

I smelled the smoke. After a time, he began to speak, softly and very slowly at first:

«I remember Avalon,» he began. «My birth there was not ignoble, but virtue was never one of my strong points. I went through my inheritance quickly and I took to the roads where I waylaid travelers. Later, I joined with a band of other men such as myself. When I discovered I was the strongest and most fit to lead, I became the leader. There were prices on all our heads. Mine was the highest.»

He spoke more rapidly now, and his voice grew more refined and his choice of words came as an echo from out of his past.

«Yes, I remember Avalon,» he said, «a place of silver and shade and cool waters, where the stars shone like bonfires at night and the green of day was always the green of spring. Youth, love, beauty - I knew them in Avalon. Proud steeds, bright metal, soft lips, dark ale. Honor…» He shook his head.