They were often scattered in different fields, and it would be easy to succumb, to sneak away, maybe even to worship the Stone.
But the main thing was to find that rascal of an orphan.
Dybris himself had felt the tug on his own heart as he looked at the Druid Stone the evening before. Had felt the desire to touch its rough surface and see what secrets it contained.
His thoughts were cut short by footsteps hastening toward him from behind. It was Tregeagle’s wife, Trevenna, and her daughter, Natalenya.
“Dybris!” Trevenna called. “Offyd told us you were on your way to the gathering.”
Dybris hesitated. “I’m checking to see if any of the brothers are there.”
“Will you stand up to Mórganthu as Prontwon did?”
He winced. “No, I was only going to —”
Trevenna grasped him by the elbow and faced him. “But it is needed.”
Dybris did not know what to say. Trevenna looked at him with fearful eyes, her chin uplifted and her brown-gray hair tousled by the light wind. Here was the proud wife of the town magister and who was he to gainsay her?
“The people need you … need someone!” Trevenna said. “With Prontwon ailing, they have no one to guide them. Who will tell them the truth?”
“Arguing with the druidow won’t accomplish anything. Really now, I just want to find Garth.”
Natalenya stepped forward. “What if the villagers leave the faith?”
All this talk made his head hurt. He desperately needed a little sleep. “I confess that I haven’t given it much thought. I’ve been concerned about Garth and the other monks.”
The women continued to plead with him as they walked down the hill toward the gathering on the village green. When they reached the gate, Dybris saw a thick crowd of people around the Stone. From their midst came shouts and the sounds of a scuffle.
“It’s Merlin!” Natalenya cried out, and she ran ahead of them into the throng.
Through the cold fog, Merlin heard someone call faintly. Warmth shocked his face, and he sucked in the air.
“He’s breathing,” someone said from far away.
His shoulders warmed and his arms tingled.
“He’s waking,” said another.
Merlin opened his eyes. Light shone between two darkly smudged forms.
“Oh, God … Oh, God!” someone cried nearby. Was it his father?
Merlin’s legs tingled, and he tried to sit up.
“Help him,” someone wailed. It was Natalenya’s voice.
Hands supported him. He rubbed his face and rose up on an elbow. “Natalenya?”
Her voice trembled. “Oh, Mother, don’t look —”
Merlin’s father was crying.
“What’s happening?” Merlin asked as a choking smell filled his lungs. “What’s wrong?”
Natalenya spoke. “We pulled your hands off the Stone, and a big man yelled at us, and he …”
Trevenna continued from his right, dignified in spite of the trembling in her voice. “We saw the struggle and how you accidentally touched the Stone. We pulled you free, but that man touched the Stone too. He said, ‘This is how,’ and then he caught fire and burned to death.”
Owain’s sobs grew louder. “Kifferow!”
Natalenya helped Merlin sit up. “It was terrible. He yelled but couldn’t pull his hands away.”
As Merlin crawled over to his father, the smell of burning flesh made him gag. He placed an arm around his father’s back but found Mônda’s hand already there.
She jerked her arm away and hissed at Merlin. “Leave him alone. Can’t you see he’s suffering?”
Merlin ignored her, holding tighter to his father, whose body heaved as he knelt before the smoking body of his friend. “Tas … Tas, I’m sorry.”
“Why’d you interfere?” his father snapped. “Kiff wouldn’t be dead if you’d left us alone.”
“What happened to Kiff was meant for me. The Stone tried to kill me.”
“Then, then —”
“If you’d touched it, maybe you’d be lying in Kiff’s place.”
His father beat the ground as Merlin glanced at the shadowy forms of people gathered around them.
A deep voice spoke. “And so here are the mongrel and his whelp come to lick my feet!”
Mórganthu.
Owain stood. “Look what you did!”
“I? I did nothing,” Mórganthu scoffed. “I was not even here. Are you sure you did not cause this amazing spectacle?”
Merlin’s father stepped back and shook his head, his voice raspy. “Then why did this happen? Kifferow touched your Stone, and it killed him.”
Mórganthu sniffed, but Merlin heard no sorrow in his voice. “A moment. In a moment I will answer your question. Everyone, back away from the Stone and sit.”
The people moved away. Merlin rose and found himself in the center of the widening circle, with his hand on his father’s shoulder. He wondered where Natalenya had