positioned him so the glowing blade was over the anvil. “Ready?”
Merlin tensed his legs, back, and arms. “Ready.”
After hammering for a while, his father hid the blade back in the coals, and Merlin returned to the bellows.
“Tas?” Merlin asked. “Why’d you leave Uther’s war band? That would have been exciting — to serve a prince.”
“Dangerous, I’d say. We helped keep the northlands clear of Prithager and Eirish, and we did it well while their raiding parties were small. But they sent a large force against us.”
Amazed he was finally hearing some stories from his father, Merlin asked, “How many?”
His father shifted the coals. “They had a thousand to our three hundred. Hotter, Merlin … That’s better.”
“What’d you do?”
“Ah, we were up in Guotodin, with no help nearby and our route south cut off. So we retreated northeast to the closest fortress. Atleuthun was the old king at Dinpelder, and he was a sometime ally to Uther’s father. We went there for help — stayed two days preparing for the coming foe — but in that time I fell in love.”
“Mother?”
“Yes. Gwevian was the king’s daughter.”
Merlin stopped the bellows. “I never knew!”
“It’s true. She was so beautiful. All that red hair down to her waist. You should have seen the braids she could make.” Owain paused, and Merlin marveled at his father’s peaceful, almost wistful tone.
“But Atleuthun’s house was pagan, so I shared the knowledge of Jesu with his daughter. She not only believed; she fell in love with me even as my heart was drawn to her.”
“Why was Uther angry about that?”
“Slow down,” his father said. “But keep the bellows going. It was Atle who was angry, and that was the crux. Something perplexing about that man and his son, but I never put my finger on it. It wasn’t long before I was thrown in Atle’s dungeon, and Uther and the men had to leave with neither the king’s warriors to help nor food. And an enemy thrice their size approaching from the southwest.”
Merlin worked the bellows mechanically, his thoughts centered only on his parents. “What happened?”
“King Atle tried twice to kill your mother for her refusal to deny Jesu. The first time he threw her from the highest cliff of the fortress and —”
“What?”
His father rattled among his tools. “Yes, it’s true. To the glory of Christ, she lived, and not even a scratch marked her fair skin. She told me later she felt invisible hands protecting her.”
Merlin thought of the angel he’d seen in his own visions. “What did Atle do?”
“You mean what did I do? Because of the miracle, a servant snuck down and released me, telling me the tale. The woman was old and hunched over, but her heart was gentle.”
“So you got out.”
“I made my way to Uther’s camp, where he was girding for battle.” His father sighed. “But we couldn’t agree. I wanted him to help me save Gwevian, but he named me a fool for getting them shut out from Atle’s fortress. Instead, he wanted me to help him in the coming battle. To stand by his side.”
“I see.”
“Ah, I was thick even to ask him, and all of us were in trouble because of Atle’s wrath at me. At me!” His voice suddenly rose, and he hurled a tool, which clanged against the rock wall of the smithy.
Merlin jumped.
“And in the end I failed him. I left on the eve of battle to go to her.”
One thing still didn’t make sense. “You said Atle tried to kill Mother again —”
His father groaned. “Yes. But this time his magicians tried to sacrifice her to his pagan water god. He bound her and set her adrift in a leaking boat as the tide rolled out.”
“How did God save her?”
“This time through me. One last hammering, and I think we’ll be ready for shaping the blade with the grinding wheel.”
The work at the anvil passed quickly, as only the blade’s tip and one troublesome spot near the guard needed light work. His father viewed the blade by the forge’s light and grunted in satisfaction. “Ready for the grind.”
In this step Merlin sat on a stool near a small grinding wheel. He spun the wooden handle by hand while his father guided the blade, dipping it in water every so often to cool it. This step revealed how excellent his father’s hammering was, as very little excess metal needed to be removed. Two different grindstones were used, the second one finer and flatter. After this