The Winter King

Holding Ceiwyn’s brooch, which Derfel has promised to her, Igraine asks for more details about the story of Ynys Trebes, but these details merely compound the tragedy. She insists that Lancelot must be better than Derfel describes him, and he responds, “I think he was worse” (313). Bishop Sansum then interrupts their conversation, and Igraine keeps up the pretense of translating the Gospels into Saxon.

Young Derfel returns to Britain penniless, having lost all his possessions across the sea. Arthur sets him up as the guardian of a young and wealthy orphan, so he can live off the rents of the land. He dines with Arthur and Guinevere, pleased at the effect her company has on him. Derfel tells her that Merlin has gone to rescue Nimue and that when she returns, she and Guinevere will have the chance to get to know one another better. Arthur then grants Derfel the title of Lord, much to his surprise. He informs Derfel that the situation with Powys is growing desperate, and that he can only hope the Saxon king Aelle will accept his bribes and mount no further attacks. Guinevere then asks Derfel for a more honest assessment of the news than Arthur is willing to give her. Derfel confides that the situation is dire, but they will fight for Arthur “to the end” (321). Guinevere reveals that the Christians are backing Mordred but prefer the king of Powys to Arthur, as the clergy finds the former easier to control. Guinevere then asks about Lancelot, and cannot believe he is as awful as Derfel says. She asks for him to be inducted into the cult of Mithras, and while Derfel is strongly opposed, he consents.

Immediately afterward, Derfel learns that Lancelot is to command the garrison while Arthur’s army marches northward. In yet another piece of bad news, Derfel learns that Merlin did not go rescue Nimue, but instead returned to Ynys Wydryn. Derfel instantly resolves to go to the Isle, leaving his troops under Galahad’s command. The Isle of the Dead is a peninsula, only a few miles’ walk away, but pagans and Christians alike hold it cursed. Everyone sent there is officially considered dead, and the guards tell Derfel that if he crosses over, he will never return. He informs them, “I was in a death pit once […] and I crawled from there as I shall crawl from here” (328). The gates shut behind him, and he feels a fear utterly unlike that which he has felt on the battlefield. After crossing the third and final wall, Derfel walks down a road to the sea, and people scramble out of huts to watch him and then chase him. Derfel runs, fending off a rabid dog and cutting his sword into an unknown person who blocks his way. His brandished sword checks their pursuit, and they taunt him before dispersing. Walking along, Derfel meets a man named Malldynn who seems possessed of his wits, and learns he was sent there as a punishment by Uther for criticizing his son Mordred. Derfel asks after Nimue, and Malldynn informs him that she lives with the coastal community. Derfel updates him with news of the kingdom, and then Malldynn suddenly attacks Derfel with a knife, screaming that he’ll eat him. Derfel fights him off just as others come looking to join in the meal. Darkness forces Derfel to wait out the night before searching for Nimue. In the morning, his initial inquiries go nowhere, and he eventually approaches a cave right on the water. Stepping into the cave, he finds Nimue, who fights him off with scratches, bites, and screams. She then calms down, and when Derfel tells her Merlin has returned, she resolves to leave. She is filthy and exhausted, so Derfel helps her traverse the island and climb the walls. Expecting a challenge at the final wall, he instead finds Galahad waiting for him, greeting him with tears of joy.

Derfel tends to Nimue, ordering a local craftsman to make her a new eye. She sits quietly while Derfel updates her on all that has transpired. Eventually, she opens up, calling her mental health condition “a gift from the gods” (346). They spend the following day as lovers, although Derfel knows it can only be that day, that they will never have a future together. The day after, Derfel learns the dreadful news that the Saxons have attacked, and so Dumnomia is exposed to two enemy armies at once. However, Nimue suggests that she knows where she can find a blood price to keep the Saxons at bay a little longer.

At Nimue’s instruction, Arthur’s armies go north, and Derfel sees the newly built tower at Ynys Wydryn, where Sansum has also expanded the church and built a house for himself. Arthur says he has come for money, not prayer, and when Sansum refers to his vow of poverty, Arthur says he will hold him to that oath and take his gold as a loan. Derfel hints at treasures buried in the ground, and while Sansum scrambles to find coins, Arthur confides his doubts to Derfel, wondering if Nimue should just go into exile. When Sansum returns with handfuls of pyrite (“fool’s gold”) and cheap trinkets, one of Derfel’s spearmen discovers their hidden treasure, and at that exact moment Nimue reveals herself to Sansum, who goes into hysterics as Arthur’s men unearth the massive hidden stores. Revisiting Merlin’s tower, Derfel finds Morgan marginalized and bitter, as Guinevere has largely excluded her from the royal court. The treasure secure, Arthur’s men go into Lloegyr (“the lost lands”) to deliver the blood price.

After passing through a deserted town, Arthur’s party encounters a Saxon war-band. Derfel serves as translator, and they arrange to have the gold brought to the Saxon king Aelle. They wait for the meeting at “the Stones” (presumably Stonehenge), which Nimue recognizes as a place of powerful magic. Later on, Arthur reveals to Derfel that when he was a teenager, Merlin brought him to the Stones and gave him his sword Caledfwlch, making him stand naked on a stone all night, holding up the sword as rain pelted down. As much as he respects Merlin, calling him “the wisest man in Britain” (372), Arthur says he does not know Merlin’s plan, nor does he know what he will do when the time for that plan arrives. Aelle arrives with some 200 men, with war dogs in the front and camp followers in the back. Arthur wants peace, and he tries to convince Aelle that peace with him is favorable to peace with Powys. However, Aelle demands land, so Arthur offers one of Powys’s key fortresses, which has lowered its defenses in light of the coming campaign. They agree, and have a celebratory feast, Derfel finding the company of his fellow Saxons deeply unpleasant. Arthur feels guilty about consigning a British fort to destruction, especially after having failed to protect Ynys Trebes, and wonders whether he should be a hostage to the Saxons in place of the two soldiers he handed over. Ultimately, he climbs out of his despair and resolves to beat Powys and restore order to the kingdom.

On their way north, Arthur dispatches Derfel with a gift for his son’s mother, Aileann. Aileann warns Derfel that she has much bad news that Arthur does not want to hear, such as that the twin boys deeply resent Arthur and “think they should be princes” (384). She also warns Derfel that despite his kindness, Arthur’s ambition is all-consuming and that Guinevere will ultimately corrupt all his best qualities. She begs him to include her sons in the army, but when Derfel takes the request back to Arthur, he refuses, telling Derfel that he will hopefully have a son by Guinevere soon. They pass into Gwent, where the population is anxiously awaiting an invasion from Powys, burying their possessions to hide them from plunderers. The king, Tewdric, looks like an old man in his armor, and morale among Gwent’s soldiers is low. Arthur’s forces are badly outnumbered, so a council of war is convened that evening to decide on strategy. Gwent’s soldiers are happy to learn that Aelle has withdrawn, but Arthur warns them against hoping that Aelle’s absence will cause Gorfyddyd to hold back. The attack will happen once they assemble their full force, so Arthur counsels a surprise attack, rather than wait behind walls and let Gwent fall under siege. King Tewdric’s son Meurig wonders why they are fighting at all if there is no proof that Gorfyddyd threatens Mordred’s throne. Galahad indicates that he will serve as an envoy to discern Powys’s intentions, and Arthur avows that he will go into exile if the Saxons do not have designs against Mordred.

Derfel accompanies Galahad as a Dumnomian witness to whatever Gorfyddyd might say. As they ride, they see disturbing evidence of Powys’s immense military capabilities. They come to Gorfyddyd’s hall, announcing themselves as emissaries from Tewdric, and Gorfyddyd responds scornfully to Galahad’s appeal for peace. Gorfyddyd insists that he is not a man “who makes war on children” (403), and that his only quarrel is with Arthur. Someone in the hall then identifies Derfel, and Tanaburs, Gundleus’s Druid, calls for someone to kill him. Just as Gorfyddyd is about to kill Derfel himself, a voice rings out, and once again Merlin emerges from seemingly nowhere, insisting that no one will harm Derfel and castigating them for waging war against their fellow Britons rather than their true enemies. Merlin escorts Galahad and Derfel away, telling how he is trying to assemble various treasures of ancient Britain, the most pressing of which is a Cauldron. They then meet a local Druid named Iorweth, who is more skeptical about Merlin’s plans to resurrect the past. Invited to dine with the wife of Prince Cuneglas, Derfel sees Ceinwyn, Arthur’s former betrothed, and she sees that Derfel has her brooch. At first, Derfel offers polite remarks on her engagement to Gundleus, but he then reveals that he saw him kill Norwenna in cold blood. He conveys Arthur’s regrets, noting that “for once in his life Arthur was struck by a madness he could not control” (415). She asks if he understands such a sentiment, and after hesitating, he confesses that he feels it at that very moment, speaking to her. Derfel admits that if Arthur wins, he will want her to marry Lancelot, but then offers his protection to her.