The Dark Tower

Chapter 5 - Spots and Spotting

The rider was Sir Leon. ‘Thank the stars I’ve found you, Beth,’ he said, wheeling his horse round and dismounting.

‘What’s the matter, Leon?’

‘It’s the Queen. She has been banished from Camelot. They are saying she has the plague.’

‘The plague? Couldn’t she be treated at the castle?’

‘Arthur is away with Gauis. A woman claiming to be a healer arrived at the castle, saw the Queen and declared her plague-ridden. And then everyone panicked. I thought it best to get her out of the castle with me, although the healer was calling for her to be banished permanently.’

‘Where is she now?’

‘At the Dark Tower. But the elves can do nothing, their powers do not work on her. She was asking for you.’

‘We’d better go straight there.’

Aragorn, Merlin and Mordred obviously saw Leon as a threat to them gaining my affection and he looked puzzled that they had not greeted him with their usual warmth.

‘Ignore them,’ I said. ‘There’s some enchantment on them.’

‘They all fancy Beth,’ Katy added helpfully. ‘It’s very annoying.’

‘You’re telling me,’ I muttered. ‘Merlin! Mordred! Aragorn!’ All three of them looked at me expectantly. ‘The Queen is ill. Sir Leon needs us all to help her. So we all need to get to the Dark Tower quickly. Without any fighting or silliness. Understood?’

‘Yes, my lady,’ they  chorused.

‘Leon, will you ride with me?’

‘Yes, Beth. I think the quicker we get there, the better.’

‘Take my horse,’ Aragorn said.

‘No mine!’ said Merlin.

‘No, take mine,’ Mordred added, not to be outdone.

I sighed heavily. ‘I’ll take Katy’s, if that’s all right. I’ve got a faint hope of staying on that one.’

‘Of course,’ she said as the three men sulked.

‘Come on girl,’ I said, kicking Katy’s mare into movement. It was a straight run to the Dark Tower and visible for a fair distance so we made good time, Leon’s horse strong and powerful next to me.

I knew that the elves would be aware of my arrival and they had already identified me before I even saw them, Legolas coming out to meet us and taking my horse’s reins.

‘How is she?’ I asked, dropping to the floor.

‘Feverish and she has spots.’

I climbed the stairs to the room where she had been placed. ‘Gwen! How are you?’

‘Oh Beth, am I glad to see you. I feel awful! What is it?’

I looked more closely at her. ‘You’ve got measles.’

‘Measles? Is that it?’

‘Yes, although it can be very nasty.’ I placed my hand on her head. She was burning up, but I was expecting that. ‘I don’t know if my healing powers will work on you, but we’ll see.’

They didn’t, it appeared they only worked on those whose origins were this side of the Great Unknown, but she seemed relieved I was there. There was little I could do except try to keep her cool and make sure she had plenty of water.

‘Have they not been looking after you?’ I tutted as I noticed the sheets could do with changing and helped her to a chair while I pulled them off the bed. ‘Leon!’ He arrived dutifully at the doorway. ‘Could you arrange for some warm water to be brought up? Not too hot. And wash these in very hot water.’

He looked at me blankly. ‘Wash? My lady, I don’t know how to . . .’

‘Never mind. Could you just arrange the water?’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘Knights,’ I muttered as I retrieved some clean sheets. ‘Can kill a man fifty different ways but can’t wash a sheet. Anyway, I’m here now, Gwen. You’ll be fine.’

‘They thought I had the plague.’

‘Well, a measles outbreak can be pretty nasty, but you’ll live. Probably best that they isolated you. If they’ve no immunity, it could be fatal.’

‘Leon brought me,’ she said, as I tucked the clean sheets on the bed.

‘He’s a good man. Even if he doesn’t know how to wash a sheet,’ I said pointedly as he returned with some pails of water and began to fill the bath. After a few more journeys, assisted by the elves, I shut the door and held out my arm so that Gwen could step into the bath, helped her wash and then dried her as she was so weak. ‘There you go,’ I said, settling her into the clean bed with a fresh nightgown. ‘Can I get you anything? A drink? Something to eat?’

‘Thank you, but no. I think I’ll just sleep now.’

She was still asleep when Katy and the men arrived.

‘How is she?’ they asked.

‘She’s fine. She’s sleeping,’ I reassured them.

‘And you, Lady Beth?’ Are you fine?’ Mordred asked.

‘Yes, thank you. But I suggest you all stay away from her for the time being.’ And me, I mentally added.

We stayed a few days at the Dark Tower until Gwen began to recover and the spots began to fade. A messenger arrived from Camelot to say that Arthur had returned but was reassuring the people of the castle that there was nothing to fear. Leon responded, telling the messenger that Arthur should stay in Camelot and we would return when Gwen was fully recovered. He also brought news that the forest was becoming impenetrable again, which was good news as far as the fact Mab was back home, but not so good for anyone trying to reach the Dark Tower.

What also wasn’t good news was that the enchantment did not appear to be lessening on the three men. As soon as I left Gwen’s room, they were waiting for me, mooning around like love-sick cows until they pounced.

‘Something to eat, Lady Beth?’

‘Something to drink, Lady Beth?’

‘Can I accompany you on a walk, Lady Beth?’

Every day I hoped would be the day Gwaine would appear, and the times when Gwen was sleeping I would peer down the track in the direction they would approach. I was doing this one morning when I noticed my ring was glowing red.

‘Legolas!’ He came running up the stairs.

‘Your ring?’ he asked.

 I nodded. ‘What is it? What’s the danger?’

‘I do not know, my lady. But we should prepare to defend the tower.’

This was fairly easily achieved. All food that was stored outside the tower was brought into the basement, weapons set out on the battlements at the top, lookouts sent to, well, look out, and then we waited.

Two elves returned from the east and spoke urgently to Legolas, then wheeled round their horses and took a number of elves with them, heading back the way they had just come.

I didn’t have time to speak to him before I could see for myself two clouds of dust in the distance, the smaller one closer, the larger, much larger, one further behind. I was joined on the battlements by Katy as we saw Legolas, Aragorn, Merlin and Mordred prepare the defences closest to the tower. The smaller cloud began to reveal itself as three, no four, horsemen heading towards the tower at speed, but I couldn’t make out who it was.