Now a king without friends is a king in name only; and so did Gorbonian call to his court, two friends most dear to him, to advise and instruct. First did he call Braith, his companion since cradle-days; to them were known the hidden haunts of the castle, and what trees of the orchard bore sweet fruit in spring; and, pardee, how in stealth to take such fruit, if that the overseer slept.
Next named was Hafren; and to many this did seem, in sooth, great scandal, for her mother was the witch Seren. But others did attest that women such as she had long served, in village and in castle hall; and that only with the coming of new men to the land, had any seen cause to shun such care. To Morvidus in his afflictions had she come in aid, restoring him to health with wild roots, and with poultices pounded from none knew what. Wherefore the saying of Morvidus, still remembered,—I know not whether by cunning or by physic I am healed, but I arise and walk.
She was comely, though her hair was raven-black. She was tall, with womanish manner; and oft would she say to Gorbonian,—Recall I our first meeting, though you do not; for I am older than thee, and found thee at play in the rocks and the wild weeds, and asked,—Small friend, seek’st thou some salve; and you, but a boy, looking up,— I shall know if I find one.
To her were known the names of the birds in their sky-bright wanderings, which to the boy was a great delight; and fast were they friends, these two, despite the low murmurings of the gossips.
Now came them all to court, to see what must be done. And a rough slab of quarry-stone did serve at court for table, with chairs set all around it; and the shape of this arrangement appeared to the eye like the face of some great beast, emerging heavily from the dark. All took their places now; and, when they had gathered, the King did survey his court with aspect most grave, saying,
—In sorrow have we gathered; but we are men, pardee, or maids of power; and now we shall see, in this time, how we might set right the wrong our eyes have seen. And knew they all that he spake of his father, and of the bloody scene in the stable, and that he would true the wheel so wrongly turned.
6.
A sailor forbears to row against the tide, said King Gorbonian to his company. My father the King is dead, his body burned. May the smoke of his body be an offering to the gods! Yet sons must to their fathers cleave: thus shall I follow that current where it carries us, until justice be served; and thus shall we ride, affirmed the King, we seven.
Then did the chambers of the King buzz like a humming hive, for each man did have his mind as to the question; for, as to the affairs of court, some did say that to survey the land were more pressing, for the tribute to be increased; and others did remark, that to leave an empty throne while that His Lordship’s reign blushed yet green, were a great risk, even unto the kingdom. But as to this King Gorbonian said,—It does me no force; and he laid before them the vision of his father’s body, broken upon the straw, left to die without e’en the noble horses which had been his heart’s delight in life; and who shall remember him if he be not avenged, saith the King; and what shall they say of me, if that I fail to visit swift vengeance upon those man-slayers, who, when that the rains were hard upon us, and e’en the mighty were reduced, did creep in; and in so creeping, visit calamity upon me, yea, and upon us all? Thus spake the King, that none might gainsay him; for, in this world, to leave a blameless body unavenged, is a deed most dire.
They assembled in the early dawn; and there they stood, each considering the other; and Braith saw Hafren all in white, and the King clad in mail, and thought unto himself, Now we are grown, we three.
So set they out, seeking first the forest yclept Gwydion’s Woods; for, as Gorbonian said,—My mother, long may she live, did enchant me in my cradle with songs of these woods; sweet melodies to me, yet warnings to the keen; for villains nest therein.
7.
And as they rode through haunts ancient and green, the young King remembered his time as a babe in these woods; and said, that he should like, should fortune see him to’t, to restore those temples of old which were said to stand in the forest in days of old. Thus discoursed he in such manner as they rode, until, at some hour, they knew not which—for into that remote place fell but little light—behold, a great oak obstructed the path, a great gash in its trunk in the shape of a half-moon. Now this ancient sign was hewn by human hand, a clean cut, a hand’s-breadth deep shining wetly in the shadow.
—See here, saith the King, the mark of an ancient temple.
—My liege, says Madauc, and I hope to remain ever in your favor, ’tis but a tree marked by some hunter.