King Canan is the ruler of a powerful confederation of Irish tribes in southern Gales. He can muster a large army and is secure on his throne: He conquered all his neighbors, and they have been obedient since being beaten. King Uther needs an ambassador to deliver a letter to him.
The ambassadors ride overland through Clarence to the border. Crossing into Gloucester, the party is met by knights of that dukedom who escort the party to their duke. The old Duke Eldol interviews them, then sends them with his two sons, Twin Bannerets of Glevum, as an escort to the court of King Nanteleod in Carlion.
The Twin Bannerets are identical in appearance, but quite opposite in behavior and dress. One wears only red, the other only green, and they have their entourages the same, so they are called the Red Banneret of Glevum and the Green Banneret of Glevum. They appear to hate each other, and are always arguing. They accompany the knights to the border, then on to Carlion.
Carlion is an old Roman city that has seen better days. (That is, it is typical for the cities of Britain.) The kingdom stronghold is a converted Roman fort. At Carlion, the knights encounter Sir Alain de Carlion, whom they have met earlier, when they were garrisoning the castles in Cornwall (in 491). Sir Alain greets the Glevum Bannerets politely and welcomes the knights warmly, reminding them of their time in Cornwall together.
“Though, of course,” he jests, “I wasn’t ensorcelled by Merlin….”
Alain de Carlion is the knights’ local contact. When they’ve been cleaned up, he’ll take them to the hall and the king. King Nanteleod is a middle-aged man who listens sagely to the messengers and questions them about their purpose. Over dinner he talks of Logres, Lady Ellen (the Countess of Salisbury), the Saxons, and so on. He wants to know the knights’ personal experiences, not the theory behind their visit.
Sir Alain then leads the messengers westward the following day. They cover the miles quickly and reach Cardiff in one day; on the next night they stay at Newcastle in the Nain Forest; and then in Kynke Kynedonne, by the border.
The next day, they are met by guards from Estregales. This group then takes the messengers and escorts them to Carmarthen in Loughor, where they wait for word of the king. Then, they journey three days to Pembroke Castle, on the Milford Haven.
At the court of Pembroke, King Canan interviews the messengers and receives the letter. He conducts a polite interview (“How is the king, and the countess?”).
At dinner that night, they meet Sir Orcas, a polite but brusque fellow who is King Canan’s steward and the official contact for the messengers while they are at Pembroke.
The embassy is stalled for several days. (“The king is busy and will send for the ambassadors when he needs them.”) Sir Orcas offers to take everyone on a hunt. There, the messengers meet Sir Dirac and Squire Lak, the two sons of King Canan, who are also along on the hunt. They are young and naïve, wanting to know more about the world outside Estregales.
By now, the knights have been here long enough that one night, after dinner, they are asked to entertain.
More days pass.
A chief from some dirty little hamlet in the mountains challenges the messengers to a horse race. He uses a hill pony on broken ground. Afterward, the knights learn the chieftain is in fact the king of Ystrad Tyi, the hill savages allied to King Canan.
Finally, some day after the horse race, everyone in Pembroke seems to be packing and loading. The king’s household is moving: The king has gone ahead to Carew, it is said, or maybe Tenby. The messengers must pack up and go along too, and catch up with Canan at Castle Tenby. There, after dinner, the king finally announces that he is in fact favorably tended toward the offer in Uther’s letter, and that he is preparing a reply. Then he turns to other business.
The court moves again, this time resting at Carmarthen, where Merlin was born. The knights hire a boy to show them the nearby chapel where the infant Merlin was baptized.
He also takes them to Merlin’s tree, where the raven is. He shows them the shack where the great magician grew up, and the fountain where Merlin did his first healings on the poor of the town.
At Carmarthen that night, there is yet another dinner. Suddenly King Canan staggers up from his seat and then falls backward over it. The king grabs his throat; his face turns blue; blood runs from his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes; and he finally gurgles out a horrid gasp. He is dead.
“He did it!” shouts someone, and everyone looks to Sir Dirac, still frozen in horror at his father’s death.
“No!” peeps the young knight, “Not me!”
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