|
AVER
The Lady of the Lake was
the name given to both the priestess who kept her shrine, and the goddess,
herself, one dwelling in the world of nature and the other . . . |
|
PRINCESS GWEN
Mostly, it's that way. |
|
AVER
Aye. And you'll know
that at certain times of year, the goddess enters her priestess. |
|
PRINCESS GWEN
If she didn't, there'd be
no purpose in the rituals. |
|
AVER
No. |
|
PRINCESS GWEN
And I also know that some
say that's how Gabran came to be part god. |
|
AVER
But did you know the father was a shape-shifter? |
|
PRINCESS GWEN
A shape-shifter? |
|
AVER
Och, there you have it.
The Lady of the Lake, priestess and goddess in one, and in the middle of
it all, the shape-shifter transforming . . . |
PRINCESS GWEN
Into what? |
|
AVER
A dragon, I suppose. . . |
PRINCESS GWEN
(shuddering)
Ohhh! |
|
AVER
Some say it was the goddess went mad. trapped in mortal form for the full term, but others say it was the horror that drove her priestess mad. With the shape-shifter,
all the while lurking about, and she, so big, and believing a dragon grew inside her! |
|
PRINCESS GWEN
No wonder she went mad! |
|
AVER
In the event, she gave birth to twins. Both the shape-shifter and the goddess abandoned her, along
with her reason. And that's the Tale of the Mad Maid of the Green Wood and the birthing of Gabran and Merlin, as I know it. The one, like a young god; the other, after his shape-shifting father. |
|
PRINCESS GWEN
I don't know. It's one thing to say the priestess was fooled,
but the goddess would have known what was to come of it all and would never have submited
but to some good purpose. |
|
AVER
Och, Your Highness, I don't
pretend to comprehend the mysteries of the gods and goddesses. |
|
PRINCESS GWEN
Nor do I. But it stands
to reason . . . |
|
AVER
I don't even know that the
tale is true. But if it is, and the dragon and the shape-shifter are one
and the same, then Gabran was slain by his own father, and it was his unnatural twin, Merlin, who sent him to his doom . . . |
