THE CHALICE AND THE BLADE.

Celtic Saga.

By Glenna McReynolds.

To my parents, Richard and Lois Gillis- always in my dreams, never far from my heart.

Acknowledgments.

For the generous gifts and loans of historical, astronomical, and ofttimes magical tomes, and for other various bits of whimsy, inspiration, support, and knowledge, the author would like to thank: Margaret Aunon, Sandra Betker, Debra and Tom Catlow, Victoria Erbschloe, Margaret Frohberg, Joy Hopely, Jane Ronald-Houck, Mary McReyn-olds, Jean Muirhead, Susan Parker, Olivia Rupprecht, Debra and Tom Throgmorton; Dean and Kerrie, for making some magic; also, Rebecca Kubler and Lance Gillis, for their enthusiastic reading of the manuscript; Cindy Gerard, lovely muse, for not only reading the manuscript with enthusiasm (over and over again), but for doing so with a pencil in her hand, which she used; and Stan, Kathleen, and Chase McReynolds, for contributions too numerous to list-all of them from the heart.

My special thanks and appreciation go to Elizabeth Barrett, for her empathy, her insights, her patience, and for taking what was and making it better. 'Twas ever thus-namaste.

Author's Note Writers doing research are a sojourning breed. We spend our days wandering through other people's work, diligently searching when we know what we want, exploring for epiphany when we don't; dallying for a short time between one set of bound pages, practically setting up house in the next.

In the writing of this novel, I incurred some rent, most notably to Giraldus Cambrensis and hisJourney ThroughWales 1188. It was also with great pleasure that I discovered the work of Mircea Eliade; in particular, his bookThe Forge and the Crucible: the Origins and Structures of Alchemy, and an article he wrote forParabola, "The Myth of Alchemy." On a historical note, during the Middle Ages the frontier betweenEngland andWales was known as the March. The March lords, originally followers of William the Conqueror, were barons whose holdings comprised the borderlands. They were laws unto themselves, subject to the king ofEngland , but not to English Common Law. What they had, they kept by the power of their, swords, building castles and warring on their neighbors-the Welsh-and ofttimes on each other. On the other side of the border, the Welsh did the same, their disunity being their greatest flaw, with the Welsh princes as inclined to war on each other as on the land-hungry barons. The March was an integral part of the history of Wales for over four hundred years, reaching its demise under the reign of Henry VIII with the act of February 1536, statute 27 Henry VIII clause 26 (in this century referred to as the Act of Union), whose purpose was to incorporate Wales into England.

One historical fact that I turned to fancy concerns the Thief of Cardiff. The story is true, though the nom de plume is not. A Welshman, Ifor Bach of Senghennydd, did steal a Norman earl from his bed one night in retaliation for the confiscation of some land. Over a hundred men-at-arms and an even greater number of archers guarded the castle keep atCardiff while the "immensely bold" Ifor scaled the walls and made off with William of Gloucester. Ifor did not release the earl until the stolen estates were returned.

A number of Welsh names and words appear in the book, and I would offer two notes on pronunciation: c always has the "k" sound, as in candle; dd is pronounced like the English "th," as in those.

On the map ofWales , Merioneth has been resurrected to an autonomous principality from an earlier time. The River Bredd, along with Carn Merioneth/Balor Keep, andWydehawCastle , have been conjured from imagination, the caverns beneath Carn Merioneth even more so. As for thetylwyth teg, I cannot help but believe, so sure am I that I've met a few.Amor... lux... veritas.

Glenna McReynolds October 1996

The Chalice and the Blade Cast of Characters Carn Merioneth

Rhiannon-Lady of Carn Merioneth from the matriarchal lineage of a Magus Druid Priestess fromAnglesey

Ceridwen ab Arawn-daughter of Rhiannon

Mychael ab Arawn-son of Rhiannon, twin brother to Ceridwen

Arawn-Lord of Carn Merioneth Nemeton-famed bard of Brittany, Beirdd Braintof the Quicken-tree, builder of theHartTower

Moriath-daughter of Nemeton

WydehawCastle

Dain Lavrans-the mage of Wydehaw

Lord Soren D'Arbois-a March lord, Baron of Wydehaw

Lady Vivienne D'Arbois-wife of the baron

Elixir and Numa-Dain's hounds

Ragnor the Red-captain of Wydehaw's guard

Madron-witch who lives in Wroneu Wood

Edmee-daughter of Madron

Morgan ab Kynan-Thief ofCardiff , a Welsh Prince

Morgan's band of men: Owain-the captain Rhys Drew Rhodri Dafydd

Balor Keep

Caradoc-the Boar of Balor, ruler of the keep

Helebore-excommunicated priest, Balor's leech

Snit-minion of Helebore

Gwrnach-destroyer of Carn Merioneth, father of Caradoc

Gruffudd-a guardsman at Balor

The Quicken-tree

Rhuddlan-leader of the Quicken-tree

The Quicken-tree: Moira Elen Aedyth Naas Llynya Shay Nia

Trig-captain of the Liosalfar

The Liosalfar: Wei Math Bedwyr

Others

Llywelyn-ruling Prince of Gwynedd from 1194 to 1240

Jalal al-Kamam-Saracen trader, slaver

Kalut ad-Din-Saracen trader, slaver.

In the year 1190, Richard the Lionheart set forth from Europe on a divine mission, to wrest theHoly Land from the infidels. A vast host of Christian soldiers took the cross and followed, and failed. Some survived, many died, and a few-either by their own wishes or forced through the will of others- disappeared in the deserts then under the dominion of the great Saladin.

Of those that were lost, three found their way out of the wasteland and home. One, scarred beyond redemption, made his way north into the mountain fastness of his father to wreak his vengeance on strong and weak alike. Another bound himself to God, family, and country as a balm to his wounded body and heart. The last took all that he had learned of pain and mystery and bliss, of magic and medicine, of desires and acceptance and power, and set himself up as a sorcerer... the Blade.

Seven years before the Lionheart's crusade,England 's battles had been fought closer to home, in sweet grass meadows and shallow fens, through dense stands of the king's forests and deep in the mountains ofWales . The Welsh people, Cymry in their own language and warriors in any language, took up arms against the invading English and one another with equal vigor. Palisades were burned, villages ransacked, and new lords proclaimed where others had reigned.

Only three, a woman and two children, survived the battle for Carn Merioneth, a prize on the coast of theIrish Sea . The woman, wise beyond her years in ancient ways-a fey creature-made her way south, hiding the children from the destructive force unleashed on their home. For the first, she found sanctuary in a monastery, and over the years he lost himself in a life of quiet contemplation. For the second child, the woman chose the abbey of her own youth, knowing well the secrets hidden there and trusting the girl to find them. The child did not fail, and in time she became the catalyst of her own destruction and the key to her own salvation... the Chalice.

Prologue.

October 1183.

Carn Merioneth Merioneth,Wales.

For the third night in a row the harp played upon the cliffs overlooking theIrish Sea , the strings caressedto life by delicate, ring-bedecked fingers that wove secret melodies and set them free to float like feathers upon the wind. In the northern sky, a single star fell toward the water in a glittering arc of celestial dust, enchanted unto death by the sweet music.

Rhiannon, daughter of Teleri, daughter of Mair, created the enchantment. She nurtured it and cherished it, listening to her heart, and the song, and the waves crashing into the rocks hundreds of feet below, for every moment of enchantment was one less of fear in the endless night of Calan Gaef.

An errant breeze caught on the headland and curved around the natural bowl where she played, tangling through her hair and bringing the ocean mists up to the land. Flames from a fire of yew, oak, and ash lit the cavern walls behind her and flickered over the dark, sinuous lines etched into the stone by a people long lost to memory. As a child she'd traced those paintings, standing on tiptoe, touching the strange, ancient creatures, and feeling their power and beauty echo through time and her fingertips.

Dragons, her mother had called them, sea dragons, guardians of the gates of time, who lived in the deep beyond, rolling their mighty bodies to churn the tides and keep the moon coming back to the sun. Her mother had seen them and had promised Rhiannon she would see them too.In time, in time.