Persia Woolley - Queen of the Summer Stars

the first book of her trilogy, Child of the irthem Spring, Persia Woolley focused on e early life and marriage of Guinevere to e young King Arthur. In this, her second >vel, Woolley follows Gwen's growth into 11 queenhood. Written in the tradition of Mary Stewart's ierlin books, Queen of the Summer Stars rovides a wonderfully personal view of King rthur's Round Table, as seen through the yes of his tomboy wife, Guinevere. Although either a great beauty nor an elegant ourtier, Gwen sets out to help her husband ain control of the fractious Dark Age client ings of Britain by creating the most glorious ;ourt "in the world, or at least this side of Constantinople.'' Here the great heroes and champions, the /illains and lovers of myth, come together as :he annual gathering of warriors develops into the Round Table of fable. The Champion Gawain meets his match in the "loathly lady," Ragnell; Tristan and Isolde play out their grand romance; Morgan le Fey tries to usurp the throne; and Lancelot comes riding into everyone's life. Deftly blending historical fact and Arthurian romance, Woolley vividly captures the scope and drama of the legend. In the process she creates a Guinevere who is vibrantly human and worthy to be the wife of King

ALSO BY PERSIA WOOLLEY p Child of the Northern Spring

UEEN of the SUMMER STARS Persia Woo/lei/ Poseidon Press New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo Singapore

f Poseidon Press Simon & Schuster Building Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10020 This book is a work of fiction Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental Copyright 1990 by Persia Woolley All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form POSEIDON PRESS is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster Inc POSEIDON PRESS colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster Inc Designed by Karolma Harris Manufactured in the United States of America 10 987654321 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Woolley, Persia, date Queen of the summer stars/Persia Woolley p cm i Guenevere, Queen (Legendary character)-Fiction 2 Arthurian romances-Adaptations I Title PS3573068Q44 1990 8i3'54-dc20 90-33441 CIP ISBN 0-671-62201-3

To all my mothers - natural, god, in-low, and grand. And especially to Irene Higman, from whom I learned how important stepmothering can be.

Characters HOUSE OF PENDRAGON Uther: High King of Britain, father of Arthur Igraine: wife of Uther, mother of Arthur Arthur: King of Logres, High King of Britain Guinevere: Wife of Arthur HOUSE OF ORKNEY Lot: King of Lothian and the Orkney Isles \ Morgause: daughter of Igraine, half-sister of Arthur, widow of King Lot Gawain Gaheris Agravain Gareth Mordred sons of Morgause HOUSE OF NORTHUMBRIA Urien: King of Northumbria, husband of Morgan Morgan Le Fey: daughter of Igraine, half-sister to Arthur. High Priestess and Lady of the Lake Uwain: son of Morgan and Urien HOUSE OF CORNWALL Mark: King of Cornwall Isolde: Mark's child-bride from Ireland

8 * Characters * Tristan: nephew to Mark Dinadan: Tristan's best friend ROUND TABLE FELLOWSHIP Accolon of Gaul: Morgan le Fey's lover Agricola: Roman King of Demetia, mentor to Geraint Bedivere: Arthur's foster-brother and lieutenant Bors: cousin of Lancelot Cador: Duke of Cornwall Cei: Arthur's foster-brother and Seneschal of the Realm Geraint: King of Devon Lancelot of the Lake: a Prince of Brittany Palomides: slave-born Arab Pelleas: lover of Ettard Pellam: wounded King of Carbonek Pellinore: Warlord of The Wrekin Lamorak: Pellinore's eldest son Perceval: Pellinore's youngest son Ulfin: Chamberlain to Uther, warrior for Arthur Griflet: son of Ulfin, Master of the Kennels WOMEN OF CAMELOT Augusta: gossipy lady-in-waiting Brigit: Irish foster-sister to Guinevere Brisane: governess to Elaine of Carbonek Elaine of Astolat: slow-witted lady-in-waiting Elaine of Carbonek: beautiful daughter of Pellam, very much infatuated with Lancelot Enid: sharp-tongued lady-in-waiting Ettard: young companion to Igraine Lynette: daughter of Ground's Keeper in London Vinnie: Roman matron in charge of ladies-in-waiting VARIOUS HEADS OF STATE Vortigern: earlier tyrant, married Rowena Rowena: daughter of invading Saxon, Hengist Cerdic: their son

* Characters * Anastasius: Emperor in Constantinople Clovis: King of the Franks OTHER CHARACTERS Beaumains: mysterious student of Lancelot's Cathbad: druid who was Guinevere's childhood teacher Dagonet: Arthur's Court Jester Frieda: Saxon milk-maid, lover of Ulfin Gwyn of Neath: horsebreeder and builder on the Hall on Clastonbury's Tor Illtud: Prince/warrior who became a monk Gildas Paul Aurelian students of Illtud Samson Kevin: Guinevere's childhood love Lucan: Arthur's Gate Keeper Maelgwn: Guinevere's cousin, King of Gwynedd Merlin: Arthur's tutor and mentor, the Mage of Britain Nimue: Priestess and lover of Merlin Ragnell: leader of nomadic Ancient Ones Riderich: Arthur's bard Taliesin: peasant boy who wants to become a bard Wehha the Swede: leader of East Anglican Federates Wihtgar: Saxon Federate settler Assorted courtiers, pages, musicians, visiting dignitaries and sprites, according to the reader's imagination

King Arthur's Britain The -4 7* M

Preface DURING the last half of this century the authors of novels based on the stories of King Arthur have more or less divided into three categories: those who cast the stories as fantasy, those who see them as "women's romance," and those who give them a realistic treatment. As readers of my first volume, Child of the Northern Spring, know, I belong to the last group. Although the characters I'm writing about are superstitious, there are no dragons, no magic swords, no whooshing away of islands with a flick of the wrist. There is a place for that kind of sword and sorcery, but it is not in my books. Nor have I chosen to focus exclusively on the love stories of the famous legend. Like Malory, I prefer to treat them as an integral part of the different characters' development rather than as the main point of the story. If Arthur and Guinevere lived (and scholars make cases both for and against their actual existence), it would have been during the period following the fall of the Roman Empire-roughly between 450 and 550 A.D. This was a time of tremendous change and upheaval throughout Europe, and nowhere was that more evident than in Britain. Archaeologically we see a gradual dying out of Roman culture among the Britons-they would eventually be conquered by the vigorous, often brutal Anglo-Saxon settlers. But the struggle for supremacy went back and forth between these two factions for well over a century, during which time there was a brief but major Celtic revival reflected

14 * Preface * in grave goods, art, and religion. And in the midst of that there seems to have been a noticable peace that lasted for several decades prior to the final Saxon incursions. It is precisely against this turbulent background that I have set the adventures of the Round Table characters, for legend says that King Arthur led the British forces to victory over the Saxons at the battle of Mt. Badon, after which he reigned for twenty years of peace and prosperity. While it is with history that I've set the stage, it is from the literature that I've taken the characters, remaining as true to the legends as a realistic approach allows. The Round Table cast is a fascinating study in human types. Some of the characters have remained pretty much the same over the centuries, such as Tristan, the big young warrior who falls in love with his king's wife, or Palomides, the Arab knight who is accepted for his honor and bravery but always holds himself slightly apart. Others are more complex and have changed over the centuries as the stories have developed. Gawain, for instance, is the knight of greatest courtesy and honor in the earliest stories. But after the medieval romances introduced the Frenchman Lancelot (he was really a Breton), Gawain's character began to change. Certainly the French versions show him as loutish and hot-tempered, and a decided rake where the women are concerned. I've incorporated both aspects and made them part of Gawain's own growth. I have also incorporated actual historical figures-Agricola, Geraint, Mark, and Tristan are all considered by scholars to have been real people. And occasionally I've played with archaeological finds, such as the Anastasius Bowl, which was part of the treasure retrieved from the Sutton Hoo ship burial. Although the grave itself dates from the seventh century, it contained a silver bowl clearly marked by a smith during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius (491 to 518 A.D.). More than one archaeologist has puzzled over how that elegant bowl came into the possession of the barbaric Swedes who had settled on the edge of East Anglia-and I couldn't resist working backward through the geneologies in order to have Arthur give it to the first king of that East Anglian dynasty.