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religious doctrine as you may do after the Viking have been defeated.’
    Alfred looked puzzled.
    ‘But Arthur Pendragon, with the long magus by his side, fought all his battles—as I must—in the name of Christianity!’
    ‘That he did, but Merlin came to realize that it was wrong for him to do so. The latter half of his life was spent in repentance of those actions, and that is what he has passed on to me. I will join with you in repelling the rapine and slaughter perpetuated by these Viking invaders, but if we are successful I will not help you take other lives in other regions in Britain in the name of your religion. I hold no views on any particular religion; my views apply to all of them. Another one of the reasons behind this, and one everyone finds difficulty in believing, is most of the religions are formed around the eventual destination of the human soul. As the Wessex veneficus and guardian of the Equinoctial Mists, I know what happens to the soul in its many manifestations.’
    ‘That’s interesting. I wonder what Septimus Godleman will have to say about that.’ Alfred smiled.
    ‘Who is he?’
    ‘My household chaplain and advisor and scholar who advises me on religious matters. He is a former pupil of Saint Augustine and very much of the school that wants to convert all of these lands to Christianity, believing that the human spirit is formed to follow and needs to be led down paths that satisfy the soul. He also sees this latest heathen onslaught as a form of divine retribution for the non-Christian attitudes of the Wessex Celts.’
    Twilight looked steadily into the king’s gray-green eyes. In deference to Alfred’s position he refrained from studying the man’s mind directly.
    ‘That is also how you see it?’
    ‘It is.’
    ‘Then you and your Septimus Godleman and anyone else of the same persuasion will not be able to call upon my enchantments to help you spread your word in Wessex,’ he said quietly. ‘Every plant, tree, blade of grass, animal, and human being in this abundant and elegiac Celtic land is an allegory for non-interference and independence of its chosen way. Why visit the drumbeat of war and the flames of conflict upon a peaceful, poetic, and elegant land in the interests of an alien doctrine that they will not accept and do not want?’
    Twilight’s words fell between them like shards of cold flint.
    Alfred considered this for a moment behind narrowed eyes.
    ‘Then there is nothing else for us to say to each other, veneficus, for besides defending these lands against the invaders, I must also spread God’s word.’ He stood up abruptly, gave a short bow to Rawnie, and walked back to his resting soldiers.
    When the hoof beats had faded, Twilight turned to his wife and tenderly took both her hands in his and spoke directly to her mind.
    It is time you and the children went to Avalon to stay with Guinevere and the lepers again. You will be safe there as before. I fear that it’s going to get very dangerous around Wessex. And though, as you have heard and know from your own experience, I will not assist this King Alfred in his religious domination of these lands, I must join with him and his army in repelling the Viking invader.
    The magnificent wingspan of the sea eagle carried it high on the coastal thermals as it approached land. Its keen eyes picked out
    every detail of the terrain far below, the crashing waves, currents, and gentle eddies, the random movements of shore-dwelling animals, the wheeling gannets and gulls, occasional humans throwing fishing nets, and smoke spilling from the holes in the reed roofs of hamlet hovels just off the shingle-strewn beaches. With its sharp, curved beak held slightly open it tasted and analyzed the fragrant scents of nature mixed with the unclean odours of human habitation drifting upward on the breezes. With all senses tuned to maximum and the spreading tail feathers acting as a rudder, the mighty bird wheeled and cruised up and down