Chapter Twenty-One
The metallic clanging and air-splitting whoosh of swords being raised filled the air. But as soon as they were raised, they were lowered like dead weight when the knights were confronted with the man standing in the entryway.
Merlin stood before us in robes. He’d been a tall, lanky giant as a youth. His cheeks had always been gaunt, never quite filling out. His chest, even through his tunics, had always appeared sunken in when he stood next to his brother or another of the knights. He’d always looked to me like a child wearing a warrior’s body.
Merlin looked ancient now. His dark hair was snow white. The facial hair that had never come for him in Camelot now extended down his chest as a downy beard of wisps. He only needed the pointy cap to complete the look of the Di
