Chapter Five
Summer 519
As summer’s heat slowly took hold, it became clear that Camelot was changing under Mordred’s rule. With most of the Combrogi off fighting at Arthur’s side, he enjoyed nearly absolute power, something to be feared in one so young and rash.
I was not the only one to take note, and that meant our people, already distrustful, became increasingly nervous. It began with rumblings in the countryside. The lowly men and women who came to Camelot on pleading day—a custom Mordred tolerated but delegated to me because it tried his patience—all told tales of the Picts massing as though for some great council. According to one woman, the northern tribes—the Damnonii, Novantae, Selgovae, and Votadini—were growing restless as well, no doubt spooked by the sudden activity of the
