VIIIThey had been walking for ten days, now, towards the west, meeting few men, avoiding such meetings when they could. Ambrosius slept well, like a young child, smiling in his dreams. Yet by day it was apparent that his strength was failing. He tired easily and often forgot why they were making the long journey across unfriendly country. Then Medrodus would try to tell him what their purpose was, speaking to him slowly and gently and holding his hand to emphasise certain points.
“We go to the western territories,” he would say, as though to a backward child. “We go to raise men who will drive out the Saxon from Britain and let us live again as we did under Rome.”
And Ambrosius would nod and smile and repeat his words. Yet sometimes, suddenly and without warning, the old man would sit up
