Prologue

I am named Guenhumara in honour of my great grandmother. They say that her mother was called Guenhumara too, and all women in the family for a thousand years before that. They all had red hair and white skin with freckle spots like me, and I suppose that they all had my pointed ears which I hide behind my ears. Father teases me about my ears, he says that there must be Pixy in my blood but Pixies died out a long time ago when our land was young.

Merlin says that I am beautiful but I do not believe him. I have stared into the mirror, turning my face this way and that, but I cannot see beauty. My teeth are good I suppose, I keep them clean with willow sticks, but my skin is as white as alabaster and who would choose green eyes if they had a choice? I care not for beauty in any case. Old mother Ban, who is as ugly as sin, is always saying ‘When age arrives beauty departs’ ... but I think that she was born ugly to tell the truth!

Merlin tells everyone who will listen that he is a thousand years old, but he is a liar like most people. Men in the village swear that he goes to sleep in a cave in Ynys Mon for a hundred years when he wearies of life, but men in the village still believe that Ogres walk the land! I must admit that I believe in some kinds of magic, especially the really bad kind. There was a land called Lyonesse for instance that was destroyed by bad magic. It lay to the west of Dunmonia where men still mine for tin and was ruled by a warrior race of women. Well, that’s what mother Ban says, and who would argue with her! She hates men so much that father swears that a young man must have promised marriage to her many years ago but left her for another. A shame if that’s true, but she shouldn’t spit in the dust when young men cross her path!

I am promised in marriage. I have never met him of course, but I swear that I will not accept him on my wedding night if he is ill-favoured. He is much older than me and a great Prince, but I will run away if he is ugly! His name is Arthurus and his men call him ‘The Bear’ because he killed one with a spear when he was young, so I suppose he is brave at least.

The story that follows is taken from an old parchment that Merlin gave me last year. If any of it is true then maybe my ancestors were creatures from the shadow-world, but I would rather believe that it is just a story for simple folk like mother Ban. I enjoyed reading it though, and I hope that you do too. 

Reviews

[barleygirl]

I like stories that harken to the legends of Merlin & King Arthur, so your story piques my interest right away. Strong familiarity while also being a uniquely told story. The narrator & all generations of her grandmothers have that long "G" name, but mother has a different name? (Ban) Seems this could be explained, since the naming convention is a big enuf deal to open your story with it. (I hope we eventually find out the significance of the "G" name). In P3, you rant about "bad magic" but this could be pumped up if we could actually SEE, HEAR, KNOW, FEEL what you mean by "bad"!?!?! Also, "promised marriage & left her for another" sounds like a weak predictable excuse . . . this could be pumped up by inventing some unheard-of outrage that stands out from all other outrages. In short, I love the direction & attitude of your storytelling, but some details could use sharpening, here & there (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Laura Kate]

Thank you so much for reading Margie and for sharing your wonderful insights! I am so grateful for your feedback and suggestions, I'll look forward to taking them on board when I run through another edit :) xx