an excerpt from MERLIN'S CHARGE

A bit from my published paperback novel.

Merlin asked Parsifal, “What are you going to do when we see the abbot who sold your father such nonsense?”

“Punch him in the nose.” Then Parsifal excitedly pointed up to the roof of the barn. “Look! It’s Opie!”

Arthur asked, “Who’s Opie?”

“The raven. He loves me. He follows me wherever I travel. Come Opie!” Parsifal called out. “Come to my hand and travel with us!” The raven merely stared down at him, then decided to groom its wings.

Merlin greeted the bird, “Oh hello, you adorable little banshee.”

“Banshee!” Parsifal made a sour face.

“Adorable?” Arthur reminded Merlin. “That might be the same raven that attacked us earlier.”

Merlin winked at the bird. “And a lovely banshee for such a bright day. Has she shrieked out my name, I do pray? I do pray I get to go next. I would love to die and get out of here.”

“That is not a banshee,” Parsifal corrected Merlin. “That’s a bird and he is a raven!”

“She is adorable,” Merlin corrected Parsifal, and then with the power in his staff, began to walk faster.

Arthur said, “Slow down.”

“It looks like rain.”

Arthur and Parsifal followed Merlin toward the abbey, first skirting the lands of the violent knight Balinban so they would not lose their heads. Arthur asked, “How does a king deal with men as mean as knights?”

“String them all up,” Parsifal said. “The land will be safer for it.”

Arthur asked, “How does anybody do that?”

Merlin recommended, “Or you could choose to stay close to your enemy.”

“How does one do that?” Arthur asked.

“By making them think they’re not your enemy, by making them believe you both have some other common enemy.”

“What?”

Merlin restated, “The enemy of your enemy is your friend.”

Parsifal repeated, “I say just string them all up.”

Arthur thought about that a moment. “Merlin, that sounds like a dangerous idea.”

Merlin smiled. “If it’s dangerous then that’s why it’s called an idea.”

Parsifal turned and took one last look at his lands before they were over a far hill. “I must say goodbye to a patch of Christendom.” He waved it off.

Arthur asked Merlin, “Can an entire nation be Christian? Will that be a fate of my kingdom?”

Merlin shook his head. “That’s impossible. By definition. The Christ spoke of turning the other cheek. A nation can’t do that if it wants to be around for more than a day. A nation needs to be able to defend itself. The Golden Rule does not work. Always use the Iron Rule.”

Arthur picked his nose. “What’s that?’

Merlin hit his elbow to stop him. “Do unto others as they do unto you, and you find people learn to treat you nicer.”

Parsifal said, “My father said the whole of Britannia would be a part of Christendom someday, and fight for glory.”

“Perhaps.” Merlin granted him that. “But would it be at the cost of having to ignore all the Christ’s mandates? Can men live in a communal brotherhood and share all?”

“That sounds kind,” Arthur said. “And kind is bad? For a Nation?”

Merlin added, “The meek shall inherit the earth? And if they did, how long would they hold it.”

Arthur grinned. “Maybe the Saxons can all convert from their worship of Odin and then not wish to fight me.”

“Men are ready for peace on earth,” Merlin stated, “only after all the wars have been won to the satisfaction of all.”

Parsifal accused Merlin, “You don’t like Christendom much, do you?”

“I’m a Druid wizard. What can you expect? But I’m here to teach Arthur and he’ll rule a land of many faiths: old Roman Mithraism, new Roman Christendom, Saxon Odinism, and our own old Druid ways. I’ll try to speak about them all in just enough detail so we won’t have a King someday who is utterly daft.”