The Mists of Avalon Page #8

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l can bend men to my will.

l am placing the future of this land

in your hands, Mordred.

Will you rise to it, or remain here...

...powerless in the Scottish wilderness?

You made me, Aunt...

...as surely as if you had fashioned me

out of clay.

What do you think my answer will be?

Leave me. Leave!

Why didn't you tell me?

She's come to you, hasn't she?

Why didn't you tell me...

...who my father is?

l was waiting until you were ready.

I'm ready. Viviane believes l am ready.

Viviane! Don't you see

how ruthless she is?

Breeding you

out of her own niece and nephew?

Looking 20 years ahead to a time

when she might have use for you.

But in return...

...she is placing the reins

of power in my hands.

Not she alone, Mordred.

lt was l...

...who ensured that Arthur and Guinevere

have no son of their own.

lt was l who cursed her womb.

So you'd like to see me

on the High Throne...

...with you as High Queen Mother?

Yes.

But nothing can be done now.

Arthur's flame has never burned brighter.

Anyone who raises a hand against him

will be torn to pieces by his companions.

You think l cannot defeat him directly?

But if you win power that way,

it will not last.

Listen to wisdom.

Your enemy is that the king is so loved.

So, Britain's love of her king

must be made somehow less.

How?

He must be discredited.

No man is without flaws.

With the king, it concerns his queen.

l do not like to think that this great king...

...this great man, my father...

...is my enemy.

And that for the sake of Avalon...

...l must bring him down to nothing.

l would rather love him as all men do.

l would like to look on my mother...

...Lady Morgaine.

l would like to look on her...

...who bore me as my mother...

...not as the priestess, or the Goddess.

l am so weary of gods and goddesses.

l am weary of my fate.

Who was yonder old Roman...

...who said,

''Call no man happy until he is dead''?

My task then...

...is to bring that greatest

of all happinesses to my father.

You will be drunk, dear one.

So l will be drunk.

So let it be.

l drink to death and dishonor.

''And the Lord God said unto Abraham:

'''Lo, thou art in thy ninetieth year,

yet l will grant thee a son...

'''...and from his loins

shall spring a people...

'''...as numerous as the stars

in the firmament...

'''...and they shall inherit the earth.'''

Forgive me, my lord,

l came without announcement.

Mordred of Lothian.

l pray only to serve you, sir.

I've heard of your deeds, lad.

You've routed Saxon troops

who outnumbered you 7-to-1 .

l have been questioning those Saxons

who fall into my hands, my lord.

And l believe they are planning an invasion.

But they've been peaceful for 10 years.

They've spent that time building ships.

Hundreds of ships...

...and if l know the Saxon mind,

this time it won't be petty skirmishes.

They will take this country

from shore to shore.

-How could this be?

-it could be true, sir.

Saxons have never been as quiet as this.

l beg of you, sir...

...grant me the order of knighthood.

Let me bring my knowledge to your army.

With my tactics, we will destroy them.

On my honor.

My lords...

...l heard always that a champion's duty

is to meet with all comers.

Now l have cause

to chastise this impudence.

Where did you learn to fight like this?

Are you the son of one of my men?

Not of one of your men, sir.

My father was gone

long before l could know him.

But if you find me familiar...

...perhaps it is my mother

you see in my face.

She is your sister...

...the Lady Morgaine.

Morgaine's son. l don't believe it.

She would have spoken of him.

She would have, my good lady...

...but that l believe there was

some sadness in my making.

l was raised at Orkney...

...by my Aunt Morgause.

Yet you have that regal air

possessed of Morgaine.

Who but the son of my sister

would have marched in here like that?

l can see by your face beyond doubt,

that you are hers.

Welcome to my court, lad, and to my table.

Sit with me and tell me everything.

We shall stay up till morning

getting to know each other.

Men, welcome my nephew.

He is one of us.

When King Uriens died...

...l could not stop thinking ofAvalon.

l knew that one phase

of my life was over...

...and a new one was about to begin.

And much though l still loved Accolon...

...l knew, too, he could not be a part ofit.

Morgaine.

This was your father's favorite view.

I'll be leaving soon.

You could stay.

Thank you.

But every time l look at you, I'll see him.

Where will you go?

l must go back to Avalon.

But if l thought the Mother Goddess

would make it easy for me...

...to come to terms with Viviane...

...l was wrong.

The Saxons are upon us.

Fight!

My men tell me the invasion will come

before the next full moon, my lord.

We are ready for them.

Except in one respect.

And that is?

lf you were to die in battle, sir.

Well, you would fight on.

Lancelot would fight on.

All my brave companions would fight on.

And which of them

would become High King, sire?

You have no designated successor.

l cannot designate a successor

when my queen might yet bear me an heir.

lt is a hope she clings to.

l will not rob her of that.

Whatever the cost to your kingdom?

lf l choose someone

not of my own descent...

...it will split the companions.

There will be war between us

and the Saxons would prevail.

Then choose someone

of your own descent, sir.

l am your son.

l am your son.

But Morgaine is your mother.

lt was she that you slept with

in the great marriage.

She was the virgin huntress.

You coupled with her...

...and together you conceived a child.

l am that child, come now to demand...

...that which is my due!

No, it's not true. it's not true.

You're lying to force Arthur

to promote you beyond your merits.

Arthur, tell him it's not true.

Tell him you never....

You never....

He cannot tell you...

...because he knows what l say is true.

Then all this time

when l could not give you a child....

Mordred is his son.

For many years...

...l gave myself to my husband...

...in the name of our Lord.

For many years,

we prayed to fashion life within me.

But it seems that God

has not heard those prayers.

Perhaps He has heard...

...but did not will it.

But what did He will instead?

That a bastard child...

...sprung from an incestuous bed...

...should triumph

over our tireless devotion.

They say His ways are unknowable.

Of course.

l am too small to understand

the will of God.

Do you think...

...I'm being punished

for the night we spent together?

l don't think it's God who punishes us.

l think we punish ourselves.

Would it not be a comfort to believe...

...just for a time...

...that we create our own heavens

and our own hells?

it would be a comfort.

it would, Lancelot.

Maybe God does not grant you

all the comforts you ask of Him...

...but offers you others

which you refuse to see.

Maybe you should find the comforts

He does offer you...

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