Gabran

Gabran shut the lid of the box with a snap, but when Mordred reached to lift it Morgause stopped him.

The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983

Only her chief counsellor, and Gabran her current lover, knowing her well, guessed that the next question mattered.

The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983

Gabran to go with them, and men of the royal guard ...

The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983

Gabran turned on his heel and went into the bedchamber.

The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983

Gabran will go with you, and a slave to carry your goods.

The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983

Then the queen turned away, dismissing him, and Gabran was at his elbow, hurrying him from the room, along the corridor, and out into the courtyard where the coloured sky of sunset was already fading into dusk, and the air smelled of the smoke of fires where suppers were being cooked.

The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983

So Gabran said, crisply: "Come, your hand," and with Mordred behind him on the cob, and clinging to him like a young peregrine to its ball of fleece, he cantered off along the track that led to Seals '

The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983

She did not look at Gabran, elegant in the doorway.

The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983

Gabran did not trouble to explain that his orders had been even more explicit.

The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983

So the years had gone by, and Mordred remained in ignorance, his secret known only to his mother and to Gabran.

The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983