Read Queen of the Summer Stars Online

Authors: Persia Woolley

Tags: #Historical romance

Queen of the Summer Stars

Copyright

Copyright © 2011 by Persia Woolley

Cover and internal design © 2011 by Sourcebooks, Inc.

Cover design by Susan Zucker

Cover images ©
The Soul of the Rose
, 1908 (oil on canvas), Waterhouse, John William (1849–1917)/Private Collection/By courtesy of Julian Hartnoll/The Bridgeman Art Library; graphxarts/iStockphoto.com; leezsnow/iStockphoto.com; quantum_orange/iStockphoto.com

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The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Published by Sourcebooks Landmark, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.

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Originally published in 1990 by Poseidon Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Woolley, Persia.

Queen of the summer stars / by Persia Woolley.

p. cm.—(The Guinevere trilogy ; bk. 2)

1. Guenevere, Queen (Legendary character)—Fiction. 2. Arthurian romances—Adaptations. 3. Queens—Great Britain—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3573.O68Q44 2011

813’.54—dc22

2011002337

To all my mothers—natural, god, in-law, and grand.
And especially to Irene Higman, from whom I learned how important stepmothering can be.
Cast of Characters
 

House of Pendragon

 

Uther—High King of Britain, father of Arthur

Igraine—wife of Uther, mother of Arthur

Arthur—King of Logres, High King of Britain

Guinevere—wife of Arthur

House of Orkney

 

Lot—King of Lothian and the Orkney Isles

Morgause—daughter of Igraine, half-sister of Arthur, widow of King Lot

Gawain—son of Morgause

Gaheris—son of Morgause

Agravain—son of Morgause

Gareth—son of Morgause

Mordred—son of Morgause

House of Northumbria

 

Urien—King of Northumbria, husband of Morgan

Morgan le Fey—daughter of Igraine, half-sister to Arthur. High Priestess and Lady of the Lake

Uwain—son of Morgan and Urien

House of Cornwall

 

Mark—King of Cornwall

Isolde—Mark’s child-bride from Ireland

Tristan—nephew to Mark

Dinadan—Tristan’s best friend

Round Table Fellowship

 

Accolon of Gaul—Morgan le Fey’s lover

Agricola—Roman King of Demetia, mentor to Geraint

Bedivere—Arthur’s foster-brother and lieutenant

Bors—cousin of Lancelot

Cador—Duke of Cornwall

Cei—Arthur’s foster-brother and Seneschal of the Realm

Geraint—King of Devon

Lancelot of the Lake—a Prince of Brittany

Palomides—slave-born Arab

Pelleas—lover of Ettard

Pellam—wounded King of Carbonek

Pellinore—warlord of the Wrekin

Lamorak—Pellinore’s eldest son

Perceval—Pellinore’s youngest son

Ulfin—Chamberlain to Uther, warrior for Arthur

Griflet—son of Ulfin, Master of the Kennels

Women of Camelot

 

Augusta—gossipy lady-in-waiting

Brigit—Irish foster-sister to Guinevere

Brisane—governess to Elaine of Carbonek

Elaine of Astolat—slow-witted lady-in-waiting

Elaine of Carbonek—beautiful daughter of Pellam, very much infatuated with Lancelot

Enid—sharp-tongued lady-in-waiting

Ettard—young companion to Igraine

Lynette—daughter of grounds keeper in London

Vinnie—Roman matron in charge of ladies-in-waiting

Various Heads of State

 

Vortigern—earlier tyrant, married to Rowena

Rowena—daughter of invading Saxon, Hengist

Cerdic—son of Vortigern and Rowena

Anastasius—Emperor in Constantinople

Clovis—King of the Franks

Other Characters

 

Beaumains—mysterious student of Lancelot’s

Cathbad—druid who was Guinevere’s childhood teacher

Dagonet—Arthur’s Court Jester

Frieda—Saxon milkmaid, lover of Griflet

Gwyn of Neath—horsebreeder and builder of the Hall on Glastonbury’s Tor

Illtud—Prince/warrior who became a monk

Gildas—student of Illtud

Paul Aurelian—student of Illtud

Samson—student of Illtud

Kevin—Guinevere’s childhood love

Lucan—Arthur’s gate keeper

Maelgwn—Guinevere’s cousin, King of Gwynedd

Merlin—Arthur’s tutor and mentor, the Mage of Britain

Nimue—priestess and lover of Merlin

Ragnell—leader of nomadic Ancient Ones

Riderich—Arthur’s bard

Taliesin—peasant boy who wants to become a bard

Wehha the Swede—leader of East Anglian Federates

Wihtgar—Saxon Federate settler

Assorted courtiers, pages, musicians, visiting dignitaries, and sprites, according to the reader’s imagination

Preface
 

During the last half of the twentieth century, the authors of novels based on the stories of King Arthur were more or less divided into three categories: those who cast the stories as fantasy, those who see them as “women’s romance,” and those who give them a realistic treatment.

As readers of my first volume,
Child of the Northern Spring
, know, I belong to the last group. Although the characters I’m writing about are superstitious, there are no dragons, no magic swords, no
whooshing
away of islands with a flick of the wrist. There is a place for that kind of sword and sorcery, but it is not in my books.

Nor have I chosen to focus exclusively on the love stories of the famous legend. Like Malory, I prefer to treat them as an integral part of the different characters’ development rather than as the main point of the story.

If Arthur and Guinevere lived (and scholars make cases both for and against their actual existence), it would have been during the period following the fall of the Roman Empire—roughly between 450 and 550
A.D.
This was a time of tremendous change and upheaval throughout Europe, and nowhere was that more evident than in Britain.

Archaeologically we see a gradual dying out of Roman culture among the Britons—they would eventually be conquered by the vigorous, often brutal Anglo-Saxon settlers. But the struggle for supremacy went back and forth between these two factions for well over a century, during which time there was a brief but major Celtic revival reflected in grave goods, art, and religion. And in the midst of that there seems to have been a noticeable peace that lasted for several decades prior to the final Saxon incursions.

It is precisely against this turbulent background that I have set the adventures of the Round Table characters, for legend says that King Arthur led the British forces to victory over the Saxons at the battle of Mt. Badon, after which he reigned for twenty years of peace and prosperity.

While it is with history that I’ve set the stage, it is from the literature that I’ve taken the characters, remaining as true to the legends as a realistic approach allows.

The Round Table cast is a fascinating study in human types. Some of the characters have remained pretty much the same over the centuries, such as Tristan, the big young warrior who falls in love with his king’s wife, or Palomides, the Arab knight who is accepted for his honor and bravery but always holds himself slightly apart.

Others are more complex and have changed over the centuries as the stories have developed. Gawain, for instance, is the knight of greatest courtesy and honor in the earliest stories. But after the medieval romances introduced the Frenchman Lancelot (he was really a Breton), Gawain’s character began to change. Certainly the French versions show him as loutish and hot-tempered, and a decided rake where the women are concerned. I’ve incorporated both aspects and made them part of Gawain’s own growth.

I have also incorporated actual historical figures—Agricola, Geraint, Mark, and Tristan are all considered by scholars to have been real people. And occasionally I’ve played with archaeological finds, such as the Anastasius Bowl, which was part of the treasure retrieved from the Sutton Hoo ship burial. Although the grave itself dates from the seventh century, it contained a silver bowl clearly marked by a smith during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius (491 to 518
A.D.
). More than one archaeologist has puzzled over how that elegant bowl came into the possession of the barbaric Swedes who had settled on the edge of East Anglia—and I couldn’t resist working backward through the genealogies in order to have Arthur give it to the first king of that East Anglian dynasty.

The historical novelist always faces the problem of anachronism and must make the choice between contemporary readability and historical accuracy. In my case I’ve opted for readability, or occasionally for tradition. Therefore all the invading Germanic tribes are referred to as Saxons, though the northern settlers were predominantly Angles, and those in the south included Jutes and Franks as well. Since the Britons themselves called them all Saxons, I note it here strictly for academic accuracy. And while the game of chess probably had not reached Britain by 500
A.D.
, the tradition of Guinevere playing chess with her abductor is so strong, I chose that game rather than the more prosaic draughts, in part because there is so much symbolism connected to the royal pieces of the chess set.

One of the great aspects of the Matter of Britain (as the Round Table stories as a whole are called) lies in the fact that it is a living, viable myth that continues to grow. Each new teller of the tale is indebted in some ways to past versions, and I wish to acknowledge my own debt to Mary Stewart, whose Merlin books continue to be my standard of excellence. Not only have I consciously looked to her for style and approach, but I have also built on her concept of Merlin and Nimue in lifting their relationship out of the typical “gold digger” dynamic it had lingered in so long.

My specific thanks go also to Geoffrey Ashe, whose help and guidance through both the literary and physical landscape verged on the miraculous; to Marion Zimmer Bradley for insights into Morgan le Fey; and to Parke Godwin, who not only allowed me to use the Prydn—a people he created in
Firelord
—but also helped me develop the character of Ragnell.

In the area of research I am particularly grateful to Barbara Childs, who put me in touch with Xenophon’s work on horses; Linda Farley of Crossroads Counseling Center for taking the time to educate me in the dynamics of stress following rape; Ted Johanson, who answered my questions on Roman law; and the librarians of the Auburn-Placer County Library for their patience and help in locating odd bits of information on Britain’s flora and fauna. Since she served as overall godmother to the project, I’d like to thank Marian Jordan.

To all fans who wrote to ask when this second book would be coming out, to the friends and family who have listened patiently to more about Dark Age Britain than they really wanted to know, and particularly to Pete, who keeps telling me it will all be worth it, goes a great big “I couldn’t have done it without you!” I certainly hope you enjoy it.

Persia Woolley

 

Auburn, California

1986–1989

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