" 'I want you to come with us to Ynys Mon,' he said, indicating Nimue, 'with us and a virgin.'
" 'A virgin?' I asked.
" 'Because only a virgin, Derfel, can find the Cauldron of Clyddno Eiddyn. And none of us, I think, qualifies,' he added the last words sarcastically.
" 'And the Cauldron,' I said slowly, 'is on Ynys Mon.' Merlin nodded and I shuddered to think of such an errand. The Cauldron of Clyddno Eiddyn was one of the thirteen magical Treasures of Britain that had been dispersed when the Romans had laid waste Ynys Mon, and Merlin's final ambition of his long life was to reassemble the Treasures, but the Cauldron was his real prize. With the Cauldron, he claimed, he could control the Gods and destroy the Christians, and that was why, with a bitter tasting mouth and a belly rank...