She saw. And, painful though the knowledge was, it was also a relief. She had not failed with Arthur, nor had Morgan stolen him from her. He had belonged to Morgan long before she came into his life.

He will toss everything aside if he must – Uther, the high kingship, Britain – before he will give up Morgan.

But any religion would be found lacking if judged solely by its human servants.

When Arthur was present, you did not look at anyone else.

The difference between Morgan and Gwenhwyfar, he found himself thinking, was that while both knew how to give, it was Morgan who knew how to give up.

A barren woman was always tragic, she thought despairingly, but at least her tragedy belonged to herself and her husband alone. When a queen was barren, the tragedy belonged to a nation.

King Arthur is treated like George Washington often is—as a hero who is so noble and so far above the common man that he seems more like a stuffed owl than a real person.