Fighting for her life, Catrin quickly reconnected to the raven.
Attack!
The raven again swooped at Agrona. A few screeches later, Catrin felt Agrona’s hand slack around her throat. Catrin peeled the fingers away and rolled to face her foe. When she saw the raven’s black wings flapping at Agrona’s face, she swiftly kicked the Druidess in the stomach, the force slamming Agrona on her back.
Catrin jumped up, scooped the dagger into her hand, and pressed it against Agrona’s belly. “Get up!” she demanded.
The Druidess staggered to her feet and slowly backed away. Taking no chances that she might use one of her tricks, Catrin brandished the weapon and warned, “Do not even think of escape.”
Agrona’s lips pressed into a firm line as she continued backing away. Catrin stepped forward and pushed the dagger harder into Agrona’s belly.
“Not another step!”
Agrona’s eyes widened with fear. “Put your weapon aside. I’ll do whatever you say.”
Releasing the pressure on the handle, Catrin ordered, “Put the shackles around your ankles.”
Agrona kept her eyes fixed on Catrin as she walked to the back and wrapped the shackles around her ankles. Catrin inserted the pin to lock them, and she mocked, “Let me see you use your magic to get out of these.”
Agrona rattled the chains. “You will regret this, sorceress! The gods will curse you for what you have done!”
“I think not,” Catrin said, taking one last look at Agrona’s blood-soaked face. She considered killing the traitorous Druidess, but sensed a powerful force holding her back.
With dagger in hand, Catrin jarred the heavy door open and let the raven and herself out. Outside, she sprinted toward the direction of her raven’s flight over the forest canopy. Melding her thoughts with the raven, she ordered it to find her mother.
44
Queen’s Mandate
… but her rage finally boiled to the surface and she bitterly blasted, “Then it was you who ordered Marcellus killed!”
Catrin followed her raven through a maze of unfamiliar woodlands. Several times the raven disappeared into thickets, but then appeared above the trees. Unfamiliar with the landscape, she feared backtracking to Agrona’s lair. She looked around to get her bearings. Vines snaking over tree branches appeared eerily similar to where Marrock had taken her that fateful day. The fear she felt as a little girl of not being able to find her way home disquieted her again. She needed an aerial view, so she could locate her village and possibly find her mother.
She summoned the raven that was flying overhead. It swooped down and landed on her extended arm. Sitting cross-legged behind the cover of scrubby bushes, she entered the raven’s mind. Step-by-step, she switched to its eyesight and took control of its movements. Through the raven’s eyes, she confirmed her motionless human body was safely hidden from predators. She then directed her raven to fly above the verdure canopy of the dense woods. Spreading the raven’s fingertipped wings, she felt a cool breeze lift her above the patchworks of forests, pastures, and farmlands. With the aerial view, she determined Agrona’s hut was halfway between the village and the white cliffs. The road near the river meandering around her village was congested with people and farm animals. She flew lower to discern the riders, but could not find her mother. Sensing that her mother was nearby, she circled the dense forest where she had left her human form. She finally spotted her mother riding the black stallion. Next to her was Cynwrig astride a gray gelding.
Excited to find them, Catrin lurched out of the raven’s mind and burst through what appeared to be green aureoles swirling around her. When she returned to her human form, her head felt as if a stake had rammed through it.
Groggy, she crumbled to the ground.
When she slowly came to her human senses, she heard a woman say, “Answer me. Answer me.” Then her mother’s face came into view, Cynwrig beside her.
Unable to speak, Catrin struggled to wiggle her stiff fingers. As sensation returned to her muscles, it felt as if her skin was ripping apart. The queen placed a hand on Catrin’s forehead and asked if she was all right.
Her tongue still numb, Catrin garbled, “Wha … hap … pen?”
“We were on our way to Agrona’s hut to fetch you,” Rhiannon said, “but we halted when we saw your raven hop behind these bushes and shriek. Then something strange happened.” The queen widened her eyes at Cynwrig.
Mouth agape, Cynwrig shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying. “The raven disappeared just as you appeared.”
Though what Cynwrig observed confounded Catrin, her most urgent priority was to warn them of Agrona. Her tongue felt as thick as honey as she uttered, “Do … do not … take me back.” The rest of the words stuck in her throat, and she gestured for water.
Cynwrig brought an animal-skinned bag to her lips from which she drank. As she sipped, the water drooled out of her mouth. She clasped his arm and grunted, the words refusing to roll off her tongue.
Cynwrig gave her a bewildered look and then turned to the queen. “Something is not right.”
The queen looked at the sky now darkening with billowing clouds. “Let us seek shelter at the cave nearby. There I can care for my daughter.”
Cynwrig nodded. “It should be stockpiled with everything we need.”
Without a further word, he hoisted Catrin up. Dangling off his shoulder, she became woozy with blood rushing into her head. His jolting strides exacerbated her dizziness.
After several moments of bouncing, Catrin was pulled off Cynwrig’s shoulder and leaned in a sitting position against the cave’s wall close to the entrance. The stone wall was hard on her back, and drops of water from a lichen-crusted ceiling annoyingly dripped on her face. Looking around, she saw an arsenal of spears, shields, and swords stacked against the wall across from her. Outside, near the cave’s entrance, her mother was hobbling the horses.
The queen then stepped inside the cave and placed a hand on Catrin’s forehead. “Do you feel better?”
“Yes,” Catrin muttered. Although relieved to talk again, she nonetheless felt fatigued and feverish. “Where are we?”
“In a cave. Near the river.”
It finally dawned on Catrin that this was where she had left Mor and Belinus before her liaison with Marcellus. Shivering from what she assumed were the ill effects of connecting so long with her raven, she thought it strange that the cave was now stockpiled with weapons, foodstuff, and strong-smelling sacks of medicinal herbs.
When the specter of Agrona loomed in Catrin’s mind again, she urgently told her mother, “Don’t take me back to Agrona! She wants my powers! She shackled me, drugged me. I had to escape.”
Rhiannon gripped Catrin’s arm. “Slow down, you’re not making any sense.”
Catrin began shaking uncontrollably and her teeth clacked. “Agrona … she said … the Romans killed Father. You were dead.”
Rhiannon creased her brow into a deep furrow. “Your father yet lives, but he is a Roman prisoner. I left home over a week ago to negotiate his freedom. Marcellus is to be exchanged for him. That is why I came to fetch you.”
“Does Agrona know this?”
“I never told her.”
Catrin felt her heart seize in her chest. “Oh, gods! Agrona plans to sacrifice Marcellus tomorrow! Mother, you can’t let her do this. She is evil.”
Rhiannon tensed. “That can’t happen! We need Marcellus alive.”
“Why did the Romans take Father prisoner?”
Rhiannon told Catrin everything that had happened after her warriors discovered the forged message from Senator Antonius on a dead Catuvellauni courier. Fearing that the king would be executed, she admitted threatening the senator that she would sacrifice Marcellus, unless Amren was returned.
The words “sacrifice Marcellus” hooked in Catrin’s min
d. Anger burned in her chest that it was her mother that ordered Marcellus sacrificed, not Agrona. She half-listened to her mother continue the story, but her rage finally broiled to the surface and she bitterly blasted, “Then it was you who ordered Marcellus killed!”
The queen quickly replied, “Only if I did not return. That is why I raced back to get you. Only you can escort Marcellus to the prisoner exchange.”
“Me, me …” Catrin stammered, fighting for composure. “I don’t understand.”
“That was what the senator demanded. He also retains Trystan. Right now I don’t know who to trust from our village.”
“Agrona is a traitor!” Catrin exclaimed. “When you forced me to go with her, I saw Marrock in the shape of a wolf at her lair. I’m sure they are conspiring to start a war between the Romans and us.”
Cynwrig interjected. “My queen, I agree that Agrona can’t be trusted. She mustn’t know we have Catrin and that we’ve talked with the senator.”
Rhiannon paused and lifted her eyes. “I agree. We’ll only tell her that we spoke with the Regni king who has agreed to aid us. We’ll play along that we support her decision to sacrifice Marcellus—”
Catrin broke off her mother’s words. “No! You cannot do that!”
“Let me finish!” Rhiannon snapped. “With everyone focused on the sacrifice, this is a golden opportunity to make it appear as if the Romans helped Marcellus escape. Catrin, you could bring him here to hide until the prisoner exchange.”
Cynwrig added, “I could remain hidden in the trees during the actual exchange. If there is any hint of Roman treachery, I will unleash fury.”
“This is a bold plan,” Rhiannon said, tapping her chin. “It might work. That way, no one from the village will suspect the prisoner swap is taking place. Afterward, Amren can deal with all the traitors in his inner circle.”
The queen turned to Catrin. “When you make the exchange, tell the Romans you will not hesitate to kill Marcellus, if there is any suggestion of treachery. Once your father and Trystan are freed, run like a deer to the cover of this cave. If a conflict breaks out, do what you must to save yourself, even if that means killing Marcellus.”
Catrin gasped. “I could never kill him! I love him.”
Rhiannon’s jaw clenched. “What did you just say?”
“I love him,” Catrin repeated.
Rhiannon snapped her eyes at Cynwrig. “Leave us!”
When he left the cave, Catrin met the fiery stare of her mother.
Rhiannon lashed, “Why must you force me to question your loyalty? Your family comes first, not this Roman you hardly know. You are naïve to believe he loves you. He would not hesitate to sacrifice you to save himself. Your blind loyalty to him will not only destroy you, but it will destroy our family.”
“I will never kill Marcellus,” Catrin proclaimed. “I know in my heart he is not the enemy. We pledged ourselves as husband and wife before Mother Goddess.”
“Dreams! Visions! Pledges!” Rhiannon snarled, pacing back and forth like a wild animal. “Are you really that stupid? Having sex does not constitute a marriage. Almighty gods, what am I to do with you?” She gripped Catrin by the shirt and yanked her closer. “The only way you can be with that Roman is to be his whore. Is that what you want? Cater to his sexual needs? He deceived you. Once he is through with you, he will dump you as a trollop.”
Enraged, Catrin shoved her mother back. “The raven has shown me a vision that Marcellus will save me from a firestorm at our village. He is not the traitor; Agrona and Marrock are!”
Rhiannon drew in a furious breath and roared, “Did you not hear a word I said?” She backhanded Catrin across the face so hard, the force propelled her against the cave’s jagged wall.
With the air knocked out of her lungs, Catrin gaped in horror as her mother raised a fist. She shrunk back, crossing her arms to defend herself from her mother’s fury.
“Gods no, Mother! Gods no, don’t hit me!”
Rhiannon shook her clenched hand at Catrin’s face. “You will not defy me. You hold your father’s life, your family’s lives, and our kingdom in your hands. You will not betray us—not now, not ever!”
Catrin defiantly staggered to her feet and met her mother’s seething glare. “I do hold my family close to my heart; I am not a traitor!”
The queen gripped Catrin’s arm and yanked her outside the cave’s opening, where they continued hurling venomous words at each other. When Cynwrig walked out of the trees with a handful of firewood, they quieted. He asked, “What are you two shouting about?”
“I am having a discussion with my daughter,” Rhiannon said sharply and gestured for him to go into the cave. “Start a fire for the night.”
Cynwrig’s eyes flitted to Rhiannon, then Catrin, and back to the queen again. He shook his head and disappeared into the cave, leaving the women alone to continue their heated argument.
The pain of being accused as a traitor ripped through Catrin’s heart, and she choked back angry tears to tell her mother, “Why won’t you believe me about Agrona? I suffered at her hands because of you. Why did you allow her to take me? She is the traitor—not me, not Marcellus.”
Though Rhiannon did not say a word, Catrin withered under her mother’s oppressive glare as gentle rain began falling. Chilled, she looked away, so her mother would not see the tears mixing with the raindrops on her face.
After a few moments, Catrin felt the light touch of her mother’s arm on her shoulder.
“I do believe you. Let us go back inside and discuss this with quieter tongues.”
Catrin followed her mother back into the cave, now illuminated with torches that Cynwrig had lit. Shivering, Catrin retrieved some woolen blankets from supplies in the back and gave one to her mother. They both cocooned inside their blankets as Cynwrig placed more tinder and logs on the fire. The flames shot higher as they huddled near the fire’s heat to warm their hands.
Waiting for her mother to initiate the conversation, Catrin apprehensively gazed at the flickering orange flames. Her mother said in Latin, “I will now speak with you, but I don’t want Cynwrig to know what we are saying.”
Catrin turned to her mother. “I understand.”
Rhiannon’s face turned grim as she said with a somber voice, “Although I have no doubt that what you said about Agrona is true, I still think Marcellus misled you. First love is often most cruel. This is especially true when you can’t bind it with a marriage that both families accept. Believe me when I say love is a hot flame that will burn out, and this is true for Marcellus. The only true love is what you hold for your family. With everything that has happened, you must take on the mantle of a warrior and defend our family and kingdom from the scourge of our enemies.”
The queen then hardened her eyes into cold steel. “Great rulers are forged in the hot fires of sacrifice, duty, and honor. I saw the hate the senator had for me. He will never allow you to stay with Marcellus, except as his slave whore. In Rome, Lucius Antonius is the paterfamilias. Do you know what that means?”
Catrin shook her head.
“A Roman father has complete control over his family—wife, children, and slaves. If they disobey him, he has the power of life and death over them. This is not true for you. A woman can own property and be a ruler, a warrior, a Druidess, a mother. You are judged by the people for your actions. Heed my warning. If the Romans ever capture you, they will brutally rape you before they kill you, or far worse—sell you into slavery to defile your body. That is what Romans do to people they conquer—men, women, boys, and girls. This is their way to demonstrate their domination.”
Though her mother’s words stung with truth for others, it did not hold true for Catrin. She insisted, “Marcellus is not like this. I am sure once he is released, he will help us find a way to make a truce with his father. It is Marrock who has turned the Romans against us.”
The queen blew out an exasperated breath. “No doubt Marrock is a despicable man—cunning and ruthless as a wolf. Nonetheless, the Romans barter with any predator that serves their purpose. If Marrock ever captures me, I fear what he might do. He blames me for his banishment.”
Catrin said, “Father banished Marrock, not you.”
“Marrock blames me!” Rhiannon said bitterly. “I accused him of trying to rape and to kill you when we were in the presence of your father. Marrock pulled a knife on me, but Amren grabbed his wrist and turned the blade on him. The only reason Amren did not kill Marrock was because Agrona intervened and advised him to banish his son instead. A mistake I fear we will regret for the rest of our lives.”
Surprised by the revelation, Catrin said, “Mother … why did you … not tell me?”
“Because you were dealing with your own nightmares from what he did to you. That has now changed. You must now prepare yourself to confront that monster and fight him to the death. If either Marrock or the Romans capture us, they will do unspeakable things. Life never presents us with clear choices. If the Romans resort to treachery at the prisoner exchange, you will have to fight for your life. If that means killing Marcellus, then you must do it. And if you are captured, you will receive greater mercy by turning the blade on yourself than what your captors will do. Do you understand?”
Believing in her heart that Marcellus would never betray her, Catrin said, “I understand. I will do what is necessary to save everyone I love.”
45
Perilous Escape
Without some kind of tool to snap the chains from his shackles, it would be impossible to escape. If I am to die, he resolved, I will go down fighting.
The rumble of pig grunts shook Marcellus out of his afternoon snooze, and the stench of dung rudely greeted his nostrils. Sitting in an open entrance stall, he stared at his shackled ankle. His muscles ached, and it took all his strength to stand. He could only take a couple steps before the chain constrained him. Through the wall’s cracks, he saw the hogs wallowing in the muck. He grumbled to himself, “I am a Roman nobleman, yet I am treated worse than those pigs!”
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