The Eaorl (The Casere Book 2)

by Michael O'Neill

  The Reeve banged a gavel on the table and the Wealdend stood to silence.

  ‘Witan of Trokia. We today pay homage to all those that sacrificed themselves in this campaign and to say thanks to a man who has chosen to do something that perhaps no other man in Meshech could do. We say thanks also to the men who ably led the wiga under their command, and they are with us today.’

  They clapped and then she continued.

  ‘Seldom does the fate of so many things hinge around a single event or a single man. Long ago in the history of this island there was such a man and it led to the formation of this and the other three Healdend demesnes. Again we see such a man, and, and the saving of Trokia is such an event. We do not know where these events will lead us or Meshech. We once again place ourselves at the mercy of our Gyden.’

  ‘A Gyden that has forsaken us.’ muttered Beofrith il Gebal, the oldest man in the room.

  ‘Perhaps Beofrith, perhaps.’ She continued on with other discussions from a list prepared by the Reeve. The worth of Abrecan had been demonstrated already as he was much better informed on matters within the town then even the Reeve and his staff.

  He finally announced that Cenlinda il Moha wished to raise a matter for judgement by the Witan.

  Cenlinda stood and informed the Witan of her sale of several Thane demesnes to Conn and asked that they be ratified. She also mentioned that Conn wished them to be merged into one demesne.

  Kiley was surprised. ‘Thane, you have been busy. I would ask if you are capable of managing such a large demesne but the point is moot. Would you like to speak of your plans for the demesne?’

  Conn spent some time telling them of his projects in other parts of Meshech. He finished with the request that the demesne not be that of a Thane but that of a Baron.

  All of the Witan were very surprised – except for Aisly and Kiley who recognized it because of the discussions about the “House of Assembly”. They discussed it for a while before agreeing – it was hard to refuse the wishes of someone who had saved you from death.

  ‘Baron Hebal,’ Kiley tried out his new title, ‘Have you given some thought to what else we may offer you as a reward for your service to Trokia?’

  Conn stood, as was the custom for those speaking. ‘Five things, Wealdend. I would have the seat that is vacant in your Witan.’

  The Eaorls all looked confused until Beofrith nodded in understanding. ‘Kuita – he would have the Eaorldom of Kuita…’

  Kiley was shocked. ‘Why? Kuita is abandoned – it was taken by pirates and renegades over a hundred years ago – the last Eaorl was Ingar and he died in…’ She looked to her official who were rummaging through scrolls.

  One called out, ‘790 – he died trying to regain Kuita – no one has tried since.’

  ‘…790. The Kanian Eaorls of Futah and Gagah are to the south, while Zedah is to the west but they are protected by mountains. The Pirates have a reputation for savagery. They control the bay of Kania and extract tribute from all who pass.

  Conn disagreed. ‘Not always – times are currently hard for the pirates as they do not attempt to extract tribute from any of my ships – and as the vast majority of trade into Kania now is on my ships…’

  She laughed. ‘So the sun has risen in the bay of Kania. Even given that fact, I cannot imagine why you would want that Eaorldom – I’m even surprised to know that you even know about it. However, if that is what you want, I am delighted to grant you the title Eaorl of Kuita – if the Eaorls have no objections.’ None did so Conn was declared Eaorl of Kuita. He was no longer a guest of the Witan, he was a member.

  ‘Just a Baron a few moments ago, and now an Eaorl! What are your other requests? Do you want to be Healdend next?’

  They all laughed but she was only half joking.

  Conn shook his head, ‘No, but given the enormous assistance that Trokia has received from these three men sitting with me,’ Conn had forewarned them, ‘I would like to propose that the Thane of Hatu take Sir Daigh il Ar as bedda, that Cenlinda, Eaorl of Moha, take Sir Leogar il Farah, and Godlyn, Eaorl of Ridlah take Sir Eocho il Plevan.’

  Of course the only one that was really surprised amongst those named was Eadan, the heir of Trokia – and heir of Hatu. Aisly did know of the discussion – Conn had mentioned it to her in the throes of passion. At that particular moment she might have agreed to anything. Conn was unsure if she had mentioned it to her mother – and from her reaction, it was clear that she hadn’t.

  Kiley’s confusion showed on her face, and she sat down quickly. Poor Eadan flushed bright red, but she stayed silent and snuck glances at her proposed bedda. They waited for the Wealdend to speak, and when finally she did, she was still confused. ‘I don’t know what to say. Ridlah, what do you say to this proposal?’

  Godlyn nodded. ‘If it pleases the Witan, I have no objection.’

  ‘You knew about this?’

  ‘The Thane… sorry, the Eaorl of Kuita did happen to mention it…’

  ‘But not to me…’ Kiley looked at Cenlinda. ‘So I’m to presume that you had prior warning as well?’

  Cenlinda nodded. ‘I did – and I also have no objection.’

  ‘Cousin Eachna, what do you say to this proposal? Am I the only one to not know?’ Eadan was not yet sixteen so her opinion did not matter.

  The Eaorl of Hatu nodded. ‘I did not know, cousin, and would certainly have appreciated knowing in advance.’ Eachna was just over forty, and Conn had gathered was worse than her cousin Aisly in her predatory behaviour. She was also taller and extremely voluptuous – in contrast to her daughter. ‘That being said, whilst I have some concerns as to an appropriate dowry given my daughter’s status, if the … the Eaorl of Kuita assures me that as satisfactory conclusion to such negotiations will be forthcoming, I will withdraw any objections I might have.’

  Conn noticed the filthy look that Aisly gave her cousin but she said nothing. Conn agreed, knowing that some of the conditions might include late night negotiations. He bowed, ‘I feel confident that whatever conditions the Eaorl of Hatu has; she will be satisfied with the outcome.’

  ‘Very well, I have no objection either. I will arrange to start negotiations with the Eaorl … after lunch perhaps?’ She looked at Conn with a knowing smile, and a tiny flush of red on her cheeks, and a lick of her lips. Conn wasn’t sure which of them was going to be dessert.

  Kiley resumed her negotiations. ‘And your last request?’

  ‘I wish to have the demesne of Ushu in Temah. The position is vacant and I have already made expensive alterations. I understand that there are several by it side also vacant; I would have those included and the title there also changed to Baron of Ushu.’

  Aelfrys, the new Eaorl, had lost his father in the campaign, was very agreeable – especially after Conn offered to bring in craeftiga to help rebuild his town. Conn later arranged for a bedda for him from Menia.

  There being no objections, the last item to be determined was the “House of Assembly”, and while the discussions were robust, inevitable Conn had his way – a meeting of the new House of Assembly would be called in the next summer. There would be time for elections in the spring. Conn’s Logistics Corp would manage the elections.

  The day was late, they had eaten lunch at the table, and Conn was on his way out when he heard Eachna call his name.

  She walked over to him; her large bosom straining to escape. ‘Now, about the dowry…’

  Conn took the initiative. ‘Perhaps there is somewhere private that we can discuss such sensitive matters?’

  ‘I agree completely. Please follow me…’

  Conn followed the Eaorl whose pace quickened as they walked around the many turns of the higgledy-piggledy mess of building that made up the castle.

  She found a door and opened it. ‘These are my rooms in the donjon. This will be a suitable place to conduct negotiations. Did anything come up while we were walking for us to negotiate about?’ Eachna was undoing her top as she followed Conn in
.

  ‘Indeed something large did… its significance may be surprising.’

  ‘Gyden, I hope so…’

  ~x067~

  By the time Conn returned to the Inn that evening, they were eating dinner. Halla gave him another ‘told you so look of disapproval’. Conn gave her the ‘what choice did I have’ look, and she responded with the ‘well, don’t look so happy about it’ look. A surprisingly jealous theow – though nothing was mentioned about Jofrid and her midnight visits.

  Derryth expressed his surprise at the choice of demesne; he was still playing with the box. ‘Kuita – I’ve never heard of it – and I don’t know where it is.’

  Conn smiled; ‘It is the most northern demesne in Trokia and faces the Kanian gulf; it is also near Cyme. I think we will find something very interesting there – after we fix up the pirate problem.’

  Jofrid made no hint of her recent familiarity with Conn either. It suddenly occurred to Conn that her change in behaviour was caused by the fact that all the Valkeri would be returning to Cyme soon – with the departure of the Rakians, the Valkeri would leave as well. She looked up from her meal.

  ‘I know of Kuita – the pirate lord calls himself the Eaorl of Kuita I think – or at least Thane. Of course, the coast line is treacherous; which is why the pirates flourish without fear of retribution. They know their way in and around the shoals. It might also surprise you to know that my ancestor was the last Eaorl of Kuita…’

  Everyone was surprised ‘I thought that Valkeri did not know who their fathers are?’

  ‘Generally that is true – but some stories pass down. Halla knows who her father is because the son of the Eaorl of Tindara bragged about the number of times he bedded Sibbe. The Rakians lack discretion about such things. Sibbe chose poorly.’

  Conn had personal experiences with Sibbe. He doubted that the Aebeling was an innocent in the exchange – she would have known exactly what she was doing.

  Jofrid continued. ‘I know because my ancestor was actually conceived in Cyme – which is very unusual. Leoganda, Aebeling of Cyme, had two daughters – one was the ancestor of Sibbe and Halla while the other was my ancestor. It is said that Inga, Eaorl of Kuita, went to Cyme to ask for assistance in defeating the Pirates – but Leoganda refused – she did however fornicate with him before sending him away, so at least he went away with a smile on his face. My great grandmother was the result. So how are you going to be able to do what others can’t?’

  Derryth, still playing with the carved box, burst out laughing. ‘Jofrid, tell me what the Feorhhyrde has done that anyone else could do?’ He looked at Conn keenly, handing the box to him. ‘This box is driving me crazy. So what is your plan? Do you have a plan yet? Not that it matters, because most things we do, we don’t have a plan for… least not one that make sense before it is done.’

  Conn ignored the comment, studying the box intently. ‘Firstly we need to get the fyrd there. There is no easy access by road; we could march over the mountains from Futah but that is dangerous because there are people guarding that road – and it’s a small road. It would be much easier if we could cross the mountains from Zedah because there used to be a road there...’

  ‘Road? What road?

  ‘The bocere showed me some ancient papers that mentioned the length of time it took to visit Kuita by road.’

  Conn had brought over bocere trained in Lyciak to work in the Trokian library to train people here – the program to transfer all the scrolls to codex, as was being undertaken in Lyciak, Moesiak and Silekiak, was a massive task and would take decades to complete. Lykia had its first university in operation – and the main fields of study included engineering, science, medicine, law, and bocere. The latter discipline included librarians, teachers, scribes, and stewards, amongst others.

  ‘So what happened to it? Roads don’t just disappear?’

  ‘True but I don’t know – but if it was still there, somewhere, it would save us having to organize a full sea borne attack from Dor or Menia. Too many people are exposed when landing. I want to avoid that. … Derryth, pass me the bamboo pin.’

  Derryth did so and Conn took the sliver of bamboo and pushed into a small hole on the bottom.

  Derryth admonished him. ‘I tried that – it doesn’t work’

  ‘Ah, but did you try all four?

  ‘At the same time? Of course not… I only have one piece of bamboo…’

  Conn broke off and inserted three more pins into the base and as he did so, the base separated into two – a piece the same width and two thirds the length of the box disconnected itself from the base. Conn pulled it down to display a secret cavity inside the box. Inside was that would have been an oiled cloth; it was now black and hard, and it crumbled as he took it out.

  ‘So what do we have here?’ Conn asked rhetorically. Brushing away the black powder he unveiled a gold bangle – quite solid, and about three inches in diameter. He inspected it before handing it to Derryth. “Do you have any ideas?’

  ‘The script is ancient – even I cannot read it – but I think it is Sythan. But it looks like a Torc. Just one too small for an adult. You don’t suppose…’

  ‘Surely not…’

  ‘If so, it means…

  Halla and Jofrid looked at each other in confusion, and annoyance. ‘Will someone please explain – enough with the riddles… what is it?’

  Derryth handed the band to the girls. ‘The only person ever known to wear a Torc in Meshech was the Casere. The last Casere was Goibniu – he died around 580. Supposedly he was wearing the Torc when he died, but it hasn’t been seen since. The question is how could it be something that has been lost for so long turn up here – in Trokia – in a wooden box?’

  ‘It is certainly not something you see every day.’

  ‘And what does it mean?’ Halla was still confused.

  ‘And what are you going to do with it?’ Derryth asked.

  ‘I’m not sure – I can hardly wear it on my wrist – it is too …’ Conn was going to say small as he held the band over his fingers wrist to show the impossibility and it slipped out of his hand and slipped over his wrist to then fit perfectly. Everyone looked shocked.

  ‘That I certainly didn’t expect to happen. Well, Derryth, that answers your question. I carry it around with me.’

  ‘Is it safe?’ Halla asked, grasping the band and trying to remove it. ‘It doesn’t seem to want to come off.’

  Conn retrieved his hand from Halla. ‘I don’t think it will come off now. As to why and how, that is information for another day. Anyway; to bed. Kiley has invited us to breakfast with her in the morning.’

  Not long later Conn was in his room and answered a knock on the door; he suspected it would be Halla.

  It wasn’t; it was Jofrid, wearing almost nothing.

  ‘I was wondering if you needed to be tucked in again…’

  ‘Always.’

  ~x070~

  Later, as they lay hot and exhausted on the bed, naked, Jofrid noticed the sword that he had been given, Kiley, out of the box. She asked why. Conn fetched it and showed it to her, explaining the issues he had with it.

  She was about to pick up the sword by the handle but stopped. Conn asked what the matter was.

  ‘Nothing, I just changed my mind. Is it just me or is that gem glowing slightly?’

  Conn looked at her, looked at the gem and shook his head in disbelief. He walked to one of his packs and removed tools, including a small kunai.

  Jofrid suddenly looked surprised, also scared. ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘Nothing to worry about. The gem is safe.’ He sat down beside the naked Jofrid and explained. ‘I’m going to remove the gem from the pommel – whilst it looks small, it isn’t. If I’m not mistake, this is a heart-stone.

  ‘Lilith’s heart-stone? You have found Lilith’s heart-stone in the pommel of a sword from Silekia? A sword that you think belonged to Osstan, the first Casere?’

  ‘I won’t know until I t
ake it back to Silekia.’ Conn had been busily removing the gold – it was quite soft – until he had fully removed it from the pommel; the gold was definitely an afterthought – but the cavity in the sword wasn’t – it was as old as the sword. As expected, Conn revealed a golden sapphire – surprisingly large. As he rolled it around in his hand the gem picked up light from the candles and seemed to progress them around the room.

  They both looked silently for a while, until Jofrid spoke, huskily.

  ‘Amazing – do you know what that gem makes me want to do?’

  ‘Go and tell Halla?’

  ‘Definitely not. It makes me want to fornicate again.’

  ‘You know, I was thinking the same thing.’

  ‘I know, I can see…’

  Chapter 06

  To some extent the breakfast was Kiley’s attempt to reach out to her cousins – being called vow breakers was probably not pleasant even if you are a Wealdend. Even tonight, although they were cordial, the two Valkeri didn’t reach out at all. Conn was still curious – much of the story was unclear to him.

  ‘Wealdend – being new to Meshech’, not something he liked to point out but it worked this time, ‘I am unclear what happened with Asta and Caoite – there seemed to be a lot going on around then?’

  ‘There was – in 699 the Eaorl of Lykia rebelled against the Healdend of Moetia – and the rebellion succeeded because the Healdend was assassinated by poison in 700. The treaty allowed for the Eaorl to be called Aebeling of Lykia. Then in 720 our ancestors slaughtered their masters in Cyme and have been able to keep control ever since. The pirates made a big error in their greed and lust – when Lasair led the rebellion women outnumbered men three to one in the castle – mainly because after Lasair had made the pact with the Gyden in 701, none of the children born were males. Lasair was a Folgere she was also a master archer, and all women trained in secret under her guidance. So after their captors were exterminated, it was relatively simple to protect the island.’

  ‘So where did the Pirates go to?’

  ‘They lived on their ships and some of the small islands near Kuita – and harassed the Eaorldom until they were able to defeat the Eaorl of Kuita in 756 – which is their base now. Before that, in 747, Dubgall, Eaorl of Kania rebelled – he wanted to be called Aebeling as well. He is of the male line of Trokia, so it was treachery as well.’