by Griff Hosker
Brother Oswald was unhappy at the expense incurred with the new warriors but he was an obedient man and he kept immaculate records. “So my lord, you now have twenty archers, ten horsemen, twenty slingers and one hundred warriors.” He sighed, “They have expensive appetites and horses are not cheap to feed.”
I shook my head, “Will it be a fine harvest this year? Are my people not renowned as pot makers and we sell them throughout the land? Do we not make the best swords and sell them too?”
“True my lord but think how much better off we would be with fewer soldiers.”
“And with fewer soldiers we would be in danger of attack.”
He had no argument to that and he went off to his bees; I suspect he moaned and complained to them when he lost an argument with me. Garth was the next to report to me. I enjoyed these times in the solar. I had not known the name until Brother Oswald had told me. I had just thought that the south west facing room was bright and pleasant in the evening, looking out, as it did over the river, the valley and the sunset. “How are the men coming along? When I visited they looked to be almost fully trained.”
“Aye well they are better than they were but they are not battle ready for me yet.”
“You have high standards. And the new men are they fitting in?”
He looked troubled. “Most of them are but…”
“Come on Garth. You know me well enough to keep nothing from me.”
“It isn’t their skills that worry me. They are all good warriors but I am not sure about one of them.”
“This is not like you Garth; out with it. What is the problem?”
“It is one of the Bernician warriors, Llofan Lilo. He is a good warrior and he is the best swordsmen amongst the men but he, well, he is a bully and there is something about him. Perhaps it is me; maybe it is the fact that I do not trust anyone from Bernicia.”
“But you said there are other warriors from Bernicia. What of them?”
I could see from his face what the answer would be and he looked crestfallen. “There are two others and they work well with the rest of the warriors. It is just this one.”
I shrugged. I did not want my captain to be upset by one man. “Then get rid of him. Send him back to Bernicia.”
“He is a good warrior. He would be valuable in a shield wall.”
“Bladud would be valuable in a shield wall but would you want him in our ranks?”
“No but I will persevere. It may be he needs a different approach.”
“As always Garth it is your decision but we must be able to rely on our men next year when we have to fight.”
Chapter 5
The arrival of midsummer saw a visit by my brother and his wife. A rider galloped through the gates, the day before their arrival. Aideen and Oswald became frenetic with their preparations. The warrior hall had been completed and my brother’s warriors could easily be accommodated. Thanks to Brother Oswald’s work in the spring we now had two spare rooms in the main building and Aideen fussed about making them homely. I left them to it. My policy of speaking as little as possible was paying off and Aideen did not appear to get as upset as she once had and I did not have to think up things to fill the silences.
I was superfluous and I sought my lieutenant. “Garth, we will go hunting. Let us see if we can get some meat for my brother’s visit.” When I saw his grin I knew that he was as eager to be away from the sweeping and cleaning. I pitied the garrison for my wife and the priest would make their lives a misery. I took my bow as well as a couple of hunting spears and we took a pack horse in the optimistic hope that we might actually return with something!
We headed west for there were few farmers there and game was more plentiful. The woods, two miles to the west, were full of fruit bushes and oaks and beech. Wild boar and deer were drawn to it. We rode along the Roman road for part of the way as it afforded us a better speed. We turned south towards the wood and tied the pack horse we had brought in the hope of a kill close to a stream and we moved further into the woods with our horses. Once we had dismounted and tethered our mounts we armed ourselves. Neither of us wore armour although I wore my wolf cloak as did Garth. He had managed to kill his own wolf during the winter and took pride in the fact that only my brothers and I had such cloaks. We had light, doe skin boots on our feet and we carried our weapons upon our backs. We would string our bows when we found signs of the animals. I found that that the little wind there was blew in our faces and that helped as we were following the stream down hill and any game would not catch our smell. That suited me; we would be more likely to find signs close to water. It is a strange thing about men; they do not feel the need, as women appear to, of filling up silences with chatter. Both of us needed no words. When you have fought alongside a man you learn to trust both him and his instincts. I led and Garth watched my back. It was how we fought and there was no reason to change it while hunting.
We spotted the deer tracks five hundred paces from our mounts. They looked to be fresh in the muddy banks of the small brook and they headed down the valley. I strung my bow and placed three hunting arrows in my mouth while I notched the fourth. Garth hefted his best javelin and we followed the tracks. I suddenly heard a snuffling and knew that there was some animal ahead but it would be unlikely to be a deer. Deer were silent creatures. It could be a badger or a boar. They were both edible but one was easy to catch while the other could kill a man with its vicious tusks and teeth.
I drew my bow half way back. If something suddenly hurled itself at me I would have a heartbeat to react. I was fast with a bow, but not that fast. Suddenly a black shape erupted from our left and threw itself at Garth. I could see that it was an old boar and it was enormous. I drew back and loosed. I was but ten paces away and the arrow went into its neck. I had not struck an artery and, although my wound would kill the beast it would take hours to do so. Garth had thrown one javelin and hit the animal in the chest but it still hurtled towards Garth who was trying to draw his second javelin. I threw down my bow and drew my dagger; I leapt at the beast and grabbed a tusk with my left arm, avoiding his sharp teeth. The boar had the smell of death about it. The tusk was covered in slime and blood and I found it difficult to hang on but I knew I must. I am a big man and even a powerful boar finds it hard to run with a man on his back. It turned its head and its fearsome teeth towards my left arm and I threw my right hand around its neck and pulled my dagger sharply across its throat. Boar skin is thick and it is tough but my dagger was razor sharp and I felt the hot arterial blood spurt over my hand as the animal slowed and lurched to his death. When I was sure it was dead, I stood and found that I was shaking. That was as close to death as I had come since I had become a warrior.
I heard a groan and looked down. “If you could my lord, I would appreciate you taking our dinner off my chest so that I may thank you for saving my life.” It was a struggle, but between us we managed to roll the dead animal off Garth who stood and clasped my arm. “Thank you my lord. You have saved my life.”
“Do not worry yourself about it but just do not say anything to lady Aideen. It will only worry her.”
We retrieved our weapons and looked at the magnificent animal we had killed. “You can see the scars on his skin. This one has been hunted before.”
Garth shuddered, “And I fear has killed those who would kill him. He was cunning. “
“He let us walk beyond him and then attacked.” I shook my head. It is almost as though he were a warrior.” I looked through the trees. It was still some time off noon. “Shall we try to get a couple of deer as well?”
“As it looks as though we have felled the beast of the woods then why not.”
An hour later saw us with a doe and a fawn. Both would be far tenderer to eat than the old boar. “Let us leave them here and then use the horses. I do not know about you but I have had more than enough exercise for one day.”
We headed up the slope towards our horses, cutting off five hundred paces from our journey. Sudden
ly I stopped. “Look at that!” The tree next to me had three parallel lines carved into it. Both Garth and I knew what that meant; we had used the same technique ourselves. It was to mark a meeting place or a way out of somewhere. These were fresh and we both drew our weapons. Now that we had seen one we soon saw the others and they led us to a small clearing. There were the remains of a fire and hoof prints. “Someone has been meeting here.”
“Saxons?”
“I do not think so. The signs we followed led from the west. That suggests someone coming from Rheged.” We searched the other side and saw the same marks on the trees coming from the north. “These could be Saxons but the hoof prints seemed to be of larger horses than the Saxons use and they would come from the east, not the north. If I did not know better I would have said that these were Rheged horses.”
“But none of our men could have done this; we would have known. Who else is there who could be meeting here?”
“That I do not know and, until I do, let us keep this between ourselves. But what we will do is take out regular patrols on horse to visit the dell again. I want to know if there is fresh sign.”
“Won’t that make the men suspicious?”
“We just take two men each day and make it a different two. We can vary the route to get there but always use the Roman Road. Soon they will expect it. We can tell them we are training them to be scouts.”
“I suppose we could say it is part of the initiation and include the archers and warriors as well as the horsemen.”
“Excellent idea. Good thinking Garth.” Garth had much in common with my brother Aelle. They both thought deeply and said little but what they said was worth listening to.
Aideen and Brother Oswald had finished their efforts to make Castle Perilous match their incredibly high standards. I would just have made sure there was food and ale to hand. They were both much calmer when we returned to complete the preparations with the food for the feast. I smiled although inside I was still worried about the implications of what we had found. Garth was quite correct in his thinking and we both knew, even though we had said nothing to each other, that we had a spy in the camp. I suspected it was one of the new men for I could not believe that the warriors who had fought alongside me would betray me. That meant there were sixteen potential spies and I had no idea for whom they were spying but I suspected the Saxons. Aella was a cunning king and it would be just like him to fool us by sending his man from the north rather than the west. My castle guarded the entrance to Rheged. It was, in fact, outside the old kingdom of Rheged but it was in the sparsely populated part of the land. We would need even more men. I shook my head; Brother Oswald would turn purple when I asked for more arms and men.
Later that night, as Aideen lay in my arms she asked, “You have been quiet tonight is there anything the matter?”
I forced a smile upon my face. “No. It is just that Raibeart and Maiwen will be our first visitors and I want the castle to be as perfect as it can be.”
I didn’t like lying to Aideen but it appeared to work for she sighed contentedly. “You need not worry my husband we have made our home as good as any in the kingdom, save the king’s, of course.”
I smiled back at her, “Of course.” But, as I tried to sleep images of Saxons pouring through the pass to Rheged filled my dreams.
We had a surprise when my brother arrived for Maiwen had given birth to their son. There was now a grandchild for King Gwalliog and I knew that the old man would be pleased. While Aideen fussed over the babe and the mother I took Raibeart on a tour of the castle. “You have done well brother. I remember when you had just a gatehouse in which to sleep and now you have stone walls, a warrior hall and a water filled ditch.”
“That was Brother Oswald’s idea. He pointed out that if we diverted the river then it would cover our stakes and our enemies would suffer grievous wounds when they fell into the water.”
“For a follower of the White Christ Brother Oswald appears to have a bloody nature.”
“No, he abhors violence and death, but he sees it as a way to keep our enemies from slaughtering, what does he call them, his flock.”
“Seriously brother I would not like to assault this castle.”
As we stood in the gateway looking down to the river I suddenly knew why there had been meetings in the clearing. There was a plan to invade Rheged but they would not attack the castle. “I have been a fool!”
“What do you mean?”
“We have less than a hundred and fifty men we can call on as a garrison. They would not need to assault us. They could just pass through the valley and leave a small force guarding the bridge. We would be trapped within these walls and the road to Civitas Carvetiorum would be open.” I could tell from the silence that Raibeart thought the same as I. His face fell. “What we need is to extend the walls down to the river and fortify the bridge and road.”
“Could you do that? Surely it would take a long time to build a wall? Would you know how to start?”
I turned and looked over to Brother Oswald who was busily directing Raibeart’s bodyguards to the warrior hall. “No but I think my clever priest could.”
I was quiet during the feast and allowed Raibeart to have all of the attention; as a new father and the leader of the king’s archers he was popular. He was telling amusing stories of us growing up and everyone was laughing and enjoying the moment and the food. I saw Aideen giving me strange looks but I did not worry. I could explain it to her later and no one was offended by my silence. I was also thinking about my plans for the building and how I would defend against such an invasion. It was now obvious to me that we would be outnumbered and could not inflict much damage; unless we had archers. I would seek more archers and horsemen. We needed better intelligence. The markings in the woods had unnerved me. I had thought that the Saxons would not come until the following year. How little did I know! Just because that was what I wanted did not mean that was what they would do. My victories had made me become complacent and overconfident. I determined to be more vigilant in the future. When our guest had left I would meet with Garth and Oswald and make plans.
Raibeart and Maiwen left to visit my brother Aelle two days later. Aideen had become what one might call broody and was overly affectionate. It came with motherhood and pregnancy. I did not mind; I had put her through much with my wounds and she began to make plans for Hogan and the child she knew would be a girl. For my own part I couldn’t wait for Hogan to be big enough for me to teach him how to become a warrior although I knew that Aideen would fight against it. Her nest building, however, afforded me the opportunity to meet with Oswald and Garth.
I explained to them both my thoughts on the possibility of an invasion. Neither of them tried to argue against me. I think that they too realised that we had made assumptions about the Saxons based upon our limited victories. “So could we fortify to the river and make some sort of gatehouse there?”
In answer Brother Oswald said. “Have you been north to the Roman fort they call Chesters?”
“Aye. It is where Aelle lost his arm and we defeated Aella.”
“Then you have seen such a fortified bridge. We will first build a wooden wall and ditch joining the castle walls to the river and then we will have to get some stone to build a second wall behind it. When we have the stone then we build a smaller version of this gate to deny access to the bridge. Finally, we complete the fortification on the bridge by building a second gate on the other side.”
Garth shook his head. “That sounds like a lot of work and it seems to me that it would be expensive.”
“Not if we use our men to build it.”
“What about their training?”
“Think about it Garth. We would be building up their strength and building them into a team who had to rely on each other.”
“And, my lord, that is how the Roman legions constructed roads and forts in the first place. It was the soldiers who built not the civilians. But he is right we would need to get th
e stone and it would need to be cheap.”
“Raibeart! His fort is close to the Roman wall and when I visited there last I saw the quarries the Romans used. There is still stone within and it is but a day’s ride. How much stone would you need?”
“It is a hundred or so paces to the river. We would need to make it at least two and a half paces wide and as tall as two men. If I could go to the quarry I would have a better idea.”
“Draw up your plans and begin work on the wooden walls. When Raibeart returns you can travel north with him and Garth and make your investigations.” I paused to allow my words to sink in. “I want the building finished by harvest time. I do not want to be surprised by the Saxons as we surprised them.” Oswald opened his mouth to argue but saw my face and nodded. Garth just grinned.
Surprisingly Aideen was all in favour of the new wall. “With two bairns we need all the protection we can get.”
The wooden wall and ditch was erected within two days. I had deferred the patrols until we had at least part of the defences built and, as we worked from sunrise to sunset, there was little opportunity for any of our men to slope off to the clandestine meeting place.
When Raibeart and his party returned he was amazed at the progress we had made. His brow furrowed, “But why brother, have you heard something which I have not?”
The women were busily talking of Freja and her home and I took him to one side. I explained about the marks in the woods and my plans. He cast a look over his shoulder. “I cannot believe that any of the men who fought alongside us at Loidis would betray us.”
“Nor do Garth and I. It will be one of the new men.”