"Aye, but who?" asked Bran. "Abbot Hugo?"
"For him?" wondered Tuck. "Possibly. It would not surprise me that he holds himself so highly. But see here-" he indicated the cross on the right hand and, on the left glove, a curious symbol shaped something like a cross, but with two extra arms and a closed loop at its head. "That is the Chi Rho," he told us, "and most often seen on the vestments of high priests of one kind or another." He passed the gloves back to Merian. "If you asked me, I'd say these were made for a prince among priests-an archbishop or cardinal, at least."
"Then what are they doing here?" asked Iwan.
"Perhaps our humble abbot has more exalted ambitions," replied Bran.
"Was there ever any doubt?" quipped Tuck. His smooth brow wrinkled with thought. "Ring and gauntlets," he mused. "It must mean something. But for the love of Peter, I cannot think what it might be."
"We were hoping you would have an idea," sighed Merian.
"Nay, lass," replied the friar. "You will have to find a better and wiser man than the one that sits before you to get an answer."
"There is one other thing," said Bran. Reaching into the box, he brought out the square of parchment and passed that to the priest.
In the hurly-burly of the feast and later attack, I had mostly forgotten all about that thick folded square of lambskin. I looked at it now-I think we all did-as the very thing needed to explain the mystery to us.
"Why didn't you say you had this?" said Tuck. He turned it over in his hands. "You haven't opened it."
"No," answered Bran. "You may have the honour."
We all edged close as the friar's stubby fingers fumbled with the blue cord. When he had untied it, he laid it in his lap and looked around at the circle of faces hovering above him. "If we break this," he said, fingering the wax seal, "there is no going back."
"Break it," commanded Bran. "It has already cost the lives of a score of men or more. We will see what it is that the abbot and sheriff value at such a high price."
Drawing a breath, Tuck cracked the heavy wax seal and carefully unfolded the parchment, spreading it before him on the rush-strewn floor of the hut.
"What is it?" asked Iwan.
"What does it say?" said Siarles.
"Shh!" hissed Merian. "Give the man a chance." To Tuck she said, "Take your time." Then, when he appeared to do just that, she added, "Well, what does it say?"
Lifting his face, he shook his head.
"Bad news?" wondered Bran.
"I don't know," replied the priest slowly.
Bran leaned close. "What then?"
"God knows," Tuck lifted the parchment to pass around. "It is written fair enough, but not in Latin. I cannot read the bloody thing."
"Are you certain?"
"I think so. I read little enough Latin, to be sure. But I cannot make out a word of that." He shook his round head. "I don't know what it is."
We passed the parchment hand to hand, and as it came to me, I saw the entire surface covered with a fine, flowing script in dark brown ink. As I had never acquired the knack of reading-not English, nor Latin either-I had nothing to say about it. But it seemed to me that the words were well formed, the letters long and graceful-it put me in mind of ivy and how it loops and curls around all it touches. The skin was fine-grained and well prepared; there were hardly any grease smudges or ink spatters at all.
"I think it is Ffreinc," Merian decided, holding it up to the light and bending her head close. "I can speak it well enough, but I have only seen it written once or twice, mind." She concluded, "It looks very like Ffreinc to me."
"Yes, well, that would make sense," mused Tuck, taking back the parchment. The two of them proceeded to examine it closely, tracing various letters with their fingers and muttering over it. "See, here that is a D," said Tuck, "and that an I followed by E and U." He paused to string together what he'd found. "Dee-a-oo," he said.
"God!" exclaimed Merian. "Dieu means God." She put her finger on a letter. "What is that?"
Tuck peered hard at the script. "I think it might be an S," he said. "With an A… F… ah, no that might be an L… U… T…" He continued picking out letters one by one and uttered the word as he did so. I followed some of this, but my small store of Ffreinc was of the more rough and ready sort spoken in the market, not the court or church, and it soon left me trailing far behind.
"Salutations!" said Merian before he finished. "'Greetings!'" She beamed happily. "Salutations dans Dieu," she said. "'Greetings in God'-that must be it."
Tuck agreed. "I think so."
"That would be expected," said Iwan. "What else?"
The two continued, trying to scry out the letters and make words of them that Merian knew. And though they succeeded in guessing several more, they fell far short of the mark and were forced to give up in the end, leaving us little the wiser for the effort. "We know it is Ffreinc, at least," said Bran. "That is something."
"Well, whatever is in that letter," said Tuck, tapping the sheepskin with his finger, "you can be sure the baron will be missing it. I think de Braose wants his treasures back."
"Oh, aye," affirmed Iwan, "and he's willing to risk good men to get them."
Tuck nodded thoughtfully. "Mark me, there is a dread mystery here. You would be wise to return these things as soon as possible," he concluded, "before any more blood is shed."
"That I will not do," declared Bran. "At least, not until I know what it is we have found. If de Braose considers it worth an army to recover"-he smiled suddenly-"perhaps it is worth more."
"A castle!" suggested Siarles.
"Perhaps," allowed Bran. "Maybe even a kingdom." And, no, Odo," I say with a sigh, "I cannot read. Not even my own name when it is writ. Then again, Thane Aelred couldn't read a whit, either, nor any of his vassals, saving the monks at the abbey, and he was a towering oak of a man, bless him."
"Oh," smirks he, "but there is nothing to it once you have the learning. I could teach you," he says, hopeful as a puppy.
"Well then, Odo, me lad," I tell him, "one day when I have the leisure of a cleric, as you most certainly do, I shall let you teach me to read. Now, where was I?"
"Bran considered the ring of great value," replies Odo. I lick my lips and rumble on… The next day, when Angharad learned what Tuck had revealed about the parchment, she thanked Bran for telling her, gave him a few words of advice, and took her leave. Pulling on her cloak, she bunged a few leftovers from our truncated feast into a leather bag slung on her back, took up her staff, and departed Cel Craidd then and there.
Some of us saw her leave. "Is she angry?" Tomas asked. "She seems fair put out with the world."
"I don't know," I replied. "Maybe."
"Where is she going?"
"She has a cave somewhere in the greenwood," said Huw, one of the elder Grellon. "She goes there of a time to think."
Well, the sheriff 's attack had cast a shadow of gloom over our none-too-happy home, I can tell you. As soon as Angharad left, Bran hived himself in his hut with Iwan and Tuck to decide what to do next.
"God with you, Will," said Merian, coming to stand beside me.
"And with you, my lady," I answered.
She rubbed her hands to warm them. "I wonder what they will decide."
"Difficult to say. Weighty decisions require patience and pondering aplenty."
"Do you think it dangerous, this ring?"
"I think it valuable, and that is usually danger enough." I nodded towards the hut. "I think Tuck is right when he says there is a dread mystery in the thing."
As we were talking, I caught sight of someone out of the corner of my eye. I looked across the clearing to see Noinina disappearing between two huts; she cast a last look over her shoulder as she moved from view. Something about her expression as she passed out of sight gave me to think she had been watching Merian and me and did not approve, not one tiny little scrap.
It was just the merest glimmer of a glance, to be sure. Still, it gave me a curious warmth th
at lasted throughout the day.
The king and his advisors emerged a short time later. "What was decided?" I asked Iwan as he came out to join us.
"We will take the treasure to Saint Tewdrig's for safekeeping as Angharad has advised," he told me. "We will also show the letter to Bishop Asaph. Perhaps he or one of his monks can read it and tell us something about how and why this ring has come to Elfael."
"That sounds a sensible plan," Merian remarked.
I nodded my agreement. "Good," I said.
"I'm glad you approve, Scarlet," he answered, turning on his heel and walking backwards a step or two. "Because it's you that's going."
CHAPTER 19
In less time than it takes a fella to lace up his boots, I was on my way. I suppose others reckoned that, as a half-Saxon with a snip of Ffreinc under my belt, I could more easily pass among the Normans as a wandering labourer-which is what I was until joining King Raven's flock.
This decision did not sit well with at least one member of our band. Siarles got it into his thick head that I was more affliction than remedy and asked to be allowed to accompany me. After a brief discussion, it was agreed that Siarles, who had been to the monastery before and knew the way, would go with me to act as guide. We were given a deerskin bundle containing the ring and gloves, and the parchment in its wrap, which we were to take to the bishop at Saint Tewdrig's and learn whatever we could from the monks-they, being men of learning, might know how to read the letter and could be trusted to hold their peace about whatever there was that might be gleaned. The rest of the treasure was to be placed with them for safekeeping.
"If the sheriff or any of his men catch you with these things," Bran warned, the flat of his hand on the parcel as he handed it to Siarles, "they will hang you for thieves-and that is the least they will do. Stay sharp, and hurry back with all speed."
"My lord," I replied, "this skin of mine may be poor quality as some would judge, but it is my own and I have grown to love it. Rest assured, I will not risk it foolishly." I might have added that Noin also had a definite interest in seeing me return hale and whole.
"There is yet one thing more," said Tuck. He had been standing beside Bran, listening to the instructions. "Hear me, if you will. Hear me, everyone."
"Silence!" called Bran. "Friar Tuck will speak."
When all had quieted, he said, "The ring has value and therefore power, does it not? It may be that God has given it to us to aid in the redemption of Elfael. Brothers and sisters all, we must hold tight to this hope and guard it with a mighty strength of purpose. Therefore, know that this is a solemn charge that has been laid upon you, Will and Siarles." He regarded Siarles and me with a commanding stare. "You take our lives in your hands when you leave this place. See you do nothing that would endanger them, or there will be hell to pay. Is this understood?"
We nodded our assent, but he would have more. "Say it," he insisted. "Pledge it on your honour."
This we did, and Tuck declared himself satisfied. He turned to Bran and said, "We have done what we can do. Now, it is for God to do as he will do." Raising his hands high, he said, "I pray the Lord of Hosts to send an army of angels to guard you every step of the way, to smooth your path in the rough world and bring you safely home. Amen and God with you."
"Amen!"
Noin and I shared a kiss of farewell. She clutched me tight, and whispered, "Come back to me, Will Scarlet. I have grown that fond of you."
"I will come back, Noin, never fear."
With that, we took leave of our king and rode out, taking a path that was only rarely used by the Grellon. The trail, which was tangled and overgrown in many places, would lead us north a fair distance where, once well away from Cel Craidd, we would double back to the Norman lands of the south and east. It was decided that we should stay off the King's Road so as to avoid any travellers, especially Norman soldiers. For two days we made our slow way through the winterland and shivered in a frosty silence as we moved through a world bleached white by the snow and cold-the stark, bloodred berries of holly and the deep green strands of ivy twining round boles of elm and oak the only hues that met our colour-starved eyes.
The Forest of the March seemed to slumber beneath its thick mantle, although here and there we saw the tracks of deer and pigs, sometimes those of wolves and other creatures-the long slashing strides of the hare, and the light skittery tracings of mice and squirrels. Overhead we heard the creak and crack of cold boughs and branches, and the occasional twit and chirp of birds interested in our passing. But these were the only things to relieve the dull sameness of the slumbering greenwood.
Nor was Siarles the easiest companion a man might choose. Short-tempered and quick to judge; easily stirred to anger or despair; in character, steadfast; in mood as changeable as water-he is Cymry through and through, Siarles is. Poor fella, he is one of God's creatures that is happiest when most miserable. And should he lack sufficient cause for misery, an imaginary source is all too easily conjured. For some reason he had taken against me from that first day I dropped out of the tree. By day's end, I reckoned I had endured enough of his rudeness. "Siarles, my friend, there is a boil of contention between us as wants lancing."
"So you say."
"I do say it. You act like a fella with bees in his breeches every time we meet. For the life of me, I cannot think why that should be. Nevertheless, I know an unhappy man when I see one, and here I have one in my eye."
"I am not unhappy," he said, his whole face puckered in a petulant scowl.
"I think you are. Or, if not unhappy, then displeased. Tell me what you've got caught in your craw, and I will do my best to help you."
He glared at me, then turned away. "Finish saddling your horse. It is time we were on our way."
"No," I replied. "Not until you tell me what is wrong with you."
He turned on me with sudden anger. "With me?" he said, almost shouting. "You find fault with me when it is yourself you should be chiding."
"Me! What have I done?"
He made a sound like the growl of a frustrated dog and turned away again.
"Well, this is going to be a long day a-standin' here," I told him. "I'm not moving until I know your mind." He glared at me balefully, and I thought he would not speak.
"Well? What is it to be? Either we make peace between us, or stand here and glower at one another like two stubborn roosters in a yard."
He snarled again, his frustration boundless, and I could not help but laugh at the hopelessness of the situation. "See here, Siarles, my contrary friend. You're going to have to give me something more than grunts and growls if we are to get to the meat of the matter. So you might as well tell me and get it done."
"I don't like Englishmen," he grimaced through gritted teeth. "Never have. Never will."
"Half an Englishman only," I corrected. "My mother was a Briton, mind. As was your own if you had one."
"You know what I mean. Bran had no business taking you in."
"No? It seems to me that a lord can take a vassal of any fella willing to swear fealty to him. I bent the knee to Bran right gladly, and my word holds fast through fair or foul," I declared. "You wanted to come along because you don't trust me. You thought I'd steal the ring and fly away as soon as I got out of sight."
He glowered at me, and I could see I'd hit near the mark. "You don't know what I think," he muttered at last.
"Yes, I do," I told him. "You had a cosy little nest in the greenwood and then along comes this big ol' Englishman, Will Scarlet, stomping all over your tidy garden with his great boots, and you're afraid he's going to squash you like a bug." Siarles frowned and climbed into the saddle. "But, see here, I en't about squashing you or anybody else, nor usurping 'em from their rightful place. Neither am I leaving my sworn liege lord just because you don't like the cut of my cloth. Lord Bran's dealings are his own, and if that sticks in your gizzard, then talk to him. Don't punish me."
He turned his mount and rode away. I followed a few paces
behind, giving him space and time, hoping he would come 'round to a better humour sooner or later. But though I tried my best to cheer him along and show him I bore no ill feelings over his churlishness, his mood did not improve. I resolved to ignore his sour disposition and get on with the chore at hand.
Saint Tewdrig's in the north is but a short distance beyond the border of Elfael-a new monastery tucked in the curving arm of a valley across the river close on the border of the cantref. I counted five buildings, including a small church, all of timber arranged in a loose square and surrounded by a low whitewashed wall. Small fields-flat squares of snow with barley stubble showing through like an unshaved chin-flanked the monastery. We crossed one of these and arrived at the gate and pulled the braided bell cord hanging at the gatepost. A light, clinking ring sounded in the chill air, and presently a small door opened within the larger. "Pax vobiscum. How can I help you?" asked the porter. He looked blandly at me, and then at Siarles, and his eyes lit with recognition. "Silidons! Welcome! Come in. Come in! I will tell Father Asaph you are here." He turned and hurried off across the yard, leaving us to stand outside with our mounts, which could not pass through the small door.
"Silidons?" I said. "What is that?"
"It was Bran's idea," he said. "He thought it would be better for the monks if they did not know our real names."
True enough, I reckoned, for if the Normans suspected the monks knew anything to help them find us, they would be in danger deep and dire. "Nor can they sell us out," I considered.
"Not likely, that."
"You must have a high opinion of priests. I've known one or two that would not spare a moment's thought to trade their mothers to the Danes for a jug of ale and two silver pennies."
"The priests you know may be rogues," he said, "but the brothers here can be trusted."
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