by Griff Hosker
When we came to the second lake I pointed up to a black hole on the hillside. “That is where Aelle quarried much of his rock and it is now a huge cave. It has struck me that it would be a good place to defend should one be attacked.”
Myrddyn looked at me in surprise. “Are we likely to be attacked?”
“Not at the moment but it pays to plan ahead.”
Aelle’s stronghold was now all stone and slate. The contrasting colours and rocks made it both functional and beautiful at the same time. His guards saw us from a mile away as Aelle had cleared much of the land for agriculture and to give him warning. He rode out to greet us with two of his sons, Lann and Raibeart. They had grown much and would soon be learning to fight. The two boys threw themselves at me.
“Uncle Lann! Have you killed any more Saxons?”
Aelle shook his head, “Boys, your uncle is more than a killer of Saxons.”
“We know father but you said that the Saxons all fear him and he is the greatest killer of Saxons.”
Aelle looked apologetically at me. “Sorry Lann but you know how boys are. Take the horses to the stables and show Pol his quarters.” The two boys eagerly led a bemused Pol into the castle which had twists and turns intended to deceive an attacker if they managed to break through the outer wall. Aelle took me by my arm, “It is good to see you. You are looking well and, perhaps a little less careworn than the last time I saw you.”
I smiled, Aelle had a way of making you feel like you were the most important man in the world. “Aye, I suppose I am. Although with Aideen with child again I expect a few more grey hairs.”
“You still look young to me.”
“Then your eyesight is failing.”
His stronghold had been converted from a Roman fort as had mine. The resourceful Aelle had renovated the hypocaust and, later, restored the bath house. “Shall we enjoy a couple of hours in the bath house?”
Myrddyn said, “I will check on my former patients, my lord. Have some time with your brother.”
My wizard had the knack of reading minds. “In that case, brother, I will join you.”
After we had undressed, we sank into the luxuriously warm water. It was as though the Romans had not left, save that there was no slave to oil and scrape our bodies. I glanced at Aelle’s stump, a reminder of the first time we had fought Aella. He noticed my glance and smiled, “We both have scars now to show for our endeavours eh brother?”
“True and I am equally glad that our brother Raibeart has avoided such scars.”
We lay in silence allowing the warm water to soak into our bodies. My leg wound felt less stiff than it did normally and I found myself almost drifting off to sleep. “He came to see me you know?”
I suddenly woke up and looked at Aelle. He had a knowing look on his face. “And?”
“And now I, too, will worry when you go to Bernicia.” I looked around in case anyone was close by. “Do not worry. I gave orders that the building was off limits to all. We will both sleep easier if you tell us how you intend to pull off this feat. For I have been to Din Guardi and I think it cannot be done.”
I told him the whole plan. I had no qualms about telling Aelle; he would never reveal my plans. I found it therapeutic to tell him because I saw a few flaws that might prevent success as I was going through it. None of the flaws was disastrous but their elimination would increase my chances.
“It seems a plausible plan. So you will have two Bernicians with you in the cave and one possible accomplice inside the castle. And Pol?”
“Guarding the horses; we need to have a quick way out.”
“There are two obvious problems which I can see. One is that you may have too many men to overcome in the castle itself and three of you would struggle and secondly they will chase you down, having to cross the country diminishes your chances; especially as the Saxons will be looking for you. As soon as they realise the Wolf Warrior is in their land then every warrior will hunt you.”
“We may be lucky.”
“Oh you are lucky, believe me. As the Romans might have said, Felix is your middle name, but there is another way.”
Aelle had this ability of seeing the same thing you did but in a different way. “I am all ears.”
“You said that Ridwyn is going back as a fisherman with a small boat?”
“He is.”
“Then that is your escape route. Sail down the coast and along the Dunum. Raibeart and I can have some horsemen on the Dunum to watch for you.”
I thought about that but I had my doubts. “We would have to sail through the Saxon ships on the Dunum.”
“You go through at night. You would be a small boat and would not have to worry about running aground.”
I ran through the idea and found it as safe as mine. I had seen the Dunum estuary and there were mud flats on the northern shore. The Saxons ships would avoid them but Ridwyn‘s shallow draft would make it feasible. “You have convinced me and now let us get dried before my skin becomes as white as a jellyfish.”
Freja made a great fuss of me for she knew how much Aelle thought of his big brother. Pol, too was feted as though a lord and he loved the attention. They were a kind and loving couple and it showed in their children who were well behaved, clever and full of humour. I enjoyed my two days with Aelle. He took me out in a small boat on the Wide Water and showed me the rudiments of sailing. Even with just one hand he showed great skill. As I managed to tack he gave me a knowing look. “Had you longer with me brother then I could teach you to sail even better.”
“Do not worry, Ridwyn is a good sailor and I am a quick learner.”
As we were about to leave he turned to Lann, his eldest. “Go and fetch your uncle his present.” He ran quickly back with a young dog and I thought for a moment it was my old dog, Wolf. “No it is not Wolf; he died last winter, it is his grandson. He is the best trained dog we have and the one who is almost as good as his grandsire. He obeys the same commands his grandsire did. He is my present to you.”
“And what is his name?”
“What would you expect? Wolf.”
“I am indebted to you for I missed Wolf.”
Aelle came closer to me. “Keep me informed and send me a message when you will be taking your next trip.”
“I will, I promise.”
As we headed north Wolf just trotted close to my horse much as his namesake had. It was only then that I knew how much I had missed having a dog. As we had crossed the col that Myrddyn finally spoke. “It will be another companion for you to take with you to Din Guardi on that fruitless quest for revenge.”
I threw an angry look at Pol who recoiled in his saddle. “No my lord, I swear, it was not me.”
“No it was not your squire nor your brothers, nor Riderch and Ridwyn.”
“Then how did you know?” I felt a shiver run down my spine. Had he been reading my mind? Was he a real wizard after all?
“I could say that I had read your mind or I could make up a lie and say I had a vision but the truth is that you, yourself told me.” He saw the confusion on my face. “Oh you did not speak it in words but you showed it in your actions. You have been reclusive since you visited Banna. Garth, Oswald and I have spent less time in the solar than we used to. Then there was your preoccupation with Brother Oswald’s maps. When I examined the maps you had viewed I soon deduced that you were heading for Din Guardi and once I had deduced that then it was child’s play to work out that you were going to kill Morcant Bulc in revenge for the death of King Urien.”
I laughed aloud. “Excellent. You have most of it but not the reason. This is not revenge although I will gain some satisfaction from knowing that the snake is dead. Morcant Bulc knows too much about our defences and can aid the Saxons. H e is now a Saxon puppet and will do all that they ask of him. Allied to that is the fact that without him the people of Bernicia may well either join us or rise up against the Saxons. With Morcant Bulc at their head they will always do as Aethelric wishes.”
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nbsp; “Then I have done you a disservice my lord but I would beg that you take me with you along with Pol and the dog.”
“I think I risk enough with Pol and Ridwyn. You are too valuable to Rheged to lose.”
“Well with all due respect to the two of them I think I might be of a little more use when we actually get to the castle. No offence Pol.” Pol shrugged and grinned.
“I had thought to have you stay at home and watch over my family.”
“Garth can do that and besides, I made a promise to the spirit of your mother that I would watch over you.”
I was defeated and I knew it. “I take it Garth knows,” he nodded, “and Oswald,“ he gave an apologetic nod, “please tell me that Lady Aideen knows nothing.”
He spread his arms. “Do I look stupid, my lord? The last person in the castle who will ever know will be your wife for we will get the blame, not you, and she does have a rough edge to her tongue.”
We all laughed at that and I spent the rest of the journey giving him the modified plan. There would be no more surprises and we only awaited a message from our two warriors in hiding. We had only had time to spend two nights at home when the message came from Riderch. I sought out Myrddyn. “We leave in the morning.” Now that he was in the know it became much easier for me as someone else could do all the planning leaving me with the difficult task of giving a reasonable excuse to my wife for yet another absence.
I knew that I would have a problem when I saw her face. Normally pregnancy did not bother her but, just occasionally, she became hot, flustered and easily annoyed. This was one such day. I explained that Riderch needed my advice and that was going to visit him, taking Myrddyn and Pol with me.
“It seems to me that the Warlord of Rheged would be the one whom men came to if they needed advice rather than sending for him like a minion!”
“You know that is not my style my love. I need my eyes everywhere.”
She was not mollified. “Then how about your eyes here for a change and take charge of your son Hogan. He is getting too big now for me to chastise.”
That, I knew was a lie. “What I will do, my love, when I return, is to take Hogan hunting. I can train him better that way and I will ask Garth to give him some military exercises while I am not here. It will tire him out and give him some discipline.” I stroked her hair and kissed her brow.
“I do not like to be so alone.”
I patted her bump, “You are not alone you have our child.”
That was the wrong reply and she struck me on the side of the head. “Fool! Take yourself away for you do not yet know how to talk to women!”As I left with my ears ringing I remembered the words of Queen Niamh who had said something similar. I had thought I had become better but I obviously had some way to go yet. I should stick to silence- that normally worked.
We had decided that I would take none of the items which marked me as Wolf Warrior. I left the cloak, the helmet and the shield in my chambers. I put Saxon Slayer in a plain scabbard and picked a plain horse from my stable. We would be leaving the horses in Bernicia if all went to plan and our regular mounts were too valuable to risk. I had lost my fist horse Blackie the previous year and my new horse Raven was the best horse in the stables. I would leave him in the care of Tuanthal.
As Oswald and Garth knew my mission I took them to one side. “Send a message to Raibeart and Aelle and tell them I have gone on a journey. They will understand. If anyone comes from the king then I am at Riderch’s and then travelling to see my brothers. That should suffice. Garth would you keep Hogan occupied; he is making Aideen a little cross.”
They both grinned, “We heard, my lord.”
Oswald then nodded. “I will increase his Latin lessons!”
I felt sorry for my son. I would have to take him hunting when we returned to make up for the Latin lessons. If anyone noticed my attire, as we left Castle Perilous, they did not speak of it. The sentries waved and the workers in the field shouted our names as they always did but I felt different. I felt almost naked riding without my wolf cloak, helmet and shield. I still had a Saxon shield, a perfectly good helmet and a leather cloak but they were not mine and it seemed as though I was less of a warrior. When Myrddyn asked me what was amiss and I told him he nodded in agreement rather than pouring scorn on the idea.
“It is why your men fight so hard for you my lord. The Wolf Standard does not bring with it any secret power but they believe that its very presence means that they will win. So it is with you. Apart from the helmet, you have had those items since you left your home and they have almost become your lucky charms. Fortunately we go not to battle but to murder.”
I ruminated on his words and they made sense but I wondered if it would affect my skills with the sword. I was getting ahead of myself. We had yet to reach Bernicia let alone the fortress of Din Guardi. We needed to take it one step at a time. The meeting place we had arranged with Ridwyn was the beach a mile from the castle. He would find us rather than the other way around. I had no idea how he had secured entry to Bulc’s lair but I knew that he would not have sent for me if he was not sure that we could get into the castle. Until we reached the land beyond Dunelm we would be relatively safe. The Saxons deigned to use horses and stuck to the roads and tracks. We used little known ways for I had traversed this land for years. As we rode I though of the word which still jarred- murder. I was committing a crime, the Christians would say a sin but it had to be done. I owed it to Rheged to avenge its king and prevent its demise.
The first night we camped close to the high waterfall which marked the high point in the land between Rheged and Bernicia. It was unlikely that any enemy would scale the falls for there was little reason to do so. Had we been travelling east to west then we would not have used it but west to east meant that we had a fine view of the valley and any potential enemies who might be below us. We were eating dried meats and fruit for our meals as we did not want to light fires and attract attention. It was autumn and the nights were growing shorter so it was uncomfortable sleeping without a warm fire but we only had two or three nights to suffer the discomfort and we wanted no-one to know of our arrival.
As we rode down the valley in the early hours of the next day the enormity of our undertaking hit me. We had to travel almost a hundred miles north east through country which might be teeming with Saxons. The quickest way would have been up the Roman Roads but the Saxons had commandeered them as a way to control the people. Luckily there were the old track ways of the Brigante and Votadini who had lived here before the Romans and we used those. Myrddyn had learned all that he knew from maps made by Brother Osric. I still did not fully understand how they worked but they did for he was able to steer us in the right direction, even in the middle of a forest despite never having set foot there.
Our first problem came during the afternoon of that second day. We had made good time and we reached the Tinea which the Saxons called the Tyne. There was a bridge but it was on the Roman Road at the old fort called Chesters where we had first defeated Aella. Myrddyn showed his wisdom that day. “Let us turn west and swim across the river. It will be narrower and shallower the further west we travel and we should avoid any Saxons.”
We managed to coax the horses into the water and we kicked hard to the opposite bank. Wolf made rapid progress and, reaching the other bank shook himself dry before we were half way across. Pol and Myrddyn were upstream of me when my squire lost his grip on his reins. The current grabbed him and swept him towards me. I had no time to think and, keeping tight hold on the reins with one hand I thrust my spear haft towards him. Icaunus was watching over us and he grabbed the spear and then my horse’s tail. He clung on for dear life. Pol’s horse had reached the other bank first and was contentedly chewing grass having shaken off the water when we reached him.
Myrddyn looked up at the skies. “Thank you for watching over us.” He glanced at me. “Your mother’s power is strong Lord Lann.”
I wondered then at the various events in my
life when I should have died or come to grief and how I had survived. Could it be that someone was watching me from beyond the pale? If they were then there was a faint chance that we might just succeed. Pol angrily grabbed his reins, blaming the innocent horse for his fall. Having had a real scare, we pushed on and reached the forests. These huge wooded areas went from the eastern beaches almost to the high waterfall. Although they were dark and foreboding they afforded the best chance we had of staying hidden and we camped in a cheerless clearing where a lightening struck tree had died. We had no change of clothes and the smell of our drying garments was not pleasant.
Pol said quietly, after we had eaten. “I forgot to thank you, my lord. Thank you for saving my life.”
I smiled at him and ruffled his hair. “We are warriors Pol and that is what warriors do, they look out for each other. You have come to my aid often enough in the shield wall.”
Myrddyn leaned back against the huge bole of the tree. “I have never fought in a shield wall. Is it terrifying?”
“You have no time to think; you just have to fight and trust that the men around you will fight as well and hard as you do. Victory goes to the ones with the most resolve and the best training.” I pointed to Pol. “Even an untried warrior such as Pol here can have an effect so long as he does not quaver and does not flinch. The moment you back a little then you begin to lose.”
“You make something which is really brutal sound noble.”
“It is in a way and I pray that you never have to suffer it for it is a terrible and violent place.” With those happy thoughts we slept, knowing that the next day we would reach our goal and sight the castle of Din Guardi.