by Griff Hosker
Brother Oswald shook his head. “I think all the Christians would wish to leave and, from what I have heard from the others the non-Christians would not wish to live under a Saxon yoke.”
“I want you to go to Raibeart and Aelle. Tell them both what I have planned. They will make the necessary arrangements.” I paused, picturing the bird like Brother Osric, “and you had better ensure that Brother Osric’s works are taken there first. We may have to leave here in a hurry.”
The army we took, a week later, was a shadow of its former self. We had but eighty warriors, thirty horsemen, twenty archers and twenty slingers. The farmers gave us another hundred men. They were all armed; some with sword or axe or spear and some with bow. All had a shield and most had some armour, courtesy of dead Saxons. They were brave and they were well trained but they were not killers and the Saxons were. I would not throw their lives away lightly. They would be needed later.
Riderch and Ridwyn had worked tirelessly and now we had a line of beacons stretching along the length of the wall in Rheged. Tuanthal and his thirty men were already well to the east scouting and I sent a despatch rider to Civitas to ask King Ywain for his horsemen. I left Garth to build our camp and I took Pol, Hogan and Wolf to Lord Gildas. He had a stronghold on the coast at Alavna. It was well fortified but was intended to stop Hibernian slavers and not Saxon invaders.
I had not seen him in some time and he had grown. He and Prince Ywain had been my constant companions in our youthful campaigns and, unlike the king; Lord Gildas had kept up his skills. He too was worried about the king but was diplomatic enough not to criticise.” I have a hundred warriors, ten archers and forty horsemen.”
“How many do you need to defend Alavna?”
“If I leave ten then the old warriors and the men of the town will suffice.” He cocked his head to one side. “What do you plan?”
“We are vulnerable to an attack south of the wall, if they use their ships. I want a fort building along the coast, five miles south of the wall. Alavna will be a back up but if you are based there then you can reinforce us on the wall.”
“How many men can we field?”
Myrddyn had spent many hours calculating the maximum number of men we could use. “We have no more than four hundred warriors, unless we use Raibeart’s and Aelle’s men and they guard the east. Archers? Less than a hundred and that includes half trained men. We have forty or fifty slingers and two hundred horsemen. If King Ywain releases men from the capital then we could have another two hundred warriors and a hundred archers.” I paused, “but so far he is reluctant.”
For the first time he looked upset. “But the Saxons have thousands.”
“I know. This time it is just Rheged who will be fighting.”
He clasped my arm. “I will not let you down Warlord. My men will be there.”
When I reached my camp it looked defensible and there was a message from King Ywain. He was sending just fifty of his horsemen and fifty of his warriors. Myrddyn was close by when I received the missive and he saw my face. He came over and said quietly. “The fifty horsemen will double our patrols in the east so that is good and fifty extra warriors is more than you asked for. Look on this as half full and not half empty. Civitas Carvetiorum is not far from here. When the Saxons come they will be able to reach us.”
I nodded and smiled. Myrddyn was my touchstone. So long as he was close by then I had a chance. “Can you think of anything to slow them down?”
“Yes. I will take some men after dark and we will dig a ditch ten paces from the river. I will divert the river and make that land impassable. I will get others to bury stakes in the river bottom. It is the Saxons who wish to cross south. We do not wish to go north.”
I ordered Garth to send some scouts north of the river to find out where the enemy was. Since the king had died we had had no news from Strathclyde. Perhaps their warriors still fought, we did not know. Lord Gildas began work on his fort and sent carts with dried fish from Alavna to feed the army. We had hunters out, constantly, but men were better employed building defences than gathering food.
Once the camp was finished Garth began extra training with the farmers and workers. I took to sparring with Pol and Hogan. Pol still yearned to use his war axe but he still needed to learn how to fight with a normal sword and a shield. It was handy having the two of them for it enabled me to improve both of them at the same time. Hogan used Pol’s old seax; a fine weapon for close in work. I showed both of them how to use the shield as an offensive weapon.
“On the day you fight put ten more nails into your shields but do not hammer them in. Let them protrude a little. Then when you use your shield as a weapon you might be lucky and rip out an eye or damage a nose.”
Hogan looked shocked. “But that is not honourable!”
Pol cuffed him on the back of the head. “Listen to your father and remember war and battle are not honourable. You use anything you can to win. You see a leg before you then stab at it. If you see an unprotected man’s back then stab him. We are not here for glory, we are here to win.”
It was only then that I realised how well I had brought Pol on and I left the two of them to it knowing that Hogan would be ready when the time came for him to stand behind me in the battle line.
The scouts returned the following day. I was pleased to see that they were unscathed but we had trained our men well and they were skilful. Garth saw me as soon as they had made their report. “The Saxons are moving south.”
“Their whole army?”
“The scouts just said there were thousands of Saxons so we can assume it is a large part anyway. They will be here in three days at the most.”
I was relieved. We could now add to our defences. “Send a rider to Prince Pasgen and Lord Gildas and tell them to bring their men in two days time. I will visit the king.” I left Pol and Hogan training and rode with Myrddyn to Civitas.
“Is there a reason you are bringing me along, my lord?”
“I am hoping that, as you have an intellect as Brother Osric did, you can persuade the king to be more belligerent. I have obviously failed.”
“I do not think it was your words, my lord. I just think he does not want to fight. He is Brother Osric’s tortoise. Perhaps he thinks he can do as Bulc did and hide in his castle.”
“Then he is wrong.”
The king was reluctant to see us but, as Warlord, I had the right to an audience and he eventually had to see me. “Your majesty, the Saxons will be here in three days. I need your troops now.”
He shook his head, violently from side to side. Had it not been so serious I would have laughed for he looked like a dog trying to dry himself. “No, Lord Lann. I need all of my troops here to defend the city. Bring the army here and hide them in the walls.”
Myrddyn tried. “Your majesty the castle cannot feed and shelter the army and besides that would mean the people who were outside would be enslaved or killed. We have to stop them at the river and the wall.”
“It is a punishment sent by God because this man murdered King Morcant Bulc.” He pointed a wavering finger at me. The guards just stood stony faced.
I was angry and I had no time for this. “This man is not the Warlord of Rheged and I command the army not you. I am sorry that it has come to this but you have changed and I was charged by your father with defending Rheged and I will fulfil that promise!”
I stormed out and I heard his plaintive cry. “Do not leave me to be slaughtered by our enemies I beg of you.”
I sought Aidan, the captain of the bodyguard. He was in the guard chamber and someone must have told him of the words we had exchanged. He looked solemn. “Yes Warlord.”
“The Saxons are within three days of us and I need every man mobilising. Send out the men to bring the army to the wall.”
He hesitated. “And the king?”
“The king will stay here. Leave sufficient guards to protect the city but bring the rest.” He still hadn’t said yes and I was beginning to lose
my temper. “Captain Aidan. I am Warlord of Rheged and I command the army. Do you understand what I have ordered you to do?”
To be fair to him he tried to stand up to me. “Yes Warlord and I will bring the army to you but…”
“Yes?”
“Not the bodyguard of the king. They protect him and are commanded by him alone.”
The one hundred and twenty horsemen of the bodyguard, the men who rode behind the dragon banner were the elite warriors of Rheged. Under King Urien they had saved the day on many occasions but Aidan had a point. “Then leave the bodyguard with the king but bring the rest and I want you there in two days.”
He almost smiled as he said, “Yes my lord.”
Riding back to the camp Myrddyn posed some difficult questions. “This cannot end well; you know that? The King of Rheged and the Warlord of Rheged should agree. I do not think that King Urien expected this. Do you?”
“No but what else can I do?”
“You could become king.”
I turned on him. “And break my oath? Never mention the idea again.”
“Then I will not but we must be ready to flee for I foresee that we will lose now.”
I had no doubt that he was right. He was too good a seer to be wrong and I knew how few men we had. If we had had the horse of King Ywain there might have been a slim chance but now there was none.
Chapter 10
Prince Pasgen and Lord Gildas rode in with their men the next day. Both approved of my defences and both seemed in good spirits. After their men had been taken by Garth to their allotted area I told the two men of the King’s intransigence. “So my brother keeps four hundred men to defend a castle that only needs fifty.” He vaulted back on his horse. “I will be back!”
I wondered what he could achieve that I could not but I remembered my brothers. We too had a different relationship to each other and perhaps he would succeed. Gildas and I strolled down the lines of our defences. “I have left the fishermen their boats rather than having them fight.”
I smiled, “You have a good reason for that of course.”
“Of course. They watch the mouth of the estuary. If the Saxons come by boat and try to outflank our lines then they will be the first to know.”
“Good. That is wise.”
Garth joined us. “The men have been placed along the wall. We are thinly spread but their captains know the signals which will bring them close together.”
“Good. Now you had better send a rider to bring in Tuanthal. We will need those horsemen more than ever now.”
We were eating when we heard the drumming of hooves and then the distinctive wail of the dragon standard. Prince Pasgen rode in at the head of fifty of the king’s bodyguard. He jumped down and grabbed the standard. “The obstinate fool would not budge so I appealed to the men. These fifty chose you, my lord.”
“And the banner?”
“It should be with warriors who fight for Rheged.” He shrugged. “It is the banner of Rheged and not the king’s bodyguard.”
I laughed and felt a little happier. It was only fifty men but they were the best in the land and the dragon banner might just make the difference. I called a council of war as soon as Tuanthal reached us the next day. They had seen no signs of the Saxons and I assumed that they would be attacking from the north. If they were doing anything else then we could do nothing about it. The warriors had been arriving in dribs and drabs but the numbers were greater than I had hoped. Myrddyn had calculated the forces we had to face the Saxons when they came.
“We have almost six hundred ordinary warriors. Many have a shield and all have a weapon. We have four hundred and thirty who can stand in the shield wall. We have almost one hundred and fifty archers and slingers and just over two hundred horsemen.”
Gildas was naïve and honest. “But what of the king’s men?”
“We have but a hundred of those and only fifty of his warriors. None of his archers are here. But let us not worry about what we do not have and concentrate on what we do.”
Just then there was an almighty cheer from the camp. It was too jubilant to be the enemy. I waved an irritated hand to Pol to find out what the disturbance was. I could ill afford any distractions. When he returned he was grinning from ear to ear. “It is another contingent from Civitas my lord, fifty warriors and fifty archers.”
I smiled, “It is about time some of our luck became good. Thanks to Prince Pasgen and Captain Riderch we now have a wall to defend. We will use the less well armed men to defend that along with the archers and slingers. The shield wall and the horse we will place over on the bank.” The old river bank and flood defences formed a ridge about a hundred paces beyond the river. “I will be on the wall and Garth will command the knoll.” There was a roar of protest. I slammed Saxon Slayer on the table. “This is not open for debate! I am Warlord!” I softened my tone, “And I do not intend to die on a five hundred year old wall. We need to hit them as they try to cross the river. The men on the wall can do that and my presence will encourage them as will my Wolf Standard.” I saw Pol swell with pride. “I want them to pay for the crossing. I suspect there will be thousands but in truth we just do not know. Tonight and tomorrow I want traps and pits digging in a huge semi circle around the knoll. When we retreat, on my command, our men will run around the sides as though fleeing the field. But we will reform behind the hill like two horns on a bull. The Saxons will charge the shield wall. They will not see the horsemen who will be hidden from view, dismounted behind the knoll and the horns of the bull. I want them to break themselves on our shield wall. We will use three lines with a reserve of fifty to enable us to rotate and we will fight as we did at Dunelm. Even if they expect it they can do little about it. The two wings are there to protect the shield wall from an outflanking move and on my command the horse will mount and charge their flanks. Had we more horse then I would be certain of victory. As it is I can only hope.”
I looked around at the sea of faces. I had fought with all of these men, Miach, Riderch, Pasgen and Gildas and I knew them as well as Raibeart and Aelle. “Any questions or suggestions?”
“Smoke.”
“Smoke Myrddyn?”
“Yes if we have some pyres built then just before you give the order to retreat we could light damp fires and the smoke would make it hard for them to see. It would make the traps more effective and the men could escape easier.”
I nodded my agreement. “Any more?” They shook their heads but I was pleased to see more confidence amongst them. “Then tonight we dig pits for two hours. Use the men who will have to avoid them to dig them eh? We don’t want our own men falling into them and then one man in four to watch tonight. I want no surprises.”
After we had eaten we all went around the men. They needed to know us and many of the ordinary soldiers had never seen us all. They knew my standard and Pol happily carried it around with Hogan and Wolf in close attendance. Many just wanted to touch it as though it was a holy relic. I gave the order to stop work so that the men could rest and I stood on the walls with Prince Pasgen, Gildas and Garth.
“What if they do not come tomorrow, Lann?”
“Then, Prince Pasgen, we will have more time to build defences.”
“And if they do come, can we beat them?”
“Each time we have fought them we have been outnumbered and we have always won but this time I fear that the odds are just too great.”
“Did you not summon your brothers?”
“They have few horsemen and I did not want them strung out on the road. This way we can retreat to Castle Perilous if this goes wrong and we will have two strongholds to hold out against them. I am not risking all on one throw of the dice. We need a back up plan.”
Just then, Tuanthal, who had been riding the wall galloped in. “There are men in the water my lord.” He pointed upstream. “Many of them.
“Stand to.”
It was dark and we could see little but we could hear the men. Was it a Saxon trick? Then
we heard a voice. “We seek Lord Lann. We are the men of Strathclyde.”
“Watch them but help them. This may be a subterfuge.”
As soon as the first warrior was helped out of the water we knew that they spoke the truth. It was Calum who had fought with me under his leader Angus. His head bandaged, he gave a bow and, offering me his sword said, “We are here to serve you my Lord Lann. Strathclyde is no more.”
Myrddyn organised food and medical aid for the men of Strathclyde. There were a hundred and fifty of them and they were the survivors of the last battle. It was obvious that there would still be pockets of warriors hiding and fleeing elsewhere but organised resistance was over.
“They are five miles to the north of you. There are at least four thousand of them. We killed many of them in our last great stand but the numbers were just too great.”
I put my arm around his shoulders. I could hear the emotion in his voice. “You are safe with us now.”I turned to the warriors of Rheged who were watching the pitiful remnants of a great army drag their wet, weary and wounded bodies from the river. “Feed these men. They are all heroes.”
Calum nodded, “Thank you Warlord. And when we are rested we will fight alongside you for we would have revenge.” He suddenly smiled. “And we know the Saxons have never bested the Wolf Warrior.”
As he went away I felt that accolade like a millstone around my neck. Although it was true each time we fought against the overwhelming odds we did then the chances of defeat increased and one defeat would end Rheged. The good news was that I now had another one hundred and fifty veterans to place on the knoll. We now had a third more warriors than we had. We had more good news in the night when another one hundred and fifty men left their fields and walked north through Rheged to fight with the Wolf Warrior. Myrddyn’s foresight in bringing extra weapons and armour paid dividends and, once again, I rued the passivity of King Ywain. He could be consigning Rheged to history and the glory days of King Urien Rheged could become the stuff of legend.