by Chris Page
‘How long before our army are all on land?’
Robert de Mortain cleared his throat.
‘It all depends on the knights and their horses. If that goes smoothly I estimate that the entire force will be landed by midday.’
‘And Harold’s army, Odo, how far away are they?’
Odo of Bayeux reached over and jabbed his finger on the map.
‘I had a report just an hour ago, my lord, that their main force of two thousand men is camped here at a place called Caldbec Hill. It is seven miles from our landing area. Apart from a few forward scouts on the hills overlooking their own camp, there are no signs that the English are preparing to engage on the beach as we land or have even worked out where it will be.’
‘Harold and his army are exhausted. They’ve just completed a forced march from the north and need rest. My guess is they will stay in camp for as long as they can. Let’s hope it stays that way for our landing in the morning. Fighting on shingle is hard work,’ said the duke. ‘Is there anything else? If not, get some sleep. We have a big day in front of us tomorrow, gentlemen. A very big day.’
The men filed out of the small cabin leaving just the duke and the thus far quiet gray man in the shadows.
‘Something on your mind, Virgile?’ the duke said quietly.
The tall shadow moved and a young, leonine head with opaque gray eyes over a slim nose and long, straight black hair to his shoulders moved into the light cast by the table lantern.
‘Earlier today I detected two powerful auras over this fleet,’ said Virgile in a deep, resonant bass.
‘Two? Does that mean they have two venefici with them?’
‘It certainly means that there are two of them here, although they may not necessarily be working with Harold. It’s probably an older enchanter nearing his time with a young trainee. You’ll remember that my own reasons for being here are purely pacifistic, to see if some form of peace can be negotiated and Norman lives saved. Saving such lives is paramount for me. It’s a key part of the venefical code, although, as we both know, there are those in our own land who have chosen to ignore it.’
‘What do you suggest?’
‘With your permission I’ll talk with them. Later, when you’re asleep, it’s the best time of the day for venefici.’
‘And vampires,’ the duke said with a smile.
‘There are no such creatures, my lord. They exist only in your imagination.’
My name is Virgile and I am a veneficus from Normandy. I come in peace, although, as you know, my duke does not. I would like to meet with you both to discuss the situation.
We would also like to meet with you, Virgile. We are Twilight and Tara. There is a headland some two miles along the beach called Stack Point. We are there now and await your presence.
Virgile’s appearance was instant. Twilight and Tara studied the handsome young French veneficus and he them. Nothing was said for a few moments as they studied each other’s mien and absorbed one another’s auras.
Then Virgile smiled a disarming, youthful grin and bowed.
Twilight nodded, returned the smile, and then spoke in English.
‘I’d like to bid you an unqualified welcome, Virgile. However, such a welcome is tempered by the fact that you accompany a vast fleet of fighting men bent on destroying the lives of English defenders.’
Virgile nodded and replied in his deep, sonorous bass, ‘You are right to temper your welcome so, Twilight. I accompany a duke who is here as an invading force, although I will not be using the enchantments to assist in his endeavours.’
‘You are an adherent of the venefical codes?’
‘Strictly,’ replied the handsome young French astounder. ‘And you?’
‘We do our best,’ Twilight replied softly.
‘Where I can save Norman lives, even one life, without impacting upon the effects of the engagements, I will attempt to do so; otherwise the outcome of the battle is not my concern.’
‘And the life of your duke?’
‘Precious, for he is an inspired leader, but the same applies. The power struggles of such men will always lead them into conflict, and although the siding with them and their cause is not wholly against our code, I have decided nothing is to be gained by my direct intervention. I will, however, intercede if I see him acting unwisely in the matter of his own safety.’
‘Your code and interpretation appear to be exactly the same as ours,’ Twilight replied. ‘This pleases me in that direct confrontation between us can probably be avoided. We do, however, reserve our right to challenge you directly should you go beyond those boundaries . . .’ He paused for a moment before continuing in a low voice. ‘The power difference between us will not have escaped your notice. We have used that difference in the recent past to dispatch a perverted venefica, and will not hesitate to do so again.’
‘I understand. You both have powerful auras, in particular you, young lady.’ Virgile turned his opaque gray eyes to Tara. ‘May I ask how long you have been training?’
‘Five years now,’ replied Tara, speaking for the first time. ‘How long have you been a fully fledged astounder?’
‘Fully fledged and on my own . . . just three years. After fifteen years as tyro to my adored mentor, Marsalis, I placed him under his destiny menhir in the Cromlech at Carnac just three years ago.’
‘The Cromlech at Carnac, eh,’ Twilight said. ‘How many destiny menhirs do you have there?’
‘Almost three thousand in total.’
‘Almost three thousand!’ exclaimed Tara. ‘Your venefical history must go back much further than ours. Can you name all the venefici under them?’
‘Of course. And the deeds they were famous for and those who assisted them, the most prominent of whom also get their own tribute menhir. It is the first thing Marsalis taught me. How many menhirs do you have?’
‘The one-hundredth Destiny Stone at our great site, which is called Avebury, will be mine,’ Twilight replied. ‘I see the difference now. We don’t accord a full stone to those who assisted the venefici. They get a smaller tribute.’
Virgile nodded, then rolled the words ‘Destiny Stone’ and ‘Avebury’ around his tongue, and his opaque gray eyes shone.
‘I feel the history of your place by just mentioning the names. With your permission, when this is all over, I would like to visit.’
‘If this invasion by your Duke of Normandy is successful, you’ll control it,’ Tara said.
‘Never,’ replied Virgile. ‘It will always belong to the bones beneath the stones and the local venefici, eh, old master?’
Twilight nodded.
‘Do you have animals in ligamen to you?’ Tara asked, flashing him a picture of her beloved Eoghan and Feasa.
Virgile blinked and then nodded. ‘Nothing like as fearsome as those great hounds. Mine are peregrines, a swift, brave, and intelligent hawk. There are many pairs in Normandy and they have proved worthy companions to me in times of crisis.’
‘More birds.’ Tara smiled. ‘What is it with you male venefici and the feathered species?’
Virgile raised an eyebrow at Twilight. ‘Pica,’ he said softly. ‘I detected them immediately as you no doubt did with my peregrines.’
‘Gira and Desi are interesting names,’ the old enchanter said with a smile, naming Virgile’s lead pair of peregrines. ‘Did you bring any of them with you?’
It was a polite question to which they both knew the answer.
‘No. There are plenty of peregrines here if required.’
Twilight sighed. ‘There are many things to discuss, but we’d better get down to the business of this invasion and our parts in it. Unlike you, Virgile, we are not so enamoured of the antics of our king as to watch over him too closely. True, we have assisted him in the past, but only on the basis that he was the lesser of two evils. Our prime concern is for our own region, which is called Wessex and lies to the west of here, and maintaining the ways of the Celts who live there. Naturally we have s
econdary aims encompassing the entire country of England and how that impacts on Wessex, and it may even be that your Norman duke offers a better long-term solution than the current line of succession.’
‘Shall we just leave them to get on with it?’ Virgile’s deep bass rumbled. ‘Ignore their clarion calls for our magic to enhance their battle positions?’
Twilight and Tara considered this for a moment before the old enchanter spoke.
‘Provided the armies are evenly matched in manpower, as I believe they are, then it comes down to tactics. The one who employs the best battle plan and carries it out will emerge as the victor.’
He looked at Tara.
‘What say you, special one?’
‘Leave them to their own destiny,’ she said firmly.
‘I agree, my duke is on his own,’ responded Virgile.
‘So be it,’ replied Twilight. ‘The winner takes all.’
The battle raged all the next day. Harold moved his men to Senlac Hill near Hastings, and William marched his troops to meet him. The ebb and flow of the fighting saw the two armies come together with neither yielding. The boggy, hilly terrain made it difficult for the Norman knights to press home their mounted attack, so it was infantry against infantry. Gradually Harold’s soldiers began to gain the upper hand and press the invaders back. On the right-hand flank the Normans suddenly broke and ran back down the hill with Harold’s soldiers chasing them. It was a mistake and gave the Normans the opportunity they’d been waiting for. An opening for their mounted knights, who quickly surrounded the English soldiers who’d followed the fleeing Normans. The knights cut them down. Despite pleas from Harold and his senior soldiers to maintain the line, more English troops poured down the hill and were cut off. In a last, desperate attempt to save his isolated soldiers, Harold gave the command to charge. A black cloud of arrows from the Norman bowmen met them, with one piecing Harold’s eye. He died quickly on the field and his pennant was lowered.
No veneficus played any part in the battle.
William, Duke of Normandy, had won.
It is recorded that on this very day the great sky trail of lights that later became known as Haley’s Comet completed its seventy-year fly-past over the battle site near Hastings.
Two days after the Battle of Hastings, Twilight and Tara walked along the line of Destiny Stones at Avebury with Virgile. Stopping at each stone, one of them would recount the history of its veneficus for their Norman guest.
‘So many parallels, so many similarities,’ sighed Virgile. ‘When you come to Carnac and I return the favour, you will see that whilst each veneficus is unique, regardless of which country or region they came from, their unflinching actions in carrying out their duties are identical. Regardless of their mother tongue and unknown to each other, they were all imbued with the same spirit and trod the same paths. It is very humbling for me to see these great stones and to know that we represent a history of unchanging venefical actions and bardic customs stretching so far back in time. We belong to a very special band of brothers and sisters.’
Finally they came to Obelisk, the mighty sarsen of Merlin. In a quiet voice flecked with poignancy, Twilight traced his period with the long magus and some of the many obstructions they conquered together. There were many obvious parallels with Marsalis, Virgile’s mentor, including a love of the Greeks and the Latin tongue. In much the same way as Merlin had with his scriptorium, Marsalis had squirreled away a great body of written work by the Greeks and brought to Gaul by the Romans.
‘I keep it all in a cave on an island off the coast of Normandy,’ said Virgile. ‘It is a place known only to me. If the Confrerie ever find out about it they will destroy every word.’
‘Confrerie.’
Twilight mused over the strange word. ‘Brotherhood?’
Virgile’s lip curled in disdain.
‘Charlatans more like. There are three other venefici in Gaul and they have banded together against me and my duke in the belief that neither of us are worthy of the positions we hold. They call themselves ‘the Confrerie,’ which does mean ‘brotherhood.’ Their take is that venefici have been placed on earth in order to rule and that the enchantments are gifted to us in order to help with that aim. The written Greek works in my Brittany cave represent progress and learning, something the Confrerie are very keen to remove. They also . . .’ he went quiet for a moment, ‘want to replace me in my most important venefical duty . . .’
‘As guardian of your Equinoctial Mists?’ Tara finished for him quietly.
‘Yes. You are guardians as well?’
Twilight and Tara nodded.
‘Then you will understand the importance of the annual ceremony being conducted correctly.’
Twilight sighed, remembering Elelendise, the wolf woman, and her quest to remove the same duty from Merlin.
‘Now they want to rule as kings,’ he said partly to himself. ‘Why am I not surprised.’
‘Have you had a direct confrontation with them?’ Tara asked Virgile.
‘Only once when I placed my mentor, Marsalis, under his menhir. Believing me to be weakened with his passing, they tried to take over my home at Carnac, but I managed to scare them off with some very loud bangs. They will be back - their auras are everywhere around our menhirs. With Duke William living over here now as holder of the English throne, they’ll be even more eager to take over. That’s one of their obstacles removed. I can feel them now, back at home, sharpening their enchantments, getting ready to swoop.’
‘Do they all have full auras?’ Tara asked.
‘Yes.’
‘And their endgame is to rid Gaul, now known as Francia, of all credible human leaders and take over themselves?’
‘Yes.’
Twilight thought for a few moments. ‘It is a dangerous precedent. They must be stopped. Venefici should never rule. It concentrates too much power in one place. A lust for the throne will corrupt those who seek it and in so doing burnish the enchantments in shades of treachery.’
‘My sentiments exactly. However, until two days ago it was just me against three of them. Then, at our first meeting on Stack Hill, you mentioned that in the recent past you have both used your powers to dispatch a perverted venefica. That gave me hope that you would consider joining me to rid my country of these three. We will at least be their equal.’
‘We most certainly will join you,’ said Twilight. ‘Of all my hatreds, the one I reserve for the most bile is that of a veneficus gone wrong. Three of them gets all my juices flowing - that’s so much bile it makes me feel almost young again.’
Tara pulled a face at Virgile and they all burst out laughing.
Two months after he defeated Harold at Hastings, Duke William of Normandy, now to be known as William the Conqueror, was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
To mark the occasion he ordered that a great banquet was to be prepared, a sumptuous feast the like of which the English nobles had never seen before. Cooks, musicians, singers of madrigals, jesters, jugglers, and winemakers of every sort were brought from Normandy along with his wife, Matilda, who was the daughter of the King of Flanders, and his three daughters. Robert of Jumieges returned in quiet triumph but refused his old position as Archbishop of Canterbury. Once was enough; besides, he still had a liking for his head. Three places were reserved just along the top table from where William and Matilda would sit. They were for Twilight, Tara, and Virgile, and William referred to it as his magic table.
‘This,’ said Twilight as they waited in line to be introduced to the new king and his wife, ‘is the second time we have attended a royal banquet.’
‘Umm,’ said Tara, smiling sweetly at him. ‘Try not to choke anyone this time.’
As usual they were dressed in floor-length, clean linen habits of an indeterminate gray colour that were completely lacking in any form of style. Even so, Tara, who was blooming into an exceptionally beautiful woman, shone out like a star among the many bejewelled and upholstered ladi
es and men surrounding them.
Well known for his exceptional strength and appearance, William was a large man. His strength was illustrated by the story of how he could draw a bow that no other man could draw, whilst spurring his horse forward at full pace.
Standing behind the king Virgile kept an unnoticed but careful eye on the guests as they filed past. He beamed at Twilight and Tara as they approached, stepped out from behind the king, and offered Tara his arm.
‘Your majesty.’ He bowed, his deep voice rumbling like a distant herd of galloping horses. ‘These are the two magical people I told you about. Tara,’ he stepped back, ‘and the alpha master of us all, Twilight.’
The king’s eyes lit up as he turned to Tara, who, bold as ever, just looked at him directly with her bright green eyes and a half smile. Taking both of her hands William’s eyes danced as he spoke.
‘At last. A veneficus with vaunted beauty. Y’know, a king can get fed up with these old venefical graybeards at times, despite the magic of their undoubted abilities. It’s a great pleasure to meet you at last. Virgile has not stopped talking about you since we arrived here.’
He bowed over her hand and lightly brushed it with his lips. For the first time in her life, Tara didn’t quite know what to say or do.
So she blushed.
Having effused equally over Twilight, he turned to his wife, Matilda, a dour and rather ugly woman whose looks and demeanour the fine jewels and silks couldn’t hide.
‘I would like to make a case right here and now that these two enchanters are included, along with Virgile, whose place was already certain, in the great tapestry being prepared at Castle Bayeux. Can you see to it, Matilda?’
Matilda bowed her affirmation.
After a splendid meal in which boars’ heads seemed to predominate and none of which, together with the splendid flagons of wines on offer, was touched by the three wizards, the musicians and madrigal singers assembled in one corner and began to play and sing together. With tumblers and jugglers whirling around the outside of the floor, people began to dance.