by Griff Hosker
“I didn’t. Does Garth?”
“Of course. Garth can command a shield wall but he has little knowledge of horses and only a rudimentary knowledge of archers. You have studied and understand strategy. You have an able deputy in Pol. I am happy.”
“Are you Myrddyn?”
“Your son is wise, Warlord. He asks the one who he knows understands. Yes I am happy Hogan. You have learned well. Morag will be good for you and give you the stability your father had at Castle Perilous.”
“Then I am happy.” He suddenly saw that Myrddyn was polishing a stone. “What is that?”
“Your father was given five raw gems and I have been polishing them. This is the last one.”
“May I see?”
“Of course not! Your father has yet to decide what to do with them. They are polished but they are not finished. That is true is it not, Warlord?”
“It is and do not mention them to Myfanwy either. Myrddyn and I are still debating on how they should be used.”
I could see the look of disappointment on Hogan’s face. He was being excluded and we had never done that to him. “You have much to plan Hogan. Do not let these stones distract you. All will become plain in the fullness of time.”
I was not looking forward to the journey. The month before Yule was always a stormy one although Daffydd, my captain, seemed confident. The night before we left we had a feast with my brothers, their families and mine. The next time they saw Hogan he would be married and heir to the Ceredigion throne. It was a pleasant time. Lann Aelle had a fine voice and he sang songs written about our battles against the Saxons. It was stirring stuff.
After we had cleared the platters, I stood. “Some beautiful amethyst stones have come into my possession. Myrddyn has been working on them for some time and now Ralph has finished his work I would like to give one of them to my wife Myfanwy. Although she will never have the title of Queen, to me she is a queen and will always be so.” I held out my hand and Myrddyn handed me a copper and silver crown set in the middle with the amethyst. It was beautiful. Even I, who have no eye for beauty, saw it. I place it on her head. It was cunningly made so that it could be adjusted. The copper and silver were delicately interwoven so that they sparkled in the candlelight but the gem held pride of place. It was the biggest of the five and the most magnificent.
Myfanwy was not given to shows of emotion but she burst into tears and threw her arms around me. “Thank you…” she sat beside me too overcome to speak.
“My son is getting married and I have a present for him. What he does with it is his concern.” I could see the worried look on his face. I handed him a single amethyst set into a silver and copper pendant.
When he took it he grinned with relief. “It will make a lovely wedding gift for my bride.”
Everyone applauded and then suddenly they all stopped as Nanna stood on her chair and stamped her foot. “Where is my present? Mother has one and Hogan has one. Don’t you love me father?”
The tears were welling up in her eyes. I wagged an admonishing finger at her. “You need to learn patience my girl. Of course I have one for you.” Nanna’s was a smaller version of the one I had given Hogan. She squealed with delight.
“Now say thank you to your father and then say sorry for being so rude!” Myfanwy had recovered her composure.
“Thank you and I’m sorry!” She threw her arms around me and kissed me.
In the end the voyage was not as hard as I had anticipated. The seas were calm and the sky was blue. It was cold but that was why we had brought furs. We even managed the voyage in half a day thanks to a following wind. Morag and Myfanwy liked each other immediately which was a relief to both Hogan and me. A priest of the White Christ officiated and the service seemed to go on interminably. I could see Myrddyn fuming with impatience. He would conduct a second ceremony when the couple were in the shadow of Wyddfa. The wizard was sure that it would bring untold benefits to the couple.
The day following the wedding saw the king and I walking his new defences. The king proudly told me of all the changes that he had wrought. I was worried that he would get carried away with what he had seen as a victory. “You must exercise caution your majesty. We need to weaken Iago much more before we try to rid the land of him.”
The king smiled, “I am not deluding myself, Lord Lann. Had you not been here we would have lost. If he returned again in the next months I would have to send for you or lose. But we now have hope and I will not beard the dragon until we have made both our armies much stronger.”
“And King Cloten?”
“He is just relieved it was we who had to fight Iago. He has copied my forts and my changes. He too will be ready. And the prince?”
I knew that both kings had never met the prince and were suspicious of any son of Iago. “Like you he is cautious, but he is building, steadily. When the time comes he will be a good king and we will win.”
He smiled, “I am pleased that you have used our gift of amethysts well.”
“You knew?”
“When Tomas found them and told me of them he spoke of his idea of making a gift of them. It shows your nature that one is returned to me and my daughter. I take it as a symbol of the union of Ceredigion with your people. I know you will use the other two wisely.”
And as I sailed home the next day, I wondered how I would use them. I saw that Myrddyn was right and there was a power in them; a power which came from the earth itself and the mountains that were the backbone of our land.
Chapter 13
Perhaps the amethysts did bring us good fortune. We had two years free from war. There were small scouting raids by both the Saxons and the men of Gwynedd but they were easily repulsed. The three frontier forts were improved and enlarged. I deemed that it would take a well equipped army to storm them. The new squires proved a great hit and enabled our patrols to be particularly effective. My leaders felt that our peace was due to their long and arduous patrols. They were able to snuff out any problems long before they reached our forts and settlements.
Sadly the lands around us, the areas beyond our frontier forts became stripped of people. We had an influx of refugees. That proved to be a benefit for they brought skills we needed. Many of our warriors took wives from the refugees and there were many new children born.
I became a grandfather; Artorius and Aideen were both born in quick succession. The event was the cause for great celebration both in our land and Ceredigion. Poor Myfanwy fretted that she was too far from the babies to be able to spoil them as much as she wished. Prince Pasgen followed Hogan and married. He soon became a doting father and husband and the haunted warrior who had fled from Rheged was a memory only. Lann Aelle became a man. His role changed from that of a squire to that of a bodyguard. I found his presence comforting when we rode with Myrddyn to inspect the frontier. My body told me that it needed to slow down from war. I knew that I had been lucky to avoid any serious wounds thus far and I wanted my grandchildren to play with a grandfather who was whole.
Back at Castle Cam, Brother Oswald and Myrddyn had finally finished our bath house. I suppose in terms of Byzantine baths it was quite primitive but it suited us. They had worked out how to make a hypocaust to keep the house warm in winter. Until she had used it Myfanwy had complained that the hall needed heating more urgently. There was a hot pool, a warm pool and a cool pool. It was a pleasant place to relax. Myfanwy was sceptical until I took her to share the experience with me. She was hooked immediately. The children, Nanna and Gawan, enjoyed the water and it became a daily pleasure for each of us.
Myrddyn and I were enjoying its warmth one spring morning. As we lay in the warm bath I reflected that we had both become older without looking older. It was strange. Myrddyn took out the amethyst I had left with him. It was the smallest. I had kept one; I suppose it was a good luck charm. Certainly, since I had carried it with me, we had had peace. Myrddyn turned it around in his hand. “Do you remember in Rheged, a few miles from Glanibanta there wa
s a lake half way up the mountain?”
“Yes. There is a long narrow lake like Wide Water and then, as you climb you suddenly come upon the small lake. Why?”
“This amethyst is the same colour as the water.” He paused and I remained silent. I knew he had not finished yet. “When I was last in the cave at Wyddfa I wandered towards the back and found a small pond there. In the torchlight I saw that it was the same colour as the stone.”
“I take it there is an inference from this?”
“You are allowing your mind to stagnate because we have no wars, Warlord. The stone links Rheged and here. The stones did not come to us by accident. There were five of them and we were meant to have them.”
I took the stone from him, mine was in my chambers. “Do you think there is a purpose for them? I mean we have used three; what of these last two?”
“I cannot see it yet but I know that there will be a purpose and we should keep them about us at all times.”
I sensed criticism in his voice. “Even in a bath house?”
“Even in a bath house.” It is strange but as things turned out he was proved correct.
Myfanwy decided that we would visit Hogan and his family for the midsummer solstice. Myrddyn always liked to be close to Wyddfa at that time. Miach was also anxious to see his son who had now become a father himself. We were still getting recruits and it seemed a good idea to take the ten new ones along with some new weapons and armour made by Ralph and his smiths. Taking my young family was not easy and I admired the calm of Daffydd, the captain of ‘The Wolf’. He seemed not to mind all the chests and boxes dragged aboard by my wife and her servants. We also had to bring Wolf with us. In the last three years he and Gawan had become inseparable. Although the sheepdog was now old, he was highly protective of my family and Gawan would not leave without him.
Eventually we set sail. It would be less than half a day for the voyage although Daffydd was a little concerned about the lack of wind. It was a balmy day. I did not mind the slow pace. It was pleasant to watch Mona slip by to our south. We had to head north first to avoid the shoals which lay just north of Mona but once we turned east we found a little more wind. Myrddyn sniffed impatiently. “Had we gone by horse we would have been halfway there by now.”
“With all the boxes and the children asking, ‘Are we there yet?’. No Myrddyn, this is better and easier. I, for one, like it.”
It was then that wyrd took a hand. The lookout at the bow shouted, “Ship to the east!”
That in itself was not threatening but when the helmsman shouted, “Ships coming up on our stern,” then it did.
Daffydd shouted, “Are they Irish?”
A moment later the bad news we feared was confirmed, “Aye my lord!”
We had a bolt thrower at the bow and one at the stern but there were three Irish ships. I left the command of the ship to the expert, but the defence was up to me. “Lann Aelle, get the recruits armed. Bring our bows up. Miach, if you get the chance, take out the helmsman on one of the ships.”
The men assigned to the bolt throwers were already loading them. “Myfanwy, take the children below deck.”
She shook her head, “If we are to die today then let us do so in sunlight not hiding in the dark!” There was no arguing with a strong minded woman. Myrddyn had joined the bolt thrower crew at the stern.
I wandered over to Daffydd. He had every sail catching as much of the wind as we could. “They were waiting for us my lord. They have oars and can easily catch us.”
“I assume we cannot return to Cybi?”
“They would catch us quicker that way. They have planned this well. If there had been a breeze then we would have had a chance but this way…”
“We could head for Aelle’s burg.”
“Not yet my lord for there is a ship between us and its protection.”
“You are the sailor, what do you suggest?”
“Take out the ship coming towards us and head for your brother.”
“Good! Then we will do it.” Half of the problem we faced was not knowing what to do. At least we had a plan now. “Myrddyn, can you hit the ship before us?”
“Yes my lord.” He hurried forward as Lann Aelle distributed the weapons and brought me my bow.
“Miach, discourage the ones pursuing us.”
I went with Myrddyn to inspect the target. The Hibernian ships were smaller than we were but they would each have up to forty men on board. They would have eighteen oars on each side and a sail when they needed it. We had twenty men on board who could fight. We needed to lower the odds against us.
The ship before us was closing rapidly which made Myrddyn’s task more difficult. The Irish boat was coming at us head on and was a small target. Myrddyn’s first shot went a little too high and cracked through the mast. Had they had a sail hoisted then we would have damaged them; as it was the broken spar fell to the deck where it was thrown over. I daresay we injured some of the warriors who were rowing but it did not slow it down. The second shot was either better aimed or luckier. It struck the boat just above the waterline. It would make the boat gradually fill with water. I heard the bolt thrower at the stern crack into action. They had two targets and would have to choose one target or the other. I hoped that Miach chose wisely.
Myrddyn hit the ship again and he must have hit some rowers for the boat slewed dangerously towards the coast. The crew of the bolt thrower desperately reloaded as the target briefly wallowed before them. By the time they had reloaded the Irishman was beginning to turn to sail parallel with us. They were now between us and safety. Myrddyn managed to hit it again close to the waterline and I could see that it was moving more sluggishly. I went to the stern. One of the pursuing ships had been hit a couple of times and I could she was moving more slowly. Both ships were now in bow range. The three of us with bows took them out.
“Aim for the ship which is already damaged, if we can disable her then the odds are down to two to one.”
As Miach pulled back his bow he grumbled, “Oh good, just eighty warriors to fight then!”
The three of us were good archers and we all aimed at the stern. We didn’t just loose one and see the effect we released five in quick succession. One or more must have struck the helmsman for the boat suddenly swung towards the shore. The crew of the bolt thrower took advantage of the ship being beam on to us and loosed one which struck her below the waterline. The ship was already damaged and we could see that she was sinking. The crew began to row for the safety of the shore and I hoped that there were men at the watchtowers at Aelle’s Burg to see them.
The undamaged ship had taken advantage of her consort’s demise and had closed so that the bolt thrower could not strike them. I looked to the right and saw that the first ship we had damaged was sailing two hundred paces from our right hand side. I could see, in the distance, Aelle’s Burg. “Captain, edge the ship towards the shore.”
“But there are rocks there.”
“I know and hopefully we can sink a second ship. Besides my brother’s men have bolt throwers too.”
I hoped that the rowers were tiring but they still appeared to be closing from both sides now. By edging south, ‘The Wolf’ was drawing away from the more dangerous undamaged ship but it meant that the first ship we had struck could board us. “I want every armed man on this side of the ship. Myfanwy, arm yourself!”
The three of us with bows began to loose arrow after arrow towards the ship to the south of us. I kept one eye on Aelle’s fort which was now less than half a mile away. I could see warriors on the ramparts and knew that we had been seen. The Irish captain was a brave man and he edged his ship closer to us. Even while I was releasing my arrows I gave commands. “When they try to board us stop them! If they board us we are lost. I know you men are new but you will be fighting for your lives.”
Suddenly I heard a crack as one of Aelle’s bolt throwers struck the damaged ship. It was a mortal blow. The ship suddenly sank lower into the water. In a last desperat
e attempt to close with us the captain put the tiller hard over and she turned to within forty paces of us. The wind, the tide and the last efforts edged her closer to us and we now had the problem. If we turned away from her we would be turning towards the last ship and she was undamaged.
“Miach, you watch this ship. Myrddyn get the bolt crews to help Miach stop any of that ship boarding us. The rest of you to me! We are going to have to repel boarders.”
By the time we reached the other side I could see that the Hibernian ship was thirty paces away. I had an idea. “Captain, steer hard left! Now!”
I thanked the Allfather that my men all trusted me and Daffydd did as I had asked. The Irish captain was not expecting that and we suddenly loomed up on his right side. We cracked through his oars. I could only pray that we had hurt some of his warriors. “Hard right!” The hull of ‘The Wolf’ ground along the flank of the pirate, gouging planks, and allowing water to flood in. Unfortunately it meant we were next to them and ten ropes with hooks at the end snaked over the water. I hacked at one and then another. More were thrown and then we were fast together. I hefted my shield around. “Lann Aelle, on my right. The rest of you get behind me.”
I hoped that the crew would cut the ropes holding us or the sinking pirate might drag us down with her. The first Irishman who stepped aboard was a half naked giant with a body covered in tattoos. He roared at me and Saxon Slayer struck him in his vast belly and he fell on the men clambering behind him. There were however, just too many of them. The twelve of us could not keep them at bay and they swarmed over the side. Lann Aelle fought like a hero and the deck where we stood remained free of the Hibernians as we killed them before they could clamber aboard. The recruits were struggling and gradually being forced back so that we ended up in a circle. I found myself fighting a warrior with an axe and a sword. I had slipped my shield dagger into my left hand so that I had an extra weapon. Two warriors attacked Lann. One had a war hammer. He struck Lann’s shield and Lann cleverly deflected it. Unfortunately for me it smashed into my hand and Saxon Slayer. The sword was dashed from my numbed hand. My opponent saw his chance and swung his axe over his head. With nothing left to deflect the blow I did the only thing I could, I put my head down and charged. I hit his chin with my helmet. He fell to the deck and I ripped my dagger across his stomach. I stood and left him dying.