WHITEBLADE: Kings of Northumbria Book 1

by H A CULLEY

  The local priest intoned a prayer or two and then Oslac placed the Bible he always carried with him on the lectern and opened it at a marked passage. He then proceeded to recite the Ten Commandments, before concluding with a prayer for prosperity and a blessing on Brodick.

  The simple religious service had been a useful way of preparing the ground. It calmed down the more excitable of the council and it reminded them all that they were Christians.

  ‘Thank you all for coming this morning. I wanted to introduce myself to you properly, though many of you who were here when we drove the pagans from Strathclyde out will already know me. King Domnall Brecc has appointed me as your thegn and I will govern your settlement, with your advice, with a firm but fair hand. At first I proposed to remain at Duilleag Bán na Cille, but I can see that might not be sensible as Brodick is the largest settlement on the island, so I will be moving here shortly. My warriors will accompany me, but Prince Eochaid will remain at Duilleag Bán na Cille with his men to protect it. For the better defence of Brodick, I propose to build a fortress here, as I have at Duilleag Bán na Cille, to protect you during the coming war with Strathclyde.’

  There was a stir at the mention of war and the councillors looked at each other in concern.

  ‘I need to raise a force of two hundred warriors, so that we can fight and lay waste to the land of Strathclyde, rather than our homeland. They will need to be young, unmarried men who are good fighters. Married warriors will remain here to protect their families and yours, of course. So what I need to know first is how many trained young warriors you have.’

  Silence greeted Oswald’s little speech, whilst the council tried to take in what he had said.

  ‘Lord Barra wasn’t a warlike man,’ Turlough said hesitantly, after a long pause. ‘We have hunters and some elderly warriors, but most of us are farmers, merchants and fishermen who settled here after Belin’s men were driven out. There has been no programme of training for our young men, such as we hear that you have introduced.’

  This came as a body blow to Oswald. Brodick was twice the size of Duilleag Bán na Cille and he had counted on the settlement providing at least forty men to crew one of the new birlinns.

  ‘How many boys and youths do you have? By that I mean between fourteen and twenty.’

  ‘Perhaps fifty, maybe a few more.’

  ‘And how many of those are hunters or fishermen?’

  ‘Less than half, I would think.’

  ‘I see. And how many married men are warriors who could defend you?’

  ‘We have the settlement watch. They are volunteers who have had some military training, but not much. There are twenty of them and perhaps a dozen or so veterans.’

  Oswald groaned inwardly. It would take a great deal of time and effort before Brodick could even defend itself, let alone provide him with men for the invasion of Bute. If this was the state that Barra had left his principal settlement in, he dreaded to think what the other smaller hamlets and the settlements in the south of the island were like.

  That night he sat down with his companions and they discussed the situation. As Turlough had predicted, there were nearly fifty youths and unmarried men who came forward at the meeting to train as warriors, as well as a fair number of the married ones, who wanted to volunteer to defend their settlement. However, none had armour, helmets or weapons.

  ‘There are quite a few of the Dál nAraidi who are less than happy to serve their king’s betrayer,’ Eochaid pointed out. ‘I could sneak back to Ulster and see how many I can bring back with me.’

  Oswald was unwilling at first, but in the end it was agreed that Eochaid would take the Gift of God and the Seraphim with skeleton crews and try to come back with as many warriors as they could carry. He left the next day, taking Lorcan with him.

  Oswald waited until ten of his best warriors arrived to start training the men of Brodick and some carpenters to supervise the building of the new fortress, then he set off with Oswiu, Rònan, who had come across the island with the rest of the men, Cormac, Oslac and Jarlath to tour the rest of the island. The situation was just as bad as he had feared and he promised to send some men to help them train when he could do so. He just hoped that Strathclyde didn’t invade in the meantime.

  Rònan fitted into the small group well. He was now in his mid-twenties and seemed to have forgotten all about his time as a young Pictish prince and then as a slave. He was one of Oswald’s best warriors and he thought about making Rònan master of one of the new birlinns. He knew how to steer but not how to trim the sail and navigate. However, it wasn’t far across the sea to Bute.

  He had been back at Duilleag Bán na Cille for about a week when Keeva told him that she was fairly certain she was pregnant. Oswald was all concern for her, remembering what had happened to Gytha, but his mother told him to stop fussing.

  ‘You are meant to be helping Keeva, not panicking her. Everything will be fine. Gytha was just unlucky. Now, haven’t you got a ship being built that you need to inspect, or some warriors to train?’

  ‘Sorry, mother,’ he said as he led her away out of earshot. ‘I just can’t bear the thought of losing her, too.’

  ‘She’ll be fine. I’ll ask the wise woman to check her later on in the pregnancy, just to make sure that the baby is in the right position. Now stop worrying.’

  Oswald stopped her as she turned to go back into his hut.

  ‘There is something else. Now that I’m the thegn, I need to move to Brodick. Duilleag Bán na Cille is too remote from the southern end.’

  ‘I see. Do you intend to invite the rest of the family to come with you?’

  ‘Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I?’

  ‘How long have we got until we have to move?’

  Oswald could tell that she was upset by the news.

  ‘You don’t have to. I’m merely inviting you, not forcing you. I’m not going until Eochaid gets back in any case.’

  ‘I see. If we come, where will we live?’

  ‘I had thought of extending the present hall to include separate chambers for you and Æbbe, me and Œthelwald and for Oslac as my chaplain. Eochaid can become the Headman of Duilleag Bán na Cille.’

  ‘Good. I was wondering when you’d remember that you had a son, but of course you’ve been too busy bedding your slaves.’

  Oswald was about to utter an angry retort, but managed to stop himself just in time. He took a deep breath before replying.

  ‘Do you really want to drive me away again? If so, you are succeeding,’ he said calmly but firmly. ‘You really do need to think before you speak, Mother. I’m not a child anymore and I won’t let you speak to me like that. Perhaps you had better stay here, after all.’

  Before she could reply, Oswald turned on his heel and walked away.

  The two hadn’t spoken since, but Oswald soon forgot the petty argument when Eochaid arrived back with his two birlinns overflowing with men and the odd woman and child.

  ‘I could have brought more. It seems that few are keen on King Congal. They think he’s mean spirited, vindictive, greedy and paranoid about being assassinated.’

  ‘Is that all? I could think of a few other things to call him. How many have you brought?’

  ‘Fifty four warriors, five of who are married and a few children.’

  ‘Excellent. With our three crews and a few others under training, we will be able to man all five ships and have about a hundred and fifty men for the invasion.’

  ‘You didn’t have much luck finding any men elsewhere?’

  ‘No, the other places are in much the same shape as Brodick. We are training more, but we’ll need them to supplement what we have now for the defence of the island.’

  He hesitated before continuing.

  ‘I’m moving to Brodick, as that is best place for my hall and I’d be grateful if you’d be the new headman here.’

  Eochaid nodded. ‘But you must expect me to be a frequent visitor, with my wife.’

  ‘Your w
ife?’

  ‘Yes, this is Dervla. She’s a cousin who was as anxious as anybody else to escape Congal’s clutches. She’s his cousin, too and he was about to marry her off to a dreadful old chieftain in Munster that Congal wants to ally himself with. We always got on well as children, so just before we left, we wed.’

  Oswald thought initially that it was a marriage of convenience, as Dervla could have hardly joined a boatload of men on her own as an unmarried girl, but the more he saw them together, the more he believed that love had slowly developed between them and he was glad for his friend. He wished that his children by Keeva could have been legitimate, as those of Eochaid and Dervla would be, but he would do his best for them.

  He was slowly getting to know Œthelwald and discovering that the little boy had an unattractive side to his character. He ordered Keeva and Jarlath around as if they were dirt beneath his feet and he seemed very self-centred. He wasn’t quite five, so Oswald hoped he’d grow out of it, but he blamed his mother for spoiling the boy. He tried to make allowances for the fact that he’d lost his mother and probably resented Keeva taking her place in his father’s bed, but it wasn’t easy. Whenever he told the boy off, he felt that he was driving a wedge deeper between them. Perhaps when he was older and he could take him hunting or on voyages their relationship would improve. He certainly hoped so.

  For her part, Keeva took over responsibility for looking after Œthelwald, but he knew it was difficult for her.

  ‘I’m sorry my son is such a brat towards you and your brother,’ he told her one night after they had made love. It hadn’t been as satisfactory as usual and he blamed the fact that they now shared the hut with both Œthelwald and Jarlath.

  ‘He’s only a little boy and he must feel very disorientated,’ she replied softly. ‘First he lost his mother and then he was taken away from his grandmother to live with people he doesn’t know; it can’t be easy for him.’

  ‘I’m not sure I could be so understanding if I were in your position. Perhaps that’s why I love you so much.’

  Oswald solved some of the problems with Œthelwald by bringing back an old woman from the settlement to look after him and Keeva. He also changed the design of the extended hall in Brodick. Œthelwald seemed much happier now that he had the old slave to look after him, and the fact that his father paid him a lot more attention helped as well. He even stopped pinching Jarlath whenever he thought no-one was looking.

  Finally the day came in early December for the move to Brodick. The first snows had fallen on the mountain tops and the wind had the cold edge of ice in it; he daren’t delay any longer. Oswald hugged Eochaid and bade farewell to all those who were remaining behind before stepping aboard the Holy Saviour, holding Œthelwald’s hand. The little boy beamed with pride as his father picked him up so that he could see over the gunwale and wave at the crowd on the receding shoreline. The Seraphim followed them out of the sea loch; then they turned right to go around the north end of Arran.

  Instead of turning south east as usual, as soon as they were clear of the point known as the Cock of Arran, Oswald kept heading east towards Garrock Head at the southern tip of the Isle of Bute. He wanted to see for himself how good a landing point the beach in Kilchattan Bay might be. From there, it was only five or six miles to Rothesay.

  The fishing hamlet at Kilchattan was built in the lee of a hill to the left of the bay and the shore in front of it was rocky and strewn with boulders. However, there was a good sized sandy beach at the far end of the inlet where a few fishing boats were drawn above the high tide mark. Presumably the site had been chosen to gain shelter from the prevailing wind.

  The Seraphim had continued along the coast of Arran, but now it came racing back towards him. What wind there was had died and the rowers were pulling for all they were worth. Because they were carrying families and possessions, both birlinns were only lightly crewed by warriors and as soon as he saw the three Strathclyde birlinns in pursuit, all crammed with warriors, he knew they were in trouble.

  He suspected they had come from Ard Rossan on the Strathclyde mainland. He was surprised if King Belin was flexing his muscles. Tension had grown between Dal Riada and Strathclyde recently, but Oswald had assumed that Belin would be preoccupied by the current border dispute with the Kingdom of Rheged to the south.

  He decided to try a bluff. Although there was no wind, he ordered the sail unfurled to display his symbol of a white sword with rays coming from its blade on a red background. At the same time he had the older boys and the women grab weapons and don helmets before lining the bows of the Holy Saviour. At a distance it might look as if his ship, too, was crammed with fighting men.

  Taking his bold reaction as their lead, the Seraphim displayed its red sail with the white-bladed sword too and headed back towards their pursuers. The ploy worked. The Strathclyde birlinns might carry more men, but they obviously had no appetite for a fight at sea with the cursed Whiteblade and his tough warriors. Both ships erupted in cheers as the three enemy ships scuttled back towards Ard Rossan.

  Œthelwald had been beside himself with excitement at the prospect of a fight and was bitterly disappointed when the enemy turned tail.

  ‘Never mind, Œthelwald. If you like, I’ll teach you how to fight with a seax when we get to Brodick,’ Jarlath told him kindly.

  ’Would you?’ the little boy’s eyes lit up with excitement, then they narrowed in doubt. ‘But you’re too young to be training as a warrior and you’re only a slave. You’ve no more idea of how to use a seax than I have!’

  Oswiu, who had overheard the exchange, gripped his nephew’s arm firmly.

  ‘Now you listen to me, you little shit, Jarlath is one of the ship’s boys and they are taught the rudiments of fighting with a seax so that they can help defend the ship.’

  ‘Ow, let go of me. You’re hurting!’

  ‘I’d do more than bruise your arm if I were your father. Jarlath’s offer to teach you was generously meant and you spat it back in his face. He’s twice the man you’ll ever be.’

  He gave the little boy a look of disgust and released his arm. Oswald had overheard the conversation, but hadn’t intervened. Oswiu was his favourite brother by some way and it pained him to see him clash with his son. He’d seen the venomous look that his son had given his brother as he walked away and he had a nasty feeling that the obvious antipathy between them would get worse as the boy grew older, but he was at a loss to know what to do about it. He just hoped that their relationship would improve with time. It would turn out to be a vain hope.

  Chapter Twelve – The Invasion of Bute

  Spring to Summer 628 AD

  The Monday after the celebration of Easter was set as the time for the two invasions – Domnall Brecc’s landings on the Cowal Peninsula and Oswald’s on Bute. By that time Oswald had settled into his new home in Brodick and Keeva’s belly had gradually grown larger. As his family each had their own rooms in the newly extended hall, he and Keeva now had much more privacy. Their slaves lived with the others in the main hall, but that didn’t include Jarlath. Oswald had freed him and his sister as soon as they arrived at Brodick, but the boy continued to be his servant, sleeping outside the room he shared with Keeva.

  He had hated leaving her with three months of her pregnancy still to run, but he hoped that this time he would be able to return in time for the birth. As usual, the sight of Jarlath as one of his crew reminded him of his lover. The two still looked remarkably alike, though the boy’s jaw line was firming up, making him look a little more masculine now that he was nearly eleven.

  It was a dozen sea miles from Brodick to Kilchattan Bay and, as they had left just as dawn was breaking, he expected to arrive no later than mid-morning. Allowing for securing the inhabitants of the settlement, he expected to be able to reach Ascog, another fishing hamlet, before dark and spend the night there. They would then be a mere two miles from Rothesay and well placed to make a dawn attack on the settlement.

  It was vital that n
o-one escape to warn the inhabitants of his approach, therefore he sent the Seraphim in first so that their crew could set up an ambush astride the track that led north on the road between Kilchattan and Rothesay.

  A few brave souls put up brief resistance, but it was all over in less than an hour. Leaving ten of his men behind as guards, they had just left the bay when they met the crew of the Seraphim, escorting two women and three children. The three men who had escaped with them were all dead.

  ‘Take them back to the settlement. I’ve left ten men there with the ships’ boys to look after our birlinns and the inhabitants. Once you’ve handed them over, follow us up to Ascog.’

  Lorcan, the shipmaster of the Seraphim, nodded, but then asked how so few men would be able to bring the five birlinns up to Rothesay on the next day.

  ‘I had thought to send enough men back here once we’d won the place, but it might make more sense to man one ship and that one can tow the rest.’

  Oswald thought for a moment before making his mind up.

  ‘I want to have as many men as possible with me for the assault on Rothesay as we don’t know how many warriors they have. But the fleet is exposed where it is and, as it’s only three miles from the Island of Cambrae to Kilchattan, it can be seen from there and so might be attacked. It’ll take the enemy time to muster men and ships to do that, but I’d rather have the fleet secure at Rothesay by nightfall tomorrow. Take your crew and remain at Kilchattan until dawn tomorrow, then use them to man the Seraphim and one other birlinn. You can use one of them to tow the other three the seven or eight miles up to Rothesay. If we haven’t captured the settlement by the time you arrive, we’ll have failed anyway.’

  ‘What about the fifth birlinn?’

  ‘I want that in position by dawn, to cut off any escape from the settlement by sea.’

  ‘Very well, Lord. What about the inhabitants of Kilchattan?’

  ‘You can tell them before you leave that they’re free, but are now subjects of Dal Riada, not Strathclyde. It won’t make a huge difference to them, so I expect them to accept the change. Once we have Rothesay, we can send warriors to the other few settlements and make sure they know of the change in their masters, too. I don’t anticipate any serious opposition from them. The main threat is of a counter-attack from the mainland, but as Belin’s in the south conducting a war with Rheged and soon he’ll know that Cowal had been invaded as well, he’ll no doubt have other priorities.’