Caitriona, part five: Alec

ALEC

The first day of our return ride was easy. We ran across one lone man all day and were otherwise alone, for we avoided the villages and fields, in an effort not to give the king of Gaul clues to our whereabouts. If he was still in Britain- and I had my doubts. No one had heard word of him for a month or more, and he was not well liked here. Aedd mac Caenan was liked in very few places, as little in Gaul as here if the stories I had heard of him were true.

Cait’s brother and her warleader-friend Llew and I were delighted when we discovered as we talked and rode that we share the same faith. Cait smiled and left us to our discussion, indicating to me that Maelwys was brooding and she would ride up next to him. I smiled back, rolling my eyes at my friend’s sullen silence. As Llew and Aneirin talked I thought back to the night before- I could guess what was making Maelwys morose, and it was not really being the only stubborn atheist among us.

I had noticed that when Cait left to talk to Llew, he watched her go, then glared murderously at the dirt beneath his feet. I came to stand next to him.

“You look as though you would kill something, brother,” I said to him with a slap on the back. “You will scare the other warriors away.”

“I would not mind that so much,” he muttered.

“Do you fear that they will take charge?”

Mael lifted his fierce gaze to my face. “No. I do not care who is in charge as
long as Caitriona is safe. It is that I mind.”

I spotted what he meant right away. The Cymric warleader had an arm around Cait’s shoulder and she did not seem to care; she was too busy gracing him with her silvery laughter. The sight was apparently a common one for the rest- they did not even glance up at them except to smile and comment on their happiness at ebing together after so long.

“Ah, Maelwys, she has not seen the man for five months, and before today she thought him dead.”

“And he seems to be inordinately happy that he has not lost her.”

“Stop it,” I scolded him mildly. “You two have been rather friendly in past months as well and I do not recall anyone complaining.”

“Friendly!” The firelight shadowed his face and illuminated his indignant surprise.

“I saw you race through the field and pull her off her horse.”

“It was-”

“It was rather friendly,” I finished with a smile. “And then there was your insistence on being the one to carry her everywhere when she was injured, and your private conversations-”

“Most of those ‘conversations’ were her accusing me of some new plan to ruin her.”

I favored him with an arch look but let him be. We sat in silence watching the others- and in Maelwys’ case, staring at the fire every five minutes- and I realized how much I had missed his company this summer. Maelwys is more dear to me than any blood brother and I was glad now to simply sit with him. We did not have really have to speak to read each others’ thoughts, not after so many years.
Now as we rode along, I did not have to hear him explain what was on his mind.
Woo sweetly, Mael, I thought with a grin.

We set up camp well into the evening that night. Llew, Aneirin and I had sealed our friendship during the day’s long ride, and I felt refreshed after we had talked so openly of God. It is not always easy being with stubborn warrior atheists every day.

I had no idea how it had gone between Maelwys and Cait. When we stopped, seeing that she was going to get water, I grabbed a bucket and joined her at the shallow river. “Well, did the wolf bite your hand off?”

Cait smiled ruefully. “Oh, he warmed up after an hour or two. That is, he spoke. What is he? Besides a puzzle? Yesterday he was teasing me and joking with you and Aneirin and today he took three hours to begin a conversation.”

I bit back a laugh. “He is... special...” Suddenly I had an idea I knew would bring him out of his reticence, though whether yelling or laughing I did not know and did not care. I whispered my plan to Cait and she told the other two.

After we ate I nodded to Cait, her signal to begin. She rose to the task admirably.

“Maelwys, Llew, Aneirin, Alec, come here, there’s something I want to show you.”
Maelwys looked between Cait and I suspiciously but got up and followed her to the bank of the river. As soon as we were close enough Cait beckoned to her brother and the three of us grabbed Maelwys.

“Hey! What?! Clanna na cu, you three put me down!” Maelwys roared. He thrashed and yelled all the way into the water, and came up spluttering in astonished outrage. “Clanna na cu!” he repeated, and stared at the four of us laughing on the bank. Then he, too, began laughing, first a little and then louder than the rest of us.

“You’re a canny lass, Caitriona,” he grinned . “Be a nice girl and at least give me a hand up.”

Caitriona smiled and held out her hand to tow him out and quicker than lightning she, too, was in the water, Maelwys howling mercilessly.

“Now you know how I feel,” he said when she came up dripping.

I laughed, winking at Mael, and hauled him out of the river while Aneirin fished his sister out, both Maelwys and Cait soaked to the skin and still laughing like children. Once back at camp Maelwys hung his tunic to dry and Cait disappeared into the woods to change her own wet tunic. She had made herself a few pairs of breecs while she lay in bed recovering from the skirmish with Anwyn’s men, and she wore them with a long tunic for riding. I guessed that the tunic was probably Maelwys' since it was so long, but he has always been blade thin and it fit her fine. She admitted she was very glad that nobody but the warband saw her riding around in breecs and tunic but I thought they suited her; the men all knew she was ready to work as hard as they and this made her and them comfortable around each other.

It had been a long day and the others were ready to go to sleep when our horses were fed and watered, but I sat up by the fire, unable somehow to sleep. I had nothing in particular think about, nothing pressing, but I was too restless to go to bed just yet. I thought about Caitriona and Maelwys- perhaps he was right to think of her as he did; although they often seem to not get along, and Cait will protest that she cannot trust him, yet he trusts her intrinsically and she trusts him more than she realizes.

He can predict her moods like the sun, and she figured out very quickly that no matter how hard he tries to hide how he feels, his eyes betray him. It took me a long time to figure him out myself- so it did not surprise me that Cait found it difficult to understand or predict him as he can her.

I was absorbed in the fire’s dancing flames, so that I did not notice Cait sit down next to me until she sneezed. “I am sorry,” she apologized with a wry smile, “I
think my hair is still wet from my dunking, and it is cold tonight.”

“Here,” I said, wrapping her in my cloak, “take this. I have been sitting next to the fire too long to be cold. You couldn’t sleep, either?”

“Llew snores.” She gave me a smile that was not altogether easy.

“What are you thinking of? Is something troubling you?” I asked.

She hesitated a moment. “Well... I am of course overjoyed to see Llew and Seithenin and the others, but it made me think of when we will be in Ardnurchar again and you and Maelwys will be in Derwedd and Aneirin will be who knows where. They consider him almost a prince Londinium, you know, and quite adore him. I just... well, I have come to care for you each so much that I don’t know how I will get used to being without you.”

“You’ll never be without us, Caitriona,” I vowed. “You know you’re always welcome in Derwedd- I can speak for us all. And don’t think you’ll be rid of us just because you’re six days away. You will come to wish you’d never set eyes on us, we’ll be there so much.”

Cait smiled easier now. “Never believe it. If Maelwys wasn’t the prince I’d have you all living in Yr Widdfa before the year was out, never to leave again.”

“It will seem as though you did,” I chuckled. “We’ll miss you at least as much as you’ll miss us.”

The moon was high above us and the fire was getting low when Caitriona and I went to sleep. We didn’t speak much, but I enjoyed her company as she seemed to be content with mine.

As a consequence of our late night, both Cait and I were tired in the morning. “Did you two have anything special to do last night? You were up till all hours together,”
Maelwys said in the morning, feigning suspicion.

I laughed. “Oh, it was something special all right. We talked about you.”

“Really.”

“No- well, yes, but we talked about all of us being together, and how things will be when Yr Widdfa is restored. That is all.” I winked at him. “It was quite a conversation.”

This time as we headed off Cait and I rode together, being the only ones too tired to make interesting conversation, and Llewis, Aneirin, and Maelwys rode in front of us. It was a hot day, one of those fierce end of summer days when it seems as if the season were reaching its peak and not its end.

We rode along at an easy jog, after stopping for a meal at noon, when another rider rode into view. I shaded my eyes against the sun to see better, but from our distance I couldn’t make out any distinguishing features of the man.

He rode straight for us, something about him tugging at my memory. As he drew close suddenly Maelwys stiffened and shifted his hand to the pommel of his sword.

“Stop,” he said, reining in Dwyn. “We will wait here for him.”

“Do you know the man? Who is he?” Cait asked uneasily.

“I know him,” Maelwys spat. The next instant I gasped and reached for my own sword.

“Anwyn!”

The traitor- lord came right up to us boldly, until Maelwys called in a voice hard as flint, “Stop there, Anwyn ap Aelle. Do not take another step if you value your life.”

“Funny, your threatening me,” Anwyn observed. “It seems to me, Maelwys, that you have no army. I do.”

“You have a pathetic army, Anwyn,” I said fecklessly. “Tell me, is that all you have? Last time we ran into yuor men they were dead, every one, in less than ten minutes. Surely you can do better, powerful and worthy lord as you are.”

Anwyn snarled wordlessly. “You are lucky I cannot kill you from here and am too lazy to move for the sake of something so worthless, Alector.” His gaze shifted to Caitriona. “And who is this?”

“My name is Caitriona, and I am the princess of Yr Widdfa, you cur. Don't look surprised; I have reason enough to dislike you- while I rode through the woods with Maelwys’s band, I was attacked by your men and wounded. I know what designs you have on Maelwys and his land. You’re a fool.”

Anwyn leered at Cait before turning his attention back to Maelwys. “Whatever you say, princess. As I was saying, Maelwys, you have no army. You and your friends would do well to do what I ask- and you know what I want.”

“I do not reward traitors and liars and, as you very well know, I cannot simply hand you the kingship of the Derweddi.”

“Don’t play games with me!”

“What do you want me to do? Adopt you?” Maelwys asked. His eyes flashed dangerously green and fiery.

“I want you to give up Derwedd to me! You know if you do not there is nothing for me to do but kill you.” Anwyn’s hand rested on his sword now, and he fingered its hilt as though itching to draw it.

Maelwys drew his. “You have had many chances and every one has failed.”

Anwyn sneered at us and let loose a loud whistle. Out of the trees, at his command, rode his warband at all full gallop. They stopped where their leader stood, their horses tossing their heads and snorting eagerly.

“Now what do you say, prince?” asked Anwyn sardonically. “You are outnumbered five to one.”

“I say I will never turn my people over to a bloodthirsty dog!” Maelwys snarled.

Six of Anwyn’s men drew their swords and rode at us. Maelwys took down one with a skillful throw of his spear and the rest of us had our swords out and ready, but the other warriors were close on the heels of their swordbrothers and before there was a skirmish we each had four blades pointed straight at us. “Do not kill them,” Anwyn ordered. “I want to let Cernach know his son is about to die. I want to let the whole of Derwedd know that their prince is dead and if their king knows anything he will surrender immediately. And I want the girl.”

I whipped around in alarm but Cait was being trussed with the rest of us. I was outraged at having been taken without a fight and had it done any good I would have retaliated. But there were so few of us and just enough of them that I would simply have gotten myself killed. I did object to having my hands tied, and received a blow for it. Within three minutes the five of us were tied and being taken to Anwyn’s hideout, and somebody was going pay dearly for it.

We were not very far off from the camp; Anwyn had obviously had a few scouts to tell him we were in Ardnurchar. And “camp” is all his hideout was: a cluster of leather and wood-pole tents and several fire rings. Farther off was a picket line for the horse, where five were tethered. Their riders sat near one of the fire rings sharpening their weapons or skinning the day’s catch.

We rode in and were being dragged roughly off our horses when Cait cried,

“Conor!”

One of the men polishing his sword stood and spun around at the sound of her voice. When he saw her, he looked alarmed. “Cait? How did you get here?”

“Your dog of a leader trussed me up and led me here,” she snapped. “What are you doing here?”

Conor rubbed his forehead, distressed. “I didn’t know where to find you or even if you were still alive. I was told he could help me find you. Cait, I’m sorry. I-” he glanced at his leader warily. Anwyn gazed at him levelly, and Conor finished with another backwards glance. “I’ll see what I can do.”

I was being dragged off my horse quite unwillingly, but I didn’t resist because it would have done me all the good of a hole in the head. As I involuntarily dismounted, I heard Cait speak to Llew.

“Oh, I’m not so sure, Llew. I've known him him for sixteen years- something’s wrong.”

Llew’s reply was loud and indignant. “He’s your bodyguard! Of course something’s wrong if your bodyguard is there and you’re here being held by a power-mongering fool!”

“Shut up,” a warrior snapped. “Come on, walk.”

Each of us was shoved into one of the tent- huts and tied to one of the wooden poles. I was tied on the end, with Maelwys next to me, Aneirin next to him, and Llewis last. Cait was tied to the opposite side, only perhaps fifteen feet away. Then we were left alone.

“Well, that went over well,” said Maelwys caustically.

“What will Cernach do?” I wondered. “He and the warband can surely take Anwyn’s men in a moment. Especially if he gets the men from Caer Rheged.”

“My father is not getting mixed up in this,” Maelwys answered. “I told him before we left that if word was sent back that we were captured, he should tell Meurig to ride to Rheged and then to help us, leaving enough men with my father to guard the caer. I know Anwyn’s dirty tricks and Derwedd will not get caught in one.”

I knew from the tone of Mael’s voice that he was concerned for Derwedd and perhaps for us as well. I decided to change the topic, and after staring at me for a few minutes- he saw through my words- Maelwys reluctantly entered the conversation along with Aneirin and Llew. But Cait, whether because she had little interest in fishing and hunting and weaponry, or because of another reason, was silent.

The day passed slowly, and then the next. Once each day we were untied and let out long enough to walk for five minutes, bolt some bread and drink some water, then we were tied again and left to ourselves until the next day. Our captor wanted to see that he was not accused of starving or mistreating us- for the sake of argument against the king- and he did this in the least way possible.

The third day Cait reached the end of her rope and started crying. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “It’s my fault, mine. If I had listened to you... if I had married Aedd MacCaenan... Llew, I asked you to come. And I got you here, Aneirin. I’m sorry- Maelwys, Alec...”

“Cait,” Maelwys said sharply, “Listen to me. It isn’t your fault, it’s mine. I’m the one who left Anwyn alone before and let us be captured this time. I mean it, Caitriona, it has nothing to do with you.”

She shook her head, still crying, and Maelwys softened his approach. “Cait, listen. You and Alector always say that whatever happens is in control of your God, right?”

Cait nodded.

“Well, does whatever happens not include this? Or is it exempt?”

“It does include this,” Cait sniffled. “Why?”

I shook my head to be sure my ears were telling me what they heard. Maelwys, talking to Caitriona about God? Truly, Lord, you are a marvelous God, I thought. I cannot believe it.

“If what you say is true, then your God has control even now. And indeed, Cait, I have thought about it these past two days, and have come to see some good that could come of this. And in other things that have happened. I am beginning to wonder whether you and Alec were right in what you have told me.”
Caitriona lifted her face up to look at him, and I held my breath in anticipation. “Do you believe it, then?” she asked breathlessly.

Maelwys thought for a good few minutes and then sighed. “Yes, I do. I cannot run from it anymore.”

Cait smiled faintly. “He doesn’t let you go, does He.”

“What do I do?” Defiant Maelwy’s voice was a hoarse whisper. “Cait, Alec, what do I do?”

I said readily, “Pray.”

It was the best moment of my life, and one of the most moving, when Maelwys gave his life to the Lord.

We spent the rest of that third day talking about God, about the faith, about how we had come to it. Caitriona had gone from shame to joy and joined in, adding her own testimony and listening with interest when someone else was talking. I was relieved to see this, for I had been worried about her, fearing that she would become badly depressed. Indeed I had been alarmed at her crying more because she was crying than because of what she had been saying. I know how strong her emotions are. Right now I was not worried for her. We were all too happy at Maelwys’s admission.

Several hours later, though, Maelwys was brooding again. Cait, too, was quiet, worry lining her face.

I was going to ask her what was wrong when the deerskin flap serving as our door swung open and the man called Conor stepped in. He walked to Cait’s side and loosed her. “Anwyn would like to speak to you.”

She looked startled. “Why me? I am nothing to do with this.” She shot us a panic-stricken look. “Anwyn cannot touch me. Conor, let me be.”

“Come quietly, Cait, and I will not have to fight you about it.”

I saw her shocked look and knew she was seeing a lifelong friendship reduced to ashes before her. “You do not have to lay a hand to me. I am not a coward or a criminal.”

They disappeared outside the tent- hut and the heavy hides muffled the voices, even those near us. Llew, Aneirin, Maelwys and I strained to hear what was going on but it was no use.

“I am going to kill Anwyn.” Maelwys was shaking with rage. “I swear, if all he does is look at her, I’m going to slit him nose to navel. She is not his.”

Llewis, too, was beside himself. We all were. “I cannot believe Conor,” he spat. “He was in love with her, once. I do not know what is wrong with him. We two were close enough, riding together every day with the rest of the band, and yet I do not recognize this Conor. He used to treat Cait with respect and affection. Some of us wondered if they would marry. He was full of ambitious plans- and Cait was always the one to remind him of what was practical even while she helped him figure out a way to fulfill his dreaming. But perhaps his ambition outweighed his loyalty and what love he had for her. Still, to stand by and let Anwyn claim her!”

“What ambitions can be fulfilled with Anwyn the Coward?” I asked. “There are two score men and no money to be had. I do not understand it.”
We did not have time to speculate anymore. The hide was pulled back again and

Cait was followed in by Conor. He tied her and stood. “Consider, Cait,” he said, apparently repeating a previous offer, for he looked close to exasperation.
Cait shook her head, weeping. “Go,” was all she said.

Conor stood there, with a look full of anger and wishing and sorrow, a dangerous look, which I knew was meant only for her. But she did not even see it. She said again, firmly, “Go.”

He turned on his heel and was gone.

It was Aneirin who first spoke. “Cait, are you alright?”

Caitriona shook her head, eyes still on the ground at her feet. With her hands bound she could not even wipe away her tears, and they streaked her face and kept coming.

Maelwys tried again, a moment later. “Did Anywn hurt you?”

“No.” Cait’s hair fell across her face, hiding her eyes, and I could see only the tears rolling to her chin before they fell and left tiny dark splotches on her green mantle. “It was not only Anwyn who wanted to speak to me; Conor did as well. He told me Anwyn’s band had found him and promised to help him find Ceridwen- his sister- in return for his allegiance. Power is Anwyn’s driving ambition, and he thinks he can get it by killing you.
“Conor had not known this, but he did know that Anwyn was ambitious, as is he. He saw a place in the conniving usurper’s band as a path to succeeding in his own ambitions. So it was that his selfishness overcame his love for his sister and for his lifelong friend. ” She shook her head.
“Anwyn came over too. He told me that if I helped him get to you, I could be his queen. And he said that even if I did not help him, he would rather marry me than kill me, because there would be no sense in killing me when I could rule with him.”

“The bastard,” Maelwys snarled. “He does not want a wife and he is not fooling anyone.”

“What did Conor want from you, then?” Llew asked.

“My cooperation. He wants me to help Anwyn as badly as Anwyn does, because he wants the power Anwyn would gain. He is like a dog begging for table scraps.” Her voice shook with emotion.

I fought down rage myself. As much as I wanted to teach the swine a lesson it was not right to voice my violent feelings aloud- or allow myself to dwell on them, pleasant as the thought of slitting his throat like a pig for slaughter was. No, I reminded myself, returning evil for evil leaves no leeway for mercy.

We were not interrupted again that afternoon, and the shadows cast by the scanty sun lengthened while we all sat restless and angry in our confinement.

“I am so sick of this,” Llewis spouted finally. “I cannot hardly move, and by now I would give anything to have my hands free.”

We all grumbled our agreement. My shoulders ached from the strain of having my hands tied behind me for three days. We had had our five minutes of bread and water and fresh air already that day, and it was never enough to loosen sore muscles anyway. The only thing to rest on was the narrow pole each of us was tied to- when had any of us even really slept these three days?

The last I had to take back. With exhaustion on her side Cait had managed to fall into a sleep as deep as any she would have gotten on a real mattress under a fur coverlet, though she rested against a narrow pole and had only the humid air as a blanket; she was unconscious to the rest of the world.

I noticed Maelwys watching her sleep. He looked thoughtful, as he had all day.
Maelwys said quietly to me, “I am afraid for her. And for Derwedd and my father. Two lands are in danger because I let us be caught. I have to do something, Alector.”

I shook my head. “She would be dead now if not for you, not sleeping, with her brother and three warriors with her. And Cernach is still king. Rest easy, Mael, and pray.”

Maelwys nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving Caitriona. She slept for a good hour more, and the rest of us were silent. I tried to doze, and Aneirin nodded off, too. Llew made escape plans in his head and Maelwys watched Cait and brooded, thoughtful and stormy-eyed.

“Oh.” Caitriona moaned and stretched. “I think I should have stayed awake.”

“You are looking better,” Aneirin said. “I thought you needed the sleep.”

She smiled slightly. “I think I did. But oh, my neck is sore.” She noticed Maelwys’s brooding expression. “What is wrong?”

“Besides the obvious?” He glanced at me before looking at her. It was a look begging for support. Then he turned to face her squarely. “Cait, do you trust me?”

I saw her eyes flicker to mine as well. I gave her a barely discernible nod.

After a second of hesitation, Caitriona said, “Yes.”

“Do you really trust me?”

“Mael, yes. What is it?”

“I think we need to be married. Now.”

Llew’s head snapped up. Cait, shocked opened her mouth to speak but Maelwys held up a hand, not unkindly. “Listen, just listen. If you were legally bound to me, if anything happens to me, you inherit my father’s throne. And I can protect you. That way Anwyn cannot touch you.”

If Cait was upset, frightened, angry or mistrustful, I could not tell. I wished everyone had eyes like Mael’s, eyes which would give me insight. But she simply stared levelly at him, blue eyes unreadable. For a moment she didn’t answer. “And who would marry us?” She asked finally. “We have no bard.”

“Alector.”

I turned back to him, confused. “Yes?”

“Do you own me as your prince?”

I did not have to think about that twice. “Yes, of course.”

“Then I am making you my chief bard. You know more about God than I or any of the rest of the Derweddi do. As prince, it is my right to choose whom I will, and I want a Christ-following bard.”

My jaw dropped. “I-”

“Alec, I cannot think of anyone else I would rather have as my right hand. My advisor. And you have great faith in God. I am asking you to take this job for me.”

I bit my lip, thinking hard and fast. Though if Maelwys told me to do it, I was duty bound to obey, right now he was asking me, and I wanted to say yes of my own volition.

“Alector...”

“Alright, Mael, I will do it.”

Maelwys gave me a grateful half- smile, knowing I would understand its many meanings. Then he turned back to Caitriona.

“Cait, you do not have to marry me. But I do not want to stand by and see you harmed- or my people ruled by a usurper, should something happen to me.”

She looked a queen, answering him then, but with the eyes of a younger girl than her twenty years. “I will do it. If my brother will consent to it.”

Aneirin nodded, a small smile on his lips. “I do give my consent, and under God, I give witness to your legal binding.”

Cait looked to her old friend Llewis. “Llew?”

I wondered if I was the only one to see what Llew really thought. He gave no indication of it now. “I also do.”

“Alec?”

For you, Cait, I thought. For my sister who I never had, and Maelwys, truly my brother. “As the bard of prince Maelwys- and as a friend- yes, I will do it.”

If Cait could have seen Maelwys’s feelings, she would have known it was not only a desire to keep her and his people from Anwyn that had prompted this. But though she could not, and she did not own how she herself really felt about him, she knew it was the best thing to do. I doubted she was thinking about herself; her thoughts lay with the Derweddi and her own people.

And she trusts him more than she knows, I thought.

I took a deep breath. “Maelwys, do you pledge under God to take Caitriona as your lawful wife, to care for her with your life and livelihood, as long as you live, and to protect her people as you protect her?”

Maelwys’s eyes, the color of a calm sea, were steady. “I do pledge it, under God, by my life.”

“Caitriona, do you pledge under God to take Maelwys as your lawful husband, to submit to him and honor him, and to care for his people as your own?”

Cait said, voice soft but firm, “I do pledge it, under God, by my life.”

“Then by the authority of God and the sovereignty of Derwedd, before theses witnesses, I name you man and wife.”

It was surreal, having just become Maelwys’s chief bard and married my two best friends. Nothing seemed to have changed, outwardly. But now there was hope for the thousands of our people threatened. For now Caitriona’s people were ours as well and ours were hers. They were bound as Cait and Maelwys were. And Maelwys’s wife will never become Anwyn’s queen, while he lives.

“Say something,” Cait said pleadingly to Maelwys, who was holding her eyes with his intense ones.

“I meant my pledge,” he whispered. “I meant it.”

“Yes,” she answered. “So did I.”

“Are you upset with me?”

“I have no reason to be.”

Maelwys’s expression changed subtly- his eyes were an impassioned silver- blue ocean color. “You mistrust me. Don’t. I will prove myself to you someday.”

If Cait had been in love with him, it would have been a terribly romantic moment.

Aneirin said solidly, “You would do well to trust each other, little Cait.”

The next morning, it was the sound of hoofbeats which woke us. We five sat straining to hear through the thick hide walls- and were rewarded by the sound of Meurig’s voice, loud and indignant. “Meurig and Bran!” Maelwys breathed. “Meurig rode to Rheged.”

“King Cernach says no!” Meurig was saying. “You sent him a letter; he sends one back to you. He will not give up his caer for the captives.”

Maelwys sighed with relief. “I hoped he would trust us to get out safely.”

Anwyn raised his voice in answer, but we did not hear him, because suddenly I felt cool air, the cold steel of a dagger behind me, and then my hands were being cut free. I cried out in surprise at the touch of the dagger but Declan’s whisper silenced me. “Meurig sent me ‘round the long way to see if I could find your holding-place. It was unguarded, the fools, but for one man, and he is occupied by Meurig and the others. I crawled over and saw your shadow below the hide.”

As soon as my hands were free, he slit the hide high enough to allow him to come in, and then set about loosing the rest of us.

Anwyn’s men had demanded our swords when we were caught, but those knives we had tucked away in boots and sleeves that morning we still had. I drew one of my two from inside my belt and helped Declan cut the ropes.

“Well done, Declan,” Maelwys grinned when we were free. Aneirin, Llewis, Cait, Mael and I looked around at each other disbelievingly, eyes shining with joy and relief and the overwhelming fact that we were free. As soon as we had fought our way away from Anwyn.

“What is Meurig’s plan?” Maelwys asked Declan in a low voice when we were all loose.

“He planned to distract some of Anwyn’s men so that we could get away. I have four horses waiting in the trees behind us.”

“That was well thought out. I am afraid we will have to come back for our horses when Ronan and Bran and Meurig have done with Anwyn’s men. Who is with Meurig?”

“Bran. The rest- twelve more men- are a few minutes’ ride away, waiting for a call. To avoid detection.

“Good. Well done,” Mael said again. “Thank you, Declan. Come, let’s be gone once and for all.”

We slipped out Declan’s improvised door, knives ready, and Declan motioned for us to stay hidden while he scouted the guards. Hopefully Bran and Meurig had done their job well and distracted the guard at our door.

The man was still by the door-hide, but watched Meurig and Bran intently, paying no attention to us. Declan came back around the skin-hut and motioned for us to get down and follow him.

I smelled the freshness of the evening air, glad that the day would stay light for a few more hours, since summer was not yet over. It was cooler out here than in our hide holding, and smelled of turf and late flowers and grass. I crawled as quietly as possible behind Declan not caring how dirty I would be when we were done- I was so happy to be outside again.

I was immensely grateful for the distraction behind us and the brush around us; since it was daylight and a good fifty paces from camp to wood. If there had been no distraction, I thought, we would have been caught. As it was we were all on edge by the time we reached the wood undetected.

“We had better hurry,” Declan said, checking the Anwyn’s post nervously, “the horses will be getting restless and Anwyn’s guard will notice you are missing.”

We followed close behind him through the trees another thirty paces to where the horses were tied. There were four extra horses, plus Declan’s. “Ponied them on a long rope,” Declan said when I asked how he’d managed to ride with four extra horses to take along.

We untied the horses, while Cait quickly introduced Declan to Aneirin and Llewis, and then realized that because Cait’s brother and her friend had joined us after we’d left Derwedd nobody had expected to need horses for them. We were short.

“Cait, you can ride behind me.” Maelwys’s voice was quiet but authoritative, and she knew as well as I that it brooked no argument. Declan looked up at him in surprise, but Mael was busy pulling Cait up behind him and didn’t see it. Once Cait was up behind Maelwys, we were all mounted. Declan lead the way to where Ronan and his men waited, going far around so we would not be seen, but Ronan and the men were not where we had left them.

“They must have gone to the camp. I did not hear Meurig’s signal,” Declan said worriedly.

Maelwys shook his head. “They rode the other way, away from Anwyn’s camp. Nobody signaled.” He fidgeted uneasily, as did his horse, a little brown mare.

“Alec, Aneirin, Llewis, Cait, follow the hoof-tracks back to Bran’s men. I’m going to see where Anwyn is. Declan, you have your sword. You can come with me.”

Cait opened her mouth to protest, saying that she was already behind him and there was no point switching horses, but Maelwys shook his head. “Suppose something happened to me. No, Cait, ride with your brother.”

“I will be fine.”

“Cait, please, you need to be safe.”

She sighed reluctantly and nodded, sliding to the ground. Aneirin, sitting on his horse right next to them, offered her a hand a pulled her up behind him- grinning ruefully because he had the tallest horse and Cait came up to its flanks- and she settled in behind him.

Maelwys looked worried, glancing from me to Cait and back to me. “If you run into trouble...”

I gave him a small smile. “Don’t worry; we’ll be fine. Take care of yourself, Mael. You too, Declan.”

“I’ll meet you soon.” The battle- fire glowed in his eyes, but did not banish the concerned look. “Stay with Bran’s men.”

Declan said, “Meurig and Bran may have ridden to Ronan, if they wished to trick Anwyn. They should not be very far away.”

Before leaving, Maelwys reined his horse around so that he was facing Cait, leaned over in the saddle, and kissed her. It was a sweet, strong kiss, a pleading. Don’t get hurt, it said, I do not want to lose you. Without looking back, he galloped off.

Now that, Mael, I thought with a grin, is wooing sweetly.