Caitriona, Chapter Eight

I scanned the caer eagerly, then glanced at Maelwys. “Mael, anything you say, I will second. Will you speak for me? I would like to see my people, and I know things need to be done quickly.”
He looked doubtful at first, but when he realized what I was trusting him with and how much it mattered to me, he nodded, giving me a small smile. “I will go along with that. But Cait,” he added as I began to take my leave, “you will come eventually, will you not?”
I smiled. “Of course I will. Save me a seat next to you. Aneirin, you go with Bran and Maelwys; as my brother, you have as much a say as anyone. Llew, you can speak with whomever you wish. Just be around in case I should need you.”
Aneirin hugged me gently. “Enjoy your time with your people, little Cait,” he whispered. “I will speak for you as well.”
I smiled up at my brother, then turned to Conan. “Sire, you will excuse me? I would like to be with my people as one of them.”
The king nodded in appreciation. “I most heartily approve, princess. Your husband and brother seem well able to speak in your interest, and your people are eager to see you.”
I bowed my head in deference, thanking him for his kindness. Maelwys, eyes alight, kissed my cheek and bid me go. “After six months,” he said, “which I am glad you did not expect that first day or you would have killed me, you are here with your neighbors and friends. Are you not glad I did not ambush you?”
I laughed. “I had long ago forgiven you. Thank you, thank you for my life.” I turned and walked down the dirt street in search of my kin, while the men walked to the hall.
The caer was a well-made and handsome one, with large houses full of shiny-cheeked children and pretty wives chasing after them. The men plowed fields, felled trees, and watched herds in the fields bordering the caer. I walked down the dirt road, smiling at children and housewives, breathing in the scent of fresh-baked bread, and looking for familiar faces. I knew then that God was with us here, helping to build my people into a kingdom again.
I meditated on this as I passed through the heart of the caer, until I came to the newer houses, where my people lived. I saw Seithenin and Kian’s parents first, and as soon as they saw me, they ran to me, embracing me tearfully. “Caitriona,” their father cried, “welcome back, welcome back!”
The commotion attracted others, and soon I was surrounded by my people, faces I knew and loved. It was a bittersweet reunion and I saw faces I had missed and missed faces I would never see again. There was Mari, her brother Edrik, and my sweet cousin Mellysa. I greeted them as they came, and then stood and told them why I had been gone. I told them I had been rescued by a stranger, badly injured, and lived in Derwedd while I had recovered, when we had ridden here. It was not the right time or place to tell them about our encounter with Anwyn or Conor’s betrayal, so my story had a happy ring to it which satisfied my people.
“Can we prepare anything for you, princess?” Kian’s mother asked.
I smiled. “Thank you, Mairead, but King Conan has seen to our food and lodging. We are here to hold council, as you know, and soon we will be a people again.”
Mairead nodded, satisfied, and announced, “The princess is tired; can you not see that? Let her rest, let her be at home for a short time.” She shooed me away gently. “You need to take it in, Cait. Go ahead.”

I turned gratefully to the rest of the caer, strolling among the newly established homes, stopping to greet people I knew but mostly just walking and observing. All of a sudden, shouts rose from the wood near me; I turned to see what I thought was boys’ sport and saw a girl, dirty and frantic, emerge. A moment later five men appeared behind her.

“Help!” She cried. “I need help!”

I knew her voice. Before I could think how it was possible for Ceridwen to be running toward me, I drew my sword and ran to meet her pursuers. “Ceri! Ceridwen, over here!” I cried, running to meet her and pulling her behind me. I faced the men, who had drawn their swords and were still running straight for me. “Boys! Go get my husband and brother from the hall!” I yelled, and blocked the swing of the first man. As soon as I had a chance I took a swing at his ribs. He went down, and I met the next one. He went to the ground after a hard struggle, a blow to the hip disabling him. The last three men were farther behind than the other two and I had time to work on the third before the last caught up.

I was just panicking, trying to wound the third before being killed by the fourth, when a savage yell almost stopped them in their tracks.

“Drop your swords!”

In a second, Maelwys and Aneirin were next to me, fighting furiously. Maelwys wrapped an arm around me just before I took a blow to the head, and I saw Aneirin pick up my faint friend in one arm and kill the last man with his other.

Instead of releasing me, Maelwys dropped his sword and wrapped his arm tighter around me, afraid I was also faint, and gazed down at me with fiercely green eyes.

“Are you alright?” he asked breathlessly.

I nodded, short of breath. “I’m fine. They surprised me.Thank you.”

“You fought very well.” He gave me a nod, too disconcerted to smile. “What happened?”

“I don’t know!” I twisted around in his arms, so I could look in Ceri’s direction.
“Aneirin! Is she alright?”

My brother was setting her gently down, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, Ceri ran to me. “Caitriona? I thought I’d never see you again!” Maelwys released me and Ceri threw her arms around me, smiling shakily through tears, as she told me she’d been held for ransom. She’d thought that if nobody had come to rescue her yet, she had better try to rescue herself. “I could never have done it on my own; it was so dangerous. It was God who rescued me, Cait. I could see the edge of the caer, but I didn’t think I’d make it. Then you saved me.”

“I am so glad to see you.” I pulled back to look her over. “You look half dead, Ceri. Come with me, and we can talk while you eat.”

Maelwys laid a hand on my shoulder. “This way. I’ll take you to the house.” He and Aneirin led the way back up the path to where we had ridden into the caer. Next to the hall were several spacious homes; Mael opened the door to one and stood aside to let us in. He caught my eye as I walked past him, and said, “There’s food in the hall, and water in the pitcher. I’ll see if I can find clean clothes for her.”

I smiled. “Thank you. She can wear some of mine. Are you going back to Conan?”

“Yes. There is still more to decide than we had thought about. You can come if you want to, but I understand if you want to stay with Ceridwen.”

“I will stay, thank you. If Conan does not mind that I am not there.”

He shrugged. “I’m sure he would like your input on some things, but he respects that I speak for you. I’ll see you soon, then.” With a last glance, he walked away, Aneirin beside him.

“Here, Ceri. You can clean up, and I’ll get us both some food.” I handed her the pitcher of water, and some some soap and clean clothes from my pack, which someone had already put by the door.

Ceri smiled gratefully, her brown eyes more like the Ceri I remembered than the pale and dirty face they shone out of. I walked into the great hall quietly, found fresh bread, cheese, and some chicken, and wrapped it up.

When I came back,Ceridwen wore my clean clothes and was pinning her long brown hair up on her head with some of my hair pins.

“You look much better,” I smiled. “How do you feel?”

“I feel so much better. Thank you, Caitriona. I am so glad you are here. When did you come?”

“Um.” I hesitated. “Today.”

“What? Where have you been? I thought you were dead.”

I felt terrible. “I know, Ceri. I’m so sorry. I ended up in Derwedd and had to stay there after I was wounded in an ambush. We came as soon as we could.”

While I was talking, I found dishes, and set our meal out on the table, and Ceri put her ragged clothes by my pack. “Speaking of ‘we’,” she said, eyes twinkling, “that warrior is possibly the most handsome man I have ever seen in my life.”

“What? Who?” I looked up from pouring a jar of water, then gave her a sly look. “One of them, as it turns out, is my half-brother. My mother was married before she married my father, and he is my older brother.”

“Clanna na cu! How did you not know about him? Is he the absolutely striking one who had his hand on your shoulder?”

My mouth dropped open when I realized who she meant. “Oh! You mean Maelwys?” I blushed. “I have a long story to tell you about that one.”

My best friend raised an eyebrow at me. “Really? Please, please tell me.” She grinned. “I ought to have known you would have already gotten him.”

“Not- well- oh, just listen, silly. His cousin was the one who attacked us- because Aedd MacCaenan bribed him to- so Maelwys was there during the raid and saved me when I fell off my horse and passed out. When I came around, I was in a dinghy off the shore of Derwedd, and he had been waiting for me, hoping to find me again. He said it wasn’t safe yet for me to leave, so I stayed with the Derweddi for a few months; then when we were hunting one day, an enemy of his, Anwyn, ambushed us and I was wounded. I was unable to ride for a month; then when I recovered, we rode to Ardnurchar. Llew found us there and was taking us here when we were attacked again by Anwyn and held as a trap for the king, Mael’s father. Anwyn tried to convince me he wanted a queen, and I refused him, which made him angry. That day Maelwys decided the only way Anwyn and Aedd could not force me to marry them is if I married someone else; he, being the prince of Derwedd, would be able to keep me safe, and as princess I would be able to care for his people if anything happened to him.”

“Caitriona Arden! Are you saying you married the man?”

I smiled sheepishly, blushing. “Yes, we’re married. I’m sorry; I would have liked for you to be there.”

Ceridwen, grinning, grabbed my shoulders and hugged me tightly. “I am so happy for you. Congratulations. It’s going to be different now.”

“A little,” I laughed. “You’re still my best friend. We’re all going back to Derwedd now, whoever wants to come, and we’ll spend the days together as always.”

This time, it was Ceri who pulled back to look at me. “You look different, Cait. Grown up. You were always beautiful, but you look even more so now.”

I blushed again. “Thank you, Ceridwen. You’re sweet.”

“I’m not the only one who thinks so,” she teased. “Someone else obviously thinks so, too.”

“That’s not why we were married!” I protested, but Ceri shook her head.

“That’s not what I mean. I saw him holding you after you saved me, and I saw him put his hand on your shoulder, and I saw the look he gave you when you walked through the door. That is what I mean.”

I sat down again, still flushed. “I’m hungry; you must be starving. Stop teasing and eat.”

My best friend smiled and then ate in silence. She had always been like that, thoughtful, and I could almost see the thoughts in her musing eyes.

When we had finished, Ceridwen and I sat out in front of the house in the afternoon sun and talked. We had six months to catch up on, and we sat there for well over an hour telling stories and remembering home.

In the middle of one of those remembrances, Aneirin walked over, standing near us almost shyly. I observed to myself with a smile that they must have been discussing important issues, because his hair was rumpled from him running his hands through it many times. I thought it made him look even more innocently handsome, with his mellow dark eyes and the ghost of a smile always playing about his lips.

“Aneirin, this is my best friend, Ceridwen. Ceridwen, this is my half-brother, the son of my mother by a first marriage.”

Aneirin extended a hand to Ceri, who took it and said, “I had no idea Caitriona had a half-brother until today! I am so glad to meet you.”

“You can sit down, Aneirin,” I smiled. “Don’t be shy.”

“I think Maelwys wants me to tell you that he’s not in counsel anymore.”

“Oh, thank you. Where is he?”

Aneirin shrugged. “I think he’s still over by the hall.”

I stood, stretching after sitting so long, and Aneirin gave me a characteristic half-smile. “I think you wanted me to tell you Maelwys wasn’t in counsel anymore.”

“Oh, Aneirin. It is my country, you know. I’d like to know what’s happening.”

My brother turned to Ceridwen and whispered loudly, “She wants to see Maelwys, otherwise she’d ask me what happened. But obviously my word’s not good enough.” He looked back up and winked at me. “Go, find your husband, woman. Your friend is safe with me.”

“Thank you, Aneirin. Ceri, I’ll be back in a little while.”

I found Maelwys by the hall, talking to Conan. The king smiled when he saw me.

“Hello, princess. How is your friend?”

“She’s doing much better. Thank you, milord. I am sorry I could not join the counsel.”

He shook his head gently. “If you had not been down in the village, you would not have been able to save her. Maelwys seems to know what you would say about everything.”

My husband met my eyes. “Yes. I think that’s what happens when you spend hours every day with a person. Come, Cait, I’ll tell you what was decided.”

He took my hand and we walked down a side-road away from the hall.

“Did you ask permission to hold my hand, sir?” I teased.

He looked surprised for a second, then laughed. “I thought for a moment that you were reverting to your former sarcastic self and I was going to tell you I didn’t need permission to take your hand.”

“Former?” I pondered the thought. “Have I changed?”

“Yes, you have. Since we left. Haven’t you noticed how little we’ve fought lately?”

I shrugged a little. “Well, things have been so dangerous and hard, we’ve all had to depend on…” here I paused. “Mael, you know, I have come to depend on you.” I liked the feeling of my hand in his; it felt natural and safe.

“I hope someday I’ll deserve it.” He gave me a gentle smile. “Now, about the counsel. I think everything’s pretty clear already- what you wanted is what we got. As many of your people as want to are coming back with us to Derwedd; I’m sending Meurig ahead with an escort to tell father to prepare the caer and surrounding land. Bran is also sending men to his father, asking if he will take some in to share the burden. Conan also assured me that there will be many who wish to stay here until you are reinstated and your country is ready to be a country again. They have created lives here, but they will follow you home when the time comes. All told, I think we have two hundred coming back with us, by all estimates.

“Once you have a plan set up for rule and the country can be stable, Conan will send those of your people who stayed here back to you with an armed escort to keep from further attacks. He also promises, in return for their wholehearted involvement here, that he will remain your ally after your people are gone, and Derwedd’s as well.”

“They are the same now,” I commented. “Derwedd and Yr Widdfa. One is mine and one is yours, but we are one, and so are they.”

His eyes danced. “That is what I told Conan, and I am glad you feel the same way.”

I stood in front of him, looking up to his face. “You told Conan that?”

“Well,” he laughed, “not word for word. I didn’t say you and I were one. I think I just said since we’re married our lands are one. But I prefer the way you said it.” He laid a hand on my cheek. “Caitriona, I care a lot for you.”

I blushed. “I care for you too, Mael. It’s nice to know I don’t have to leave you behind now.”

We kept walking, when a sudden thought occurred to me. “Mael, what are we going to do when I am ruling Yr Widdfa? We can’t split up, but it wouldn’t be fair to rule Yr Widdfa from Derwedd always. They would have to ride six days for everything. And we could only be in Yr Widdfa as long as your father rules Derwedd; someday he’s going to give it over to you.”

“Well,” Mael said thoughtfully, “your people will need you to be in Yr Widdfa while you’re rebuilding your country again, especially Ardnurchar, because people are still living in the caers that were left standing. But after it’s thriving again, you can send someone as regent for you, someone who knows you well and has authority.”

I nodded. “It’s a good plan. I cannot wait to see my people all together again in our own caer. Who will I leave? Aneirin?”

Maelwys smiled slightly and said nothing.

“What? Why is that funny? He would make a wonderful ruler.”

“I believe you. I just don’t think you can do without him now.”

“Then who? You need Alector here. I have no other relatives, and now Conor is not trustworthy either.”

“I think Llew would be a good option.”

I was surprised at that. “I need Llew too. He was my father’s right hand.”

Maelwys smiled gently. “Llew… would probably have an easier time with a certain recent event in your life if he was away.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are so innocent,” he grinned. “I mean me. Did he never tell you how he felt about you?”

“Llew? About me? I think you’re mistaken! It was Conor who wanted to marry me, not Llew! Oh…” I covered my mouth with my hand, feeling awful. “I’m sorry.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Conor wanted to marry you? Did he actually ask you?”

“Yes, he did last year.”

Maelwys bit his lip. “Cait, were you… did you two intend to get married?”

I shook my head. “No. We didn’t. It’s alright, Maelwys. If I’d been promised to another I wouldn’t have said yes to you. I told Conor that we were too young, too immature, and I couldn’t consider marrying him yet. And,” I added sincerely, “I wouldn’t have married him ever.”

“So you didn’t know that Llew was also in love with you?”

I bit my lip, fighting back tears for my poor, dear friend. “No. I feel awful. Maelwys, how horrible have I been to him? Do you think he thinks I know and am just ignoring him? Oh, what do I do?”

Maelwys ran his finger along my cheek, softly. “You aren’t doing anything wrong. You make men fall in love with you by being confident and innocent and beautiful and spirited, not by trying to lure them in. As I said, I think the best place for Llew would be Ardnurchar, as soon as you are ready for someone to watch over it for you.”

I nodded, smiling up at him, wiping my eyes. “Thank you. Do you think I should talk to him?”

Maelwys shook his head. “No, I will. It will be easier if he doesn’t have to try not to be in love with you while you tell him you never knew how he felt. You go back to your friend and Alector, and I will go talk to Llew. And Cait,” he added before he turned to go, “I really do think you are beautiful, innocent, spirited, and confident. I like that about you.”

“Th-thank you,” I blushed. “I don’t feel very confident anymore around you, to tell you the truth… somehow you make me…”

“Nervous?” he asked with a soft laugh. “Yes. I know.” He leaned over and kissed me for the second time, this time holding my hand like he’d held his skittish horse the last time, then walked away with a small backward glance. All I could see in that glance was that his eyes shone blue.

I walked slowly back to Aneirin and Ceridwen, not even knowing how I felt about him and that kiss. I liked Maelwys a lot, but part of me still distrusted him somehow as I had when we’d always fought. I knew he could be a dangerous and passionate young man; still, I thought, the fact that we hadn’t fought in so long had to count for something. Certainly our relationship was different, regardless of how imperfectly I trusted him some days.

When I reached Ceridwen and Alector, they were still outside talking. I smiled. Aneirin looked completely at ease, smiling and explaining something. Ceridwen was listening intently and smiling. Both of them looked up, and Aneirin slid over so that I could sit between them.

“Had a nice talk?” Aneirin had a teasing smile playing about his lips.

“Yes, we did,” I smiled, meeting Ceridwen’s eyes instead of my brother’s so that he wouldn’t tease me.

I’d forgotten how well she read my mind and my expressions. Ceri raised an eyebrow and laughed. “I think I was right.”

“Right about what?” I asked innocently.

“About Maelwys… he likes you…”

I raised an eyebrow at them both, when Aneirin laughed. “We saw that.”

I blushed furiously this time. “What?! How much did you see?”

“The whole conversation. You didn’t realize, did you, that we’re not very far from the little side-road that you and Maelwys chose…” Aneirin pulled me down next to him, drawing me to his side. “It’s good, Cait. It’s good. A woman is supposed to be in love with her husband, no matter the reasons they married.” I felt his chest rumbling with his gentle laugh. “You do something to that boy, I swear. The way he looks at you. He is going to love you forever; the best thing you can do for him is to love him back.”