Caitriona, part two

I had no idea when we left for our hunt that anything out of the ordinary was going to happen that day, no premonition or uneasiness. Caitriona seemed ready to go; almost as ready as Makari, who danced in circles around Cait while she mounted.

But I wished I had been the one riding Makari when the raiders came galloping out of nowhere, bows drawn. She spooked and took off running wildly, Cait clinging to her and making an easy target. I joined in the fight with a vengeance- I hate Picts. They try to take other people’s land instead of just staying where they belong! And they are too cowardly to attack anything but a hunting party of five, apparently; they do know where our village is.

As I struck at one of them, I realized that I knew these men. These weren’t Picts; they were simply disguised as them. They were men who grew up in Caer Derwedd and had left only a few years ago. They had always been arrogant, presumptuous and ambitious and thought to kill me and demand my future right to the throne. I attacked with fury, unreservedly. These men did not deserve lenience, nor did they get it.

I rested, heaving a sigh of relief, when I could see no more Picts. But then one came up behind me. I had not seen Anwyn, though I had looked for him. This must be he, the worst of his lot.

“You’re a fool to think you can hide here uninvited then supplant me when you gain power!” I growled, drawing my sword arm back and slashing it across his throat. “How dare you!”

The Pict clutched at his throat and stared at me wide- eyed. Only when I looked closely did I realize that it wasn’t Anwyn who stood before me- it was Cait. Before I could say anything, she spoke. “Traitor,” she rasped, horror and pain in her eyes. “I trusted you.”

Then she fainted. I caught her and yelled for Alector, thankful I hadn’t attacked to kill but terrified of what I’d done. The hurt in her icy blue eyes haunted me.

“Alec, I just attacked Cait! I thought she was Anwyn, she looked like a Pict. Please help me, I have to save her!”

Alector knelt hurriedly beside her and tore a strip from the hem of his cloak, wrapping it around her bloody throat while I held her head up.

“Anwyn wasn’t with them,” Alector told me. “I looked for him, too. I’m surprised you didn’t kill her.”

“I was angry. I wanted to leave Anwyn alive long enough to confess that he was plotting against me- thank goodness. I couldn’t live with having killed Cait.”

Alector tied off the strip of cloth and stood. “We’d better get her back.”

I lifted Caitriona, taking her over to Dwyn, and Alector handed her up to me once I was on Dwyn’s broad back. We rode back as fast as we safely could.

“Alec,” I said suddenly, turning Caitriona’s accusation over in my mind, “Cait must have thought that I arranged that attack to dispose of her without arousing suspicion, to take her right to Ardnurchar’s throne for myself! I told her she had no right to use my father’s protection to gain strength in order to supplant me. And before she fainted, she called me a traitor. What a fool I was! To mistake her for Anwyn.”

“It’s all right, Maelwys.” Alector shook his head. “You had no idea whom you had attacked. Just resolve it when she wakes up.”

“It’s not your fault,” Llew added. “She does look like a Pict, to be sure. I don’t doubt she’ll understand when you explain.”

Back at the caer, I laid Cait on the bed and unwound the strip of cloth around her neck so I could clean it and bind it properly. Rowan put away mine and Alector’s horses while Alec went for clean cloth and Declan got some warm water.

I was cleaning the wound when Alector spoke. “Clanna na cu! Her side is bleeding!” I looked and saw a red stain on Caitriona’s right side. There was a nasty gash below her ribs that looked like it had been made by a dagger.

“No wonder she fainted,” Declan observed grimly. “I’ll get more cloth to bandage that.”

When both her throat and side were clean and bandaged, Cait still hadn’t woken up. I sat by her bed, worried to distraction. “She shouldn’t be unconscious still, Alec!” I fretted. “She should be awake by now!”

“Don’t worry, Maelwys,” he told me. “I am praying for her. She will be fine- it will take time to heal, that is all, better done while she is not up and trying to move around.”

He was right, but it still made me uneasy that she hadn’t moved. I waited another hour, growing more worried with every minute. Alec left for a short time, then came back. “Still nothing?”

I shook my head. “It’s been an hour and a half. Where is Bedwyr?”

“Busy. I asked him to come as soon as he can.” Bedwyr is our bard, and a fine one, too. Along with having a way with words and song, Bedwyr has a gift of healing, which today was at work.

Alector sat down next to me and bowed his head as though in concentration, staying like that for several minutes. I noticed his lips moving.

“Alec, what are you doing?”

He glanced up. “Praying for Caitriona.”

“What makes you think that your god exists? Bedwyr is our chief bard and he had never heard of such a deity. We have always gotten along fine praying to other gods. Or no gods, as we please. I do not see why you think your god is any different.”

Alector sighed- it is our oldest argument; our only argument, actually. “It is because He is the only God. I told you about the time he burned the soaking wet wood on His altar with flame from heaven, while the idol Baal could not burn dry wood on his altar. He is more powerful than any stone or wood image. Stone does not speak and wood does not heal but He is spirit and does both.”

“How do you know He is the only God?” I asked stubbornly.

“I have never seen or felt another god work,” Alec said. “No other God promises to wash away all my wrongs and save me whenever I call on him.”

"And yet," I muttered, "He finds it very hard to wake one girl."

I had not long to wait before Cait opened her eyes.