“Merfyn’s gone,” Dafydd said.
“Did you see where?” I said, hoping it was simply to relieve himself.
“I feigned sleep for a time because I didn’t trust him, and he took advantage of my supposed inattention to slip out. I heard him in the stables and then he disappeared.”
“How long has he been gone?” I asked.
“Ten minutes; no more. I would have shaken you awake in another minute. I’ve been listening.”
“And what have you heard?” I asked, getting to my feet and joining him at the door.
“Listen,” he said.
I listened, but there was nothing to hear, which didn’t bode well for us. We should’ve heard something, whether birds, the movement of animals, or other small noises of the night. Instead, only a slight breeze blew through the trees around the hut.
“I’ll get Bronwen,” I said.
Leaving Dafydd, I placed my hand gently on her mouth and shook her awake. She awoke with a start, eyes wide, but then relaxed when at my “it’s me.” I took my hand away.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“We need to leave, now,” I said. “Merfyn has disappeared and Prince Dafydd and I are worried about where he might have gone.”
“I thought you trusted him,” she said.
“I did. Come.” I helped her to her feet and we rolled the blankets back into a bundle and joined Dafydd at the door.
“The horse is gone,” he said, when I reached him.
“No question, then,” I said. “Merfyn has betrayed us.”
“Maybe,” Dafydd said. “It’s also possible he had no choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” I said.
Bronwen slipped her hand into mine and I squeezed it. If ever there was a moment to regret bringing her, this was it. Somehow, I couldn’t.
“What now?” she asked.
“Back across the road to the ditch,” I said. “If we make it alive, we’ll try for Aberedw.”
“Whatever happens,” Dafydd said, “you two stay together. If we get separated, we will meet there.”
“My lord…” I said.
Dafydd gripped my arm. “Just a precaution, Ieuan. We can’t know what will happen.”
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
In single file, we ducked back into the hut and through the door that separated the human quarters from the stables, and then hurried across the floor to the far side of the building. Dafydd peered through a crack in the wall.
“Anything?” I asked him.
“Not that I can see,” he said.
“I should go first,” I said.
“You’ve got the bow,” Dafydd said. “I’ll go first. If someone shoots at me, you can cover the rest of my advance. Once I reach the trees, I can circle through the woods until I find them.”
“I don’t like it, my lord,” I said.
“Why can’t we stay here?” Bronwen asked. “We could hold them off until morning, surely.”
“An idea, but not our best option right now,” I said, regretfully rejecting yet another of her ideas.
“I’m only a burden,” she said. “I hate that.”
“We’re not dead yet,” David said. He glanced at me. “Ready?”
“Ready, my lord,” I said. I moved out the doorway and stood to one side, but still in the shadow of the roof. Bronwen crouched on the ground beside me, out of the way. I brought my bow up and knocked an arrow. I could press and loose at least ten arrows in a minute. I hoped that would be quick enough.
“All right, then,” Dafydd said, and was gone, running in a crouch across the grass in a zigzag pattern. If he’d not been moving, I would’ve lost him immediately. He stirred the air, however, and I tracked him that way. Unfortunately, someone in the woods did too.
Thwtt! An arrow hit the ground somewhere in front of us. There was no accompanying grunt from Dafydd, so he wasn’t hit. I couldn’t tell precisely from where the arrow had come, but loosed three arrows in the general direction anyway, hoping to keep the archer honest. One thudded into a tree on the other side of the field.
I listened to the night. A man shouted in English. Then Dafydd gave a call. He claimed it was a barking dog, but it always sounded like a dying pig to me. “That’s the prince,” I said. “He’s telling us to come to him.”
I grabbed Bronwen’s arm and together we ran along the path my lord had taken. Twenty heart beats later, we entered the trees. Dafydd slipped out of the shadows.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said.
I tried to read his face, but couldn’t make out his expression in the dark.
“How many?” I asked.
“None, now.” He touched my shoulder as he passed me, and I pulled on Bronwen to follow.
“What did he mean?” she asked.
“He killed them; that’s all,” I said.
Bronwen shuddered, but she didn’t speak again, not even when we discovered ‘Fred’, a quarter of a mile on, cropping the grass in a clearing near a stream.
“It would’ve been a shame to lose my pack after coming this far,” Dafydd said. No one had disturbed the bags and Dafydd tugged Fred’s reins. The horse followed us, his feet thudding gently on the moss-covered trail. The sky had begun to lighten when I stopped.
“We’re less than three miles from Twyn y Garth, my home,” I said. “I’ve led you more south than I realized. These are my lands.”
“Is there a safe place to rest?” Dafydd asked, hollow-eyed.
“There’s a cave a little ways in front of us,” I said. “Lili and I discovered it when we were children. It’s probably smaller than I remember, but it will hold us all easily, even Fred.”
“Good,” Dafydd said. “Lead on. Bronwen can barely put one foot in front of the other.”
My lord was right. She looked at me, and tried to smile, but her heart wasn’t in it. “I’m fine, Ieuan. We can rest if you want, but I can walk another mile or two if you need me to.”
I shook my head. “The cave is just ahead,” I said.
I led them to the opening, and pulled aside two branches that had grown across the entrance. Dafydd and Bronwen ducked inside and I was about to pull Fred in after me, when Dafydd shouted. Dropping Fred’s reins, I bounded into the cave behind Bronwen. Dafydd had his hands up and was standing in front of a young boy, who held Dafydd at bay with a knife. I froze, took a moment to take in what I was seeing, and then laughed. I stepped in front of Dafydd and pushed the knife away.
“Prince Dafydd ap Llywelyn,” I said, “may I introduce to you my sister Lili. Lili, this is your Prince.”
“Ieuan!” Lili dropped the knife and launched herself at me. She wrapped her arms tightly about by neck, like she used to when she was little and scared. This time, however, she held onto me for only a second, before she loosened her grip and wiggled out of my grasp. She stepped back, and though her face was whiter than usual, her eyes were clear. She looked from me to Prince Dafydd, and then she curtsied.
“I apologize, my lord, for my initial greeting,” she said. “I feared you were English.”
“No apologies necessary, my lady,” Dafydd replied, bowing. “Your behavior was completely understandable under the circumstances. I would want my sister to do as you did.”
“But why are you here?” I asked. I waved a hand at her. “Dressed like that?”
“I was practicing, if you must know,” Lili said.
“Practicing what?”
“The bow, as you yourself taught me,” she said.
“Alone?”
“I’m not stupid,” Lili said, her own voice rising. “Geraint accompanied me to the butts yesterday evening and I dressed as a boy so as to not call attention to myself.”
“The English are everywhere,” I said.
“I know that, Ieuan,” Lili said. “Three of them came upon us unexpectedly yesterday evening.”
“By all that is holy, Lili, tell me what happened!”
“Geraint went down with an arrow in his throat,” Lili said, a hitch in her voice. “I loosed an arrow at one of the soldiers. It hit him and he too went down, but by then I’d turned to run. I lost them among the trees. I couldn’t risk returning to Twyn y Garth alone, so I came here.”
In one stride, I caught her in my arms again.
Chapter Eighteen
David
Ieuan was squeezing Lili so hard, it was a wonder she could even breathe. Lili said something, but it was muffled in Ieuan’s cloak.
“What?” he asked, releasing her.
“I’m fine now,” she said, taking a step back. “Spending the night alone in this cave is not something I ever want to repeat, but I survived it. The only demons here were my own. At the moment, I’m just sorry about Geraint, and anxious about what the English are planning.”
“As are we,” I said.
Lili turned to me, her chin jutting out stubbornly, perhaps fearing criticism from me as well Ieuan. Despite her clothing, I’d not been fooled for more than a second into thinking she was a boy. She’d braided her hair in a long plait down her back, which wasn’t unheard of among men, but rare. If we were in the twenty-first century, I wouldn’t have mistaken her for a boy at all. Like Ieuan, she had nearly black hair, but her features were finer and she was small and lithe, like a gymnast or a dancer. I was having a hard time imagining her pressing an arrow into any bow, much less the one across her back, which had to be as tall as she was.
Ieuan had a hand on Bronwen’s arm and tugged her forward. “This is Bronwen,” he said, “my betrothed.”
Bronwen appeared to be recovering. I didn’t know if she’d been so quiet during the night because she was afraid, upset, or angry—or a combination of all three. That I’d killed three men without appearing to think twice about it had shaken her. The key word, of course, was appearing.
I had worried about her as we trudged through the woods in the dark. She’d not spoken more than two words in hours. Ieuan hadn’t seemed to notice that anything was amiss, but it was out of character for Bronwen, and I’d waited for her to either rage at us or fall apart. At the same time, I was proud of her for holding it in, and for doing neither.
Now, as Ieuan introduced Bronwen to his sister, Lili stepped forward and embraced her. “Ieuan has told me nothing of you!” she said, smiling. “I’m so happy you’re here, even if under somewhat trying circumstances.”
“It has all been rather sudden,” Bronwen said, returning Lili’s hug. “I’ve so many questions for you.”
“Oh no,” Ieuan said, stepping between them. “Not now; maybe not ever.”
The two women gazed at each other with one of those looks that sends men running. Ieuan could be in trouble very, very soon. I turned to him.
“What now, Ieuan,” I asked. “Are we safe here?”
He glanced at Lili, and she answered. “Twyn y Garth should be safe,” she said. “Your man Dogfael is capable. He would have secured the defenses whether or not I’d returned. I hope we didn’t lose any more men in search of me.”
“Did you see any other English on your way here?” Ieuan asked.
“No.” She shook her head.
“Lili saw three; we saw three more. That sounds like patrols,” I said.
“Looking for what?” Bronwen asked.
“Perhaps they seek Prince Llywelyn’s army,” Lili answered her. “It’s no secret that the Prince has spent the summer in the south. Last I heard he was at Buellt, less than ten miles from Twyn y Garth.”
“Hereford has plans, and once again, we are in the center of it,” Ieuan said.
“Hereford!” Lili said, and I wouldn’t have been surprised had she spat on the ground. “The English I encountered weren’t wearing his colors.”
“Nor were the ones we saw at Bryngwyn, come to think of it,” I said. “Admittedly it was dark, and I didn’t linger.”
“I thought Hereford was in the north, anyway.” Lili said after a pause.
“He was,” Ieuan said shortly, “though from what we saw before we crossed into Wales, his men are not.”
Lili nodded, but her brow furrowed. “I thought you were in the north too! The council with Edward was set to begin only a week ago! How is it that you are here? Did all not go well?”
“Not exactly,” I said, “or at least, it didn’t go well for King Edward. He is dead.”
Lili blinked. “That is news indeed and the first that has reached us here.”
“I wonder if my father knows?” I said.
“How did he die?”
“Poison,” Ieuan said, “though this information is for your ears alone. We’ll explain more another time. Our first concern right now is finding safety for you and Bronwen.”
“I can take care of myself, Ieuan,” Lili said.
“But I can’t,” Bronwen said, flatly. “I’ve learned that in the last twenty-four hours. I wish I could say differently, but I don’t know how to use either a bow or a sword, and without either, I’m only a burden.”
“I thought we determined that wasn’t true,” Ieuan said. “Everyone has different skills. Yours do not include warfare for which I, for one, am grateful.”
“What do you propose?” Lili asked. “I should go home, for everyone will be worried about me.”
“We will go to Twyn y Garth, if you are agreeable, my lord,” Ieuan said. “I’d like to confer with my men and ensure that all is well there.”
“I agree,” I said. “The road leads from there to Aberedw and then Buellt and I have a burning need to see my father.”
Ieuan moved to the cave entrance and poked out his head. “The sun is fully up,” he said. “Now is the time to move, in case the English are early risers too.”
Ieuan led the way out of the cave. I’d forgotten that we’d come there to rest, but we’d stood talking for so long that we’d lost our chance.
Lili made almost no noise as she walked. Ieuan had obviously taught her well, and then she must have practiced what he’d taught. She held her bow in her left hand, and her quiver bobbed up and down on her back. I had my sword out, prepared as I could be for whatever we might encounter.
We threaded our way along a trail that was barely evident to me, but Ieuan managed confidently. We stayed within the wood for at least a mile before coming upon the River Wye. Our path to Twyn y Garth led south, and Ieuan took it, following the course of the river. To reach Aberedw, we would have turned north.
Fifteen minutes later, Ieuan held up his hand. “My lord!” he whispered, and gestured that I should come forward. I handed Fred’s reins to Lili, and brushed past her to crouch beside Ieuan. A hill with a fort on it rose before us, a hundred feet above the river and surrounded by a defensive ring work. English soldiers camped to the east and south of the fort’s walls.
“Why are they here?” asked Ieuan.
“Your castle commands in a beautifully defensible position,” I said.
“That might be why they want it, but is also why they’ll never take it,” Ieuan said. “Not for weeks.”
“Maybe they think they have weeks,” I said. “If Hereford intends to challenge my father openly, then he knows my father won’t have the men to relieve Twyn y Garth.”
“What’s happening?” Lili had tied Fred to a tree and had pushed her way forward. She stopped. “Those are Clifford’s men.”
“It was the Clifford heir at Bronllys,” I said. “We took his castle. Is he here for revenge?”
“He can only be here at Hereford’s bidding,” Ieuan said.
I glared at the English soldiers, sick of seeing them in my way all the time. “So we must turn north and find my father,” I said. “First Aberedw, and if he’s not there, Buellt.”
“I assumed you would be safe once we reached Wales, my lord,” said Ieuan. “This is worse than Scotland.”
“Not quite,” I said. “Not as long as we remain free.”
We didn’t bother to look any closer, but turned back the way we’d come
and headed north along the river to Aberedw. The four miles took us nearly three hours, as we were careful about the noise we made and the terrain was difficult. By the time we reached Aberedw, a larger castle than Twyn y Garth, but not set as high above the countryside, Ieuan’s shoulders revealed his tension at the effort of keeping quiet, and keeping us safe. No more important people existed in his world than the three of us, and it showed.
This time we crouched in a thicket to the south and east of Aberedw castle, and perused the distance across the field to the gatehouse. The tower high above still flew the four lions of Gwynedd and the bustle in and out the entrance looked normal to me. A man with a wagon loaded with oddments entered through the open portcullis. The driver tipped his hat to the guardhouse soldier who barely looked at him as he waved him through.
“Right,” Ieuan said. “I’ll go ahead. You three stay here.”
“If you go alone,” Lili said, “you will have no one to watch your back. We are both known here. I will come with you.”
“No, Lili,” Ieuan said. “I won’t risk you if the castle is not as it seems.”
“Lili is right, Ieuan,” Bronwen said. “You shouldn’t go alone, but I should come with you, as I’m the most expendable of all of you.”
“No,” the three of us said in unison.
“I will go with you,” I said. “You cannot gainsay me, Ieuan. If all is well, Lili and Bronwen will be alone for only a few minutes, and if all is not well, they’re far safer outside the castle than within it.”
Ieuan nodded, forced to accept my logic. We stepped out from the screen of bushes that hid us from the castle. We had nearly three hundred feet of space between us and the castle and crossing it felt like walking to the gallows. We passed the ditch that cut around the edge of the mound, and crossed the wooden bridge that led to the gatehouse. The portcullis was up. The soldiers on the battlements watched us the whole way without a challenge and allowed us to enter the castle.
“Lord Ieuan!” A man crossed the bailey at a trot to intercept us. “It’s an honor to have you with us, my lord.” He and Ieuan grasped forearms and Ieuan gestured to me. “Cadoc ap Morgan, this is . . .”
Prince of Time (Book Two in the After Cilmeri series) Page 15
