The Dark Age

by Traci Harding

  ‘Alright!’ He landed a big kiss on her cheek. ‘Good call.’

  ‘Just take good care —’

  ‘Tory? It goes without saying. Don’t worry about a thing.’ He handed Tory her towel as he guided her out the door. ‘Do me another favour, send Naomi up on your way past.’

  Renford found it difficult to answer all of Professor Thurlow’s questions. He was put off by the fact that he looked so much like his son-in-law, yet he lacked Maelgwn’s broad-minded understanding.

  ‘So why has the parchment not perished by now?’ Miles queried.

  ‘I have no answer for that. Yet I can assure you, it’s not a fake. I had it concisely dated.’

  Miles didn’t appear satisfied or completely convinced, as he mulled over Renford’s answer. ‘I also wanted to ask about your son’s knowledge of the statues. Do you know anything about that?’

  Renford was again hesitant to reply. ‘I am a seeker of facts myself, Miles, but some things, I’ve come to realise, defy explanation. Brian claims he remembers seeing them standing, which has led most in this family to believe it was a past-life memory. For, as you know, the relics have been buried for several centuries.’

  Renford poured them a whisky, and Miles thought perhaps the professor had already had one too many. But then the whole family seemed a bit strange; what did it take to get a straight, logical answer around here?

  Dinner that evening proved rather interesting. Brian had obviously had his way with Naomi as they were all smiles for each other. Thus with romance in the air, Tory sat as far away from Miles as possible. She’d convinced herself that she was not the slightest bit interested in getting to know him, and resolved to avoid him if she could. Tory would have taken dinner in her room but her family wouldn’t hear of it.

  To Miles, Tory seemed the sanest of the clan, and her beauty hadn’t escaped his attention either. This led him to wonder where and who the father of her child was, and Naomi conveniently inquired for him.

  ‘Is your husband not here?’ Brian had told her that his sister and her husband were staying at the house, yet there was no place set for him.

  ‘He has been called away on business, I’m afraid.’

  ‘What kind of work does he do?’ Miles asked.

  ‘He works for the government,’ Tory responded without so much as a second’s thought, astounding those in the room who knew the truth with her quick retort.

  ‘Really, in what field?’

  ‘That, Professor Thurlow, is on a need-to-know basis and you don’t need to know. In truth, where he goes and what he does is a mystery to me most of the time.’

  ‘What, are you saying he’s secret service?’ Miles smiled, half disbelieving her.

  Tory merely shrugged in response, turning her attention to the wonderful meal before her, and Miles was again left to ponder what it was they were all hiding.

  As soon as dessert was finished, Renford bade them all goodnight. Tory and Naomi helped Rose in the kitchen, leaving Miles to question Brian about the statues.

  ‘Look, I’m not saying I saw them in a past life. All I’m saying is that I recollect seeing them covered in vines. When that was exactly, I don’t claim to know, I just remember I was young, say six or seven at the time.’

  ‘And you can’t tell me anymore about the site, you don’t remember anything else?’

  ‘Sorry.’ Brian shook his head. ‘Tory’s the one you should be asking, she’s the expert on Llyn Cerrig Bach.’

  Miles seemed very interested to hear this. ‘Why is that?’

  Brian suddenly realised he’d almost put his foot in it. ‘Well, she’s the real psychic of the family.’ He then laughed, which led Miles to wonder if he was joking.

  Tory and Naomi returned with a fresh pot of coffee, and Brian pulled a large joint from his pocket.

  ‘Anybody interested?’ He looked up to catch Naomi’s reaction and was surprised to find it quite agreeable.

  ‘I have been known to indulge.’ She sat down beside him.

  ‘I don’t think I should, Brian, with the baby and all, besides I’m kind of tired.’ Tory tried to graciously decline.

  ‘Oh come on, Tory, you piker. One joint isn’t going to hurt. We haven’t got blasted together in ages,’ Brian appealed.

  Tory rolled her eyes, twisting her arm up behind her back. ‘Okay.’ She took her seat again.

  Brian then looked at Miles, who laughed at the suggestion. ‘I haven’t smoked grass since the seventies, Brian.’

  ‘Then you can have a flashback,’ Brian insisted, lighting up and passing the joint to the professor.

  ‘Really I …’ Miles observed the joint smoking away before his eyes. ‘Well, perhaps just a small toke.’ Maybe if he played along, someone might open up and start talking sense.

  As soon as Naomi got the giggles, Brian carted her away to his room. Tory, not wanting to be left alone with Miles, rose to leave also.

  ‘I wonder if I might talk with you a moment?’ Miles reached out to take hold of her hand as she moved past him.

  ‘What about?’ She shrank from his touch.

  ‘Sorry.’ He’d obviously made her feel ill at ease and couldn’t figure out why he’d reached for her in the first place; he was normally much more reserved. ‘I just wanted to ask you about Llyn Cerrig Bach. I spoke to Brian about it earlier and he suggested I talk to you. He claimed you were psychic, but I wasn’t sure if I should take him seriously or not.’

  Thanks a lot bro! Tory could just imagine how a truthful response would grab Miles. ‘I take it you don’t believe in that sort of thing, Professor?’

  He looked up at her, wondering what was causing her obvious dislike of him. ‘Tory, you can call me Miles.’

  ‘I think “Professor” suits you better.’ Tory kept her distance, almost as if she were afraid of him.

  ‘Have you got something against me because I look like your husband?’

  Tory was alarmed. ‘Who told you that?’

  ‘Brian,’ they both announced at once. Brilliant, Tory thought, with a shake of her head.

  ‘Look Tory, whatever the problem is, I’m truly sorry. I just want to know if there is anything else you can tell me about the site, that’s all.’

  Tory looked at him blankly, knowing damn well he wasn’t going to take anything she said seriously. ‘Professor, I could tell you a thing or two about the temple in the valley, but I can’t give you a logical explanation for how I know what I do.’

  Miles was getting a bit fed up with these incoherent answers. ‘That’s what Brian said. What do you mean exactly? Were you there in a past life too?’

  His tone was extremely patronising in Tory’s opinion, thus hers became equally so. ‘No, actually I wandered into the Otherworld and the fairies took me back to the year five hundred, so I could have a look around for myself.’ She smiled at him ever so sweetly.

  Miles tried to calm himself, not wanting to seem rude. ‘Alright, I apologise. Please, just tell me, do you claim to be psychic or not?’

  ‘I don’t claim to be anything. I am, however, chosen,’ Tory answered, using ‘Taliesin tactics’, in the hope he’d get frustrated and give up.

  ‘Chosen for what?’

  ‘Whatever.’ She shrugged. ‘Look, I don’t have all the answers, Professor. If I did I’d be in seventh heaven. However,’ Tory was struck by a thought. ‘I will say this, you haven’t found the site’s greatest treasure.’ Tory smiled at her own brilliance; she would get them to unearth the gateway for her.

  ‘How do you know?’ Miles was exhausted with the conversation and wondered why he’d even bothered asking; she was only going to serve him another riddle.

  ‘Professor, let’s pretend for a moment that you’re not a sceptic. Then you would ask, what is it?’ Tory lightened up a little. He’d obviously never even considered the possibility of the greater mysteries, and so would find it hard to accept the suggestion of psychic ability unless she could prove it.

  ‘Alright. What is it?’
Miles slouched back in his chair to finish his cold cup of coffee.

  ‘Dig in the centre of the circle of nine and there you will find a large stone altar that bears the Celtic cross.’ Miles sat forward in his seat, more interested, but Tory continued before he could start asking questions. ‘However, you must not remove the tablet from where it is unearthed, until I have seen it, agreed?’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Agreed?’ Tory was adamant. ‘If I cannot trust you, Professor, I shall tell you naught. And believe me, you know little of the toys with which you play.’

  Miles was awestruck, as Tory’s entire presence appeared to change. She seemed larger somehow, more powerful. ‘I agree. If we find it, I will call you at once.’

  ‘When you find it, Professor. If you are always so afraid to commit yourself, I’m surprised you have ever obtained anything you sought,’ Tory said in jest.

  ‘No offence, but my sources are usually a little bit more concrete.’

  ‘No offence to you, but they are usually the vaguest kind of reference, being entirely derived from nothing more than physical understanding.’

  Miles laughed at the way their conversation was progressing. ‘Is this where we start talking about life, the universe and everything?’ He decided it was the grass causing the peculiar feeling he had in his stomach, and the illusion that Tory seemed to glow like an angel. Yeah, I’m stoned alright.

  ‘No, this is where I bid you a goodnight, sir.’ Tory made her way to the door. ‘And don’t forget, you promised.’

  Come Sunday morning, Tory decided to make herself scarce to avoid answering any more of Professor Thurlow’s questions, at least until he’d found the altar and was more accepting of her abilities. She had also felt the need for some fresh air, so she packed a picnic lunch, a rug, the baby’s things, and a couple of good books in her backpack and, with Rhun resting comfortably in a pouch against her chest, she made her way across the fields.

  It was a fine day and a cool soft breeze was blowing. As Tory walked along relishing the great outdoors, she thought about Miles Thurlow and wondered how he could possibly be a future incarnation of Maelgwn. Her husband was certainly more broad-minded than the professor, and unquestionably more developed physically. Perhaps when a soul incarnated, its progression didn’t necessarily develop akin to that of human civilisation. From what she could surmise this theory was certainly true of Taliesin; he’d been Teo in the twentieth century long before he’d become Gwion Bach in the fifth.

  Tory ambled on with no real destination in mind but when she came to the King’s Men stones, she figured it was as good a place as any to settle in the shade of a tree and read. She found it comforting to consider that Maelgwn was in this very spot awaiting their return home, and in a sense she felt closer to him here.

  Tory got lost in the silent bliss of a book for some time, before she became aware of footsteps. She looked up to see Teo, who appeared as if he’d just been to hell and back. How on earth?

  ‘I thought I might find you here,’ Teo explained with a smile.

  Odd, Tory thought, when I didn’t even realise I was coming here myself.

  ‘Hey, you look great!’ He took a seat beside her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

  ‘Well thank you, kind sir. I wish I could say the same. What happened to you?’

  ‘Saturday night.’ He flopped back onto the large rug, his shirt falling open to expose his smooth, bronzed, muscular torso.

  ‘Do you end up in this state every weekend?’ Tory didn’t mean to sound condescending, but it was rather disheartening to see her former sensei in such a decrepit state.

  He laughed. ‘Every weekend? Every night more like,’ he explained, holding his head that clearly pained him. ‘It’s got to stop, I know.’

  ‘Then just don’t do it! Self-inflicted, no mercy.’

  ‘I know, I know.’ Teo sat back up, not looking at Tory. ‘But I’m finding it hard to get back on track, and I’m in no way blaming you for that,’ he said before she could get the wrong impression. ‘The simple truth of it is, I just can’t seem to get you out of my system.’ He turned his dark eyes to Tory to catch her reaction.

  ‘I don’t know what I can do,’ Tory said, wishing she could somehow take the memories back; she couldn’t stand to see him so dispirited. But when he leaned across to kiss her, Tory stood up quickly. ‘Damn it, Teo.’

  He held his palms up, motioning his surrender. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘No you’re not,’ Tory insisted, hands on hips.

  ‘You’re right. I’m not,’ he grinned, trying to make light of it.

  ‘If you think I’m going to be dipping and dodging your advances the whole time Maelgwn’s away, you’ve got another think coming, mate. I could certainly whip your arse in its present state, so don’t push me!’

  ‘I can’t help myself,’ he replied, looking defenceless.

  ‘In that case, I can’t see you anymore.’ Tory crouched down and began to pack up.

  Teo reached out and clutched her right wrist tightly. ‘No, Tory. I’m truly sorry, I am.’

  Tory wrenched her arm away from him, far from convinced.

  ‘Even when we weren’t lovers, I used to flirt with you. I’m just having trouble adjusting to this no affection bit, but I’ll try. I will.’

  His plea seemed heartfelt and even a little fearful. Tory realised she couldn’t abandon Teo just because he was going through a rough time, for which she had been the catalyst. ‘I want to stand by you, Teo, because you are my good friend, and I love you. But you always make it so damn difficult for me.’

  ‘I know I do,’ he admitted. ‘Please, couldn’t we just start over? I’ll act like a long-lost brother, if you would regard me as such again. I really miss the three of us, Tory. I miss being part of the family. I guess the reason I was so pissed off at Maelgwn was because he’d taken my place.’

  ‘How can you say that?’ Tory sounded hurt. ‘You were, are, and always will be, an integral part of my life. And not just this life, I’m talking forever!’ She wandered a little way from him, as a tear escaped her eye; she missed Taliesin, too. ‘You really have no idea.’

  Teo was surprised by this. He hadn’t seen Tory so upset since the day they’d decided to stop seeing each other, and he stood to calm her. ‘Tory? I didn’t mean —’

  Tory turned abruptly and grabbed hold of his shirt. ‘I want the real you back! I know that sweet, wise and understanding guy I loved is in there somewhere, and I want to see him, I miss him.’ She let go, having expended her frustration.

  ‘From now on, I promise. Just one more chance.’

  ‘Alright,’ she decided after much procrastination, and Rhun at once began to cry. This struck Tory as unusual as she almost always sensed when Rhun wanted something, long before he’d have to cry for it.

  When she settled her child easily and found he wanted nothing bar her attention, she decided she should be very wary where Teo was concerned. But as the afternoon sky was fast clouding over, she took him up on the offer of a lift home and kept her suspicions to herself.

  Over the next couple of months, Brian, Tory and Teo spent much time together focusing on their art, each with their own objective. Brian had students approaching grading, including Tory. Teo, having given up his vice, had been invited by the family to take up residence in the gym, as he practically lived there anyway. They had offered him a room in the house but he had insisted that the spare room in the gym was fine. Tory thought it was important for Teo to feel part of the family again if he was to overcome the negativity that seemed to overshadow his every thought.

  A few weeks of country life and the constant familiar company of the Alexander clan made Teo feel a new man. Able to maintain his focus with greater ease, Teo was happy assisting Tory in her preparation for the next Dan grade and he seemed almost back to his old self. At times he abused his privilege as her teacher, but it was usually in jest and no more than any other male might have done. Tory didn’t find Teo’s flirti
ng to be seriously offensive and had started to relax in his company, every so often spying a glimpse of Taliesin’s brilliance in him. However, he chose to ignore Rhun most of the time, just as he had Maelgwn. This unfortunately seemed to indicate that the malice Teo felt for her husband was still very much alive, and though Teo never spoke of his feelings for her anymore, Tory knew they still underlay everything he did.

  24

  THE VISIT

  On the day marking her second wedding anniversary, Tory finally heard from Miles about the altar. He apologised for taking so long to contact her, explaining he’d been tied up with other projects.

  ‘You didn’t take me seriously, did you Professor?’ Tory saw straight through him, even with a telephone line between them.

  ‘No, I didn’t, regrettably. Yet, as fate would have it, we’ve stumbled upon your altar anyway. And it’s just as you described,’ he was excited to confirm.

  ‘Indeed,’ Tory said, not in the least surprised. ‘You haven’t moved it?’

  ‘No.’ He sounded amused by the notion. ‘I think we’ll need more equipment.’

  ‘Please Miles, promise you won’t touch it until I get there.’

  ‘That was the deal,’ he confirmed, a smile reflecting in his voice; he was glad for an excuse to see her again.

  ‘Good. I’ll catch a ride up with Brian tomorrow.’

  Just one problem; Brian was planning a dirty weekend, and so Naomi was driving down to visit him instead.

  ‘Now what am I going to do,’ she wondered, as she didn’t want to be left alone with Miles for any length of time.

  ‘Well you can still borrow my car. It will do you good to get away for the weekend.’ Brian totally misconstrued her woes. ‘Between Naomi and Aunt Rose, I’m sure Rhun will be well cared for.’

  ‘It’s not that.’

  ‘You fancy him, don’t you, Tory? You think he’s Maelgwn.’

  ‘I don’t know what I think. Though the professor looks a lot like Maelgwn, they don’t seem the same in other respects. You hang around at the site all the time, haven’t you gotten to know him at all?’