by Troy A Hill
As the girl climbed the steps to the porch, she noticed Lady Seren and gave a start. A small gasp leaked out. Her eyes dropped to the floor, and she hurried into the keep.
Seren straightened, he bottom lip tucked between her teeth. She darted down the stair and around the corner where the girl had just come from.
“How dare you,” she hissed. I wanted to fade into the woodwork and avoid their spat. But they were too close.
“What I do is my business,” Lord Dewi rebuked her, his voice loud.
“With Glennis,” Seren said. “She should be marrying soon, but won’t if she carries your bastard.”
“Since you can’t seem to conceive, and won’t be carrying my child,” Dewi said, his voice louder, “I’ll have to make a son someway.”
“I’ll not be raising your bastard,” Seren said.
A thud, and a muffled cry of pain.
“Don’t tell me what you won’t do, wife,” Dewi hissed.
I slid down between the railing and landed on the ground below. The night was my time. No one would hear me move. The half a dozen steps to take me towards Seren was nothing.
Dewi gripped his wife by the neck and pressed her against the wall of the smithy. No wonder she wore high-necked dresses. She had to hide bruises.
He pulled his arm back and curled his fingers into a tight fist. His hand surged toward Seren.
This situation wasn’t quite the same as my time with Onion Breath and Hunchback, but close enough. I wasn’t about to allow violence to happen to any woman if I could stop it.
My demon gave me speed. And power.
I was next to Seren, my left hand caught his arm, and stopped it cold. His eyes wide, he jerked his head around toward me. Dewi’s other fist surged at me. Seren, free from its grasp stumbled away.
I grabbed his right wrist with my left hand and twisted. Dewi squeaked with the pain, but he was strong and surged against my wrist lock. He pulled his other hand back for a blow. I stepped inside his reach and led with my knee into his groin.
Dewi doubled over and clutched his groin, wheezing in pain next to where Seren was on her knees gasping to get air. I grabbed him by his throat, just as he had with Seren. I jerked him up. He bounced into stout wooden planks of the smithy. I pushed him up the wall until his feet were off the ground. He took a moment before he came to his senses. Between the pain in his family jewels and the bang of his head against the wall, he wasn’t in the best of shape.
“One hand on her,” I hissed once his eyes focused on my face. “Just one bruise on her, new or old, and I will do this to you again. But in front of others. For all to see.” With his pride, he’d never allow that to happen.
“Who…” he wheezed, “are you?”
“Vengeance,” I said. I relaxed my grip and let him crumple.
34
Apologies
I helped Lady Seren to her feet. Dewi stayed curled in a ball on the ground. We headed back to the porch without him.
“Please don’t tell anyone,” Seren whispered at the bottom of the stairs.
“Why?” I asked.
"War," she said. "If my father, or worse, my uncle knew, Penllyn and Mechain would be at war. I'm supposed to be the one to bring peace. I know I can get through to him. I need time."
“You need a new husband, milady,” I said.
“That’s not allowed,” she answered. “Please promise you won’t tell a soul.” Her eyes drifted to the cross on my chest. “Especially not the abbot. I can’t have the church involved either. Dewi will get so mad.”
Promise, no. I wouldn’t do that.
“If you need my help, just ask, milady,” I said. “Your husband will be no problem.”
“Please,” she begged. “Tell no one. I don’t want to cause war.” She spun and headed inside. Seren turned once, at the door, and mouthed a silent “thank you.” She squared her shoulders, raised her chin and pasted a smile on her face, and stepped back into the crowd.
I leaned against the railing and pondered what I had just gotten myself into.
After a moment, I saw Gwen and Lord Penllyn heading out toward me. One of the numerous "miladies" stopped Gwen, but Bleddyn continued toward me. He had the grace of a trained fighter, despite his limp. His eyes held mine as he approached. He bowed his head.
“Milady Mair, my apologies,” he said. “Lady Gwen has made it clear I am to include you in all of our future conversations. My thanks for allowing me to be reprimanded privately.”
“No need for apologies, milord,” I said. “I can understand your sentiments when a stranger from far shores invades your son’s wedding celebration.”
Should I tell Lady Seren’s father of what had just happened? He seemed reasonable, but what had Gwen said, give a Cymry lord any reason, and they’d charge off to extract vengeance?
"Yours is a welcome invasion, milady," Bleddyn said with a deep bow, and a flourish of his arm. "Penllyn is all the richer with your presence, and you are welcome in our hall and home any time. If you will forgive me, I need to see to the roasts for tomorrow's meal."
Perhaps, it would be better if I watched Dewi, and kept the news to myself. The wedding of Lady Seren’s brother wasn’t an event I wanted to mar by starting a war between two of these lords.
Gwen stepped out a moment later. She slipped an arm behind me and squeezed. “Are you ready to retire for the evening?” she sent. Just like her physical touch, I found her mental one soothing and comforting.
Still contemplating the situation I had inserted myself into, I nodded.
We made our apologies to Rhian, then headed to the storeroom that was ours for the next few days. I knew that sound could still carry beyond the wooden walls, but, we were safe from prying eyes in here. I reached out and took her hand.
“Say only what you don’t mind others hearing,” Gwen sent.
“I remember courtly politics,” I sent. “Too many ears lurk at cracks in walls, or by doors to find gossip to use against their enemies.”
A single stool and a small table stood along the wall opposite the bed. A narrow aisle between the furniture was all the floor space we had. Gwen knelt by the bed. She placed her hands, palms down on the blankets and closed her eyes in concentration.
"I asked the insects to leave us alone," she said and slid back on the bed to lean against the wall. I sat next to her. The rushes piled under the blankets were slightly softer than our patch of grass by the lake, but the lack of room to spread out meant we'd be close. I lay on my side and put my head in her lap.
“Insects have never bothered me since I crossed over,” I projected my thought to her.
“Bleddyn,” she sent, “Lord Penllyn, came with information you might find interesting,” she said across our link.
"He told you that the landholders have been losing livestock to a predator along the borderlands?"
She chuckled.
“I forgot that Ruadh would have heard stories as well," she sent. “That wasn’t all. The attacks on livestock have spread to all along Penllyn and Mechain.”
“Just livestock, or another human?”
“Livestock only in Penllyn,” Gwen glanced toward the door. “Einion, Lord Mechain, joined in at the end. I could tell him of the dead flock and their shepherd we found. He wasn’t happy, but wasn’t surprised.”
I stayed silent as I remembered my dream of the game board with The Lady. I could remember the click of claws from off the board and the rumbling growl.
“Is this why I’m here?” I asked. “I’m supposed to help fight a beast killing in the borderlands?” Gwen shrugged. Unsure.
We both stayed in our thoughts. I wasn't sure what to say about Seren and Dewi. Gwen would probably scold me for getting involved. But I would not let a woman be beaten. Fortunately, Gwen was lost in her thoughts and didn't notice my turmoil.
“Mair,” Gwen said and stroked my hair, “The Lady made clear that you and I are both needed in the coming battles.”
“Was this at your a
ttempted meeting this morning?”
“It was,” she said. “I believe her exact words were ‘Death is robbing our lands, and the only way I see to fight it is with both life and death.’”
“Interesting…” I mulled that over. “Life and Death. An apt description.”
“Try not to die, dearest,” she sent.
“Well, only one of us is still alive.”
35
Blessings
The wedding festivities began early. Lady Rhian’s voice sounded from outside our room.
"Out, all of you. This building is for the women-folk only today. Out." She directed the menfolk to rouse themselves from the communal beds in the large hall. They greeted her stern voice with groans and moans of those who had indulged too deeply into the Lord of Penllyn's ale stock. But Rhian wouldn't hear their pleas for more sleep.
Lady Penllyn's voice carried throughout the building, as she directed the servants to bring food to the visiting ladies to break their fasts. A slight rap at the door caused me to rise. Gwen was already up, cleaning her face. I unbolted the door and eased it open to find Rhian.
“Good morning, Mair,” she said. “Nesta and I will break our fast with Enid soon. You are most welcome to join us.”
I glanced at Gwen. I knew I could hide my dietary restrictions in large gatherings, but in intimate settings, it became noticeable I wasn’t eating.
“We would love to visit,” Gwen answered, “But we have our devotions to The Holy Lady to attend to. Will you ask for a small bowl of food for us?”
“Of course, dear. Come along when you can.” She said, then added, “We will have baths poured in the great hall in about an hour. We’ll have three tubs in the main hall.”
“The hall?” I asked.
"My girls would dunk me in the well, if I insisted they carry water for all the baths today up to the rooms on the second floor," Lady Penllyn said with a little laugh. "We'll keep the baths near the hearth so we can get hot water easily." Rhian explained. "You are both welcome for the second round, once Enid, Nesta and I get ours."
"Thank you, Milady. You are most, kind," I replied.
"I'm Rhian, dear, unless the occasion demands formality," she said, then waved at a servant. Rhian pulled a bowl from the girl's tray of food. With that, she made her exit.
I passed the bowl to Gwen, then put on my dress, and sat down to watch her eat. She nibbled on the food, breaking off some dark bread and cheese. Once she had finished, we went to find the bride-to-be. As we crossed the hall, her door opened and the bride's mother, Nesta, came out and leaned over the railing to search the room below. She gave a wave to Gwen and me, then motioned her daughter to follow her out.
The swoosh of water echoed through the keep. I glanced toward the sound. Girls were dumping buckets of water into three tubs by the hearth. Beyond that, a girl closed the main doors to the keep and set the bar in the braces.
A large cauldron hung in the hearth's centre. Serving girls dipped buckets into it and poured the hot water into the large tubs. Rhian soaked in a bathtub. Nesta and Enid moved to the others, with Enid at the end one by where I sat. They dropped their linen under-dresses and stepped into the tubs.
Talk of the impending wedding filled the great hall, and the women gave motherly advice to the young bride in abundance. Especially on how to handle her man on the wedding night. Though opinions differed there.
“You’re so lucky, dear,” said Lady Sian, wife to one of Lord Penllyn’s main landholders. Her silver hair framed her lined face. “To have found love along with a marriage.” She reached out and patted the bride’s hand, where it rested, out of the water on the edge of the wooden tub.
"Love?" another woman scoffed. I had forgotten her name, but I thought she was a Lady of one of the minor holdings in Meirionnydd. "At our station, dear, we're lucky to have a kind word and polite request before being summoned to our lord husband's bed. You'll know tonight if it's love. Or just wanton lust. Either way, you'll find your place soon enough when your belly swells with the fruit of his seed."
"Oh, and be sure to lay still, afterwards," a third woman added. "Laying still is the best way to get with child."
“I have had the best luck if I clutch my knees to my chest,” said Lady Sian. “I got my twins that way. Just a little rocking side to side. I stayed that way until my legs cramped, just so his seed would stay in place and quicken.”
Enid tried to sink even lower in the tub as the ladies continued their lively discussion about how to ensure conception.
I reached out and patted her hand. She was as low as possible in the tub, with the water up to her nose.
“Do you love your husband?” I asked, my voice quiet.
Enid sensed all eyes on her. Her nod sent small waves dancing across the foamy surface.
“Then show your love. Touch and be touched, love and be loved. Babies will come when they are meant to. Until then, love with all of your heart. Enjoy every moment.”
Enid smiled at me, thankful for advice she seemed to understand.
Nesta reached out from her tub and took one of my hands in hers. “You are such a practical delight, Mair. We are all happy that Gwen brought you into our lives.”
The small talk continued for a few minutes. Enid didn't seem to have any desire to leave her bath. Despite my advice, she sank back under the water, as though she still wanted to hide. Nesta eventually announced she was ready to begin preparations for the day's festivities. Servant girls moved in with cloths to help the ladies dry off. Rhian rose right after Nesta and Enid finished.
“Once they freshen the water,” Rhian said, “would the representatives of The Holy Lady take their refreshment in the baths, and then join us in the bride’s quarters?”
A swoosh, as the girls dumped another bucket of hot water into one tub cut off Gwen's reply. She nodded acceptance.
Gwen and I disrobed and stepped into the first two baths. Out of the other half-dozen women who waited for their turns in the tubs, two of them made a small show of offering each other the remaining tub.
“Lady Seren should be next,” one of them pointed out. “She’s the groom’s sister and daughter to our hostess.”
"She's under the weather this morning," another woman said. "Poor thing been married over a year now and still no swollen belly. Perhaps she's gotten one to quicken?" Another moment of each insisting the other go first ended with Gwen giving them a stern look and pointing at one, then at the open tub.
The ladies shifted their attention to me. They peppered me with questions about my past, how my accent had formed. I played my usual role as the dark foreigner.
…
Nesta answered Gwen's knock on Enid's door. A small window was open, and a linen curtain swayed in the breeze.
Enid's wedding dress hung from a hook on the wall. It was a lovely light green woollen dress, with blue and dark green embroidery in the curving, pointed patterns in the same Celtic style as the cross Gwen had given me. A blue woven belt hung with the dress.
“Have you settled the marriage gifts?” Gwen asked the ladies.
“Months ago, dear," Nesta added. “Enid and Cadoc will receive lands on either side of the cantrefi’s respective borders, and their children should be well positioned to govern both.”
“And the sword-gift?”
Enid pointed toward the bed. A blade leaned in the corner, in a leather scabbard. The hilt and pommel were shiny and well cared for.
“May I?” Gwen asked.
"Please," Nesta said. "My husband gave me his family's sword to keep for my son." Her eyes turned misty. I remembered from the conversation the day before that her only son had died a few years ago, well short of his inheritance. "Caerwyn and I want it to go to our daughter's husband."
Gwen brought the blade back to our circle. She drew the blade from the leather and dropped the scabbard on the bed behind Nesta. She held the blade parallel to the floor and motioned to me to hold out my hands. Gwen set the blade on my palms and lai
d her hands on top of mine. She motioned to the others to stand.
"Enid first, lay your hands on top, in between Mair's." The young bride did so. "Rhian, then Nesta." The two mothers placed theirs side by side, so their hands covered the naked blade. With Gwen's hands touching mine around the metal, I felt the link to Gwen open in my mind.
“Follow along, dearest,” she projected.
“The Holy Lady has always blessed the land’s leaders with hallowed objects,” her voice was quiet, yet formal. “Today, as Penllyn and Meirionnydd join their families, we ask The Lady’s blessing upon the families, and upon this blade, a symbol of their unity, and their devotion to The Land.”
I felt Gwen reach out, through the golden cord into the Otherworld. Her golden, mystical cord thrummed with power. My own pulsed as well.
"Lady Enid," Gwen continued, "as you give your heart to your love, Lord Cadoc today," I felt Enid straighten with pride, her chin raised as she stood. "Will you also vow to love and care for The Land, for the parts of Britain that come under your stewardship with your husband?"
"I will do so, to the best of my ability." Her voice was steady as she made the vow.
"Ladies Penllyn and Meirionnydd," Gwen's gaze swept each in their turn, "Will each of you also vow to care for The Lands you and your husbands' steward now?"
“I already have, and will continue to do so,” Lady Penllyn answered.
“As have I, and yes, I vow to continue, with the grace and blessings of The Holy Lady,” Lady Meirionnydd added, her voice quiet, yet firm.
I felt the magic come from my hands, through my black and gold cord to the goddess, but Gwen guided the magical connection. A soft white light came from my hands and infused the metal of the sword. The glow leaked out from our overlapped fingers. I heard a humming, come from the sword. Then a thrumming began, almost as if the land was singing. The women all stared at their hands on the sword. They kept their breathing still. The light brightened and washed across all of us, then diminished, as the music of the land and humming of the blade faded.
