The Beast of Caer Baddan

by Rebecca Vaughn

  “I shall take you to the Town of Tiw,” Britu replied. “You shall be made King of the Gewissae in your father's place.”

  Britu saw the shock on the younger man's face.

  “Why are you doing this?” the man asked. “Why would you do this?”

  Britu remembered Owain's words to him in his tent the morning before he died.

  “When you are battle leader, you shall do as you see fit.”

  Britu was not a dominae, far from, for he had never received an honor from the emperor. But within the Kingdom of Atrebat, Britu was the battle leader and had been for over a year. Now standing in this prison, he knew what was the correct action to take.

  “The Gewissae need a king,” Britu replied. “You are the perfect person for that position but only if you are ready to rule your people.”

  The man came to his feet and straightened his clothes.

  “You are correct, Prince Britu,” the man said. “I am Aluca, eldest son of Giwis King of Gewisland. I'm more than ready to be king in my father's place.”

  Britu nodded and directed the younger man out of the prison cell and down the narrow passageway to freedom.

  Four days later brought King Emrys and Queen Madge to the castle in Baddan. They were a pleasant couple, and Leola was grateful for their company even though they were strangers to her.

  “They are fine boys,” King Emrys said.

  “And look exactly like their father,” Queen Madge said.

  “Have you decided what their names should be?” King Emrys asked.

  “Owain for the elder and Emrys for the younger,” King Irael replied.

  Leola started in surprise at these words. It never occurred to her that she could not name her children or that their names might even be predetermined by a tradition other than her own.

  King Emrys seemed surprised as well, yet for a different reason.

  “You name the younger after me, King Irael?” he said. “I am honored indeed.”

  “You are their godfather,” King Irael replied. “Had they been daughters they would have been Elen and Madge. Gratianna was to be called Elen, but Owain felt he could not name her thus because of the child's mother.”

  Leola noticed his eyes grow pained as if he were remembering a great sorrow. She doubted that Gratianna's mother would cause such an alteration, and thus decided he must be thinking either of his wife or son.

  “They shall both be called by my name as well,” he continued, with forced cheer. “I wish to ensure that the kingdom is passed on without any questions.”

  “Very wise,” King Emrys replied.

  The two kings talked of other things, as Queen Madge stroked the babies' little faces.

  “They are quite beautiful, but I suppose that was to be expected,” she said to Leola.

  “I suppose,” Leola replied, self-conscious of her speech now that she was expected to reply to strangers.

  “And early too, from what I heard,” the queen said.

  “The midwife said six weeks too early,” Leola replied. “Which is what I had guessed.”

  “Very early. But they do look well. Emrys is perhaps a bit yellow, but many babies are when they are born. Owain Irael and Emrys Irael.”

  Leola wrinkled her face and looked away.

  “What is wrong?” the queen asked. “Princess, tell me what it is.”

  Leola gave her a reluctant smile.

  “I do not like their names,” she whispered.

  “Oh,” the queen said in some surprise. “Of course. They must be strange to you. But you know Latin well. Do you like them in Latin?”

  Leola thought but could not decipher what they would be.

  “Can you say them to me?” she asked.

  “Well, let me see,” the queen said. “Euginius Aurelianus for the elder and Ambrosius Aurelianus for the younger.”

  “Euginius Aurelianus and...” Leola mused.

  “Ambrosius Aurelianus.”

  They did sound very well. Regal. Beautiful even. They seemed like the names for the sons of a powerful prince, names that would command respect and admiration from knights and lords alike.

  “Ambrosius Aurelianus,” and Leola giggled. “I suppose I do like them.”

  “Good. We shall stay for the dedication, and of course you know that King Gourthigern and Queen Severa shall be here as well.”

  Please, no.

  Leola had been forced to tolerate Britu's presence for the two days leading up to her labor. She did not wish to see his horrible mother now that she was recovering.

  “But you cannot be much in company,” the queen continued, “for rest is the best cure for exhaustion. Rest and laughter.”

  “True,” Leola said with a smile.

  “King Irael,” the queen said, “you must hold Euginius. He is your heir.”

  “No, no,” King Irael replied. “No babies for me. I shall admire them from here.”

  “Really, King,” King Emrys said, in amused surprise. “You always worry that you shall drop them. I dare say you never carried Prince Owain until he was five and no longer wanted to be coddled.”

  King Irael laughed at the thought. “I must confess, I believe that is true!”

  Yet for all King Emrys’ insistence, King Irael would not touch the babies, and soon the two left Leola’s rooms and went out to the library.

  “Do not be offended, Princess,” Queen Madge said, gently.

  “Oh, no, of course not,” Leola replied, with a confused shake of her head. “I just never thought he would not want to hold them.”

  The queen let out a long sigh. “He is only afraid of hurting them.”

  Leola was surprised by these words. The thought of such a gentle, caring man harming his grandchildren was ridiculous to her.

  “I wonder why,” she said, bewildered.

  “He did pick up his son when Prince Owain was only a three months old,” the queen replied. “But they say the king’s hands shook so violently that he dropped the baby, and so he would not touch small children after that.”

  “He dropped him!” Leola cried. “How terrible! But why did his hands shake?”

  “From the fever.”

  Leola frowned, trying to think. “The fever he had when his father and brother died?” she asked. “I thought he was twenty then. That is half his life ago.”

  “He was one and twenty, I believe, and that is more than half his life ago,” Queen Madge said with a laugh.

  “But surely enough time has elapsed that he would not be endangering them,” Leola said. “I have never seen his hands tremble.”

  “Oh, I doubt that his hands shake anymore,” the queen replied, “but it is the memory that troubles him.”

  Leola realized that the king's concern must have stopped him from bonding with his young granddaughter.

  Father afraid of dropping Gratianna, and Gratianna thinking he does not love her!

  Leola was certain that he did care for the child, if only he could overcome his fear.

  I shall have to mend that.

  “After the dedication, we shall have a little feast, just the six of us,” the queen said. “Won’t that be nice?”

  “I- I’m not sure I want to be in company at all,” Leola said.

  “Why not?”

  Leola hesitated. She liked Queen Madge but was not sure how much she should tell her.

  “I shall be expected to speak to people,” she said, at last.

  “But you speak very well,” Queen Madge replied. “Surely that cannot worry you.”

  Leola's mind flew to the ordeal she had with Queen Severa less than nine weeks before.

  “I’m a commoner-”

  The queen laughed and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

  “Do not let that trouble you, my dear,” she said. “Not everyone is born a prince. In fact, my own husband, Emrys, was born a commoner.”

  “He was?” Leola was shocked.

  “Certainly. It wasn’t until long after the people of Pengwern had
rebelled against King Gourthigern, that they elected Emrys as their ruler.”

  Leola was impressed at such an honor, that a people would chose to make a man their ruler as opposed to him conquering and subjugating them.

  “Why did they elect him?” she asked.

  “He was something of a hero I suppose,” the queen said, her eyes betraying her false modesty.

  “Tell me,” Leola prompted.

  “Well,” the queen replied. “There was a knight of the Coritani who was very cruel and heartless toward the people. He stole all of the meat and wine for himself and his friends. He chased the women, even very young girls. Everyone hated him, but he was a grand warrior that no one could beat. He was called the Basilisk, for he wore the image of a huge venomous serpent on his breastplate and on a ring he wore on his right hand.”

  Leola was amazed. She had always thought that Britannae knights were villainous towards the Gewissae women because they were their enemy. Now she realized that all people were afraid of knights. Everyone that is but the princes, for she knew how the knights in the Britannae camp had revered Owain and perhaps were themselves afraid of him.

  “Now,” the queen continued, thinking of the events, “the Lady of Gore was a daring warrioress who feared no pain. She did not care that no one could defeat the Basilisk. She was determined to try herself. She scaled his fortress and fought his guards and his friends, all fierce knights themselves. She killed or wounded nine of them until she found her way into the great hall. There she met the Basilisk all dressed for battle. They fought there, and the Lady of Gore was vanquished. As she lay on the floor at his feet, the villain said to himself how she had angered him by beating his friends. He then devised an evil way to punish her for her daring. He decided to kill her by cutting off her fingers, and then her toes, and then her hands, and then her feet, and finally her head. She would have died had it not been for Emrys.”

  Leola caught the pride and delight in the older woman’s voice.

  “Emrys was neither a prince nor a knight but was a common soldier from Venedotia,” the queen said. “He had left that kingdom to see what the rest of the island looked like. When he arrived in Pengwern, he heard what the Basilisk was doing and how he had vanquished the Lady of Gore. Emrys swore then that the knight would die for his crimes.”

  Leola listened attentively wondering what would happen.

  “He rode his pony to the south of the kingdom,” said the queen. “Went up to the front gate of the fortress and challenged the Basilisk then and there. The knight went out to meet him and when he saw that Emrys was just a commoner, he laughed and mocked him. But Emrys drew his sword and sliced off the Basilisk's right hand and then his head in a single swing. He took the ring off of the Basilisk's severed hand. Then he went into the fortress, carried out the Lady of Gore, and took her safely to her home. Now her father was the Lord of Gore and the elder lord of the Circle of Pengwern. When he heard what had happened, he said to the Lords of Pengwern, 'We are all great princes and yet none of us dared fight this monster. Emrys of Venedotia alone is brave among us.' That very day, the lords elected Emrys to be their king, and he has ruled Pengwern ever since.”

  Leola was enthralled by such an incredible story.

  “Is that true?” she asked.

  The queen laughed. “Who really knows the truth of such tales?” she said. “My only point is that you should not concern yourself with the status of your birth. You are a princess now. If you are patient, humble, and kind, in time the lords shall accept you and the people shall love you.”

  Leola liked that thought. It seemed so open and full of hope, that she wished to believe it.

  She sighed.

  “You are too tired,” the queen said. “I have kept you awake longer then I should. Close your eyes and rest.”

  Leola was glad to obey. She kissed the foreheads of both boys, closed her eyes, and was soon fast asleep.

  Owain's mind wandered to his home in the City of Baddan, Gratianna, and his father.

  “I am Owain ap Irael Prince of Glouia,” he said to himself. “I am an Andoco. I am the dominae.”

  With that, he braced himself and gritted his teeth. His hands clenched and shook, but he pulled himself up and on to his hands and knees.

  His eyes hardly focused in the dark hut but they soon spied the cracks of light streaming through the torn animal hide that covered the entrance. He crawled towards it, pushed it aside, and peered out to the sunlight.

  “You are getting strong, I think,” the hermit said.

  He was sitting outside by a fire, his fingers busy mending some poorly shaped basket.

  “Ie,” Owain replied. “That I am.”

  "Oh, so you do talk, you do."

  “I can talk,” Owain replied. “I only speak with difficulty because of this pain. Can you tell me where I am?”

  “Ie. Ie,” the hermit nodded his head multiple times. “You are at my house, I think. Eat. Eat. You are hungry, I you are.”

  Owain had to smile at such an answer, for being at the poor hermit's home was the first of all the things he had assumed. Owain wished to know how he might find his own family and thus desired more useful information.

  “Ie,” he said to the hermit. “I thank you, sir. But I beg you, tell me what town is nearby.”

  “No town, I think," the hermit said. "No town. Only my humble house, I think.”

  He gave Owain a bowl of stew and they ate. The hot vegetables felt good in Owain's mouth, but his hands shook so violently that he could hardly lift the crude spoon to his lips.

  “Why is it so cold here?” Owain asked.

  “It is cold and then warm and then cold, I think,” the hermit said.

  Owain was unsure how to understand him but resolved to try again at a later time in hopes of gaining some pertinent information.

  Chapter Thirty Seven: Dedication

  On the babies’ eighth day, their entire company loaded into carriages and went to the church on the other side of the city. King Emrys and Queen Madge were in one carriage, King Irael in a second, Gratianna and her nurse in a third, and Leola with babies and one of their nurses in a fourth. Mounted guards surrounded the carriages as they drove.

  Leola was far too engrossed in the babies to notice the buildings or houses that they passed. Ambrosius’ face had continued to turn a yellow hue, even though Euginius’ face had become a normal color.

  “What is wrong with him?” Leola asked the nurse.

  “I do not know, Princess,” the nurse replied. “I have never seen a baby that color.”

  Neither have I.

  But Leola did recall hearing that one of the babies in Anlofton had become yellow.

  As she exited the carriage, Leola squirmed in discomfort. The binding around her lower body had been twisted in the ride and she could not get it correct. She understood that it was to keep the blood from her labor from dripping down onto the floor but in all her life, she had never worn such a thing. The women of the Gewissae had simply let the bleeding fall, and with nearly all of their houses and buildings having dirt floor, this was never a problem.

  Just one more oddity I must get used to.

  To her dismay, King Gourthigern and Queen Severa were waiting for them in the courtyard to the church.

  “Brother,” Queen Severa said to King Irael, kissing him on the cheeks. “I trust all is well?”

  “Certainly,” King Irael replied. “Cousin,” to King Gourthigern.

  “We were glad to hear you were recovered, Cousin,” King Gourthigern replied.

  Leola clung to Ambrosius as if to protect him from the judgmental eyes of Owain’s aunt.

  “God keep you, Leola,” Queen Severa said.

  Leola mumbled a reply.

  King Irael seemed to understand that Leola did not wish to converse with his sister and stepped in to rescue her.

  “I am very relieved to have had Britu here,” he said. “He was a great help and comfort.”

  “Good,” Queen
Severa replied.

  “He left after the birth. He said he had something important he wished to attend to.”

  “He did,” King Gourthigern said. “There was a prisoner he wanted to release, one called Aluca.”

  Leola’s ears perked at the name.

  Aluca Aetheling of Tiwton? He survived the battle? And Prince Britu has set him free!

  “Really?” King Irael said, and he seemed surprised by these words. “That is very attentive of him.”

  “It is,” the queen agreed. “He is maturing all of the sudden. Becoming responsible. How are the babies?”

  “Strong for early,” King Irael replied, “but thus far, there is no danger.”

  Leola was apprehensive, for Ambrosius' coloring was beginning to frighten her.

  “Let me see the heir,” Queen Severa said.

  King Irael directed his sister towards the nurse who was holding Euginius.

  “Is he not beautiful?” he said.

  Leola caught the ring of pride and delight in his voice.

  “By the ancestors!” the queen cried. “He looks exactly like Owain did when he was born.”

  “He does,” King Gourthigern agree.

  Queen Severa looked over at Leola, who was still clinging Ambrosius to her heart.

  “I suppose they were early,” she said, as if it was some great concession.

  What is that supposed to mean?

  “They were,” King Irael said, hurriedly.

  He seemed to feel the tension build within their party and wished to stifle it.

  “We must not keep our uncle waiting,” he said.

  Gratianna came running up from her own carriage.

  “Let me kiss them!” she said.

  The nurse bent down for her to see Euginius, and the child placed a kiss on his check. Then Gratianna came to Leola to do the same with the younger twin.

  “What is wrong?” she asked, as she gazed at the baby's face.

  “I think he is a little sick,” Leola replied, not wishing to alarm the child. “That happens sometimes.”

  After the greetings were made, they went inside the old stone church to find the Bishop of Gloui with all of the city’s priests.

  “Father Vitalius,” King Irael said, giving the churchman his religious address. “I trust you have had a pleasant journey.”