The Stolen Bride

by Tony Hays

  Petrocus sighed. Though he was himself a slave to the law, this affair had unsettled him no little bit. “Lady Ysbail, as is your right, will you pronounce judgment on Malgwyn?”

  Ysbail stood, a little uncertainly, and faced her people. “I have known this man but for a few days. Yet in that time he has proved himself a tireless warrior and clever man, and a true friend of my people.

  “But he has violated one of our most ancient laws, that of hospitality. Any envoy granted that right is safe from danger or assault, and if such happens, the host is responsible for punishing the culprit.”

  She stopped. “Condemning a poor unfortunate to death is no little chore. And condemning a man who has served your flag is all the harder.”

  Ysbail straightened, and stared intently at her audience. “I have counseled with Petrocus, with Arthur, and with witnesses to these events. Malgwyn’s guilt is clear. As is his punishment. Lord Arthur has agreed to wield the sword to ensure that one pass will suffice.” She paused. “Does Malgwyn have aught to say?”

  But as I opened my mouth, I could find nothing I had not said before.

  Arthur came forward with his great sword. He knelt beside me and leaned close to my ear. “I will strike quickly and you will not feel it. Your songs will yet be sung in our halls.”

  The calm of my stomach was about to erupt, but I held it in check for just a moment. “Hurry, Arthur. I hear the calls of Tribuit; they are begging me join them.”

  He stepped away then. I heard the swish of air as he drew the sword back.

  I sucked in a deep draught of breath and prayed for the safety and prosperity of my family, to whatever god might be listening.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Stop this nonsense NOW!”

  The voice was completely unexpected. It erupted from the rear of the crowd and roiled over the people like a great wave from the western sea. And strangest of all, I did not recognize it, but I should have.

  Silence only was left in that wave’s wake.

  Arthur cleared his throat.

  “Lord Tristan, I did not expect to see you here.”

  “I did not expect to need to be present; after lords Bedevere and Kay and your councilor Malgwyn put down the threat to Lady Ysbail’s seat, I supposed that the affair was finished. But I see that if my friend Malgwyn is to keep his head, I must speak.”

  Tristan. Here? But I thought him a part of Druce’s alliance.

  I lifted my head and started to speak, but an almost imperceptible shake of Merlin’s head kept me from it.

  “I have not met you, Lord Tristan,” Petrocus began, visibly uncertain at this newest event. “You have something to contribute here?”

  “Many moons ago, I represented my father at the election of a new Rigotamos on the occasion of Ambrosius’s retirement. I was much younger then, and I behaved that way. In so doing, I contributed to the death of a young girl, an innocent young girl. Though I was not alone in my guilt, the new Rigotamos found it meet to hold me in a kind of house arrest for more than a year.”

  “Have you come here to complain about Arthur?” David’s red face showed that he was quickly becoming exasperated. I am sure that he had so relished the sight of my bloody head that he claimed a pleasure beyond the normal.

  “Do not interrupt me,” Tristan snapped, sending David, Bedevere, and Arthur swaying a little in surprise. Ysbail and Cilydd seemed more amused than shocked. I was simply lost in disbelief. This was not the Tristan that I recalled. This was a man.

  “I learned much in that year. Though he was not aware of it, I gained much from watching Malgwyn sort out a pair of these affairs. Most of all, I came to respect Malgwyn for his singleness of purpose and devotion to the truth. I believe, in this case, we can all profit from a little truth.”

  “Lady Ysbail,” David cried. “I appeal to you. Must we endure the ramblings of this child?”

  “David,” Arthur interrupted. “You will cease your prattling now.”

  And then it was David that everyone leaned away from, as if even his breath was tainted and would color them as well.

  A frown grew across David’s face as he realized that he had pushed Arthur as far as he might. I knew him well enough to know that he desperately wanted to persist in his protests, but he acceded to Arthur’s demands and sat down.

  Tristan nodded to Arthur curtly in appreciation, and then he continued. “Malgwyn, on behalf of Lord Arthur, sent to me and asked for a mounted troop to reinforce the defenses here. I wasted no time, mustered two troop, and began my march to Trevelgue.” He stopped and smiled at David, and I knew that his next words would not please the older man.

  “When I had nearly reached this place, a rider interrupted our journey. He said he was from Lord David and that I was to divert my troops from Trevelgue and join David near Castellum Dinas. Assuming that Arthur and Malgwyn had need of me there rather than at Trevelgue, I complied.

  “But when I reached the camp at Castellum Dinas, I saw David treating with a force of soldiers with which I was all too familiar. They were soldiers under the command of Trevelyan of Ennor. Because of my father’s refusal to cede lands to them, Trevelyan has waged a Pict-like war against us, striking at smaller villages and farms, killing who they pleased and taking what they wanted.”

  “Why have I not heard of this?” Arthur interrupted.

  “Because, Rigotamos, my father believes that to complain to you of such things makes him appear weak, as if he cannot safeguard his own lands. And because, until now, they were more like a bothersome fly than a true menace. But Trevelyan had ambition. His forebears were satisfied to steal the scraps from our tables. Not Trevelyan. In Trevelyan’s eyes the old Doged presented opportunity.”

  Tristan turned to Petrocus. “Good monk, you are renowned for two things—your deep devotion to the Christ and your study of law.”

  Petrocus nodded humbly. “That is most gracious of you to say, Lord Tristan.”

  As Tristan began speaking, he moved toward the front of the gathering. “If I have an enemy, an enemy that I have sworn to kill, does that mean I am guilty of murder should his death come by misadventure?”

  “Simply because you have sworn to kill him? No, not unless you were physically involved in his death, as in this case.”

  “Lord Bedevere, did you see any Saxons take arms? Were they fighting our men?”

  “They were.”

  “Indeed, they were among the leaders of the assault,” Tristan continued.

  I looked up then. David was not protesting; aye, he was hiding his face. But Bedevere’s face suddenly broke into a frown.

  “And how would you know that, Lord Tristan? I did not see you at Castellum Dinas.”

  But instead of being insulted, Tristan just smiled. “I was in Druce’s camp as plans were laid for the battle. When I saw that the Saxons were not just observing but actually concocting the battle plan, I wished nothing to do with it. I told them and led my troops away. But I held my men nearby; I had a debt of honor to pay Master Malgwyn, and I wanted to be close by if the Rigotamos’s forces should need my help. Considering the duplicity of those arrayed against them, I felt it likely that I would be needed. When the assault came, I, with five of my best men, rode as close as we could dare to watch. And I arranged riders to call our troops in on a moment’s notice.

  “I did not think that Bedevere and Kay would surrender so quickly, so easily. I suspected that they would arrange a surprise for Druce’s troops. When they did, we watched as our soldiers dealt with them.” Tristan turned to Ysbail then.

  “Lady Ysbail, the laws of hospitality are sacrosanct. It is only by abiding by these rules that we have any hope to resolve matters peacefully. But the obligation does not have only one face. It imposes responsibilities on both sides. Just as envoys and embassies should be safe from personal harm, so should the people of the lands they are visiting be safe from fearing that an embassy will take arms against them in a surprise.

  “I saw with my own eyes
Ceawlin at the vanguard of his men, even of the attack force itself. And he carried a Saxon battle-axe which he wielded against some of the outlying defenders that Bedevere had placed. No man serving the flag of Ysbail struck the Saxons before the Saxons themselves, most especially Ceawlin, had swung the first blow.”

  All was silent for a moment. Then, David, in a guttural voice that was as much anger as anguish. “This is all well and good, Lord Tristan, but it is simply your word against the rest.”

  “Do not count me among the fools that follow your flag, David. I have a dozen of my men ready to swear that they saw the Saxons strike the first blow. The grant of hospitality given by first Doged and then continued by Ysbail was broken before Malgwyn took up arms against the Saxon envoy. Once that had happened, the Saxons were but another enemy, and who among us would respect Malgwyn if he did not pursue them until his last breath.”

  So firm were his words, so solid his tone, he swayed the crowd. A palpable sense of relief swept across the plateau. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mordred turn away and walk toward the main gate. David opened his mouth as if to speak, but Arthur whispered something in his ear and he remained silent. Tristan, the boy whom I had reviled for his part in Eleonore’s death, had become a man of great heart and eloquence.

  Petrocus stood. “Thank you, Lord Tristan. You have borne witness to what you saw, and rightly so. If the Saxons had already begun fighting, if they led the assault, then Malgwyn bears no guilt.”

  Ysbail rose. She motioned her guards forward. “Release him. Malgwyn, you have our thanks for your services in our behalf and our apology for the accusations against you. It would please me greatly to call you friend.”

  I stood. The sudden reversal of my fortunes had sapped my strength. My stomach felt about to release all it held. I composed myself enough to thank her.

  And then I was surrounded by my fellows, clapping their hands on my back and cheering me.

  The guards drew back, and people began milling about. I stood, as if rooted to the spot. When you have concluded, when you have settled in your own mind, that your death is imminent, if by some miracle you are saved the rush of freedom seems to hold you tightly to its bosom.

  But David was not yet finished. “This is so much sophistry. Ceawlin was yet an envoy of the Saxons.”

  It was the hawk-nosed Petrocus’s turn to show his irritation. “Lord David, you are wrong. When Ceawlin took up arms in an assault on Ysbail’s possessions any protection he had from her ceased. That is a law just as ancient as that of hospitality, and you well know it.”

  “Lord David,” Tristan began, and I saw David cringe at the sound, ever so slightly. “Please do not force me to give a more complete description of matters.”

  With that, David departed in a huff, his face as red as the tunic on Bedevere’s chest.

  That exchange seemed to spark me from my trance, and I approached Tristan with a grin. “I was ready to denounce you for a liar and a coward,” I halfheartedly scolded him.

  He smiled, and I noticed that his always youthful face now carried a wrinkle or two. “Had you truly needed me, I would have been there with my troops.”

  “Aye, I do not doubt it. I needed you today, and here you are.”

  “Thank Arthur and Bedevere for that,” Tristan answered. “They had riders out all night, scouring the countryside for anyone who could shed light on the battle at Castellum Dinas. One of my men was at a tavern by the seafront. He had been one of those that I kept with me, and he told them what they needed to hear. ‘Twas only an hour or so ago that they fetched me from my camp. We were preparing to leave for home. I am most glad that they found me in time.”

  “Your debt to me, if you ever truly had one, is more than repaid, Tristan.”

  “I am only happy to have been of some service to you, Malgwyn. But I must leave now; affairs are somewhat unsettled at Castellum Marcus. My father is bedeviled by his future Scotti bride, Iseult, and my responsibilities have increased.”

  “Old men,” I said, “who take young brides often find life unsettled.”

  Tristan laughed, but in a way that suggested there was more to the story. He turned and saw Arthur heading toward us. “Good, I was hoping to speak with you both.”

  “Lord Tristan, I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am that you came to bear witness for Malgwyn.” Arthur’s sincerity was obvious in every word.

  “Well, my lord, someone has to save the stubborn old goat from himself.”

  We all laughed at that.

  “Rigotamos,” Tristan said. “My father wishes to extend an invitation to you, Kay, Bedevere, and, of course, Malgwyn to attend his marriage to the Scotti princess Iseult on the next full moon.”

  “Absolutely,” Arthur answered.

  “But Rigotamos—,” I began my protest, but Tristan took my shoulder in his hand, squeezed it, and said in yet another odd tone, “I wish you especially, Malgwyn, to come.”

  How do you say to no to the man who just saved your life? I bit my lip and tried to smile graciously.

  At that, I took my leave from them. I needed to see one other before this matter could truly be considered settled. My sudden reprieve from death had not really settled in. I knew that later my knees would shake and I would need a stout draught of mead to calm my nerves. But at that moment, there was only one person I wanted to see.

  * * *

  I found him hunched over a table in the same tavern where Sulien, Daron, and I had sat just a few nights earlier.

  “You look much better without strips of pig fat dangling from your hair,” I said, shoved into the room by three of Ysbail’s drunken soldiers and a meretrix they had bought.

  Mordred looked up at me and frowned. “So, you live to further torment me.”

  “I know you planned it differently, Mordred, but you did not count on Tristan coming to my aid. In all honesty, I would have thought you innocent in this entire affair had it not been for something David said last night.”

  “Hmmph,” Mordred grunted. “David should talk less and think more.”

  “Agreed.”

  “When did you realize it?”

  “Sadly, not until last night, after David came to me. He spoke of how naïve I am. How someone had told me a shadow of the truth, but not the entire truth. Despite my many visitors last night, I had much time to think, to consider all that had happened.”

  “And?”

  “The only thing that I had been told that could, possibly, have shades of meaning was exactly what happened in Doged’s chamber the night of his death. I knew this: Trevelyan killed him. He would never have panicked and run had that not been true. But who else might have been there? You told me yourself that someone, presumably Trevelyan, rushed out just before you and the Saxons entered to find Doged dead. I suspect that you entered with Trevelyan, you and the Saxons.

  “What happened, Mordred? Did you and the Saxon envoys offer to support Trevelyan’s bid for lands? I suspect that you soiled your pants when Trevelyan stabbed Doged in a sudden rage.”

  Mordred shrugged. “It is only the two of us sitting here. I do not mind telling you that we were there, and that Trevelyan did indeed stab the old man. The Saxons, however, were the ones who soiled their braccae. As soon as Trevelyan had stabbed Doged, I lunged for the door, though the others were right behind me. The guard who snagged me was the same that we had bribed for access.”

  “So, he had to be killed. Why wait?”

  “Too many people were stirring by then. I heard a commotion from the front and saw immediately that it was Cilydd in his Doged outfit.”

  “Aye, I saw him as he fled through the hall. For a long time, I believed that that person was Doged’s killer.”

  “It was fortuitous. We did not know that Doged had made arrangements with Cilydd until we collided with him in the corridor. He had no reason to doubt our story and much reason to keep his charade a secret.”

  “And what arrangement did you seek with Doged?”

&nb
sp; “Trevelyan needed lands. I saw no reason that he should be denied. The Saxons supported the agreement.”

  “Of course they did. Trevelyan was already trading with them, buying Saxon points to put on his Briton shafts. A clear ally in this part of Britannia would be invaluable when the Saxons decide to invade our lands. That was why you had to so quickly and so permanently deal with Trevelyan. You could not allow him to bear witness to your misdeeds.”

  “I did us all a favor by killing that snake. He was becoming touched in the head and believed that he could do anything and kill indiscriminately in defense of his people. Good riddance.”

  “Is that how you found him so easily turned toward the Saxons?”

  “Malgwyn!” Mordred feigned shock and surprise. “You think I would treat with the Saxons?”

  “Enough, Mordred. You would treat with the Devil himself if it helped you gain Arthur’s seat. Which, I am certain, is what the Saxons promised you.”

  My enemy shrugged. “What difference can it make now? Such did not happen.”

  “Oh, but you tried. And that is enough.”

  Mordred laughed, tiredly, hoarsely. “That is enough for what, Malgwyn? We are but two men spouting drunken nonsense in a tavern without a one of our fellows with us. No one has witnessed our conversation.”

  “Mordred, Mordred, Mordred. You should never take chances.”

  But the voice was not mine. Mordred stood and spun about the room but saw nothing but three soldiers, a whore, and the barkeep.

  Until the soldier threw back his cloak. Arthur. The second proved to be Bedevere. The third was, to my surprise, Petrocus. And the meretrix a happy, satisfied Daron.

  Like a trapped badger, Mordred searched for an escape but found none. He dove through the open door, with more grace than I thought he possessed, but Kay and Merlin herded him back inside. Behind them, Ysbail and Cilydd entered.