Castaways in Time (The After Cilmeri Series) (12 page)

“Have you hauled the cog out of the water
yet?” Callum said.

Driscoll chewed on his lower lip. “We’re
working on it. Our researchers from the university want to know
where we found a medieval cog, and we’re not answering.”

“That was quick work,” Callum said. “In
fact, everything has happened too quickly. How is Lady Jane even
here?”

“She arrived last night for the annual
review of our office,” Driscoll said. “That you came today is
viewed by her as manna from heaven. Smythe has been walking around
with a stupid grin plastered on his face, annoying everyone by
telling us how pleased Lady Jane is with his performance.”

“
His
performance?” Callum said.

“The show of force at the dock was his
doing,” Driscoll said, “sanctioned by those higher up.”

“Who?” Callum said.

“I don’t know.”

“Naturally,” Callum said sourly. “What’s
next, then?”

“The wheels of bureaucracy can move fast
when they choose to,” Driscoll said. “Lady Jane has been in contact
with the DG and the Home Office. Likely, David will be transported
to London by this evening.”

Callum tapped his fingers on the arm of his
chair. Driscoll leaned across the table towards him and lowered his
voice. “Listen, Callum. The higher-ups—” He broke off and looked
furtively around the room.

“Are we being recorded?” Callum said.

The conference room was one that in the past
had been a work space for Security Service agents, not a place
where they kept suspects or those under interrogation, even
peripherally. Come to think on it, this was the room in which
they’d last gathered before going after Meg and Llywelyn at
Chepstow Castle. The wall screen was black, and the conference
table was new. It disturbed Callum slightly that it had taken him
this long to notice where he was.

“No,” Driscoll said, “not here. But Callum,
they are going to want to know some things. They’re going to want
to use David.”

“What do you mean
use
him?” Callum
said.

“You need to start thinking like a
politician. Certain people—important and powerful people—see this
as an enormous opportunity.”

“An opportunity for what?” Callum said.

“If we can find a way to use whatever is
inside David to send men back and forth to the past at will, think
of the knowledge to be gained! Not to mention the access to
resources that have grown scarce on our planet. Think about it:
precious metals! Untapped oil reserves! This isn’t a few quid we’re
talking about. To the Home Office, it could be a matter of
billions
of pounds
.
”

Callum’s mouth fell open. Cassie had been
right. They should have run.

September, 1289

Anna

A
nna couldn’t
decide which concerned her more—that Valence had landed a fleet of
ships at Portsmouth, or that she and Bronwen were suddenly expected
to produce a magic potion that would heal all wounds—for that was
the gossip her maid was hearing in the corridors. The witchcraft
trials hadn’t yet overtaken Britain, but superstition and ignorance
underlay suspicion of anything different or new, and Anna and her
family had rightfully always feared it.

For now, she was faced with saying goodbye
to her husband, who had a war on his hands, the parameters of which
they didn’t yet know. “When do you leave?” Anna said.

“I ride out within the hour,” Math said.
“William de Bohun volunteered to ride to London with twenty men to
gather reinforcements between here and there. He, Ieuan, and Edmund
Mortimer have already left. If Valence marches this way, we will
have the men to defend Windsor. Don’t worry.”

Anna took a deep breath and eased Bran, who
had fallen asleep, from her breast. She lay him on the bed beside
her. He was her third son, but only the second living, since she
and Math had lost little Llelo at six months old to a measles
epidemic when Cadell was three. Now at nearly four, Cadell had
already had measles, an easy bout of scarlet fever at the start of
the current epidemic, and chicken pox. Mumps, rubella, whooping
cough, and a host of other diseases awaited him in the next few
years. If he could survive them, if he could reach the age of ten,
he had a good chance of living into his fifties. Provided he didn’t
die of the other major cause of death for men: war.

Such was the reality of the medieval world,
and the older Anna grew, the more she wondered if choosing this
life had been the right decision. And then she looked from Bran to
Math and knew why she had chosen it, and knew that if she could
travel back in time again to her earlier self, even knowing what
she knew now, she would make the same choices all over again.

“Why have you given Ieuan overall command?”
Anna said.

The corners of Math’s mouth turned down as
he looked at her. “You object that we’ve elevated him thus?”

“Not at all!” Anna allowed herself a burst
of laughter before her fear reasserted itself. “I just can’t
believe Edmund or Carew gave way. Ieuan is a Welshman, and while
his English and French are improving, he is not one of
them.
”

“Ieuan has stood at Dafydd’s side since he
and Bronwen arrived at King’s Langley before Arthur’s birth,” Math
said. “He has familiarized himself with the full extent of Dafydd’s
forces in London and the surrounding area, far more so than any
other lord barring Dafydd himself. These barons all have their own
men and estates to see to. It is Ieuan who has trained Dafydd’s
standing army, and we all agreed that it should be he who leads
them.”

“I didn’t even know David had a standing
army. Papa doesn’t.” Given Anna’s occasional disbelief that she was
really living in the Middle Ages, the fact that her baby brother
was the King of England had been known to stymie her completely.
She supposed that for him to have a standing army was small
potatoes compared to that.

“King Llywelyn doesn’t have anyone to war
with these days,” Math said. “It’s not as if England or the barons
in the March are going to be raiding his lands any time soon.”

“He has defenses—” Anna said, defending her
father.

Math came forward to sit on the edge of the
bed. “I’m not criticizing Llywelyn. God knows I’m grateful that the
wars with England are over, along with the constant skirmishes
along the border. All I’m saying is that Dafydd does not have that
luxury. He has had to think several moves ahead, if not the whole
chess match. Unfortunately, he miscalculated in thinking that
Valence would stay in Ireland.

Anna accepted her husband’s explanation, no
longer offended. “Just be grateful that he had the foresight to
insist that Callum was the only one among the close family to
accompany him. That said, do we have enough men to defeat
Valence?”

“The scouts report that two thousand men
landed at Portsmouth. We can only pray that this is Valence’s only
force. We hope that his goal for now is to carve out a place for
himself in the southwest while Clare and Dafydd are away. Then he
can begin to woo the other barons to his side,” Math said.

“I suppose he’ll promise them the usual:
land and money under his dispensation,” Anna said. “How many takers
might he have?”

Math shrugged. “Edmund would know that
better than I. A few, certainly. I’d like to defeat him before any
of the wavering decide to take Valence up on his offer, believing
he can give them more than Dafydd has or can.”

“David has tried—”

“Again, I’m not criticizing your brother,”
Math said. “He has taken the long view, as well he should and as
only he can, but he has been none too gentle with some of the
barons he views as particularly stubborn or arrogant. They’ve taken
offense. Valence speaks their language better than Dafydd
does.”

“David’s French is fine,” Anna said.

Math laughed and gently rubbed Anna’s arm.
“I’m not speaking of his fluency,
cariad.
”

Anna had known that, actually, but she still
found herself angry on David’s behalf with all those Normans who
were backing into the future instead of turning around and running
towards it. “What are we going to do about it?”

“At this point, I can do nothing but go to
war,” Math said. “These barons wouldn’t listen to me anyway.”

“Their wives might listen to me, though,”
Anna said. “I know that David would have to approve any promises,
but would it hurt to identify those who are wavering and sweeten
the pot for them? The crown of England has more resources at its
disposal than Valence.”

“Bribe them, you mean?” Math said. “Don’t
you have enough on your hands with the baby, Cadell, and this
penicillin problem?”

“We have twenty scholars working hard, and
Bronwen knows what she’s doing,” Anna said.

“What are you suggesting?”

“I could at least find out
who
might
be wavering and what might encourage them to stand firm a while
longer, long enough for you to take care of Valence’s army.”

“Will their husbands listen, though?” Math
said.

“Do you listen to me?” Anna said.

Math looked affronted. “Of course.”

“The longer I’ve spent with noblewomen, the
more I’ve come to realize that they are no more content, most of
them, with doing as they’re told than I am,” Anna said. “Some have
empty heads, it’s true, and too many haven’t been educated or
haven’t read enough beyond the Bible to have the proper knowledge
to
think
with. But when pressed, or shown evidence, they can
think. And none of us like seeing our sons die.”

As Anna had grown more animated, Math had
moved closer. He put his hands on either side of her face and
kissed her gently. “Okay. I’m convinced. But you take care. Far
worse would be to push one of these would-be traitors into
Valence’s arms.”

“I’ll be careful, though it’s you who need
to hear that more.” Anna leaned into her husband. He wrapped his
arms around her, and they held on until a low knock came at the
door.

“That’s for me.” Math kissed Anna one more
time and then went to the door.

“Say goodbye to Cadell before you go,” Anna
said.

“Where is he?”

“I arranged for him to ‘help’ in the kitchen
while I put Bran to sleep.”

Math laughed. “I’ll see to him.”

“I love you, Math,” Anna said.

He kissed his fingers and blew the kiss to
her. “And I you.”

After Math left, Anna arranged for the nanny
to watch over Bran, who would sleep for several hours (she hoped),
checked on Cadell, who was elbow deep in bread dough, and then went
to find Bronwen. Anna peered through the crack between the frame
and the door at Bronwen’s sleeping daughter. The late afternoon sun
shone through the window, making an elongated rectangle on the
floor. Bronwen had pulled the curtains around the four-poster bed
so the sun wouldn’t shine on Catrin’s face.

Bronwen came to stand at Anna’s shoulder.
“Today is one of those days.”

“What do you mean?” Anna said.

Bronwen drew away from the door and leaned
her back against the wall in the corridor. “Much of the time since
Catrin’s birth, I’ve felt like my head is stuffed with cotton. I
can’t see or think about anything further than a few feet around
me. It’s like I’m wrapped in Styrofoam.”

“I hadn’t noticed anything wrong with you.”
Anna squeezed her friend’s hand. “You’re a wonderful mother.”

“It’s not a lack of love for Catrin I’m
feeling.” Bronwen rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand.
“My love for her is as fierce as I can imagine love ever being, but
I haven’t had space in my head for anything but getting through the
day.”

“I can quote a parenting book at you, if you
like,” Anna said. “Something about how easy it is to get in the
habit of meeting everyone’s emotional needs but your own.”

“Do I need to ask why you were reading a
parenting book at seventeen?” Bronwen laughed, and Anna was glad to
see it. “I probably read that somewhere too—or at least, I’ve heard
that from other mothers. A friend of mine who had a baby back in
the old world told me that if she had four minutes by herself a
day, just enough for a quick shower, she was lucky. And more often
than not the baby would start crying while she was still soaking
wet.”

“We can’t take showers.” Anna laughed now
too, a hand to her mouth.

Bronwen smiled. “And we have nannies and
maids and servants around every corner to fulfill any wish. We’re
rich and privileged. More than one woman in the village at Buellt
birthed ten children by the age of thirty-five and works from dawn
to dusk with little help. I’m spoiled and I know it, and yet—”

“We are all spoiled, Bronwen,” Anna said.
“Compared to the Middle Ages, the twenty-first century spoiled us
rotten, and it has continued here, though admittedly, the standard
for what constitutes ‘spoiled’ is a lot lower.”

“Which, to steal an already overused cliché,
is why our responsibilities are even greater,” Bronwen said. “I
know. I’m honestly grateful to you for putting me to work, even if
now I have too much to do.”

“Yeah, well, guess what I just did?” Anna
said, and then continued without waiting for a response. “I told
Math that I would take it upon myself to weasel my way into the
confidences of various noblewomen, trying to gauge if their
husbands will continue to support David despite Valence’s
pleading.”

“Despite Valence’s outright bribes, you
mean?” Bronwen said, thinking like Math.

“You’d go that far?” Anna said.

“What would you call promises of land, even
in Wales, after he defeats David and then your father?” Bronwen
said.

“Is that a fact or a guess?” Anna said.

“A fact,” Bronwen said. “Everyone thinks
they’re keeping secrets, but nobody really can. Not at Windsor, and
certainly not at Westminster.”