Serpent (23 page)

“What will you do?”
she asked.

“It will be sufficient, whatever it is.”

It was a kind way of telling her that it was not her business and she didn’t press him, although it was difficult. She was naturally curious, and nosy, as her father called her. With a heavy sigh, she simply nodded her head and lowered her gaze, and he released her completely. But his eyes never left her.

“You will retire to our chamber for the night,” he told her softly. “I will see you on the morrow.”

Her head came up. “Will you be escorting my family out of Wales?”

He nodded. “More than likely.”

“Then I want to come.
Please
, my lord.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You will call me Bhrodi in private,” he said. “Or Husband. I will answer to whatever you chose.”

She nodded unsteadily, as they were somewhat off the subject. A flash of warmth sparked when he said that, something that warmed her heart, and she struggled to ignore it. But she would not let the subject go completely.

“May I please come?”
she asked again.

He grasped her gently by the upper arm and planted a kiss right on her forehead
. It was a bold move, one that broke protocol even though she was his wife. It was a gesture reserved for those who had feeling between them and it certainly wasn’t done in a public place. But Bhrodi couldn’t help himself. It seemed like the right thing to do.

“Mayhap,” he said as he turned her in the direction of the main portion of the hall where everyone was gathered. “We will discuss it on the morrow.”

Penelope knew she would have to be satisfied with that but no matter what he said, she planned to ride escort for her family as they left Anglesey. Bhrodi just didn’t know it yet. Obediently, she let him lead her back to her family and leave her in the care of her father. Bhrodi then proceeded out into the entry hall where he collected his vigilant
teulu,
including Ivor and Gwyllim, and pulled them into a huddle. It was clear he was discussing something serious with them. He was planning his retribution.

As Penelope watched with curiosity, William had turned back to his group
. They now had Kevin up on the table and were working on him there. Yestin and Ianto eventually returned with a tiny old man carrying a sack, their surgeon they declared, and the old man began to confer with Paris on the extent of Kevin’s injury. Just as they began to put bone needles into Kevin to stitch him up, Bhrodi and his
teulu
unbolted the entry door and left the keep. Ianto went with him, leaving Yestin to bolt the door and remain with the English.

After Bhrodi left, Penelope remained pensive and inactive for a very long time. Her mind was awhirl with the events of the day and particularly the events of the night. So much had happened
, leaving her disoriented and muddled. More than anything, her thoughts seemed to be lingering on her new husband.

Bhrodi de Shera
was a great warlord who seemed to have trouble controlling his vassals. The Welsh were rebels, indeed, and evidently acted without orders and saw nothing wrong with betrayal. She began to wonder what sort of world she was now a part of, fearful of the future she could not fathom. True, she was coming to like Bhrodi and, truth be told, she had very much enjoyed the consummation of their marriage when she surely should not have. Perhaps it made her a hussy; perhaps not. Perhaps it simply meant she enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh with the man she was married to. In all, it was so very confusing. She tried not to feel distress over it.

As the shock of the evening wore down and the English began to feel safe once again, they began to settle in around the hearth and relax as much as they were able.
Penelope sat up all night sitting next to Kevin, holding the man’s hand as the surgeon and Paris worked to save his life. He had been conscious the entire time, grunting through the pain of the deep sutures put into his body, and Penelope had tried to comfort him. But her mind was with Bhrodi as she wondered what he was doing. He had told her he would punish his vassals and she would trust that he was doing so. She had little choice.

Deep inside the keep, they couldn’t hear what was transpiring in the bailey now that the great hall had completely burned to the ground.
She couldn’t hear the fighting that was still going on and how Bhrodi and his
teulu
sided with de Wolfe’s guard, and how the Welsh and English had rounded up the chieftain rebels and had corralled them in the gatehouse. The vault was there, two big cells cut into the bedrock of Rhydilian, and by morning it was full of the Welsh agitators and their followers. Bhrodi’s threat to them was the same threat he used for any prisoner facing execution; he would take them to the beast of the marsh who would feast upon their flesh and end their miserable lives. The dark secret of Rhydilian, for four generations, was that they fed their mortal enemies to the beast.

The serpent with a taste for human flesh. It was why Bhrodi had been so eager to save the English on the night of their arrival; the beast from the marsh fed upon mortal man and Bhrodi had worked hard to ensure it did not sink its teeth into English flesh. Now, he would feed the beast those who had betrayed him so that when de Wolfe’s party passed through the marsh on their return to England, the beast would be well fed and would leave the English alone.
Tudur ap Gwyfn howled all night when he had realized what Bhrodi’s intentions were. As a Welshman, and a native of Anglesey, he knew what happened to those who crossed de Shera’s path in violence. He just never thought it would happen to him.

Just before dawn, when the mist lay heavy in the swamp and upon the green and lush mountain, Bhrodi and his
teulu
moved seventy-nine Welsh prisoners out to the swamp, all of them tied together with rope and all of them stripped of their clothing so that they were naked and freezing. Reaching the spot in the glade where prisoners were tethered to await their fate, Bhrodi and his men made sure all of the prisoners were tightly bound, awaiting their fate at the fangs of the great beast.

Tudur and Lon begged and pleaded for mercy, but Bhrodi wouldn’t hear them
. They were traitors and the penalty for treachery, in Bhrodi’s world, was death. Standing at the edge of the marsh with the horn that his grandfather’s father had used, he blew into the horn, creating a mournful cry that sounded somewhat like the beast itself. It was the call to the beast, the summons for it to come forth, and soon enough they heard the stirrings of the creature. When they began to hear the grunts, Bhrodi and his men mounted their horses and thundered out of range, turning to watch the scene unfold from a distance. It wasn’t long in coming.

Bhrodi usually watched these executions to reconcile in his own mind that his enemies were dead
. He had to know the threats were gone. This time was no different; he watched as the beast devoured Tudur, and then Lon, and feasted upon the remaining prisoners as they screamed and begged for God’s mercy.

In this land of the beast,
in the mysterious wilds of Pendraeth, there was only Bhrodi’s mercy and he wasn’t apt to give it today. As the beast executed Bhrodi’s prisoners one by one, it emitted a foul roar that echoed off the mountains. As far as Bhrodi was concerned, it was a roar of victory.

Inside the keep of Rhydilian a few miles away,
even the English heard the unsettling roars inside the thick walls.

It was the sound of the
serpent’s strike.

⌘

             
William knew this moment was coming and he didn’t want to face it. As his party was saddled up, secured, and ready to depart, the most difficult part of all was coming. He had to tell his youngest child farewell and he wasn’t at all sure he could accomplish that and not break down like an idiot. In the cold and misty morning following the rather eventful wedding feast, he was dressed in full armor, watching his wife and daughter say their good-byes.

             
It was a tearful scene. Jordan and Penelope had clung to each other for the past fifteen minutes as Penelope wept softly and Jordan whispered words of strength and encouragement in her ear. William knew that when the time came for him to hug her, it was very possible he would not let her go at all. He was both dreading the moment and anticipating it. He wanted to hug her in the worst way. It was time to leave his baby to her new life and he was having a difficult time facing it.

             
Given the events of the previous night, Bhrodi had arranged for a one hundred man escort from his personal guard to accompany de Wolfe to the ferry that crossed over to the Welsh mainland. The de Shera
teulu
were dressed in their red de Shera tunics and well-armed with spears and crossbows. None of them carried broadswords, as it was not their way, but they were an extremely efficient fighting squad.

Based on
the interrogation of the prisoners the night before and coming to understand that the attack on the English had been an isolated event, Bhrodi had made the decision to send his escort as far as the Menai crossing; he had sent word early that morning on ahead to Caernarfon, a city occupied by the English because they were starting to build a castle there, so that the English would provide additional protection for de Wolfe once the man crossed onto mainland Wales. De Wolfe was his kin, after all, and he wanted to make sure the man had ample protection as he traveled through Wales, even if it meant he had to contact the English in order to accomplish it. He had gone out of his way to make sure de Wolfe had a safe crossing, and William was grateful for it. De Shera was coming to prove himself a man of thoughtfulness and courtesy.

Penelope, however, had been deeply unhappy that she would not be allowed to escort her mother and father back through Wales
. Bhrodi had denied her and William had supported that decision, which thoroughly upset her. Jordan even entered the discussion and reminded her daughter that she was a wife now and not a knight, and riding escort did not fall under her scope of duties.

Because Penelope was so unhappy, Bhrodi decided not to ride with his escort, instead choosing to remain behind and comfort his wife. They’d had a very turbulent beginning to their marriage and he thought it best to remain with her during this time of emotional turmoil.
Whether or not she would accept his comfort was another thing entirely. Since the battle in the hall, she had been quite distant from him and he didn’t like it one bit. He longed for the warmth he had felt from her during the ceremony and at the feast before the chaos; to have such warmth, such feeling, and then to have it ripped away from him had left him feeling hollow and sad. He was anxious to reclaim it.

There were
other decisions made as well, decisions that both Bhrodi and William had agreed upon. Kevin Hage was too ill to be moved so it was decided he would remain behind until he was healed, whereupon he could then return to England. Thomas, Penelope’s older brother by eight years, would also remain behind for Penelope’s comfort. She was in a strange world with strange people and Bhrodi agreed that a brother might be of comfort to her until she felt more confident in her surroundings. Moreover, Thomas had a massive gash in his arm which had rendered it useless so, like Kevin, he needed time to heal. Having both of them remain behind for the time being made Penelope feel as if she wasn’t so utterly alone.

But time was passing and the morning was advancing
, and the time had come to leave Penelope with her new husband and new life. William broke from his stance near the wagon where he had been watching his wife and daughter say their farewells and made his way over to them.

“Jordan,” he said quietly. “We must depart. The day is upon us and we cannot linger.”

Jordan knew that although it was still difficult to hear. Squaring her shoulders, she released her daughter from her tight embrace and smiled bravely at her, struggling not to burst into tears.

“Now,” she said decisively, “ye’ll write
tae me next week and tell me how everything is. Make sure ye let me know about Kevin and Thomas, too. I would hear all about everything.”

Penelope’s eyes were red and watery but she nodded. “Aye, Mamma,” she said, sniffling. “Will you come to visit again soon?”

Jordan nodded firmly. “Of course we will,” she said, noting William standing next to her. Reluctantly, she stepped aside. “Bid farewell tae yer father, now. He has been waiting patiently tae hug ye.”

As she stepped back, William took her place
. For a moment, he simply stared at his daughter. The words just wouldn’t come. Then, his big hands came up and gently cupped her face; he could see that tiny baby who had surprised them all with her late birth, then the toddler who would only eat bread crusts and follow her brothers around, and finally the young girl who demanded a sword and pony so she could be a knight. He saw all of those things at that moment and it was tearing him apart. Leaning forward, he kissed her on the forehead.

“I will miss you with every breath,” he murmured, watching her face crumple in tears,
“but I know I leave you in good hands. I believe that de Shera is a man of honor and will treat you well. You must give him that chance, Penny. Will you do that? Give the man a chance to be a good husband to you.”

Penelope nodded although she was far gone in tears. “But I do not want you to go, Papa.”

He clucked sadly and kissed her on the forehead again, drawing her into a tight embrace. He could feel tears sting his eyes, too, as she sobbed against him.

“I love you, lass,” he murmured. “You are my heart. Should you ever need me, I will come.”

Penelope sobbed deeply as she held him. “Papa, I miss you already.”

William had a lump in his throat as he gave her a squeeze and let her go.
“I miss you, too, but I know you will be very happy here,” he whispered tightly, forcing a smile when she looked at him. “You are going to have such a grand adventure here. You are the mistress of a great empire and you have a proud and powerful husband. I could wish no more for you, Penny. I am content.”

She tried to hug him again but he held her off, grasping her hands and kissing them. He knew if she hugged him again he would not be able to release her. Tears
in his eye, he kissed her cheek and forehead once more before letting her go. As Penelope stood there and sobbed, Paris came up and gave her big, gentle hug, wiping his eyes as he released her. Seeing that her Uncle Paris was weeping made Penelope weep harder, especially when her Uncle Kieran hugged her farewell with tears trickling down his cheeks.

“Take care of my son,” Kieran whispered. “I leave him in your care.”

Penelope nodded as she wiped at her face. “I will take very good care of him,” she said, sniffling. “I promise he will be well again.”

Kieran nodded sadly, touched her cheek, and walked away. Jemma was next, sobbing loudly as she hugged her niece, which set Penelope off again
. In fact, Kieran had to peel Jemma away; she was more distraught about leaving her son behind than she was in leaving Penelope. One by one, the brothers and cousins told Penelope farewell, Patrick lifting her off the ground and gently shaking her as he had always done. Penelope squealed and protested, as she had always done. It was enough to make everyone smile.

Bhrodi, who had been watching everything from a distance, finally came to stand beside Penelope as the English mounted their horses and the great gates of Rhydilian yawned open
to reveal the foggy landscape beyond. Penelope wept softly, hand over her mouth, as she watched the party trickle out of the gates. Her father was the last one to go, waving at her as he turned his charger for the gates. When Penelope tried to run after him, Bhrodi grasped her firmly.

“They will be back soon,” he assured her. “Or mayhap we will go and visit them. I have never been to the north of England before.”

Penelope wept as she watched her father ride off. She felt so very alone, so very sad. William rode straight and proud, his armor gleaming weakly in the mist as the sun struggled to break through it. As Penelope and Bhrodi watched, the mist swallowed him up and the great gates began to close. Penelope hung her head and sobbed.

Bhrodi watched her lowered head, feeling a good deal of sorrow for her
. She was very attached to her family, which was something he’d never known. It was an intriguing mystery to him, but one he hoped to know. He hoped that someday she would be as attached to him as she was to her parents. Finally, he reached out and gently took her hand.

“Let us go inside,” he murmured. “There is warm food waiting for us and Tacey should be awake. We will also go see to your brother and the English knight.
Come along,
caria
.”

Surprisingly, Penelope didn’t pull away from him as he began to lead her back towards the keep
. His big, warm hand gave her some comfort and she was coming to realize that he was her family now. This man she had only known for five days was now her family; it was an odd sensation but not an unpleasant one. It was simply… strange. Together, they headed towards the keep, shrouded in mist, and disappeared into the dark, warm innards.

Thinking that perhaps Penelope would want to see her brother and knight first, Bhrodi took her to the third floor of the keep where the master’s chamber and a secondary chamber, once belonging to Tacey, were situated
. When Lady Jordan moved Tacey up into the big, roomy chamber on the fourth floor, her former chamber had been transformed into a hospital ward.

When Penelope and Bhrodi entered the chamber, it was dark but for smoldering embers in the hearth giving on an orange glow
and it smelled heavily of clove, thought to ward off infection. Thomas was on a bed near the southern wall, lying flat on his back and snoring soundly, while Kevin was on a bigger bed that had been pulled closer to the hearth. As the most gravely injured, the physic wanted to make sure the big knight remained warm.

Penelope walked into the room while Bhrodi lingered near the door. She peered first at
Kevin, who was sleeping heavily, and then went over to her brother. Thomas was snoring so loudly she was confused as to how he could actually sleep through such a sound. She even poked him to see if he would awaken but he didn’t. Concerned, she went back to her husband.

“Why are they sleeping like the dead?” she whispered loudly
. “What did your surgeon do to them that they would sleep like this?”

Bhrodi looked at the two sleeping knights. “He must have given them a sleeping potion,” he murmured. “Sleep
will heal them. ‘Tis best to let them rest as much as they can.”

He had a point but Penelope checked on both men one more time before quitting the chamber
. Now that she knew the men were faring as well as could be expected, Bhrodi took her up to the top floor where Tacey now had a big and spacious chamber. He knocked softly on the door, only to have it opened by one of the serving women Lady Jordan had hired.

It was a very old women with no teeth and a nearly bald head that she kept covered with an old kerchief. When she saw the lord and his wife, she curtsied unsteadily and bustled from the room
. Bhrodi and Penelope could see Tacey over near the hearth, seated in a cushioned chair with a table of food spread out before her. When Tacey caught sight of her brother and Penelope, she struggled to her feet.

“Did they leave yet?” she asked.

Bhrodi entered the room, followed by Penelope. “They did indeed,” he said. “Lady Jordan bid you farewell last night, didn’t she?”

Tacey nodded, her attention drawn to Penelope. Over the past few days, the very timid and frightened young woman had come out of her shell somewhat. Now, she wasn’t nearly as nervous in the presence of others. She smiled hesitantly at Penelope
, daughter of the woman who had been more of a mother to her in the few short days that she had known her than her own had been in her entire life.

“Your mother gave me a muff made from fox fur,” she said, pointing to the muff as it lay by the pillow her bed. “I slept with it last night.”

Penelope couldn’t help but smile. “I am glad you like it so much,” she said. “My mother is fond of you.

“And I am fond of her,” she said quickly, looking to her brother. “When do you think they will come back to visit? Or can we go and visit them? I have never been to England.”

Bhrodi patted her shoulder. “We cannot go anywhere until your son is born,” he said, watching her face fall. “But perhaps we can go later in the year when the child is older. I am sure my wife would like to see her family soon.”

Penelope thought on her family, so recently departed, and tried not to become weepy again so she simply nodded her head
. Bhrodi, sensing her sadness, wasn’t particular adept at handling female emotion. He sought to change the subject, turning to his sister.