The Aebeling (6 page)

Not only did it serve as church, the forest of Halani was also what sustained the Twacuman. They practised a kind of ‘milpa’ farming, planting maize, beans, and squash in sections of the forest that had been slashed and burnt. It provided most of their needs; what it didn’t was harvested from other sections of the forest – fields of rye grew in the mountains, a brown rice grew at the edges of the vast lake, and a vast array of fruit and other foods was harvested from the forest itself. The lake supplied fish and eels, the forest also provided venison and pork, while their herds provided fowl and chevron. The goats, however, were herded primarily as a source of milk for cheese and for skins for leather making, and only the culls were eaten or tanned.

Craft work in the villages was very skilled and highly valued – their abilities at tanning had already been praised by Abrekan. Unlike other wiga, Conn chose to spend spent every available moment working with the craeftiga in the village, and without being overt, he was able to introduce some small level of technological advancement to every single craft. Conn helped the blacksmith invent a water powered bellows, and with that they manufactured the first steel bodkin arrowhead. With the woodworkers he built a new kind of boat – one that had sails – for all weather fishing!

The blacksmiths worked with not only the usual tin, copper, gold and silver, but also iron ore. When he asked about the source, he was taken to the numerous mine sites that littered the valley. Halani was surrounded by what looked like extinct volcanos in the distant hills; confirmed by the slight tremors he had felt since his arrival and the presence of hot springs on the hill side.

The historic volcanic action had surely created the extensive deposits of minerals. Derryth told him that the mines were old Ancuman mines; some of which even gold mines; but these seemed depleted.

‘How old are they?

‘Over five hundred years ago.’

‘You don’t mine for gold?’

He shook his head. ‘We have no real interest in gold – we don’t need to buy things. That is a Priecuman preoccupation.’

‘Along with warfare – and fornication.’ Elva added, smiling a mischievous smile.

Ignoring Elva, who was more than happy to help him sate his werhad nightly, Conn pointed to the mountain behind them.

‘Is that Lykia on the other side?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do they mine?’

‘Nowhere near us.’

‘So there must be minerals on that side as well.’

‘One can only assume.’

Despite his monopoly on the sale of leather from Halani, Abrekan was in fact a very small trader who barely made enough to support his family. Conn spent considerable time talking to him and his sons about the activities of merchants in Taransay. Discussions would always end with Abrekan bemoaning that he would like to but…

Like Taransay, the Priecuman used coins as the medium of exchange –and Conn had Abrekan show him the coins they used. Abrekan opened his purse and retrieved three coins. He handed over a coin, it was small and gold.

‘That is one of our gold Ryals; and it has a value of twenty silver Ryals.’ He handed over a larger, silver, coin. ‘One silver Ryal will get you thirty bronze Ryals.’ He handed over the last coin; mid-sized and brown.

‘So, one gold Ryal is the same as six hundred copper Ryals?’

‘Correct; oh, when we speak of Ryals, we always mean the bronze variety. As for value, a skilled wiga such as you could earn ten thousand Ryals for a year as a Folctoga, while three thousand Ryals will buy you a warhorse – though I could sell any one of your stallions for five times that amount. Should you wish to become a Thane…’

‘A Thane?’

‘One step down from an Eaorl – he is master of a domain of more than twenty thousand acres and over five hundred vassals. If you have four hundred thousand Ryals, you might find a nice domain, and another two hundred thousand Ryals will get you the daughter of an Eaorl as your first bedda – the daughter of a Thane much less of course. An Eaorl’s daughter would be something you might need to create your place in Priecuman society.’

‘Tell me what you think this is worth.’ Conn fished out a single coin from his pouch. Hand cast and pressed, it was a replica of a gold medieval Dinar, and contained eight grams of almost pure gold.

Abrekan was silent as he inspected the coin; he then retrieved a small weighing scale from his bag, and he used it to compare it with his own gold coin. Two were almost identical in weight. He handed it back to Conn.

‘That is a coin of excellent quality. I see no reason why you would not get twelve hundred Ryals for it. Can I ask how many you have?’

‘Over five thousand.’ Which was a little off the truth; he had in fact over six thousand in coins or gold bars. It was the equivalent of more than seven million Ryals – certainly enough to get him by.

Conn could see Abrekan inhale sharply. ‘That is an enormous sum – what do you intend to do with it?’

‘I do not know yet – I’m sure that opportunities will present themselves.’

Conn was fascinated with the monetary term – the Ryal – another medieval but rarely used English monetary term. He asked Abrekan if he knew where the name came from.

He shook his head. ‘It has always been so – since the Casere arrived in Meshech, we have had the same rate and name for our coins.’

By the end of winter, Conn was fully established into a comfortable routine within the daily activities of Halani. So despite feeling strangely content, he couldn’t help the general feeling of anticipation and anxiety that began to creep into his subconscious. He felt he was here for a reason; and though he hadn’t worked out what it was yet, he didn’t think it was this – that was far too simple.

He doubted that it was to be freezing to death either, but he sat shivering on his horse on the top of a mountain with Elva and Derryth. It was just before dawn and they had been there since first light waiting for the sun to rise. Derryth had insisted they come; he had something to show Conn. Conn’s stallion snorted; the steam rising from his nostrils. Conn shivered again in sympathy. Despite it being spring, the wind was still very cold.

‘Even my horse thinks it is too cold to be out here. What are we waiting for again?’

‘The reborn sun; there are several places in Halani that have been marked as arrival points for the new season. This is one of them and as it is the most inaccessible, that is the reason why we have it to ourselves. The sun should shine through the gap in the mountains there’, he pointed, ‘and a ray of light should touch the wall behind us. It only happens once a year – at the beginning of the new cycle – and it tells us what the year will bring.’ The wall behind them was solid stone, and a huge pattern had been carved into the surface. The bull’s eye was obviously the spot to hit for new cycle.

Conn had already participated in their ceremony to celebrate the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. According to Conn’s understanding of the Meshechian calendar, today would be the equinox.

All of Meshech divided their year into two halves of six months, with each month containing three weeks of ten days. The last month of each half had extra days until the solstice. It seemed a reasonable system. Conn recalled that the Egyptians had something similar. These extra days were festival days – and they had spent the last three days celebrating the end of the ‘death’ cycle, as ‘life’ would start soon – probably today. Their year started with the spring equinox.

Abrekan told him it was introduced a thousand years ago by the Casere. It increasingly seemed to Conn that the Casere was a very insightful person.

They waited and within moments the shine from the sun started creeping over the mountains. They glued their eyes to the gap in the mountains and like a bolt of lightning a single beam raced past them and hit the slab of rock behind them. It hit the bull’s eye.

‘There.’ Derryth was proud. ‘It is today. Another ‘life’ begins and...’

Derryth stopped suddenly, and they all silently watched the beam light up the wall and then just as suddenly flicker out as the sun moved on. However, instead of a golden beam it was almost red.

‘Well, that is interesting – but then I guess I already knew that. The red indicates a new beginning – not just a new cycle.’

‘You seem to know a lot about it’ Conn noted.

Elva nodded. ‘Did you not know that Derryth’s father is the Wothbora; but his vision didn’t steer him that way – instead he became a wiga.’

‘All of my ancestors have been Wothbora,’ Derryth added, ‘and I am only the second not to follow the path of my father. My father was not disappointed – his apprentice is my younger brother. It is not often that we have more than one child – but my father’s path chose him to have two sons.’

‘But you still have the Wothbora’s skills?’ It was a strange question but it had suddenly occurred to Conn as he watched the ray of light traverse the wall of the cave.

Derryth smiled wryly. ‘I am not initiated, so although I think I can hear the Gyden speak – just like my father – they do not speak directly to me – and I have no right to hear their voice.’ Derryth moved on. ‘Okay; time for breakfast. I’d say first one down the mountain gets a double serve – but I’m sick of losing. That horse of yours is an unfair advantage.’

With that he wielded his pony and gently led the group down to the village; where Conn later returned to work with his increasingly large herd of horses. He had decided to give the pinto mare to Caewyn, and she was so delighted that, despite her not being a true Elfina, she insisted on giving Conn fifty mares in return. The pinto had a foal – a colt – and Caewyn was determined to breed more Elfina. In Halani society, every gift had to be reciprocated; and Caewyn deemed that the pair was worth fifty of her horses. Consequently, he had a horse breeding program underway with his three stallions – his sixty as well as another fifty that Caewyn wanted bred to his Anglo-Arab stallion. She had big plans for a small girl; and whatever she wanted, everyone did for her.

Derryth found him in with his horses.

‘Brina wants to see you.’

‘Now? That’s unusual – it’s mid-morning. Is something the matter?’

‘Not that I know. She asked to see Abrekan as well.’

They collected Abrekan and returned to Brina’s longhouse. Inside the now smoke free room because of the new fireplaces that Conn had painstakingly constructed – it needed three – Brina was waiting with her Elders, as well as Caewyn and Elva. She directed them to sit down and offered them a drink.

‘Thank you for coming, Conn il Taransay.’ Brina started rather informally which also surprised Conn. ‘Over these weeks, we have spoken often about the history of our people.’

Conn nodded; it had been a regular discussion.

‘Well, there are some things that we have not explained as well as we could.’

That didn’t surprise Conn. He could tell that information was missing. What he knew already was that there were three tribes of man – the Ancuman, the Priecuman and the Twacuman, and at some time in the past they lived on different lands – a long way from here, but that volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunami – as well as rising ocean levels – had caused them to flee those lands in search of new homes. There had been four such events – which they called the Great Darkening. The last one was only four hundred years ago. Those events often brought them into conflict with each other as they found themselves on the same lands. Warfare was more common between the Priecuman and the Ancuman; the Ancuman had a society that depended on owning slaves, and whilst the Twacuman were ambivalent at being theow, the Priecuman had a particular aversion – hence the ongoing conflicts. Conn knew that the Twacuman did not engage in warfare except when absolutely necessary – surrendering was sometimes the best way to protect their people.

Brina continued. ‘There is a part of the history of Meshech that we need to explain in more detail. You know of the first Casere?’

‘Osstan, yes; I have been told he came here over six hundred years ago, with several thousand, and it his was his descendant Sherric who finally drove the Ancuman from Meshech.’

She nodded. ‘Indeed. But long before the Priecuman arrived, Meshech was home to just the Twacuman, but then the Ancuman arrived, enslaved us and took our homes. We didn’t tell you that it some of our ancestors – Kolmarr – who went in search of the Priecuman and brought them here.’

‘No, you didn’t. Where did he find them?’

‘That we do not know – that knowledge was lost in the wars that followed, and the Great Darkness that followed the wars. Our history is oral; passed down from Wothbora to Wothbora. Sometimes they didn’t live long enough to pass down everything.’

‘Do you know why he went? It seems a strange thing for one of the clan to do – to endanger everyone else. Surely Kolmarr was missed?’

‘No – Kolmarr was a fisherman, and he made it seem that his boat was lost in a storm. He was not missed – instead he was able to cross the ocean in search of the Priecuman. The success of his story is told to all our children.’

‘How did he find them? Abrekan tells me that there are no visitors from other lands here since the Ancuman were expelled.’

‘It is said that Kolmarr found a holtwudu, and inside he found the knowledge to find the Priecuman. It is also said that he met a Gyden who told him what to ask the feldelfen. If you don’t have the right questions, you will never find the right answers.’

Conn nodded – he needed a Gyden to help him ask the right questions sometimes. It made a little more sense to him now. ‘I don’t understand why this is so important now?’

‘We also didn’t tell you that when the Priecuman arrived, they brought one of our kin with them.’ She paused. ‘Her name was Finnaelfa, and she was Osstan’s Scylcen. After he died, however, she became bedda to Kolmarr, then Aebeling of Halani, and they had a daughter who later became Scylcen to Sherric. But it is their daughter who is most of interest to us.’

‘Their daughter?’

‘Yes; her name was Ingeulfur, and she was half Twacuman and half Priecuman.’

‘Oh.’ Conn paused. ‘But I thought that Twacuman do not get pregnant to Ancuman or Priecuman?’ In all their ‘fornications’, Elva had been unconcerned about getting pregnant due to that reality.