The Dark Age (53 page)

‘Maelgwn, this be exactly why I failed to tell thee. Would thee rather I had died, perhaps?' The events of the past few days piled on top of her and within a second Tory was in tears.

‘Nay, of course not.' He took hold of her and squeezed her. ‘I would prefer thee had confided in me,' he explained in a softer tone. ‘I know I give thee just cause to doubt me at times.'

‘Nay, Maelgwn, I never doubted thee.'

‘Well, whatever the case may have been, from now on, no more secrets, agreed?'

‘Aye.' Tory's crying subsided and she wiped the tears from her face. ‘So art thou going to tell me all about thy debauched activities after thee fled thy father's kingdom for Cornwall?'

Maelgwn didn't seem too keen. ‘Thou dost not want to know about that.'

‘Aye, I do, I want to know everything about thee,' she mimicked him, but Maelgwn was conveniently distracted.

He appeared concerned as he watched something going on beyond Tory in the distance.

‘What be wrong?'

‘Dost thou think we should tell Naomi that this be Brockwell, not Brian, before he rapes her?'

Tory looked at the pair and laughed. ‘Indeed, Brian won't be at all amused.'

 

Teo woke the next day remembering little of his life since Brian had left Australia, over two years ago. He didn't even know how he'd managed to get to Britain. Brian and Miles had also regained control of themselves by morning. So Brian was there to greet Teo and apologise to him for accusing him; he'd never imagined it would cause such grief.

Teo was so stoked to see both Brian and Tory that he could bear them no ill will. He wanted to hear all about what had transpired while he'd been out of it, so everyone kept him entertained for the rest of that day with their many tales of the weird and wonderful.

Miles still kept a close eye on Teo, but this was not necessary. Teo was his own person again, his beaming expression was evidence of this. As expected, he was a little sad to hear of Tory's marriage. However, he accepted it was his own fault, as he should never have let her go in the first place.

Tory decided to stay with her family for a few more days, as with the chariot she could cheat time a bit. Now that her secret was out in the open, her kin had faith that she would return to them and were not as reluctant to let her go.

 

The entire clan made the trip to Dinas Emrys, and even Aunt Rose managed the hike to the cave. They were not met by a beast or bells this time, for Myrddin knew his way through the mists well enough. He stopped to speak with particular trees along the way. Tory had half expected that her father would accompany her back to the Dark Age, considering Taliesin's prophecy.

‘Oh good heavens, no,' he exclaimed as they entered the cave. ‘Although I would dearly love to see my old friend, I have much to do before that time. Our reunion will come in due course and, dear daughter, I do believe you'll be there to witness it,' he announced with a wink of encouragement.

Tory hugged everyone in turn, her father, Aunt Rose, Naomi and Teo, who she thought was not going to let her go at all.

‘I have just got you back and now you're leaving me again.'

‘
I am coming back
,' she repeated for the fiftieth time.

Brian encouraged his friend to let go, applying a little pressure in the right place, and then took hold of Tory himself. ‘Make the world a better place,' he whispered, a lump forming in his throat.

‘I'll be back before you know it and we'll work on it together,' she resolved, refusing to get upset.

Brian nodded then took a step back so that Miles might have a moment.

Miles didn't say anything, he just threw his arms out wide in his own endearing fashion and Tory melted into them.

‘Words cannot express, Professor, so I will not even try,' she sniffled, releasing him and stepping away. ‘I'll be back.' She turned and stepped into the chariot, not sure what to expect. ‘Now, how do I drive this thing?'

‘As you are familiar with where you are going, just the thought of your destination should be enough,' Myrddin instructed. ‘Send Taliesin my highest regards. Tell him all goes splendidly, and to take good care of my treasure until next we meet.'

‘I shall.' Tory had one last look at them all. She released a deep sigh as she closed her eyes and her thoughts turned to Maelgwn and Rhun, to the masters and the stones. She concentrated harder, believing nothing had happened, when the cheers of a familiar crowd reached her ears, and Tory opened her eyes to find that she had at last made it home.

Maelgwn lifted her out of the chariot and, after a long kiss, set her down on the ground.

‘Sorry to have kept thee all waiting around like this, the twentieth century be hell!'

From the garbled sound of thirteen excited people all talking at her at once came a ‘Here, here!' from Brockwell. ‘Although the women art mighty fine.'

Katren kicked Brockwell for his observation, as she had her arms full with Rhun.

‘But not as fine as here, of course,' he quickly appeased his wife.

Katren handed Tory her child. ‘He be sovereign, Tory, in every sense of the word.'

‘I know.' Tory smiled, pleased to see her dear friend. ‘He takes after his father.' Tory turned to her husband, but the fond exchange was disturbed by Taliesin's incessant chuckling.

‘Alright, old man?' Maelgwn asked. ‘Doth thou wish to share thy amusement with the rest of us?'

Taliesin, who was so hysterical and exhausted that he could barely move, had somehow managed to drag his near useless carcass into the chariot. ‘I shall see thee all back at Aberffraw.' He contained his amusement as he closed his eyes to concentrate. ‘In a couple of thousand years.' He burst into laughter once more and vanished without a trace.

‘I told thee he would be pleased,' Maelgwn said.

‘Come Majesty, tell us everything,' Ione urged her, the others echoing the request. ‘We have several hours till sunrise.'

 

Come first light, they broke camp. Although sorry to part, the masters were all eager to get home to their own estates, kingdoms and kin.

‘See thee all in Arwystli on Lughnasa,' Vortipor declared, as he and Cara took their leave to the southwest, towards Dyfed.

‘Indeed,' Brockwell confirmed, then turned to Maelgwn. ‘Art thou quite sure we cannot tempt thee all to a feast tonight?'

‘Any night but tonight, friend.' Maelgwn helped Tory up onto his horse. Rhun was nestled in his pouch, fast asleep for the moment.

‘Lughnasa, then,' Brockwell said with a wave, and rode off towards Powys in the west with Katren close behind.

‘Ready to go home?' Maelgwn asked.

‘Yesterday.' Tory beamed, still unable to believe they were really going home.

So the King led the rest of their band once around the stones, then away to the north-west towards the sweet fairy lands of Gwynedd.

 

Within moments of Tory vanishing, the spirits of everyone in the cave waned considerably.

‘Oh, come on,' Myrddin encouraged them all. ‘It's not the end of the world.'

‘Yeah, but it's the end of living in Tory's world,' Brian grumbled as he left the room of treasures to trudge back down the stone entrance hall from the chamber. Teo and Miles followed him out, not much happier about the state of affairs.

‘Oh ye of little faith.' The Merlin rolled his eyes, as he and Rose fell in behind Naomi.

Both Brian and Miles had their eyes to the ground as they passed through the rock face into the bright daylight.

‘No way!' Teo exclaimed, thumping the other two in the shoulder, and they looked up to discover a woman who, judging from her appearance, they could only assume was a goddess.

She was of sturdy build and wore a large sword on her hip. Her attire had a distinctly tribal feel, though it was of pure white. Her long, golden hair fell in thousands of tiny braids, weighted at the ends with ornate silver beads. There was a band of gold around her crown and her waist, and she wore matching silver bands around her upper arms.

‘Did you miss me?'

The author gratefully acknowledges the use of the following quotations.

 

The extract from
The Primary Chief Bard
in Part One, page 114 and the
The Chair of Ceridwen
in Part Two, at the top of page 308, are both taken from
Taliesin: Shamanism and the Bardic Mysteries in Britain and Ireland
by John Matthews and are reproduced with the kind permission of The Aquarian Press, HarperCollins
Publishers
, London.

The extract from
Artorius
by John Heath-Stubbs in Part One, page 115 and the extract from
The Chair of Taliesin
in Part Two, page 239, are both taken from
Practical Celtic Magic
by Murry Hope and are reproduced with the kind permission of The Aquarian Press, HarperCollins
Publishers
, London.

What is a storyteller without the captive imagination of an audience? I would, therefore, like to thank all the girls and boys who have been following this adventure since its conception, especially Karen and Lisa, whose enthusiasm encouraged me, chapter by chapter, to finish this work.

I praise the universe for the unconditional love and faith of my husband, David. His creative genius, and many a late night in front of the computer, produced the fabulous cover artwork for this book. This could not have been closer to what I'd envisaged if he'd taken the picture straight out of my head; the ability to read my mind is only one of the many reasons I married him.

My gratitude also goes to my father, Terry Ludgate, for his creative stimuli and ongoing support.

I am deeply indebted to my three fairy godmothers, for weaving their magic to make this book a reality. The first being my earthly mother, Toni Ludgate, for her neverending belief in me. Lynny Rainbow, for helping me to find the right connections. And Selwa Anthony, my agent, a godsend, not only to me, but to the entire Australian literary world.

Most of all I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my editor, Susan Moran, to whom I dedicate this work. She took a thousand-page nightmare from me — a dyslexic with no spelling sense — and turned it into a beautiful read of which I am most proud. I could not have written this without her.