Warriors of Ethandun (12 page)

It was strange to hear the Combrogi language again. Stranger still to see Rhonwen, the fierce Combrogi princess who had also been a sorceress. It was hard to see much sign of either role in the woman leaning over him. All trace of her beauty and her regal pride had gone.

‘Your body has got chilled through but your dog is giving the best medicine – body heat. I will get you a drink. You won't like it because it is strong-tasting and hot, but I am not trying to poison you – you can be sure of it. I am a herbalist, a healer here, and trusted to tend to the King himself.'

Given the King's evident poor health, Dan was not sure that was a recommendation, but he said nothing – not that he needed to: Rhonwen seemed to have a good idea of what he was thinking. She gave a wry smile. ‘The King would be sicker yet without my care.' She disappeared from view, though Dan could hear her humming to herself as she made his drink. There was still a kind of magic in her voice because he found himself drifting off to sleep at its sound, lulled by the melody. Hearing the Combrogi language spoken again made him miss Ursula all the more. He had achieved little since he'd arrived through the Veil, beyond his own survival. He was no nearer to finding her than he had been that first moment when
she'd launched herself into the Veil ahead of him.

Braveheart's restlessness alerted Dan to Rhonwen's return. He managed to sit up to accept the clay beaker of liquid.

‘Rhonwen, do you still have magic here?'

‘Drink this tonic and then I'll tell you.' For a strange and disturbing moment she reminded him of his long-dead mother. He did as he was told and held the steaming clay cup in both hands. The vapour cleared his head at once. The drink was strangely spicy, though not unpleasant compared with his last drink – lake water. He could feel the heat of it suffusing his whole body, starting at the neck and working downwards. Perhaps Rhonwen did still have magic, for he felt much better the moment he'd drunk her tonic.

‘The answer is complicated,' she said. ‘I can do little practical magic, though I am a good healer and often know what's wrong when others don't. I can see glimpses of the future – never comfortable and rarely helpful – and I can sense magic when it is used by others.' She looked at Dan very directly. ‘You know you are still the Bear Sark and that you still have other small magics which may yet surprise you?'

He shrugged. ‘Yes, I knew about the berserker thing. I'm hoping I can stay in control of it this time. I can also speak languages I never learned.'

Rhonwen nodded as if that came as no surprise. ‘Aelfred is a Christian king, Dan. You must keep such skills secret from him. For him everything comes from God or from demons and he will not believe a berserker
rage comes from God. This is a place where it is easy to make enemies. You know that he was betrayed – that his nephew has been elected to the throne and that a small core of former friends have sold out to the Danes? Aelfred is suspicious of everyone, with good cause: everyone who is now his friend may yet be his enemy. These are difficult times. Oh, nothing changes, Dan. Those we used to call the Aenglisc are as bad as the Combrogi for destroying themselves with dangerous allies.'

‘These people are the Aenglisc?'

‘Their descendants, mingled with old British blood, yes.'

‘Is that why you are with Aelfred?'

Rhonwen looked thoughtful. ‘I am with Aelfred because I think he is trying to do what Arturus tried to do, to keep civilisation alive in the face of chaos, and because the people who speak this Combrogi tongue had no ears for the wisdom I could offer them.' She pulled a face – something the younger Rhonwen never did. ‘When faced with chaos or order, I have learned the hard way that it is better to choose order. These Danes, the ones who came a-Viking, have sacked monasteries and killed good men and women – holy men and women, some of them people that I knew and cared for. They have magic too, I fear: the dark kind. I want nothing more to do with that.'

Rhonwen had sought magical power as ruthlessly as anyone, so Dan was surprised to hear her condemn it. She seemed to lose the thread of her thoughts then, as if distracted by her own memories, but then continued, ‘In this world I have chosen Aelfred, though these days my loyalty
will give him little more than good herbs to settle his stomach and wise words should he choose to heed them. He hasn't yet.' She stroked Braveheart's head and gave him a morsel of meat, letting him lick her fingers of the fat.

Dan thought for a moment. ‘If you can sense magic, you can sense Ursula. Where is she?'

Rhonwen looked serious. ‘Yes, I can sense Ursula. She will be taken to Cippenham. She is in very grave danger and for once she may not be able to help herself.'

The arrival of Aelfred prevented Dan from demanding more information of Rhonwen. Braveheart barked once, but had forgotten none of his training; when Dan held out his hand to quiet him he stopped immediately and watched Dan adoringly for any further signals. That was as it should be.

Aelfred had changed into a more regal costume. His tunic was of good cloth and held in place with elaborate gold brooches; he was wearing a short green cloak and carrying a sword. He'd lost none of his pallor, and his clothes, though brushed, were still a little grubby. He was accompanied by two guards, a couple of servants and a monk. One of the servants was carrying a small casket.

‘It would please me greatly if you would accept this gift of clothing and jewels. I am not yet in a position to be the gift-giver I would choose to be, but I trust you will accept these things from your King.' He turned to the monk. ‘You see, Asser? He has the countenance of an angel and not a devil, and if I am not mistaken, he speaks your native tongue.'

Aelfred beamed at Dan, who tried to reorganise his own features into something less stricken; all he could think about was Ursula. He did not have time for social niceties.

‘He has bewitched the war dog, Sire,' the monk said shortly in heavily accented Aenglisc.

‘Might he not have the gifts of a saint, Asser? Are you not perhaps a little too quick to judge a man whose behaviour has been exemplary?'

Fortunately for Dan, Aelfred appeared to have forgotten the slaughter of two of his men. Asser's expression was cold and Dan found that he could not blame him for it. Dan had no desire to serve Aelfred and he supposed it might have shown.

‘My Lord,' Dan began, ‘I am most grateful for the honour you do me, but it is my wyrd to seek out my comrade-in-arms and until that is done I can think of nothing else.' Dan found that he was clenching his fist in an effort to wring appropriately courtly language out of his mouth. He wanted to scream, ‘I've got to go!' but he had enough experience of kings to know that wouldn't work and could very well delay him – terminally.

‘Ah yes, the lost comrade.' Aelfred looked uncomfortable. ‘And does he fight with all your skill and passion?'

‘And more, Sire.' Dan had a sudden vision of Ursula leading the charge at the Battle of Baddon Hill.

‘You already have my word that I will aid you in finding this man in due course, but first I must have your oath and you must be baptised a Christian so I know that your oath will bind and that we are allies in Christ.'

Dan had known from the moment he had discovered Aelfred was King that this moment would come. He had given his oath to Macsen, pledged his sword to Arturus, now he must promise to serve yet another king. And this one seemed the least worthy – a sickly man who'd lost his kingdom and his way. Dan sighed inwardly. Of course, he had no choice.

‘You may have my oath, but I have already been baptised a Christian.' He'd seen the pictures: his mother with a curly perm and eighties make-up proudly clutching a pale blob in white satin knickerbockers; his father smiling a smile so wide it all but split his face in two. Asser the monk might have argued, but Aelfred silenced him with a gesture and Dan knelt before Aelfred and bowed his head. He laid his hand on the cross of inlaid gold that formed the hilt of Aelfred's sword and acknowledged Aelfred as his King. He promised that his sword and life would be at Aelfred's service. The words made him shiver; he knew all too well that with this promise given he was bound to Aelfred by all the laws of this world, and even were he to find Ursula, they could not easily leave. He wished that he had never used Taliesin's crystal ball. He did not like where this was going.

Asser's rich, dramatic voice broke through his reverie; he was explaining what would happen if Dan broke his oath. ‘If an oath-breaker be slain, let him lie uncompensated …' he began. It was clear that a long list of penalties for oath-breaking would follow, but Aelfred seemed to sympathise with Dan's evident impatience and halted the monk before he got into his stride.

‘You understand what this oath means?' he asked gently.

Dan nodded. ‘And what of my companion?' He tried not to sound too demanding, but Rhonwen's words had convinced him that he had no time to lose.

‘There is much to do to regain my kingdom and I have need of a man with your skills … I intend to visit Cippenham to see for myself the forces of my enemy and I would have you as my companion and guard. Once that is done, then perhaps it might be possible to find your companion.'

Dan opened his mouth to protest and then closed it again. After all, Rhonwen had just said that Ursula was on her way to Cippenham. In serving the King's ends, he served his own. He ought to have known that once oath-bound to Aelfred his own needs would take second place.

Aelfred did not expect to hear any objections and Dan offered none. The King was already turning to go: ‘We shall leave at once. I will explain the detail of my plan as we go. For now I will allow you to prepare for your journey.'

He nodded to one servant, who handed Dan a pile of clothes, and to the other, who gave Dan his sword belt and his precious sword. Dan took the latter a little too eagerly. Aelfred opened the casket and presented Dan with a pair of beautiful gold saucer-shaped brooches to secure his cloak.

‘I will offer you better when my kingdom is restored. Then all shall be done well and in good order and my court will be a centre for fine craftsmanship, for all that is beautiful and made to the glory of God. One day our
court will rival that of Charles the Bald and the glories of Rome; for now we shall make do.' He swept out, followed by the sour-looking monk, Asser, who snarled something under his breath and crossed himself as the hem of his long monk's robe touched Rhonwen.

‘I would have you speak to the lady with more respect,' Dan said in the language of the Combrogi. He instinctively disliked the way Asser treated his former enemy.

‘She is a pagan witch!' Asser responded fiercely. For some reason that angered Dan and he found his hand straying to his sword. Rhonwen's loose-fleshed hand was on his in a moment.

‘Asser fears me because I am a woman and still beautiful. There is no need to worry.' She smiled and for an instant she was the beautiful dark-haired Princess he had first met. He blinked and she was a crone again.

Asser gasped and crossed himself once more. ‘You shame the land of your birth with your sorcery,' he said and rushed from the room.

Rhonwen smiled. ‘I should not tease him. He is a good enough man who will be important to Aelfred. But he is ill-suited to his monk's robes and, like Aelfred, has an eye for the ladies.'

Dan privately thought that quite unlikely.

‘Tell me more about Ursula,' he said as he pulled on the warm, woven-wool clothes that Aelfred had gifted to him. They smelled a bit musty and damp and there was a memory of old sweat in the seams, but Dan was not in a position to be fussy about second-hand clothes and they were all in good condition and of fine cloth. He was
particularly grateful for the boots, which were only slightly too small. He wrapped the short cloak round him and Rhonwen helped him to secure the brooches. ‘You are sure that I will find Ursula at Cippenham?'

Rhonwen nodded. ‘You are fortunate that your road is also the King's, but it is no coincidence. Aelfred's enemies have her and have taken her to their centre of power.'

‘I don't understand. If Ursula has magic and all her strength, how could she not help herself? She can't be held against her will in captivity?' He tried to imagine Ursula, warrior and sorceress, held against her will, and struggled to picture it. She was too strong.

‘Ursula is captive to the magic; she is in thrall to it,' Rhonwen said gravely. She reached out for Dan's hand and held it tightly. ‘You must be prepared to face the worst. I don't know how much longer she can survive; the power that burns in her is overwhelming. I have never felt so much power. No one person could control it and, strong though she is, it is controlling her.'

Dan nodded, sickened. He could not lose Ursula. ‘What do I have to do to save her?'

Rhonwen looked stricken. ‘In truth I do not know. I have been trying to think of a way, but all I know is that you must save her. It is not just that she will die; I fear that if you cannot save her from the magic, Aelfred's kingdom will never be regained.'

Dan knew then that she had seen some vision of the future and he felt himself turn cold. ‘Rhonwen, tell me. What have you seen?'

She shook her head. ‘Fragments, frustrating fragments.
This country needs Aelfred as much as it needed Arturus. Somehow he must regain his kingdom. Ursula could stop him.'

‘Will she fight with his enemies?'

Rhonwen shrugged. ‘Her power may be used by his enemies but I don't know how. It is only one possible future. There are others where she dies.'

Dan licked his lips, which had suddenly gone dry. He refused to accept that those were the only options. ‘Have you seen a future where I save her?'

Rhonwen shook her head. ‘Not yet, but my talent is weak and unreliable. Either way I do not think you've got long and it's a good ride away. It took us four days to get here from Cippenham – those of us who got away. It is a sizeable place and the Danes will have it well defended. It is as good a base as any from which to control Wessex.'