Serpent (50 page)

⌘

As the
full and silver moon began to rise in the sky, Edward and eleven hundred of his men were approximately three miles away from Rhydilian as the sun set. He could see the castle in the distance, silhouetted against the deep purple sky, and he knew that next morning at dawn would see the siege that would finally, once and for all, wrest control of Anglesey from de Shera. He could taste victory already.

It was the day after the raid upon his encampment as they made their way through the wooded vales of Anglesey
. Edward had never gotten this far on the island; the closest he had come was last December when a bridge had been built over the straits but Bhrodi and his vassals had been waiting for the English once they crossed. It had been a disaster he still wasn’t over and now, as his army kept a casual pace along the muddy road, he saw this as a redemption. Bhrodi may have won that first battle for Anglesey, but Edward intended to win the war.

Edward’s mind was also on other things; the fact that de Wolfe had pulled out during the night and had fled to
Rhydilian. He simply couldn’t believe that the man would betray him but, then again, de Wolfe had behaved very strangely as of late. He knew the man’s daughter was married to de Shera and he knew that was why William was so torn, but it really should have been no contest at all. Kingdom before blood. Once he caught up to William, he intended to pound that fact into the man’s head.

As Edward pondered de Wolfe and his bizarre behavior, he
began to hear his sentries taking up the call of alarm. Edward was riding somewhere back in the bulk of his army and once he heard the cries, he spurred his expensive Belgian charger forward through the lines. He ended up near the front of the column as one of his premier knights, a man who had traveled much with him and was solidly loyal, came to meet him.

Keir St. H
éver, an enormous knight with a powerful sword, flipped up his three-point visor, of the latest fashion.

“Your Grace,” he said in his deep voice. “
We have spotted a rider coming from the castle.”

Edward was mildly interested. “How soon will we intercept?”

St. Héver turned in the direction of the road, shrouded by the heavy canopy of trees. “Soon, Your Grace,” he said. “If it is your pleasure, I shall ride out to meet him.”

Edward shook his head. “Nay,” he replied evenly. “Let him come to us.”

“Very good, Your Grace,” St. Héver responded.

St. Héver
brought the column to a halt. He lifted his hand and gave the command to stop, and the order rippled back through the lines until everything came to a grinding halt. Most of the infantry was on foot but no one sought to rest; in the strange and mysterious land of Anglesey, the English soldiers were on their guard. As far as they were concerned, these were cursed lands.

The rider from the castle was swift, traveling with surprising speed through the dark trees. Even as the full moon rose, the ground beneath the heavy Welsh trees was very
dark and shadowed. St. Héver was at the front of the column, waiting and watching as the rider approached at a distance. As the man drew closer, St. Héver could see that it was a very big man dressed in armor. In fact, he looked English. He was therefore not surprised when William de Wolfe drew his charger up and lifted his visor.

“St. Hé
ver,” he greeted, for he knew the man. “I have a message from de Shera for the king. I must speak with him.”

St. H
éver merely nodded, turning his charger down the center of the column as William followed. Men and horses parted out of their way until they came to the king. The man was where St. Héver had left him, surrounded by his personal guard. William lifted a hand in greeting.

“Your Grace,” he said. “I come with a message from de Shera. I would deliver it privately.”

Edward’s gaze upon William was anything but understanding or kind. “What are you doing, de Wolfe?” he demanded. “You and your army left during the night and fled to Wales. I told you we were to assault Rhydilian together. You deserted me!”

William shook his head. “If deserted you, I would not be here at this moment, would I?” he asked a rather droll question. “I had a purpose, Your Grace. Will you hear me or will you let me spout your personal business so that every man
may hear it?”

Edward was bordering on furious. “You do not make demands of me,” he snarled. “I have already sent men to Castle Questing
. If you betray me, I will send orders for them to lay siege and confiscate it. I may also have your wife brought to London and throw her in the Tower to punish you for your bad behavior. Well? What do you think about that?”

William would not let himself get caught up in Edward’s anger. His expression didn’t change. “I will ask you again,” he said
steadily. “Do you want me to relay de Shera’s demands out here in the open for all to hear or will you grant me a private audience?”

Edward grunted in frustration and spurred his charger forward, knocking William aside as he proceeded to the front of the army
. William followed the man until he came to a halt several dozen feet down the road. They were alone here, shadowed by the trees and the creatures of the night. Above them, a night owl hooted somewhere. William directed his charger up next to the king.

“I understand your frustration,” he said to Edward, “but believe me when I tell you that I had to go. I wanted to give one last try to convince the man to su
bmit. I had to do it before you arrived at Rhydilian and he grew defensive by your mere presence. I knew if that happened, there would be no negotiations. I had to speak to him without your threat looming. Do you understand?”

Edward was still frustrated but he was coming to see William’s point. “Fine,” he grumbled. “So you
wanted to give it one last try before I swooped upon him and destroyed him. Well? What is his message?”

William voice was steady, calming. “De Shera has agreed that to hold out against you would be
futile,” he said. “He has authorized me to tell you that at dawn tomorrow, he will surrender Rhydilian to you.”

Like water to a flame, Edward’s frustration was instantly quenched. He had been so prepared for a verbal confrontation that to hear those words out of William’s mouth actually caused him to choke
. He coughed, harshly, choking on the words of argument and anger that had been preparing to spout forth. His eyes widened in surprise.

“Are you serious?” he demanded. “He will surrender to me on the morrow?”

William nodded. “Aye,” he said. “He asks that you camp here for the night and in the morning, Rhydilian will be yours.”

Edward was deeply pleased, feeling rather full of himself and his omnipotent power as king and conqueror. “That is
shocking news, de Wolfe,” he admitted. “Shocking but pleasing, I must say. But what about de Shera? I want him, too. The man is a rebel, you know. We cannot let him run free.”

William sighed heavily. “That is something you and I will discuss,” he said. “De Shera and my daughter are in love, which makes it very difficult for me to happily turn him over to you. It would make my daughter quite miserable. Would you be willing to let him return with me to Questing
to be put under my management? I can guarantee he would not take up arms against you.”

Edward was so happy about the fact that he would have Rhydilian on the morrow that he was willing to negotiate about de Shera’s fate. Suddenly, William was in good standing with him again as a faithful knight who had once served his father with equal faith
. All was well in the world once more.

“We will discuss it,” he said, but his tone hinted that he would not be happy with such a compromise. “You will sup with me tonight and on the morrow, we will ride to Rhydilian
together and claim it.”

William shook his head. “You will understand if I respectfully decline, Your Grace,” he said. “I would like to spend the evening with my daughter. She and I have much to discuss about her future. I am sure you understand.”

Edward did, but he wasn’t happy about it. “Always your daughter,” he muttered. “This whole thing happened because of her. What about me? Where is your love and respect for me?”

William grinned. “I have demonstrated it all of your life,” he said. Then, he pointed a big gloved hand off to the north. “There is a meadow up there bordering a marsh. The land is even and there is a lake bordering the marsh with fish in it. It should make for good eating
for tonight.”

Edward looked towards the north where the
man was pointing. All he could see was glistening grass bordered by groves of trees, all silver and shadowed beneath the full moon. He nodded shortly.

“Very well,” he said. “I will tell St. H
éver to settle the men there.”

William turned his steed for Rhydilian. “I will see you on the morrow
, then.”

“You will escort me to The Serpent’s door.”

William just looked at him. There was so much he wanted to say, as Edward’s words could not have been more ironic. After a moment, he simply nodded.

“I believe you are already there.”

As William rode off into the darkness, Edward gave little thought to the odd comment. Soon enough, his men were settling down in the meadow bordering the marsh, preparing a comfortable encampment beneath the brilliant silver moon.

⌘

“Is he camping in the marsh, Father?” Patrick asked as William rode in through the gates of Rhydilian. “Were you able to convince him?”

William dismounted his charger as his
biggest son made demands. “Aye,” he said. “He is camping in the marsh, in the same place that we camped when the beast attacked us.”

Ianto and Gwyllim
, having just come from the keep, joined the conversation. Ivor had never returned from the raid on Edward’s encampment and was presumed dead, so the remaining
teulu
commanders were more diligent than ever with Ivor gone and Bhrodi injured. They were working side by side with the English, trusting them, to ensure this night saved them all. They listened to William’s statement to Patrick with great interest as Kevin, Edward, Scott, and Troy also came to join their group.

T
he English knights had been on the wall, watching the exchange with Edward from a distance and they, too, had heard the last part of William’s sentence. It was what they had all been waiting for. Now the die was cast and there was just one more element left in order to put their plan in motion. With everyone crowded around William, de Wolfe focused on the
teulu
commanders.

“De Shera
told me that the beast comes out to feed on a full moon, just as there is a full moon tonight,” he said, “but he also said that he has a horn that brings the creature forth?”

Ianto nodded. “
The horn brings forth an angry beast,” he replied. “I have sent Yestin for it.”

William nodded firmly. “Excellent,” he said. “Will it work if we blow the horn from the battlements?”

Ianto shook his head. “It will only work if we blow it from the swamp,” he said. “The beast’s hearing is not very good on land. Gwyllim and I will go. We know how to get in and how to get out without being seen, and we will bring the beast of the marsh down upon your king. Those who do not die will flee. They will never want to come back here again.”

William sighed heavily, feeling excitement
and regret as well as exhaustion. Regret that he was about to sacrifice many fellow English, but there was no going back. This had to be done or everything would be lost.

“That is the hope,” he said. “It is
the hope that Edward will forget all about Anglesey and leave Rhydilian well enough alone if he knows a beast protects it. The man will be fortunate to escape with his life.”

The others agreed
. “Where do you want us, Uncle William?” Kevin asked, indicating himself as well as the de Wolfe sons. “Would you have us remain on the walls?”

William nodded. “I believe that would be the best place for you,” he said to them. “You will keep Edward’s army in your sight at all times. You will witness what happens. We will leave nothing to chance
. Patrick, you have command of the wall. All things will coordinate through you.”