Divine Sacrifice, The (29 page)

Llynfann, my little thief! Bound hand and foot.

M
aster Malgwyn!”

One of the Scotti hustled over and cut the cords binding my little friend’s legs and then hauled him to his feet.

I looked him over as well as I could in the moonlight. He was muddy and obviously exhausted, but I saw little sign of ill treatment, save some bruises and a trickle of blood flowing from a cut
lip.

“What happened to you? What is all of—”

But Llynfann clumsily bowed and knelt. With head dropped he spoke as clearly as he could. “Treat me as a recalcitrant servant. Show no tenderness. I am alive only because I convinced them
that I am your
servus.
”

Before the words were hardly out of his mouth, I slapped him with my one good hand, hard, knocking him to the ground. The Scotti laughed at Llynfann as he struggled upright, giving me a quick
wink.

“They know not our language or Latin. We can speak safely as long as we act as master and
servi
. I stayed alive by telling them that I was
servi
to a great wizard, one
who had lost an arm to a mighty dragon. And that to kill me would bring your wrath down upon them.”

“And they believed you?”

“Not completely,” he admitted. “They caught me watching them as they unloaded goods at Bannaventa for Lauhiir’s men. These Scotti are not smart. They did not understand
why I was watching them. Lauhiir’s men had already left before they found me.

“I made up the story about you, and they were confused and superstitious enough to hold me. The leader, a dim-witted man himself, sent me with these two to ‘the gathering’ to
be dealt with.”

“The gathering? What could that be?”

“I know not. But I know that the delivery I saw was of spears and shields and enough dried meat and fish to feed an army.”

I nodded, making certain to scowl as well. “I saw a band of three hundred making shore at Bannaventa. They are even now at the edge of the levels, skirting the base of the
meneds,
heading south by southeast.” A thought struck me. “Did the guards at the Mount of Frogs not see these goods changing hands? You must have been right beneath them.” From the Mount
of Frogs, you could see up and down the coast easily.

Llynfann turned his head from me. “I watched as Lauhiir’s men bribed them with coins.”

I laughed to myself. Such was exactly what I would expect. “Llynfann, my little friend, the coins are forgeries, fakes, made by Lauhiir. And that swine’s men killed three of
Arthur’s men to hide it.”

The little thief’s head snapped up with alarm. He knew immediately what that meant for the lord of the Tor. I heard our captors getting restless and mumbling something in their foul
language.

“They are talking about killing us or taking us with them. The one who attacked you is frightened. He is afraid that he has mortally offended you and that you will strike him dead. The
other is less certain and believes that they have wasted enough time. He also thinks that you look more like a drunk than a wizard.” He paused as the jabbering grew louder. Finally, he
visibly relaxed. “They have decided that to kill us would be tempting the gods, and they still do not understand why I was watching them.”

“So we are to be taken to this ‘gathering’?”

“Aye.” Llynfann glanced quickly about. “You could try to rush them, but unless you can get my hands untied and we could both attack them, they would have done for us both in a
flash.”

He was right. They had all the weapons, plus four arms to our three. I cursed my missing limb, but I did not feel the anger I normally would. Where would I go if they released us? To warn Arthur
of course. At least this way, I was assured of safe passage to their destination. We might not find escape when we got there, but at least we would have some idea of what these remarkable events
meant, more information for Arthur. Although I was beginning to get an idea, and it frightened me.

Our path was circuitous and treacherous. The Scotti had left my arm free, and that helped me stay on my feet as they set a torrid pace. Our trail led us along the
meneds
. An hour later and we were drawing close to a place I knew in passing and had heard of many times. The “river of sorrows” flowed through caves there, below a steep
cliff. My father told me that the caves were haunted by the shades of Roman soldiers, murdered there by Druid priests in the old days. Druids had no love for Romans. Smugglers were said to hide
their treasure there, and a witch, legend had it, cursed all who entered.

When I was at the abbey, healing from my wounds, the
monachi
encouraged me to take long rides. They claimed that healing the mind had much to do with healing the body. On many of those
rides, I had passed the cave’s entrance a few times, tucked though it was at the head of a small hollow, but the stories were enough to hold me at bay. Besides, I was not fond of dark, damp
places when the open sky was available.

The closer we drew, the more Scotti we saw, and, to my amazement, soldiers wearing the tunics of Teilo and Dochu, a pair of lesser lords from across the channel near unto Caermarthen. Neither
had the prestige or territory to merit a seat on the
consilium.
But more amazing yet were the soldiers of Lord David, manning guard posts as we descended the cliffs over the cave. The
entire area was lit by torches, and I wondered at the brazenness of their actions. Then my memory of this hollow in the daylight blossomed. The hills surrounding were close; it was a very secluded
place. What the hills did not block, the trees would. The torches could not be seen unless you were almost on top of the entrance.

A campfire was set next to the river flowing out of the cave. I thought for a moment that our guards were going to take us to the large group of soldiers gathered around the fire, but they
directed us instead toward a smaller opening in the rock face of the cliff.

Once inside we were shoved into a side chamber, carved out of the rock. The two Scotti disappeared and were replaced by two of Lord David’s men. Llynfann smiled at me. “A better
class of guard, Malgwyn.” They left my arm free and I felt the damp walls with my hand. I could not think of a more secure prison. One exit and solid rock all around.

“Calm yourself, Malgwyn,” Llynfann exhorted me. “We are yet breathing, and so long as we still breathe, there is hope. I have escaped stronger jails than this.”

I chuckled at his bragging. Part of me wanted to tell him that he was young and hope was a gift of the young. But it took only a single glance at my companion—the lines already growing on
his face, the hint of gray in his beard, and most especially the tired glint in his eye—to know that the little thief had lived ten men’s lives already.

“I would that neither of us be in this mess, Llynfann. But that we are still alive is cause for wonderment. I do not doubt that your stories of wizards would fool the Scotti. They are
pagans and unsophisticated. But our lords will not be so easily confounded. Aye, David knows me by sight, all too well. If he is here, as I am sure he is, we are doomed.”

“None of that! We are not dead and do not pretend that we are!”

I saw no use in arguing with him. He was one of those beings fated to always take the most positive view. I was too practical for that. I saw little chance of ever alerting Arthur to this
threat, but I stayed awake the rest of the night, while Llynfann slept the sleep of the trusting. Though I could hardly believe it, the cave did not grow colder, not really, but it stayed just as
damp. With nothing else to do, I applied my brain and observed.

I looked out the rock-carved door to our prison, and at an angle I could see the cluster of men around the main campfire. They seemed to pace aimlessly back and forth, except for one small group
who were arguing, it seemed, arms waving and gesticulating wildly.

At odd intervals, messengers galloped up, the horses sliding in the mud as their riders hopped down. Without exception, each of these arrivals caused yet more argument. The more I watched, the
more I understood what was transpiring.

It took no great genius to see that Teilo, Dochu, and David were allying with the Scotti. That Lauhiir’s men had bribed Arthur’s troops at the Mount of Frogs was proof to me that he
was involved in this rebellion as well.

David, Teilo, Dochu, and Lauhiir. Together they could not field an army capable of moving against Arthur, but throw the Scotti into the mix and make it a quick strike to kidnap or kill Arthur at
Ynys-witrin? That was more than possible. That was nearly a certainty. By the time that Kay, Gawain, Gaheris, and the other lords could react, David would have staked his claim as Rigotamos. If
nothing else, he could establish a northern confederacy operating outside the
consilium’
s control.

That was the very thing that Arthur was trying so hard to prevent. If we were divided, the Saxons could slice through us like a sharp dagger through pig. But all David and his friends dreamed of
was their own power, their own purses, their own greed. Already these lords held too much power in their incapable hands. None of them could see beyond their own noses. True Britons understood the
need for solidarity; even poor misguided Vortigern had understood this before he became besotted with the Saxons.

But what was causing the consternation at the campfire? I saw nothing of the Scotti leader I had watched at Bannaventa. Something was not working with their plans and the flow of riders was not
bringing the information they needed. For with each rider, their frustration was more and more obvious.

Then, with a start, I recognized the two Scotti who had captured us, being pushed into the circle of light. They were but foot soldiers and deserved little respect, or so thought our lords, I
suspected.

One Scotti, the one that had wanted to kill us, I thought, was on his knees, begging, it seemed. At one juncture he pointed toward us. A tall, imposing figure, still merely silhouetted against
the campfire, yelled out. Two figures rushed in our direction. As they drew closer, I saw that they wore the tunic of David.

I had never seen David’s two soldiers before. They had not been with his escort at Arthur’s castle for the election. One, a tall man with his hair braided, ordered the guard at the
door away. The other, shorter and stouter, bulled his way in and grabbed the sleeping Llynfann by his hair.

I dove forward to stop him, but his companion with the braided hair was suddenly on me with his dagger at my throat.

Still, I pushed forward until the dagger tore my skin, but I heard Llynfann’s voice call out gaily to me.

“No, Malgwyn! These lads just want to talk to me a bit! I’ll be back.”

And then my little friend was gone. I rushed to the door again, but the two guards still barred my way. My eyes searched the darkness but wherever they had taken him was out of my field of
view.

Time passed. I tried to question my guards, but they completely ignored me. I worried about Llynfann. He would not be in this mess had I not commandeered him and sent him on my mission. At the
time, I suspected that Lauhiir and Coroticus were trading with pirates, illegal, but hardly an affair to die over. I had no idea then that it was a conspiracy, aye, one aimed at the heart of our
island.

As for the reason I had traveled west, well, I thought I understood the murders now. Myndora had provided many answers, aye, even answers she herself did not realize she possessed. The gods had
truly wrapped this puzzle in the thickest clay.

Dawn came and went. No sign of Llynfann, but the Scotti leader, he of the white and gold tunic and hair as red as sunset, strode into camp with an escort. They all carried heavy spears and
shields, draped around on their backs. As their leader joined the others at the campfire, the men of the escort found an empty spot and squatted.

I watched closely as the tallest of our lords, a man I now recognized as David, spoke to the Scotti. His hands outstretched, palms upturned, I knew at once that he was pleading with the Scotti
leader. Maybe whatever problem faced them would have the conspirators at each other’s throats.