Hosker, G [Wolf Brethren 02] Saxon Revenge (15 page)

It was good to spend Yule amongst my own people and warriors.  My family were delighted with my early and unexpected return and I was able to relax and enjoy comfortable and familiar surroundings. Brother Oswald had tinkered with the rudimentary hypocaust and the old prefect’s quarters from the days of Roman occupation were the warmest part of the castle.  It was a good time.

I was aware that we might have a spy amongst us and, although the men all knew we would be fighting later in the year, I kept my plans to a handful of those I knew I could trust. After we had celebrated and life began to get back to normal I met with Garth, Myrddyn and Brother Oswald. Garth had looked askance at the young man who sat in on our meetings. He had only recently been a recruit and here he was with those who planned and gave orders. I smiled at Garth’s discomfort and I began the meeting by obliquely giving a reason. “Now, Myrddyn will be leaving within the week to spend a month with Aelle learning to speak Saxon.  Then he will be charged with infiltrating the Saxon army to discover their plans.  It is vital that we know what they are about. It is a difficult and dangerous job but I am sure that Myrddyn is up to it.” He blushed and I saw the firm nod from Garth, “Brother Oswald, we will have two hundred archers.  I know that Brother Osric will provide most of the arrows but I want a healthy supply here should we need them.  Prince Ywain is supplying the horses but, Garth, I want every one of our archers taught to ride well. Their skill might just be the difference between victory and defeat.  We need to be mobile. We need the armour of the warriors to be perfect.  Have it checked and oiled regularly.  We can have no weaknesses for we need to be better armoured than our enemies who will be more numerous. The shields, too, should all be reinforced with iron.”

“The Lady Aideen and her ladies have finished the leather cloaks.  Our warriors will all look the same and that should afford them more protection.”

“Good and I want every warrior to have a dagger attached to their shields.  I know that I found it useful. We need caltrops.  The Roman supply has been used but they are not difficult to make.”

“Not difficult but expensive.”

“There is money available Oswald.  Do not quibble over those things which can save men’s lives. Now, Garth it will be up to you to organise and lead the four hundred warriors.  I will be there, of course, but I will also have charge of the archers as well. Our men will be the point of the wedge and you will have to train the others on the march.  Can you do it?”

“As most of the men are Rheged men, then yes, but I am not sure about the one hundred and fifty allies.”

“They can form the rear two ranks.  The men from Strathclyde and Elmet will be sound warriors, of that I am certain. One final point; no word of the date we depart should leak out. Keep the men trained and prepared.  We will give them but one day’s warning and then we will go.”

After Garth and Oswald had left us I took Myrddyn to one side. “I will not order you to spy on the Saxons and I will not think badly of you if you refuse for you should know that it will be dangerous.”

For one so young he looked both mature and calm. “It is my destiny to serve you my lord and the vision I had tells me that we shall have a long association together.  Besides,” he grinned and was suddenly a boy again, I will play the part of a Welsh healer; a throwback to the Druids. From what your men have said that has a certain aura about it.” I felt relieved.  I did not like sending men to their deaths but he seemed confident and I knew that Aelle would give him the skills he needed.

My next task was to summon my slingers and despatch riders. Garth stood with me for I had already briefed him about my intentions. As they were all boys there came a point when they would either become warriors or horsemen. Those who had skills with the bow were taken to one side by Miach and trained in that art. I gathered them all in the Great Hall; I could see the interest and trepidation on some of their faces. It was rare for them to be called to speak with their lord.

“I want you to stand in a line with the smallest on one side and the tallest on the other.” They quickly obeyed me and I could see the disparity in height.  There were three at the end who were almost men. “You three go with Garth; it is time you became warriors.” I could see the uncontained joy on their faces and the disappointment on the rest. After they had gone I pointed to the six tallest. “You six will be warriors next year but now you will need to be trained to be scouts as well as slingers.” I looked at the others who were still looking unhappy.  “All of you will, eventually, need this skill and I want you all to learn how to scout.  When we go to war it will be you who tell us the numbers of the enemy and help us to prepare our attack. If you do your job well then you will save men’s lives. You six go and find Adair.  He will begin your training.  As for the rest of you I want you to collect the perfect stones for your slings.  When we go to war you will need many, my young warriors.” They raced to the river, oblivious to the cold.  They would collect them until they were summoned to food for all felt the bond which tied my warriors to Castle Perilous.

When Myrddyn left for Aelle and his stronghold I felt a strange loss.  I had grown close to the young healer and I missed him and our conversations in the solar.  Garth and I concentrated on forging the warriors into a tightly knit group.  It was difficult because of the Bernician, Llofan who was like a piece of grit in the eye; it was always there irritating.  The others worked well together but he was the one out of step and yet, I agreed with Garth, he was the best warrior amongst the recruits. The problem was solved when Prince Ywain arrived for our meeting.  King Urien had come with him and the warrior hall was full for the first time. It was a bustling and busy place filled with warriors.  Bladud had to be polite to me as it was my home but I saw him and three of his warriors scowling at me every time I passed by.

I took my two distinguished guests to my solar to enjoy some privacy.

“You have some fine warriors Lord Lann.”

I shrugged.  I am generally happy but…”

King Urien looked troubled.  “This is not like you, Lord Lann. We cannot afford any weakness in the man who will lead our warriors against the Saxons.” I reluctantly explained about Llofan Lilo. “He is a good warrior?”

“He is the best I have but he is also from Bernicia and I do not wish to offend our ally by returning him to his homeland.”

King Urien beamed.  “Then I can solve the problem.  Bladud has been faithfully gathering warriors for my bodyguards.  We have ten Bernicians amongst our ranks and I am sure one more will not come amiss.”

I brightened.  It would solve my problem. “I would not wish to weaken your bodyguard.”

“Do not worry about that.  The bodyguard will be the core of my army.  They will all be heavily armed equites and they do not need to fight as your warriors do in a shield wall. I will speak with Bladud.”

Garth was also relieved at the possibility of a solution. “I still feel as though I have failed my lord.  I should have been able to train him.”

“Do not worry Garth.  I saw that there was something different about him.  There is a hidden story there.”

When I entered the warrior hall I could see King Urien deep in conversation with Bladud and Prince Ywain.  Two of Bladud’s men stood nearby. I was waved over. “Which is the warrior you spoke of?”

“Llofan!”

The Bernician warrior strode over.  He had an arrogant walk and, that too, had annoyed me. “Yes my lord.” He managed to say ‘
my lord’
and make it sound as though it was an insult.

Bladud looked at King Urien, smiled and nodded his approval. I wondered about that because Bladud never smiled. “Would you like to join my bodyguards?  I have other Bernician warriors and Lord Lann has given me permission to ask you.”

I saw Llofan also smile for the first time.  “I would be delighted my lord.”

“Good then you will now join my guards.  Bladud will explain your duties.” From the expressions and embraces I realised that Llofan knew the two warriors standing beside Bladud already.  It confirmed my dislike of both men.

Later Garth came to me, his face filled with anger. He held in his hand a black leather cloak. “I was thrown this by Llofan who said that now that he was serving with real warriors he did not need your wife’s needlework!”

I could feel myself becoming as angry as Garth but over the years I had learned caution.  I suspected that Bladud had something to do with this and I would not cause offence to King Urien in my own home.  Aideen was not insulted because she had not heard the words. “We will let it go for now Garth but, fear not, the dishonour will be remedied one day.”

Once I had met with Prince Ywain and his father all thoughts of Bladud left me for we had much to plan.  I could see a change in Ywain already.  He was a little thinner and looked as though he had been exercising. Some of his old enthusiasm and confidence had also come back to him. “I am training my archers to be horsemen and I hope that the others are doing the same.  I know that Raibeart is.  When the warriors are gathered we will work with them whilst marching to make them one.” I explained our idea of keeping the allies as a reserve at the rear of the wedge.

King Urien frowned, “I would not have our allies insulted.”

I shrugged. “There are but one hundred and fifty of them and we do not know how they are armed; at least the warriors of Rheged fight in the same style with the same weapons.  But I promise you that I will do what I need to diplomatically.  I have also begun to train some of my boys as scouts. We need eyes out there and scouts who can move swiftly.  We need to be one step ahead of the cunning Aella at all times. I have armed my men so that they can fight any foe we meet.  I too will work with the allied horse but the majority will know our tactics for I have one hundred and fifty with me now.”

The king smiled.  “This is excellent and I am pleased that we made the right choice; you two are a formidable force. You will gather in eight weeks and get to the Roman Bridge and I will bring the rest of the army when we are mustered but that will not be until after Easter.”

“We will use my horsemen to keep you informed, father. We will set up relay stations with horses to enable you to get messages quickly.”

“You could use homing pigeons.”

“Homing pigeons?”

“Brother Oswald mentioned them to me.  You have pigeons at Civitas Carvetiorum and that becomes their home.  Then you put some in cages and they go with us.  We attach messages to their legs and they fly home to their roost.  They could do the journey which would take a horseman a day and a half at least in half a day.”

“I will see Brother Osric when I return.  It would be an advantage to have two methods of communication.”

When they had left us I felt happier that the prince looked more like the old Prince Ywain who had valiantly fought at my side and we had solved a number of problems.  The first heavy snow in a few weeks fell the day after they left. I took Garth to one side. “Now would be a good opportunity to see if we have had any visitors to the wood again.  We can see their tracks in the snow.”

When we reached the glade there was no sign of any human visitors and the fire which had been there before was long dead.  I did not trust to chance and for the next twenty days either Garth or I visited the site but we saw no sign of clandestine meetings.  If anything that made me even more worried. At least if they were meeting we knew they were still planning. The fact that they had, apparently, stopped meeting did not bode well and I found myself scrutinising the recruits, who now seemed like all the other warriors, very closely.  I wondered what they thought.

By the time Myrddyn returned the snow had gone, the arrows and arms were ready and my contingent of warriors was as ready as they ever would be.  We had made enough spare arms, albeit of a lesser quality, for the ordinary warriors who would be joining us with the king when the army of Rheged was mustered in spring.

My main problem was Aideen who had become increasingly fretful and fussy as the weather had improved.  It was almost as though she was willing the snow to return for it would stop me leaving.  I had not confided in her the plans we had made.  It was not that I didn’t trust her; I just did not want her worrying unnecessarily.  Eventually, a week before we were to depart I had to tell her. We were in bed, and it was a cold night.  I would miss the cuddles and the comfort of her warm body over the next weeks.  She lay in the crook of my arm. “I will be leaving with my men soon.” I felt her stiffen in my arms but she said not a word. “We will be but two day’s ride from home and, hopefully, we will not have to do any fighting.”

There was a pause and I felt moisture dripping down my arm. He voice was thick and deep when she spoke.  “But you will be facing the Saxons?”

“Until they are destroyed by the gods or pestilence before I reach them then yes I will.”

“I want to lose no more men to those sea devils.” She remembered the men she had already lost; she hated the Saxons but not enough to lose me too.

“And I promise you that I will not die.”

She sat upright in bed and I could see her eyes flashing with anger.  “You cannot promise that! It is a hurtful thing to say for it is a lie.”

“No it is not.  I will be leading and I will put neither myself nor my men in harm’s way.  This time I am to watch.  Fighting will be a last resort. I will have to order the men and be as a general.  I will not be in the shield wall.” I was not sure that would always be the case, but my intentions were good.” I now have a daughter as well as a son and I want to see them both grow up.”

She seemed mollified and cuddled in again.”Will we ever have a peaceful world again?”

“I hope so.  I would dearly love to leave Saxon Slayer in its scabbard but, for the present, it must be unsheathed.”

As the days grew longer and the earth warmed up Garth and I began to spar every day with the wooden swords and heavy shields we used.  Then we began to spar together against four or five other warriors.  It developed quick reflexes but, more importantly it helped the two of us to fight as one. We then spent a whole week with the thirty five warriors I would be taking with me practising the wedge and shield wall formations.  With so many new warriors in its ranks it was vital that they worked as one.  Garth had performed wonders over the winter and it was hard to discern any difference between the recruits and those who had fought Aella the last time.