The Bretwalda (The Casere Book 4) (29 page)

‘I can get in now,’ Conn reported to Derryth as he supped on mead to fortify himself, ‘you know what to do if I pass out again.’

‘When, you mean. Is she not stronger here than in Meshech?’

‘No, surprisingly – but then Ishtar is here. I can feel her somewhere. I think she balances the extra power of Ashtoreth.’

Nonetheless, it was a hard slog up the hill; the furrows cause by the dragging of the trees down the hill made it even harder; and Conn knew that it would rain soon; it always rained when he did this – a cleansing of some kind.

He finally stood at the edge of the cirice, having fought his way step by step against the immense force that emanated from the guardstone. The urge to flee was huge; as it sent wave after wave of attacks trying to pry open his mind and drive him mad. His mind was very close to shutting down and he struggled against it; he stumbled, placing his hand on the cold rock of the pillars that once held a thatch roof, and energy surged into him. He felt it flow to every extremity. The stone was momentarily confused – it also felt the presence, but shrugged it off and renewed its attack. The pause was enough for Conn to rebuild his defences and he stepped over the bones that lay on the floor of the Cirice. There was no hide and seek this time – he could see the black stone glowing as it sat on the altar. Conn could only imagine the conviction of someone who would come here and step over dead bodies to place this ward stone.

As a stepped closer, the attack increased in intensity but he was resolute. He stepped closed and raised his kunai. As usual, the last thing he remembered was the striking of the stone with the hard metal and its shattering – he also felt the absolute hate that emanated from the stone as it knew that it had failed to thwart its own destruction – and he was sure this emotion was direct from Ashtoreth.

~oo0oo~

Disetha was sitting by him as he woke. The sun was low in the sky, and he was still in the vicinity of the knoll as he could smell the burning wood. He sat up as she passed him water. It was just starting to rain.

‘Papa, how are you feeling?’

‘My head hurts, and my stomach feels like I’ve swallowed a pail of stones – but other than that, I feel surprisingly good. How is work proceeding?’

‘All the trees have been pulled and are burning; the bones were put on a pyre – Sarun lit it for you.’ She handed over a leather pouch. ‘There were twenty necklaces in the cirice. Derryth says it seems they boarded the building in before putting the folgere inside. Such cruelty – I do not understand how a loving Gyden could allow such evil.’

‘Agony and ecstasy are opposites on the same coin. Ashtoreth was fed so much agony she mistook it for ecstasy – and became addicted. That is all I can think.’ Conn stood up and used Disetha for support, until he found his legs. ‘It starting to rain – the work must be complete. We need to go home – tomorrow we can put a roof back on the Cirice.’

~oo0oo~

Preparations for the feast were underway as he arrived; stores had been unpacked from the ships and the cook was yelling at a million servants to get everything done. Wine, beer, and mead were being prepared, along with the huge amount of meat and grains that would be on the barbeques.

Servants were everywhere – and extras had been hired. The castle was being scrubbed unlike any time before in its history; the kitchen was almost complete and the hall was being decorated. Every carpenter and woodworker in town was called into build new tables and chairs for the guests – a simple design but sufficient for the evening. The walls would be covered with the banners of each house represented there – and each Jarl had his own banner. Everyone was busy at work, and the former castle staffs were overcome by the manic behaviour but careful organization of his Kerchian Logistics corp.

The castle was also excited by the return of Ishtar – and many people seemed to sense the change – everyone seemed lighter. Tomorrow would be more interesting. After more food, Conn had a bath and returned to his rooms. A servant of Kolata il Siri waited for him – she wanted to see him in her rooms. Even later when he returned Ketilerna il Sepinu herself was waiting. Being theow, she didn’t have many servants.

Conn bowed. ‘Good evening Ketilerna…’

‘I was wondering if you were busy for the next hour or so…I would be ever so grateful if you had the time to spare… Ishtar has returned.’

He shrugged. ‘She has – how can I help?’

‘I don’t know but something tells me that I should discuss it with you…’

‘Please come in.’

By the time Conn had closed the door, Ketilerna was naked, so he imagined it wasn’t going to be a formal kind of discussion.

~oo0oo~

When they went to see the cirice the next day, it had been washed clean by the overnight rains. Conn found a way up the knoll that wasn’t muddy and looked at the altar. Eldwen stood beside him.

‘Do you want me to build you a village around this cirice?’

She shook her head. ‘No – it is too far from the port. Can you build me a cirice inside the bailey? I know where it once was – but it has been built over.’

‘Anything is possible – the hardest would be getting this altar back to the castle.’

The altar was made of solid marble or granite – it took men three days to move it all the way into the castle. Parts were easy – they towed it with oxen on wooden rollers but the hills and creek crossings proved time consuming. By the time they had it there, the all the buildings inside the bailey had been bought and demolished. The new cirice was under way. Conn worked with the master woodworkers that were the Twacuman and local masons using new techniques of carpentry and joinery to build the timbers structure, while the masonry, tiling, glasswork and brickwork was ground-breaking.

‘Do you think we are being messed with?’ Conn asked Derryth as a batch of red tiles were removed from the first roof tile kiln ever seen in Kishdah.

‘Always. Never a day goes by. Most of the time it’s just you – other days it is definitely something else.’

‘Conn?’ They turned to hear his name being called.

It was Steinvi. She had taken to calling him by his name – if Njil could call him that, so could she.

‘On other days, its women of all sizes.’ Derryth added.

Conn laughed. ‘Yes Steinvi. What can I do for you?’

‘Where is Vigbert? He was here, I asked him to wait for me, and now he is gone.’

‘Did you tell him or ask him.’

‘Asked him.’

‘Are you sure?’

She considered it for a moment. ‘Perhaps I told him. You don’t think he likes it when I tell him to do things? Everyone else likes it when I tell them to do something. Why shouldn’t he?’

‘Because he is not your servant. At this time, he only answers to those above him in the fyrd. That is his duty. I suggest you try not to
tell
him to do things, and see if things improve.’

‘I’m not sure if I know how but I’ll try. What should I do now?’

‘Wait – or do it by yourself.’

‘I’ll wait – it is not as much fun if I do it without him.’

She wandered off to wait – impatiently. They watched her go.

‘She will be just what he needs if he does become Healdend.’ Derryth noted.

‘I agree – the reports she writes with Vigbert are very useful. She is an excellent judge of character and observer of events. Come, we have a meeting to go to.’

Alwa was the first place that steps had been taken to establish guilds in Kishdah. With his son as Healdend, he presumed the structures would survive, and expand to other demesne. Conn had already met with the all the major players in the town individually, and they had separate meetings with Sarun and Volund. This was the first and last group meeting, and they waited for him in the main hall in the castle. They stood as he entered; the nice chairs and tables the carpenters had made were of excellent quality. He craftsmen had been working steadily with the locals to share knowledge and skills. All would benefit.

Conn addressed the crowd. ‘Have you read the rules of the guilds as they stand in Sytha and Meshech?’

‘We have.’

‘Do you find fault with them?’

‘None that we can find, it is most fair to us – we cannot imagine that a Healdend would want such limitations to his power.’ It was true – guilds had the ability to boycott any ruler who failed to pay for goods – or who seized goods without payment. That boycott would be observed by every guild in every nation.

‘Even for Healdend, boundaries are necessary; limits are indeed essential for everyone – which is why the new judicial system is there to make sure the guilds don’t abuse their power. Will you put your seal to the document?’

‘We will.’ They proceeded to file past and write their name and seal the document of behalf of the crafts. There was even space of the document for guilds that were not yet present in Alwa – but would be soon. Instead of bringing Priecuman to Kishdah, Conn was recruiting craeftiga to go to Meshech to learn. It was slower, but it would be happier.

When they were finished, Conn asked if the new Guild Masters if they had received their invitation to the feast the next night. They acknowledged that they had and that they looked forward to the event – a feast in the hall of the Healdend was a first for them all.

Conn followed that meeting with an attendance at the Witan where the Guild documents were verified. As the Jarl of Mersin, he found he actually had to attend meetings anyway – an unfortunate side effect. Volund was actually warming to his position and the hospitality of the girl who was given back her family’s demesne was actually wearing him out. She wanted an heir as soon as possible.

The next event was the feast.

Derryth was dreading it.

‘Promise me you will not play the bagpipes, I beg you.’

‘You have no taste, you know that. I’m not promising anything. You will have to wait and see.’ They had found a small storage room to hide in. Neither were dressed for the evening yet. They were hiding from everyone.

Hide as they tried, Sarun spotted them stealing a flask of wine.

‘Father, we have a problem.’

‘Big or small?’

‘Both.’

‘Damn, I hate those. Big ones I can give to Derryth. Lead the way.’

Sarun led the way upstairs to his new room in the castle. He went next door and knocked on the door. The door was opened by Elfrea.

‘Is there a problem?’

She nodded. ‘Beyond my skill level – we Twacuman are simple beings.’

Conn entered the room to see two sulking girls, their backs to each other. Conn looked at Derryth and then he looked at Sarun.

‘You want me to sort out a problem between two eleven-year-old girls? Who do you think I am?’

‘I don’t know – I’ve already tried – but they have stopped listening to me. I want them both to go tonight – but Gelef says she won’t go if Sigdis goes because Sigdis’s mother is theow. If they both don’t go, I’m not going!’

Conn could have sworn that Sarun was pouting. He looked at the three of them, and Derryth, and pointed outside. ‘I’ll be right back.’ He pushed Derryth in front of him. ‘Don’t you dare laugh – this is a major problem. What are we going to do? They’re eleven – if I threaten them with …. with anything … they’ll just cry. I can’t deal with crying. They don’t respond to reason.’

‘Don’t look at me – I haven’t had almost sixty children…’

As they stood, footsteps approached and with nowhere to hide, they stood still, hoping that no one would see them.

It was Steinvi. ‘Ah, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.’ She looked bothered. ‘Conn, we have a problem.’

‘Another one?’

‘No, just the one. I just happened to see what some of your daughters are wearing tonight and it is just not acceptable.’

‘What isn’t?’ Conn was starting to visualize a very large skin of wine. This was as stressed as he had ever been in ages.

‘My clothes; I misspoke before when I said that I had a wardrobe for all occasions. It seems I have not. And my poor mother – she has a reputation of being the best dressed everywhere. She simply cannot be seen in what she has to wear. It seems that I do need your daughter’s help after all. And my aunt is beside herself.’

Conn contemplated the situation for longer than he needed. ‘I tell you what – have a look inside the room there.’

She went in and came out a moment later. ‘Sarun, Gelef and Sigdis are having a pouting game.’

Conn explained the situation as best as he could.

‘So if I help with your little problem in there, you’ll help me with my big problem with clothes?’

‘I will.’

‘Okay’, she went in and came out a few minutes later. ‘All sorted.’

‘You’re kidding – what did you do?’

‘It was easy really – I told Gelef that if she didn’t fix the problem so that everyone was happy, I’d never speak to her ever again. She thinks I’m important. Now as for my clothes – we don’t have much time. The feast is only three hours away.’

Conn went with Steinvi to his daughter’s quarters. He knocked on the door. Disetha answered, ‘Papa, we are busying preparing – can it wait?’