Breaking the Rules (24 page)

It was a feast of ancient artistic design, yet curiously modern at the same time, for all things classical had been the vogue for some time now. What lay at the hub of the wheel would have to remain a secret a little longer, because there was too great an area for two men to remove. More hands were needed, with spades and brushes to carefully remove the layer of earth that now rested on the remains of the villa.

Ursula examined the deities more closely, and found one that resembled Vera Pedlar, then another that looked like Conan, and even one that might have been herself. Then she noticed that they all appeared to be gesturing toward the unseen hub of the wheel. Yes, she as sure that was what they were doing. But what could be at the center? Maybe a likeness of Elen of the Ways, although ... What if it was something important? Something vital to resolving everything, maybe even lead to the treasure?

She moved away slightly, fearing to allow her all too active imagination to run away with her. It was probably just a sumptuous mosaic floor design, she told herself strictly, no more and no less.

Conan and Theo clambered out of the set, feeling unable to progress any further, but as Ursula began to tell them about the likeness she had perceived among the mosaic deities, a breath of wind sighed through the woods, shivering the bluebells and rustling the trees. Ursula turned and saw Eleanor Rhodes standing there with Bran at her side. Or should she be regarded as Elen of the Ways? Ursula did not quite know how to think of the almost ghostly figure with the flowing red-gold hair and diaphanous robe.

The moment Theo saw Eleanor, he went to her, but as he reached out, his hand passed right through her. “Eleanor?” he gasped in dismay.

“Macsen, my beloved lord,” she replied, and moved close enough to link her otherworldly arms around his neck. As she put her gossamer lips to his, he sensed rather than felt her touch. He longed to hold her, to know she was living flesh and blood in his arms, but she was as insubstantial as a morning mist. But so precious, so very, very precious.

She stepped away then. “I have come to warn you all. Prince Cadfan has cast a spell upon you. I saw him this very evening by the pool. He means you great harm.”

“A spell? You mean something new, as distinct from whatever magic he performed last night?” Conan asked.

She nodded. “I do not know exactly what he has done, for I saw him only when he was finishing, but there were four candles, therefore four incantations. With Bran, there are four of you, so I imagine you are his victims. He intends to clear his path to the goal he seeks. You stand in his way now, just as you did fifteen hundred years ago. We are all in his way, for if we repeat now the actions we performed then, he knows he cannot succeed.”

Theo reached out to her. “Then marry me without delay.” It seemed so obvious a solution.

She smiled and closed her eyes as once again his hand passed through her. “Oh, my dearest lord, if only it were that easy, but we can only marry at midnight, on the cusp of May Day, in the shadow of the yew tree, just as we did before. If we do that, I will become a complete woman again, a warm and loving bride to grace your bed.”

Conan was more immediately concerned with the timing of Taynton’s sorcery. “When will this spell work?” he asked Eleanor.

“The very same stroke of midnight. So you see, we must marry at the very moment we become enchanted. Which will prove the stronger force? I fear it may be Taynton’s magic.”

Ursula raised her chin defiantly. “There must be something we can do to halt him!”

“If there is, I do not know. Once he has disposed of us, he must find the treasure or lose his chance for another five hundred years. We can only hope that he fails.”

“But if we were to find it in the meantime ... ?”

Eleanor looked helplessly at her. “Maybe. Oh, I cannot say, for I know so little. All I can tell you is that the answer lies at the heart of mosaic floor, and the chalice shows the way.”

“The chalice? Do you mean we can tell something from the decorative frieze on it?” Ursula was thinking swiftly, remembering that she and Conan had seen the chalice in the stables at the Green Man.

Eleanor looked close to tears. “Maybe it is the frieze, maybe something else. It should become clear when you expose the floor completely. The treasure was kept safe by my father, Eudaf Hen, so that Cadfan Meriadoc could not lay thieving hands upon it in my lord Macsen’s absence in Rome with his friend, Lord Kynan. But Cadfan conspired with others against my father. My dear lord was overthrown and murdered by a rival for the throne of Rome, and Lord Kynan was gravely wounded, only just escaping with his life. After that, my father became more determined than ever to deny Cadfan the succession, for the new heir was the babe I was carrying, Lord Macsen’s babe, so vulnerable to Cadfan’s wickedness. So to protect his unborn grandchild, my father hid the treasure and guarded it with a powerful spell because he knew Cadfan would learn magic in order to find it. My father always meant to reveal its whereabouts to the true heir, but died quite suddenly before he was able to do so. The treasure can be found only once every five hundred years, and whoever finds it becomes the victor. Both we and Cadfan have failed twice already, if we fail this time as well, we cannot try again for another five hundred years, and so on.”

She gazed tearfully at Theo. “If I had not fallen into Cadfan’s hands, he would not be so able to interfere with the pattern at every turn. I fear he will succeed in his aim, and when that happens, I will remain as I am forever.”

Theo could not bear it. “No! We will be the victors this time, my love, I swear that we will! Then you will be my bride again, no matter what my uncle may say! But first we have a dragon to defeat, do we not?”

Conan glanced at the floor they had already uncovered. “It’s obvious from the curve of the perimeter that the floor is quite large. You and I cannot hope to clear it in time, Theo, but if we had more men to assist us  ... ” He looked at Ursula. “I think the time has come to inform your father about all this. We
need as many men from the manor as possible, but we must be stealthy about it, otherwise Taynton might be alerted. What we really need is something to keep him distracted at the inn.”

“Vera will help,” Ursula said. “She loves him and wants to marry him, so if she thinks that helping us will definitely result in her becoming his wife—which it will if history is allowed to repeat itself—she’ll do what she can. I’m sure she will be able to create a problem of some sort in the kitchens that will require his full attention. She can cause a fire if necessary!”

“A fire might be just the thing,” Conan declared.

“Then the wretched place can be rebuilt and named something more agreeable than the Green Man!” Theo was adamant.

“It used to be the Fleece,” Ursula said. “Far more fitting for a village that is based upon wool.”

Conan returned to the subject of Vera. “It won’t do to be wrong about Vera’s loyalties. If
she loves him, maybe she’ll want to help him, not us.”

Eleanor answered, “It is
true that for all his wickedness, the Lady Severa loved Cadfan very much, but she always tried to save him from himself. She will be our ally now. Until now she has been unsure about everything, for she senses much, yet has no one to speak to about it. She knew there was something that bound her to me, even though I was a squirrel, but she didn’t know exactly what that something was. Why else do you think she did not alert him when my squirrel friends tried to release me by the pool? If we tell her the truth now, she will know what her role must be. Once she is his wife again, he will have to comply for another five hundred years.”

“She may have loved him, but did he love her?” Ursula asked curiously.

“Oh, yes, but his greed for the treasure always came between them. If my lord Macsen finds the treasure after all, then Cadfan’s heart will rule his head once more, and he will be content with Severa.”

Conan exhaled slowly. “Right. I think we know what is needed now. Ursula, you know Vera Pedlar better than anyone, so I want you to approach her and tell her what is necessary. Then, when Taynton’s attention is fully diverted, with your father’s leave, we’ll set his men to clear as much of the mosaic floor as possible. Once we see what is at the center of the design, maybe we will know what the chalice is for. Anyway, it’s all we can do in the time we have left.”

“I’m sure my father will gladly help, although what he will make of our, er, fairy tale, I hardly dare imagine.”

“Well, if we go to him now, we’ll soon find out,” Conan replied with a wry smile. Theo turned quickly to Eleanor. “You will come with us?”

“No.”

“But—”

“Please, for I do not wish to appear to anyone but you three.”

“Then I will stay with you.” Theo looked urgently at Conan. “I cannot leave her. Please, Conan  ... ”

Conan nodded. “As you wish, but how will we find you again?”

Eleanor smiled. “I will know bring him here.”

Conan nodded again. “Very well. Ursula and I will get on with matters. We will come back as soon as we can, but we need a little sleep if we are to be effective in the coming hours, so do not expect us for at least a few hours.”

Theo gave him a grateful smile. Then he and Eleanor walked away into the trees, with Bran padding faithfully at their heels.

Conan held his hand out to Ursula. “Come, we have things to do.”

She slipped her hand into his, and they hurried away along the little path they’d followed earlier. They glanced back before the set was lost to view, in time to see Eleanor raising her ethereal lips to Theo’s in another kiss that longed to cross the boundary from the Otherworld to this.

Ursula let Conan lead her a few yards more, then halted. “Have you no kiss for me as well, Lord Kynan?” she asked softly.

His eyes were warm and knowing in the moonlight as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She savored the taste of his lips and the contours of his body, molding herself to him in a way that knew no shame. But what place did shame have in these ancient woods? The pagan past was the pagan present, and she was no longer bookish, proper Ursula Elcester, but the Princess Ursula in the arms of her lord and husband. She should surrender to him now, let him take her here among the dusky bluebells; let him be her master  ...

Conan’s desire was as fierce, and gratification was temptingly close, but with a huge effort he held her away. “We must not succumb just yet, my love. Let us first have become man and wife beneath the yew, for then the nectar will be all the more sweet.”

“What if I disappoint you?” she asked then, green Ursula Elcester suddenly very much to the fore again.

He smiled. “Disappoint me? My darling, I have already sampled your kisses, and believe me you are blessed with that art to the full.”

“Am I?”

“Oh, yes, so I anticipate the rest of you with barely contained ardor.” He pulled her to him again and slid his hands to her waist, then down to enclose her buttocks through the thin silver silk of her gown. “And you, my lady, may anticipate eagerly as well, for I know how to pleasure a woman. I have not led the life of a monk, I fear.” He kissed her again, at the same time pulling her hips to his and pressing her against his aroused maleness.

Voluptuous feelings swept her to the very edge of consciousness. The moonlit woods seemed to spin, and she felt as light as air, held to earth only by his embrace. Her body sang with excitement for a long, long moment, and then she felt weak and deliciously warm as she sank against him.

She could not move for several long minutes, for to do so would be to destroy the lingering pleasure, but at last she was able to slip her hand in his again and continue out of the woods to cross the lower park, she felt stronger and more invigorated than ever before. While she had Conan, there was nothing she could not achieve. Nothing.

It was just as Ursula and Conan reached the door into the rose garden that she remembered something she had noticed on the mosaic floor. “Wait!” she breathed, and turned urgently to him. “The chalice is depicted on the floor.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t notice it.”

“Yes, I’m certain. Neither you nor Theo uncovered it. Some earth slipped away of its own accord, and I saw what I am sure was the base of the cup, or at least the base of a cup. I want to go back and look.”

“Ursula—

“Please, Conan.”

“What will it achieve to see if it is or not? There were all sorts of things in that design.”

She didn’t know herself why she wished to see it, just that she wanted to very much indeed. The desire to rest awhile seemed to have suddenly deserted her, and the need to return to the set was so strong that she began to hurry back across the lower park. Conan hesitated a moment, then followed, soon catching up and taking her hand to retrace their steps into the woods.

The set was deserted when they arrived. At least, not quite, for Bran was there, and Ursula knew he was waiting for them. The wolfhound had been drawn back to the set as surely as she herself had been. More than that, he was seated at the very place where she had seen what she believed to be a portrayal of the chalice. Sure enough, when she scraped away a little more of the earth, the tesserae design was quite clearly what she thought it to be.

“There!” she declared triumphantly. “I knew I was right!”

Conan smiled at her. “You are indeed, but I still fail to—” He broke off as Bran suddenly began to whine and scratch at the design. “What is it, boy?” Conan asked then, reaching down to pat the wolfhound.

Bran trotted away a few yards toward Hazel Pool, then turned to look back at them. He moved on another few yards and looked back again. They followed instinctively, and the wolfhound led them steadily toward the pool, and then to the hollow oak, where he got up on his hind legs to paw at the trunk just where he had seen Taynton hide the chalice.

Conan reached up to feel inside the tree, but just as his questing fingers closed over one of the chalice’s handles, Ursula heard a sound. “Listen! I think someone’s coming!” she breathed uneasily.